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.
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
Showing 164,804 complaints — component: ENGINE
Incident date: Mar 28, 2026
Excessive oil consumption. Paid out of pocket and 2 weeks later the same issue. Dealer is aware of this common problem and refuses to do anything. These vehicles have faulty piston rings and PCV valves.
Incident date: Mar 5, 2026
I am the 2nd owner of my 2016 Ford Escape 1.6L ecoboost, my aunt and uncle were the original owners. Between us we have every maintenance record of every on time and professionally performed requirement the Escape has needed and it ran beautifully. Then, in February 2026 the idle started to get a bit rough and I was preparing to put in the OEM sparkplugs when 3/28/26 the engine overheated, I was s... Read more
Incident date: Apr 30, 2026
I was pulling into a parking spot almost stopped when the vehicle suddenly surged forward. I slammed on the brake and put the car in reverse since it had driven upon the walkway. This happened earlier today and I plan to have it checked out as soon as possible . Never have had this problem before, no warning lights or messages.
FORD
BRONCO SPORT
(2021) — ENGINE
May 1, 2026
Incident date: Mar 27, 2026
Component: Engine My 2020 Hyundai Palisade (approximately 155,856 miles) experienced a serious and dangerous engine-related failure that resulted in a vehicle fire. My 16 year old daughter was driving alone at the time of the catastrophic failure and fire. For approximately six months prior to the incident, the vehicle was consuming oil at an abnormal rate with no visible external leaks. This ... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Apr 27, 2026
I am submitting this complaint to report serious, recurring, and potentially dangerous safety defects involving my 2024 Chevrolet Trax. Timeline of Safety-Related Mechanical Failures: March 12, 2026 – First Highway Safety Incident While driving to work on [XXX] [XXX] ight activated, and the vehicle began to hesitate during highway operation. This occurred during my daily commute at highway spee... Read more
Incident date: Sep 16, 2025
I was driving when a turtle popped up on my dashboard I pulled over to Google what that meant and popped the hood cause I seen a little smoke within 3 sec the car busted in flames I ran back and grab my daughter out the back seat we were almost locked in due to the car melting the wire and flames started coming inside the car
Fire
TOYOTA
HIGHLANDER
(2021) — ENGINE
Apr 30, 2026
Incident date: Apr 28, 2026
My vehicle was parked for about an hr 30 min , and it started smoking from dashboard area and immediately went into flames .
Fire
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2021) — ENGINE
Apr 30, 2026
Incident date: Apr 30, 2026
The failed component is the engine assembly in my 2017 Hyundai Sonata SE with the 2.4L Theta II GDI engine. The failure involves excessive oil consumption and internal engine failure, specifically suspected piston ring deterioration allowing oil to pass into the combustion chambers. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. Safety was put at risk because the engine was losing oil rapi... Read more
Incident date: Apr 24, 2026
Crack in Cylinder Head of engine. Mazda has been sued about this and have issued recalls on turbo engines, but not on non turbo ones though its the same systemic design issue with these engines. Wants me to pay 5-7k out of pocket.
Incident date: Apr 23, 2026
Coolant hose on bypass valve came off. Dumped coolant and engine overheated. Tech said it just came off, service advisor said I “hit a bump”.
Incident date: Mar 23, 2026
This vehicle has a major engine flaw; Hyundai USA KNOWS about it, and STILL will not issue a recall for EXCESSIVE OIL CONSUMPTION. First episode: October 2023 at 86,371 miles. Dealership replaced leaking valve cover gasket and changed woefully-soiled spark plugs. Still under manufacturer warranty, but I paid the balance. Second episode: FOUR MONTHS LATER (Feb. 2024; 89,078 miles), another limp m... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
JETTA
(2023) — ENGINE
Apr 30, 2026
Incident date: Apr 28, 2026
The coil component for the spark plug melted completely which caused the vehicle to stop working leaving me stranded on the side of the road.
