Consumer Safety Complaints

Search 2,215,138 safety complaints filed by vehicle owners with NHTSA — including 138,663 crashes, 56,255 fires, and 8,561 deaths.

2,215,138 Total Complaints

138,663 Reported Crashes

56,255 Reported Fires

8,561 Reported 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 2,215,138 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

How to Read NHTSA Consumer Complaints › How NHTSA Investigations Work › Used Car: 7 Recall Checks to Run First › The Takata Airbag Recall: Full Story › OBD-II Codes Explained › All Articles ›

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Showing 164,804 complaints — component: ENGINE

Incident date: May 29, 2026

The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that on multiple occasions, while driving at an undisclosed speed, a knocking noise was heard coming from the engine, and the vehicle lost motive power with multiple warning lights illuminated, including the Check Engine, Emissions System, and Power Steering warning lights. The contact stated that the vehicle could typically be restarted aft... Read more

Incident date: Jan 16, 2026

While driving, car dashboard lights up like a Christmas tree with error messages, shakes, and goes into limp mode. Error messages include: - travel assist is currently not available - Error: Drive system. Please service vehicle. (Engine block highlighted on screen image) - Engine speed max. 4000 rpm (Engine block highlighted on screen image) Purchased car in November, problem happened in January... Read more

Incident date: May 14, 2026

A known radiator issue, with microcracks in radiator is producing a leak and will require replacement. There are many examples of this online for the model years 2014-2018, and are known by the manufacturer. I am having mine replaced with 95,000 miles on my truck.

Incident date: May 3, 2026

The contact owns a 2018 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated that while driving at 35 MPH, the vehicle shut off as several warning lights appeared on the instrument panel. The contact made multiple attempts to restart the vehicle but to no avail. The police arrived at the scene and helped to place the vehicle into neutral(N) and moved the vehicle off to the side of the road. Due to the failure, the v... Read more

Incident date: May 26, 2026

2018 Ford Edge 2.0L EcoBoost. Vehicle CEL came on, took it to the dealership for diagnostic and report indicated a known TSB 22-2229 to apply to my vehicle's condition. Trouble code P0302. White exhaust smoke, misfire at start up, low coolant levels, runs rough. Dealer performed a borescope inspection and found the engine long block has internal fluid leak. My safety, my kids, and others on the r... Read more

Incident date: Apr 16, 2026

The first issue occurred on 4/16/26. Car stopped mid-drive on a public road. No error or warning, just a jerk noise and stopped. This was around 7 in the evening and I am fortunate it was a not so busy road. Gives me nightmares thinking if me or my kids were driving on a freeway. Got towed to a dealership and the root cause was identified as the coolant being completely drained off because of a ma... Read more

Incident date: Oct 11, 2025

The contact owns a 2023 GMC Terrain. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated and the engine stalled. The contact attempted to drive the vehicle to the shoulder of the road, the engine seized. The contact stated while attempting to start the vehicle, the vehicle failed to start. The contact The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic... Read more

Incident date: Jan 21, 2024

I am submitting this complaint regarding a serious mechanical and safety issue involving my 2019 BMW X3. On or around January 21, 2024, while driving from my home, a warning signal suddenly appeared on my dashboard related to the vehicle’s cooling system/engine. Due to safety concerns, I pulled into a nearby Wawa parking lot, which was the safest available place to stop at the time. I turned the... Read more

Incident date: Aug 1, 2024

The contact owns a 2020 Honda Accord. The contact stated that upon intermittent starts of the vehicle, several, various warning messages would appear on the instrument panel. Warning messages such as tire pressure monitor, brake system problem, brake hose system,etc would all appear on the instrument panel and would remain on the instrument panel until the system would be cleared by the dealer. Th... Read more

Incident date: May 21, 2025

The contact owns a 2018 Hyundai Kona. The contact stated that while driving it began to smoke, a noise was hear, put in neutral to coast down a hill and had to pull the parking break to stop the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed with defective piston oil rings, and the engine was rebuilt. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mi... Read more

Incident date: Apr 18, 2025

My vehicle has active VANOS failure codes (131401 and 130304). These codes are preventing my car from passing the New York State safety and emissions inspection, rendering it legally unable to be used on the road. BMW/MINI Corporate is refusing to honor their national extended component warranty bulletin because they are conditioning the repair on a valid registration - which is a legal impossibi... Read more

