Consumer Safety Complaints
Search 2,245,377 safety complaints filed by vehicle owners with NHTSA, including 140,173 crashes, 56,794 fires, and 8,580 deaths.
What is a NHTSA consumer complaint?
A consumer complaint is a free-form report filed by a vehicle owner directly to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) describing a safety concern about their vehicle. NHTSA collects these reports through its Vehicle Owner Defect Report (VOQ) system and publishes them publicly. Each complaint includes the affected component, the date and circumstances of the incident, whether the failure caused a crash or fire, and any reported injuries or deaths. The owner's full narrative description is included verbatim, NHTSA does not edit or moderate the descriptions.
The database below contains over 2,245,377 individual complaints. NHTSA's investigators monitor it for clusters of similar reports, when enough owners describe the same failure mode on the same vehicle, NHTSA may open a Preliminary Evaluation that can lead to a recall. Many of the largest recalls in U.S. history, including the Takata airbag recall and the Hyundai/Kia engine fire recalls, started as patterns visible in this complaint database years before they became formal recalls.
How to interpret what you read
A few principles for reading consumer complaints usefully:
- One complaint is anecdote; a hundred similar complaints is data. NHTSA does not investigate the truthfulness of any individual report, that's the job of the Office of Defects Investigation, which looks at the full pattern. When evaluating a vehicle, look for whether multiple owners describe the same chain of events.
- Crash, fire, injury, and death flags are owner-set. They are not verified by NHTSA. They are still useful as a filter, because owners who tick those boxes are typically reporting more serious incidents than those who don't.
- Component categories are NHTSA-assigned, not owner-assigned. NHTSA standardizes the component field so that complaints can be aggregated. The owner narrative often goes into more detail than the component category captures.
- Complaint volume scales with sales volume. A best-selling model will accumulate more raw complaints than a niche model even at the same defect rate. To compare across vehicles, look at complaints per 100,000 units sold, not raw counts.
If you've experienced a defect
File a complaint. NHTSA's investigators rely on this database to detect emerging defects, and useful complaints, specific, concrete, with dates and mileage and clear descriptions of what happened, feed directly into the agency's pattern detection. The form takes about 10 minutes and is at nhtsa.gov/recalls under "Report a Safety Problem." Your complaint becomes part of the same public record that this page is built from. Owners filing detailed VOQs are how recalls get triggered.
Read more from our blog
Showing 129,250 complaints - component: AIR BAGS
Incident date: Apr 10, 2024
The contact owns a 2014 Buick Enclave. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V334000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 21, 2024
Warning lights come up on the dashboard often (brake failure, airbag failure, steering failure, start/stop needs servicing, transmission needs servicing, pullover safely car will turn off, car not in park but it is and won’t turn off) the car turns itself on and off all day. From the beginning the vehicle had electrical issues, not connecting to my phone or Bluetooth, the screen not working, loc... Read more
MOPAR
HIGH PRESSURE FUEL PUMP
(9999) - AIR BAGS
Jun 21, 2024
Incident date: Jun 20, 2024
The contact owns a 2016 Buick Enclave. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V334000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 6, 2024
Check engine light airbag light brake light on my car they turned them off and they turned on right after
VOLKSWAGEN
ID.4
(2021) - AIR BAGS
Jun 20, 2024
Incident date: Jun 5, 2024
The front passenger airbag sensor is faulty. My understanding is that the airbag is set up to be deployed when someone who is at least 65lbs sits on the front seat. I am 85lbs so the sensor should always detect me but it doesn't; it only does so about 10% of the time. Sometimes it turns on and then goes off. In contrast, I always trigger the sensor in my husband's 2023 Subaru Crosstrek.
