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: Feb 7, 2026
For my vehicle the Check Engine light has been on continuously throughout the last 6 months and mechanics are going to have to replace the thermostat. Multiple auto mechanics have indicated online that this is a very common problem with many Hyundai vehicles from 2020-2023 and can be a danger due to temperature control not being accurate for vehicles (Code P2181). Many owners of these Hyundai vehi... Read more
Incident date: Sep 15, 2025
My 2018 Jeep Compass, with approximately 107,000 miles, has developed symptoms consistent with the oil pump/oil pressure defects reported in other recalled Jeep Compass vehicles. The vehicle frequently struggles to start, runs rough with noticeable vibration, and has displayed an oil pressure warning light. In addition, the vehicle frequently stalls or suddenly loses power/slows while driving. The... Read more
Incident date: Apr 2, 2025
Blown head gasket. Engine lost power and forced me to pull over. The problem is well documented with this generation of Honda 1.5T engines, Honda dealership confirmed problem and second opinion from independent shop also confirmed, citing they had another Honda with the same 1.5T engine with the same blown head gasket issue. No clear warnings prior to event, all the dashboard lights flashed on whe... Read more
Incident date: Apr 2, 2025
For the past year, I have been dealing with a recurring check engine light on my Ford Fusion related to Diagnostic Trouble Code P0301 – Cylinder 1 Misfire. Despite multiple repair attempts by qualified mechanics, the issue continues to return, leaving me with mounting repair bills, lost confidence in my vehicle, and serious concerns about its reliability and safety. Every time the check engine l... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2025
While driving on the highway at 70mph my transmission malfunction warning light illuminated in red and my vehicle went into limp mode, creating a life threatening safety defect at highway speeds. I immediately took the vehicle to Mercedes Benz of Pittsburgh. The dealer's own diagnostic tech notes stated 'software is in preparation for concern' confirming this is a known safety defect on Mercedes' ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 7, 2026
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, abnormal engine oil consumption was noticed. No warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed with engine oil consumption, but repairs could not be made until a knocking sound was heard. The contact stated that the vehicle was no longer experiencing the failure... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2026
The contact owns a 2019 Hyundai Kona. The contact stated that while driving on several occasions at various speeds, the AWD warning light illuminated and was reset each time the vehicle was restarted. The contact also stated that over a couple of months, while downshifting, stopping, or decelerating, the vehicle stalled on several occasions. Additionally, the contact stated that while driving at a... Read more
Incident date: May 30, 2026
10 day roundtrip from [XXX] to [XXX]. 5 incidents of catastrophic engine failure on interstates. Truck started to jerk, sputter, lost power at an alarming rate. No engine light until failure ocurred. Very dangerous with heavy holiday traffic. Lives were in danger, us and other vehicles around us. No one expects travel to go from 70 mph,to 50, 30, 15 in such a short period of time. Pulled over to "... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2026
Either while stopping while driving or parking (forward or reverse) the engine RPMs go up thus wanting to move the vehicle in that direction causing the breaks needing to be applied harder. When you shift into neutral the RPMs go way up (3000). This has happened on this vehicle 3-4 times of which I have video of the latest occurrence. When put into R or D the RPMs are still over 1000. This also ha... Read more
Incident date: Jun 8, 2026
Car was running fine then went to start and received warning about car being too hot. Checked coolant and it was low. Refilled and drove home. Upon arriving engine light came on. PO301 code. There was coolant intrusion into the cylinders, leading to engine failure. Rough idle when starting. Did not drive after this. Went to start and car will not start at all. Symptoms include: Coolant loss wit... Read more
Incident date: May 25, 2026
I bought the vehicle under the assumption that it only had 138,000 miles on it. Upon trying to register it with Carfax I was informed that the odometer had been tampered with and the actual mileage is 345,000
Incident date: Jun 6, 2026
I was told my top side of my engine failed, and they only cover bottom side engine failure. As well as pieces was missing. When I looked at the video it showed that my screws has fell off vs removed.
