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: Nov 25, 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 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: Nov 22, 2023
Since I bought my car in 2000, the dash where the passenger airbag comes out is broken. I have to turn the airbag off if anyone sits there. I'm afraid it will pop out at any time
Incident date: Dec 15, 2022
The contact owns a 2019 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V215000 (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 made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 27, 2023
In December, 2022, the airbag warning light activated. AT a cost to us of over $1500, the Infiniti dealer replaced the failed sensor. What we did not know is that this did not fix the problem and the air bag on the passenger side would never have deployed in the event of an accident. In November, 2023, the airbag warning light again activated. It turns out that the seat assembly had actually fai... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2022
When describing what happened, try to answer these questions as specifically as possible: What component or system failed or malfunctioned? Is it available for inspection upon request? the engine, when I am at a traffic light or in line at school to pick up my daughter, the car starts to shake suddenly, what I have to do is put it in NEUTRAL so that the movement decreases. Also when I'm driving o... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2022
My daughter was involved in a rollover accident 10/24/2023 resulting in a front passenger injury. The passenger's right hand was crushed during the accident requiring a lengthy hospitalization and numerous hand surgeries. The passenger will require additional surgeries in the upcoming future. Front and side airbags was not deployed during the accident. No warnings on the dash re. airbag issues... Read more
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Jun 1, 2022
While on her way from work, my mother was involved in an accident in her 2021 Kia K5 LXS where she was rear ended at a high speed by a driver not paying attention to the road and she ended up hitting the car in front of her. During the accident NONE OF THE AIRBAGS DEVELOPED. My mother was hospitalized for a month and do to the SEVERITY OF HER MAJOR INJURIES (rib fractures, a closed fracture of her... Read more
Crash
1 injured
1 deaths
Incident date: Jun 1, 2023
On Saturday, November 18, 2023, at approximately 2100 hrs. my wife was returning home from a volunteer event traveling N/B SR-269 near MM 15.7 when she encountered an elk crossing the roadway in front of her. She subsequently hit the elk with the left front of our 2019 Volkswagen Atlas SEL. The impact collapsed the hood, grill, front bumper, and left fender. The driver and passenger door, left fen... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Nov 26, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 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. The contact stated that the air bag warning light was intermittently illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and a second dealer, Volkswagen of Wesley Chapel (26500 Silver Maple Pkwy, Wesley Chapel, FL 3... Read more
Incident date: Jun 15, 2023
This past week my Nissan Frontier Sv airbag warning light is flashing. I notice other Nissan models have had the same issue but with a recall campaign. I have not called the local service dealer, but I have contacted their consumer hotline, and they said I would have to pay. I have 45,000 miles. I just never saw an airbag go bad so early.
MERCEDES-BENZ
SL500
(2003) - AIR BAGS
Nov 27, 2023
Incident date: Nov 27, 2023
The contact owns 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 was ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 15, 2022
My airs bags lights on it won’t go off The contact is hoping for a recall relating to this issue or defect.
Incident date: Nov 18, 2023
Light for Air Bag System fault keeps intermittingly coming on. I know it was a problem in the civic until 2011 but I have a 2012 and it may have been an issue or this year as well.
