Consumer Safety Complaints
Search 2,192,899 safety complaints filed by vehicle owners with NHTSA — including 137,559 crashes, 55,854 fires, and 8,555 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 2,192,899 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 127,896 complaints — component: AIR BAGS
Incident date: May 10, 2023
The safety recall has been issued for a very long time with no resolution or option to fix. This is a major safety concern since it deals with the airbags and needs to find a resolution ASAP.
Incident date: Sep 8, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while crossing an intersection at 35 MPH, another driver crashed on the driver's side of the vehicle resulting in a T-bone collision. The air bags did not deploy upon impact. Both driver-side doors failed to open after the accident and special equipment was used by the authorities to extract the contact from the vehicle. The contact wa... Read more
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Sep 11, 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 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 wa... Read more
Incident date: Sep 8, 2023
The contact owns a 2005 Dodge Ram 1500. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 16V352000 (Air Bag), 15V313000 (Air Bags), and 14V796000 (Power Train) however, the parts to do the recall repairs were 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 no... Read more
Incident date: Sep 11, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 Jeep Patriot. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 16V668000 (Seat Belts, Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was not 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 h... Read more
Incident date: Aug 22, 2023
The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that as his wife attempted to park the vehicle in their garage, the vehicle independently accelerated without warning and crashed into a concrete wall. The air bags did not deploy upon impact. The contact stated that his wife suffered from neck pain for a week after the accident but did not seek medical treatment. A police report was filed.... Read more
1 injured
Incident date: Sep 8, 2023
The contact was driving a 2023 Kia Sportage loaner vehicle. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 MPH and pressing the brake pedal the braking system malfunctioned and the brake pedal extended to the floor causing the vehicle to crash into the rear of a second vehicle. During the crash, the vehicle sustained front-end damage but the air bag did not deploy. Also, during the crash, ... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Sep 11, 2023
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 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 exp... Read more
Incident date: Aug 21, 2023
I petition into USA to request COMPANY TOYOTA AVALON to should be recall AIRBAG , because in the time our car was involve accident Airbag to did not open , after some day the light AIRBAG appear , it is mean AIRBAG none good , All picture our car were damage I submitted into DMV Our car TOYOTA AVALON 2001 Vin [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] I contact COMPANY TOYOTA in USA For complaint , and to r... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Sep 8, 2023
Air bag sensor fails to properly sense a passenger in the passenger seat and the service airbag warning light cycles on and off. To keep it from cycling - one must disconnect the sensor. I have contacted the dealer to diagnose the problem. The condition occurred after starting the vehicle and occurs whether there is a passenger or not. It also occurs while the car is in run mode. Airbag will not ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 8, 2023
My vehicle recently started showing warning/service lights for no reason; airbag, power steering, park lights, coolant, check engine etc. My engine would also keeps running even after removing the keys.. My battery would also be dead the next day (new battery) if battery is not disconnected . Power door locks , also stops working via fob and manual. While driving the power steering would also stop... Read more
Incident date: Sep 13, 2020
On September 13, 2020, my father was driving his 2015 Ford F150, with me in the passenger seat. We were hit in a high speed head-on collision on I-55/I-240 in Memphis, TN by an oncoming driver, which killed both my father (the driver), and the oncoming vehicle driver, and I was taken to the hospital with injuries in critical condition. My father was extracted from the vehicle and taken to the mo... Read more
Crash
1 injured
2 deaths
VOLKSWAGEN
BEETLE
(2015) — AIR BAGS
Sep 10, 2023
Incident date: Sep 10, 2023
The driver's side air bag inflator may explode causing sharp metal fragments to strike driver and passengers which may cause death. This has been a known issue since January 2023. To date there is no known repair available? This is unacceptable.
