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: Dec 12, 2022
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while the vehicle was at the dealer for Customer Satisfaction Program: 21N01 (High Speed Fan Motor Relay) the dealer diagnosed that the water pump was faulty, causing the air conditioner fan to fail to deactivate. The dealer declined to perform the repair because the vehicle was out of warranty. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufa... Read more
Incident date: Dec 19, 2022
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle overheated. The check engine warning light and the coolant temperature warning light were illuminated. The contact veered to the side of the road and turned off the vehicle until the engine cooled down. The contact continued to drive. Additionally, the contact noticed that coolant was leakin... Read more
Incident date: Dec 2, 2022
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 unavailable. 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 had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confi... Read more
Incident date: Dec 20, 2022
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at 45 MPH, the low coolant warning light was illuminated. The contact then pulled into a gas station and turned off the vehicle. The message "High Engine Temperature. Stop Safely" was displayed. The contact stated that her husband who was following her at the time also pulled into the gas station and opened the hood of the vehic... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Nov 27, 2022
The contact owns a 2012 Kia Optima. The contact stated while driving approximately 70 MPH, the check engine warning illuminated, and the vehicle lost motive power. The contact stated that the engine was running however, the vehicle failed to respond as needed. The contact pulled off the highway into a rest area. The contact stated that the engine and the vehicle were shaking abnormally. The contac... Read more
Incident date: Dec 2, 2022
Received a mssg on the car panel that car temp was too high & this vehicle was in the shop for several weeks back in July for something related to the engine.
Incident date: Nov 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2017 Kia Sportage. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked and unoccupied it spontaneously caught fire. The front windshield burst and the front of the vehicle melted. The check engine warning indicator light was illuminated. There were no reported injuries. The fire department extinguished the fire. There was no police report filed, injuries, or air bag deployment.... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Mar 21, 2022
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the engine overheating message was displayed. Additionally, there was smoke coming from underneath the hood. The contact stated that she veered to the side of the road until the vehicle cooled down. The contact then continued driving. The contact stated that the failure reoccurred several times while driving. ... Read more
Incident date: Dec 15, 2022
Driving south on the 5 freeway right northing on Oceanside the vehicle shut down at freeway speed. I had to coast of the to the first Oceanside. Fortunately it was late at night and there were no cars in the immediate vicinity. In addition to this the vehicle has had multiple episode of phantom breaking. I do not feel safe driving the car.
Incident date: Dec 1, 2021
The contact owns a 2015 Chevrolet Cruze. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the engine overheated and the vehicle would not properly accelerate. The contact stated that coolant was leaking from the engine from a failure with the coolant lines causing the engine to overheat with multiple electric failures. The failure also occurred due to overheating including the main comput... Read more
Incident date: Nov 20, 2021
The contact owns a 2012 Hyundai Veracruz. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 14V415000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) and the vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that there was an engine oil leak; however, the parts for recall repair were not yet available. Additionally, the contact stated that the dealer failed to install a relay kit as a temporary repair.... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2019) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Dec 20, 2022
Incident date: Dec 16, 2022
The contact owns a 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated while driving 74 MPH, the message “No Oil Pressure - Pull Over Immediately" was displayed. The contact immediately pulled over and was unable to restart the vehicle. Due to the failure, the vehicle was towed to a dealer where it was diagnosed with an oil cooler line failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a ca... Read more
Incident date: Dec 3, 2022
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated while starting the vehicle, the vehicle nearly stalled and was idling rough for approximately 15 minutes; after which, the vehicle operated normally. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact had driven the vehicle to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed and determined that coolant had leake... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2010 BMW X5. 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 several times. The contact stated that white smoke was coming from underneath the hood. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2022 Ram 2500. The contact stated that while attempting to start the vehicle, there was a long crank time before the vehicle started. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the ambient temperature sensor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure persisted. The vehi... Read more
