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 40,517 complaints — component: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
VOLKSWAGEN
JETTA
(2023) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Feb 22, 2024
Incident date: Feb 22, 2024
The contact owns a 2015 Ram 1500. The contact stated while driving 75 MPH and attempting to accelerate while changing lanes, the vehicle suddenly lost motive power and was unable to accelerate properly to keep up with the flow of traffic. The contact was able to pull over to the shoulder of the roadway and turn off the vehicle. After restarting the vehicle, the failure persisted, and the vehicle w... Read more
Incident date: Feb 13, 2023
I have had coolant issues with this car for 7+ years. No matter what work I have done to it, it still looses coolant. I'm currently topping off the reservoir every 3-4 days. Pressure test does not find a leak but it must be going somewhere!! Within the past 3 months I have had: - heater hose replaced ($500+ at dealership) - valve cover gasket and turbocharger wastegate control solenoid replaced... Read more
Incident date: Feb 22, 2024
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, there was smoke coming from underneath the hood, and the vehicle lost motive power. Several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact was able to veer to the side of the road. The vehicle failed to restart and was towed to an Auto Collision Center. The vehicle was then towed to the dealer, where it was diagnose... Read more
Incident date: Feb 22, 2024
Coolant Intrusion on Cylinder 1, common problem amongst 2.0 Ecoboost Engine. Current Ford fix is replace engine block with a new design. Ford is aware of the design flaw in these cars and refuses to make things right with current owners.
Incident date: Dec 23, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the water pump. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure reoccurred 4 years later. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The fai... Read more
Incident date: Aug 21, 2022
The contact owns a 2019 Honda Ridgeline. The contact stated while driving 80 MPH, the check engine and oil warning lights started flashing on the instrument panel. The contact pulled over and checked under the hood of the vehicle but found no failure. Upon restart of the vehicle, an abnormal clanking sound started coming from the engine. Due to the failure, the vehicle was towed to an independent ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 21, 2024
The check engine light gave codes P0302 & P0316 and I had noticed the coolant level being low. After doing some research, I see that Ford issued a TSB 22-2229 as the fix for the problem which includes a new engine block because of a poor design for the coolant flow causing the block to crack. This should fall on to Ford to repair rather than people that expect and need their vehicle to last.
Incident date: Feb 9, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Edge. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. Additionally, the engine overheated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed with coolant leaking into the cylinder and that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed and determine... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2019
The contact owns a 2017 Honda Ridgeline. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, there was a knocking sound coming from the engine compartment. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the engine rod bearing had failed, and the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was not yet contacted. The contact was informed by the Ser... Read more
Incident date: Feb 19, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Ford Escape. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle, the vehicle shuddered and vibrated significantly. The check engine warning light was illuminated. Additionally, the vehicle failed to accelerate as needed. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that there was coolant intrusion in cylinder #4, and the dealer determined that the engin... Read more
Incident date: Oct 25, 2023
The contact owns a 2013 GMC Terrain. The contact stated that the engine was making an abnormal knocking sound. While driving, at various speeds, the vehicle was jerking. The lights were dim. The contact had to add additional oil every 7 days. There were no warning lights illuminated. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, but ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 22, 2023
What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? Three times this vehicle has had the water pump replaced. 2/20/2023 at 20285 miles , it was replaced with the original part HX7Z8501A, which I also had to source the part myself from another dealer, as mine told me they had no ETA and could not locate one. 9/6/2023 at 38232 miles. It was replaced w... Read more
Incident date: Feb 4, 2024
The contact owns a 2010 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while driving 60-65 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power and went into LIMP Mode. The coolant temperature and several unknown warning lights were illuminated, and the message "Check Hybrid System" was displayed. The contact pulled to the side of the road, where he disconnected and reconnected the battery to reset the Hybrid system. The co... Read more
Incident date: Feb 19, 2024
The contact owns a 2019 Ford EcoSport. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V905000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact stated that while driving appro... Read more
Incident date: Feb 2, 2024
The contact owns a 2018 Ford EcoSport. The contact stated that while her son was driving 70 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power upon depression of the accelerator pedal with several messages displayed on the instrument panel. The contact's son coasted the vehicle to a parking lot and the vehicle was later towed to a local dealer. The contact was later informed that the vehicle was included in NHTSA... Read more
Incident date: Feb 15, 2024
The contact owns a 2013 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated while driving 55 MPH, the vehicle made an abnormally loud sound and several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact pulled into a parking lot. The vehicle was towed to two independent mechanics, who informed the contact that the oil level was significantly low, although an oil change was performed two weeks prior to the failu... Read more
