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 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Honda Accord Sedan. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the low coolant warning light illuminated on the instrument panel, prompting him to refill the coolant reservoir. It returned to normal functionality, but around 10,000 miles later, while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost all motive power. The contact was able to coast to the ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 4, 2023
See Attached Document
Incident date: Jan 27, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated while operating the vehicle with the air conditioner activated with heat selected, the air failed to get warm or hot. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the failure was due to a faulty engine head gasket caused by a coolant leak into the engine cylinders. The mechanic informed the contact that the engine neede... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
GLE 400
(2019) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Oct 5, 2023
Incident date: Oct 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford EcoSport. The contact stated that while his son was driving approximately 75 MPH, the vehicle began to hesitate upon depression of the accelerator pedal with the oil warning light illuminated. The contact stated that an abnormal, clanking sound was coming from the vehicle. The contact’s son was able to coast the vehicle off the highway. Due to the failure, the vehicl... Read more
Incident date: Sep 8, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Edge. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was intermittently illuminated. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle started to overheat. Several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that coolant was added to the coolant reservoir. The vehicle was taken to an intendent mechanic where it was diagn... Read more
Incident date: Oct 2, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 MPH, a message indicating that the engine was overheating was displayed. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who informed the contact that the coolant level was low. The mechanic flushed the coolant. However, the vehicle failed to start two days later. The vehicle was towed to another independent m... Read more
Incident date: Oct 3, 2023
The contact owns a 2013 Kia Soul. The contact stated while driving approximately 40-45 MPH, the vehicle stalled in traffic. While driving the following day, the vehicle stalled again. There were no warning lights illuminated. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The contact stated that the failure was related to NHTSA Ca... Read more
Incident date: Oct 4, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Ford EcoSport. The contact stated that when the vehicle was started, the contact became aware that the low oil pressure and check engine warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated allowed the vehicle to run for approximately 10 minutes waiting for the lights to turn off however, the lights remained illuminated. The contact had the vehicle towed to a local dealer, w... Read more
Incident date: Sep 30, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated while starting the vehicle, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that there was coolant intrusion in the engine, and that the engine short block needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 22, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the check engine light, oil light, and battery light remained illuminated and blinked off and on. Also, a knocking and ticking sound was coming from the engine compartment along with a burning oil odor. Additionally, the vehicle would not exceed speeds over 60 MPH. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who w... Read more
Incident date: Oct 3, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while driving at 55-60 MPH, the vehicle was sluggish and hesitated to respond when depressing the accelerator pedal. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure recurred several times while driving. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed and making a turn, the accelerator pedal was depres... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: May 1, 2023
The contact's mother owns a 2019 Ford EcoSport. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 45 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power. The low oil pressure chime and message were displayed on the instrument panel. The contact called an independent mechanic who had changed the oil prior to the failure. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the engine had seiz... Read more
Incident date: Aug 15, 2023
The contact owns a 2012 Volkswagen Touareg. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, he smelled an oil odor and smoke odor in the interior of the vehicle. After a visual inspection, the contact observed oil leaking from underneath the engine compartment. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who determined the diesel particulate filter needed to ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 29, 2023
The contact owns a 2009 Lexus RX350. The contact stated that the dashboard had started to crack, causing the dashboard to become sticky. Over time, there was a glare coming from the dashboard which obstruct the contact’s vision while driving. The contact stated that there was condensation in the headlight housings. In addition, there was a puddle of oil was discovered leaking from the vehicle wh... Read more
Incident date: Sep 27, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Edge. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle began to rumble and vibrate. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who determined that coolant intrusion into the engine had damaged the short block, and the short block needed to be replaced. The vehicle was then taken to the dealer, ... Read more
TOYOTA
RAV4 PRIME
(2021) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Oct 2, 2023
Incident date: Sep 18, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle was shaking, and there was white smoke coming from the exhaust tip. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle the following day, she noticed an abnormal odor. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the temperature gauge relayed that the engine was overhea... Read more
