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: Sep 30, 2024

Engine failure while driving on highway at 70 mpg.

Incident date: Mar 23, 2024

Lights on the panel reads service parking break, engine, transmission, abs, traffic control and esc service. All these lights are on. Idling rough, white smoke with rich smell. Had a diagnostic read cam/crank and lifters bad… estimated cost 15,000. Total new engine install.

Incident date: May 1, 2026

On June 13, 2026, my 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 5 experienced a sudden and dangerous propulsion failure while in active motion. The vehicle had approximately 9,447 miles on it and was at 58% battery charge at the time of the incident. The vehicle was leased in January 2025 and has been serviced exclusively at the Hyundai dealership. While driving with two occupants, the vehicle abruptly lost all ability... Read more

Incident date: May 26, 2026

Around XXX the car was suddenly unable to accelerate properly. When pushing the accelerator, the engine would rev only after a long lag, would rev significantly higher than normal without shifting, and the acceleration response was dramatically less than usual. It felt as if the engine simply had no power, or at times almost as if something were resisting the engine. It made it nearly impossible t... Read more

Incident date: Jun 13, 2026

The vehicle experienced a no‑start condition and was towed to a dealership. The dealership performed major engine and timing repairs without authorization and kept the vehicle for nearly four months. After the repairs, the vehicle still cranks but will not start, requires jump‑starts, and now has new electrical issues and a nonfunctional A/C system.The safety risk is that the vehicle can fail ... Read more

Incident date: Jul 20, 2024

My Jeep will not operate correctly in the electric mode after a software update that was required to resolve a recall. The vehicle loses power in the electric mode and surges into the gasoline mode suddenly. This occurs after the vehicle has been driven a while and when the battery level drops below 50%. See these forums for others experiencing the same issue. [XXX] [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED... Read more

Incident date: Jun 12, 2026

Engine Coolant Control Valve Position Sensor Minimum Stop Performance, and Chevy recalled this on this same motor and GMC needs to pays for this as it’s a major problem!

Incident date: May 20, 2026

vehicle serviced on 5/7/2026 for Hyundai service campaign 9C2 immediately after noticed car was not driving as it had been prior to this update, sluggish acceleration on start, chugging and then rapid sudden acceleration. returned to service dept May19. Diagnostics revealed no issues, problem persisted. returned to service dept. May22. Informed Hyundai was looking into this issue related to the 9C... Read more

Incident date: Jun 15, 2026

I recently brought my 2019 A6 to Nyack Audi for an unrelated repair, after performing their complimentary inspection the service advisor told me my water pump was leaking coolant into the vacuum hose system; and the pump, PCV valve, sensors, solenoids and vacuum hose system need to be replaced, costing $6,186. My A6 was out of warranty at that point, so Audi would not pay for the $6,186 in repairs... Read more

Incident date: Jul 4, 2025

Description On your vehicle, the integrated park module ipm may not properly engage the park pawl, preventing the vehicle from locking into park when park p is selected. If this condition occurs, a wrench light and shift system fault message will be displayed in the instrument panel cluster. Additionally, the vehicles electronic parking brake epb will automatically apply. Safety Risk If the par... Read more

Incident date: Jan 26, 2026

Head gasket is cracked causing cylinder 5 to misfire and burned up coolant in the engine causing the engine to overheat while driving and put safety of driver and passengers in danger while vehicle was traveling at high speeds.

