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: Aug 22, 2023
I purchased a 2011 Acura TL with a salvaged title. The steering wheel airbag appeared to have been repaired with certain glue or epoxy after appearing to have been deployed by previous owner. However the airbag is fully intact. The Acura dealership refused to conduct the recall due to this issue. Would this warrant a refusal to be replaced by the dealership? Thank you
Incident date: Jun 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 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: Oct 14, 2023
The Airbag Light, came on a few months ago. UNKNOWN why or exact date. Air Bag inspection, has outrageous cost, to just diagnose why it's on. I have never had a issue with air bags with this car or another car. This is uncommon. Especially with, No Car Incidents.
Incident date: Oct 20, 2023
The contact owns a 2003 Dodge Ram 1500. The contact stated that while driving at slow speeds, the driveshaft detached. Due to the failure, the gear oil and rear differential fluid leaked out of the vehicle. The contact was able to temporarily repair the driveshaft. The dealer and the manufacturer were notified of the failure but offered no assistance. Additionally, the VIN was included in NHTSA Ca... Read more
Incident date: Oct 13, 2023
The contact owned a 2022 Toyota Camry. The contact stated while driving approximately 70 MPH he drove into a heavy rainstorm. The contact stated that all the air bags deployed as soon as the vehicle had entered the storm. The contact lost control of the vehicle, hit the highway barrier, and crashed into the barrier head-on. The contact stated that the emergency phone called and a person asked the ... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Feb 16, 2022
The contact owns a 2011 Nissan Frontier. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23E012000 (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 mad... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2015) - AIR BAGS
Oct 20, 2023
Incident date: Oct 20, 2022
Van had srs code on from when bought by original owner. I bought van recently and tried to fix the issue I had the airbag replaced and the error went on a few days later. While looking into the issue I spoke to a few mechanic's who have both seen this issue with other vans with the same make and model. In those cases also it didnt help with replacing the airbags. There seems to be a real issue her... Read more
Incident date: Oct 5, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that when the front driver’s side seat was adjusted, the air bag warning light illuminated, and a message displayed on the instrument panel “Service Air Bags”. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed; however, the contact was informed by the mechanic not to adjust the front driver’s side seat due to adjusting the sea... Read more
Incident date: Oct 18, 2023
The contact owned a 2016 Chevrolet Spark. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 MPH, the vehicle was T-bone crashed into on the driver's side by a second vehicle. During the crash, the driver-side curtain air bags did not immediately deploy. The contact indicated that the air bag deployed approximately one minute after the crash had occurred. The driver sustained torso bruises and... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Sep 27, 2023
Was hit in the side and in my Dodge minivan the side curtain airbags never deployed. The van was a total loss so was the car that hit me and his airbag did deploy. I did injure my lower back and shoulder.
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Oct 15, 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 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: Oct 5, 2023
We have been attempting to have the car in for this recall - however both the dealership and regional office have said the 'repair is not available' How long does a mfg have to start making repairs under a recall (69EM) We have been patiently waiting over a year. Please advise.
Incident date: Mar 19, 2023
The contact owned a 2015 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 58 MPH, another vehicle crashed into the rear center passenger side of the vehicle. As a result, the vehicle rolled. The air bags failed to deploy. The contact sustained injury to the lower back, head, and neck that required medical attention. A police report was filed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repa... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Oct 19, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Infiniti Q60. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the air bag warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the seat air bag sensor, requiring the entire passenger’s side seat to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related it to NHTSA Campaign Numb... Read more
CRUISE LLC
ADS SOFTWARE
(9999) - AIR BAGS
Oct 19, 2023
Incident date: Jul 23, 2023
I have owned this vehicle for a year and have gone through three batteries. It shows multiple coded for circuit shorts - Passenger mirror motor, tailgate/liftgate/trunk motor as well as the cinch striker motor, instrument panel which has lost communication with cruise control module, power steering module, battery voltage circuit below threshold, driver side curtain deployment control 1 circuit sh... Read more
Incident date: Aug 19, 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. An undisclosed dealer was contacted and 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 manufacturer was ma... Read more
Incident date: Sep 6, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 Tesla Model S. The contact stated that the air bag warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that there was a fault in the seat. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 138,000.
Incident date: Nov 12, 2022
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. An undisclosed 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 9, 2023
The contact owns a 2008 Nissan Xterra. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V067000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. 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 manufacturer was made ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 17, 2023
The passenger restraint malfunction continues to alarm and the dealership states that it is a seat-pad sensor and want over $2000.00 to replace. From a number of BMW forums, it appears that this was a common problem with earlier models and a subsequent 15-year warranty extension was granted because of the safety concerns. My car is well cared for and has very few miles on it, so I truly believe ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2023
July 30, 2023, I was in car wreck with my Ford Expedition, 2017. The other car ran red light and hit my Ford in left front ahead of front wheel. Other car traveling approx 35 mph, by police report. Side airbag fizzled with smoke an did not deploy. Neither front airbag deployed. No airbags deployed. Ford was considered a total loss by both insurance companies involved. This vehicle has 5 star safet... Read more
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Sep 28, 2023
1) cranshaft and camshaft position sensors, timing problems and it has to be replaced this is a common damage in Mercedes Benz 2012 c250. 2) this put in risk my life because it can brake the engine in a highway and the car could be off.
