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: Jan 20, 2021
There has been a recall in a certain number of honda civic vehicles due to this issue and mine was not recalled as well. While driving for more than 5 minutes, the wheel starts to stiffen making it harder to turn and drive straight. The car wobbles when the wheel isn't being turned and jerks itself either left or right depending on which side of the road I am traveling on. This started back in 202... Read more
Incident date: Mar 15, 2025
I put a new battery and I need to unplugged the negative every time I turn it off. If I don’t do this, the next day, the battery would be dead. I checked with the Ancel OBD2 and there’s nothing wrong. It doesn’t detect anything bad.
Incident date: Aug 13, 2026
“Service ABS System”, “Service Electronic Braking System” and Traction Control warnings keep randomly occurring. Replacement ABS module is unavailable for this extremely widespread issue. Has anyone discussed a class action lawsuit for this issue? I’ve never had more problems with a vehicle than I’ve had with this truck. Ram should be embarrassed. I’ll be trading it in soon a... Read more
Incident date: Aug 11, 2026
My transmission blew up. My airbags did not deploy. And neither of my brakes or emergency brakes worked. I was in a car accident where I hit another car in a tree and was admitted into the hospital as I am pregnant.
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Aug 1, 2026
I own a 2025 Kia EV6 Wind RWD. At approximately 14,655 miles, the vehicle experienced a confirmed Integrated Charging Control Unit (ICCU) failure that resulted in loss of 12-volt charging and reduced motive power. On August 1, 2026, while reversing the vehicle, I heard a loud pop from underneath the rear seating area. Immediately afterward, the red 12-volt battery warning light illuminated and th... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2023
Multiple times this has happened when I engaged in reverse the screen will be blank and can't see anything. It will take a couple of times of driving,parking and turning on and off the truck before it turns back on. This is a major safety concern as i can not see anything as i reverse. This does not happen every time but does happen often. I haven't had it checked out professionally because it ha... Read more
Incident date: Feb 23, 2026
While driving southbound on the [XXX] in a rented 2023 Kia EV6 from The Hertz Corporation, picked up in [XXX] on XXX, the vehicle entered "Power Limited" mode without warning. The vehicle lost normal propulsion and decelerated from highway speed to a crawl, forcing 4-5 emergency stops onto the highway shoulder over several miles while semi-trucks passed at 70+ mph in live traffic, with two minor c... Read more
Incident date: Aug 13, 2026
My van has an auto-stop feature that shuts the engine off at stop lights. This feature will now occasionally shut the car off, but then fail to restart it. We have stalled out at intersections with the van not restarting for up to a full minute. This is incredibly dangerous and needs to be addressed immediately
FORD
MAVERICK HYBRID
(2025) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Aug 13, 2026
Incident date: Aug 9, 2026
*** VEHICLE FIRE RISK *** Drivers dash tweeter started smoking and the dash became hot to the touch near the windshield. Smelled something electrical burning. Smoke stain on LWR LH windshield corner. Removed key. Exited vehicle and heard static from drivers door speaker. Entered car, re-started vehicle and static from the one-speaker-only did not stop. Removed key, exited vehicle, and the dr... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2026
Very loud static across multiple speakers, often independent of radio volume with intermittent static through multiple speakers even when muted or off. I can't hear sirens or emergency vehicles. I can't hear anything except loud static. This is a safety hazard. I read comments about this being a common issue with 2016/2017 Honda Accords XL and higher. This is a factory/manufacturer's defect. Ther... Read more
Incident date: Jun 16, 2026
I have a 2018 Jeep Cherokee. The exact component causing the problem is UNKNOWN. While driving, a “Service Shifter” warning appeared on the dashboard and all of the gear indicator lights illuminated at the same time. After I turned the vehicle off and restarted it, the warning disappeared. On a separate occasion, a “4WD Service Unavailable” message appeared along with the SVC 4WD warning l... Read more
Incident date: Aug 8, 2026
Starter is very weak when hot. 2 hour drive in summer heat and the van would not start after stopping at a gas station.