Incident date: Jun 3, 2026
I was driving down the highway when all of a sudden felt a hesitation and then seen message low oil pressure turn off vehicle and was just able to pull of the exit ramp of the highway when the truck had complete loss of power and then Died..called dealer right away and was flat bedded to the dealer..This just happened yesterday (06/08/26)
Incident date: Jun 4, 2026
Engine turns off while driving down road, have to pull over, restart vehicle to unlock gear shifter. Taken to Deery Iowa City three times to fix the dangerous problem and Deery Iowa City are only resetting the computer and turning off while driving down road continues happening. I have not been provided a safe loaner vehicle for over 12 days in shop. I cannot risk me and my daughter's safety resul... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
GLB 250 4MATIC
(2021) - ENGINE
Jun 9, 2026
Incident date: May 22, 2026
The engine lost power and shut down at highway speeds which put myself and a passenger at risk for a crash. There were no warning lights or other symptoms before the engine shut down. After pulling the vehicle over to the side of the road, I attempted to restart the engine. The engine failed to turn over and start. The truck towed into a local dealership and is waiting inspection.
FORD
BRONCO SPORT
(2024) - ENGINE
Jun 9, 2026
Incident date: Jun 9, 2026
Cylinder block cracked on back side of engine. This crack leaks oil onto the exhaust manifold. Condition Confirmed by Mazda dealer. Oil burns on the exhaust filling the cabin with smoke impairing the driver. Also a high risk of combustion in the engine compartment Inspection report and pictures available. No sign or warning of issue. Crack happened on a daily drive to work. No engine lights... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2026
On approximately May 27, 2026 I delivered my 2013 Scion FR-S (approx. 105,000 miles) to an authorized Toyota dealer for Safety Recall J02 (NHTSA 18V-772, engine valve spring replacement). I picked it up on June 3, 2026. Immediately the engine ran sluggish and the air conditioning, which had worked, stopped blowing cold. On June 7, 2026 - four days and only a few miles later - the engine spun a rod... Read more
Incident date: Mar 17, 2026
During my daily commute to work on the interstate the service break assist message came on my dash and when attempting to break the pedal was very hard, to the point where I had to push extremely hard and quickly realized I had to brake much much soon than normal to prevent hitting other vehicles. Sudden loss of brakes put me and other drivers at risk due to my near inability to slow down or stop ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 19, 2026
The systems affected with failure notifications were Electric Parking Brake, TPMS, Emissions, Brake, Brake Hold, Power Steering, Vehicle Stability Assist, Hill Start Assist, Adaptive Cruise (including regular cruise), Collision Mitigation/Avoidance, Road Departure Mitigation. The stored codes in the vehicle that I was able to read were P0300, P0303, P0304. This failure bears a striking resemblance... Read more
Incident date: May 26, 2026
The engine began making a metallic knocking noise while at idle and very soon after began to make the same noise under acceleration. This noise sounded very much like the onset of rod bearing failure. The vehicle was driven straight home and parked. We called the dealership the next day and made a service appointment. As I drove the vehicle to the dealership, the engine noise became worse and was ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 8, 2026
Vehicle experienced catastrophic engine failure while traveling approximately 70 mph on a highway. I heard a loud popping noise and immediately lost power. The vehicle would no longer accelerate normally and I was forced to pull over. White smoke was visible from the engine compartment, and a large amount of engine oil leaked from the vehicle. This failure created a safety risk because it occurre... Read more
BMWI
IX XDRIVE60
(2026) - ENGINE
Jun 9, 2026
Incident date: Jun 8, 2026
Premature Head Gasket Failure at 75,000 miles
Incident date: May 15, 2026
On June 3, 2026, my 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LT Trail Boss, which has a 6.2L L87 V8 engine, stalled and shut off unexpectedly while I was stopped at a traffic light on a public highway. The engine died without warning, leaving me stranded in traffic and creating a serious safety risk for me and other drivers because of the chance of a collision. I had to call the police to come and sit behind... Read more
Incident date: Jun 2, 2026
Riding on a highway at about 70 mph, the bike sputtered so I got into the right lane, pulled in the clutch and the bike lost power so I coasted onto the shoulder. The bike has not started up since--I was towed home. I saw no warning lights in advance. The bike was serviced after 600 miles and now has 5200 miles. Had I been in the far left lane, I may not have been able to safely get off the road i... Read more
FORD
10R80 REMAN TRANSMISSION
(9999) - ENGINE
Jun 8, 2026
Incident date: Jun 7, 2026
The vehicle shudders and loses power when accelerating fast. My wife almost got hit when she pulled out in traffic the car stalled out. It is due to the cylinder deactivation (afm).
