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: Oct 21, 2022
The contact owns a 2016 Hyundai Veloster. The contact stated that while driving approximately 55 MPH a loud booming sound from the engine compartment had occurred and a knocking noise followed along with white smoke from the exhaust pipes. The vehicle drove off the road before flames were present coming from under the hood. The fire department was called to the scene and extinguished the flames. A... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Mar 2, 2022
The contact owns a 2011 BMW 328I. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V119000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool co... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2015 Ford F-150. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle, the engine coolant temperature and the check engine warning lights illuminated intermittently. The contact stated that the failure had become frequent. After using a personal diagnostic reader, he retrieved two failure codes for the engine coolant temperature (ECT) sensor circuit. The vehicle was then taken to ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 17, 2022
The contact owns a 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle failed to properly accelerate while depressing the accelerator pedal. The vehicle also shuddered and lost motive power. While attempting to drive up a hill, the vehicle failed to accelerate above 25 MPH. The vehicle was taken to the local mechanic who diagnosed that the engine was faulty and n... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2021
The contact owns a 2017 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the "low oil level" message displayed even though the engine oil had recently been changed. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who serviced the engine for an oil consumption test. No additional information was available. The vehicle was retrieved but the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken back to th... Read more
Incident date: Oct 21, 2021
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Edge. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who reset the check engine warning light; however, the failure reoccurred a week later. The contact stated that the failure reoccurred on 4 separate occasions. The vehicle was taken back to the independent mechanic where the thermo... Read more
Incident date: Oct 21, 2022
The contact owns a 2007 BMW 328XI. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V119000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was not 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 and confirmed th... Read more
Incident date: Sep 6, 2022
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated the vehicle was taken to the local dealer for an unstated recall repair. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled. The transmission warning light was flashing. The vehicle was able to be restarted and was taken back to the local dealer where it was diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced... Read more
Incident date: Oct 21, 2022
The contact owns a 2011 BMW Z4. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V119000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated while driving approximately 25 MPH, he started to smell a burning plastic odor. Additionally, white smoke started coming from the vents. The contact stated that the smoke was not heavy but ste... Read more
Incident date: Oct 7, 2022
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle started to lose coolant. The contact checked and added additional coolant to the reservoir. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the engine needed to be replaced. The parts were backordered, and the veh... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
CORRADO
(1993) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Oct 20, 2022
Incident date: Oct 18, 2022
The contact owns 1993 Volkswagen Corrado. The contact stated that while parking the vehicle, he heard an abnormal popping sound. The contact then saw a significant amount of smoke coming through the front of the dashboard. The contact stated that he lost visibility of the surrounding of the vehicle. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact turned off the vehicle. The contact exited the ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 20, 2021
The contact owns a 2007 BMW 530XI. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V119000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the vehicle was overheating while driving. The contact stated that the frame of the vehicle felt extremely hot after driving and the vehicle took a long time to cool down. There... Read more
Incident date: Feb 20, 2019
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Soul. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power and stalled without warning. The contact was able to pull over on the side of the road. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. The contact was informed that the vehicle had experienced the failure listed in NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V120000 (Engine, Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the VIN was ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 29, 2022
The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the check engine warning light remained illuminated after starting the vehicle and shifting to drive(D) or reverse(R). The contact stated that the engine temperature gauge indicated that the engine was “COLD” even after she had driv... Read more
Incident date: Mar 2, 2022
The contact owns a 2011 BMW 328i. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V119000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool co... Read more
Incident date: Mar 6, 2022
The contact owns a 2011 BMW 328I. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V119000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 MPH, the vehicle overheated with an abnormal burning plastic odor coming from the vents on the dashboard. The contact stated that the check engine warning ligh... Read more
Incident date: Mar 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2009 BMW 528I. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V119000 (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 contact stated t... Read more
Incident date: Apr 19, 2022
The contact owns a 2009 BMW 328I. The contact received notification NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V1190000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was not available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The local dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufa... Read more
