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 191,761 complaints - component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Incident date: Sep 15, 2023
The contact owns a 2025 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost automotive power. There was a beeping sound coming from the instrument panel, and the alarm system unexpectedly activated. The contact stated that the electrical system occasionally failed to function properly. The vehicle was able to restart; however, the alarm continued to so... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2022) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Mar 11, 2026
Incident date: Feb 19, 2026
My engine smells like fire and fuel my can will not start or do anything. There was smoke coming out of it. The van has had several issues since buying it. Now it’s completely disabled I heard a popping noise as I was driving and then it died and has not started since.
Incident date: Mar 10, 2026
I am reporting a defect involving my **2025 Buick Encore GX AWD manufactured by General Motors. Within two days of purchasing the vehicle, the dashboard displayed the warning message “Service Charging System – Vehicle May Stall.” I contacted the dealership on the third day of ownership and was instructed to bring the vehicle in for service. Since that time the vehicle has required multiple r... Read more
Incident date: Jan 15, 2026
The vehicle will shut down while in gear and driving at lower speeds. Happens at least 2-3 times per day for last 3 weeks
Incident date: Feb 28, 2026
Headlights cut out when it says low beam out and both headlights are new and work fine until it decides it doesn’t. Transmission is faulty in these cars.
Incident date: Oct 10, 2025
See attached document for complaint. I purchased a certified pre-owned Nissan Leaf SV Plus on [XXX] specifically for the larger battery capacity and the ability to use a DC fast charger, as this would allow me to drive my electric vehicle wherever I needed to go, including regular trips to Seattle from Mount Vernon. I was notified by Nissan in September 2024 that, due to the possibility that the ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 14, 2025
You can smell something getting hot the gauges jump everywhere and the 12 volt outlet constantly flashes red or orange. The screen goes out for long periods of time and the transmission shifts down so hard and then misses gears shifting up causing the person driving to lose momentum. I can not believe this truck has not been recalled yet. It’s been at the dealers shop 20 times for electrical iss... Read more
Incident date: Oct 7, 2025
The vehicle has turned off twice while driving. Endangering the safety of everyone in the vehicle
Incident date: Oct 7, 2025
The contact owns a 2021 BMW X3. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V636000 (Electrical System); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted several times about the recall and confirmed that parts were not yet available for the recall repair. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of ti... Read more
Incident date: Mar 9, 2026
The charge port latch failed to release the mobile connector (consistent with TSB SB-18-44-002) I had to call Tesla customer service for manual release instructions, which was very difficult to get through to (unclear through the Tesla App) After manual release, the mobile connector was damaged since it got stuck during a rainstorm. Tesla replaced the entire charging port for ~$1,000 without first... Read more
Incident date: Jan 5, 2026
My car will not charge at my home power charger or any L1 or L2 AC based power system. It will only charge at higher price fast DC chargers which are limited and not at my house. This is apparently a commonly known flaw with this vehicle that has not been addressed and I am now waiting more than 20 days for a replacement part to be ready.
Incident date: Apr 22, 2025
The ICCU unit failed, making this electric vehicle unchargeable and therefore undriveable. This is the second time this has happened on this vehicle and the wait for the part was 8 plus weeks. This is a nationwide issue.