Incident date: Aug 4, 2026
Driving down the freeway, the car throws an error code, reduces speed from 75 to 40 in seconds, with enough time to pull off the freeway. The car has an error code stating "Hybrid battery malfunction." Now the car will not start. The Dealer could not get it started and now wants to charge me for a diagnostic. But from my understanding, they should cover a new battery under EPA regulations (40 CFR ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 11, 2026
The speakers make a popping and crackling noise that is repeated, in a mid tone - high tone - low tone noise pattern, when the radio is on or off. It begins when the engine is turned on. It also occurs in standby/engine is not on/radio is on mode or in standby/engine is not on/radio is not on. The popping/crackling occurs whether the radio is on or not, and the radio can be heard along with the po... Read more
Incident date: Aug 10, 2026
power tailgate stopped responding to all inputs (button, remote, driver switch), dash displayed a "liftgate power failure" message, manual latch still functions. fuses are good, connectors looked clean, and the boot is intact, points to module failure
Incident date: Jul 21, 2026
Sometimes while driving I experienced my powered steering cut out while taking a ramp on/off of the highway, and sometimes when i was trying to park and back up into a parking space while steering at the same time. When the power steering cut out I got lights for "Service Power Steering", "Service ESC", and "Service Hill Assist" all at the same time, and once i got a power steering light. I looked... Read more
Incident date: Jul 5, 2026
On XXX, my 2025 Ford Explorer Platinum experienced a complete unexplained no-start failure while approximately six hours from home. The vehicle had less than 1/4 tank of fuel but was not empty and was parked on a slight decline. It remote-started normally and ran for approximately 10 minutes before automatically shutting off. Afterward, it would not restart, repeatedly displayed "Accessory Power O... Read more
Incident date: Jul 23, 2024
In July 2024 my airbag light came for no apparent reason. I took it to Nissan Service-they got it off with no guarantee it would stay off and said the airbag would have to be replaced if it came on again. In came on again in June 2026. I got my oil changed at a local shop and they got the light off verifying it was the L side airbag causing it to flash. That lasted about 2 months and it is flashin... Read more
Incident date: Mar 13, 2026
The contact owns a 2025 Honda Passport. The contact stated that while attempting to drive from a complete stop, the accelerator pedal was depressed, but the vehicle stalled. The message to start the vehicle was displayed. The vehicle was shifted into park(P), the brake pedal was depressed, and the vehicle was restarted. The contact stated that the failure had occurred ten times in the month of Jul... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2024
The contact owns a 2023 Ram 1500. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed on several occasions, the 12-Volt battery had low voltage which failed to provide enough power for the display screen, the fuel system, and other electric features. The contact stated that the failure caused the vehicle to shut off and not be able to drive. The contact stated that the vehicle was jumpst... Read more
Incident date: Aug 12, 2026
I have been had intermittent loss of power steering during gradual turns and then suddenly it returns. Very dangerous situation!!
Incident date: Aug 4, 2026
On August 4, 2026, our 2023 Hyundai Palisade was brought in for a routine oil change and rear tint recall. The driver's power seat height adjustment mechanism worked perfectly upon drop-off. When the car was picked up, the height adjustment function was no longer operable. The service department inspected the car and admitted that a factory wire bundle beneath the track was physically snapped/seve... Read more
Incident date: Sep 24, 2025
The contact owns a 2014 Audi S5. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle, there was a Control Area Network (CAN) bus system unit TCM error, power brake, and engine failure. The TPMS warning light was illuminated. The dealer was contacted and was unable to determine the cause of the failure. However, the dealer wanted to replace the CAN bus unit. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufac... Read more
Incident date: Feb 13, 2026
I've tried to get my local dealer to repair my vehicles recall and no matter how many times I visit, they tell me there is a waiting list with 12 people in front of me and they can only get 1 part per week. So I wait 4 months and again there is 12 people in front of me for repairs. Benoit Motors, Rosepine, LA 70634
Incident date: Aug 4, 2026
My car has 22,000 miles in it, and maybe around 19,000 miles my starter was already weak. I barely use my car, and one time I used it and my car won't start at all. I almost got stranded. Luckily it turned on, and I was near my house. This could've happen in the middle of nowhere and get me stranded. I don't feel safe driving this now if im not sure. I thought this was supposed to be a reliable ca... Read more
Incident date: Jul 20, 2026
Multipurpose camera internal failure disabling my all my safety features in ADAS.