Incident date: Apr 30, 2026
About 6 months after I bought my car the check engine light came on, took to vw still under Warranty. And they said it was just a harness on sale about 4 months later, it came back on and they kept my car for a week. And when I got my car back about 2 to 3 weeks later, it came back on again, and they cound't figure it out and said its something wrong with the emmission and now it's back on so I do... Read more
Incident date: Dec 10, 2025
I have taken the vehicle to 2 auto places both have confirmed it has engine failure. It only has 140,000 miles
Incident date: Mar 29, 2024
I am reporting a safety concern involving a 2019 BMW X5 that experienced a sudden and catastrophic engine failure at approximately 75,000–80,000 miles. The failure occurred without any prior warning indicators, dashboard alerts, or fault codes. The vehicle lost engine function and required inspection by an authorized BMW dealership. The dealership documented internal engine damage, including met... Read more
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2022) — ENGINE
Apr 30, 2026
Incident date: Mar 27, 2026
Without any warning, the V8 L87 6.2 liter engine suddenly seized up, began shaking with significant reduced power. I was fortunate that I could drive slowly to safety and was not on the expressway. In my research, I understand this is related to a design/manufacturing issue with the connecting rods and crankshafts in this type of engine. As I investigated the issue, I found that 600,000 vehicl... Read more
WAYMO
5TH GENERATION ADS
(9999) — ENGINE
Apr 30, 2026
Incident date: Dec 31, 1969
driving normally → brief stumble/sputter/deceleration → engine died/no power → check-engine light → vehicle coasts with no throttle response → would not restart, then restarted briefly with rough idle and immediately died. Reproduced. Towed. Dealer has not yet seen the vehicle. Inspection. No. Notification. Check engine light illuminated, truck automatically went into neutral. ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 29, 2026
Incident Details: While traveling on MD-152 (Mountain Road) in Fallston, MD, the vehicle suffered a sudden and complete loss of motive power without any prior warning or dashboard indicators. There were no warning lights, no temperature spikes, and no mechanical noises before the engine seized. This sudden failure occurred in active traffic on a busy road, creating an immediate risk of a rear-end ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2026
Driving my 2012 dodge ram 3500, just as I was crossing one of the busiest intersections in my town my truck lost all power and dropped from 35mph to 5 mph. Barley made it acrossed and pulled over. As soon as I pulled over the engine light comes on, checked code, and U010C lost coms with turbo actuator comes up. Turned truck off and rest code and everything back to normal. About a week later it hap... Read more
Incident date: Apr 22, 2026
I am reporting a serious engine safety issue involving coolant intrusion into the engine, resulting in misfires, loss of power, and potential engine failure while driving. My vehicle began experiencing rough starts after sitting overnight, including shaking and hesitation. in a few dayna, the issue worsened and is now accompanied by the following: * Coolant loss requiring refill approximately ever... Read more
Incident date: Mar 9, 2026
On March 9, 2026, I brought the vehicle to BMW of Fairfax for a scheduled appointment. In the week leading up to the visit, the vehicle intermittently failed to start and required jump-starting using a portable battery starter. Despite this issue, the car drove normally, showed no warning lights or error messages, and had approximately 69,000 miles on the odometer at the time. After jump-sta... Read more
Incident date: Aug 25, 2025
The primary failure is the engine assembly and turbocharger, specifically caused by the failure of the oil pump drive belt and tensioner system (subject of Safety Recall 23S64 / NHTSA 23V-905). Despite an attempted recall "remedy" on August 25, 2025, the engine suffered internal oil starvation due to belt debris (rubber fibers) remaining in the oil passages. The dealership has confirmed in writing... Read more
EVENFLO
REVOLVE360
(9999) — ENGINE
Apr 30, 2026
Incident date: Apr 30, 2026
Description of event: I was driving approximately 35 mph when the check engine light began flashing, the engine began shuddering, and acceleration began decreasing. I was able to safely pull over and turn off the vehicle. After approx. 10 minutes, I turned on the car and plugged in a code reader but no codes were available to view. I restarted the car and it functioned normally and the check engin... Read more