Incident date: Sep 7, 2023
Head on collision driving 40-45 MPH - a Mercedes pulled out in front of me and I slammed into their vehicle. My air bags did not deploy nor was there auto braking system. The crash indicator also did not call the police. My car is totaled. There is no way this vehicle is not part of your recent recalls. I was injured by the seat belt and have chest pain- this could have been avoided had my air bag... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: May 10, 2023
I’ve owned this 2012 g37 for a few years and had no issues whatsoever. However within the last couple of months, my air bag light came on and has been flashing since. I’ve taken it to get inspected and had the system checked and was told my passenger seat occupant sensor malfunctioned and is throwing the code on. The sensor itself, very easily replaced, is unable to be bought by itself. Repair... Read more
Incident date: Sep 7, 2023
Airbag did not deploy / system failed at the time of the car accident happens. My safety was at risked during the time of accident. There were no indications, warning, messages or symptoms of the problems when the accident occurred.
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Aug 15, 2023
My Airbag light continuously stays lit. Concerned about malfunction.
VOLKSWAGEN
BEETLE
(2014) — AIR BAGS
Sep 9, 2023
Incident date: Aug 22, 2023
On my dashboard, my passenger seat airbag started going off. I brought my VW Beetle in for its 100,000-mile maintenance check and asked about the airbag. My mechanic informed me that the passenger seat airbag was failing, and if I were driving with someone and crashed, their airbag would not deploy. They told me there was nothing I could've done to prevent this, it's just the piece itself has fail... Read more
Incident date: May 23, 2023
GMC has not fixed this in a timely manner; there are no parts available and no remedy available. The car is not safe to drive with this airbag recall.
Incident date: Apr 19, 2023
Front passenger airbag occupancy sensor fails leading to inactivation of front passenger airbag. Dealership says that a repair solution is not available.
Incident date: Jun 15, 2021
Lights just came on . Never had accident.
Incident date: Sep 9, 2023
Air bag new
Crash
Fire
10 injured
1 deaths
Incident date: Apr 22, 2023
The headrest in front passenger side made a loud noise and opened. It's scared me, because I had no clue what the noise was from at the time. It was night time and all I can say is thank God no other cars were near me...I probably would have wrecked. I'm very thankful that my son was not sitting there when it happened. There were no lights or warnings and I never knew that could happen let alone ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 8, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 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 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: Sep 8, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 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. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experie... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
BEETLE
(2016) — AIR BAGS
Sep 8, 2023
Incident date: Sep 8, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Volkswagen Beetle. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V945000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was not 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 expe... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
TIGUAN
(2018) — AIR BAGS
Sep 8, 2023
Incident date: Jun 19, 2023
My vehicle has had repeated issues with passenger airbags, after last repair all of the safety sensors failed and received warning on dashboard (no collision protection, no Adaptive cruise control) after bringing back to dealer car was returned to me and told the parts are unavailable. Currently I have had a vehicle under warranty which has no collision protection features that came with the car.... Read more
Incident date: May 10, 2023
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. An undisclosed dealer was contacted and confirmed that the part was not yet available for the recall repair. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. T... Read more
NISSAN
PATHFINDER
(2014) — AIR BAGS
Sep 8, 2023
Incident date: Mar 8, 2022
The contact owns a 2014 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated while driving at various speeds and depressing the brake pedal, the vehicle failed to respond immediately. The contact stated that the failure recurred on a raining day, causing the vehicle to glide. The air bag, traction control, and the ABS warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where the br... Read more
Incident date: Feb 27, 2022
What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? Sear, safety belt, airbag and the speedometer 1.The driver side seat was powered by electricity, it moved forward by itself during the crash. However, the car battery was destroyed and caught on fire as soon as the crash happened. 2.The airbag might have a delayed deployment, which caused my right ... Read more
Crash
Fire
1 injured
Incident date: Jan 15, 2023
Hello NHTSA: I purchased a 2018 Nissan Leaf from Carvana on December 29, 2022. Within a short period of time the car experienced seat belt and air bag warning lights. The car was repaired under factory warranty by HGreg Nissan in Cutler Bay Florida but continued to display warning lights. The satellite communications system was not able to be repaired. This failure deactivated certain convenience ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 8, 2023
1. My car is very old and has 189,000 miles. Takata airbag recalls are now known and issued by the NHSTA, it shows that I have 6 recalls and BMW does not see the recalls. As well as my brakes they are super soft and the only thing I did for the brakes is replace new brake pads they are OEM and also my emergency parking brakes are not working. It is avaible for inspection. 2. My safety while drivi... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2013 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the air bag warning light illuminated, and then flashed off and on. The contact called the local dealer and was informed that the next available appointment was February 2024. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that she had to adjust the seat to remove the steering wheel loc... Read more
Incident date: Sep 8, 2023
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 had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
Incident date: Sep 5, 2023
Passenger Restraint Warning Light has been coming on off and on and now stays on all the time. Dealer has confirmed car needs to have the OC3 mat replaced at a very high price. Car is a 2018 BMW M550ix. Apparently this has been a common problem with the BMWs.
