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.

2,215,138 Total Complaints

138,663 Reported Crashes

56,255 Reported Fires

8,561 Reported Deaths

What is a NHTSA consumer complaint?

A consumer complaint is a free-form report filed by a vehicle owner directly to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) describing a safety concern about their vehicle. NHTSA collects these reports through its Vehicle Owner Defect Report (VOQ) system and publishes them publicly. Each complaint includes the affected component, the date and circumstances of the incident, whether the failure caused a crash or fire, and any reported injuries or deaths. The owner's full narrative description is included verbatim — NHTSA does not edit or moderate the descriptions.

The database below contains over 2,215,138 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

How to Read NHTSA Consumer Complaints › How NHTSA Investigations Work › Used Car: 7 Recall Checks to Run First › The Takata Airbag Recall: Full Story › OBD-II Codes Explained › All Articles ›

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Showing 40,517 complaints — component: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

Incident date: Jun 21, 2023

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while her husband was driving approximately 45 MPH, the check engine warning light started flashing. The contact stated that after blinking twice, the vehicle lost motive power and stalled. The driver coasted to the side of the roadway and had the vehicle towed to a certified mechanic who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the water ... Read more

Incident date: Jun 18, 2023

The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle hesitated and started sputtering. The check engine warning light started flashing then remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that coolant had leaked into the engine and the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was currently at the i... Read more

Incident date: Oct 1, 2015

The contact's wife owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while his wife was driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light started to flash then remained illuminated. Additionally, the contact stated that on occasions, he checked under the hood and noticed that on multiple occasions that the coolant level was low and refilled the coolant reservoir. The vehicle was taken... Read more

Incident date: Jun 1, 2023

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Edge. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power. The contact was able to coast the vehicle to the side of the road. The vehicle failed to restart and was towed to an independent mechanic. The independent mechanic diagnosed that the wiring harness had become loosened and was chewed up by the idler pulley, causing a shortage in the PCM and th... Read more

Incident date: May 20, 2023

The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the vehicle was consuming an abnormal amount of coolant. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be serviced. The vehicle was diagnosed with coolant intrusion into the cylinders; however, the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 140,000.

Incident date: Jun 18, 2023

The contact owns a 2015 Ford Edge. The contact stated that the vehicle was consuming an abnormal amount of coolant. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that there was coolant leaking into the engine. Additionally, one cylinder needed to be replaced; however, the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but provi... Read more

Incident date: Jun 19, 2023

The contact owns a 2013 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 MPH, the engine temperature gauge increased to HOT, with the battery message displayed on the instrument panel. There was a burning odor present inside the cabin of the vehicle along with smoke coming from the engine compartment. The contact immediately parked the vehicle and contacted a tow truck company. ... Read more

Incident date: Jun 19, 2023

The contact owns a 2018 Ram 1500. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V406000 (Fuel System, Diesel) and 23V411000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the parts to do the recall repairs were not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repairs. The manufacturer was made ... Read more

Incident date: Jun 20, 2022

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated when the vehicle was started, the vehicle idled roughly with white smoke coming from the exhaust. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the failure occurred frequently. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the engine needed to ... Read more

Incident date: May 29, 2023

The contact owns a 2019 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at highway speeds, the vehicle went into LIMP Mode. The contact was able to pull over onto the emergency lane. The high temperature alert message was displayed. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed, and it was determined that there was coolant intrusion into the engine block. The vehicle was repaired but th... Read more

Incident date: May 16, 2023

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Edge. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who determined that there was a misfire in cylinder #1. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure reoccurred. The vehicle was then taken to the dealer, who determined that a coolant leak had damaged the engin... Read more

Incident date: May 22, 2023

The contact owned a 2017 Ram 2500. The contact stated that after parking the vehicle in the parking lot of a residential building and turning the engine off, approximately 36 hours later the contact was alerted by the property manager that the vehicle was on fire. The fire department was called to the scene and extinguished the flames. During the failure, the vehicle was destroyed. A fire report w... Read more

Fire

Incident date: Jun 16, 2023

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving approximately 55 MPH, the vehicle started shuddering and lost motive power. The contact stated that the check engine and engine default warning lights were illuminated. Additionally, the temperature gauge rose to the red zone. The contact pulled off the roadway and turned off the vehicle. The contact stated that a big puff of wh... Read more

Incident date: Jun 1, 2023

The contact owns a 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, excessive white smoke was coming from the exhaust pipes and the vehicle would not properly accelerate and experienced hesitation and stalling. The vehicle was taken to the local mechanic who diagnosed that cylinder #3 was faulty and coolant was intruding into the engine. The engine eventually failed a... Read more

Incident date: Apr 28, 2023

The contact owns a 2017 Kia Sorento. The contact stated while exiting the highway at 15 MPH, the vehicle stalled without warning. The contact was able to restart the vehicle and parked the vehicle in a parking lot. The next day, the contact's father towed the vehicle to her residence. The following day, the vehicle was towed to a dealer. After a week at the dealer, the contact was informed that th... Read more

