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: Feb 21, 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 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: Aug 9, 2023
Air bag light came on like 1 year ago. I had the dealership do the diagnostic on the car. They said it was cable relay. They said estimate to repair was over $2000. I have contacted Honda Goodwill department and after several emails and phone calls they gave me an option to pay $100 and they cover the rest. I have agreed. They have replaced cable relay and everything was fine. About a month later ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2024
No manufacture resolution in 5 years
Incident date: Mar 9, 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 made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufacturer... Read more
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2020) - AIR BAGS
Mar 22, 2024
Incident date: Mar 15, 2024
Horn issues horn isn't working Car shuts off constantly Multiple misfire codes reading permanent Codes won't clear on code reader Air bag light keeps blinking
Incident date: Mar 1, 2024
I am writing to express my alarm as to the length of time it is taking to resolve a safety recall ([XXX]) on my 2016 Buick Enclave. The recall was issued in May of 2023 and 10 months later, still no fix. It gives me great pause to be driving this vehicle whose driver's front airbag could shoot projectiles into the cabin if deployed. It even states in my recall letter that this could be deadly. Rec... Read more
Incident date: Feb 27, 2024
The contact owns a 2008 Mercedes-Benz C300. The contact stated after the vehicle was taken to the dealer for an unknown recall repair, the air bag warning light remained illuminated. The contact also became aware that the driver’s side headlight was inoperable. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer where it was diagnosed with a detached headlamp wiring harness. The dealer recommended that dri... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
C230
(2005) - AIR BAGS
Mar 22, 2024
Incident date: Jan 1, 2015
My 2019 Acura was involved in a front end collision which resulted in the car being deemed a total loss. Not one of the airbags deployed at any point during the collision, despite hitting head on. The collision resulted in me having severe neck and shoulder pain and stiffness as well as my foot and arm. There was no warning indicators on the dash prior to the collision. The car did however contact... Read more
Crash
2 injured
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2024) - AIR BAGS
Mar 22, 2024
Incident date: Mar 21, 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 and confirmed that the parts were not yet available. The manufacturer was not ma... Read more
Incident date: Mar 22, 2024
The SAM system failed and car would not start !It took months to be diagnosed by 3 different mechanics! The message said quite often that the Air bags have been deployed !The dealer could not determine the issue! There have been various recalls on the Takata air bags stating my C230 2005 Kompressor is included in the recall over the last few years and when I put in the vin it says my car is not in... Read more
Incident date: Jul 12, 2021
The airbags failed to deploy In a significant collision where hood, radiator, grill/number and both headlights were damaged. GM has been contacted and fail and refuse to do an inspection stating the issue is time barred to 10 years to original warranty of vehicle and are failing to acknowledge manufacturer defect or issue a recall. There were no warning signs/lights prior to notify that the airbag... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Feb 2, 2024
Hi, I had a 2016 XC90 which has serious safety problems. The sunroof has a factory defect, leaking water into the car and causing failures in electronic systems and airbags. Many other owners have sued Volvo and won their cases. Additionally, the issue has been certified by the court, and there are technical bulletins published by Volvo addressing the problem. Yes. The water leak can damage entire... Read more
Incident date: Apr 23, 2023
The recall on the air bags in my car have yet to be fixed. I received the recall notice over a year ago, contacted my dealership and still have no remedy for this. This is my only vehicle and I have had to drive it everyday, with my children in the vehicle, worrying if the airbags are gonna fail and we get hurt or worse. I just want it fixed and not continue to wait for "their faulty product" to ... Read more
FORD
ESCAPE HYBRID
(2021) - AIR BAGS
Mar 21, 2024
Incident date: Mar 21, 2024
Tracking #[XXX] Reference to carbon monoxide leak in cabin of the car. 227PPM and greater. No warning signals went off. My personal carbon monoxide detector alarmed me after repairs of engine seal for leak. [XXX] Hunter at Doggett called repairs are done. This car is not safe to drive. Toyota Brand Experience caller Lily called me Thursday March 14 and said someone from the team would call me b... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 2500