Incident date: Dec 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the check engine warning light illuminated, and the vehicle started to hesitate while depressing the accelerator pedal. The contact took the vehicle to an independent mechanic who stated that coolant was leaking into cylinder #2. The contact was also informed that the engine needed to be rebuilt. The contact called the manufacturer who r... Read more
Incident date: Dec 1, 2022
From my understanding, I went to several different mechanics who all said the same thing. 2019 and maybe older years, the way the truck was made, the coolant hose runs all the way from the resovoir to the back of the truck which is causing a metal pipe and the coolant hose to touch and when the metal pipe gets hot, it’s eating at the hose cause a significant leakage under the truck. And the hose... Read more
Incident date: Apr 15, 2022
The contact owns a 2011 BMW 128I. 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 not made aware of the issue. The contact ... Read more
Incident date: Dec 16, 2017
The contact owns a 2013 Subaru Impreza. The contact stated that while driving approximately 40 mph when the check engine illuminated and a loud rattling noise emitted from underneath the hood of the vehicle. The vehicle then suddenly stalled. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. The dealer had replaced the engine. Approximately after the repair while they were driving approximately 40 mph when the... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Jul 15, 2020
******* DELETE VOQ ******* THIS COMPLAINT IS BEING MARKED FOR DELETION BECAUSE IT IS AN INADVERTENT DUPLICATE OF ODI# 11497752*DJR ******* DELETE VOQ *******
Fire
Incident date: Apr 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2009 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 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 had not ... Read more
Incident date: Dec 10, 2022
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while driving approximately 25 MPH and making a left turn at an intersection, the vehicle stalled. The contact stated that the check engine warning light illuminated 10 minutes prior to the vehicle losing motive power and stalling. The contact placed the vehicle in park(P) and was able to restart the vehicle. The contact stated that the vehic... Read more
Incident date: Dec 1, 2017
The contact owns a 2007 BMW Z4. 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 had not e... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2011 Hyundai Veracruz. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V705000 (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 not made aware of the issue. The cont... Read more
Incident date: Dec 12, 2022
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated. Additionally, there was abnormal sounds coming from the vehicle. The contact pulled over and had the vehicle towed to the dealer. The contact was informed that the coolant might be leaking into the engine; however, the mechanic was unsure. The dealer was contacted and stated th... Read more
Incident date: Dec 10, 2020
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving approximately 45 MPH, the engine started to misfire and started losing motive power. The contact stated that the check engine and Service Engine Now warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was driven to a local dealer. The dealer diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the engine malfunction was caused by coolant leaking ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2019
The contact owns a 2013 Ford C-Max. The contact stated while driving approximately 70 MPH in the rain, the windshield wipers became inoperable, and the headlights inadvertently turned off. The contact stated that the horn would beep independently but failed to operate while depressed. Additionally, the heater and A/C unit became inoperable. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was di... Read more
Incident date: Mar 2, 2022
The contact owns a 2006 BMW 330XI. 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 made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confi... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
E320
(2008) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Dec 14, 2022
Incident date: Dec 7, 2022
The contact owns a 2008 Mercedes Benz E320. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer who confirmed engine failure. The contact was informed of NHTSA Campaign Number: 08V006000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the VIN was not included. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and c... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2015 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the check engine warning light remained illuminated. Additionally, the vehicle was consuming an excessive amount of engine oil. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the catalytic converter was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The contact indicated that t... Read more
Incident date: Jun 20, 2022
The contact owns a 2022 Jeep Compass. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle stalled. The START/STOP system message was displayed. The computer screen went blank. The drive button on the instrument cluster and gear selector were blinking. The parking brake engaged without warning. While driving the vehicle at slow speeds, the vehicle jerked forward and failed to respond as... Read more
Incident date: Dec 13, 2022
The contact owns a 2007 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 local dealer was contacted. 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 ... 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 while starting the vehicle, there was an abnormal burning plastic odor detected. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair.... Read more
Incident date: Dec 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated that she smelled antifreeze upon entering her vehicle. The contact opened the hood and discovered that the coolant level was low. The contact added coolant and resumed normal driving. The contact then stated that while driving at slow speeds, the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact opened the hood and saw that the coolant rese... Read more