Incident date: May 30, 2026
Both exhaust manifold cracked causing exhaust fumes to leak in to cab
Incident date: Mar 14, 2026
2016 Hyundai Veloster with 1.6L Gamma engine experienced repeat catastrophic engine failure consistent with NHTSA Recall 20V746000 / Hyundai Recall 198 for connecting rod bearing failure. Failure #1: At 124,036 miles, engine developed loud knocking noise increasing with RPM, check engine light, and DTCs P0300 (random misfire) + P0303 (cylinder 3 misfire). Dealer repair order documented "broken int... Read more
Incident date: Jun 7, 2026
Our mechanic, Buttons Auto in [XXX], diagnosed the loss of power, misfiring engine and anti freeze in the head cylnder # 3 with code P0304 and his conclusion was a blown head gasket. We took our car to the dealer, Mansfield Motor Group. Buttons also mentioned there was a pending class action suit against Honda for head gasket failure on our model with the1.5 liter motor. Mansfield Motor Group mis... Read more
Incident date: Jun 8, 2026
Misfire at 51000 miles and told it was 2 cracked spark plugs
Incident date: Jun 5, 2026
The contact owns a 2019 Kia Cadenza. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, several unknown warning lights illuminated. Additionally, upon starting the vehicle later, the contact noticed that there was an abnormal ticking sound coming from under the hood. The vehicle was taken to AutoZone, where the contact was informed that the diagnostic trouble code was associated with a... Read more
Incident date: Mar 18, 2026
The contact owns a 2023 GMC Sierra 1500. The contact stated that while driving at 15 MPH, the vehicle stalled. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was serviced, but the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken to another dealer, where it was diagnosed with engine failure. No further information was available. The manufacturer was not made aware... Read more
Incident date: Jun 7, 2026
- THE GROUND STRAP CORRODED AND BROKE APART. YES, I HAVE THE GROUND CABLE THAT FAILED, IF NEEDED FOR INSPECTION. - YES!!! THE TRUCK'S STEERING KEPT GOING IN AND OUT OF MANUAL STEERING AND THE ENGINE REDUCED IN SPEED ALLOWED, AND THEN THE ENGINE CUT OUT ON ME COMPLETELY - WHILE I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF A BUSY ROAD TRYING TO TURN ONTO A SIDE STREET. THEN THE ENGINE WOULD NOT RESTART. - I HAD THE T... Read more
Incident date: Jun 8, 2026
While driving home, the engine began to run very rough with decreased acceleration, obvious overall loss of power and a significant amount of white smoke being emitted from exhausts. Several alarm indicators and codes started flashing on instrument panel including Check Engine, Service ESC, Steering Assist Reduced, and Service Parking Brake. Had truck towed to dealership. From Dealership Repair In... Read more
FORD
EXPEDITION
(2019) - ENGINE
Jun 8, 2026
Incident date: May 11, 2026
P1326 code flashing engine light knock sensor went out 3 times in 6 months and just replaced it again and this time engine light didn't go off I was reading that there was a recall on this but apparently mine doesn't state it. Car cannot pass emissions if engine light is on and the 15th of June is approaching. The car doesn't make any sounds or nothing.
CADILLAC
ESCALADE ESV
(2023) - ENGINE
Jun 8, 2026
Incident date: Feb 25, 2025
The vehicle is a 2019 Volkswagen Jetta (VIN [XXX]). The primary malfunction appears to involve the vehicle's electrical and starting system. The vehicle intermittently displays a "Starter System Faulty" warning message and has shut off unexpectedly while driving, particularly during periods of hot weather. The exact failed component has not been definitively identified, but the symptoms are consis... Read more
HARLEY-DAVIDSON
RA1250S
(2023) - ENGINE
Jun 8, 2026
Incident date: May 11, 2026
I am requesting that Volkswagen open a formal case regarding a fire involving my 2021 Volkswagen Passat. On May 6, 2026, at approximately 9:30 PM, after driving about seven miles, I came to a complete stop and the vehicle began smoking before catching fire. The vehicle has been declared a total loss and is currently being stored at a salvage yard pending investigation. I am requesting that Volkswa... Read more
Fire
Incident date: May 5, 2026
Coolant seeps into the engine cylinders. This leads to misfiring, white smoke from the exhaust, rough idling, and catastrophic engine failure.
