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: Jun 7, 2024
Why is this not resolved with a remedy as yet? It is over six months now. This is unacceptable.
CHRYSLER
PACIFICA PLUG-IN HYBRID
(2024) - AIR BAGS
Jun 7, 2024
Incident date: May 25, 2024
The contact owned a 2014 Toyota Camry. The contact stated while driving 55 MPH, he swerved to avoid hitting an animal on the road and lost control of the vehicle. The vehicle veered off the road, hit trees and crashed into a boulder. The air bags failed to deploy. The contact was assisted out of the vehicle and was transported to the hospital by an ambulance. The contact sustained injuries. The co... Read more
Crash
1 injured
HYUNDAI
TUCSON HYBRID
(2024) - AIR BAGS
Jun 7, 2024
Incident date: May 28, 2024
The contact owned a 2016 Dodge Caravan. The contact stated that while her son was drunk driving and passed out at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle crashed into a sign and a guardrail causing the vehicle to flip over and come to a stop at a ditch. The contact stated the vehicle was in a previous collision where the air bags deployed and had to be replaced. The contact stated during this collision ... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jun 7, 2024
I am YU Sun. I met a car accident. I drive from south to north. I drove my new Toyota Venza( less than one month) entering into an intersection at 30/35miles on green light. The other car turned left with yellow and striked my left corner of my bumper. The speed is very fast. The other car is Lexus and its’ air bag all came out. My can was serious damaged. None of My my car’s air bags came o... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Jun 1, 2024
The airbag light comes on sporadically - almost all of the time when it's cold, and then on/off when it is warmer. Throws the code B0001-13 - Open or Increased Resistance in Driver's Airbag Inflator. Brought it to the dealership and they told me that I needed to get the whole driver's side airbag replaced (to the tune of $1300 dollars). With the plethora of recalls surrounding 2000s to 2010s Civ... Read more
Incident date: May 23, 2024
The recall was over 1 year ago on the airbags. I contacted GM and they have no eta on when they can fix the recall.
Incident date: Jan 30, 2024
We keep getting a warning about SRS on dash. I see it’s part of a recall but not for our VIN number.
Incident date: Jun 5, 2024
The contact owns a 2020 Honda Civic Si. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V064000 (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 experie... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 1999
The air bag light started blinking. We took the car to our local Nisan dealership. We had to pay $220.77 just to have them look at it. They said there was an occupant sensor unit malfunction and it needed the bottom seat pad replaced. We were then told “that it is discontinued “! We are left with an air bag that doesn’t work, and a blinking air bag warning sign that constantly reminds us of... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 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 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 a failure. VIN tool confirms... Read more
Incident date: Mar 4, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 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 ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 7, 2024
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Focus. The contact stated that upon entering an intersection with a green light, the contact crashed into another oncoming vehicle at approximately 30 MPH. The air bags did not deploy upon impact. No medical attention was rendered at the scene of the accident. The contact later sought medical attention from a doctor and received an MRI scan for both shoulders. The cont... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Jun 6, 2024
The contact owns a 2015 Chevrolet Colorado. The contact stated that while driving at 70 MPH, the vehicle to her right lane was struck by a vehicle behind it causing the vehicle on the right lane to spin out and hit her vehicle. The contact stated her vehicle was struck on the right center of the passenger side. No air bags deployed. No warning lights were illuminated. A police report was filed. N... Read more
Crash
Incident date: May 31, 2024
The contact owns a 2013 Honda Accord. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH, the driver's side curtain air bags and the front driver's seat air bags deployed without impact. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact was able to continue driving. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where the cause of the failure could not be determined. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 5, 2024
Problem Dealer said recall for airbags risk/ seat sensor cannot be fixed due to unable to get parts.
Incident date: Jun 6, 2024
Power steering went out and made me crash . Prior owner got it fixed but still didn’t fix issue
Crash
Incident date: Jun 6, 2024
Occupant sensor and wiring harness in the front seat becomes "pinched" under the seat when my son sits in the seat. Error code comes up on the dashboard.