Incident date: Mar 11, 2026
The contact owns a 2017 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was pending an appointment with the dealer. The contact used a handheld scanner and retrieved seventeen different undisclosed diagnostic trouble codes. The contact stated that the warning lights were intermittently illuminated. The manufac... Read more
TOYOTA
SIENNA HYBRID
(2025) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Mar 11, 2026
Incident date: Oct 3, 2025
Everytime I try to turn my wheel it’ll get stiff and the notification will pop up saying “electric power steering system” but then it’ll go back to normal and when I start the car it sounds like it doesn’t want to start at all and like the cords are trying to connect because they start making a ticking sound. I’ve had issues with electrical before to where the airbags and lane assist h... Read more
Incident date: Aug 5, 2025
The contact owns a 2014 Mercedes-Benz C250. The contact stated that the vehicle was difficult to start. Additionally, the steering wheel was difficult to turn to the left or the right. The vehicle was eventually started and driven to a dealer; however, after the vehicle was parked and turned off, the contact attempted to restart the vehicle; however, the vehicle failed to restart. The dealer repla... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2025
On August 15, 2025, I was backing my vehicle when the rear view camera screen went blank, providing no image of what was behind me. With no warning and no image, I collided with a rock and landscape, causing damage to the rear of my vehicle. At the time of this incident, my vehicle had an open, unrepaired safety defect under Safety Recall 25TA13, which specifically addresses the condition that th... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Mar 6, 2026
My 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 5 suddenly malfunctioned on Sunday, March 1, 2026. The vehicle abruptly lost power, would not accelerate beyond 25 miles per hour, and then completely died within minutes. This left me stranded on the roadside off the highway, and the car had to be towed to the dealership. It has now been over 10 days, and I have not received any updates regarding the repair timeline, or next... Read more
JEEP
WAGONEER S
(2025) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Mar 11, 2026
Incident date: Feb 27, 2026
I am reporting a serious safety issue with my 2021 Ford F-150. This truck has already been subject to multiple recalls, yet the problems have continued. On several occasions while driving, the truck has suddenly shut off without warning, causing a complete loss of power while the vehicle is in motion. This has happened while my family and I were in the vehicle and has nearly resulted in a serious ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 3, 2026
While driving our 2025 Jeep Wagoneer S EV, the electronic parking brake engages without driver input while the vehicle is in motion. The vehicle suddenly decelerates as if the parking brake has been applied. This occurs without any action from the driver and cannot be manually released. This is extremely dangerous because the parking brake is designed to be used when the vehicle is stationary. W... Read more
Incident date: Nov 19, 2025
The following warning lights: adaptive cruise control problem, lane keeping assist, collision mitigation system, road departure mitigation problem, auto high beam problem
Incident date: Jul 15, 2025
In November 2025, after charging car overnight, backed out of driveway and began to drive. Within 100 feet, received red error message and tone: “Stop vehicle and check power supply”. Stopped the vehicle and got it towed to Kia dealer, who confirmed that the ICCU had failed, despite the car having received the software patch purporting to fix the problem. The ICCU was replaced under warranty ... Read more
Incident date: Dec 15, 2025
I own a 2019 Honda Odyssey with approximately 100,000 miles. The power tailgate began malfunctioning suddenly. The rear hatch repeatedly unlatches and beeps as if it is opening even while the vehicle is in motion. After inspection, the dealership stated the tailgate control module failed due to water intrusion into the rear hatch area. I was told this is a known issue affecting multiple model yea... Read more
Incident date: Mar 11, 2026
Started driving, engine light comes on and it shows error code “start/stop error” Car won’t go past 30pmh.
