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: Mar 21, 2026

Vehicle: 2019 Jeep Grand Cherokee Engine: 3.6L V6 (Pentastar) While driving on the highway, the vehicle experienced a sudden engine overheating condition, followed by a catastrophic failure of the coolant recovery tank. This failure created a serious safety hazard and appears to be the result of a known and well-documented head gasket defect in the 3.6L engine used in Jeep Grand Cherokees. While... Read more

Incident date: Mar 21, 2026

Driving on busy highway with one passenger. Vehicle began losing power and acceleration, but no warning lights came on. Kept driving for 20 miles and oil warning light came on, but temp vuage registered fine. I parked, checked fluid amounts, and oil was extremely low (even though it had been checked the week prior and was full). Put 2 quarts in, started vehicle and warning lights went off. Procee... Read more

Incident date: Mar 21, 2026

I have a 2021 BMW 530i. VIN [XXX] . I brought my vehicle to Pompano Beach BMW and Coconut Creek BMW in Florida. They said both my motor mounts have collapsed. I have discussed the matter with other experts and mechanics, and been told the failure of motor mounts is a serious safety issue and vehicle defect. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Incident date: Mar 21, 2026

Diagnostics performed and found electrical/component fault and possible wire damage to fuel pump. NECC to drain tank and inspect replace fule pump if necc. Oringally took one week prior and diagnostics led to the possiblility that the cylinder head was malfunctioning, which was a manufacturing defect and covered under an extended warranty, but now advised otherwise. Quote $2200.00. Mileage on vehi... Read more

Incident date: Mar 21, 2026

At a stoplight vehicle turned off and gave a battery light and vehicle lost all power and placed vehicle in park. A warning message came up very quickly about something wrong with the auto start/stop system on display. Vehicle remained off until after opening door and pressing engine start stop button multiple times along with depressing and releasing brake pedal multiple times. This occurred the ... Read more

Incident date: Feb 18, 2026

2022 Silverado 1500 6.2L total engine failure, replacement needed

Incident date: Mar 5, 2026

Spoke with MB today and was told that the new battery for this recall would be available in late 2026 and that until then I should only park outside and not charge past 80%. When asked for a loaner car until they fixed the issue I was told no. Afraid to drive and or charge

Incident date: Mar 21, 2026

I was driving with my son when my 2015 Kia Sorento stopped in traffic. I remember warning lights coming on my dash including the engine light, oil light and battery light. However, I was more concerned about getting my hazards on so we would not be hit by another car. Traffic was heavy, it was raining and getting dark. I needed to push my car off the road with the help of another driver. A Hyannis... Read more

Incident date: Mar 2, 2026

Brought car into Chevrolet dealership for intermittent “miss” when driving. Dealer diagnosed it needed an EGR valve replaced at a cost of around $4,000.00 which is a significant portion of the cars value.

Incident date: Mar 2, 2026

Ever since I’ve own, the vehicle emergency breaking has never worked. I get all the red lights and noises and I almost ruined somebody but luckily I swerved, but the truck is never break on its own and the dealership tells me that’s the way it is you have to hit somebody first before it breaks and the other day I was driving and all kinds of service lights came on the dash the trucks are misfi... Read more

Incident date: Mar 18, 2026

Lifters broke and destroyed the camshaft at 99,000 miles. Total repair cost $8,200.

Incident date: Mar 9, 2026

My vehicle was recently serviced at the local Honda dealership within the last 6 weeks for an oil leak at the oil filter. We had the work done and everything seemed fine until 3 days ago when the check engine light started flashing and the car couldn’t accelerate properly. I drove the car to the same dealership and after inspection they notified me that the car needed a new engine because a rod ... Read more

Incident date: Mar 20, 2026

BRAND NEW 2026 CHEVY TRAIL BOSS LT 6.2L V8. DROVE NORMALLY FOR 1291 MILES BEFORE THE ENGINE LOCKED UP AND VEHICLE DIED WHILE DRIVING. CHECK ENGINE LIGHT FLASHED A FEW TIMES BEFORE IT DIED. GLAD I WASNT TOWING ANYTHING YET. ONCE I COASTED TO A SAFE AREA, THE TRUCK WOULD NOT RESTART. DEALER SAID ITS THE ENGINE. NO ETA AS THEY ARE NOT AVAILABLE. VEHICLE SITTING AT THE DEALER WITH NO ETA ON PARTS. THI... Read more