Incident date: Sep 11, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Edge. The contact stated while her husband was driving approximately 40 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact's husband was able to drive to the residence. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that there was coolant intrusion into the engine, and that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was taken to t... Read more
Incident date: May 24, 2022
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving approximately 65 MPH, the engine started to vibrate and misfire. The contact stated that DTC codes: P0302 (Cylinder #2 Misfire) and P0012 (Intake A cam shaft position timing) were retrieved. The contact drove the vehicle to a local dealer who diagnosed the vehicle and advised that coolant had intruded into the engine block and t... Read more
Incident date: Apr 15, 2021
The contact owned a 2000 BMW 528i. The contact stated that shortly after arriving home and with the vehicle parked in his garage, he observed first white smoke and then brown smoke emanating from the engine compartment. While waiting for emergency services, the contact stated that he then observed flames engulfing the engine compartment and heard a loud pop. As a result, the contact reported exten... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Oct 2, 2023
The contact owns a 2000 Nissan Sentra. The contact stated on several occasions while attempting to start the vehicle in the morning, the vehicle failed to start. The contact stated that the engine failed to turn over however, the vehicle was able to be started closer to the afternoon. The check engine warning light illuminated along with the “Service Engine Soon” message displayed. The vehicle... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2020
I had and oil change refused because the dip stick showed no oil. I had to add an additional oil of 2.5 quarts to get the oil change done at another service center. there was no visible oil leeks. The 1.6L engine burned thru the oil in 3000 miles. my odometer reads 96361 miles.
Incident date: Oct 1, 2023
I had and oil change refused because the dip stick showed no oil. I had to add an additional oil of 2.5 quarts to get the oil change done at another service center. there was no visible oil leeks. The 1.6L engine burned thru the oil in 3000 miles. my odometer reads 96361 miles.
CHRYSLER
TOWN AND COUNTRY
(2010) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Sep 29, 2023
Incident date: Sep 25, 2023
The contact's daughter owned a 2017 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that the vehicle was hesitating while depressing the accelerator pedal. The check engine warning light was illuminated. An independent mechanic inspected the vehicle and discovered that the rear main seal was defective. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where the rear main seal was replaced; however, the failure persisted. The veh... Read more
Incident date: Sep 2, 2023
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that there was a loud squeaking sound coming from the front end of the vehicle. The contact then became aware that there was coolant leaking from the vehicle. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a certified mechanic who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the water pump had failed and needed to be replac... Read more
CONTINENTAL
CROSSCONTACT LX SPORT
(9999) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Sep 28, 2023
Incident date: Sep 13, 2023
The contact's daughter owns a 2018 Ford EcoSport. The contact stated while his daughter was driving approximately 35-40 MPH in the rain, the vehicle made an abnormal knocking sound and lost motive power. The low oil pressure warning light was illuminated. The contact's daughter was able to veer to the side of the road. The vehicle was able to be restarted but continued to make an abnormal knocking... Read more
Incident date: Sep 25, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee. 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. 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 and co... Read more
Incident date: Sep 8, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 Ram Promaster 2500. The contact stated that while his client was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle was shudder abnormally, prompting him to pull over to the shoulder of the roadway. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who determined that the fan bearings were damaged, allowing the fan to move back and forth freely... Read more
Incident date: Sep 28, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while his wife was driving 50 MPH, the vehicle started overheating and then inadvertently lost motive power. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed a general engine failure. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufa... Read more
Incident date: Aug 11, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Kia Niro. The contact stated while driving approximately 65 MPH, the vehicle started shaking and vibrating abnormally. The contact stated that the accelerator pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to respond as needed. The contact stated that the message "Engine Overheating - Request Service Now" and "Engine Control System" was displayed. The contact had taken th... Read more
ALFA ROMEO
GIULIA
(2018) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Sep 27, 2023
Incident date: Sep 24, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 Ram 1500. The contact stated while her husband was driving approximately 65 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact's husband was able to veer to the side of the road. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed and the failure was related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V406000 (Fuel System, Diesel); however... Read more
Incident date: Sep 11, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 55 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a certified mechanic who diagnosed that the engine had misfired and that the spark plugs needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired shortly after that the misfire reoccurred. The vehicle was returned to the mechanic who then r... Read more
Incident date: Sep 26, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle inadvertently lost motive power and failed to restart. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, who determined that coolant intrusion had caused a failure with the short block, requiring an engine replacement. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigat... Read more
Incident date: Sep 26, 2023
