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: May 10, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that during cold starts, the engine shuddered, and the check engine warning light flashed on and off. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who replaced cylinder #2 and the spark plugs. After retrieving the vehicle, the failure reoccurred, and the vehicle was taken back to the local dealer who diagnosed that coolant was present inside the... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ID.4
(2021) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Oct 18, 2023
Incident date: Oct 16, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact was driving approximately 60 MPH, when the check engine warning light illuminated and the temperature gauge indicated that the engine was overheating. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that coolant had leaked into the 3rd cylinder. The engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not be... Read more
Incident date: Oct 12, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Edge. The contact stated after refueling the vehicle, she attempted to start the vehicle, but the vehicle failed to restart. The contact stated that she was able to restart the vehicle after several attempts. The check engine warning light was illuminated. Additionally, the contact stated that the check engine warning light consistently illuminated while starting the v... Read more
Incident date: Oct 17, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that on several occasions after refilling the coolant, while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle inadvertently decelerated and failed to accelerate over 20 MPH. The check engine warning light illuminated. The contact then stated that the vehicle started to overheat. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagno... Read more
Incident date: Sep 25, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 MPH, the vehicle decelerated to 2 MPH. Several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle then started to sputter. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and the contact was informed that cylinder #4 coil needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, after driving for two miles, t... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2019
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving 40 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated, and the message "Pull Over Immediately - Coolant Issue" was displayed. The contact stated that she purchased coolant that her father added to the vehicle. The contact stated that the failure had been recurring while driving, and she had been adding coolant to the vehicle a... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
C300
(2015) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Oct 17, 2023
Incident date: Oct 17, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while the vehicle was being serviced, coolant leaked into the engine. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the failure was due to a faulty water pump that needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired due to parts not being available. The contact s... Read more
Incident date: Oct 17, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Kia Forte. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the oil warning light was displayed on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where a diagnostic test was performed but no errors were found. Out of an abundance of precaution, the oil pressure sensor was replaced; however, the failure persisted. Upon investigation, the conta... Read more
Incident date: Oct 17, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Edge. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, the vehicle was idling rough. After a visual inspection of the engine compartment, the contact became aware that the coolant reservoir level was low. Upon refilling the coolant reservoir, the contact became aware that the engine was consuming coolant abnormally quick. The check engine warning light was illuminate... Read more
Incident date: Oct 9, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that the engine was running rough while the vehicle was idling. The contact stated that the check engine warning light illuminated the following day. The contact stated that the failure recurred while the vehicle was idling. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that there was coolant intrusion in the engine cylinders, c... Read more
Incident date: Oct 16, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Jeep Compass. The contact stated while driving 20-30 MPH and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle jerked significantly and hesitated to respond. There was no warning light illuminated. Additionally, the contact stated while pulling to the pump at a gas station, the vehicle shut off inadvertently. The contact stated that the failure recurred while attempting to driv... Read more
Incident date: Oct 14, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Edge. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle shook uncontrollably and overheated. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was diagnosed by an independent mechanic and the contact was informed that the failure was due to a cracked head gasket which allowed coolant to leak into the engine cylinder. The vehicle was not rep... Read more
Incident date: Oct 15, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Edge. The contact stated that when the vehicle was started, the vehicle was idling rough. The contact stated the check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that coolant had intruded into the engine block and that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaire... Read more
Incident date: Oct 16, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 Ram 1500. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 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 while her husband was driving approximately 45 MPH, the vehicle jerked, and the instrument panel gauges were fluctuating. The vehicle then lost mo... Read more
Incident date: Oct 2, 2023
Defective engine design allows coolant to infiltrate into the cylinder combustion chamber.
Incident date: Oct 9, 2023
The 2.0 liter Ecoboost engine developed a cracked block at the seven year, 94,000 mile point. The cracked block leaked coolant into the number 2 cylinder thereby causing the check engine light to illuminate. The cracked block necessitated a full engine replacement. The cracked block could have caused a catastrophic engine failure while in operation, putting the driver and other drivers on the road... Read more
Incident date: Jan 14, 2021
Check engine light came on after rough start. Had dealership check 9/28 and coolant is leaking into the 2nd cylinder requiring engine replacement. 71K Miles on car.
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 2500
(2016) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Oct 14, 2023
Incident date: Jan 6, 2023
Head gasket is bad causing coolant leak into cylinder 2. Causing engine to overheat and not run properly. Ford Dealership told me engine needs to be replaced. The engine design is bad and the issue will just continue without a newly designed engine block (2019 or newer). They want me to pay $8,500 to replace their poorly designed engine. Car is at 136,000 miles. Most of which are highway miles.