Incident date: Feb 20, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Edge. The contact stated that while performing the weekly inspection of the vehicle, he noticed that that coolant level was low. The contact added coolant to the vehicle. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the vehicle hesitated to start. The contact noticed that the coolant level was low. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that... Read more
HYUNDAI
ELANTRA HYBRID
(2021) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Feb 20, 2024
Incident date: Feb 7, 2024
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while his daughter was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle began to shake, after which the vehicle lost motive power and was unable to accelerate above 30 MPH. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the fai... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2019) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Feb 20, 2024
Incident date: Feb 4, 2024
The contact owns a 2018 Ford EcoSport. The contact stated while driving 40–55 MPH, the vehicle started bucking. The driver was able to pull over and oil light was illuminated. The vehicle failed to restart. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the oil pump had failed and caused the engine to be blown. The vehicle was repaired. The Insurance Company covered the r... Read more
Incident date: Feb 20, 2024
The contact owns a 2019 Acura MDX. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V751000 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The contact stated while her nephew was driving at an undisclosed speed, he noticed smoke coming from the front and rear of the vehicle. No warning light was illuminated. The contact’s nephew pulled off the road to lift the hood of the vehicle where he saw flames.... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Nov 21, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V905000 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The contact stated that on several occasions while driving at undisclosed speeds, the vehicle lost motive power and decelerated. The check engine, oil, and engine failure warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was steered to the side of the road and restarted... Read more
Incident date: Feb 5, 2024
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V905000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. While the contact's wife was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power. In ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 31, 2024
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V905000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled. The vehicle ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 8, 2020
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Expedition. The contact stated that an unknown fluid was leaking from the vehicle in two locations. The engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and informed about a possible catalytic converter failure. The mechanic blew out the parts. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the valve cover g... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2024
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V905000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated that while her son was driving at an undisclosed speed, the oil pressure warn... Read more
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2022) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Feb 16, 2024
Incident date: Apr 4, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Acura MDX. The contact stated while starting the vehicle, the engine made an abnormal knocking sound. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the connecting rod bearing was knocking, and the dealer recommended replacing the engine. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and ... Read more
Incident date: Dec 7, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Sorento. The contact stated while driving 25 MPH, the vehicle was overheating. The contact veered to the side of the road. Upon inspecting the vehicle, the contact noticed that there was sufficient coolant in the coolant reservoir, but there was no coolant in the radiator. The contact stated that the failure recurred. The contact inspected the vehicle and noticed that c... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
GLK350
(2014) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Feb 16, 2024
Incident date: Feb 8, 2024
The contact owns a 2018 Ford EcoSport. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the low oil pressure warning light illuminated on the instrument panel, prompting the contact to pull to the shoulder of the roadway and cease driving the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the oil pump, resulting in damage to the engine. The vehicle was not... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving 60-65 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power with a message indicating an engine failure was displayed. The contact was able to veer to the side of the road. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the engine had seized. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was towed the residence of the con... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
C300
(2016) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Feb 16, 2024
Incident date: Dec 12, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle was hesitating while accelerating, with white smoke coming from the exhaust. The check engine warning light remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that coolant was present inside the engine cylinders. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford EcoSport. The contact stated that while driving at undisclosed speeds, the low engine pressure warning light illuminated. The contact was able to pull over safely. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who informed the contact that the engine needed to be replaced. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V905000 (Engine and Engine Cool... Read more
Incident date: Nov 15, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while the vehicle was at the independent mechanic repair shop for routine maintenance, he was informed that the vehicle had been experiencing excessive coolant consumption. The mechanic determined that the coolant was leaking and burning and that the failure could be related to the turbocharger. The contact stated that he had also noticed... Read more
Incident date: Sep 30, 2023