GRAND DESIGN
SOLITUDE
(2022) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Mar 11, 2026
Incident date: Jul 1, 2025
The recall for the loss of signal from the tone ring in recall 66A was supposed to allow the vehicle to use the signal from the camshaft positioning sensor. This recall was completed on my truck but the loss of signal from a bad tone ring has resulted in the same condition as the original recall which is inoperability of the vehicle. This still poses a safety threat as the recall did not correct... Read more
Incident date: Sep 17, 2025
My 2019 BMW X3 (G01 chassis) displays a persistent "Emergency Call System Malfunction" warning on the instrument cluster that cannot be dismissed or reset by the owner. The warning appears every time the vehicle is started and remains on the dashboard throughout operation. This is a known defect caused by failure of the Telematics Communication Box (TCB) module, which is commonly triggered by wat... Read more
TOYO
ALL RADIAL TIRE
(9999) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Mar 11, 2026
Incident date: Mar 2, 2026
I am submitting this complaint regarding a Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe that has been subject to multiple safety recalls involving the high-voltage battery system and a risk of fire or explosion.The manufacturer, Stellantis, issued safety instructions advising owners not to charge the vehicle and not to park the vehicle in garages or near structures or other vehicles due to the potential fire risk. It ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 11, 2025
This is regarding recalls for my 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander Hybrid Platinum Max. The vehicle has been in the possession of Koons Tysons Toyota since December 23, 2025 (80 days as of 3/11/26), for repair of Safety Recall #25TA13 and #25TB13 NHTSA 25V744) involving the Panoramic View Monitor System/Parking Assist ECU. The dealership has explicitly informed me that the vehicle is unsafe to operate... Read more
Incident date: Mar 10, 2026
The contact owns a 2024 Jeep Wrangler 4XE. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 25V710000 (Electrical System) and 25V766000 (Engine); 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... Read more
Incident date: Mar 10, 2026
A warning came up on the dashboard to “Check electric vehicle system”. 12v battery light also on. Vehicle went into limp mode and drove at 45 mph max for a period of time, then dropped to 27 mph max. Inspections at Ziegler Kia in Holland, MI, found the ICCU was faulty and needs to be replaced. This vehicle has already had the ICCU recall applied, yet ICCU has failed again.
KIA
SORENTO PHEV
(2022) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Mar 11, 2026
Incident date: Mar 11, 2026
The contact owns a 2019 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact stated while attempting to turn off the vehicle, the Auto START/STOP system failed to turn off as intended. The contact stated that the engine was running. The message "STAND/PARK" was displayed on the instrument panel, and the warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed. The contact was unaware... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2025
Hello, I recently submitted a safety complaint regarding my 2017 Ford Flex. The complaint number is XXX. I would like to add additional information that I forgot to include in the original report. The vehicle’s power liftgate has intermittently opened on its own while the vehicle was parked. There have been occasions where I came outside and found the liftgate open overnight in my driveway. T... Read more
Incident date: Mar 2, 2026
I purchased a vehicle from Banter Auto here in Wichita, Kansas. I reviewed the Carfax beforehand and nothing stood out that scared me so I signed off and purchased the vehicle. I have had nothing but problems since buying which was 7 months ago and have spent $9000 on repairs. I’ve been told by several mechanics the last 5 times I’ve been in and out of mechanic shops it’s evident my car sat ... Read more
MITSUBISHI
OUTLANDER
(2017) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Mar 11, 2026
Incident date: Oct 1, 2025
When I'm driving on the freeway. I could be on flatland and it will stall, I could be going down a hill and it stalls, I could be on a regular road, turning a corner, hitting a bump. And it stalls when I'm on the freeway, I have to get over very scary happens all the time when It happens I coast, I put it into park, i turn it off, and it restarts immediately every time. This is constantly happeni... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2020) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Mar 11, 2026
Incident date: Mar 1, 2021
My 2017 Ford Flex has an open safety recall for the rearview camera system (Ford Recall 25S49 / NHTSA Recall 25V695). The recall states the camera may display a blank image or show the message “Camera Unavailable” when the vehicle is placed in reverse. My vehicle is actively experiencing this exact failure. The screen frequently displays “Camera Unavailable,” preventing the rearview camer... Read more
Incident date: Mar 9, 2026
The gauge cluster quit working, I have no way of knowing my speed or how much fuel is in the vehicle. Feel like this is a safety issue with not being able to see the speedometer.