Incident date: Aug 10, 2026
On the freeway at night when headlights and back lights quit working. Got off freeway and were able to temporarily fix it. A few months later while parked in driveway and not in use for a couple of days, lights came on without our knowledge and drained our battery. Neighbor alerted us to the situation.
Incident date: Apr 10, 2025
The dealership said I need my ABS module replaced due to the lights on the dashboard and my ABS braking system and cruise control not working. I had them order the module and paid for it. I finally asked for a refund. where it has been on backorder for 18 months as of 8/13/2026, with no idea of when it will come in if it comes in at all. This is an extremely disturbing situation and safety issue... Read more
Incident date: Aug 12, 2026
The entire car shut down while on the highway with no prior notifications on/from the system. The entire safety of myself and family was put at risk because there where several cars behind us on the highway that could have hit us. I am not sure the dealer has been able to reproduce the issue - Unknown. There was no warning lamps, messages or symptoms of the problem prior to the failure or the car... Read more
Incident date: Jun 21, 2026
The contact owns a 2022 Honda HR-V. The contact stated that after a rainstorm, the driver’s side floor was wet. The vehicle failed to start days later. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle had previously experienced a fuel pump failure. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer, who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The dealer stated that the failure might be rel... Read more
Incident date: Aug 12, 2026
After coming to a stop and the idle stop feature engages, the vehicle does not automatically restart. I am presented with a message that says "system problem detected. shift to park". After shifting to park, I am presented with another message that says ""to continue to drive, depress the brake pedal and push switch." I then have to completely shut off the engine by pushing the "stop button". T... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2026
While driving, I experienced the brakes beginning to fail, followed shortly by a complete loss of engine power. My 2021 Ford Bronco is subject to recall 25S75 (NHTSA 25V455) for a low pressure fuel pump defect that can cause loss of fuel pressure or flow and engine stall. I was stranded on the side of the interstate in 100 degree heat with my newborn in the vehicle. This was a dangerous situation,... Read more
Incident date: Jul 29, 2026
The cooling fan clutch control wire is supported by a "wire support hose" between the engine block and the fan clutch. the cooling fan clutch control freely rotates on a raceway on the drive shaft. The purpose of the support hose is to prevent the fan clutch control from freely rotating, but allows the control a limited range of movement as the drive shaft changes speed with engine RPM. The ide... Read more
Incident date: May 14, 2026
There is something wrong with this jeep. I keep getting collision messages four-wheel-drive pops on and off on its own and randomly states that it needs to be serviced. The Jeep is hard to accelerate randomly on highway speeds going over 45. The Jeep also drives like a boat despite your front end or back in issues, new tires, etc.. The oil light comes on even when all light is changed it goes in l... Read more
Incident date: Aug 11, 2026
My 2016 Jeep Patriot is cutting off while I’m driving on the highway at 65 mph. The lights on the dashboard are on and for no apparent reason. Now my radio system is cutting on and off sporadically.Rendering my satellite radio and hands free use of my phone useless. I’ve been told that my car has no recalls. Although this recall "S89 / NHTSA 16V-907, seems like the exact problems I’m experie... Read more
Incident date: Aug 11, 2026
I began to drive. The dashboard display read "Check low voltage supply" or something like that and on the opposite side of the display there was a small image that looks like a 12V battery. A moment later the dashboard display changed to read "DO NOT DRIVE." The car was towed to a dealer who reported a "failed ICCU and High Voltage Fuse." The vehicle was towed to a dealership where it is being rep... Read more
Incident date: Jul 7, 2026
Vehicle with 37k miles. When the idle stop feature is activated at a stop, it causes the vehicle to stall requiring a restart. The starter occasionally does not work as well. Starter and battery was replaced at 12k and the issue has resurfaced. This poses a significant safety risk.
