Consumer Safety Complaints
Search 2,215,138 safety complaints filed by vehicle owners with NHTSA — including 138,663 crashes, 56,255 fires, and 8,561 deaths.
What is a NHTSA consumer complaint?
A consumer complaint is a free-form report filed by a vehicle owner directly to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) describing a safety concern about their vehicle. NHTSA collects these reports through its Vehicle Owner Defect Report (VOQ) system and publishes them publicly. Each complaint includes the affected component, the date and circumstances of the incident, whether the failure caused a crash or fire, and any reported injuries or deaths. The owner's full narrative description is included verbatim — NHTSA does not edit or moderate the descriptions.
The database below contains over 2,215,138 individual complaints. NHTSA's investigators monitor it for clusters of similar reports — when enough owners describe the same failure mode on the same vehicle, NHTSA may open a Preliminary Evaluation that can lead to a recall. Many of the largest recalls in U.S. history, including the Takata airbag recall and the Hyundai/Kia engine fire recalls, started as patterns visible in this complaint database years before they became formal recalls.
How to interpret what you read
A few principles for reading consumer complaints usefully:
- One complaint is anecdote; a hundred similar complaints is data. NHTSA does not investigate the truthfulness of any individual report — that's the job of the Office of Defects Investigation, which looks at the full pattern. When evaluating a vehicle, look for whether multiple owners describe the same chain of events.
- Crash, fire, injury, and death flags are owner-set. They are not verified by NHTSA. They are still useful as a filter, because owners who tick those boxes are typically reporting more serious incidents than those who don't.
- Component categories are NHTSA-assigned, not owner-assigned. NHTSA standardizes the component field so that complaints can be aggregated. The owner narrative often goes into more detail than the component category captures.
- Complaint volume scales with sales volume. A best-selling model will accumulate more raw complaints than a niche model even at the same defect rate. To compare across vehicles, look at complaints per 100,000 units sold, not raw counts.
If you've experienced a defect
File a complaint. NHTSA's investigators rely on this database to detect emerging defects, and useful complaints — specific, concrete, with dates and mileage and clear descriptions of what happened — feed directly into the agency's pattern detection. The form takes about 10 minutes and is at nhtsa.gov/recalls under "Report a Safety Problem." Your complaint becomes part of the same public record that this page is built from. Owners filing detailed VOQs are how recalls get triggered.
Read more from our blog
Showing 40,517 complaints — component: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Incident date: May 26, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 Ram 1500. The contact stated while driving 60 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was not drivable. The contact towed the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the crankshaft position sensor tone wheel to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired due to parts not being available. Upon investigation, the contact associated the failure with NHTSA ... Read more
Incident date: May 26, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Edge. The contact stated that the vehicle had experienced rough starts. Additionally, while driving at various speeds, the vehicle would not properly accelerate, with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local mechanic who determined that coolant had leaked into cylinder #3. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer and local de... Read more
Incident date: May 25, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Ford Expedition. The contact stated that the low oil pressure warning light was illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with a defective oil pump. Additionally, the contact was also informed that the cam phasers were defective and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and the contact was ... Read more
INTERNATIONAL
LT
(2020) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Jun 1, 2023
Incident date: Aug 15, 2021
The contact owns a 2019 Hyundai Veloster. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the engine would overheat and the vehicle would stall. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the engine needed to be replaced. The engine was replaced and failures were remedied. Later while operating the vehicle the contact would become ill and had experienced dizziness and na... Read more
1 injured
Incident date: Feb 12, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle was running rough before overheating. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact added coolant. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and the contact was informed there was coolant in cy... Read more
Incident date: May 30, 2023
The contact owns a 2012 Kia Soul. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V120000 (Engine, Engine and Engine Cooling). The contact stated while driving approximately 65 MPH the vehicle started losing motive power. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was flashing. The contact depressed the accelerator pedal; however, the vehicle continued losing motive power... Read more
Incident date: May 31, 2023
The contact owns a 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V554000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The conta... Read more
Incident date: May 19, 2023
The contact owns a 2009 BMW 328I. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, there was white smoke coming from the exhaust. The vehicle was towed to the dealer; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V119000 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was appro... Read more
Incident date: May 30, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, there was white smoke coming from the exhaust. The contact stated that the vehicle had experienced rough driving, vibration, shaking with the check engine light remaining illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact was notified of a misfire in cylinder #2 due... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS
(2018) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
May 31, 2023
Incident date: May 30, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, and it was stated that cylinder #3 was misfiring, and that coolant was leaking into the engine and that the engine needed to be replaced. The contact was advised to contact the local dealer. The dealer was contacted and stated t... Read more
Incident date: Mar 31, 2023
The contact owns a 2012 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while making a left turn at a slow speed, there was an abnormal grinding sound coming from the vehicle. The oil warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where oil was added; however, the failure returned after several weeks. The contact stated that while driving at a slow rate speed, the vehicle los... Read more
Incident date: May 16, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Edge. The contact stated that during the past winter, whenever the vehicle was stopped at a traffic light or stop sign, the heater would blow out cold air through the vents. The contact stated that later the check engine warning light would become illuminated, and the vehicle would start to make abnormal engine sounds as if the engine was chugging. The contact had take... Read more
Incident date: May 29, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving approximately 10 MPH, the vehicle overheated and went into LIMP Mode. The engine overheating warning light was illuminated. The failure reoccurred while driving approximately 65-70 MPH. The failure recurred approximately four times. The vehicle was taken to a certified mechanic and the contact was informed that coolant was ... Read more