TOYOTA
SIENNA HYBRID
(2026) — ENGINE
Apr 30, 2026
Incident date: Apr 30, 2026
October 24, 2025 I had taken in my vehicle for recall 25V274 Loss of motor power. Mine was deemed unaffected and given the oil change they were doing as part of that. Today it died while I was pulling a trailer with a RZR on it. I had drove about 90 miles with a stop midway when I did have the engine turned off. Then it just quit. My vehicle only has 13k miles on it. Not sure if police report was ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 20, 2026
The fuel injection system failed, specifically causing a cylinder 1 misfire (DTC P0301). The component is currently installed in the vehicle and available for inspection. The vehicle experienced a sudden loss of power and violent shaking while driving in traffic, creating a high risk of a rear-end collision or being stranded in a dangerous intersection. Multiple safety systems (VSA, Braking Assist... Read more
Incident date: Apr 19, 2026
The contact owns a 2023 Nissan Rouge. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the EGR cooler failed and that the engine ne... Read more
Incident date: Apr 15, 2026
The contact owned a 2015 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while driving, the vehicle began to make a knocking noise which became progressively louder and backfired. There was white smoke coming from the exhaust as the contact moved to the side of the road and exited the vehicle safely. The vehicle then developed a small fire underneath the hood in the engine compartment, which quickly became e... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Apr 14, 2026
Was driving down the highway and my car caught fire. I was stopped by another driver saying that my car was on fire. I had no breaks to stop, I had to put it straight to park to stop the car. That way myself and my son could jump out of the car.
Fire
Incident date: Apr 1, 2026
The contact owns a 2019 Yukon Denali. The contact stated that while making a right turn the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was not able to restart. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the lifter went out and caused shaving to go into the oil and then the engine seized up and the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 27, 2026
failing turbo charger - GM website issued special coverage bulletin
TOYOTA
HIGHLANDER
(2022) — ENGINE
Apr 30, 2026
Incident date: Aug 1, 2025
I own a 2019 Audi Q8. The vehicle was in the dealership’s possession for approximately three (3) weeks for service. During that time, I was not informed of any significant mechanical concerns or issues. After retrieving the vehicle, it displayed an oil pressure warning while in operation. I immediately returned the vehicle to the dealership for evaluation. At that time, the dealership added oil... Read more
Incident date: Apr 30, 2026
The 2023 Toyota Tundra Hybrid’s powertrain design may be insufficient to maintain basic safety maneuvers (specifically "limp mode" or emergency clearing) during an engine failure while operating under high-load conditions in mountainous terrain. This creates a life-threatening hazard for the occupants and other motorists. Statement of Fact: As an owner of a 2023 Toyota Tundra Hybrid, I primar... Read more
Incident date: Apr 30, 2026
At approximately 43,044 miles, my 2021 Audi A7 55 TFSI e quattro (PHEV) was diagnosed with a failed N632 coolant changeover valve — a component of the PHEV thermal management heating circuit. The vehicle has a complete, documented service history with no maintenance gaps. The N632 is an electronically controlled valve that routes coolant between the combustion and hybrid/electric circuits and is... Read more
Incident date: Oct 10, 2024
Check engine light illuminated on my 2021 Chevrolet Tahoe. Upon diagnostic scan, the following emissions-related fault codes were present: P11D5 (NOx sensor), P14D9 (NOx sensor), P2383 (EGR pressure sensor), and P2C7A (NOx catalytic converter efficiency). All components are available for inspection upon request. The vehicle was taken to an authorized Chevrolet dealership for diagnosis. The dealer... Read more
Incident date: Apr 28, 2026
In March 2026, I was driving on the freeway when the car shut itself off and put itself into neutral and accessory modes. There was no warning. This put the safety of myself and other drivers on the road at serious risk because I was unable to accelerate or adequately control my vehicle without warning. The dealer says the car "is operating as designed."
