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: Jul 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Edge. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that coolant had leaked into the engine, caused by the eco boost system. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and referre... Read more
Incident date: Jun 25, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Lincoln MKC. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the accelerator pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to accelerate however, the engine overheated. Additionally, the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the fail... Read more
Incident date: Jul 3, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the engine overheated message was displayed. The contact stated that he decelerated to 45 MPH and continued driving. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that cylinder #2 and #3 had cracked, and the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the fai... Read more
Incident date: Jul 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that coolant was leaking from the engine and the temperature gauge indicated that the engine was hot. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and the water pump was replaced; however, the contact stated that the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to a dealer and the contact was informed that the water pump had failed again. Th... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2013 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle decelerated and stalled. Additionally, the check engine warning light and other unknown warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who informed the contact that there were metal fragments inside the engine and that the failure was related to NHTSA C... Read more
Incident date: Jun 30, 2023
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The contact was able to restart the vehicle and drive to her residence. The contact took the vehicle to an independent mechanic, where the vehicle was diagnosed, and it was determined that the housing unit and the thermostat needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but continued to experience ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 30, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the message that the engine was overheating was displayed. The vehicle stalled and would not immediately restart. The vehicle was taken to the local service center who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was later towed to the local dealer who diagnosed the vehicle and dete... Read more
Incident date: Jun 28, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Ram 1500. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V406000 (Fuel System, Diesel) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact then received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V411000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The conta... Read more
Incident date: Jun 29, 2023
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated that the vehicle overheated while driving approximately 30-35 MPH and stalled in the middle of the road. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle only restarted after cooling down for 15-30 minutes. The contact veered to the side of the road. The contact continued driving; however, the vehicle would n... Read more
Incident date: Jun 30, 2022
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated, and the vehicle stalled. The contact stated that the DTC codes indicated that cylinder #1 and #3 were misfiring. The contact stated that a week later while driving at an undisclosed speed, the engine overheated with a message to turn off the vehicle displa... Read more
Incident date: May 17, 2023
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an unknown speed, the low coolant warning light illuminated. The contact stated that two days later while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who informed the contact that coolant was leaking into the cylinder block causing a blown head ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 28, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that on several occasions while the vehicle was parked, the contact observed condensation underneath the front of the vehicle. The engine temperature warning light remained illuminated while the check engine warning light was illuminated on several occasions. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and the contact was informed that s... Read more
Incident date: Jun 21, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the engine misfired, causing the vehicle to jerk while depressing the accelerator pedal. The contact also stated that white colored smoke was coming from the exhaust pipe with the check engine light illuminated. The vehicle was initially taken to an independent mechanic who discovered that coolant had lea... Read more
Incident date: Jul 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2014 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the check engine warning light illuminated with a burning odor and a knocking sound coming from the engine compartment before the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was later driven to the local dealer who discovered metal shavings inside the engine and engine oil and informed the contact that the engine nee... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
C300
(2015) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Jun 28, 2023
Incident date: May 12, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Edge. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle was jerking while depressing the accelerator pedal with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was initially taken to an independent mechanic where spark plug #3 and engine coil were replaced. The failure recurred and the same parts were replaced a second time. The contact then disco... Read more
Incident date: Jun 28, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Ram 1500. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V411000 (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 and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufa... Read more
Incident date: Jun 23, 2023
The contact owns a 2013 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while her daughter was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled. The contact stated that several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that her daughter was unable to restart the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to a nearby independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the engine had s... Read more
Incident date: Jun 26, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 Ram 1500. The contact stated while driving 75 MPH and attempting to accelerate, the vehicle inadvertently lost motive power; however, the contact was able to safely maneuver the vehicle to the shoulder of the roadway. The battery warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer to be diagnosed. The mechanic determined there was a failure with the crank pos... Read more
DODGE
GRAND CARAVAN
(2017) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Jun 26, 2023
Incident date: Jun 9, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the check engine warning light illuminated, and the vehicle stalled inadvertently. The contact was unable to veer to the side of the road and turned on the hazard lights. The contact was able to restart the vehicle after several minutes; however, the failure recurred every 2 miles. The vehicle was taken... Read more
