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.

2,245,377 Total Complaints

140,173 Reported Crashes

56,794 Reported Fires

8,580 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 2,245,377 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

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 169,480 complaints - component: ENGINE

Incident date: Feb 14, 2026

Almost all of the 1.5T engines (L15BE) are having head gasket issue where the gasket slowly fails over time resulting in slow coolant loss and at one point sudden overheating causing block and head warping die to design flaw ( groove in between the cylinders resulting in lack of effective and enough surface area for the head gasket to seal the combustion chambers). It has been confirmed by Honda t... Read more

Incident date: Mar 24, 2026

While driving, the vehicle experienced sudden engine malfunction. The car entered limp mode, lost power, and produced a loud knocking noise from the engine. The failure occurred without warning and created a safety risk because the vehicle could not accelerate properly in traffic. This increased the risk of being rear-ended or unable to move out of dangerous situations. The issue appears to invo... Read more

Incident date: Mar 10, 2026

When the F-150 would be turned off after driving for a while, the truck would not Start for a few hours until it cooled down. I had it checked out at Gator Ford and they saif they could not determine the proble. I drove it to [XXX] and had it check out at Two Rivers Ford in [XXX] and they said the truck clearly had a problem and that they "Believed it eas the 10 gear trsnission getting hot and t... Read more

Incident date: Jun 24, 2025

head gasket failure with less than 80,000 miles.

Incident date: Sep 10, 2018

I purchased this 2021 Jeep Cherokee, and it has developed a life-threatening defect where it performs an uncommanded braking while driving at speed. Without any warning the car slams on the brakes creating an immediate risk of a Rear end collision. Diagnostic scans show multiple critical failures: PO128 (the initial warning of a computer communication issues). Dealership (Echo Park) refuses to fix... Read more

Incident date: Mar 23, 2025

My son, [XXX] , has opened a complaint/Case #XXX with Kia. His 2023 KIA Forte had been idle for at least 24 hours when the engine compartment caught fire. He became aware of this when the Fire Department knocked on his apartment door around 4:00 PM 12/26/25 and said they were evacuating the building because a car was on fire. He went outside and was shocked, to say the least, that it was his car. ... Read more

Fire

Incident date: Nov 1, 2025

Engine issues started the third month after sales. Jerking, shaking, declining performance, metal clicking noise, loss of power while driving. Kia has been working on the car for a year.

Incident date: Oct 6, 2025

The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Ascent. The contact stated that while his wife was driving at approximately 75 MPH, a deer ran across the highway and hit the left driver's side of the vehicle. The air bags did not deploy upon impact. A grayish smoke began to emit from the vehicle as the contact's wife immediately pulled off to the side of the road. Due to the damaged cause by the impact of the deer... Read more

Crash Fire 1 injured

Incident date: Mar 22, 2026

2021 Hybrid CR-V - within the last 10 months the vehicle has twice lost engine power while driving on expressways with just enough time to pull off the road. In the same period of time, at least 6 times, when initially starting the engine, the engine runs roughly and will not accellerate. So far, this has happened in cold or cool weather but not extremely cold weather. In an effort to restart th... Read more

Incident date: Mar 23, 2026

While traveling northbound on I‑65 on Saturday, 1/31, the 6.2L V8 engine in my 2023 GMC Sierra AT4 experienced a sudden and complete internal failure. My husband was driving and I was in the vehicle with him when the engine lost all power without any warning lights, messages, or prior symptoms. We were only able to coast into a very busy on‑ramp merge lane before the truck died completely, lea... Read more

Incident date: Mar 6, 2026

The contact owns a 2017 Hyundai Tucson. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle and driving at an undisclosed speed, there was an abnormally loud grumbling sound coming from the engine. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle unexpectedly entered LIMP Mode. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer but was not diagnos... Read more

Incident date: Dec 24, 2025

Year: 2022 Make: Chevrolet Model: Silverado 1500 Engine: 2.7L TurboMax (L3B) VIN: [XXX] Mileage at Failure: 119,139 Description of Problem: 2022 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 2.7L L3B TurboMax engine is completely inoperable due to Cylinder 4 exhaust roller follower failure causing exhaust camshaft failure and bent exhaust valves. Vehicle shakes severely, will not accelerate, check engine light on, ... Read more

