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 169,480 complaints - component: ENGINE
Incident date: Jun 9, 2026
The vehicle's engine had previously been replaced once under Kia's Theta II engine recall/warranty program approximately five years prior to this incident. On the date of failure, the replacement engine catastrophically failed while the vehicle was in operation, resulting in the engine developing a hole in the engine block and becoming inoperable. Prior to the failure, the vehicle exhibited a "che... Read more
Incident date: Jun 9, 2026
I have a 2918 ford escape se with what I am now finding has a known flawed 1.5l ecoboost that ford only put a service notice out on long ago. The engine has a know issue with cylinder coolant intrusion problems. I had engine misfire and powertrain code show up and put the car into limp mode while driving at 70 on the interstate. When the limp mode started I came close to being in an accident du... Read more
Incident date: May 15, 2026
Catastrophic engine failure. Confirmed by GM dealer. No symptoms prior.
Incident date: Jun 18, 2026
Well thankfully it did not happened while driving i stopped it one day to replace the engine (a lil more info i am a mobile mechanic registered with the state of CA) with some year make and model and sub model i finish replacing and next thing later i have no spark i did my diagnostics check wiring fuses relays sensors and still no spark i qent to carfax and notice it as 2 recalls related to my no... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
AMG G63
(2025) - ENGINE
Jul 23, 2026
Incident date: Jul 22, 2026
The oil pump failed on my X5. The factory installed oil pump has a plastic housing that cracks and leads to oil pump failure. BMW replaced the part with a newer model that has a metal housing.
Incident date: Jun 12, 2026
2019 Jeep grand Cherokee, noticed to have leaking water pump, engine showed no signs of overheating. Water pump and thermostat changed due to a small fluctuating of temp gauge but never over the half way mark. Took it in for diagnostics, which, after reading many reviews of ongoing issues with head gaskets in jeeps, even after Jeep said they remedy it in 2016, I asked for diagnostics done on my ra... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2021) - ENGINE
Jul 23, 2026
Incident date: Jun 22, 2026
I bought this car used and I've only had it two months and the head gasket has blown. I didn't know the 10th generation had bad gaskets and turbos i found that out after I purchased the car. Literally everyone i know now that had one the gasket or turbo went out. Not only that it was a recall on my fuel pump no one told me about until I added it to my insurance and they told me. Yes Honda dealersh... Read more
Incident date: Jul 1, 2026
Vehicle suddenly seemed to shift while driving causing a loud sound, jerk and caused a loss of control suddenly.
Incident date: Jul 21, 2026
Our 2025 Honda Odyssey has repeatedly shut off or failed to restart while stopped. This has occurred approximately 10 times. The vehicle was previously taken to an authorized Honda dealership for this issue. The dealership diagnosed the battery as the cause and replaced it, but the same problem continued afterward. The two most recent incidents occurred on 7/21. During one incident, we were stopp... Read more
Incident date: Jul 16, 2026
At just under 40,000 miles, the radiator started leaking along the seams. It was noticed by the dealer repair shop when the dealer was performing warranty repairs on the front differential. There were no other indications before discovery.
Incident date: Jul 21, 2026
Since purchasing my 2023 Nissan Rogue brand new, I have experienced severe drowsiness and an inability to breathe when driving in start-and-stop traffic. The issue peaked after a recent refueling stop, where raw gas fumes or exhaust heavily infiltrated the cabin. Immediately after driving away from the gas pump, I suffered acute chemical suffocation, gasping for air, experiencing body tremors, and... Read more
Incident date: Jul 21, 2026
2019 BMW X4 with 60,000 miles. On July 23, 2026, BMW dealership found a leaking Transfer case and quoted me $8500 to replace. Along with a defected shark Fin antenna costing $3000. Failed Water pump and 2 major coolant line. All have lawsuit against BMW of America.