FORD
F-150 HYBRID
(2022) - AIR BAGS
Oct 18, 2023
Incident date: Aug 22, 2022
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 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 not av... Read more
Incident date: Oct 18, 2023
I was in an accident when my 2018 Chevy Equinox rear ended a stopped vehicle at a traffic light. There was significant damage to the front of my vehicle 12k plus. The emergency braking system did not activate, nor did the airbags. My wife experienced severe contusions to the chest area.we wonder why the emergency braking system or airbags failed to deploy.
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Oct 16, 2023
Received a Front passenger safety restraint system fault warning on my Tesla that went away but the service tech claims that they don't see that warning when brought to service center. I am concerned that they are not transparent or not seeing something that I clearly saw. Or if there is some software/technical glitch that displayed it. They were not clear on why it showed to me. The other issue i... Read more
Incident date: May 7, 2023
The contact owns a 2013 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH, the message "Service Air Bags" was displayed. The dealer was notified of the failure, and an appointment was scheduled for a diagnostic test. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that an unknown recall related to the failure was pre... Read more
Incident date: Oct 18, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Expedition. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 60 - 65 MPH, another vehicle struck the contact's front driver's side, causing the contact's vehicle to spin. The vehicle then crashed into the side embankment wall. The air bags did not deploy. The impact caused the contact's chest to hit the steering wheel. The contact suffered a fractured sternum as ... Read more
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Oct 18, 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 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 manufac... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2004) - AIR BAGS
Oct 18, 2023
Incident date: Jul 20, 2021
Horn stopped working and error code says airbag error
Incident date: Jul 11, 2023
Coming home from work at 9:40pm a deer hit my car. I got no notification from my car about an object near my vehicle. I stopped my car lights were flashing and the operator on my car assist came on about detecting an accident. My cab filled with smoke and a funny smell. I thought the car was on fire. So I jumped out ambulance and cops showed up. My car got towed to Clifton collision in Clifton Tex... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Oct 7, 2023
The contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated while having the vehicle serviced, the contact was informed that the vehicle was experiencing excessive oil consumption. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was diagnosed by an independent mechanic. The contact was informed that the vehicle had experienced excessive oil consumption. The manufacturer was not made aware of the f... Read more
Incident date: Oct 18, 2023
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
Incident date: Aug 16, 2023
The contact owns a 2012 Honda Civic. The contact stated that while her husband was driving at approximately 55 mph, his vehicle crashed into a stopped Ford F-150. The driver was sore where x-rays were performed and medical attention was provided. There was no fire. A police report was filed. The air bags did not deploy. The vehicle was towed to an unknown location. The air bag warning light illumi... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Jul 31, 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 and determined 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... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
JETTA
(2018) - AIR BAGS
Oct 18, 2023
Incident date: Oct 18, 2022
My passenger headrest deployed at night. There was a recall but I did not get the notice. The recall is expired.
Incident date: Oct 28, 2022
I was in a major car accident. My Honda CR-V air bags did not deploy. Due to the accident I have a neck and back injury. My insurance company has declared my vehicle a total loss. Millions of Americans are driving Honda CR-Vs and due to air bag failure their lives are at risk in the case of a collision. I have called Honda and asked them to investigate the failure of their air bags deployment. The... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Oct 21, 2022
My parents involved to an accident, my mom's head and my dad's rips and neck get injured( send to hospital with the police report). We believe that the airbags should deployed.
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Oct 21, 2022
To Whom It May Concern. Please help me on this. I purchased a BMW x5 that needed recalls installed at the BMW dealer. I purchased the vehicle, performed routine preventative maintenance, new tires, new brakes, full detail, shampooed the interior, and full wash, etc. When I took my BMW to the dealer, the BMW dealer installed the recalled items, but did not install or replace the defective FRM foot... Read more
Incident date: Oct 16, 2023
Both headlights failed, one earlier, then the second, on a cloudy night on an unlit, deserted rural stretch of interstate highway. Driver started slowing down from 60 mph, looking for a place to pull over. An accident resulted--only the defective car was involved. No airbag was deployed. The driver was injured. (Full recovery--months.) The car was totaled.
Crash
Incident date: Oct 16, 2023
My airbag light has been on and off but mostly on for months. After searching online I see that there's been hundreds of thousands of recalls for the exact part that had malfunctioned according the dealership and I will still have to pay for diagnosis, parts, and service, out of pocket.
Incident date: Oct 17, 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 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 exp... Read more
Incident date: Jul 7, 2023
The contact owns a 2023 GMC Canyon. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the “Service Safety Restraint System” message was displayed. After restarting the vehicle, the vehicle returned to normal functionality, but the failure became a regular occurrence. The air bag warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who was unable to duplicate the failure.... Read more
Incident date: Jun 23, 2023
The contact owned a 2015 Infiniti Q50. The contact stated that while driving approximately 5 to 10 mph, she experienced a diabetic medical emergency. The driver was unable to feel her legs or feet to stop the vehicle and crashed into the rear of an unknown SUV. The air bags did not deploy. The air bag warning light illuminated at impact. A police report was filed. The driver was taken to the emerg... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Jul 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 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 not av... Read more
Incident date: Oct 15, 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 made... Read more
Incident date: May 15, 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 unavailable. 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 manufacturer was ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 10, 2023
The contact owns a 2012 Nissan Frontier. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23E012000 (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 had not ex... Read more
Incident date: Apr 12, 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 contacted and determined 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 awa... Read more
Incident date: Oct 17, 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 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 not av... Read more
Incident date: Oct 16, 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 not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experien... Read more