(2022) - AIR BAGS
Mar 21, 2024
Incident date: Nov 9, 2022
2019 Honda Accord SRS (supplement restraint system) unit light came on. The dealership informed me that the SRS unit and the driver side airbags are defective. The dealership had the car for a week attempting to figure out the issue and replaced both the SRS unit and the driver side airbags. They gave me the car back and 15 miles later the SRS unit light came back on. There is a safety concern wit... Read more
Incident date: Sep 3, 2023
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 experienc... Read more
Incident date: Jul 18, 2023
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 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 experien... Read more
Incident date: Jul 18, 2023
Airbag did not deploy. ACM signaled deployment but airbags did not inflate. Need assistance in finding out why the airbags did not fire. Det. [XXX] #[XXX] Vehicle Crimes/Traffic[ Unit Dallas Police Department [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Mar 20, 2024
The contact's wife owns a 2021 Toyota Camry. 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 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 manufa... Read more
Incident date: Jul 13, 2023
The airbag warning light keeps coming on after continued checks and fixes. The dealership zip tied connector c211 and the light went off for a bit then came back on, the seat belt has been replaced but the light came back on, and all other components have been checked but no matter what the fix the light stays on. This is an issue many people have and Ford should be responsible for fixing it.
Incident date: Oct 15, 2003
The contact owns a 2016 Buick Enclave. The contact received notification NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V334000 (Air Bags) however, the parts to repair were not available. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repairs as the recall notice was received several months ago. The local dealer was notified of the recall notice and confirmed that the parts... Read more
LES SCHWAB
OPENRANGE SQM3
(9999) - AIR BAGS
Mar 21, 2024
Incident date: Mar 13, 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 experienc... Read more
Incident date: Jan 9, 2022
Recall on air bag and GM has no parts available to fix the issue. Recall announced May 2023. I called GM and they indicated no parts were available yet. Don’t you think it’s about time GM gets the parts to fix the recall??
Incident date: May 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2023 Land Rover Range Rover Evoque. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the air bag warning light had remained illuminated. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer was notified of the failure. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 10,000.
Incident date: Mar 20, 2024
The contact owns a 2016 Buick Enclave. 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 made... Read more
Incident date: Nov 14, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V334000 (Air Bags), however, the part to repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable time to remedy the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.
Incident date: Jun 6, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 Buick Enclave. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V334000 (Air Bags), however, the part to repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable time to remedy the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.
Incident date: Mar 21, 2024
The connector module under the passenger side front seat that control the air bag is consistently triggered by bump or seat movement which sets off service airbag warning light. This therefore puts my car at risk for not properly deflating airbags on impact. This has been fixed at a local shop in 2023 and continues to be a problem for a lot of people. This should be a recall because it puts lives ... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
CLA250
(2014) - AIR BAGS
Mar 21, 2024
Incident date: Mar 1, 2024
I was ran off the road by another driver on March 8, 2024. I honked so that they would know I was there and then swerved as they continued to come towards me. As this happened, I lost control of my vehicle and it fishtailed on the highway, doing a complete 180° and going from 70 mph to 0 mph as I crashed into a concrete barrier on the shoulder of the road. The airbags did not deploy. My car will ... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Mar 16, 2024
I have water leaking out of both front grip airbags. My warranty started in 2019 as I bought the vehicle new from the dealer. They said this is not covered under the warranty. It is a safety issue and I believe it should be covered.