LAND ROVER
DEFENDER
(2021) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Aug 13, 2026
Incident date: Jul 28, 2026
On XXX at approximately 8:10am I received this red warning on my vehicle: "OK to drive with caution. Hybrid system fault detected." I was driving my daughter to daycare at the time and didn't feel safe continuing to do that. My wife had to drive 25minutes to come and get us and safely continue our trip. No other issues with the vehicle prior to this incident. A month or two prior to that, I had ... Read more
HYUNDAI
SANTA FE SPORT
(2015) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Aug 13, 2026
Incident date: Aug 8, 2026
The vehicle suffered a severe engine overheating failure that created an immediate fire risk and electrical safety signaling failure. A brand-new replacement engine was installed by an authorized dealership in April 2026 under a goodwill warranty and had only been driven ~ 3,100 miles since installation. While operating the vehicle, the air conditioning suddenly stopped functioning. Upon restarti... Read more
Incident date: Aug 12, 2026
see it’s a known things with rams that the electronic power steering goes out randomly because of how dodge made it and the dealerships don’t do recalls for it and it’s absolutely absurd to spend 2-4k$ for a fix
Incident date: May 2, 2025
The entire dash cluster including the radio display cuts off and back on while driving. The only way I can describe it, is that the car seems to act like it was turned off then back on again. Initial lights when you start the car come on, seatbelt lights, initial startup dash lights, headlight indicator, headlights, radio, drive setting, everything turns off and back on while driving. Lasts for an... Read more
Incident date: Nov 11, 2024
I am filing a consumer protection complaint regarding a manufacturer defect and safety-related failure involving my 2020 Porsche Macan S. My vehicle experienced a complete LED headlight assembly failure, resulting in loss of illumination. An authorized Porsche dealership diagnosed the issue and confirmed that the entire headlight assembly must be replaced, at a cost of approximately $5,300 includi... Read more
Incident date: Jul 10, 2026
My 2026 BMW X5 xDrive50e experienced a serious freeway safety event involving loss of braking/brake power, loss of vehicle power/functionality, and multiple vehicle warnings/errors. The incident occurred while I was driving on the freeway and substantially affected my ability to safely operate the vehicle. BMW Emergency Services subsequently towed the vehicle to Irvine BMW on 07/09/2026. Irvine B... Read more
1 injured
Incident date: Jul 31, 2026
Before the recall repairs, I did not experience any loss of acceleration, hesitation, jerking, or flashing warning lights. These symptoms began only after the recall service was completed. 1. What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? The vehicle experienced a loss of acceleration while driving. The vehicle also began to jerk or stumble, an... Read more
Incident date: Aug 12, 2026
I started the car and got the warning "check electric vehicle system." The car then lost power. It would only go 27mph with the accelerator pedal pushed all the way to the floor. My safety was at risk because my car was not responding appropriately to driver input. The car is at the dealership as it is undriveable in this condition. This is the second incident with this vehicle within 6 months... Read more
Incident date: Dec 6, 2025
My SUV has a had the check engine light on from a failed battery cell for my 2021 grey Volvo XC60 recharge (VIN [XXX]). I have been without the electric functionality (to charge the hybrid car or use electric power) since mid December and waiting on a warranty part since Dec. 23, 2025. I have been told April 2026 and then August 2026 for this warranty issue that both the dealership and Volvo cor... Read more
Incident date: Feb 6, 2026
In the past 6 months my steering and suspension components failed causing me to wreck and also somehow my engine bay deteriorated in turn having started a fire
Crash
Fire
Incident date: Aug 5, 2026
On [XXX] about [XXX], I was driving my 2024 Audi Q8 e-tron Premium Plus (VIN [XXX]) in a private parking garage while on the clock for work. I had just left a work meeting and was traveling back to my office. I was backing out of a parking space next to a concrete column when my passenger-side mirror contacted the column. The vehicle’s proximity sensors beeped, which appeared normal. I then pull... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Jul 26, 2026
The steering wheel became extremely difficult for my husband to turn. Power steering went out on my 2025 Honda Pilot Trailsport. Numerous warnings were then displayed on the vehicle's dashboard screen, it was impossible to drive, and caused us to have to get towed. We had it towed to a Honda dealer for repair, where it was discovered that the steering wheel had more turns in one direction than the... Read more
Incident date: Aug 21, 2024
My 2020 Chevrolet Trax has experienced recurring brake problems for approximately two years. The issue involves the brake pedal becoming unusually resistant and the vehicle failing to brake normally when I apply the pedal. The vehicle and affected components are available for inspection. My first known documented occurrence was August 21, 2024, one day after I picked up the vehicle from AutoNatio... Read more