Incident date: May 26, 2026

While commuting to work on 5/26/26, around 5:30 am, I felt my vehicle decelerate, and the throttle became unresponsive. I shifted into neutral and coasted for a little while, working the throttle from limit to limit to feel its responsiveness. After a few cycles, it seemed to be acting normally. If I had reacted differently, been going faster, been in the middle of negotiating a turn, or a complex... Read more

Incident date: May 29, 2026

Head gasket failure is a known issue for this model. Some owners report failure at 12k miles in for quite some time. I am now faced with this known issue VW has had time to remedy. If it is a known failure why not take care of it especially if it spans across 3 models 2022 - 2024. I should not have to absorb this type of repair 4 years 57k miles in on my vehicle. Of course, everything pops up ... Read more

Incident date: May 8, 2026

After the ECM recall for a software update the car would not run correctly. It jerks and and runs rough. It almost stalls when you put your foot on the gas. I took it back to the dealer and they can not get the problem to duplicate. Noone else has looked at the problem. There were never any problems with the care until the recall. The problem occurred the day I brought the car home from th... Read more

Incident date: May 27, 2026

The Kia had a problem with the check engine light coming on and it gently went into limp mode. I had it repaired at Darlings Ford and it worked for about 600 miles. I had it repaired again and it worked for about 7,000 miles. The light recent came on and the car immediately hard banged andwent into limp mode. My wife was driving and shaking when she got home. The light went out and everything was ... Read more

Incident date: May 12, 2026

Engine- car turn off - lights were still on, car restarted - no icons on dashboard

Incident date: Oct 15, 2025

Car seem to misfire alot , having a lot of head gaskets issues aswell as turbo issues, 10s of 1000s of people like me are experiencing these common problems, taking so much money out of our pockets when its should be handle the correct way

Incident date: May 28, 2026

My wife was stopped at a stop light traveling west from and appointment. When the light turned green she moved her foot from the brake to gas when all of the warning lights. It happened at the worst time possible during rush hour and we were fortunate that she was not hit by traffic. After the police arrived to help re direct traffic and wait for a tow truck, we found coolant spilling underneath... Read more

Incident date: May 27, 2026

The contact owns a 2013 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while driving at 50 MPH, the check engine light began to flash as the vehicle entered limp mode. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where they discovered that oil had leaked onto the engine which caused her to lose over a quart of oil. The vehicle was then taken to a dealer where they diagnosed the vehicle with engine failure.... Read more

Incident date: Mar 24, 2026

My 2011 Hyundai Sonata (VIN [XXX] ) was brought to Gateway Hyundai in [XXX] for the mandatory P1326/KSDS engine recall inspection. I had a confirmed appointment on XXX at 7:30 AM. The dealership acknowledged the P1326 code and that the KSDS test was required.Instead of performing the recall, the dealership refused to inspect the vehicle. They contacted a third party who was not in possession of t... Read more

Incident date: May 28, 2026

The contact owns a 2015 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while accelerating at 55 MPH, there was an abnormal burning smell detected. While driving, she was alerted by another driver who informed her that the vehicle was on fire. The passengers were able to exit the vehicle safely. The vehicle was engulfed in flames. There were no reported injuries. The vehicle was towed to a tow lot. The vehicl... Read more

Fire

Incident date: May 22, 2026

2020 Nissan Maxima SR is experiencing CVT transmission issues that appear substantially similar to the defects described in the Nissan CVT Martinez Class Action involving prior Nissan model years.

Incident date: May 28, 2026

I again have noticed intermittent pulsing at low to medium speeds. At roughly 1k-2k rpm the engine at or about 10-20 mph is pulsating or hesitating with an obvious pulse which you can see on the tachometer as well (bouncing.) It seems like there is either a computer, fuel flow or electric issue. Also, at speeds up to the 40 mph range, this is happening as well. Yesterday while towing a small 7'x12... Read more

Incident date: May 28, 2026

Was in for service on recalls 2 weeks ago may 2026...dealer did not fix shift solenoid recall..stated bcu need replaced...driving may 28 26 without warning no lights anything lost power while driving and engine and or transmission failed..lost oil...metal shavings in dipstick oil.oil on skid plate cover..3.3L V6 2016 kia sorento LX was able to get off road without crashing

Incident date: Oct 2, 2015

Engine coolant intrusion issue known by ford and documemented in prior recall and STB.

