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 42,495 complaints — component: EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Incident date: Oct 20, 2025
I have 2016 BMW 5 series car, for past two to three years headlights are getting condensation inside on colder months. Dealer is not able to fix the condensation, they are advising to replace the headlights. Some of my friends replaced OEM headlights, but after few years they are started condensation, it’s looked like defect from manufacturer, I had few Honda vehicles older than my BMW car, they... Read more
BMW
I4 EDRIVE40
(2025) — EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Feb 9, 2026
Incident date: Nov 18, 2025
Vehicle: 2023 Honda CR-V Hybrid Sport Touring (OEM headlights; no aftermarket lighting modifications) Issue Type: Exterior Lighting – Headlights (low-beam performance/visibility) Description of Problem: I am submitting a safety complaint regarding the low-beam headlights on my 2023 Honda CR-V Hybrid Sport Touring. The low beams provide poor foreground illumination and create a distinct dark are... Read more
Incident date: Jan 14, 2026
Instrument cluster panel and all warning lights, fuel gage, speedometer, tire pressure, temperature sensor, etc. as well as all info on app unable to access. no warning lights which could cause crash without prior warning. controls and displays failed to illuminate and were not visible. unable to see in daylight or at night. Dealer verified internal failure in IPC, would not repair under recall, s... Read more
Incident date: Dec 31, 2024
Low beam headlight projector reflectors deteriorate making the low beam headlights unusable for safe driving. Entire assembly has to be replaced to remedy. Extremely common in this generation of Acura RDX based on internet searches.
Crash
Incident date: Jan 31, 2026
NHTSA 25V322 indicates potential issue with reverse lamp assemblies as well as the remedy. Recall Status indicates "remedy not yet available". It has been over 6 months (5/15/25 to 2/9/26) since this safety recall was filed. This has been an unreasonably long time and Toyota should be compelled to initiate the remedy immediately and provide a detailed explanation as to why it is failing to meet it... Read more
Incident date: Jan 4, 2024
Low beam headlights degrading. Car is unsafe to drive at night! Tried changing light bulbs but does not improve light quality. Dealer said it was an Acura issue. The problem has been getting progressively worse.
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2014) — EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Feb 9, 2026
Incident date: Feb 2, 2026
The Auto High Beam features turns on and off indiscriminately, often going off on a dark section of road or staying on with oncoming traffic. This is dangerous as I lose clear vision of the road or the oncoming driver could be blinded by the light. The dealer admits that the feature, which is listed on the car sticker and in the manual, effectively does not work. Honda will say that it works as d... Read more
Incident date: Feb 7, 2026
Bought this used on February 5th 2026 Low beam headlights so dim barely illuminating driving surface
Incident date: Dec 18, 2025
Daytime Running light bulb and housing failure. Some 2012 Acadia models recalled under now expired recall for bulbs and deformation of surrounding housing. Apparently the above recall was excluded from this recall and should have been included. Both DRL on this vehicle have failed and surrounding housing has been damaged . Subsequently replacing just bulbs is not possible. The housing melted on ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 3, 2026
The vehicle slowed down on the highway and had to pull over and get off the freeway. Brake lights stayed o On. was able to drive the car at max n No more then 40 mph. A part had broken off in the brake pedal area. Not sure where. But had to unplug the brake switch so my battery would not die. With out the brake switch connected the car will not shift into gear or drive. .
Incident date: Jan 10, 2026
While scheduling service for NHTSA recall No. 25V-387/FSAM-1693 (Front Turn Signal Lamps malfunction that leads to no fulfillment of FMVSS 108 requirements) I was refused correction of the recall by the Rivian Miami Service Center rep (Service Advisor Joel). I was informed that Rivian has informed the Service Advisors that this recall will only be performed on already malfunctioning lamps or in co... Read more
Incident date: Dec 12, 2022
Front headlights dim. Amount of light reflected/projected totally insufficient to drive safely at night. Amount of light reflected fails to illuminate area immediately in front of car. The amount of light actually approximates running lights. I replaced the headlight bulbs but did not solve or even affect the problem. Online research indicates it is not a bulb problem but the reflective coating ar... Read more
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2023) — EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Feb 7, 2026
Incident date: Jan 12, 2026
My headlights have a motor (or motors) in them. This feature is to adjust headlights in accordance with the steering wheel. I think it's referred to as AFS (Adaptive Front-lighting System). The left headlight's motor makes a noise. I do not always hear it when driving but when stopped or parking and exiting the vehicle, I can hear it until the lights turn off. The car has about 37,000 - 38,000 mil... Read more
Incident date: Dec 29, 2025
Car has 28k miles. It is driven by a [XX] year old. It is a Jeep GC Summit which is top of the line for Jeep. Both headlights were blown and the dash warning system never alerted that the lights were out. Car is equipped with the headlight monitoring system. She never drives at night so I cannot give you an exact date but we think it has been out since 2024 which is the last Texas inspection ... Read more
TOYOTA
HIGHLANDER
(2024) — EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Feb 7, 2026
Incident date: Mar 6, 2024
While driving the dashboard headlights and all safety systems shut off for a brief period and then reset and if driving at night this leaves you completely in the dark till the system resets. All lights exterior and interior all the safety sensors, adaptive cruise control everything shuts off. Anything tied to the electrical system shuts off. The only thing that remains running is the engine.