Incident date: Mar 17, 2024
vehicle has a recall for a few years already and dealer is saying that parts are not available.I have call multiple time and different dealers already and all of them have the same answer. time is passing by and Chevrolet Motor Company has not come with a solution to correct the problem.This make us feel unsafe to drive this vehicle. If they are not going to come to a solution to this recall and l... Read more
Incident date: Mar 20, 2024
The contact owns a 2021 Toyota RAV4. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V865000 (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 ma... Read more
Incident date: Mar 8, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 GMC Acadia. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V334000 (Air Bags) however, the parts to repair were unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time as the recall notice was received over a year ago. The dealer was contacted and confirmed that the parts were not available for the recall remedy. The manufac... Read more
Incident date: Mar 19, 2024
How Acura Lost my Business The fact that no one from Acura will take responsibility for the ongoing issues has reaffirmed that my long-term commitment to owning Acura’s is over. Honda will only communicate via the phone and say "if the dealership can't fix it, neither can Honda." I decided, after months of difficulties with things not working correctly in my car, to trade it in. The last st... Read more
1 injured
Incident date: Apr 10, 2019
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 dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufacturer was ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 17, 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: Oct 5, 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 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: Mar 19, 2024
The contact owns a 2015 Dodge Grand Caravan mobility vehicle. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the driver's side rear wheel air bag was deployed. The vehicle was driven to the contact's residence. The contact stated that the vehicle had been converted into a mobility vehicle by Compacity Trucks. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or ... Read more
Incident date: May 12, 2020
Air bags didn't deploy after impact in crash. Safety of driver was put at severe risk due to such malfunction of deployment of air bags. Vehicle has been inspected by the police and the insurance company. There were no warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure. AEB didn't engage when driver applied breaks during crash. Safety of driver was put at severe risk ... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Feb 16, 2024
The contact owns a 2018 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V215000 (Air Bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. An unknown 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 e... Read more
Incident date: Mar 1, 2022
OCS passenger seat weight sensor failed. Dealership verified this. They say to repair will be $8000 to replace whole seat. This is a common problem with hundreds of complaints mentioned on online forums. There was a recall for this issue on prior year Infiniti models but that recall doesn’t include newer than 2016. Infiniti refuses to replace under warranty. (They replaced the driver seatbelt ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 15, 2023
Airbag light came on with no collision or impact toy the vehicle, took it to dealership and they advised that it is the passenger side Active Headrest Restraint system. Even after admitting it was a faulty safety system, dealer will not replace it or fix it without compensation.
Incident date: Oct 15, 2023
The contact owned a 2008 Nissan Versa. The contact stated that he had been receiving recall notifications of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22E066000 (Air Bags) and would like to be removed from the recall distribution list because he no longer owns the vehicle. The manufacturer was contacted.
Incident date: Mar 12, 2024
The contact owns a 2014 Chevrolet Cruze. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V870000 (Air Bags); however, the part to do the repair was not yet available. No further information was provided. 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: Mar 20, 2024
Recall still not repaired. It was issued May 10, 2023 and here we are 10 months later.
VOLKSWAGEN
TIGUAN
(2020) - AIR BAGS
Mar 20, 2024
Incident date: Oct 1, 2022
Went to my local chevy dealership for them to fix the recall for my passenger air bag, less than a year later the airbag light came back on. i went to have it looked at and they told me it would be $145 to even see if it was the same problem, so now i have service airbag light and the recall was never fixed?
Incident date: Feb 12, 2024
I purchased the car new in 2018. About two years into owning there would be a random notification about an "rcm_a036 : passenger safety restraint system fault". I reported and was told that the seat occupancy sensor was responding to noise from my cell phone. I stopped putting the cell phone on the seat, it kept happening with increasing frequency in 2021 and 2022 and I reported it two more t... Read more
Incident date: Mar 19, 2024
The contact owns a 2012 Volkswagen Passat. The contact that the air bag warning light was illuminated, and the vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the clock spring was replaced under NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V483000 (Air Bags) in 2022; however, the failure recurred. The contact stated that the air bag warning light was illuminated while driving. Additionally, the steering wheel made an abnorm... Read more
Incident date: Mar 12, 2024
The contact owns a 2013 Mercedes-Benz C300. The contact stated while pulling into a parking space and depressing the brake pedal, the vehicle accelerated unintendedly. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that she depressed the brake pedal but the vehicle failed to respond. The contact stated that while the vehicle was approaching a building ahead, she veered to the right and... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Dec 12, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 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. 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 experi... Read more