Incident date: Mar 20, 2026

My 2017 Ram 2500, 6.4L Hemi experiences warning lights which I'm told is caused by intermittent PCM failure. I'm told this can cause the truck to stall while in motion, refuse to start, or enter "limp mode". This amounts to a possible unsafe condition that can put myself and passengers at risk of property damage, bodily injury or worse. I brought the truck to Priority Automotive of Westerly,... Read more

Incident date: Aug 4, 2025

The engine (6.2L L87 V8) failed at approximately 85,000 miles. The failure was diagnosed as internal engine damage and the engine assembly was replaced. The failed engine is available to the manufacturer through the dealer as part of the repair process. The failure resulted in a complete loss of propulsion at highway speeds on the interstate, requiring immediate deceleration and maneuvering to a ... Read more

Incident date: Mar 15, 2026

My car will rev up to 4000 rpm’s and my car will not go about 20 mph. My cruise stopped working after my car went into reduce engine power. The dealership said they fixed all issues but was back to doing the high rev within a week. It started this week telling me to shift to park even though my car was in park. The shift to park cable has been replaced twice now. I have been dealing with this si... Read more

Incident date: Mar 20, 2026

Cars stalls at intersection and is had to restart. We have been disabling the auto start feature to avoid this potentially dangerous situation.

Incident date: Mar 21, 2026

I am writing to express concern regarding a significant engine issue with my 2018 Ford Expedition. At approximately 122,000 miles, the vehicle developed a cylinder 4 misfire accompanied by low compression, indicating an internal engine failure. This type of issue seems premature for a well-maintained vehicle and has resulted in major repair considerations, including potential engine replacement. ... Read more

Incident date: Mar 20, 2026

There are multiple recalls on my vehicle the 68c which was a overheating battery issue that a software update was performed but the underlying battery issue still exists and the 78c which is sand casting in the engine block which has no fix and the dealer has no remedy because Stellantis has no remedy they say it could cause catastrophic engine failure but it’s safe to drive they refuse to give ... Read more

Incident date: Mar 20, 2026

2921 FORD BRONCO SPORT HIGHWAY 14, Santa Clarita CA Driver noticed another car pointing to the Bronco’s hood frantically. As the Bronco slowed, the driver noticed flames coming out of the sides of the hood on both sides. Driver pulled to shoulder of highway and the driver and passenger VERY QUICKLY got out and moved approx.. 100 feet behind vehicle to safety. Flames very quickly engulfed the ent... Read more

Fire

Incident date: Jan 16, 2026

When the vehicle is stopped at a light and the auto engine idle engages, it intermittently stalls or shuts off the engine and unable or struggles to restart. The most recent time, the Pilot had to be shut off completely and restarted while sitting at a newly turned green light with large semi trucks behind us. When the auto engine idle is turned off there are no problems. This has happened 5 t... Read more

Incident date: Mar 4, 2026

I currently have a complaint 11709255 regarding the electric thermostat. I just had that part replaced in November of 2025 for the 3rd time. Last week, again I had a warning of engine problem. The next day there was cold air blowing when the heat was on. The dash thermostat immediately began to move to hot. I was thankfully close to home. I turned car off and fan continues to run under the hood. ... Read more

Incident date: Jan 15, 2026

Care recently became inoperable. The engine was knocking, then stalling and then inoperable. Checked Hyundai website to find Engine Recall describing exactly what my Hyundai was/is experiencing. I brought vehicle to Clay Cooley dealership (39444 Lyndon B Johnson Fwy, 75232) and explained that I see the recall on the Hyundai website describing what my vehicle is experiencing. After their servi... Read more

Incident date: Mar 6, 2026

Vehicle looses power and can very easily cause a bad wreck I've replaced multiple thing and it still does it I'm not sure what it is possibly the timing or something to do with camshaft

Incident date: Mar 19, 2026

My car is just 3 years old has reduced power warning and continuous engine light on. Despite several reminders, calls to Nissan Marietta Dealership as well as Nissan Consumer Affairs, issue has not been resolved. My car is not in a driving condition and they have wrongly changed the battery and charged me instead of taking care of recall or repairing the engine light issue. They keep changing the... Read more