Incident date: Jan 16, 2026
The car his a module called the iccu that regulates the high voltage battery, battery range goes down, the iccu has been replaced with the vehicle only having 8k miles on the odometer
MERCEDES-BENZ
SL 550
(2020) — EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Feb 6, 2026
Incident date: Aug 27, 2025
Front parking lights do not remain on. Including lights under headlights and side marker lights. According to owners manual the parking lights should remain on while vehicle is off. The rear lights do remain on. The front lights turn themselves off after approximately 9 seconds. Condition started when lights were replaced by dealer with official OEM replacement units. Dealer has confirmed other ex... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2026
Over the past several weeks, we began hearing a pronounced noise coming from the front of the vehicle, which the dealership diagnosed as a failing motor within the driver-side headlight unit. Given that this is a critical safety component, and part of the upgraded package purchased when the vehicle was new — we were surprised to encounter this issue on a vehicle of 4 years and 41,540 miles. Ma... Read more
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2011) — EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Feb 5, 2026
Incident date: Feb 3, 2026
My 2021 F-150 has burnt-out Quad LED side strips on both headlights. These are daytime running lights, a safety feature. I understand there is no TSB or recall, but many owners have the same issue. I am filing to document a recurring safety defect." Attach a photo of your burnt DRL
Incident date: Nov 27, 2025
My 2022 F‑150 has a burnt-out Quad LED side strip on the passenger side headlight. These are daytime running lights, a safety feature. I understand there is no TSB or recall, but many owners have the same issue. I am filing to document a recurring safety defect.
TOYOTA
GRAND HIGHLANDER
(2024) — EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Feb 5, 2026
Incident date: Jan 16, 2026
Both Quad LED side strips (vertical daytime running lights) on my 2021 Ford F‑150 have burnt out. The failure occurred gradually, with the left strip failing first around [insert approximate date] and the right strip failing shortly after. These LED strips are a safety feature, and their failure reduces visibility while driving. I have attached a photo of the burnt DRL, a photo of a working DRL... Read more
Incident date: Feb 2, 2026
This vehicle has unusually dim lights that have gotten worse over time, the local dealership told me I missed the recall on the headlight assembly
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2025) — EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Feb 5, 2026
Incident date: Feb 1, 2026
My bright lights do not go off when oncoming vehicles or vehicles in front of me are close and when they do dim they go on and off. People flash their brights at me causing me not to be able to sleep and this happens even when they turned off of auto. Another item of concern is that the car would lock and unlock and the interior lights would go on and off. This was fixed but it was a line under t... Read more
Incident date: Jul 5, 2024
The instrument panel displays symbol for exterior lights malfunction and the vehicle status screen reports “1 serious issue detected – Headlight fault – Book a service”. The high and low beams appear to function normally on both sides of the car. The daytime running lights (white) around the headlight are only illuminated on the drivers side; the passenger side running lights are not worki... Read more
Incident date: Jan 22, 2026
Formal Complaint on Seized Headlight Sockets and Kia’s Obstruction of Essential Safety Maintenance 1. Incident & Discovery of Defect: I am the owner of a 2015 Kia Sorento. Recently, one of my headlights failed. Upon attempting a routine bulb replacement, I discovered a critical hardware defect: the bulb socket is physically seized. It cannot be rotated or removed by any standard manual force. ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 22, 2026
On the morning of [XXX] I received an error message on my dashboard (attached) "Stop Vehicle and Check Power Supply". The car had started to lose acceleration power to no more than 30MPH. I contact the service department at my local dealer. They instructed me to bring it in or have it towed. I was about 2 miles from home so I headed back. While in transit the car lost all power i... Read more
Incident date: Jan 9, 2026
The Automatic High Beam system does not work properly and are very inconsistent. When enabled, the high beams often turn on for a brief moment then turn off. Sometimes this occurs when there is a road sign reflection or a light on a home on the side of the road. When the system is enabled, the high beams often fluctuate on and off even when there is no oncoming traffic. What is worse is that... Read more
Incident date: Feb 4, 2026
The lights flash high beam, low beam, high beam, low beam, while I’m driving. Nothing seems to keep them from doing that.
LAND ROVER
DEFENDER
(2023) — EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Feb 4, 2026
Incident date: Feb 1, 2026
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated that within a year of purchasing the vehicle, the reverse lights failed to illuminate while shifted into reverse(R). The vehicle was taken to a dealer for service; however, the mechanic informed the contact that the dealer was unaware of how to fix the vehicle. The contact stated that the rearview camera occasionally displayed an upside-down ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 7, 2026
About 4 weeks ago my vehicle began shaking uncontrollably while driving. The check engine light illuminated and multiple warnings appeared including emissions system, variable valve timing system, engine and transmission failures shown on the GMC app. I contacted the selling dealership and was given an appointment 4 days later. Later that day I drove less than 5 miles to pick up my children from s... Read more
Incident date: Nov 3, 2025
Car is at dealer on stop sale. Toyota has not resolved since placing deposit on vehicle September 17, 2025.