The contact owns a 2011 BMW 328I. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V707000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 9, 2024
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact received notification NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V905000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated that while his grandson was driving at an undisclosed speed, the engine started... Read more
Incident date: Feb 15, 2024
The contact owns a 2022 Kia Forte. The contact stated that after driving and parking the vehicle, upon restarting the vehicle, the oil pressure warning light illuminated. There was a puddle of oil near the vehicle. While driving 35–40 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power and shutoff. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer, who informed the contact that the oil drain plug was missing. The dealer... Read more
Incident date: Jan 11, 2024
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that when he started the vehicle in the mornings he noticed that it would idle roughly and large amounts of white exhaust was issued from the exhaust pipe. The contact stated that the check engine light was illuminated. Additionally, the contact noted that the vehicle was consuming unusual amounts of coolant that required him to fill the cool... Read more
Incident date: Feb 15, 2024
The contact owns a 2010 BMW 328I. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V707000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not ... Read more
HYUNDAI
SANTA CRUZ
(2024) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Feb 15, 2024
Incident date: Feb 15, 2024
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Edge. The contact stated while operating the vehicle, the check engine warning light remained illuminated, and the vehicle was vibrating abnormally. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that coolant was discovered in cylinder #1, causing a crack in the engine long block. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. Additionally, th... Read more
Incident date: Oct 16, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the check engine warning light remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local mechanic who diagnosed that the camshaft sensor was faulty and needed to be replaced. The camshaft sensor was replaced but the failure persisted. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer and manufac... Read more
JEEP
GRAND WAGONEER
(2023) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Feb 15, 2024
Incident date: Oct 14, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power and was unable to accelerate above 50 MPH. The contact was able to pull off the roadway, where the failure persisted. Several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the oil pump which caused damage to th... Read more
Incident date: Nov 25, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford EcoSport. The contact stated while driving 20-25 MPH and attempting to depress the brake pedal to come to a stop at a STOP sign, the brake pedal was stiff and failed to depress as needed. The low oil pressure warning light was illuminated. The contact engaged the electric parking brake and the vehicle stopped. The contact stated that he drove to the nearby mechanic, wh... Read more
Incident date: Feb 7, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Edge. The contact stated while the vehicle was idling, the vehicle was jerking abnormally. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that coolant was leaking into cylinder #1. The vehicle failure related to TSB: [XXX] with NHTSA ID Number: 10214126 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the VIN was not inc... Read more
Incident date: Jan 20, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the engine temperature gauge had increased to "HOT”, and the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer who diagnosed that coolant had leaked into the engine causing damage to the engine. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufa... Read more
Incident date: Feb 2, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while driving and accelerating from 10-30 MPH, there was an abnormal sound coming from the engine. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure recurred while driving and depressing the accelerator pedal, and while starting the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was dia... Read more
HONDA
CR-V HYBRID
(2024) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Feb 14, 2024
Incident date: Dec 30, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ram 1500. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V406000 (Fuel System Diesel) and 23V411000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact h... Read more
Incident date: Jun 9, 2022
The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the oil warning light illuminated. The contact pulled over, opened the hood, and added additional oil. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who informed him that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was towed to the residence. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or re... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Acura TLX. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 23V858000 (Fuel System, Gasoline) and 23V751000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the parts to do the recalls repairs were not yet available. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle only responded as needed when the accelerator p... Read more
Incident date: Feb 7, 2022
The contact owns a 2013 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that the vehicle was consuming an excessive amount of engine oil. The contact was adding additional oil after driving for thirty minutes. The contact called the local dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, but no assistance was provided. The contact stated that the failure was related to NHTSA C... Read more
Incident date: Feb 14, 2024
The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V751000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had n... Read more
Incident date: Nov 30, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving 30 MPH, the EVAP failure message was displayed, and the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact stated that occasionally the vehicle failed to immediately restart. The vehicle was taken to the local mechanic who replaced the high-pressure fuel pump, but the failure persisted. The vehicle was later driven to the ... Read more