Incident date: Mar 20, 2026

Had to have motor replaced due to faulty lifters which in turn damaged the motor. No, I didn’t check with dealers, independent service centers. However, it was inspected by an independent individual who handles these type of issues on Tahoes, Suburbans, etc. Lifter issues happened in November of 2025. My vehicle is still in the shop at this writing having a new motor installed. I have never ... Read more

Incident date: Mar 16, 2026

I was driving 70MPH down the highway, electronics blacked out, when they finally came back, the check engine light came on. Got to dealership, had 18 codes, engine, transmission, and electronics issues. Car is two weeks old with 498 miles on it.

Incident date: Mar 15, 2026

This has been occurring intermittently since my 2021 Kia Sorento reached approx. 15k miles and now has 26,600 miles. There are no lights or indicators on the dash letting me know anything is wrong. When the vehicle is stopped at a traffic light or stopped in heavy traffic, the vehicle will start idling high and shaking and the engine will seize up. I am not able to steer, the brakes lock up, I ... Read more

Incident date: Mar 13, 2026

1. The car accelerates erratically when it is charged to 90 to 100%. This just plain dangerous. 2. The battery is charging to 100% when it set to charge to 80%. I learned that there is a recall for this vehicle due to the battery overheating and possibly catching on fire. However as of yesterday, there are neither diagnostics available to show whether the recall actually applies to my car, n... Read more

Incident date: Mar 20, 2026

The specific component or system has not fully failed. However, my vehicle is currently experiencing an intermittent check engine light condition, turning off and on, which was diagnosed at a Retailer producing code P0018 then at the dealership and produced code P0017. The codes relate to the engine control module (ECM) detects that the camshaft on is out of sync with the crankshaft resulting in m... Read more

Incident date: Oct 2, 2023

Check engine light for P052E which has been coming and going off for years now. Now the check engine light is there permanently. I spoke to Mercedes Benz customer service and requested for them to fix the problem now that the light is on permanently but they refuse to fix it because the car has 222,000 miles on it. This should be a recall from the manufacturer not an extended warranty coverage. Th... Read more

Incident date: Oct 2, 2023

I am filing a formal complaint regarding my 2017 Hyundai Elantra SE (VIN: [XXX] ). The vehicle is currently experiencing severe safety issues, including unexpected engine stalling and loud mechanical rattling, alongside a P0014 diagnostic code. These symptoms align directly with the defects described in Recall 203 (NHTSA 21V301000) involving improper piston ring heat treatment and Service Campaign... Read more

Incident date: Sep 6, 2025

I own a 2022 Mercedes Benz GLA 250 2022. in [XXX], it was pouring rain and I was driving from [XXX] to attain [XXX] to drive home. It was pouring that night and driving conditions were horrible. I was in the middle lane driving roughly 55-65 mph. about 15 minutes into my drive a light on dash came " engine chip malfunction" and the car died. I couldn't do anything and I tried to coast to the... Read more

Incident date: Mar 20, 2026

Driving at highway speeds the message center prompted us to restart the truck and put itself into neutral. Upon attempting to do so, the message center read conditions not correct to shift. We were traveling in a single lane highway thankfully on a decent where we coasted into a parking lot. The truck list all power steering and brakes. We turned the truck off and attempted to restart. Lights were... Read more

Incident date: Jul 3, 2025

The head gasket has failed, leading to coolant intrusion into the number 2 cylinder. Several misfires occurred due to this. This is a known issue due to the design of the lower block, which uses a channel, thus causing a very small surface area for the head gasket between the channel and the cylinder, which accelerates wear. Spent $3,000 to fix this well-known design issue. Car at ~100k miles.

Incident date: Jan 9, 2026

There was a recall on the L87 propulsion. The dealer changed the oil and said it was fixed. I left the dealer and the issue still persists. They refuse to address it.

Incident date: Mar 20, 2026

The A/c compressor seized up causing the belt to break. Looked up online and it seems it's a common occurrence with this year and model.

