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 40,899 complaints - component: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Incident date: Oct 7, 2023
The contact's sister owns a 2016 Ford Edge. The contact stated while her sister was driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that there was coolant intrusion in cylinder #3. The dealer determined that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of th... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 Ram 1500. The contact stated the vehicle was included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V475000 (Engine and Engine Cooling). After the recall remedy was completed, the vehicle went into LIMP Mode, while driving approximately 10-15 MPH. The vehicle then started to jerk. An unknown warning light illuminated, and the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken back... Read more
Incident date: Jun 6, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated while reversing into the driveway, there was smoke coming from the engine compartment. After a visual inspection of the engine compartment, the contact observed smoke coming from an unknown location. The smoke eventually dissipated independently. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 27, 2023
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 45-50 MPH, the vehicle overheated. Additionally, a message indicating a low coolant level was displayed, and the vehicle shut off. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where the coolant temperature sensor housing was replaced; however, the failure recurred while driving. The vehicle was towed to the residence. The vehicle was th... Read more
Incident date: Mar 18, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated that while her niece was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power and was unable to accelerate above 60 MPH. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who determined that there was a misfire in cylinder #2. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the con... Read more
Incident date: Nov 27, 2023
The contact owns a 2011 BMW 328I. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle displayed the message "Do Not Drive" with the low engine oil warning light illuminated and the contact pulled over to the shoulder of the roadway. After a visual inspection of the engine compartment, the contact became aware that the engine was extremely low on engine oil. The contact added... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2012 Ford F-350. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer who replaced the reductant heater however, the failure reoccurred. The contact stated that the first repair was covered under Manufacturer Communication Number: 10137151 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The contact took the vehicle to a certified mechan... Read more
Incident date: Jul 8, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 60 MPH, the vehicle started to overheat, and the steering wheel became firm. Additionally, the vehicle failed to accelerate above 20 MPH. The vehicle eventually became inoperable. The contact pulled over to inspect the vehicle and noticed a fluid leak and smoke coming from the muffler. The triangle master warning light was illum... Read more
Incident date: Nov 21, 2023
The contact owns a 2006 BMW 325I. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V119000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH, there was a significant amount of smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe and coming from underneath the hood of the vehicle. The check engine warning light was illu... Read more
Incident date: Jul 5, 2022
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving approximately 60 MPH, the vehicle was not accelerating as needed with the accelerator pedal depressed. The contact stated that the check engine warning light illuminated, then flashed several times and then turned off. The contact stated that the loss of motive power failure was intermittent but had reoccurred. The contact had... Read more
Incident date: Nov 22, 2023
The contact's daughter owns a 2012 Hyundai Veloster. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. Additionally, the contact stated that while accelerating from a complete stop, the vehicle jerked, lurched forward, and there was smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe. The contact stated that the failure also occurred while driving at various speeds. The contact stated that ... Read more
Incident date: May 23, 2022
The contact owns a 2017 Lincoln MKC. The contact stated while driving at approximately 35 MPH, the vehicle shuddered and stalled. The contact was able to pull over. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that cylinder #4 had misfired. The contact stated that the engine block was defective, and the vehicle was... Read more
Incident date: Nov 22, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH and attempting to accelerate, she heard an abnormal clicking sound coming from the engine compartment. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who determined that the rod and crank in cylinder #3 were damaged, and the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. ... Read more
Incident date: May 10, 2023
The contact owns a 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport. The contact stated while driving 25 MPH, the vehicle inadvertently stalled. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle failed to restart and was towed to an unknown dealer to be repaired under NHTSA Campaign Number: 17V226000 (Engine and Engine Cooling); however, the dealer charged a fee for the diagnostic testing. The contact declined to p... Read more
Incident date: Nov 21, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Ecosport. The contact stated while driving 55 MPH, the brake pedal became firm, and it was difficult to depress the brake pedal. The engine oil pressure, engine, and the wrench warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic. The contact was informed that the failure was due to a faulty oil pump. The vehicle had not been repaired. The ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 21, 2023
The contact owns a 2012 Honda Odyssey. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle lost motive power inadvertently in the middle of the roadway. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact was unable to veer to the side of the roadway. The contact stated that he shifted into park (P) and was able to restart the vehicle. The contact stated that the failure had been occur... Read more
Incident date: Oct 14, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle began to indicate that the engine was overheating, displaying a message reading "Stop Vehicle Immediately". The contact was able to pull to the shoulder of the roadway to let the vehicle cool down. After restarting the vehicle, the vehicle returned to normal functionality, but the failur... Read more