Incident date: May 30, 2023
The contact owns a 2013 Kia Soul. The contact stated while driving approximately 70 MPH, the vehicle started to lose motive power. The contact stated that she depressed the accelerator pedal and the vehicle continued to lose motive power. The contact stated that the check engine warning was illuminated and flashing. The contact stated that the failure reoccurred. The contact had taken the vehicle ... Read more
Incident date: May 27, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Kia Forte. The contact stated while making a right turn, the oil warning light illuminated, and the vehicle lost motive power. The contact was able to restart the vehicle and the vehicle started operating normally. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic and the contact was informed that the vehicle was experiencing a failure like NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V260000 (... Read more
Incident date: May 26, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Hyundai Sonata. The contact discovered that the engine was consuming and excessive amount of engine oil. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that she frequently checked and added oil whenever the oil level was low. The dealer was notified, and the contact was informed that an oil change was needed. After the oil change, the contact was advised to take... Read more
Incident date: May 26, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated while her son was driving 65 MPH, the temperature gauge began to raise quickly. Additionally, the “High Engine Temperature - Stop Vehicle Immediately” message was displayed. The driver parked the vehicle on the side of the road for an hour before continuing to drive to his destination. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer, whe... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated while his wife was driving approximately 35 MPH and accelerating to highway speeds, the vehicle started to overheat. The contact stated that the high engine temperature warning light was displayed on the instrument panel. The contact stated that coolant was added, and the vehicle was able to be driven to the intended destination. The vehicle ... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
C 300
(2023) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
May 26, 2023
Incident date: Dec 5, 2022
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Edge. The contact stated while his grandmother was driving 35 MPH, the temperature gauge started rising quickly and she saw steam coming from under the hood. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The driver was able to park the vehicle at her friend's residence and called the contact to inspect the vehicle. Upon inspecting the vehicle,... Read more
Incident date: May 25, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated and the engine misfired. The contact detected smoke coming from the engine compartment. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and the contact was informed that there was antifreeze leaking into the cylinder head. The local dealer was contacted, a... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
C300
(2016) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
May 25, 2023
Incident date: May 25, 2023
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Fusion. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 17V209000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) and 23V162000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic) however, the parts to do the recall repair were unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repairs. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The cont... Read more
Incident date: May 24, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Edge. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle or while the vehicle was idling, the engine started to sputter, and the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact stated that while driving at undisclosed speeds, there was a misfire in the engine. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that cylinder #3 and #4 were misfir... Read more
Incident date: Apr 24, 2023
The contact owns a 2003 BMW Z4. The contact stated that the coolant warning light illuminated. The contact then stated that she noticed smoke underneath the hood of the vehicle. The contact stated that upon inspecting the vehicle, she noticed a leak on the ground located near the rear passenger’s side tire. Additionally, the contact then stated that while operating the convertible drop top, she ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 17, 2022
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the check engine warning light illuminated, and the contact became aware that the coolant level was low. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and the contact was informed that cylinder #2 and #3 were misfiring, and that coolant had leaked into the engine and that the engine needed to be replaced. The dealer was contacted and ... Read more
Incident date: May 19, 2023
The contact owns a 2007 Toyota Matrix. The contact stated while driving approximately 45 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The contact stated that several unknown warning lights started flashing and the RPM gauge fluctuated from a low RPM to high RPM. The contact stated that he pulled over and attempted to restart the vehicle. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to restart. The contact had a voltme... Read more
Incident date: May 22, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while driving 20 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the temperature control valve (TCV) to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 67,000. The cons... Read more
FORD
ESCAPE HYBRID
(2020) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
May 22, 2023
Incident date: Apr 5, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while driving 25 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated, and the vehicle started to misfire. The contact was able to drive to his destination. The contact stated he added coolant to the coolant reservoir. The contact took the vehicle to an independent mechanic and was informed that the hub gasket was leaking coolant fluid into the en... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
TIGUAN
(2020) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
May 22, 2023
Incident date: May 18, 2023
The contact owns a 2020 Land Rover Range Rover Sport. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the brake warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the brakes needed to be replaced. The contact received a second opinion from the dealer where the vehicle was diagnosed that there was a coolant leak. The vehicle was no... Read more
Incident date: May 13, 2023
******* DELETE VOQ ******* THIS COMPLAINT IS BEING MARKED FOR DELETION BECAUSE IT IS REQUESTED BY THE CONSUMER THAT THEY WISH TO HAVE IT REMOVED*DJR ******* DELETE VOQ *******
KTM
790 ADVENTURE R
(2021) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
May 22, 2023
Incident date: May 19, 2023
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle overheated. The contact stated that there was smoke coming from underneath the hood. Additionally, the contact stated that the engine was consuming an excessive amount of coolant. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who stated the vehicle needed to be taken to an authorized... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2020 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where a failure code was retrieved for an engine coolant bypass valve circuit short, and it was diagnosed that the bypass hose and valve needed to be replaced. The local dealer was made aware of the failure; however, ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 16, 2023