Incident date: May 16, 2026

FOUND #4 CYLINDER MISFIRE - METAL CONTAMINATION SPUN A BEARING INTERNALLY INSIDE THE ENGINE. RECOMMEND REPLACING THE ENGINE. SEE QUOTES BELOW: RECOMMEND AT THE SAME TIME AS THE ENGINE REPLACEMENT - STARTER, TIMING BELT, SPARK PLUGS, AND VALVE. Found #4 cylinder misfire – metal contamination – spun a bearing internally inside the engine. Recommend replacing the engine.” After researching this... Read more

Incident date: May 17, 2026

My engine with less than 5,000 miles died (engine was blown). While driving on highway engine died and wheels locked and almost caused a major accident. I had to get a tow and bill cost me 700.00. GMC is giving me the run around. Dealer stated that engine will need to be replaced. GMC is doing nothing to assist me, I have a car note with no truck GMC is the biggest scam.

Incident date: Oct 31, 2025

My Hyundai Palisade was bought brand new in 2020. It currently has 131,500 miles on it. I noticed at around 110,000 miles that my oil was getting low before each oil change. I check my oil frequently. No oil leaks can be found. So the engine is burning oil somehow. My mechanic says Hyundai says its acceptable for it to burn oil after 100,000 miles but 2 quarts between oil changes seems excessive. ... Read more

Incident date: May 28, 2026

While pulling up to a drive thru window the vehicle shuddered and the engine shut off. I lost all power steering and had to come to a stop, shift into park, then restart the engine. No check engine lights or warnings illuminated. There were no status messages to indicate what caused it to shut off. Also the driver side mirror shakes a lot, just like all the other reports say.

Incident date: May 15, 2026

While traveling at highway speeds on [XXX] with three passengers, the vehicle suddenly suffered a catastrophic internal engine failure (severe rod knock), forcing an emergency deceleration in active traffic that put all occupants at risk of a rear-end collision. The sudden breakdown was immediately preceded by a flashing Check Engine Light and violent metallic knocking, despite the vehicle being ... Read more

Incident date: May 23, 2026

Saturday may 23 at night my car started showing a message that states “Braking Power Low Stop in a Safe Place See Owner's Manual” I took it to Toyota on Tuesday may 2026 they said it was fine and nothing was wrong even after I said that message kept appearing at least five times each time I was driving the vehicle since Saturday. After they checked it the problem got worse and now it appears 9... Read more

Incident date: May 24, 2026

The engine in my 2020 Mercedes-Benz GLE 350 experienced catastrophic internal failure while driving. No warning lights or check engine indicators came on. Prior to failure, the vehicle began making a loud metallic knocking/rattling sound during acceleration, similar to “rocks shaking in a box.” Shortly afterward, the engine suddenly stalled while driving and would no longer run. The vehicle st... Read more

Incident date: Apr 30, 2026

Engine randomly shuts off when driving. The issues started 1 week after purchasing the vehicle. First occurrence happened when we were stopped. We pressed the gas pedal and the dash turned red, beeping, with the engine light, oil light, and battery light illuminated with a message reading “ENGINE OFF. Shift to P or N then start engine”. This happened multiple times after. The dealership had ... Read more

Incident date: May 18, 2026

The vehicle has developed a persistent and progressively worsening rattling noise from the engine during cold starts, along with intermittent rough operation. The symptoms are consistent with a malfunction or defect in the engine timing chain system, including possible timing chain stretch, timing chain tensioner failure, or related internal engine components. This condition presents a serious saf... Read more

Incident date: May 28, 2026

Component/System: The fire department determined the cause of the fire to be accidental due to an electrical malfunction within the vehicle. The most extensive damage was located in the engine compartment, though damage spread to the passenger compartment as well. The vehicle is available on request. The vehicle caught fire while parked on a street. No injuries or displacements occured. However, ... Read more

Fire

Incident date: May 27, 2026

I noticed a Check Engine Light flashing on my dashboard while driving on May 27, 2026. The vehicle suddenly losing power is extremely unsafe for me and my family, and also others on the road. This is a repeated P1326 code which happened before in 2021 and 2024. Based on the receipts I have from the previous inspections from the dealer, the Bearing Clearance Test (BCT) was not done in 2024, but w... Read more

Incident date: May 28, 2026

The contact owns a 2020 Hyunndai Kona. The contact stated while attempting to start the vehicle, the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact's fiance, who is an independent mechanic attached the portable diagnostic tester to the vehicle, and the failure code was P1327. The dealer was made aware of the failure but provided no assistance. The contact was informed that the repair was not ... Read more

