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
FORD
EXPEDITION
(2020) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Jan 8, 2026
Incident date: Jul 24, 2025
The contact owns a 2020 GMC Yukon. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the residence, the contact exited the vehicle and discovered white smoke coming from the exhaust and started to smell coolant and then discovered that the coolant level was low. The contact added coolant, and the check engine war... Read more
Incident date: Oct 15, 2024
The contact owned a 2013 Chevrolet Sonic. The contact stated that the vehicle had previously sustained undercarriage damage while driving at 20 MPH and hitting a pothole. The undercarriage was repaired. Additionally, the contact stated that while driving at 25 MPH, the vehicle started to overheat. A coolant temperature warning light was illuminated. The contact pulled into the Walmart parking lo... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Aug 25, 2025
The contact owns a 2019 Ford EcoSport. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V905000 (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 ha... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2025
The contact owns a 2023 Nissan Rogue. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost drive power with several unknown warning lights illuminated. There was white smoke coming from the rear of the vehicle. The vehicle was coasted to the side of the road. The vehicle was first towed to an independent mechanic, but it was not diagnosed. The vehicle was then towed to t... Read more
Incident date: Jan 19, 2024
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V695000 (Back Over Prevention). While driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle started running rough. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who retrieved DTC: P0302 (Misfire in Cylinder #2). The vehicle was taken to another independent me... Read more
Incident date: Jan 6, 2026
The contact owns a 2024 Chevrolet Trax. The contact stated that while driving 50 MPH and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle lost motive power. The contact was able to safely get the vehicle to the right side of the road and noticed smoke coming from the engine. A dealer was contacted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed, and the contact was informed that the turbocharger... Read more
Incident date: Jan 6, 2026
The contact owns a 2023 Nissan Rogue. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V437000 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The contact stated that while driving approximately 70 MPH, the vehicle lost power. The contact pulled over to the side of the road, and there was smoke coming from the engine compartment. The vehicle was towed to a dealer, where it was diagnosed, and determined ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2025
The contact owns a 2021 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while driving at 35 MPH and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle lost power. An independent mechanic was contacted. The contact stated that the vehicle was towed to the residence and then was towed to the dealer, who refused to repair the vehicle under recall because the vehicle had failed to start. The vehicle was not diagnosed or... Read more
Incident date: Jan 7, 2024
The contact owns a 2024 Toyota Tundra. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 25V322000 (Exterior Lighting) and 25V767000 (Engine and Engine Cooling); however, the parts to do the recall repairs were 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 ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2024
The contact owns a 2025 GMC Sierra 1500. The contact stated that while driving at 35 MPH, there was an abnormal knocking sound coming from the engine. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with a rough idle code, and that the thermostat coolant housing had failed. The contact was provided DTC codes: B1A76 with failure Code 0X15 (pending), P... Read more
Incident date: Dec 15, 2025
The contact owns a 2020 Hyundai Tucson. The contact stated that the engine was consuming an excessive amount of engine oil. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, and the oil level was topped off. The dealer requested that the contact return every 1,000 miles for inspection. The failure persisted, and the vehicle was returned to the dealer every 1,000 miles. The check engine warning light was illumi... Read more
Incident date: Mar 26, 2025
The contact owned a 2017 Kia Sportage. The contact stated that while driving 55-60 MPH on the highway, the contact noticed smoke coming from underneath the hood. The contact stated that there was a significant amount of smoke inside the vehicle. It was unknown whether a warning light illuminated. The contact exited the vehicle and noticed that there were police officers 20 ft. away from the vehicl... Read more
Fire
1 injured
Incident date: Nov 8, 2025
The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that when he had parked the vehicle at work, he had heard an abnormal clicking sound from the engine compartment, and the vehicle was idling roughly. The contact stated that as he drove the vehicle back to his residence at approximately 60 MPH, the check engine warning started flashing on the instrument cluster. The contact drove the vehicle ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 5, 2025
The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that since the purchase of the vehicle, the transmission had failed three times. The transmission had been replaced three time... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2025
The contact owns a 2015 Acura TLX. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V751000 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The dealer was contacted several times for the recall repair; however, the dealer informed the contact that the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated while driving 45-50 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power. The contact was able to vee... Read more
Incident date: Jan 6, 2026
The contact owns a 2014 Nissan Quest. The contact stated that while at a red light, once the light turned green, the contact had to depress the accelerator pedal several times, and 5 seconds afterward,s the vehicle accelerated. No warning lights were illuminated; however, the "Low Coolant" message was displayed on the instrument panel. The failure had occurred on several occasions. The vehicle was... Read more
Incident date: Jan 5, 2026
The contact owns a 2023 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated that the vehicle was repaired under NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V274000 (ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING), but the failure occurred. The contact was informed by the dealer that the vehicle had passed inspection, and the dealer added a higher viscosity oil, installed 6 oil fill caps, and replaced the oil filter. The contact stated that six... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2025