Incident date: Jun 3, 2024
The contact owns a 2009 Mercedes-Benz C300. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the "SRS System Requires Service" was displayed. The air bag and check engine warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the vapor canister shutoff valve but had not provided a diagnosis for the SRS system. The vehicle was repaired. The ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 6, 2024
I was in an accident going approximately 35 mph. The car was deemed a total loss after inspection. There was damage to both left and right bumper, hood and pretty much the entire front of the car crumpled. The airbags did not deploy at all. I believe they failed and should have deployed
Crash
Incident date: Apr 21, 2024
The contact owns a 2022 Toyota 4 Runner. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the contact was in a single-car head-on collision. The contact stated during the collision there was an odor of the air bag deployment, however, the air bags did not deploy. The contact was transported to the hospital due to their head hitting the steering wheel. The contact stated no other part... Read more
Crash
1 injured
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2011) - AIR BAGS
Jun 6, 2024
Incident date: Jun 6, 2024
The contact owns a 2020 Honda CR-V. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V064000 (Air Bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the supplemental restraint system (SRS) warning light was illuminated. The local dealer was contacted and informed the contact that a diagnostic test was required, then the parts would be order... Read more
Incident date: Jun 4, 2024
Check engine light came on. Had Advanced Auto check and informed it's an airbag module and I've not struck anything
Incident date: Jun 6, 2024
There is a well known evaporator core issue with the Ford Mustangs/Trucks that were produced between the 2015-2017 models. Freon leaks out of the evaporator core due to poor build quality this creates a white film on the windshield of the vehicle that makes it hard for drivers to see. This happened to me when I first bought my car and I could have crashed but was able to safely pull over and clean... Read more
Incident date: Jun 4, 2024
The contact owns a 2015 GMC Sierra 1500. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the air bag warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the diagnostic test had not been completed. The contact stated that the vehicle had previously been repaired under NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V736000(Air Bags) in 2020. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 4, 2024
All four side curtain airbags deployed while I was driving my car in a parking lot. There was no collision and no reason whatsoever for the airbags to deploy. The airbags in the dash did not deploy. The airbag hit me in the side of the head and shrapnel from the airbag, hit me in the face and eyes and knocked me sideways toward the passenger seat. I was completely stunned and had piercing pain thr... Read more
1 injured
Incident date: May 28, 2024
I bought this car from Nalley Honda. After that I drove back to Birmingham. On my way airbag alarm pops up. Now they says I have to pay for this. But why should I pay for an safety issue as they should make sure its works fine.
Incident date: Jun 5, 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 f... Read more
Incident date: May 29, 2024
With trying to identify a recall notice, I ran my vin number through the web site and the site does not identify my vin number. So, I haven't been able to receive any recall notices. The safety aspect of this is that there is no one to contact about this problem. Trying to run the vin number through the decoder won't function without this working.