Incident date: Jun 2, 2023
I have been getting to many issues lately with my car, I have a family and two little ones we almost got accident today 06/20/2024 the car just suddenly stopped while I’m driving on the highway out of no where (traction control on) airbags issues and to many like every once in a while. I need to secure the safety of my family. I have contracted the dealership before they going to contact me but ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 19, 2024
No problem with my airbag, yet. I am just concerned that it has been over a year and there is no remedy for this problem, I feel like the manufacturer has had ample time to find a solution. I was told to file a complaint and hope someone will address this issue in a timely manner.
Incident date: Jul 15, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V334000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted, and it was confirmed that the part was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacture... Read more
Incident date: Jun 20, 2024
The contact owns a 2016 GMC Acadia. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V334000 (Air Bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufacturer was mad... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2024
The contact owns a 2007 Dodge Caliber. The contact stated that while it was raining, there was water entering through the sunroof and doors into the vehicle. The air bag warning light was illuminated. The contact called the local dealer, who stated that there were no related recalls for the failures. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and stated that there wa... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2024
Contacted Mercedes because Dealer said it was a common problem. Airbag light was on. I was told that airbags could unsafely deploy as driving the vehicle and the issue was connected to the steering column. After looking online, I found that there are several drivers that could be in unsafe conditions while driving the car who reported the same thing. I contacted Mercedes to advise and Mercedes was... Read more
Incident date: Jun 6, 2024
Had an accident at 40 to 45 mph, Hit a curb and traffic light post caused front passenger side severely damaged and windshield shattered and none of the air bags deployed
Crash
Incident date: Jun 19, 2024
Remedy is available for the recall, but Honda will not fix the recall on my 2 vehicle’s that I own with this open recall. They are saying 2025 maybe. Unacceptable.
Incident date: Jun 19, 2024
Right rear seat airbag deployed alone while driving. Airbag signal came on.
Incident date: May 30, 2024
Air bag light is on and occupant classification sensor is malfunctioning. Passenger airbag will not deploy in the event of an accident.
Incident date: Feb 28, 2024
we were in a head-on collision (not our fault) in April. The police determined the combined speed of the crash impact to be 60-65 miles per hour. The 2020 Tesla Y did not deploy its airbags. And as far as we can determine, the accident was not automatically recorded by the Tesla as it should have been. Because the airbags did not deploy, I sustained a fracture to my sternum that traverses over... Read more
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Jun 19, 2024
My truck would shift gears and I would feel a kick. Then the speedometer would drop, and the airbag sensors would turn off. At times the dealership states it is an issue with the Transmission Lead Frame.
FORD
F-150 LIGHTNING BEV
(2023) - AIR BAGS
Jun 19, 2024
Incident date: Jun 19, 2024
Drivers seatbelt buckle does not register, resulting in active chiming of the unbuckled seat belt alarm and disengaging of the airbag system. Driver must hold the seatbelt with downward pressure continuously in order to register the seat belt and return the vehicle to normal operating condition, and turn off the airbag system warning signs and chiming. Dealership refuses any assistance without pa... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2024
I received a recall in June 2023. I continually call the Chevy dealers and they state there is no remedy to have this recall done. Some one died from this issue why has GM not been forced to get these parts to dealers so this dangerous issue can be fixed????? I don’t have the option to not drive my vehicle I am a single parent that has to work. I do not want my child to be hurt or killed either ... Read more
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2004) - AIR BAGS
Jun 19, 2024
Incident date: Mar 1, 2024
Important safety recall unresolved. There are defects to the internal short circuit from environmental humidity. This issue may cause the airbags to deploy and increase the risk of injury. There is a limited supply of parts; according to the recall letter, the dealership confirmed the current status. I called the manufacturer's care program and was told there are no changes in the status of the... Read more
Incident date: May 16, 2024
Airbag warning light stays illuminated when the vehicle is on. KIA mailed me a 2017-2018 MY KIA SEDONA VEHICLES ILLUMINATION OF AIRBAG WARNING LIGHT NEW VEHICLE LIMITED WARRANTY EXTENSION letter. Dealer (Dyer KIA, Lake Wales, FL) refuses to honor the warranty. Made complaints online to the dealer and KIA and they refuse to fix my vehicle. The airbags do not work.