The contact owns a 2019 Ram Promaster 3500. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 25V720000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) and 25V552000 (Back Over Prevention); however, the parts to do the recall repairs not yet available. The local dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reaso... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 2500
(2005) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Jan 6, 2026
Incident date: Dec 27, 2025
The contact owns a 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated that while driving at 40 MPH, the low oil pressure warning light illuminated. An independent mechanic was contacted. The vehicle was taken to a Jiffy Lube, where it was diagnosed, and determined that the engine oil cooler line needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to Customer Satisfa... Read more
Incident date: Dec 1, 2025
The contact owns a 2019 Ford EcoSport. The contact stated that the vehicle was serviced at the local dealer under NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V905000 (ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING). After retrieving the vehicle and driving approximately 10 miles down the road, the check engine warning light illuminated, and the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was towed back to the local dealer to be diagnosed, and it was d... Read more
Incident date: Jan 3, 2026
The contact owns a 2021 Ram Promaster 3500. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V552000 (Back Over Prevention). The contact stated that the camera had stopped operating in 2024. Additionally, the contact had stopped driving the vehicle due to a recent recall letter received for NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V720000 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The contact made several calls to... Read more
Incident date: Jan 5, 2026
The contact owns a 2019 Ford F-150. The contact stated that the vehicle was experiencing excessive oil consumption. The contact stated that the vehicle was consuming 2-3 quarts of oil every 5,000 miles driven. The dealer was contacted and informed the contact that there would be a charge for an oil consumption test. The contact declined to pay a fee for the oil consumption test. The vehicle was no... Read more
Incident date: Dec 16, 2022
The contact owns a 2022 Nissan Rogue. The contact stated that while driving 60-70 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact stated that while driving in the mountains, the message "Engine Malfunction-Losing Power" was displayed, and the vehicle failed to accelerate upon depression of the accelerator pedal. The contact pulled over to the side of the road. The contact stated that ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2025
See attached document for complaint.
HYUNDAI
SANTA FE HYBRID
(2022) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Jan 5, 2026
Incident date: Dec 18, 2025
See attached document for complaint.
Incident date: Jan 3, 2026
The contact owns a 2025 GMC Canyon. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, the contact discovered a coolant leak underneath the front of the vehicle. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer to be diagnosed; however, the vehicle had not yet been diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage... Read more
Incident date: Sep 10, 2025
The contact owns a 2021 Ram Promaster 1500. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 25V720000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) and 25V552000 (Back Over Prevention); 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 repair. The manufactu... Read more
Incident date: Jul 11, 2024
See attached document for complaint.
Incident date: Dec 21, 2025
The contact owns a 2020 Volkswagen Tiguan. The contact stated that after adding a quart of oil, the contact became aware that almost every three weeks there was blue smoke coming from the exhaust pipes. The contact stated that the oil warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed, and it was determined that the engine was consuming an excessive amo... Read more
Incident date: Dec 2, 2025
See attached document for complaint. Greetings: I am writing pursuant to recalls No. 24V‑608, both remedy unavailable and remedy available, ten months later. During the intervening ten months, I experienced hardship, expense and loss of use of my vehicle. The attached documents represent my correspondence to BMW Customer relations. The docs were submitted on September 22, 2025 and October 14,... Read more
HYUNDAI
SANTA FE HYBRID
(2025) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Jan 5, 2026
Incident date: Jan 5, 2026
The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that there was an abnormal engine knocking sound coming from the vehicle. There were recurring oil leaks and a misfire coming from the engine. The engine warning light was flashing. Additionally, the ESC, hill start assist, VSA, EPS, and steering low warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who confirm... Read more
Incident date: Jan 2, 2026
The contact owns a 2023 Toyota Tundra. The contact stated that while driving approximately 60 MPH, the instrument cluster went black, and the vehicle started losing motive power. The contact stated that the vehicle stalled but almost immediately restarted. The contact was able to keep driving, but the vehicle failed to respond while depressing the accelerator pedal. The vehicle was taken to a loca... Read more
Incident date: Jan 5, 2026
The contact owns a 2020 Ford EcoSport. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V905000 (ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING). The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle jerked. Most recently, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the vehicle was not inspected or diagnosed. The contact was informed that ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 19, 2025
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Focus. While the contact's husband was driving at an undisclosed speed, the accelerator pedal was depressed, however the vehicle failed to accelerate. The contact ws unsure if any warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed with engine failure. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. T... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2026
The contact owns a 2023 Nissan Rogue. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, there was an abnormal clanking sound coming from the engine. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact proceeded to drive the vehicle; however, the vehicle failed to properly accelerate while driving 60 MPH and attempting to accelerate. The contact stated that the vehicle started to decelerate, and t... Read more