Incident date: Sep 30, 2025
My 2023 GMC Yukon Denali is currently at the dealership due to a manufacturer recall involving the engine. The engine issue occurred while I was driving with my children in the vehicle, which required me to pull over and have the vehicle towed to the dealership After inspection, I was told the vehicle requires a full engine replacement. The dealership has stated there is no estimated time of arriv... Read more
Incident date: Apr 16, 2026
The contact owns a 2020 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that while driving the vehicle, it stalled after initially adding fuel. Even though the reading indicated there was 1/8 of a tank of fuel. The fuel gauge failed to move. The thermostat was stuck open. The electric steering was not working properly. The engine light was illuminated. The traction control was turned off. The contact stated that t... Read more
Incident date: Mar 31, 2026
I’m scared to drive my vehicle because of the 6.2L V8 ongoing engine failures! I believe it to be unsafe for travel never knowing when the engine will fail. Now with over 1 Million failures of this engine!
BATTLE MOTORS
LET2
(2024) — ENGINE
Apr 30, 2026
Incident date: Apr 28, 2026
Water pump failed while driving on highway. Completely shut down and began to smoke violently. Luckily wife was able to pull over immediately without crashing. Wife and children very disturbed. Looked up issue and 720000 BMW x5 have been recalled with same exact issue. Ours is not. Why?????
Incident date: Aug 25, 2025
My 2018 Mazda CX five experience catastrophic engine failure at approximately 119,000 miles despite proper maintenance. The failure resulted in a repair estimate exceeding $9500. This type of failure raises concerns regarding potential engine defects or premature mechanical breakdown. Mazda acknowledged the issue by offering a minimal Goodwill payments, but refused meaningful assistance. I am rep... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS CROSS SPORT
(2024) — ENGINE
Apr 30, 2026
Incident date: Aug 19, 2025
The contact owns a 2015 Honda Odyssey. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle would hesitate to accelerate as intended while the accelerator pedal was depressed. The check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed with a piston ring failure and related the failure to Honda Service Bulletin:25-061. The vehicle was... Read more
Incident date: Apr 30, 2026
The contact owns a 2022 GMC Sierra 1500. The contact stated while driving at approximately 65 MPH, the vehicle stalled, and there was smoke coming from the engine compartment. Additionally, the contact stated that the vehicle was experiencing excessive oil consumption. The messages "Put Vehicle in Neutral" and "Check Oil" were displayed. The failure occurred on several different occasions. The con... Read more
Incident date: Apr 25, 2026
Ford Corporate will not reimburse for the repairs that need to be made or provide a loaner car until the recall equipment is available. Need vehicle to drive to work. What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? The automatic lead frame has gone due to the PCM recall for my ford 150 2016 vehicle Safety or the safety of others put at risk? Famil... Read more
Incident date: Apr 23, 2026
I have a coolant leak. The first time presented to the VW service department, I was told it is a known issue and to add coolant if it isn’t a big leak or concern. I have been doing that, but now the leak is an everyday thing. I took it back to the service department and they said I need a new water pump and a belt. I asked about this known issue and they said I don’t qualify to have a recall f... Read more
Incident date: Apr 13, 2026
The contact owns a 2013 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the engine unexpectedly seized without warning. The contact stated that after the vehicle lost motive power, several unknown warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was restarted; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the engine h... Read more
Incident date: Aug 5, 2025
1. the 10R80 transmission , Yes it is available for inspection. It has already been replaced with a new one. 2. Transmission was upshifting hard and then downshift from posted speed limit of 70 mph down to 50 mph on [XXX] South to Birmin [XXX] s, the dealer replaced it with new transmission at my expense. $8188.67 Plus Labor 4. Yes it was inspected Long-Lewis Ford Dealer. 5. Yes check engine l... Read more
Incident date: Apr 18, 2026
My CX-5 has 86,120 miles. I noticed a burnt oil smell coming into the car and later found oil droplets on my garage floor. I took it in to my neighborhood garage and they found an oil leak coming from the cylinder head. They recommended I take to my Mazda dealer. I had it towed to Pearson Mazda, Richmond,VA. They inspected it and stated I had a cracked cylinder head. I have a 100K extended warrant... Read more
Incident date: Apr 22, 2026
The contact owns a 2020 Honda Odyssey. The contact stated that the vehicle made an abnormal ticking sound while depressing the accelerator pedal, and the engine made a loud sound. There was no warning light illuminated. Upon investigation, the contact related the failure to NHTSA Action Number: PE25008 (Engine). The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed and there were metal... Read more