Consumer Safety Complaints
Search 2,215,138 safety complaints filed by vehicle owners with NHTSA — including 138,663 crashes, 56,255 fires, and 8,561 deaths.
What is a NHTSA consumer complaint?
A consumer complaint is a free-form report filed by a vehicle owner directly to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) describing a safety concern about their vehicle. NHTSA collects these reports through its Vehicle Owner Defect Report (VOQ) system and publishes them publicly. Each complaint includes the affected component, the date and circumstances of the incident, whether the failure caused a crash or fire, and any reported injuries or deaths. The owner's full narrative description is included verbatim — NHTSA does not edit or moderate the descriptions.
The database below contains over 2,215,138 individual complaints. NHTSA's investigators monitor it for clusters of similar reports — when enough owners describe the same failure mode on the same vehicle, NHTSA may open a Preliminary Evaluation that can lead to a recall. Many of the largest recalls in U.S. history, including the Takata airbag recall and the Hyundai/Kia engine fire recalls, started as patterns visible in this complaint database years before they became formal recalls.
How to interpret what you read
A few principles for reading consumer complaints usefully:
- One complaint is anecdote; a hundred similar complaints is data. NHTSA does not investigate the truthfulness of any individual report — that's the job of the Office of Defects Investigation, which looks at the full pattern. When evaluating a vehicle, look for whether multiple owners describe the same chain of events.
- Crash, fire, injury, and death flags are owner-set. They are not verified by NHTSA. They are still useful as a filter, because owners who tick those boxes are typically reporting more serious incidents than those who don't.
- Component categories are NHTSA-assigned, not owner-assigned. NHTSA standardizes the component field so that complaints can be aggregated. The owner narrative often goes into more detail than the component category captures.
- Complaint volume scales with sales volume. A best-selling model will accumulate more raw complaints than a niche model even at the same defect rate. To compare across vehicles, look at complaints per 100,000 units sold, not raw counts.
If you've experienced a defect
File a complaint. NHTSA's investigators rely on this database to detect emerging defects, and useful complaints — specific, concrete, with dates and mileage and clear descriptions of what happened — feed directly into the agency's pattern detection. The form takes about 10 minutes and is at nhtsa.gov/recalls under "Report a Safety Problem." Your complaint becomes part of the same public record that this page is built from. Owners filing detailed VOQs are how recalls get triggered.
Read more from our blog
Showing 40,517 complaints — component: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Incident date: May 8, 2025
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Edge. The contact stated while reversing at slow speeds, there was a misfire coming from the engine with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and was diagnosed with coolant intrusion into the cylinder, causing engine failure. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manu... Read more
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2025) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
May 23, 2025
Incident date: Apr 9, 2025
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Edge. The contact stated that after parking the vehicle, the following morning the vehicle failed to start. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer who diagnosed that the engine was faulty and needed to be replaced. The contact was informed that the head gasket was blown, causing coolant to leak into the cylinders. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was n... Read more
Incident date: Apr 24, 2025
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a certified mechanic who diagnosed that there was coolant leaking into the spark plugs. The spark plugs were cleaned. The contact stated that the check engine warning light illuminated again. The contact stated that white smoke was coming from the exhaust pipe and v... Read more
Incident date: May 2, 2025
The contact owns a 2022 GMC Sierra 1500. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V274000 (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 ... Read more
Incident date: May 20, 2025
The contact owns a 2020 BMW X5. The contact stated that while at a complete stop, the START/STOP feature failed to operate as designed, and the engine failed to restart while depressing the accelerator pedal. The contact stated that a "Starting Engine Possibly Shortly: System Overheated. Restarting Engine Possible After Cooling" message was displayed on the instrument panel. After the contact allo... Read more
Incident date: May 19, 2025
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at unknown speeds, the vehicle started to shake abnormally. Additionally, while shifting from fourth to fifth gear, there was a violent clunk coming from the transmission. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who test-drove the vehicle for an hour but was unable to determine th... Read more
DODGE
GRAND CARAVAN
(2018) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
May 23, 2025
Incident date: May 1, 2024
See attached document for complaint.