Incident date: Jun 6, 2026

Description Vehicle emissions control information veci label updateDescription On your vehicle, the integrated park module ipm may not properly engage the park pawl, preventing the vehicle from locking into park when park p is selected. If this condition occurs, a wrench light and shift system fault message will be displayed in the instrument panel cluster. Additionally, the vehicles electronic p... Read more

Incident date: Jun 15, 2026

My Jeep Wrangler 4xe experiences an intermittent loss of propulsion and acceleration while operating in Electric Mode. Prior to the issue, the vehicle often exhibits surging and inconsistent power delivery. When the issue occurs, the vehicle may hesitate, provide significantly reduced acceleration, or fail to respond appropriately to accelerator pedal input. In some cases, a message appears stati... Read more

Incident date: Jun 15, 2026

While driving the vehicle on a street it shut off on it's own in the middle of the road. It was terrifying. Had it pulled to my house. Once I was able to get it towed it went to the Stockton CA Toyota Dealership and had it inspected with results of it needs a new transmission. I have not driven the vehicle since this happened, which is about 3 months now. It is financed through CAR MAX and I haven... Read more

Incident date: Jun 1, 2026

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, there was smoke coming from underneath the hood with the Check Engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was driven to the shoulder of the road, and the contact inspected the vehicle and became aware of smoke coming from underneath the vehicle. The failure reoccurred while the contact and the ... Read more

Incident date: Jun 14, 2026

The contact owns a 2022 Ram 1500. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the Check Engine warning light illuminated, and the engine failed, causing the vehicle to become inoperable. The vehicle was able to restart and was taken to a dealer, where it was diagnosed with fuel injector failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The... Read more

Incident date: Feb 18, 2026

On Sunday May the 31st, I was driving home from the store, when I smell gas, but was unaware that it was coming from my vehicle, since I was driving behind another vehicle and passed a gas station. I heard a noise and then saw smoke and fire coming from my vehicle in the engine area. I pulled over and exit the vehicle and called 911. The fire destroyed the whole front of the vehicle, including the... Read more

Fire

Incident date: May 24, 2026

The car is jerking while driving. It's caused the car to overheat. It's hard to start up and usually stalls out. It has stalled out while driving almost causing a accident. The engine light came on. I took it for a diagnostic and it was code P0172 for high pressure fuel pump. Before the incident date it was already hard to start prior to the engine light coming on. It sometimes causes smoke to com... Read more

Incident date: May 24, 2026

hello nhtsa i have a problem with my car. which kia soul plus with 83000 miles on it. It have check engine light blinks with code p1326 which is knock sensor recall. i went to kia dealer at federico kia at wood river illinois they replaced the knock sensor. it show up back in 6 miles. i took it back to the dealer.they hold the car for one week. they said you got denied of engine replacement due... Read more

Incident date: May 31, 2026

Grubbs Acura in Grapevine TX has all the information

Incident date: Jun 1, 2023

UNKNOWN - On XXX, at just 7,741 miles, my 2025 Toyota RAV4 XLE Premium AWD (VIN: [XXX]) suffered a catastrophic and life-threatening complete mechanical and hydraulic transmission failure. The vehicle completely lost forward propulsion when placed in Drive mode, rendering it entirely immobile. When placed in Reverse gear, the transmission violently over-pressurized, causing the vehicle to suddenly... Read more

Incident date: Jun 2, 2026

On XXX, my 2012 Kia Sportage experienced a catastrophic engine failure while traveling on the interstate. The connecting rod failed, breaking through the engine block, causing sudden and sever oil leak and heavy smoke. The safety of the occupants was put at risk due to the sudden powefr loss in high-speed traffic. This vehicle has two active federal safety recalls, SC200 snd SC 284, which are unr... Read more

Incident date: Jun 13, 2026

The contact owns a 2016 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated that while driving approximately 60 MPH, the vehicle suddenly shut off with the message "HEV System Failure" displayed. The driver safely pulled over to the side of the road and restarted the vehicle. A towing truck arrived on the scene and reset the diagnostic codes before towing the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer. The... Read more

Incident date: Jun 9, 2026

Total Engine failure due to coolant leaking into the engine. Car would sometimes not start requiring it to be jump started but I thought it was due to an old battery but after the car couldnt be started.agter replacement it was brought to the dealership who said it was the engine. We did have to keep adding coolent regularly which we thought was strange at the time but were unaware that this was a... Read more

Incident date: Jun 15, 2026

The contact owns a 2018 Infiniti QX60. The contact stated that while driving approximately 50 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power, and the vehicle decelerated to 20 MPH. The contact stated that there was a knocking sound coming from the engine with the Check Engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The ma... Read more

Incident date: Mar 5, 2026

Car has 110k on it with regular documented maintenance. The head gasket is blown and requires new engine.