Incident date: Aug 19, 2023
Notification or recall came out in March. Notified by mail end of April. It is now mid June and still there is no remedy available for this open recall. For drivers where this is their sole car, it is concerning and unfair that we continue to drive with this recall and possibly risk injury. I understand the process might take a while but having no communication on when parts are to be available fr... Read more
Incident date: Jun 10, 2024
The airbag does not go on all the time when my wife is in the passenger seat. My wife weighs approximately 100lbs. We have been at the dealer 2x's and they say that the airbag is working perfectly. I disagree with them very strongly. We have had multiple cars and do not have this problem. We just traded in a Buick encore gx and no problem with the airbag. Subaru claims there is nothing more they ... Read more
GRAND DESIGN
REFLECTION
(2022) - AIR BAGS
Jun 19, 2024
Incident date: Sep 23, 2022
I made an 8:40 am appointment to fix the 2018 airbag recall (18V-042) and after arriving at the service center was told it would take two days to fix because they were unexpectedly busy, and, they would be unable to give me a loaner vehicle or facilitate it's dropoff when complete. This does not work for us and leaves us exposed to unacceptable safety risk.
Incident date: Jan 1, 2022
Passenger airbag does not detect any adult sitting in the passenger seat, causing the light to stay on and possibly not deploy during an accident. The vehicle make and model has a recall for this exact problem, but has not notified for a recall service.
Incident date: Apr 9, 2024
Passenger air bag sensor defect Diagnosed by local dealership and quoted $800 for repair.
Incident date: Jun 5, 2024
The light suddenly came on stating the side air bag is off. Meaning during a collision it won't dobiys part
Incident date: Apr 14, 2024
The contact owned a 2014 Nissan Rogue. The contact stated that while driving at 20 MPH he rear-ended the vehicle in front of him and was constantly accelerating and braking. The front passenger side air bags did not deployed. No warning lights were illuminated. The contact and the front passenger were transported to the hospital by ambulance. The contact stated that his neck and back were sore an... Read more
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: May 9, 2024
I have a 2015 Honda Civic that I just came back from the dealer with because they warning light for my airbag came on. At the dealership the code was cleared and I was told that it could be a cable reel and then reading the report from the dealership, it states that it could be a faulty airbag I feel this is very unsafe, and told let’s see what happens. I feel this is unsafe for me to be driving... Read more
Incident date: Jun 14, 2024
The contact owns a 2016 Buick Enclave. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V334000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufacturer was m... Read more
Incident date: Apr 15, 2024
I was rear ended very hard, the car had to have been going at least 50 mph and didn't brake. It lifted the rear wheels of my truck off the ground, and the airbag light came on but none of the airbags deployed. This caused or exacerbated injury to my right leg and a laceration in the back of my head, concussion and TBI. I was in and out of consciousness. The police report contains a statement they ... Read more
Crash
MERCEDES-BENZ
E 350
(2022) - AIR BAGS
Jun 18, 2024
Incident date: Jun 16, 2024
A sensor, or trio of sensors, in the passenger side airbag system failed. Nissan/Infiniti says they cant be sure which of the three sensors is causing the problem and needs to replace all three. One of the sensors is integrated into the passenger seat itself and therefore the entire seat must be replaced. This all adds up to a very expensive repair cost of over $10,000 for sensors that are not acc... Read more
Incident date: Apr 21, 2024
The contact owned a 2014 Mercedes-Benz C250. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V010000 (Air Bags) and requested to be removed from the recall distribution list. The manufacturer was contacted regarding the issue. The local dealer was not notified.