Incident date: Jun 12, 2026
1) What component or system failed or malfunctioned: On 6/12/2026 While drive on the highway with our daughter in the car and we experienced a high speed stall. The engine failed and we lost power. We barely got the car of the highway and coasted into a parking lot. 2) Life threating for Father, Mother and daughter and other drivers on the highway. 3) The Mazda dealer stated they were unable... Read more
Incident date: Jul 23, 2026
2018 Ford escape ecoboost coolant leak and engine overheating. If not repaired, will destroy the entire engine.
Incident date: Feb 13, 2026
At approximately 159,000 miles, my vehicle exhibited multiple dashboard warning lights simultaneously including ABS, VSA, EPS, TPMS, brake, ACC, CMBS, and RDM warnings along with engine misfire codes. Borescope inspection confirmed coolant intrusion into cylinder 1. Cylinders 2, 3, and 4 were dry. Diagnosis confirmed head gasket failure consistent with the known design defect in the 1.5L turbochar... Read more
Incident date: Jul 23, 2026
My wife went to a friends house to drop something off, pulled in the driveway, pushed the Park button, got out of the vehicle, as she was walking away the car drove through their garage door. We paid about $3300 to have their door replaced. We just recently received a recall 26V402 that talks about this issue and it currently says there is not a remedy for it at this point.
Crash
Incident date: Jun 16, 2026
The contact owned a 2015 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while driving 55 MPH, bystanders notified the contact that the vehicle was on fire. The contact pulled over, exited the vehicle, opened the hood, and there were flames coming from the engine. No warning light was illuminated. The contact's boyfriend called 911. No injuries were sustained. No medical attention was required. A Police report ... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Jul 11, 2026
The contact owned a 2019 BMW 330I. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked at the residence in the driveway, there was an abnormal cracking sound coming from outside the residence. The contact checked and became aware that the vehicle was on fire. The vehicle was unoccupied at the time. The contact stated that the residential camera showed that the fire had started by the front driver... Read more
Fire
KIA
CARNIVAL HYBRID
(2025) - ENGINE
Jul 23, 2026
Incident date: Jul 11, 2026
This is a fourth occurrence related to NHTSA complaints 11749893, 11750183, and 11751201. The vehicle was previously diagnosed and repaired under warranty for the same 'Shift System Fault: Service Required' condition (transmission main control valve body replacement, RO #609213, completed July 21, 2026). Approximately 14 hours after pickup, on July 22, 2026, the identical fault recurred, the Chec... Read more
Incident date: Mar 26, 2026
Subject of Complaint: Severe odometer fraud, mileage tampering, and title misrepresentation by the selling dealership: Phenix Motors, LLC ([XXX]), operated by [XXX]. The Discrepancy: The vehicle was sold to me with a falsely represented odometer reading. Subsequent electronic diagnostics and vehicle history reports reveal that the actual mileage is severely discrepant from the mileage disclosed on... Read more
Incident date: Jul 13, 2026
One day I noticed my oil light flashed on and off about three times during a drive down the road, simultaneously a loud knocking started in my engine. Although I had gotten my oil changed just a couple months prior and always practiced appropriate maintenance I decided to pull over and check my oil, it was empty. No warnings, the oil light had never come on, the engine light had never come on. A m... Read more
Incident date: Jul 23, 2026
While the vehicle’s idle stop feature was engaged at a stop light, I took my foot off the brake to start moving again, but instead of starting again, the engine hard stopped and the van turned off completely. It told me to push the brake and start button to start it again but it took trying that several times and eventually holding the brake and start button down before it actually turned back o... Read more
Incident date: May 9, 2026
I own a 2021 Honda Accord Hybrid. Shortly after purchasing the vehicle as a used vehicle in 2023, I began experiencing intermittent air conditioning performance. The A/C would gradually lose cooling capacity over time until it was no longer able to cool the cabin effectively. To temporarily restore operation, I added refrigerant approximately twice per year, believing the system had developed a m... Read more
FORD
EXPEDITION
(2018) - ENGINE
Jul 23, 2026
Incident date: Jun 29, 2026
Vehicle developed a hum when accelerating on July 5, 2026. Made an appointment with the dealership to have it diagnosed. They could not get me in until July 16, 2026. On July 15, 2026, the vehicle went into limp mode and had to be driven at an unsafe speed to the dealership to diagnose and repair the issue. There are 81,000 miles on the vehicle. The issue turned out to be a cracked catalytic conv... Read more
TOYOTA
HIGHLANDER
(2020) - ENGINE
Jul 23, 2026
Incident date: Jun 27, 2026