Incident date: Jun 13, 2026

The car throw a EPC warning light which cause the car to go n limp mode. With doing research ot has to do with the transmission. This cause the car to drive sluggish unable to reverse at times unable to take the car out of park at times. It also cause the car to randomly shut off when reversing or at times when im sitting at a light n i begin to drive the car can randomly shut off at times. Which ... Read more

Incident date: Jun 5, 2026

Stopped at a stoplight, the engine will just die. It won't start again by pressing the gas peddle. It will require a few moments to try to restart it. It is very stressful and dangerous when people are waiting behind you. This is not safe. It won't happen every time but the few and far between are not good. We have replaced the battery and it sounds like other people have had this problem bu... Read more

Incident date: Jun 13, 2026

2026 Freightliner M2 106 Plus chassis (Dynamax Europa 31SS Class C motorhome), VIN [XXX], 6,803 miles, 0 engine hours. On June 9, 2026, an authorized Freightliner service center (Floyd's Truck Center, Belgrade, MT; service order XXX) inspected the vehicle and documented that the engine was secured to the chassis by only ONE mounting bolt — the remaining engine mount bolts were never installed at... Read more

Incident date: Jun 14, 2026

Engine block heater, car smoking recall 25SA4; Battery and Power Loss recall 23S33; 1.5 Ecoboost Coolant Intrusion program 21N12 leaking into engine

Incident date: Jun 6, 2026

My 2022 Ford Edge (approximately 97,000 miles) experiences a persistent shuddering condition that is most noticeable at speeds below 60 mph. The shudder can be felt through the vehicle and is sometimes perceived as an engine misfire. There are no warning lights or diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs) present. This condition matches exactly the symptoms described in Ford Technical Service Bulletin 25-2... Read more

Incident date: Dec 31, 2021

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving approximately 65 MPH, the vehicle started shaking and lost motive power. The vehicle was coasted to the next town, approximately a mile and a half away. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who attempted to change the spark plugs and fuel injectors. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure persisted. The vehicl... Read more

Incident date: Apr 27, 2026

I received a check engine light, code P0303, misfire Cylinder 3. There is evidence my engine was overheating as the spark plug associated with cylinder 3 was melted and unable to be removed. I took my vehicle to Ford to diagnose the issue and was advised there was coolant intrusion into my engine. Upon researching the issue there is a trove of information relating to my vehicle and other Ford v... Read more

Incident date: May 26, 2026

Engine failure Smoking engine Engine almost caught fire

Incident date: Sep 1, 2019

Vehicle shuts off completely when stopping at a light or sign. It does restart but you don't know it until you need to go. It is a safety concern!

Incident date: Jun 12, 2026

Truck starting bottom end knocking noise at 57,700 miles. Engine had the recall done to it for Pico test and passed. Dealership states now it will need a new engine.

Incident date: Jun 13, 2026

The contact owns a 2016 Ram 5500. The contact stated that while driving 35 MPH on several occasions, the vehicle lost power and unintendedly decelerated. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the residence and there was smoke coming from the engine and there was oil underneath the engine compartment. The contact stated that an independent mechanic arrived at the ... Read more

Incident date: Jun 15, 2026

Was driving vehicle and experienced complete loss of engine power. No warning signs until after the failure. Vehicle was immediately pulled over and limped into a parking lot where it was shut off and then towed to mechanics shop. Upon further inspection, mechanic stated a complete engine failure as it "threw a rod". He stated engine had a complete failure and needs to be replaced.

Incident date: Jun 12, 2026

Coolant tank empty - leaking. Coolant leaking from the thermostat housing to engine. Had to replace the thermostat housing and reseal the valve cover Because the oil leak coming from the valve cover is causing oil to reach the thermostat sear and cause the rubber seal to expand and blow out causing the coolant to leak from the thermostat. This cost me $2,431.00.