Incident date: Oct 13, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Kia Optima. The contact stated that the oil warning light was frequently illuminated on the instrument panel. The contact took the vehicle to an independent mechanic and was informed that oil had leaked into an engine cylinder. The mechanic informed the contact that a Technical Service Bulletin had been placed on her vehicle in relation to the failure and referred the conta... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport. The contact stated that while the vehicle parked, the contact noticed that the vehicle had consumed an excessive amount of engine oil. The contact had also smelled fumes inside the vehicle. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the fail... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
GLC 300
(2019) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Oct 13, 2023
Incident date: Jun 15, 2022
The contact owns a 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated while driving approximately 60 MPH, the vehicle overheated, and the vehicle decelerated to 45 MPH. The engine hot message was displayed. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the radiator needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. While driving and making a turn, the tem... Read more
Incident date: Aug 13, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while her daughter was attempting to start the vehicle, the vehicle failed to start. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who determined that coolant intrusion had damaged the engine, requiring an engine replacement. The vehicle was then towed to the dealer, who confirmed the diagnosis. T... Read more
Incident date: Oct 11, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the vehicle was losing coolant but was unable to locate the source of the leak. Additionally, he had to add additional anti-freeze approximately every two to three weeks. The engine warning light was illuminated. The contact called the local dealer, where an appointment was scheduled, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The ve... Read more
Incident date: May 16, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while his son was driving 50 MPH, the vehicle started overheating, and there was white smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact's son veered to the side of the road. The vehicle was towed to the residence. The contact stated that he was a certified independent mechanic, and he had diagn... Read more
Incident date: Oct 11, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport. The contact stated when checking his oil he observed that the level was very low. The contact stated that he had noticed that when he was accelerating he would hear an abnormal knocking sound from the engine. The contact stated that he checked the oil and again saw that the level was dangerously low. The contact stated no warning light was illuminate... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
EQS 450
(2022) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Oct 12, 2023
Incident date: Aug 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk. The contact stated that a message stating that the 4-wheel drive function had failed. The contact discovered NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 23V411000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) and 20V699000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however their VIN was not included. The contact had not taken the vehicle to the dealer as of yet. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or r... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while his daughter was driving at 50 MPH, the overheating warning light was illuminated. After a visual inspection of the engine compartment, the contact observed that the coolant reservoir was extremely low and boiling. Upon refilling the reservoir, the vehicle briefly returned to normal functionality, but the failure reoccurred. The ve... Read more
Incident date: Sep 15, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Edge. The contact stated while driving 30 MPH, the message "Engine Coolant Over temperature" was displayed. The contact pulled to the side of the road and opened the hood. Upon inspecting the coolant level, the contact noticed that there was no coolant in the vehicle. The contact stated that she added coolant to the coolant reservoir; however, the coolant leaked. The v... Read more
Incident date: Oct 3, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the check engine warning light had remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local mechanic who diagnosed a misfire the engine cylinder number 4. The vehicle was later taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the engine short block was faulty due to coolant intrusion and needed to be replaced. Th... Read more
Incident date: Oct 4, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated while driving at approximately 65 MPH the vehicle had begun to make an abnormal banging and knocking sound from the engine compartment. The contact pulled over, turned the vehicle off, and checked under the hood for any debris or loose engine parts that could account for the banging sounds. The contact turned the vehicle back on normally... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
TAOS
(2022) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Oct 12, 2023
Incident date: May 8, 2023
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while driving at 10 MPH, the vehicle had stalled and had overheated. The engine overheating warning light was illuminated. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and determined that the VIN was not included in a recall. The failure mileage was ap... Read more
Incident date: Oct 11, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the vehicle would idled roughly for 10 minutes or more, and he noticed that a significant amount of white smoke was emitted from the tail pipe. There was no warning light illuminated. Additionally, the contact stated that he had noticed that the vehicle was experiencing abnormal coolant consumption, which requ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 Ram 1500. The contact stated that while driving approximately 20 MPH and depressing the accelerator pedal, the engine revved, but the vehicle hesitated to respond. The check engine warning light was illuminated and the message "Service TCU" was displayed. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the Crankshaft Position Sensor needed to be rep... Read more
Incident date: Sep 28, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while his wife was driving at an undisclosed speed, the coolant temperature warning light illuminated. The contact's wife pulled to the side of the roadway, turned off and restarted the vehicle; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that coolant was leaking into the pistons, which... Read more