Incident date: Jan 2, 2023
The contact's partner owns a 2017 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while his partner was driving 40 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated, and the temperature gauge started rising. The driver stated the vehicle started to vibrate and lost motive power while attempting to accelerate. The driver continued driving to the residence. The contact inspected the vehicle and noticed the engine sho... Read more
Incident date: May 26, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Edge. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle, the check engine warning light remained illuminated, and the vehicle drove rough. The vehicle was taken to the local mechanic who diagnosed that coolant had leaked into the engine and the engine long block needed to be replaced. The vehicle was later taken to the local dealer who confirmed that coolant had leake... Read more
NISSAN
ROGUE SPORT
(2020) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Jun 23, 2023
Incident date: Jun 19, 2023
The contact owns a 2012 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 5 MPH the braking system suddenly activated causing the vehicle to abruptly stop. Smoke was then seen coming from under the front end of the vehicle. After the contact exited the vehicle flames and smoke began to engulf the vehicle. The fire department was called to the scene and extinguished the flames. The v... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Jun 15, 2023
The contact owns a 2021 Kia Seltos. The contact stated that while attempting to drive away from a stop light at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle was slow to accelerate. The contact stated that the failure had occurred on several occasions. No warning lights were illuminated prior to the failure. The vehicle was taken to the dealer however, the mechanic was unable to determine the cause of the fai... Read more
Incident date: Feb 15, 2022
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 50 MPH, a message that the engine was overheating and would soon shut down was displayed. The vehicle lost motive power and stalled. The contact was able to pull over on the side of the road and checked under the hood and noticed that the coolant level was low. The contact added coolant, and the vehicle operated normally. The de... Read more
Incident date: Jun 12, 2023
The contact owns a 2022 Hyundai Tucson. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to the local dealer for an alternator replacement. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that the vehicle was serviced at 45,000 however, upon retrieval of the vehicle, the mileage was 29,000. While driving, the idle START/STOP became inoperable. The radio failed to shut off and caused the battery to be dr... Read more
Incident date: Jun 4, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated while his daughter was driving approximately 60 MPH, the check engine light illuminated, and the vehicle started losing motive power and was running rough and vibrating. The contact had the vehicle towed to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the failure was due to coolant intrusion into the cylinders and advised the contact to take th... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Edge. The contact stated while driving 30 MPH, the vehicle started overheating. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact was able to drive the vehicle to the residence. The contact checked the coolant level and noticed that the coolant level was low. The contact added coolant, but the failure continued, with the check engine warning light illuminated. The ve... Read more
Incident date: Jun 21, 2023
The contact’s wife owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the vehicle was overheating after driving 20-25 miles. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that coolant was leaking into the cylinders, causing the vehicle to overheat. The independent mechanic diagnosed that the engine needed to be replaced. Th... Read more
Incident date: Jun 14, 2023
The contact owns a 2020 Volkswagen Passat. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle made abnormal sounds. The contact stated that the vehicle started independently, and the Driver Assist function engaged independently. Additionally, the contact stated that the vehicle was swerving unintendedly and would vibrate while driving. The vehicle was taken to the dealer several times... Read more
Incident date: Mar 15, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Hyundai Tucson. The contact stated that while driving at an unknown speed, an abnormal knocking sound started with the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and the contact was informed that the oil level was extremely low. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to service recall NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V727000 (Engine); ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 4, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport. The contact stated while driving approximately 50 MPH, the vehicle started shaking and vibrating abnormally. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. There was no warning light illuminated before the vehicle lost motive power and the power steering and brakes failed to operate as intended. The contact stated that the ve... Read more
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2022) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Jun 21, 2023
Incident date: Jun 21, 2023
The contact owned a 2022 Chevrolet Silverado 3500. The contact stated while driving approximately 65 MPH and towing a trailer, the vehicle made an abnormal popping sound as if the transmission was jumping in and out of gear, and the vehicle lunged forward. The contact stated that several unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact stated he heard a loud roaring sound coming from the engine as ... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Jun 20, 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: Mar 15, 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: Jun 21, 2023
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: Oct 1, 2015
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: Jun 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: May 22, 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 6, 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 20, 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
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2016) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Jun 20, 2023
Incident date: Jun 19, 2023
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 5, 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
TOYOTA
HIGHLANDER
(2022) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Jun 16, 2023
Incident date: May 26, 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: Jun 15, 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: May 3, 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: Oct 19, 2022
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: May 24, 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
HYUNDAI
GENESIS COUPE
(2013) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Jun 15, 2023
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