Incident date: Dec 31, 2025

While stopped at a stop sign my engine suddenly died, before restarting a low oil pressure light came on but went out immediately. I was approximately 40 miles from home when I got to my destination. The car was showing no signs of issues, no warning lights or errors. When I went back out to start it and head home it would not start. I had to pay additional expense beyond my insurance road side co... Read more

Incident date: Jun 9, 2026

The contact owns a 2023 Ram Promaster 2500. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle lost power steering assist with several unknown warning lights, and the check engine and parking assist warning lights were illuminated. The contact was forced to restart the vehicle to resume normal operation. The vehicle was initially taken to the dealer where the wiring harness was r... Read more

Incident date: Jun 13, 2026

2021 Ford F-150 PowerBoost Hybrid, VIN [XXX]. At 112,000 miles — just 1,000 miles outside of warranty — the vehicle experienced catastrophic failure of the hybrid battery system. Ford's own technician diagnosed a short in the high voltage battery system that caused damage to the hybrid electric drive unit. Repair estimate is $19,000. Ford declined goodwill warranty coverage despite the vehicle... Read more

Incident date: Feb 1, 2026

The engine has an oil leak from the head. It is a common problem with this year and make. It is a manufacturer's defect called a porous head where oil leaks through the casting not a seal. I've already spent $2000 to repair but still leaks. Oil leaks onto the exhaust and smokes causing fumes in the inside of the car and can be a fire hazard. Mazda is well aware of the problem but has yet to a... Read more

Incident date: Jun 15, 2026

On June 12, 2026, while operating my 2025 Chevrolet Tahoe, I experienced an apparent powertrain or transmission-related issue. At the time, the vehicle was already exhibiting another defect involving the air conditioning system, with the driver's side blowing hot air and the passenger side blowing cold air. While attempting to accelerate and pass another vehicle, the engine RPM suddenly increased... Read more

Incident date: Sep 27, 2025

The contact owns a 2020 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed with failures of 4 of the 6 fuel injectors. The vehicle was repaired. The contact related the failure to an unknown recall; however, the VIN was not under recall. The manufacturer was made aware of ... Read more

Incident date: Jun 13, 2026

On start up (date 6/10/26) the dash warned "Check Driver Assistance System," but the car started. Turned off the car, restarted, and this warning was replaced by a yellow "check engine" light, and a remark that the hybrid controller had a fault; the Kia app on my phone indicated the trouble as well. Called for roadside assistance; just before the tow truck operator arrived the faults cleared. Deal... Read more

Incident date: Jun 12, 2026

bought the car in 2018 and ever since it makes a rttling noise, Toyota says it is the hybrid system engaigeing, hybrid cars are not supposed to make noise.

Crash

Incident date: Jun 12, 2026

I am reporting a critical safety issue regarding the auto-start-stop system on my 2025 Honda Odyssey. On June 15, 2026, the vehicle's engine shut off at an intersection as designed but failed to restart, stranding the driver in active traffic and presenting a severe safety hazard. I previously brought the vehicle to an authorized Honda dealership approximately two weeks prior to this incident afte... Read more

Incident date: Jun 10, 2026

The vehicle lost acceleration/propulsion while traveling at highway speed on a major bridge with limited safe shoulder space. The vehicle suddenly stopped providing power needed to maintain speed in fast-moving traffic. Passengers included an infant, young child, and other family members. This created a serious safety risk because there was little room to safely pull over while traffic continued a... Read more

Incident date: May 28, 2026

June 9,2026 I was in gig harbor washington visiting my son. I pulled into the right side of the drive way as I have done a 1000 times over the years. I was slowly pulling up to the right side of the garage and the car surged forward at full speed 5 ft away. It smashed the front of the house. Filed a claim with USAA car insurance. Last year in August of 2025 I was in the Tag n Go car wash. I ... Read more

Crash

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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