Fire
Incident date: May 10, 2025
The contact owns a 2016 BMW 528I. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the electrical connector on the water pump had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact received notification of NHTSA ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 8, 2025
The contact owns a 2017 BMW 320i. The contact stated that while his son was driving 35 MPH after an oil change was performed on the vehicle, the message "Engine Temperature High. Drive Moderately to Cool Engine. Consult Service Center" was displayed. The vehicle was towed to the same independent mechanic, where an unknown diagnosis was made. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was towed to ... Read more
Incident date: May 18, 2025
The contact owns a 2022 GMC Yukon XL. The contact stated that while driving 80 MPH on an interstate, the vehicle jerked and shifted to neutral(N) unintendedly, and the engine made an abnormal sound. The contact was able to pull to the side of the road. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the engine had failed and needed to be replaced. The contact related the failure t... Read more
NISSAN
ROGUE SPORT
(2017) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
May 22, 2025
Incident date: May 1, 2025
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated while the dealer was servicing the vehicle, the dealer noticed that coolant was leaking into the engine. The dealer diagnosed that the head gasket had failed, causing coolant to leak into the engine cylinder, and the spark plugs were damaged. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact t... Read more
GMC
SIERRA 2500
(2024) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
May 22, 2025
Incident date: May 13, 2025
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Edge. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the engine overheated and the vehicle stalled. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was able to restart. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that coolant had leaked into the third cylinder, which caused the engine to fail. The contact was inf... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2025
See attached document for complaint.
Incident date: Sep 5, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Edge. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle experienced rough driving, and the check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that as an independent mechanic, he had diagnosed that there was coolant intrusion in the engine cylinder #2, and the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer and... Read more
Incident date: May 22, 2025
See attached document for complaint.
LAND ROVER
RANGE ROVER SPORT
(2017) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
May 22, 2025
Incident date: Jul 26, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Edge. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle failed to accelerate as needed. The check engine warning light was illuminated. Additionally, the contact stated that the vehicle had experienced rough idles upon startup, and there was white smoke coming out of the exhaust pipes. The vehicle was taken ... Read more
Incident date: May 5, 2025
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Edge. The contact stated that the vehicle hesitated to start. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the spark plugs and the engine coils were replaced by an independent mechanic; however, the check engine warning light remained illuminated. The mechanic then performed a pressure test and determined that there was coolant intrusion into... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
GLE 350
(2018) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
May 22, 2025
Incident date: Apr 15, 2025
The contact owns a 2019 Honda Odyssey. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, the messages "Emissions system Failure", "Brake System Failure", "Brake Hose System Failure", "Power Steering Failure", "EPS Failure, "Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) Failure", "Hill Start Assist Failure" and "Road Departure Mitigation System Failure" were displayed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where... Read more
Incident date: Apr 23, 2025
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Edge. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that there was coolant intrusion into the engine block. The mechanic referred the contact to a dealer for repairs. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, where it was confir... Read more
Incident date: May 22, 2025
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was able to restart. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that there was coolant intrusion into the cylinder, which caused the engine to fail. The contact was informed that the engi... Read more
Incident date: May 9, 2025
The contact owns a 2021 Kia Seltos. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V099000 (Engine and Engine Cooling); however, the part to do the repair was not yet available. No further information was available. 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 n... Read more
Incident date: May 15, 2025
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving approximately 20 MPH, the check engine warning light started flashing, and the message "Engine Fault" was displayed. The vehicle was taken to a certified mechanic, where the contact was informed that the coolant reservoir was empty, and the coolant reservoir was refilled. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was d... Read more
Incident date: Dec 20, 2024
See attached document for complaint.
Incident date: Apr 26, 2025
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the message “Low Engine Oil Pressure” was displayed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with coolant intrusion into the cylinders. The contact was informed that the engine block needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to Cust... Read more
Incident date: May 16, 2025
The contact owns a 2021 GMC Yukon XL. The contact stated while her husband was driving at an undisclosed speed, the engine made an abnormal loud sound, and the vehicle became undrivable. The vehicle was taken to Midas, where an unknown repair was performed. Additionally, the contact stated while driving 50-55 MPH on the expressway, the vehicle shuddered significantly, and the engine made an abnorm... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
S 560 E
(2019) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
May 21, 2025
Incident date: Jun 16, 2024
The contact owns a 2015 Ram 1500. The contact stated that the vehicle had failed to start. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed with an unknown failure. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where the high-pressure fuel pump(HPFP) was replaced. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was later illuminated while driving. The contact stated th... Read more
Incident date: May 16, 2025
The contact owns a 2017 Ram Promaster 3500. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V818000 (Equipment, Engine and Engine Cooling); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted and confirmed that the parts were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 24, 2025
The contact owns a 2021 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 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. The contac... Read more
Incident date: Jan 15, 2025
See attached document for complaint.