Incident date: May 23, 2024
The contact owns a 2014 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 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... Read more
Incident date: May 23, 2024
The passenger airbag was replaced under the Takata recall. Recently the airbag indicator light came on for the driver airbag. We have been notified by the dealership that this airbag needs replaced. They provided an estimate of $2,652.29. We reached out to Mercedes due to this being a safety issue and also due to the fact that the passenger airbag was replaced under a recall. They are unwilli... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2024
The contact owns a 2015 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 contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the air bag warning light illuminated. The dea... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact was made aware of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V334000 (Air Bags) by an independent mechanic after purchasing the vehicle; however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the air bag warning light was illuminated. The local dealer was not contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a r... Read more
DELCO TRAILERS
BUMPER HORSE
(2024) - AIR BAGS
Jun 5, 2024
Incident date: May 3, 2024
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 contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was contacted. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a... Read more
Incident date: May 29, 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 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 4, 2024
The contact owns a 2019 Nissan Frontier. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH, the air bar warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic however, the vehicle was not diagnosed. The contact was referred to the dealer for assistance. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the air bags needed to be replaced. The vehicle was ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 25, 2024
The contact owns a 2020 Acura MDX. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V064000 (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 contacted. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure.... Read more
TOYOTA
COROLLA CROSS
(2023) - AIR BAGS
Jun 5, 2024
Incident date: May 26, 2024
While driving on the freeway. Slowing down speed due to traffic, the vehicle through itself in park. With the warning messages stating service transmission. The vehicle would not go into any other gear besides park. Thankfully no collision was caused due to the abrupt halt. The vehicle was then towed for repairs to the dealer. It was determined that the valve body had to be replaced. The transmiss... Read more
Incident date: May 4, 2024
Manufacturer says they don't have the part to fix the Recall issue
Incident date: Feb 12, 2024
Received a system fault for seat belt SRS airbag safety restraint system for front left passenger. code RCM_a021_pretenLapFrontLeft Causes the pretensioner and restraint system to not function as designed. Has not been in an accident and verified problem was persistent with hard system reset and software update. Did not do modification or touch the seat belt components at all during ownership pe... Read more
Incident date: May 24, 2024
The contact owns a 2015 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 4, 2024
The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Avalon. The contact stated that while driving at 55 MPH, another vehicle in the left lane violently merged into the lane in front. In an effort to avoid crashing into the vehicle, the contact merged into the right lane however crashed into the rear driver's side of another vehicle. No air bags deployed. The vehicle was damaged due to the impact on the front passenger... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jun 3, 2024
Air bag failure indicator is on after other clock spring related issue (radio volume increases when steering wheel turns) started. Air bags no longer appear to be in working order after apparent click spring failure. Part has not been replaced to confirm.
Incident date: Jun 4, 2024
The contact owns a 2013 GMC Sierra. The contact stated that while driving at 70 MPH, she lost consciousness. After regaining consciousness, the contact discovered that the vehicle had crashed into two vehicles and that the driver's side air bag had deployed. The police and paramedics arrived at the scene; however, no one involved in the accident needed immediate medical assistance. A police repor... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Jun 4, 2024
The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact received notifications 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 ex... Read more
DODGE
GRAND CARAVAN
(2015) - AIR BAGS
Jun 4, 2024
Incident date: Jun 2, 2024
While cruising down a standard roadway around 40 mph, the passenger side/seat airbag randomly deployed for no apparent reason. The sound and shock of the airbag deployment nearly caused me to lose control the vehicle because it was so loud and unexpected.
Incident date: Jun 1, 2023
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 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 made awa... Read more
Incident date: May 26, 2024
The contact owns a 2021 Lexus RX350. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V865000 (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
Incident date: May 26, 2024
I was notified of the air bag recall in June 2023, and no action has been taken on this problem yet. My concern is, of course, if I'm an accident and the air bag deploys and metal is scattered thru out the inside of the car the end result will be disastrous to whom ever is inside my car.
HYUNDAI
SONATA HYBRID
(2021) - AIR BAGS
Jun 4, 2024
Incident date: Jun 3, 2024
On [XXX] pursuant to an appointment, I arrived at Riverside Chevrolet Buick GMC located at 100 Hwy 411 E in Rome Ga 30161 @ [XXX], to have the recalled Takata airbag replaced in our Chevrolet Silverado 1500. At that time, the Dealer failed and refused to replace the defective airbag, without giving a sufficient reason, and I left the dealership. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFO... Read more
Incident date: May 25, 2024
GM Recall N232404980: I was sent a letter in June 2023 about this recall, which stated parts were not currently available to replace the airbag. The letter states that GM will contact me when the part becomes available. On May 8, 2024 I called my local GM dealer to ask about the status of this recall. The dealer said they would have to special order the part and would notify me when it was ava... Read more