Incident date: Apr 25, 2022
The contact owns a 2021 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while checking the engine oil level, the contact noticed that the vehicle was consuming excessive oil. Upon inspecting underneath the vehicle, the contact's husband did not find any leaks. No warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was determined that the piston oil rings needed to be replaced,... Read more
Incident date: Apr 25, 2022
I have owned my Honda Accord for under a year, puchased around 100k miles. My head gasket blew at 118k miles. There was no overheating of the engine or warning lights before hand, my car was idling after work and I turned it on and then I had about 5 different warning lights on. I find out that it was a cylinder 2 misfire and took it to Joyce Koons Honda for them to inform me of a head gasket fail... Read more
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2020) - ENGINE
Jun 8, 2026
Incident date: Apr 28, 2026
UNKNOWN. Car has been making a humming noise for the last 4 years. I have taken it to multiple shops, and repair companies for inspection. Wheel bearings have been repaired 2x, ball joints, as well as sway bars. Tires have been replaced, breaks and rotors have been replaced. Noise still persisted. Noise has recently become louder, creating question when driving the car. Mechanic has determined tha... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2025
Purchased vehicle 1/18/2025; first and only owner. Occurrence = Engine Shut off, alarm sounded and warning lights flashed; Error: "Engine off, shift to N or P, Then start engine." Had to shift to Neutral and Push Start to restart engine. -During March: occurred 2 times, both times worked after shifting to Neutral. -4/1-4/3: occurred 1 time, worked after shifting to Neutral. -4/16: occurred 1 ... Read more
HONDA
CLARITY PLUG-IN HYBRID
(2018) - ENGINE
Jun 8, 2026
Incident date: Mar 18, 2026
At just 30,000 miles — less than half the mileage at which these failures are typically reported — my GLC 43 was found to have active oil leaks in multiple locations: 1. Front engine covers — oil is seeping from both the front cover gasket area and migrating downward along the engine block. The dealer recommends a full reseal of the front covers at a quoted cost of $1,944. 2. Radial shaft ... Read more
Incident date: May 25, 2026
On June 7, 2026, I was driving my 2020 GMC Terrain. I was going at about 40MPH along a very busy main road. While slowing for a red light the Check Engine Light turned on and the car displayed a notice about reduced engine power. Seconds later, the brake pedal became stuck and would not press down all the way and I lost braking ability. The car rattled/shook violently, made a grinding noise, and t... Read more
Incident date: Jun 6, 2026
Vehicle lost power and shut down while driving at 60 mph, would not restart
Incident date: Jan 27, 2026
Cylinder Coolant Intrusion I took my vehicle to Warren/ Sheldon auto repair shop in canton, MI They did a diagnostic test on it, they told me they found coolant in the engine, and I would need a brand new engine. If I would of not taken the vehicle to the auto shop, the vehicle may have caught on fire vector the condition it is in, because it would of overheated because of no coolant or was ve... Read more
Incident date: Jun 6, 2026
The contact owns a 2021 GMC Yukon. The contact stated that while pulling into the yard, the vehicle made an abnormal clanking sound and a hammer-like sound. No warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the failure was related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V274000 (Engine and Engine Cooling), but the VIN was not included. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 2, 2025
The car returned P1326 and had multiple misfires and audible knocking, the dealers will indeed fight the already existing class action warranties. Was sent home and told to “drive the fuck out of it”, to which the car did not make it home and blew gasoline into my cabin while driving on the highway. Almost passed out, and am still fighting Kia to actually address the defective rod bearings. I ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 2, 2026
At approximately 24,000 miles the engine had catastrophic failure under normal street/highway driving conditions. The engine is the 6.2L V8. The issue began with a high pitch squeal or chirping sound and noticeable power loss. I parked the truck over night and then drove it to the dealer first thing the next morning. While on the way to the dealership, which was less than 20 miles away, the engine... Read more