The contact owns a 2007 Honda Motorcycle VTX1800. The contact stated while riding approximately 70 MPH and crossing a highway overpass, the motorcycle stalled. The contact stated that he pulled over while still on the overpass and had to wait about 15 minutes before he was able to restart the motorcycle. The contact stated that the oil warning light was illuminated. The contact had experienced a s... Read more
Incident date: May 20, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Kia Sorento. The contact stated while driving approximately 65 MPH, he started smelling a burning odor. The contact stated that the oil warning light was illuminated. The contacted pulled over and checked the dip stick which indicated that there was no oil in the oil pan. The contact stated that he had had an oil change several months prior to the failure and had not notice... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
BEETLE CONVERTIBLE
(2016) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
May 19, 2023
Incident date: May 19, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving the message "Service Immediately" was suddenly displayed. The vehicle was immediately driven to the local dealer who diagnosed that coolant had leaked into the engine and that the engine was severely damaged and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no ass... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2011) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
May 19, 2023
Incident date: May 18, 2023
The contact owns a 2012 Hyundai Veracruz. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 50 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power and stalled. The contact was informed that the vehicle was not holding a charge. Additionally, the vehicle failed to start. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact called the local dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The vehic... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS
(2019) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
May 18, 2023
Incident date: Apr 30, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, an unknown warning light illuminated. The contact inspected the vehicle and noticed there was no brake fluid in the reservoir. Additionally, the contact stated that while driving the vehicle was overheating. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The contact ... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
PASSAT
(2016) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
May 18, 2023
Incident date: May 18, 2023
The contact owns a 2012 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the battery warning light illuminated. Additionally, the vehicle overheated. An independent mechanic arrived at the scene and informed the contact that the serpentine belt had detached. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred 2 more times. The contact related the failu... Read more
Incident date: Nov 15, 2022
The contact owns a 2012 Toyota Tundra. The contact stated that while plowing his driveway, there was an abnormal burning odor detected. The vehicle suddenly lost power. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that oil was needed. The mechanic became aware that oil was dripping through a small crack on the cam shaft o... Read more
Incident date: Jan 2, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Lincoln MKC. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 MPH, he heard a sputtering and knocking sound coming from the engine compartment. The contact stated that the vehicle started to overheat. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the failure had become a recurring failure and that the vehicle had begun to c... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2021 Ford Mustang GT500. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle experienced a loss of power steering as the instrument cluster went blank and the charging system error warning message was illuminated. The contact also stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the "Battery Save Mode, Pull Over, and Turn Car Off and On" message was illu... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: May 11, 2023
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving 30 MPH, the high engine temperature and the check engine warning lights illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to an independent mechanic where the vehicle was diagnosed and determined that the water pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact called the local dealer and made them aware of the fail... Read more
Incident date: Feb 9, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH and overtaking another vehicle, the contact heard an abnormal sound before the vehicle started to hesitate. The contact stated that the coolant warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that she parked on the side of the road and restarted the vehicle and drove slowly back to her residence. The contact took the ve... Read more
LINCOLN
MKZ HYBRID
(2017) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
May 17, 2023
Incident date: Apr 2, 2023
The contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet Cruze. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer for an oil change and was informed that the water pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that he took the vehicle back to the local dealer on May 3, 2023, for another oil change and was informed for a second time that the water pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was ... Read more
Incident date: May 16, 2023
The contact owns a 2007 Nissan Murano. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power, with the engine coolant, fuel level, and check engine warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that an unknown part needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. ... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Edge. The contact stated that the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer who diagnosed that there was a misfire in cylinder #3. The spark plug and coil was replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, approximately 2 days and 30 miles later, the engine started running rough. The contact called and informed the dealer that coo... Read more
Incident date: May 5, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while the vehicle was in for a routine oil change, the mechanic discovered that fluid was leaking from the water pump. No further information was available. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer was contacted. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 110,000.
Incident date: May 15, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35-45 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed that there was internal engine failure. Additionally, antifreeze was leaking into the spark plugs and the engine was overheating. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, and... Read more
Incident date: May 2, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power. The contact looked under the hood and noticed smoke, coolant, and water was pouring from the vehicle. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who stated that the water pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repair... Read more
Incident date: May 16, 2023
The contact's son owns a 2018 Chevrolet Silverado 2500. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine and “Service Vehicle" messages was displayed. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) and catalytic converter needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the ... Read more
MITSUBISHI
OUTLANDER
(2016) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
May 15, 2023
Incident date: May 13, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Chevrolet Suburban. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer and was informed that the grille shutter was defective and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 81,000.