My vehicle stalls a lot when driving. At first i thought it was an issue with the tire alignment but i was told by a mechanic that i had good alignment. My car stalls and shakes a lot while speeding up in the highway. I honestly feel unsafe at this point because its gotten worse in a short amount of time. My seatbelts are lose and useless. I love my car but i may change it for a safer option. It i... Read more
Incident date: Aug 19, 2023
My vehicle stalls a lot when driving. At first i thought it was an issue with the tire alignment but i was told by a mechanic that i had good alignment. My car stalls and shakes a lot while speeding up in the highway. I honestly feel unsafe at this point because its gotten worse in a short amount of time. My seatbelts are lose and useless. I love my car but i may change it for a safer option. It i... Read more
Incident date: Aug 8, 2023
The contact owns a 2011 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35-40 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power and stalled. The vehicle was towed to a certified mechanic who diagnosed that cylinder #4 had failed causing the engine to seize. The engine was replaced with a used engine. The engine was replaced at approximately 109,000 miles. The contact stated that while driving... Read more
Incident date: Aug 5, 2023
The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Camaro. The contact stated that while driving at 65 MPH, the vehicle was overheating, and the coolant gauge was stuck in the cold region. The contact heard an abnormal sound after the vehicle was turned off. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to be diagnosed by an independent mechanic. The contact was informed that the thermostat... Read more
Incident date: Sep 13, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee. 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 unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repairs. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. T... Read more
Incident date: Sep 27, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 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 local dealer was contacted and determined that the parts were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 6, 2021
The contact owns a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee. 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 local dealer was contacted and determined that the parts were not available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount o... Read more
Incident date: Sep 2, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Ford EcoSport. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH, there was an abnormal sound coming from the vehicle. The vehicle slowed down and lost motive power. While pulling over, the vehicle shutoff and failed to restart. The oil light illuminated, and the low oil pressure message was displayed. The vehicle was towed to the residence. The vehicle was towed to an independent me... Read more
Incident date: Sep 25, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 22V406000 (Fuel System, Diesel) and 23V411000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the parts to do the recall repairs were unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repairs. The contact stated that the check engine warning lig... Read more
Incident date: Sep 26, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Edge. The contact stated that the check engine warning light illuminated on the instrument panel. An ODB scanner retrieved the code for a misfire in cylinder #3. Upon investigation, the contact discovered that coolant intrusion into the engine cylinder was a common failure for similar model vehicles. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact... Read more
Incident date: Sep 14, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was initially taken to an independent mechanic on two separate occasions where the spark plugs and ignition coils were replaced; however, the failure persisted. The contact then stated that the vehicle began to overheat as the vehicle would hesitate upon d... Read more
Incident date: Sep 20, 2023
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Expedition. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, there was an abnormal tapping sound coming from the passenger’s side of the engine compartment. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who replaced twelve rocker arms from the passenger’s side of the engine, and the vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure... Read more
Incident date: Sep 26, 2023
COOLANT APPEARS TO BE LEAKING INTO THE ENGINE BLOCK.
Incident date: May 17, 2023
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed and attempting to accelerate, the vehicle lost significant motive power and struggled to attain speeds of over 30 MPH. The contact also stated that there was an excessive amount of smoke coming from the exhaust that contained the odor of oil. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicl... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
REDUNDANT S550E
(2015) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Sep 25, 2023
Incident date: Dec 19, 2022
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while driving 55 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer the following day and was diagnosed that there was coolant intrusion in the engine piston rings. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The f... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ID.4
(2021) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Sep 25, 2023
Incident date: Sep 7, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Ford Ecosport. The contact stated that while his wife was driving approximately 60-65 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power. The contact's wife was able to pull to the side of the road. The check engine and the low oil pressure warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the engine needed to be replaced. The ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 21, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Hyundai Veloster. The contact stated that while driving approximately 45–55 MPH, several unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact was able to pull over, looked under the hood, and notice that an unknown fluid was boiling. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who informed her about unknown recalls. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer, where it was... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2021
Check engine light came on and vehicle began to have issues with transmission