Incident date: Jan 1, 2023
With the number of deaths and injuries reported due to the airbag malfunction, GM has done little to remedy this issue. At the time of the 5/10/23 notification of the airbag recall, my vehicle was "grounded" out of a concern for my safety. Since six months has passed since the recall was initiated, GM has appeared to have assessed the situation and decided that the price of one life will cost th... Read more
Incident date: Nov 25, 2023
I went to get the Takata recall done. I made an appointment at the dealer, and I showed up. After spending several hours of my day, the dealer told me the airbag was on back order and they even asked me if I actually want to get it done. The dealer informed me my dash would be broken after they finished the job. I told them the airbag is dangerous and it needed to get done. They told me they wou... Read more
Incident date: Aug 16, 2023
The automatic braking system detection the RB system as it’s identified on the Subaru Dash heater, failure airbag deployment, all disabled repeatedly removal of the battery connections for a period of 30 minutes reset it but failure has repeated
Incident date: Oct 10, 2023
2013 Elantra GT purchased new less than 63,000 miles. Airbag warning light on constantly. Hyundai has issued an extended lifetime warranty on clock spring. 2 local Dealers are 45 days behind in scheduling repairs and will not look at clockspring without agreement to pay $200.00 diagnostic fee to find what other issue may be at fault. This makes the extended warranty bait and switch smokescreen wo... Read more
Incident date: Oct 12, 2023
As I was entering the freeway, the car was hit by an object which came flying at the vehicle from the adjacent lane. The impact of the object hitting the front bumper of the vehicle caused the hood "airbags" (pedestrian actuator system) to deploy. With the deployment of the hood airbag the hood opened from the back and would not close back up as force of the airbags broke the hinges on the hood. F... Read more
Incident date: Nov 19, 2023
Passenger Airbag indicator light stays "On" at all times(with or without a seated front passenger) Indicating that "Passenger Airbag is " OFF". Concern that the Airbag System is not functioning properly, thus exposing the front seat passenger to injury in the event of an accident. YES. On 02/24/2023 the vehicle was inspected by an independent service center. Note: a copy of the report/findings is... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
GLC 300
(2019) - AIR BAGS
Nov 24, 2023
Incident date: Sep 7, 2023
The clutch. I was driving down the freeway and the clutch went out. Yes, Champion Jeep Dodge confirm the clutch system went out. Yes, I was told they do not cover the clutch. There was no one he signed symptoms or problems. I did take it back to AutoNation on 2 other occasion complaining about the brakes and the emergency. I have had this vehicle less than 7 months and had nothing but problems. ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 7, 2023
We were traveling at approximately 45 miles per hour, slowed down around a bend in the road and hit an ice patch. The vehicle spun towards a truck stopped at a stop sign. We hit the driver's side of the truck with the driver's side of my vehicle. We continued to spin and hit the truck again with a side impact. and spun again after the second impact. The front airbags deployed but the over head sid... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Nov 16, 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 made aware of the issue. 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 and confirmed ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 12, 2021
I was involved in a multi-car accident on 11/16/23 wile traveling on the 485 Beltway around Charlotte, NC. It was approximately 6 pm, and completely dark. The traffic was very heavy and traveling at 70 mph ( the speed limit) when a car in front of me was stopped. My 2020 Infinity QX60 did NOT alert me of a potential frontal collision, nor did the car begin braking. I slammed on the brakes, but... Read more
Crash
3 injured
Incident date: Oct 11, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated that on two separate occasions, while driving at various speeds, the air bag warning light illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where the contact was provided an estimate for a diagnostic test. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was... Read more
Incident date: Nov 21, 2023
I was hit on the drivers side, where the front drivers door stops and the back door begins. The other drivers was estimated at going 50-60 mph. My car spun and rolled over 360 degrees. None of the airbags deployed. The sheriff, ambulance, firefighters all told me to report it. The car was totaled at the scene so unfortunately no inspections were able to be made. There were not warning lights previ... Read more
Crash
1 injured
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2014) - AIR BAGS
Nov 24, 2023
Incident date: Nov 24, 2023
I had two mayor accidents, one was from the rear and the other on the left doors from the passenger side. The airbags didn't deployed and I'm concerned. The body shop said he doesn't unsdertand why they didn't deployed.
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: May 3, 2023
My air bag light is on. I brought it to the dealer for repair. The dealer told me the airbag is unfixable due to the fact that the "Passenger seat presence sensor is broken and no longer manufactured". I now have a car that is fully functional aside from this issue and it's unsafe to drive. The dealer also refused to buy the car back from me for fair market value.