Incident date: Nov 19, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, a message displayed reading "All Wheel Drive Malfunction”. 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 failure, the contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V0640... Read more
Incident date: Nov 19, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The contact was able to restart the vehicle; however, the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact stated that he had been filling the coolant reservoir constantly prior to the engine stalling due to the engine overheating. The contact was able to restart the vehicle and drov... Read more
Incident date: May 19, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Dodge Charger. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle the warning "Engine Oil Pressure" displayed. Upon inspection, it was discovered that engine oil had leaked from the engine and while attempting to add oil to the engine the oil immediately leaked out. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer who diagnosed that the engine oil cooler hose had failed, and the ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 7, 2023
The contact's husband owns a 2019 Ford EcoSport. The contact stated that while driving 45-50 MPH, the low oil pressure warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where an oil change was performed; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken back to the independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed and determined that the oil pump had failed. The vehicle w... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
JETTA
(2019) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Nov 20, 2023
Incident date: Nov 17, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving approximately 70 MPH, the vehicle suddenly lost automotive power and the speed was reduced to approximate 35 MPH with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that coolant was present inside the engine cylinder and the engine needed to be replaced. The manufacturer ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 18, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Ecosport. The contact stated while driving 35-40 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the thermostat had failed. The vehicle was then taken to another independent mechanic, who made the same assessment and informed the contact that the failure could be covered under warranty. The ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Kia Soul. The contact stated while driving 30 MPH, the vehicle made an abnormal sound, the vehicle lost power and the engine became inoperable. The check engine and oil warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the residence. The vehicle was diagnosed by an independent mechanic. The contact was informed that the failure was due to a faulty engine. The manufa... Read more
Incident date: Nov 19, 2023
The contact owned a 2017 Honda Ridgeline. The contact stated that after parking on the side of the road and with the engine idling, a burning odor was present coming from the vehicle. Moments later smoke and flames were seen coming from the engine compartment which caused the hood to blow open. The fire department was immediately called to the scene and extinguished the flames. During the incident... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Nov 11, 2023
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the vehicle was parked outside the residence, and she noticed that coolant was leaking onto the ground. The contact stated that she added coolant to the vehicle, but the coolant continuously leaked onto ground. The contact started driving the vehicle however, the vehicle started overheating and a message advising to pull over was display... Read more
Incident date: Nov 14, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Ecosport. The contact stated while his daughter was driving into a parking area, she heard an abnormal sound coming from the engine compartment. After a visual inspection of the engine compartment, the contact observed that the engine oil was at sufficient levels. The low-oil pressure warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a f... Read more
TOYOTA
COROLLA CROSS
(2023) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Nov 20, 2023
Incident date: Apr 6, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Kia Sorento. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the engine had sustained a loss of compression in cylinder #4, and oil had leaked onto the spark plugs. The contact was advised that the engine was faulty, but no repairs would be made until ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 10, 2023
The contact owns a 2020 BMW X5. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, the check engine warning illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the active air flap controller. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH and attempting to accelerate, the vehicle lost motive power. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who determined that coolant intrusion had damaged the long block, requiring the engine to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while at a complete stop, the vehicle inadvertently shut off after releasing the brake pedal. The contact was able to restart the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the starter was replaced twice; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, where it was determined that the flywheel needed to ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 18, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while her daughter was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle began to overheat, and the vehicle lost motive power. The contact's daughter was able to pull over to the shoulder of the roadway, where the vehicle was able to be restarted. The overheating warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnose... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS
(2018) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Nov 17, 2023
Incident date: Nov 17, 2023
The contact owned a 2013 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid. The contact stated that while the wife was driving approximately 65 MPH, an abnormal engine noise was suddenly present coming from the engine compartment before the vehicle stalled. After parking on the side of the road and exiting the vehicle, moments later flames and smoke were present coming from the engine compartment and the fire department was ... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Nov 2, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Ram 1500. The contact stated while driving 50 MPH and towing a trailer, the contact heard a thud, after which the vehicle suddenly lost motive power. The contact was able to coast to the shoulder of the roadway, where the vehicle failed to restart. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the crankshaf... Read more