Incident date: Jun 14, 2024
On Thursday (June 13, 2024) my truck displayed a fault that states Rear Belt Monitor Fault Service Required, at the same time my air bag light came on. I proceeded to work and found a lot of people have had this issue with their Ford Mavericks but have all said it is actually their drivers seatbelt with the issue. My husband thought he would test it to see and while driving he took his seatbelt of... Read more
Incident date: Jun 17, 2024
The dashboard is separating where the airbag is on the passenger side and also the driver side which could deploy the airbag
Incident date: Jun 18, 2024
The contact owns a 2014 GMC Acadia. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V334000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced... Read more
HYUNDAI
SONATA HYBRID
(2021) - AIR BAGS
Jun 18, 2024
Incident date: Jun 16, 2024
Vehicle drive system fault: This issue has happened to me 2x in my personal car and 1x in the loaner vehicle that Vinfast gave me. When this happens, the vehicle shuts off. You can’t put the car in drive or reverse. You have to leave the car, wherever it is, walk a good distance away& wait for about 15mins. The first time, I was pulling into a spot at a grocery store & and car died in the ... Read more
FORD
F-150 LIGHTNING BEV
(2023) - AIR BAGS
Jun 18, 2024
Incident date: May 24, 2024
The contact owns a 2015 GMC Acadia. The contact was notified of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V334000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not mad... Read more
Incident date: Jun 10, 2024
Airbag clock springs module malfunction disabling emergency deployment of the driver’s side airbag in the event of a collision. My 2012 Hyundai Sonata 2.0 Turbo with 93,336 miles on it, ending seized up going at highway speed causing instant and complete loss of power. Smoke started coming out from under the front engine compartment hood making me think the car was on fire. Trying to get the c... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Jun 18, 2024
I was merging on to Interstate 5 when the vehicle in front stopped very hard to avoid hitting construction equipment that had likely fallen off a truck. I was not able to stop the car in time as the brakes seemed to not be effective. The collision warning braking system did not activate. The airbags did not activate which surprised the Highway Patrol and collision center personnel.
Crash
Incident date: Jun 1, 2022
Audi of Greenville gave us a quote to replace the pods unit that is causing this code and said that the air bag could deploy at anytime. Here is the quote that was given for the PODS unit. The code that was stored in the system was B1022F0. The Occupant Sensor Control Unit suppresses the deployment of passenger air bag when the condition of the passenger seat is empty or child and child-seat. A... Read more
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2015) - AIR BAGS
Jun 18, 2024
Incident date: Apr 17, 2019
No singal from driver front impact sensor picked up on my bluedrive scanner during live day and full vehicle scan
Incident date: Jun 10, 2024
Car repeatedly shows a warning for "Front passenger safety restraint system fault." The error goes away after a few minutes usually, but comes up frequently - about 1/2 of all drives. Error came up in 2021 and Tesla fixed it under warranty in about 2 minutes, tech said it's a sensor under the seat and a frequent error. Called Tesla about it in May 2024 and they said it's a safety hazard and we nee... Read more
Incident date: Jun 12, 2024
recall not fixed yet, what happens if a car hits me & the passenger airbags don’t work? unsafe, doesn’t seem like it’s being fixed in a timely manner
Incident date: Jun 17, 2024
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the air bag warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the second-row seat wiring harness had failed and needed to be replaced. The dealer determined that the failure was related to Ford Campaign Number: 21B11. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failur... Read more
Incident date: Jun 15, 2024
The contact owns a 2014 GMC Acadia. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V334000 (Air Bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a ... Read more
LAND ROVER
DEFENDER
(2024) - AIR BAGS
Jun 17, 2024
Incident date: Apr 9, 2024
The contact owns a 2016 GMC Acadia. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V334000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a f... Read more
Incident date: Jun 7, 2024
The contact's son owned a 2007 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact's son received recall notifications of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V050000 (Air Bags) and would like to be removed from the recall distribution list because he no longer owns the vehicle. The dealer and the manufacturer were not contacted.
Incident date: Jul 10, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 GMC Acadia. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V334000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a f... Read more
Incident date: Mar 5, 2020
The contact owns a 2017 GMC Acadia. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V334000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a f... Read more