Incident date: Oct 8, 2023
The contact owns a 2013 Ram 1500. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 MPH, and at other speeds, the vehicle started making an abnormal ticking sound and decelerated independently. The contact stated that upon depressing the accelerator pedal, the engine failed to rev and the vehicle slowly accelerated. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the abnormal ticki... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated while the vehicle was idle, there was white smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the Toyota dealer where it was purchased. The Toyota dealer diagnosed that engine oil was leaking from the valve cover gasket. The dealer replaced the valve cover gasket, the coolant hoses, and the... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
E350
(2008) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Oct 10, 2023
Incident date: Sep 10, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Edge. The contact stated that the engine would shake upon the start of the vehicle as the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact called Bert Ogden Ford(13752 Lupine Rd, Lyford, TX 78569) where she was informed that a callback would be received however had not heard back. The contact also stated that while the vehicle was idle in a parking lot, the temperat... Read more
Incident date: Mar 15, 2023
The contact owns a 2011 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 MPH while turning right and exiting a ramp, then when idle a message stated "Low Oil Pressure" illuminated on the instrument panel. Shortly after the vehicle lost motive power. A certified mechanic inspected the vehicle and diagnosed that the camshaft sensor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired... Read more
Incident date: Sep 3, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ram 1500. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V406000 (Fuel System, Diesel) and NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V411000 (Engine Engine Cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted and determined that the parts were not available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 19, 2022
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving approximately 40 MPH the check engine light illuminated and a chime went off and "service engine now" appeared on the instrument cluster. The contact stated that he pulled over and turned the engine off due to seeing the "over heat" warning illuminated. The contact had the vehicle towed to an independent mechanic who advised the... Read more
Incident date: Oct 10, 2023
The contact's daughter owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated after her daughter had driven and parked the vehicle, the vehicle started overheating and there was steam coming from the cowl. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to two different independent mechanics, where the vehicle was inspected, but the cause of the failure could not be determined. The coolant bypa... Read more
Incident date: Oct 6, 2023
mechanic noticed water pump leaking at only 61,000 miles and ford refused to help because it was "out of warranty". water pump needed to be replaced which was a 3 day $2300 job. With the amount of people that have had this exact same issue you would think Ford would take action on their equipment. Really starting to regret buying so many Fords.
FORD
EXPEDITION
(2019) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Oct 6, 2023
Incident date: Sep 6, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Edge. The contact stated while starting the vehicle, the engine ran slowly, and then ran as intended. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that there was coolant intrusion in the engine cylinder, and that the long block, the drive belt idler, the 2 ball joints pinch bolts, 4 Turbo starts, two coolan... Read more
Incident date: Oct 2, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving 20 MPH, the message "Coolant Overheating" was displayed, and the vehicle started to overheat. The contact drove to an independent mechanic, where she was informed that there was no coolant in the vehicle, and that coolant had leaked due to the water pump failure. The mechanic added coolant to the vehicle and referred the conta... Read more
Incident date: Sep 17, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the temperature gauge was fluctuating between hot and normal, with an unknown warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was discovered that there was coolant intrusion into cylinder #3. The manufacturer and dealer were notified of the failure and informed the contact that there were no recalls o... Read more
Incident date: Sep 29, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ram 1500. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 22V406000 (Fuel System, Diesel) and 23V411000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the parts to do the recall repairs were not yet available. An undisclosed dealer was contacted and confirmed that the parts were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount... Read more
Incident date: Oct 2, 2021
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated when the vehicle was started. The contact checked the engine compartment and became aware that the coolant level was low. The contact refilled the coolant reservoir. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was constantly illuminated, and the contact had been filling the coolan... Read more
Incident date: Oct 6, 2023
The contact owned a 2019 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 70 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was vibrating. The contact did not notice any leaks. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the engine and turbo charger needed to be replaced. The mechanic informed the contact that cylinder #5 valve was missing... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle would enter LIMP Mode, with the high engine temperature and check engine warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was discovered that coolant had entered the engine cylinder. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the Warranty Extens... Read more
Incident date: Oct 4, 2023
The contact owns a 2024 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that when starting the vehicle there would be a knocking sound coming from underneath the hood of the vehicle. The failure occurred approximately three times. The accelerator pedal would fail to move the vehicle without flooring the accelerator pedal intermittently. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact had not taken the ... Read more