HYUNDAI
SONATA HYBRID
(2017) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Dec 12, 2022
Incident date: Sep 6, 2022
The contact owns a 2017 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid. The contact stated that while driving approximately 60 - 65 MPH, the red engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer who informed her the vehicle was working as designed. While driving on another occasion, the check engine warning light and the Hybrid System Shutdown and Turn Off Engine message was displayed. The vehic... Read more
Incident date: Dec 5, 2022
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that the check engine warning light illuminated, and the vehicle was overheating. The contact inspected the vehicle and became aware that there was no coolant in the reservoir. The contact added coolant to the reservoir. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, and the mechanic stated that cylinder #2 misfired and the engine needed t... Read more
Incident date: Dec 12, 2022
The contact owns a 2006 BMW 530I. 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 manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was made aware of the issue. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The cont... Read more
Incident date: Oct 28, 2022
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the engine overheated message was displayed. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that there was coolant intrusion into the engine, and that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the conta... Read more
Incident date: Dec 12, 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 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 not made aware of the issue. The contact ha... Read more
Incident date: Dec 4, 2022
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the contact was informed that cylinder #4 was misfiring, and that coolant was leaking into the engine. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted but provided no assista... Read more
Incident date: Dec 12, 2022
The contact owns a 2011 BMW 328I. The contact received notification of the 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 manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount time for the recall repair. The contact stated that she noticed smoke outside of the vehicle and she smelled an abnormal burn... Read more
Incident date: Jun 12, 2021
The contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet Cruze. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH, he smelled a burning odor and saw smoke coming from underneath the hood of the vehicle. The contact then drove the vehicle to a local dealer where it was diagnosed that the front valve cover gasket and oil pan were leaking. The front valve cover gasket and seals were replaced; however, the failure reoccurred. Additio... Read more
Incident date: Nov 22, 2022
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was intermittently illuminated. The contact then stated that while the vehicle was idling or during start-up, he noticed a burning odor throughout the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to and independent mechanic; however, the mechanic suggested that the vehicle be taken to the dealer. The vehicle was taken to... Read more
Incident date: May 23, 2022
The contact owns a 2013 Scion FR-S. The contact stated there was an abnormal clunking sound coming from the engine compartment. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check oil warning light was illuminated while the vehicle was decelerating. The contact drove into a nearby parking lot. The vehicle was towed to the dealer who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that th... Read more
Incident date: Sep 9, 2022
The contact owns a 2020 Jeep Wrangler. The contact stated while coming to a stop at a stop sign or red light, the Stop/Start feature failed to function. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed that a diesel exhaust component needed to be replaced because of a leak. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure persisted, and the contact ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 23, 2022
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving approximately 20 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated. and the vehicle lost motive power shortly after. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the engine and water pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired and was then towed back to the residence. The manufacture... Read more
Incident date: Nov 5, 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 30 MPH, the heater was activated, and she smelled an odor of burning plastic inside the vehicle. The contact stated that once the weather turned colder, while usi... Read more
Incident date: Dec 9, 2022
The contact owns a 2009 BMW X5. 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 manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer and manufacturer were made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure.... Read more
Incident date: Oct 12, 2022
I was on two lane street and the light on the dashboard light up and it automatically stopped and didn't want to turn back on but I got really scared because the car shook and then stop the cars behind almost hit my vehicle but I turned on my emergency lights on and they when around me I haven't been able to turn it back on ever since if you guys can really help me please thank you
Incident date: Oct 12, 2022
I was on two lane street and the light on the dashboard light up and it automatically stopped and didn't want to turn back on but I got really scared because the car shook and then stop the cars behind almost hit my vehicle but I turned on my emergency lights on and they when around me I haven't been able to turn it back on ever since if you guys can really help me please thank you