Incident date: Dec 24, 2025

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: Feb 3, 2026

The bearing failure from the metal debris had been progressing silently for a long time. You can’t feel or hear it happening gradually. Then at some point the damage crosses a threshold where: ∙The oil can no longer circulate properly ∙The crankshaft bearings completely fail ∙Internal metal parts make contact with each other ∙Everything locks up instantly

Incident date: Mar 6, 2026

The contact owns a 2021 GMC Sierra 1500. The contact stated that while driving approximately 50-65 MPH on an incline, the contact believed that the transmission was slipping or there was a misfire coming from the engine. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to restart automatically after the engine AUTO Start/Stop system was engaged after a complete stop. Additionally, the contact stated tha... Read more

Incident date: Mar 6, 2026

While driving the brake pedal became hard to push out of no where. Once the car got to the shop it stopped cranking. The shop is stating that the brake vacuum pump is the cause of the brake pedal messing up, and that it also caused other engine damages estimating $3000.00

Incident date: Jan 19, 2026

Driving on the highway, my dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree. Car started having white smoke at tail pipe. Check engine lit blink 5 times. Had 4 kids under 14 years old in car. Almost got hit trying to merge over. Turns out misfire cylinder 4. Head gasket. Only 81,000 miles. I have owed 5 months. Car currently at Honda, they want almost 4,400 to repair. But apparently, Honda is aware of these... Read more

Incident date: Mar 24, 2026

I am reporting a recurring safety-critical failure. On two separate occasions, the vehicle has experienced a total electrical and mechanical shutdown while in operation. During these events, the 12V power system fails completely, turning off all instrumentation and, most critically, the electronic power brake assist. This results in a 'hard pedal' condition where the vehicle is nearly impossible t... Read more

Incident date: Feb 10, 2023

I was driving on the highway when all of a sudden my gas pedal stopped propelling the car and the engine seemed to be off. I looked at the dash board and saw that the car was indicating it was off and that I needed to step on the brake and hit the ignition button to turn it back on. I barely had control of the car but was able to pull off to the side of the road. I then had to wait several minutes... Read more

Incident date: Oct 24, 2025

Engine Failure due to rod and bearing failure

Incident date: Mar 20, 2026

Vehicle failed to restart after Auto Idle Stop engaged while stopped in traffic. The engine shut off as expected but did not restart when releasing the brake pedal. A warning message appeared briefly on the dashboard but could not be fully read due to traffic conditions. The vehicle remained unresponsive until I shifted into Park and manually restarted the engine. This has occurred intermittently... Read more

Incident date: Mar 24, 2026

Driving on the interstate at speed and all of a sudden a loss of power, Christmas tree of lights on the dash and low oil pressure alarms. Engine now needs replacement.

Incident date: Mar 22, 2026

My vehicle was inspected by a mechanic after experiencing sudden loss of power and stalling while merging onto the expressway in active traffic. At the time of the incident, the vehicle became unable to accelerate properly, creating a serious safety hazard due to surrounding vehicles traveling at highway speeds. The mechanic determined that the fuel pump had failed. During inspection prior to rep... Read more

Incident date: Mar 1, 2025

Was driving approximately 70 miles per hour on the highway. While driving the vehicle just stopped in the middle of the highway after going 70 miles per hour. Was unable to put car in park. Car just shut off. Four police cars had to surround car due to being stuck in the middle of the highway with my small child in the car. Took an hour to get a tow truck. Being told our engine is now completely s... Read more

Incident date: Mar 20, 2026

Due to BMW using plastic parts when you live in Hot and cold environments the plastic begins to mold to other plastic parts and pvc diaphragms tear rather easy causing rough idle , stalls and can cause over revving and send a car into another car while in gear. The cheap plastic cause oil leaks and when oil gets low cause engine failure as well.

Incident date: Jan 9, 2026

Our alternator is bad in a 2021 Ram. There are 10,000 on back order and up to a 9 -12 month wait list. There is obviously something wrong with this brand and should be recalled.