Finally got car back from previous repairs and it was making a loud groaning noise all the time. Took it back to dealership and they said they had to repair the rack and pinion system and the gears were shredded. Employee says they now have another niro with the same problem as my original symptoms when transmission was replaced twice. Car has consistently had problems with the RPMs being incredib... Read more
NISSAN
PATHFINDER
(2019) - ENGINE
Jul 23, 2026
Incident date: Jul 22, 2026
SEVERE THROTTLE DELAY & UNPREDICTABLE ACCELERATION When applying pressure to the accelerator pedal at intersections or traffic lights, there is a substantial "dead zone" delay where the vehicle fails to respond or move forward. To prompt movement in normal traffic flow, I am forced to depress the accelerator pedal to the floor. Once the engine computer responds, the vehicle suddenly lunges forward... Read more
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2023) - ENGINE
Jul 23, 2026
Incident date: Mar 23, 2026
ALTERNATOR FAILURE: My family and I were moving to [XXX] from [XXX]. A few hours into the drive, the vehicle battery light came on. It was intermittent though. It would be on for a little while 10-15 mins and then shut off and then repeat this process. I stopped at an Autozone and they tested the battery and it was showing a charge of 7%. I could not afford to get stranded somewhere so I went a... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
CLE 300 4MATIC
(2026) - ENGINE
Jul 23, 2026
Incident date: Jan 5, 2026
The engine dies out then on then out during any speed. Will not accelerate, Will not start. Dies out on the interstate and in town. Each repair by the dealer has not fixed my truck. I see Ford has recalled this model of F150’s but not mine. It needs to be.
Incident date: Jul 9, 2026
I have things wrong with my vehicle that are not currently included in recalls for my specific VIN but they are for the same model year. Yesterday, I paid $6000 to fix a stuck wastegate on the turbo and something to do with the ABS. I was informed that there is a $700 problem with a vacuum pump. I have also paid for 2 costly repairs, one that wouldn't let the car start after refueling and somethin... Read more
CHRYSLER
TOWN AND COUNTRY
(2012) - ENGINE
Jul 23, 2026
Incident date: Jul 23, 2026
2016 flex fuel toyota tundra with 118,00 miles was towed to toyota dealer in Las cruces with a no fuel issue. After the analysis it was determined the fuel pump over heated burning out conector and wiring ,but the pump was still working. According to toyota TSB 0166-19 this is a problem the can arise if the alcohol fuel density ID is not updated. I told the dealer to due repairs on vehicle even ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 15, 2025
The contact owns a 2019 GMC Sierra 1500. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, the engine seized. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to a local dealer to be diagnosed. The contact stated was informed that the engine failure was caused by rod bearing failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 1... Read more
Incident date: Jul 23, 2022
The vehicle developed an intermittent but potentially dangerous engine control malfunction. After the engine reached normal operating temperature, the engine speed (RPM) would repeatedly surge while the vehicle was stopped in Park and Neutral, fluctuating from approximately 1,000 RPM to over 3,000 RPM without any throttle input from the driver. The condition occurred with the air conditioning turn... Read more
Incident date: Jun 23, 2026
Blown head gasket at ~94k miles. Cost over $7k to replace with a used engine and Honda offered zero reimbursement assistance. This is a major problem on the 10th generation engines.
Incident date: Apr 8, 2024
While driving in the middle of active traffic, the vehicle experienced a sudden and dangerous loss of motive power. The first indication of a problem was the A/C abruptly blowing hot air. Immediately following this, the vehicle began violently shaking before the engine stalled completely. The low oil pressure warning light was triggered on the dashboard. Losing all acceleration in the middle of ac... Read more
Incident date: Jul 2, 2026
The 2017 Ford Escape was purchased on November 11, 2025 as a used vehicle with 65,626 miles on it. The car began to give Check Engine lights in February and March of 2026 with codes P0301 (Cylinder 1 Misfire) and P0303 (Cylinder 3 Misfire). Replaced coil packs and codes went away for a time. In April the car began running very rough, so it was taken to a local Ford Dealership for repair. By this t... Read more
Incident date: Jul 22, 2026
The contact owns a 2018 Ram 2500. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine and ABS warning lights were illuminated. Additionally, the cruise control feature was deactivated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with ABS failure. The contact was informed that the ABS needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure r... Read more
Incident date: Jul 13, 2026
AC stopped, engine began to struggle, engine light came on and engine over heated. Pulled off highway to be towed. Dealer found metal in oil and suggested possible manufacturer defect issue.