Incident date: Nov 22, 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 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: Nov 21, 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: Nov 22, 2023
The contact owned a 2019 BMW 530E. The contact stated that while stopped due to traffic, the vehicle was rear-ended causing the contact to crash into the vehicle in front. During the impacts, the contact hit his head, and was unconscious. The contact does not remember if it was the steering wheel or the windshield where he hit his head. The only air bags deployed were the side air bags but no fron... Read more
Crash
HYUNDAI
ELANTRA HYBRID
(2023) - AIR BAGS
Nov 22, 2023
Incident date: Nov 14, 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
HYUNDAI
SANTA FE SPORT
(2013) - AIR BAGS
Nov 22, 2023
Incident date: Nov 22, 2023
The contact owns a 2004 Ford Ranger. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V0810000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was made aware of the issue. 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 and confirmed that p... Read more
Incident date: Sep 28, 2023
On two occasions our Taos, when put in drive rolled backwards on a slight grade when the brake was released. The dealership says they cannot replicate the problem and suggests waiting 1.5 to 3 seconds after shifting to drive before releasing the brake. I don't think this is standard procedure, at least in any car I've ever driven and I've never heard of such a procedure in any car. In addition, th... Read more
FORD
TRANSIT CONNECT
(2014) - AIR BAGS
Nov 22, 2023
Incident date: Aug 15, 2023
On [XXX], my daughter rear-ended a stopped vehicle while trying to merge. She was driving approximately 60-70mph at the time of impact. The front end of her car was completely smashed and the insurance company deemed it a total loss. Despite the force and speed at impact, her airbags did not deploy. She hit her head on the steering wheel, causing a concussion. She continues to suffer from the eff... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Nov 22, 2023
Unable to drive our family car due to the ongoing passenger airbag recall. VW has yet to come up with a resolution, but it is not safe for us to drive it with someone in the passenger seat. This problem is very frustrating and the delay in a solution should be unacceptable.
Incident date: Jul 14, 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 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 parts... Read more
Incident date: Sep 22, 2022
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 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: Oct 10, 2023
First, my passenger airbag light came on and will not go off. then my emergency breaking system activated while I was driving on the interstate and I was almost hit by a semi from behind I didn’t manage to get the vehicle off the road I took it to Nissan . They did a diagnostics and couldn’t find anything wrong with the car the emergency braking system has activated several times since then an... Read more
Incident date: Nov 21, 2023
I kept getting notifications indicating that there was a Front passenger safety restraint system fault - RCM_a056. On reaching out to Tesla service, I received an estimate for more than $2000 to fix and they appear to be replacing the seat, occupant classification system or sensor, and also Front passenger airbag. I found many instances of this issue on online forums(with different error codes) an... Read more
Incident date: Nov 21, 2023
Car randomly accelerates on it's own. Typically when I am trying to come to a stop. Happened to the mechanic when he test drove it. Did not know what to do about it. Service airbag light also on for seemingly no reason.
Incident date: Nov 21, 2023
PCM failed and my car went into limp mode all of a sudden while going down a very busy and fast paced road with limited visibility. This entire car should be recalled after all the serious safety issues I've seen from it.
VOLKSWAGEN
GTI
(2015) - AIR BAGS
Nov 21, 2023
Incident date: Nov 15, 2023
Intermittently over the past two months, the vehicle has been showing error code RCM_a056 with the accompanying message: Front passenger safety restraint system fault Service is required I reached out to Tesla and the service estimate was nearly $1500 to replace the Airbag "to maintain compatibility with Front Passenger Seat" for $942 and $414 to replace the Occupant Classification System (OCS) o... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
SPRINTER 3500
(2022) - AIR BAGS
Nov 21, 2023
Incident date: Sep 21, 2023
The truck had an airbag malfunction notice on the information center. We took the truck to the dealer and was told that it was an electrical problem with the airbags. That the only way to have it covered under warranty was for the vehicle to be under the bumper to bumper warranty. The truck at the time the mileage was 39844. We had the truck fixed since it was a safety issue. It cost $420+ to fix ... Read more
FORD
EXPEDITION
(2017) - AIR BAGS
Nov 21, 2023
Incident date: Nov 21, 2023
I was crossing through a major intersection. I had the green light so I proceeded in a forward direction. A vehicle traveling west on Hwy 24, ran the red light and struck me in the drivers door. His estimated speed was the speed limit at 35 mph. None of the airbags deployed in my vehicle. The curtain airbag on the drivers side, nor the airbag from the steering wheel. deployed. I hit my head on th... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Nov 21, 2023
1) Car pushed forward while parking @ 3-4 miles/per hour Car was totaled 2) Air bags did not deploy 3) Problem has not been reproduced or confirmed by dealer 4) Component was not confirmed by manufacturer. Police was present, reported to Insurance 5) While crashing through a store front, the Lane changing warning was displayed
Crash
FORD
FUSION HYBRID
(2017) - AIR BAGS
Nov 21, 2023
Incident date: May 5, 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
FORD
FUSION HYBRID
(2017) - AIR BAGS
Nov 21, 2023
Incident date: May 5, 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 unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time to remedy the recall repair. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms par... Read more
Incident date: Nov 20, 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 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... Read more