Incident date: Sep 8, 2023
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. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not expe... Read more
Incident date: Aug 28, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Ford Fiesta. The contact stated that while the contact's wife was driving at an undisclosed speed, an oncoming vehicle crashed into the front of the vehicle. The contact stated that none of the air bags deployed. The vehicle was towed to a tow yard and then towed to a collision center. The contact stated that his wife suffered a concussion and was severely bruised. Two day... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Aug 25, 2023
The contact owns a 2023 Kia Niro. The contact stated that while making a left turn a second vehicle crashed into the front driver's side of the vehicle. The contact stated that during the crash the front driver side air bag, the driver's side curtain airbag and driver's side lower leg air bags all deployed as intended but the she sustained severe flesh wounds to both lower legs due to the airbags ... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Sep 8, 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 not made aware of the issue. The contact had not exp... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS
(2019) — AIR BAGS
Sep 8, 2023
Incident date: Sep 8, 2023
Volkswagen has failed to provide a remedy for the airbag recall in a timely manner.
CHRYSLER
TOWN AND COUNTRY
(2009) — AIR BAGS
Sep 8, 2023
Incident date: Jun 29, 2023
Air conditioning condensation leaking below dashboard and onto carpet, causing electrical shorts in air bag and anti-lock brake (ABS). Chrysler identified this issue and issued a recall (K25) in January 2011, but only for vehicles manufactured through December 3, 2008. In consultation with Chrysler and according to its own internal documentation, my vehicle (manufactured in February 2009) has th... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2014
When replacing the Clock Spring I noticed the Airbag serial number matched numbers from other vehicles for recall but my vehicle was not listed in recall.Vin number [XXX] 2003 Dodge Stratus Sedan INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Incident date: Aug 9, 2023
I was in a very light two-car collision on 08-09-2023. Both cars had little to no damages, just very minute scratches that are very hard to see. But two of the airbags on my KIA Niro (front and knee) deployed suddenly, causing me to black out for a couple of minutes and later have a concussion, and the bottom airbag caused a bruise and consistent knee pain to this day. My car is at a Kia Service f... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Sep 6, 2023
I bought this car from Hillside Honda in Queens, NY in June 8th 2016. It was a floor model that I was told by the salesman I got a great deal on it and I found out later it wasn't true. Let me get to the point, I found out this car is a lemon car. From the frontal airbag to the engine, it's a complete nightmare. My focus is more on the engine itself. The vehicle vibrates too much, I keep this car... Read more
Incident date: Sep 7, 2023
The passenger restraint system is malfunctioning and dealer not covering the cost. It’s a defect in the component and a clear safety issue.
Incident date: Aug 6, 2023
Phone charging cord is prone to getting pulled into the steering column and extremely difficult to remove. When I was able to remove the cord, I discovered a wire or spring the steering wheel assembly must have come undone, because the airbag light is on, and my cruise control no longer works, and neither do the steering wheel controls for the radio
Incident date: Aug 7, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Cruze. The contact stated while driving 25 MPH, the front air bag warning light illuminated, and the message "Service Air Bags" was displayed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer that stated that the front passenger side air bags needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage... Read more
Incident date: May 10, 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 unavailable. 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: May 10, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 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 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 a... Read more