Incident date: Mar 9, 2026

While I am driving the vehicle it shuts off and the key seems to be loose. It has shut off multiple times while operating driving down the highway making it unsafe to get to the side of the road

Incident date: Mar 1, 2023

While driving between [XXX] and [XXX] , the vehicle suddenly lost fuel. The estimated miles to empty started to drop rapidly from 70 miles to 50 miles within minutes. At a safe point, I pulled over, there was no pooling of fuel under the vehicle, no other warning lights were issued. I turned around to return to [XXX] , the engine stalled and ran out of gas at mile marker 18 just north of [XXX]... Read more

Incident date: Mar 20, 2026

Thermostat has been replaced twice. Car is still having issues with overheating. First replacement of thermoastat the car ran fine for about 2 months then the car started doing the same thing. It will overheat and then come right down again. Thermostat was replace again and was doing good then the same issue keeps occuring. My car currently has 175000 miles. No warning lights come on when t... Read more

Incident date: Nov 30, 2025

The vehicle flashed a critical low battery warning while in operation driving. After traveling approximately 2 miles further, the vehicle warning lights started flashing and the vehicle shifted into park and shut off. In the middle of the road the vehicle could not be shifted into neutral and was stuck in a dangerous place. The emergency flashers shut off after 15 minutes while waiting for a tow t... Read more

Incident date: Mar 21, 2026

The 2011 to 2019 Ford Explorers have a huge issue with them. The internal water pump on my 2017 Ford Explorer 3.5L engine failed. The failure caused coolant to leak into the engine crankcase, where it mixed with the engine oil. This contaminated the oil and led to catastrophic engine failure and seizure. The vehicle has already been brought to a dealership for service and is available for inspecti... Read more

Incident date: Sep 16, 2025

MY 2026 GMC Sierra AT4 1500 6.2 L87 engine had a catastrophic failure with only 3347 miles. It stalled twice while driving home, when pulling into my driveway it stalled a third time and would not start after that. Before having my vehicle towed to the Dealer from my home I connected my code reader and it posted code P0016. After being diagnosed by the dealer they informed me I needed an entire n... Read more

Incident date: Dec 23, 2025

My Escalade had just been into the dealer because the battery died at only 4200 miles. I drove away and after 10 minutes, I was getting warning messages that the engine was overheating and to turn the vehicle off immediately. I had to pull over on the freeway while listening to my engine knock and click. I eventually got it back to the dealer where they were unable to turn the car on and unable to... Read more

Incident date: Mar 14, 2026

Oil cooler line leak.

Incident date: Mar 14, 2026

While driving my 2022 GMC Yukon Denali at interstate highway speed, the engine suddenly failed without any prior warning. At the time of the incident, the vehicle had approximately 65,000 miles. There were no warning lights illuminated before or during the failure. The engine immediately began running rough, produced abnormal knocking/ticking noise, and then completely lost power. This created a... Read more

Incident date: Mar 23, 2026

The vehicle is experiencing excessive engine oil consumption. The engine was found by the dealership to be low by 3 quarts of oil after about 1000 miles during an oil consumption test, indicating abnormal oil loss. The suspected failure involves internal engine components, possibly piston rings, allowing oil to enter the combustion chamber and burn. This condition creates a safety risk because the... Read more

Incident date: Mar 12, 2026

2023 GMC Yukon XL 6.2L V8 experienced progressive engine defects starting in first year. At 7,445 mi (Jan 2023), first dealer visit for engine issues. At 10,315 mi (Apr 2023), Cyl 2 fuel injector failed (internally open), vehicle TOWED to dealer, replaced under warranty. At 14,982 mi (Aug 2023), identical Cyl 7 injector failure (internally open), replaced under warranty. Two identical failures on ... Read more

Incident date: Mar 22, 2026

While driving, the vehicle experienced a sudden catastrophic failure involving the engine and turbocharger, resulting in an immediate loss of power and the vehicle becoming disabled in an active roadway. The failure occurred without warning and required a response from the San Diego Police Department due to the vehicle being immobilized in traffic. This created a hazardous situation for the drive... Read more

Incident date: Mar 18, 2026

Engine starting clicking during highway drive then engine failed mid-drive and engine was trying to restart on its own mid drive. Vehicle totally stalled out in the street, with numerous attempts the engine did not start. Total mileage on car was 2,900.