Incident date: Mar 20, 2026

Cylinder Misfires OBD-II code P0303 Engine Overheats after changed thermometer Fuel in the coolant system Coolant leaking from exhaust

Incident date: May 25, 2026

I am reporting a safety concern involving BMW vehicles equipped with the B58 Technical Update (B58TU) engine, commonly found in model years 2019–2021. These vehicles utilize a variable-displacement engine oil pump containing an internal thermoplastic adjusting component responsible for regulating oil pressure. Field failures are increasingly being reported in which this internal component fractu... Read more

Incident date: Apr 2, 2026

I would like to document it took 7 trips to set the monitors after a failed smog check. That is 21 time going from 55 miles a hour to coasting to 20 miles a hour. on a freeway. Three times per trip at 2:00 - 3:00 in the morning. Also my Catalytic Converter went out at 26,000 miles. It should last 70,000 - 100,000 miles or 10 years. Catalytic Convertor was replaced by dealer. Will i have to replace... Read more

Incident date: May 1, 2026

Engine is misfiring. Took it into local mechanic who mentioned he has seen many similar issues and knew there was a recall for similar 2021 Yukon engine issues but for some reason this model was not included. He encouraged me to trade in the vehicle because most likely the engine would need to be replaced (or a $10,000 repair) and it was not save to continue to drive in this condition. I call G... Read more

Incident date: May 27, 2026

Engine began running rough and warning lights came on the dash indicating multiple issues and the engine light. Brought it to Honda and the tech diagnosed a head gasket failure. Honda recommended a head gasket repair. Car only has 137,000 miles on it.

Incident date: May 27, 2026

While driving, the vehicle suddenly displayed “Service ESC” and “Service Traction Control” warnings. Shortly after, the engine stalled and the vehicle became difficult to restart. Vehicle experienced rough running/misfires and loss of power. Diagnostic trouble codes retrieved included P0300, P0106, P3498, P00FF, and U1962. The issue appears intermittent but creates a serious safety concern... Read more

Incident date: May 11, 2026

All brake systems warning lamps illuminated while driving on the highway, the vehicle was pulled off the road and shut off, brakes were visually inspected and all fluid levels were examined and everything was intact. Vehicle was driven again after a breif time and everything was fine. A few weeks later all warning lamps were displayed, the vehicle was brought to a Honda dealership the following mo... Read more

Incident date: Apr 28, 2026

The contact owns a 2019 Kia Sorento. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the low oil and the check engine warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that a few days later, the contact noticed white smoke coming from the exhaust. The check engine warning light illuminated intermittently. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed with deta... Read more

Incident date: May 7, 2026

Engine has coolant leaking into the third cylinder. This explains why my vehichle runs rough, coolant level drops with no sign of leaks underneath the vehicle and white exhaust smoke. Apparently its a known issue with the 2.0 L Ecoboost engines and is addressed in a technical service bulletin (TSB). To correct coolant intrusion into the cylinders you have to replace the long block engine assembly... Read more

Incident date: May 27, 2026

Engine Idle at Stop light or Start & Stop at Traffic Stop Light doesn't work. It does stop completely; however, it didn't start after releasing the brake. You have to put the vehicle back in the parking gear, put the brake to restart the engine. This has happened three times in the last week.

Incident date: May 15, 2026

L87 6.2L engine failed. Loud knocking, no oil pressure, engine stalled and would not restart. This happened despite GM's recall where they changed to 0W40 oil.

Incident date: Aug 11, 2025

I am writing to file a formal complaint regarding my 2018 Honda Accord [VIN# [XXX] ] concerning what I believe to be a defective cylinder head or head gasket — an issue I have since learned is widely reported within the Honda owner community and is currently the subject of active class action litigation. Beginning at approximately 89,000 miles, my vehicle began experiencing episodes of engine ... Read more

Incident date: May 25, 2026

Check engine light came on. Next day had a diagnostic run on it and found the coolant intrusion into cylinder 2. A new TSB 19-2208 was recommended. Talked with dealership and they advised to contact Ford Customer Care, who had Roadside Assistance come and pick up the 2018 Lincoln MKC and take to dealership. Dealership called to advise that the cost to me would be $9400!!!. Called Ford Cus... Read more

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Consumer Safety Complaints

What is a NHTSA consumer complaint?

How to interpret what you read

If you've experienced a defect

Read more from our blog