Incident date: Jun 15, 2023

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while pulling into a parking lot, the high engine temperature message was displayed. Additionally, the “Low Coolant – Pull Over and Check Coolant” message was displayed. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and the contact was informed that the water pump had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The ... Read more

Incident date: Jun 14, 2023

Without prior indications, randomly the radiator busted open and it spit hot coolant on my leg. I first felt the burning sensation on my leg and wasn't sure what had happened... since it happened while I was taking off, it quickly cooled down. Thanks to my jeans all I had was a minor burn on my skin (Red and burning sensation) but I suspect that liquid was about 170F to 180F inside the bike as I h... Read more

Incident date: Jun 4, 2023

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while attempting to start the vehicle, the vehicle failed to start. After 4-5 attempts, the vehicle started but proceeded to vibrate violently. The contact stated that the vehicle returned to normal functionality, but the failure reoccurred 12 more times. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an indepen... Read more

Incident date: May 15, 2023

The contact owns a 2003 Freightliner Sprinter 3500. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 09V418000 (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 dealer was made aware of the issue. The manufacturer was made aware of the i... Read more

Incident date: May 31, 2023

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle, the check engine warning light illuminated intermittently. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the engine to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure and associated the failure with Manufacturer Recall Number:... Read more

Incident date: Jun 14, 2023

The contact owns a 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the engine seized. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who informed the contact that the engine needed to be replaced. The mechanic linked the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 17V226000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was not ... Read more

Incident date: Dec 12, 2022

The contact owns a 2015 Dodge Journey. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the "Service Engine" warning light remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local mechanic who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that cylinder #6 had experienced a misfire. Additionally, the engine had experienced low compression and cylinder head damage. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The l... Read more

Incident date: Jun 13, 2023

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving approximately 15-20 MPH and then attempting to park the vehicle, the high engine temperature message was displayed. The contact parked the vehicle, and her husband inspected the vehicle and became aware that the coolant level was low. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who informed the contact that the failure wa... Read more

Incident date: Jun 11, 2023

The contact owns a 2015 Kia Optima. The contact's daughter was driving at approximately 60 MPH when numerous lights on the dashboard illuminated. The contact stated that her daughter said that the vehicle stalled, however, she was in the right-hand lane and pulled over. The daughter said that smoke was being emitted from the engine compartment. The contact stated her daughter was picked up by fami... Read more

Fire

Incident date: Jun 9, 2023

The contact owns a 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated while driving 55 MPH, the vehicle inadvertently stalled. The contact was able to push the vehicle to the shoulder, where the vehicle failed to restart. Upon visual inspection, the contact observed an excessive amount of engine oil in the engine compartment. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, who determined that oil sludge had damaged t... Read more

Incident date: Apr 18, 2023

The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle was running rough. The contact stated that the engine had misfired. The engine warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the coolant level was low. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who topped off the coolant. The contact also received notification of NHTSA Campaig... Read more

Incident date: Apr 1, 2022

The contact owns a 2017 Kia Forte. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH, the contact heard an abnormal sound coming from the vehicle, but no warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and the contact was informed that the engine oil level was low. The contact stated that the oil was topped off; however, there was an abnormal knocking sound coming from the en... Read more

Incident date: Apr 7, 2022

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Edge. The contact stated that while driving approximately 45 MPH, the vehicle overheated. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact added additional coolant to the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed that an engine replacement was needed. The mechanic informed the contact that coolant was leaking into the engine a... Read more

Incident date: Dec 17, 2022

The contact owns a 2016 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the catalytic convertor. The contact was informed that the catalytic convertor needed to be replaced. The contact investigated and related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V120000 (Engin... Read more

Incident date: Jun 8, 2023

The contact owns a 2012 Kia Forte. The contact stated that while the daughter was driving at various speeds a knocking noise was present coming from the engine compartment and the vehicle would not properly accelerate. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the engine was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was not yet notified... Read more

Incident date: May 22, 2023

The contact owns a 2017 Ram 1500. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power but was able to continue to operate at slower speeds. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed and found failures with the EGR and intake manifold. The contact stated that the vehicle had previously been repaired under NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V757000 (Engine and... Read more

Incident date: Jun 7, 2023

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH, the vehicle started jerking while depressing the accelerator pedal. The check engine warning light was illuminated. Due to the failure, the contact had the vehicle towed to a dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was later informed that the water pump was defective, and the contact was provided an estimate for the repair... Read more

Incident date: Mar 6, 2023

The contact owns a 2014 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated while driving approximately 60 MPH the accelerator pedal was depressed, and the vehicle hesitated. The contact stated that the "check oil" warning light was illuminated. Additionally, the contact heard an abnormal knocking sound coming from the engine compartment. The contact had taken the vehicle to a dealer who diagnosed the vehicle and ... Read more