VOLKSWAGEN
TAOS
(2023) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
May 21, 2025
Incident date: May 1, 2025
The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Suburban. The contact stated that while his wife was driving at undisclosed speeds, there was an abnormally loud banging sound coming from the engine compartment. The contact stated that the failure was related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V274000 (Engine and Engine Cooling). There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where ... Read more
Incident date: May 11, 2025
The contact owns a 2015 BMW X1. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V608000 (ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM); 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 failur... Read more
Incident date: Feb 22, 2019
The contact owns a 2021 Ford Bronco. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 24V635000 (ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING) and 25V025000 (SUSPENSION); 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 was not m... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
PASSAT
(2012) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
May 21, 2025
Incident date: Mar 15, 2018
The contact owns a 2013 Kia Soul. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V120000 (Engine, 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 contact stated that there was a knocking sound coming from the engine while driving at vari... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
See attached document for complaint.
Incident date: May 7, 2025
The contact owns a 2014 BMW 328I. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V608000 (Engine and Engine Cooling; Electrical System); however, the part to do the recall repair was 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 reasonable amount of time for the... Read more
Incident date: May 3, 2025
The contact owns a 2020 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked in the garage, there was oil leaking from the vehicle. The contact stated that while stopped at a stop light, the vehicle stalled. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that after an oil change was performed, the mechanic informed the contact that the oil that was drained was like mud. ... Read more
Incident date: May 12, 2025
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that on several occasions when the vehicle was started, there was white smoke coming from the exhaust pipe. The vehicle was taken to a dealer several times for maintenance or service, and the contact inquired about the cause of the white smoke. The contact was informed on several occasion that the smoke as normal, but the vehicle was not diag... Read more
Incident date: May 21, 2025
The contact owns a 2014 Kia Cadenza. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH, the vehicle independently went into LIMP Mode and failed to accelerate while depressing the accelerator pedal. The contact stated that several unknown warning lights flashed on the instrument panel. The contact was able to coast the vehicle over to the shoulder of the roadway. The contact drove the vehicle to an independ... Read more
Incident date: May 7, 2025
The contact owns a 2019 Ford F-150. While the contact's son was driving approximately 65 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle was driven to the local dealer to be diagnosed. The dealer diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the cam phasers and the engine timing system needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact researched onli... Read more
Incident date: Jan 15, 2025
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated and the engine overheated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with a coolant intrusion and engine failure. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced; however, the vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the ... Read more
Incident date: May 20, 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 st... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2023) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
May 20, 2025
Incident date: May 20, 2025
The contact owns a 2020 BMW 750I. The contact stated that while driving in a parking lot at slow speeds, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed that the expansion tank had cracked and leaked on the fuel rail and the injector had failed. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and covered the injector repair and ... Read more
FORD
EXPEDITION
(2017) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
May 20, 2025
Incident date: Nov 20, 2024
The contact owns a 2023 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V274000 (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 and ... Read more
Incident date: May 19, 2025
The contact owns a 2017 BMW 430I. The contact stated that while driving 70 MPH, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended while depressing the accelerator pedal. The contact stated that the vehicle then stalled. The contact was able to pull over to the side of the road. No warning light was illuminated. In addition, the contact stated there was an abnormal sound coming from the engine. The vehi... Read more
Incident date: May 12, 2025
The contact owns a 2015 BMW 328I. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V608000 (Engine and Engine Cooling, Electrical System); 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. ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 10, 2025
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while his wife was driving 30 MPH, there was an abnormal vibrating sound coming from the engine compartment. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that a dealer was contacted. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed with coolant intrusion into the engine. The contact w... Read more
Incident date: May 16, 2025
The contact owns a 2022 Toyota Tundra. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V381000 (Engine and Engine Cooling); and the vehicle was taken to the dealer for the recall repair; 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 manufacturer was made awa... Read more
HYUNDAI
SANTA CRUZ
(2023) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
May 20, 2025
Incident date: May 17, 2025
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at undisclosed speeds, the 9-1-1 Assistance and seat belt warning alerts activated. The contact stated that the key fob sensor intermittently failed to recognize the key fob inside the vehicle with the message "No Key Detected" displayed on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to a dealer however, the failure was not dupl... Read more
FORD
MAVERICK HYBRID
(2023) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
May 20, 2025
Incident date: May 20, 2025
The contact owns a 2015 BMW 328I. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V608000 (Engine and Engine Cooling, Electrical System); 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 fail... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
PASSAT
(2012) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
May 20, 2025
Incident date: May 20, 2025
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the engine was rattling while idling with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was discovered that there was coolant intrusion into the engine. The contact was informed that the engine long block was damaged, which resulted in engine failure. The contact w... Read more