Incident date: Apr 13, 2026
The contact owns a 2020 Honda Ridgeline. The contact stated that while driving 65 MPH, there was a misfire coming from the engine with the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact pulled over to the side of the road and, upon inspection, the contact determined that one of the ignition coils had failed. The contact purchased a new ignition coil, replaced the part, and resumed driving; ho... Read more
Incident date: Jul 22, 2026
The contact owns a 2025 Jeep Grand Cherokee L. The contact stated that while driving 65 MPH, the engine surged and RPM revved above 7,000 RPM, and the vehicle failed to accelerate as needed. The contact stated that while depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle failed to respond, and the transmission failed to respond. The contact stated that there were several unknown warning lights illumina... Read more
Incident date: Jul 16, 2026
The car shuts off at random times during me driving . Its like the car locks up steering and shuts completely down . Have to pull over and give the car time . And it shuts back on in and drives with poor accelerate after each issuse. The car is now shaking and making popping sounds while driving .
Incident date: Aug 1, 2025
The engine failed for my 2019 Hyundai Elantra. We bought it at Atlantic Hyundai dealership. They used a passing recall inspection to clear a defective engine, misdiagnosed the ensuing failure as an oil pan leak, and abandoned me with a vehicle that stalled dangerously in traffic. We brought car to Atlantic Hyundai told them that the car just stopped on the highway in the middle of driving. Our mec... Read more
Incident date: May 15, 2026
The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 30 MPH, the vehicle aggressively accelerated while the accelerator pedal was depressed. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer and remained with the dealer for additional diagnostic tests. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The fa... Read more
Incident date: Nov 15, 2024
First started around 4 to 6000 miles, felt a shuttering between 50 and 65 mph. Shattering lasted from 10 to maybe 30 seconds let off the fuel and reapplied still there on one or two occasions. RPMs were approximately 2000 RPM shattering stopped in our PMs went down to 1500. This is occurred many times taken to a dealership always get same result, no problem found. Problem always occurs just after ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 20, 2026
My trailblazer will not shift properly into drive from park or reverse. GM calls this a "loss of forward motion" or "delayed forward engagement" in their service bulletin TSB-24-NA-009. It is a safety issue because you never know when or how long the vehicle will take to engage and allow forward movement. This causes issues when leaving a parking spot or a driveway, especially on busy roads. ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 15, 2026
Complete engine failure while driving on a highway. While cruise was set, the truck emitted a sound and sensation like we had run over something on the highway. Within a few minutes the engine started ticking. The cruise was disengaged which thru the truck into neutral. No dashboard sensors were illuminated. We were able to get off the highway but the truck would not restart. Truck was towed to ne... Read more
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2023) - ENGINE
Jul 23, 2026
Incident date: Jul 4, 2026
This is at lesat the second time that our Odessey has failed to restart at an interesction following the start-stop system turning off the engine the when stopped at a red light. After a couple of moments of trying to restart, it started again.
Incident date: Jul 19, 2026
My 2021 Toyota RAV4 began experiencing intermittent shuddering and vibration at low speeds around May 2026. The condition occurred while accelerating from a stop or at slow speeds and became more frequent over time. Because the problem was intermittent, the dealership was initially unable to duplicate it. Independent inspection later found dark transmission fluid containing metal debris, indicatin... Read more
Incident date: Jul 15, 2026
The contact owns a 2019 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, smoke started coming from the hood and the vehicle was pulled over into a parking space. While opening the hood, the contact saw that fire was coming from the top of the engine. The contact stated that the fire consumed the front of the vehicle, including the windshield and the dashboard. The sm... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Jul 7, 2026
On Saturday the 18th of July, the car was fine, on Sunday 07/19/2026 got ready to take car to regular scheduled oil change and it was making a blown engine noise, the rod had failed, Safety issues where the people at oil change could have had a rod thrown out the bottom of the engine, or my car could have failed in the middle of the road causing an accident. No warning signs, no limp mode, no engi... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2025
The contact owns a 2021 Kia K5. The contact stated that while driving approximately 55 MPH, the fuel gauge suddenly went from one-half tank to empty. The fuel level displayed 120 miles to empty. The contact attempted to refuel the vehicle but was unable to add fuel to the tank. The contact also stated that the oil warning light and the TPMS warning light was illuminated. The contact associated the... Read more