Incident date: Jun 9, 2023

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that upon his wife starting the vehicle, the check engine warning light illuminated. After a visual inspection, the contact observed a failure with the second cylinder spark plug, which he replaced. The contact stated that the failure reoccurred and that he became aware that the coolant level was low. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who ... Read more

Incident date: Jun 8, 2023

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the engine overheating message was displayed on the instrument panel. Upon inspection, the contact discovered that the coolant level was low, and added coolant to the reservoir. The vehicle was taken to two independent mechanics and was informed that the water pump had failed, causing a coolant leak. The manufacturer was notified of th... Read more

Incident date: Jun 6, 2023

The contact owns a 2011 BMW 328I. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled. Additionally, while idling, the engine was revving. The contact stated that while driving with the cruise control activated, the engine was revving. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Numbers:... Read more

Incident date: Jun 3, 2023

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Edge. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the check engine warning light remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who replaced a vacuum seal, and the check engine warning light was no longer illuminated. Approximately a week later, the failure reoccurred. The vehicle was taken to the local mechanic who diagnosed that cylinder #1 a... Read more

Incident date: Mar 15, 2023

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Edge. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the check engine warning light would intermittently flash on the instrument panel. Over time, the vehicle began to shudder at start up with the temperature gauge warning symbol flashing on the instrument panel. The contact's father inspected the vehicle and discovered that the coolant reservoir was empty. T... Read more

Incident date: May 29, 2023

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and the contact was informed that the engine was misfiring. The mechanic replaced four spark plugs and the ignition coils. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken back to the independent mechanic, who replace... Read more

Incident date: Jun 6, 2023

The contact's daughter owns a 2012 Kia Soul. The contact stated while her daughter was driving at an unknown speed, the check engine warning light illuminated, and the vehicle started making abnormal sounds before stalling. The vehicle was not drivable. The owner and a friend pushed the vehicle a short distance to the friend's residence. The contact stated an independent mechanic arrived at the lo... Read more

Incident date: May 15, 2023

The contact owns a 2016 Audi S6. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V178000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the repair had been previously completed by an independent mechanic, a year prior to receiving the recall letter. The contact filed paperwork to be reimbursed after receiving the recall letter. The contact had taken the vehicle to a dealer, and the dealer stat... Read more

Incident date: Jun 6, 2023

The contact owns a 2014 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed and attempting to accelerate, the contact heard an abnormal knocking sound coming from the engine compartment, and the vehicle inadvertently lost motive power and was only able to accelerate to 30 MPH. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, w... Read more

Incident date: May 8, 2023

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Edge. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30 MPH, the vehicle suddenly decelerated and failed to properly accelerate. The vehicle was parked at the residence and later examined by an independent mechanic who discovered there was no anti-freeze in the engine. The mechanic determined that the water pump had failed. The vehicle was later towed to the local... Read more

Incident date: May 29, 2023

2014 Mini Cooper Countryman - Engine Low Oil Failure and yes the vehicle is available for inspection. Had an engine oil pressure electronic message come up on the car: Engine Oil pressure too low. Possible Engine damage. Swith off engine. Continued driving is not possible. Please contact mini dealership. Had the car towed to dealer. Was told there is an engine oil leak somewhere. The provided ... Read more

Incident date: May 29, 2023

Incident date: Jun 1, 2021

The contact owns a 2007 BMW 328i. The contact stated that while driving approximately 50- 55 mph, the vehicle caught fire. There was an abnormal burning odor detected. There were no warning lights illuminated. The driver was able to use her fire extinguisher and extinguish the fire. There were no reported injuries, police reports filed, or air bag deployments. The vehicle was towed to an independe... Read more

Fire

Incident date: Jun 2, 2023

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and the contact was informed that the fuel injector needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure occurred several times. The vehicle was taken to another independent mechanic and the contact was informed that the head gaske... Read more

Incident date: Nov 15, 2021

The contact owns a 2016 Honda CBR300R motorcycle. The contact stated that while riding approximately 25 MPH, the motorcycle stalled. The contact was unable to restart the motorcycle. The motorcycle was towed to the local dealer who diagnosed that the crank shaft had fused to the connecting rod and the crankshaft assembly needed to be replaced. The motorcycle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer ... Read more

Incident date: May 11, 2023

The contact owns a 2015 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH the vehicle started overheating with the "Vehicle Overheating - Pull Over" message displayed. The contact was able to pull over on the side of the road and turned off the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that coolant was leaking into the engine and that th... Read more

Incident date: May 31, 2023

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that coolant was leaking from the vehicle while driving and the engine was misfiring. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer and was diagnosed with coolant intrusion into the long block. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was no... Read more

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Consumer Safety Complaints

What is a NHTSA consumer complaint?

How to interpret what you read

If you've experienced a defect

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