Incident date: Oct 9, 2022
The contact owned a 2011 BMW 128i. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V119000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. The contact had experienced a failure. The contact stated as he pulled into a parking lot at approximately 5 MPH he began to smell a burning plastic odor. The contact said that the vehicle dash vents began to issue ... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Sep 18, 2022
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 25 MPH, the vehicle started to shake and the engine overheated. The check engine warning light and the temperature gauge warning lights were illuminated. The contact was able to coast the vehicle off the road. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the water pump needed to be repl... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2019
The contact owns a 2016 BMW 328I. The contact stated that an abnormal, coolant odor would emit throughout her vehicle without warning while driving at various speeds. As the failure persisted, a heavy, white smoke began to emit from the tailpipe with the check engine warning light on the instrument panel. The dealer was notified of the failure and informed her that there were no recalls on her veh... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
GLS 450
(2019) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Oct 18, 2022
Incident date: Mar 4, 2022
The contact's client owns a 2019 Mercedes Ben GLS450. The contact stated that while the owner was driving at an undetermined speed, the vehicle began to smoke and caught fire. There were no warning indicator lights illuminated. There were no injuries or air bag deployment. A police report was filed. The fire department extinguished the fire. The vehicle was towed to an undisclosed location. The... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Apr 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2008 BMW 328I. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V119000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable am... Read more
Incident date: Oct 17, 2022
The contact owns a 2007 BMW 525I. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V119000 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The vehicle was taken to the dealer for the recall repair however, upon retrieving the vehicle, the contact noticed that the vehicle was shaking while driving at various speeds. The contact stated that the failure had worsened while at a complete stop. Over time, the... Read more
Incident date: Oct 14, 2022
The contact owns a 2008 BMW X5. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 65 MPH, there was a plastic smell while the heater was in use. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was then taken to an independent mechanic where the failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V119000 (Engi... Read more
MITSUBISHI
OUTLANDER SPORT
(2015) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Oct 17, 2022
Incident date: Aug 26, 2022
The contact owns a 2015 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport. The contact stated while driving approximately 55 mph, the transmission overheat message was displayed indicating that the vehicle should be turned off. The contact pulled over and waited for the engine to cool down. While attempting to drive, the vehicle hesitated and stalled. The contact also stated that while the vehicle was idling, the engine... Read more
Incident date: Jul 30, 2022
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Soul. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, the engine would shudder and lose power while idling, without warning. The vehicle was taken to a dealer and the contact was provided an estimate for a diagnostic test. The dealer informed her that bad gasoline might have caused the issue; however, the failure persisted. Upon investigation, the contact discovered ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 15, 2022
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Edge. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle was shuddering as the check engine warning light flashed on the instrument panel. The vehicle was initially taken to an independent mechanic where the spark plugs, the intake manifold, the engine coils and other unknown engine parts were replaced; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was the... Read more
TOYOTA
PRIUS PLUG-IN HYBRID
(2015) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Oct 12, 2022
Incident date: Sep 9, 2022
The contact owns a 2015 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that after his mother had driven uphill and had pulled into a gas station with him in the front passenger seat, the vehicle began to overheat. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that he saw smoke coming out from underneath the hood of the vehicle on the passenger side. Additionally, the exhaust pipe emitted wh... Read more
Incident date: Oct 12, 2021
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Edge. The contact stated that while driving at 55 MPH, the check engine warning light was illuminated and the vehicle started shuddering. Additionally, the contact stated that there was a strong gasoline odor inside the vehicle. The contact veered to the side of the road. The contact stated that the failure had been reoccurring increasingly while driving. The vehicle ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 8, 2022
The contact owns a 2022 Indian Motorcycle FTR1200. The contact stated while driving at 25 MPH, the contact smelled an odor of burning coming from the motorcycle, followed by the check engine and another unknown warning light illuminated, and the motorcycle started overheating. The contact was able to pull over on the side of the road safely and had the motorcycle towed to a friend’s home. The mo... Read more
Incident date: Sep 11, 2022
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated when he started the vehicle, there was noticeable shaking and vibration from the engine. The contact stated the "check coolant" light was illuminated. The contact stated he was able to shift the vehicle into drive (D) and it continued to shake and vibrate from 5 MPH up to 35 MPH and eventually smooth out and operate normally. The failure bega... Read more
Incident date: Dec 1, 2021