Incident date: Mar 23, 2026

My 2024 Toyota Tundra Platinum (VIN [XXX] ) had multiple times where I had delayed throttle response which created close call of accident while turning. I researched my VIN and it is subject to Safety Recall 25TA14 for V35A engine stall due to manufacturing machining debris causing main bearing failure. Toyota has issued this recall but NO repair remedy is currently available. The authorized dea... Read more

Incident date: Nov 28, 2025

Vehicle would not accelerate in high speed zone.

Incident date: Mar 23, 2026

HEAD GASKET FAILING, common problem in car. Broke down in the middle of busy Main Street and started smoking out of exhaust pipes. It has been confirmed by my service center that they now have 3 ford fusions, including mine, that they are replacing a head gasket on right now. They were no warning signs, it happened out of nowhere.

Incident date: Mar 19, 2026

Component/System: Fuel System – Fuel Filler / Left-Side Radiator and Cooling Fan Assembly (subject to NHTSA Recall 25V536). What happened: On June 15, 2024, I was refueling my 2023 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 at a BP gas station in Phillipsburg, New Jersey. As I removed the fuel pump nozzle from the vehicle, a violent explosion occurred. I was immediately engulfed in a fireball. My clothing caught fi... Read more

Fire 1 injured

Incident date: Jan 8, 2026

These vehicles are not suitable to be on the road, and you NHTSA and Hyundai are doing NOTHING ABOUT IT. These vehicles are EATING oil, a quart every 200 miles. My daughter(college) can't even go on a short road trip to another city without adding oil. The engines in these crap cars are blowing up left & right. There are numerous Facebook page groups for these and sister Kia vehicles with the sa... Read more

Incident date: Oct 15, 2025

Case #XXX for my 2023 Nissan Rogue SL VIN [XXX] . The vehicle is subject to Recall Code R25D1 (ROGUE MY21-23 KR ENG XXX), involving CVT bearing deterioration and metallic debris circulating within the engine. My vehicle has exhibited rough operation and was inspected at Wood Nissan in Lee’s Summit, where no defect was acknowledged. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION AC... Read more

Incident date: Oct 9, 2024

### **NHTSA Complaint Statement of Facts** **RE: Recall Y43 (NHTSA Campaign 22V-406) – Failure of Recall Remedy** **Summary:** The manufacturer (Stellantis/FCA) is refusing to provide a complete and effective remedy for **Recall Y43**. My 2022 Ram 3500 was manufactured without the **Particulate Matter (PM) Sensor**, a defect officially acknowledged in Recall Y43. This factory omission has caus... Read more

Incident date: Mar 21, 2026

On March 19, 2026, I was driving to work when traffic began to slow, and I reduced my speed accordingly. As traffic started to return to normal speed, I pressed the accelerator; however, although the engine revved, the vehicle did not accelerate beyond approximately 15 mph. I safely moved to the side of the road and turned the car off. After restarting the vehicle, shifting into drive, and pressin... Read more

Incident date: Mar 23, 2026

2020 Volkswagen Passat SE 2.0L VIN: [XXX] Complaint Summary: I am reporting a persistent and unresolved fault involving the secondary air injection system (DTC P0491 – insufficient airflow) that has resulted in repeated, conflicting diagnoses across multiple repair facilities. This raises concerns about a potential systemic defect affecting this vehicle model. Detailed Description: The issue... Read more

Incident date: Mar 23, 2026

“The vehicle, a 2017 Ford F-150, is experiencing an active engine oil leak originating from the oil pan assembly. Upon inspection, the leak appears to be due to a defect in the oil pan sealing surface integrity. There is no evidence of external damage, impact, or improper maintenance that would otherwise explain the failure. The condition is consistent with a manufacturing defect, potentially i... Read more

Incident date: Feb 2, 2026

Although the carfax states the EGR Cooler has already been serviced and there are no active recalls at this time, EGR Cooler failure has been determined by an independent service center. The vehicle is available for inspection. A potential fire from the EGR Cooler failure puts the driver's life and any passenger's lives at risk. The symptoms are substantial coolant loss with absence of leakage cau... 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