LAND ROVER
DISCOVERY SPORT
(2020) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Jan 5, 2026
Incident date: Aug 31, 2025
The contact owns a 2017 Hyundai Tucson. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds or accelerating from idle, there was a knocking sound coming from the engine. While accelerating from idle, the vehicle failed to exceed 30 MPH, requiring that the driver slowly accelerate and gradually increase the speed. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a certified mechanic... Read more
Incident date: Oct 29, 2025
The contact owns a 2022 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that while checking fluid levels in the engine compartment, the contact became aware that the coolant reservoir was low. The contact stated that there was no sign of a coolant leak, but coolant needed to be added to the reservoir weekly. The contact had taken the vehicle to an independent mechanic, who determined that there was a coolant... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2019) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Jan 2, 2026
Incident date: Dec 30, 2025
The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated that while his son was driving 75 MPH, there was a knocking sound coming from the vehicle. The driver pulled over and turned the vehicle off, but the vehicle failed to restart. The check engine warning light was illuminated. Upon researching the failure, the contact associated the failure with NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V274000 (En... Read more
Incident date: Jan 2, 2026
The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that the vehicle was consuming an excessive amount of oil. The contact was adding one quart of oil weekly. The contact stated that the vehicle stalled while driving at 25 MPH, but was able to restart. While at a stoplight, the vehicle stalled. There was an abnormal knocking and rattling sound coming from the engine. The engine warning l... Read more
Incident date: Jan 2, 2026
The contact owns a 2023 Chevrolet Suburban. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with a failed coolant control valve. The contact was informed that the coolant control valve needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. In addition, the contact referenced a Speci... Read more
Incident date: Jan 2, 2026
The contact owns a 2023 Nissan Rogue. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V437000 (Engine and Engine Cooling); however, parts to do the recall repair were not yet available. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, but was not diagnosed or repaired. The dealer confirmed th... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2025
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact received a notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V905000(Engine and Engine Cooling), and the vehicle was taken to the dealer for the recall repair. The dealer informed the contact that the engine was replaced; however, the contact stated that after the recall repair, the vehicle started to overheat. The contact added coolant to the vehicle, but t... Read more
Incident date: Jan 2, 2026
The contact's son owns a 2020 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle made an abnormal rattling sound, and the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was initially taken to an independent mechanic who could not perform the repair. The contact was referred to another independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that a crack in the ca... Read more
Incident date: Aug 2, 2025
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Focus. The contact stated that the engine was previously replaced due to a cracked engine block. The contact was provided a loaner vehicle during the several weeks the vehicle was being serviced. The contact received the recall notice of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V905000(Engine and Engine Cooling). The local dealer was contacted, and confirmed the parts status. The vehi... Read more
Incident date: Dec 28, 2025
The contact owns a 2022 GMC Yukon XL. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the accelerator pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to accelerate, and the engine stalled. No warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that the failure occurred while driving on a busy highway, and the contact's wife and four minor children were also occupants of the vehicle... Read more
Incident date: Dec 31, 2025
The contact owns a 2018 BMW 530E. The contact stated that while the vehicle was at the dealer for water pump repairs, the wrench warning light was illuminated, and the message "Passenger Seat Restraint Sensor Failure" was displayed. The contact stated that the dealer inspected the vehicle and diagnosed that the passenger's seat occupant weight sensor had failed. The vehicle was not repaired due t... Read more
Incident date: Dec 20, 2025
The contact owns a 2019 Kia Sportage. The contact stated that the vehicle was experiencing excessive oil consumption. The contact stated that the vehicle required 6 quarts of oil every 1,900 miles. The vehicle was recently taken to Valvoline, where an oil change was performed. The contact stated that while driving 60 MPH the following day, the vehicle started shuddering and misfiring, and the fail... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2025
The contact owns 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated while driving 25 MPH, the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where the contact was informed to take the vehicle to the dealer. The vehicle was then taken to Firestone, where the contact was informed that there was no recall associated with the VIN. The contact related the failur... Read more
Incident date: Dec 23, 2025
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Transit. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle stalled. During the failure, the warning message "Reduced Power" was displayed. The contact stated that after restarting the engine, the vehicle operated as intended; however, the failure reoccurred later. The vehicle was taken to the local mechanic who replaced the fuel injector, but the fai... Read more
Incident date: Dec 29, 2025
The contact owns a 2020 BMW M340I. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, the contact noticed a thick white smoke coming out of the exhaust pipes. In addition, the contact stated that there was an abnormal ticking sound coming from the engine while idling. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle had not yet been diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer had yet to be notifie... Read more