Incident date: Aug 12, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 Kia Soul. The contact stated while driving 30 MPH, the vehicle failed to accelerate and independently decelerated to 20 MPH. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the failure was due to metal shavings in the oil. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of t... Read more
FORD
ESCAPE HYBRID
(2021) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Nov 17, 2023
Incident date: May 26, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated while attempting to start the vehicle, several attempts were needed before the vehicle started. The contact stated that the vehicle started and idled rough. The engine malfunction warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the engine had failed, and coolant ha... Read more
Incident date: Nov 15, 2023
The contact owns a 2021 Ford Eco Sport. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH, the contact heard an abnormal sound coming from the vehicle. The vehicle lost motive power and hesitated while accelerating. The low oil pressure, Wrench, and check engine warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the failure was due to a faulty o... Read more
Incident date: Nov 6, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated while driving approximately 10 MPH, she heard an abnormal clanking sound coming from the engine compartment. The vehicle stalled and the contact coasted to a stop. The contact stated there was warning light illuminated. The contact had the vehicle towed to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the connecting rod to the cr... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
JETTA
(2022) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Nov 17, 2023
Incident date: Nov 10, 2023
The contact's daughter owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while his daughter was driving at an undisclosed speed, the engine was misfiring, and the vehicle was hesitating. Additionally, the engine power was reduced. The contact was unaware if there was a warning light illuminated. The contact's daughter was able to drive to her destination. The contact's daughter then noticed that th... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle, he observed excessive smoke coming from the engine compartment as well as the rear exhaust. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who determined there was coolant intrusion into the engine cylinder that caused damage to the cylinder head. The contact was informed ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 17, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the vehicle vibrated and idled very roughly. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact stated while driving at approximately 35 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The contact stated that the rough idling with the check engine warning light had become a recurring failure. The co... Read more
Incident date: Jul 14, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that upon taking the vehicle into the dealer for an oil change, the contact was informed that the engine was empty of coolant. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who determined coolant intrusion had caused damage to the cylinder head, requiring a replacement. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigat... Read more
LAND ROVER
RANGE ROVER SPORT
(2014) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Nov 16, 2023
Incident date: Sep 15, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at unknown speeds, the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact opened the hood and became aware that the coolant reservoir was empty. The contact's brother opened the coolant cap and topped off the coolant. The contact thought there might have been an air in the unit. While her father was driving the vehicle, the eng... Read more
Incident date: Oct 3, 2023
The contact owns a 2021 Kia Sorento. The contact stated while driving 30 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power and stalled. The contact stated there was no warning light illuminated. The contact had the vehicle towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed and determined that the engine had seized and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 12, 2023
The contact owns a 2010 BMW 328I. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the contact heard an abnormal rattling sound coming from the engine compartment. The contact pulled over to the shoulder of the roadway. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed with a failed engine. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repai... Read more
Incident date: Nov 16, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 Kia Optima. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle inadvertently lost motive power. The contact was able to coast to the shoulder of the roadway, where the vehicle failed to restart. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, who diagnosed a general failure with the engine. The vehicle was not repaired. After inve... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS
(2018) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Nov 15, 2023
Incident date: Nov 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 Ram 1500. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to the dealer and repaired under NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V475000 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle started losing motive power. The contact stated that the accelerator pedal was depressed, but the vehicle failed to respond. The check engine warning light was i... Read more
Incident date: Nov 15, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while driving approximately 45 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer and was diagnosed with coolant intrusion into the engine. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 85,003.
Incident date: Jul 1, 2020
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 55 MPH, the vehicle started shaking violently, prompting the contact to pull over to the shoulder of the roadway before coasting into a parking area. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, who determined that the coolant intrusion had caused a misfire in cylinder #2. The contact was ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 26, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Edge. The contact stated that the Evaporative Emission Control (EVAP) system was previously replaced. The contact stated that a month later, the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle was shuddering abnormally. The contact stated that the failure also occurred while coming to a complete stop. Additionally... Read more