Incident date: Jul 11, 2025
The camera visibility systems on this vehicle become extremely dark and largely unusable at night. This affects multiple cameras, including the rear backup camera, which is the most problematic. In low-light conditions, the display does not provide a usable image of the area around or behind the vehicle. When reversing at night, the rear camera image becomes so dark that pedestrians, obstacles, o... Read more
Incident date: Mar 11, 2026
The contact owns a 2016 Dodge Dart. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V674000 (Power Train); 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 check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to AutoZone to test the battery, alternator, ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 3, 2026
The contact owns a 2022 Subaru Outback. The contact stated after starting the vehicle and driving at an undisclosed speed, the infotainment system inadvertently reset or went blank, causing the Reverse Automatic Braking (RAB) System to become inoperable. The RAB System warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer wa... Read more
Incident date: Mar 6, 2026
The contact owns a 2022 Nissan Leaf. The contact stated that while attempting to charge the vehicle, the vehicle failed to charge using the fast-charging mode. The vehicle was charged in the slow-charging mode, which took 8 hours to charge the vehicle. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and confirmed that the... Read more
PIRELLI
SCORPION MS
(9999) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Mar 11, 2026
Incident date: Mar 8, 2026
While driving my IONIQ 5 it flashed a power limited warning, went into turtle mode, and then experienced a total loss of power. The 12V battery was dead.
Incident date: Mar 10, 2026
As I was driving at 55mph on the hwy I started smelling gas. I thought it was the car in front of me so I was just going to pass him, but quickly realized I did not have the power to pass another car. So I pulled over on the highway and got out of my truck and noticed flames dripping from the center of the vehicle by looking at the front driver wheel area. I tried to put out with a fire extinguish... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Apr 23, 2025
The vehicle’s high-voltage battery system and propulsion system appear to have failed, causing a complete loss of power while driving. The vehicle is currently at the dealership for inspection, The vehicle completely shut down while I was driving on Florida’s Turnpike, creating an extremely dangerous situation on a high-speed highway. There was no warning prior to the shutdown, and I am curren... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2026
Recall maintenance with regard to NHTSA ID Number: 19V515000 for a Purge Valve was completed 1/9/2025. Starting in October 12, 2025, driving on the freeway, a large "bang" was felt/heard. I pulled over, the dust cover under the car had ripped partially off and took a portion of my grill trim with it. The car still ran perfectly fine, so I continued the mile and a half to my house. I did not see a... Read more
Incident date: Nov 20, 2025
1. What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? The primary system affected appears to be the CVT transmission. Additionally, the engine computer (ECU) and electrical system (including battery, driver-side window, and turn signals) have shown repeated failures. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. 2. How was your safety or the... Read more
Incident date: Mar 10, 2026
Rearview camera lag then disconnect. Ceases functioning until restart.
TOYOTA
GRAND HIGHLANDER
(2024) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Mar 10, 2026
Incident date: Mar 6, 2026
Vehicle has an active safety recall where the rear hatch may open while driving. Manufacturer states there is no remedy until August 2026, making the vehicle unsafe to operate. I am still making loan and insurance payments on a vehicle that cannot safely be used due to the recall.”
Incident date: Dec 1, 2023
Was given a 'critical brake fault' warning on the dashboard. Car defaulted into neutral and I was not able to put it park, drive, reverse or even turn off the car (had to keep my foot on the brake until someone could help me push it onto a flat surface). Could not open the car doors from the outside, no resets would work, had to be towed to dealership. Car was left "running" at the dealership for ... Read more
Incident date: Dec 1, 2023
I am writing to report a mechanical failure with my Kia vehicle that occurred on January 19, 2026. While stopped at a red light, my vehicle suddenly shut off and would not restart. Although the electrical lights came on, the engine would not turn over. Because my car was stuck in the middle of the intersection blocking traffic, I had to call 911 for assistance. When the police arrived, the officer... Read more
Incident date: Mar 10, 2026
My noise cancelation malfunctioned from the first month of of purchasing it 11/2023. It took two years numerous dealership visits, update after update. I filed a lemon law claim. I had a GM claim. No one could fix it. They told me I could do 3 things. Update again, cut the wires (which of course voids the entire warranty) or have them disconnected (if they could even be disconnected). I finally f... Read more
Incident date: Mar 9, 2026
Dash will go black/blank while driving, so no speedometer is available. Has happened at low, and highway speeds. Software update/recall has already been performed.