Incident date: Mar 11, 2026

There are currently hundreds (if not thousands) of cars, operating on roads of USA, that at any particular time stop in the middle of the road. The power is cut off and Engine Control Error is displayed on the monitor. This issue has been described many times on Reddit, under Taycan-Engine Control Error threads. The affects 2020-21 Porsche Taycans. As an owner of '21 Taycan, I have run into this i... Read more

Incident date: Mar 16, 2026

The contact owns a 2024 Jeep Wrangler 4XE. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V766000 (Engine); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The dealer and Chapman Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram Scottsdale (3800 N 89th St, Scottsdale, AZ 85251) were contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall r... Read more

Incident date: Mar 20, 2026

Was driving then suddenly the engine shut off I was able to pull to the side Tried to restart it I saw smoke coming out from the hood I did tow it to my apartment looks like the engine is locked I contacted kia they said I have a branded title they can’t do anything about it Even if the car title was branded to a rear ending collision And the engine had oil in it

Incident date: Sep 16, 2025

What You’re Noticing (and Why It Matters) 1. Engine Mounts Wearing Out Engine mounts can wear over time, but premature failure (early loosening, vibration, clunking) can point to: Defective parts Poor design for that model year This is a common complaint in some BMW models, especially as mileage increases. 2. Brake System & Sensor Issues Warning lights staying on even after replacing senso... Read more

Incident date: Sep 2, 2025

On Feb. 11, 2026, while driving, the vehicle displayed a flashing check engine light and entered limp mode with major loss of power. A code reader recorded P1326. The vehicle was taken to an authorized Kia dealership for diagnosis and repair. After the dealership returned the vehicle to me, the same problem happened again within about 30 miles. The last repair order listed 142,352 miles, and the v... Read more

Incident date: Sep 2, 2025

Rear passenger captain chairs and third row bench do not respond to occupancy when folding. I have dogs who I put in the cargo area with the third row down. My dogs are prone to move and bump buttons which has caused one or both captains chairs to move forward when loading them into the vehicle. Hyundai is aware of the problem and a temporary remedy is pending. There were no warning lights or mess... Read more

Incident date: Jun 15, 2025

While driving, the hill descent fault error would pop up on the instrument panel, the truck would begin to shake, and the gas pedal would no longer work. I would have to pull over, shut the vehicle off for a few minutes and restart it. This happened multiple time while driving on the highway and in town. After sitting in the driveway for while trying to get repairs scheduled, the issue got worse,... Read more

Incident date: Sep 2, 2025

Blown head gasket at 125448 miles.

Incident date: Sep 12, 2025

While driving the instrument cluster would flicker and then the truck would down shift gears. The first time it did, it dropped from 6th gear to 3rd gear at 70 mph, and the next time it dropped from 6th to 1st around 65 mph. It also occurred at lower rates of speed.

Incident date: Jan 31, 2026

My Truck Was 123369 Milles Was Driving And Stop At My Work Turn Off The Vehicle and After That Re-Start The Vehicle And The Vehicle Not Start The Check Engine Light Coming on Im Tow The Tuck To The Dealer Were I Do All My Service They Check The Truck After A Mont And They Told Me The Engine Timing Off Due To Camshaft Gear Spun On Camshaf Which Sheared Locator Pin Valve Timing Off So That Enging Do... Read more

Incident date: Mar 18, 2026

The contact owns a 2021 GMC Yukon. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle shuddered abnormally with blue smoke coming from the exhaust, with the message "Lane Departure Assist" displayed. The check engine and stabili-trak warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local service center, where it was diagnosed with cylinder #1 misfire. The local dealer ... Read more

Incident date: Dec 1, 2025

2004 MDX had digital screen problems where the screen remained black upon starting, which was hazardous as I couldn’t tell how fast I was going. After 3 visits to the dealership they identified the problem and fixed it Also, in a separate instance, car stalled after trying to start up after stop signs or while waiting in traffic several times. Could have been rear ended or worse. Dealer repla... Read more

Incident date: Feb 7, 2026

My 2017 Kia Sorento with approximately 175,000 miles experienced engine failure involving the engine and engine cooling system. The vehicle began showing symptoms including engine shudder, reduced acceleration, and a check engine light. These symptoms worsened and were diagnosed by a Kia dealership as internal engine damage, specifically a failure in cylinder 4. The dealership advised that the eng... 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

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