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Edge. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the check engine warning light would suddenly illuminate along with an audible chime, the vehicle would no longer accelerate when pressing the accelerator pedal and the vehicle's speed would reduce. After stopping the vehicle the engine would remain on but the vehicle would no longer drive forward or in rev... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that the owner of the vehicle indicated while operating the vehicle the engine would overheat and the engine coolant needed to be added daily. The vehicle was taken to the local service center which diagnosed that the engine coolant had leaked into the engine oil. The cause of the failure had not yet been determined. The local dealer was noti... Read more
Incident date: Mar 2, 2022
The contact owns a 2010 BMW 328i. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V119000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. The contact had experienced a failure and stated that when she had started the vehicle she smelled a burning odor and the vehicle stalled. The contact stated that the burning odor had become a reoccurring failure an... Read more
Incident date: Oct 10, 2022
The contact owns a 2013 Audi S7. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to be serviced for NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V178000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) where the turbochargers needed to be replaced from wear and tear from the consequences mentioned in the recall. The dealer diagnosed that the turbocharger itself needed to be replaced, however, it was not covered under the recall. The turboc... Read more
Incident date: Oct 2, 2022
The contact owns a 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated while operating the vehicle the check engine light would remain illuminated and the odor of fuel was present inside the vehicle. Upon inspection, it was discovered that the fuel had leaked from near the rear passenger-side wheel area. The contact discovered that the leak was due to a corroded and damaged fuel line. In addition, it was di... Read more
Incident date: Aug 7, 2021
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the check engine warning light remained illuminated. The contact stated that there was a knocking sound coming from the engine compartment. The contact stated that the vehicle then failed to properly accelerate and sometimes drove rough. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that coolant had... Read more
Incident date: Oct 2, 2022
The contact owns a 2006 Honda Ridgeline. The contact stated that while driving approximately driving 50 mph the vehicle suddenly lost power and stalled. After stopping to inspect under the hood the contact discovered transmission and radiator fluid spraying and leaking within the engine compartment. The contact sustained burns to the left arm from the hot fluids while inspecting under the hood. Th... Read more
1 injured
Incident date: Aug 14, 2022
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while attempting to start the vehicle, the vehicle failed to start. The contact was able to start the vehicle after several attempts. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, and the mechanic stated that coolant was leaking into cylinder #2. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The... Read more
Incident date: Sep 16, 2022
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated upon starting the vehicle, the vehicle was experiencing rough starts and would overheat while driving at various speeds. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that engine cylinder #2 was misfiring and coolant was leaking into the engine block and cylinders. The ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 7, 2020
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while driving 30 MPH, the vehicle stalled with the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact was able to veer to the side of the road. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that coolant was leaking into the cylinders. The vehicle was then taken to the dealer where the contact was informed that the s... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2021 Nissan Rogue. The contact stated that the fueling system was leaking. There was an abnormal odor of fuel detected. While driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lunged forward and stalled but restarted. The alternator warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacte... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2011 BMW 328I. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V119000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contac... Read more
Incident date: Sep 29, 2022
The contact called on behalf of his mother who owned a 2015 BMW X1. The contact stated that the service engine message was intermittently displayed and then remained displayed. The contact had taken the vehicle to the dealer who diagnosed that the failure was related to NHTSA ID Number: 10136705 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the VIN was not included. The vehicle had not been repaired. The m... Read more
Incident date: Sep 3, 2022
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving approximately 55 MPH, the vehicle began to sputter as if the vehicle was going to stall. The contact stated that "Shutdown Engine" warning light was illuminated and the temperature gauge was extremely high. The contact pulled off the road, stopped the vehicle, and opened the hood. The contact observed that there was no coolant... Read more
Incident date: Jul 6, 2022
The contact owns a 2003 Audi A4. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the vehicle decelerated, lost motive power and stalled without warning. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to restart and there was steam coming from the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the residence where an independent mechanic diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the vehicle had experienced a similar failur... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Edge. The contact stated while starting the vehicle, he heard an abnormal sound on the driver’s side of the engine. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that in approximately 10-15 minutes the vehicle would start up. The contact stated while inspecting the vehicle, he noticed the coolant leaking into the engine. T... Read more
Incident date: Sep 23, 2022
This issue is related to TSB22-2229. This is a known issues where the engine coolant is leaking into cylinder 2 which when occurs leads to replacing the engine. This issue has lead to an extension of the warranty on other Ford models, but not the Edge.
Incident date: Oct 5, 2022
Timing chain and gears