Incident date: Jan 1, 2026
Fuel pump stopped working prematurely and had to be replaced prior to 57k miles. Satelite/Antenna/Module failure. Headlight DRL have failed prematurely. Taillights burned out due to constant water buildup. Yes vehicle is available for inspection upon request.
Incident date: Dec 20, 2025
2013 ACURA RDX. HEAD LIGHTS HAVE DIMMED WHERE ITS NOT SAFE TO DRIVE. HAD THE WHOLE HEAD LIGHT ASSEMBLIES REPLACED BY THE DEALERSHIP 11 months ago FOR $4,000. Still have same problem with new ones
Incident date: Jan 21, 2026
The manufacturer's Executive Case Management has ceased communication after verifying a total headlight failure. Despite providing evidence that the vehicle is grounded 150+ miles from home during a snowstorm, Hyundai is refusing to authorize the remedy outlined in TSB 20-BE-004H. This non-responsiveness to a verified safety hazard (Invoice #XXX) is actively endangering the driver and the public. ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 19, 2025
The contact owns a 2025 Gulfstream Kingsport RV. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 MPH, the contact engaged the turn signal to change lanes; however, the driver behind the RV flashed the high beam headlights, pulled up next to the RV, informed the contact that the turn signal light was flashing and operating opposite to what was intended. The RV was taken to a local dealer where it... Read more
Incident date: Dec 9, 2024
The dashboard goes completely black and will not work when it is really cold outside. This is a dangerous problem because I cannot see my speedometer, how much gas I have in my car, or the engine temperature. I have been to the Kia dealership 3 or 4 times for this problem and have them report it to Kia. They always tell me that they cannot replicate the problem so they cannot fix it. I have video ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 24, 2025
My entire Dash went Black. I could not see speed, gas level, milage. This is an extreme Hazard! I brought the car into "Crown KIA" in Clearwater to run a Diagnostic Check for 0.5 hour at $150 and they could not find the problem. I had no money to pay for additional time! I did research on this and found that this is a common problem with KIA's no matter what year!! Just because my particular VIN #... Read more
Incident date: Jan 31, 2026
The engine is a problem and all I’m ever told us “ this vehicle is know to have engine problems. This is dangerous to have in the road. Kia is aware of this. Why sale the vehicle knowing this and not disclosing this info to the consumer upon purchase. There is no truth in lending. It’s plain sight robbery. What if I’m far from home and stranded because vehicle set fire or broke down in haz... Read more
Incident date: Jan 30, 2026
DRLs are simultaneously going out in my not quite 4 year old car. I’m currently at 90k miles. It is available for inspection upon request.. There were no warning lamps. This was discovered on inspection in January 2026. The VW dealership in Bakersfield, CA and the VW dealership in Oklahoma City, OK inspected and found the same issue.
Incident date: Jan 8, 2026
Two issues, the car will just stop on the freeway, Honda said noting is wrong with it, this occurred four times. also the headlights stopped working after 50k miles on it, they told me to replace the entire unit. at 800. 00 Each just like the 2016-2017 Honda Daytime headlight issue now the 2019 headlights are having issues.
MAZDA
CX-90 PLUG-IN HYBRID
(2024) — EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Jan 30, 2026
Incident date: Jan 27, 2026
Driver Side Headlight erratic flicker while parked. Low beam unexpectedly turns on and turns off. Causes eyeball light sensitivity upon approach and could cause epileptic seizures for some. Problem has been replicated by dealer with video evidence provided by me. First attempt to fix was to provide software updates. That did not remedy. The second attempt was a full and complete inspection of all ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 18, 2025
The Auto High Beams (AHB) fail to work correctly. When set to on, they will come on for maybe 3-4 seconds then turn off, and maybe repeat the next time. The bigger issue is they fail to turn off many times when approaching oncoming traffic. The feature is dangerous by not turning on when they should and not turning off when they should. This is a widespread problem reported by many. The Honda dea... Read more
Incident date: Nov 8, 2025
This vehicle was involved in a rear end collision in late 2025. The vehicle was just sold at auction with a clean title even though it has frame damage that is more than 100% of the cost of this vehicle. It is sold with a clean title and I am worried that a used car dealership will try to sell it with no accident history and clean title to an unsuspecting person.
Crash
1 injured
HYUNDAI
SANTA FE SPORT
(2015) — EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Jan 29, 2026
Incident date: Jan 14, 2026
Automatic headlight dimming mechanism does not work well. Sometimes they do not dim to oncoming traffic. When they dim, they do not return to high beam even after returning to highway speed and no oncoming traffic.
Incident date: Dec 14, 2025
The backup camera is almost useless at night. Either the backup lights are not bright enough, or the camera is not sensitive enough in low light so that you are essentially blind when reversing at night.
Incident date: Jan 26, 2026
When operating the headlights in auto dim mode and the headlights are bright, when I try to dim the headlights manually using the dimmer switch, the headlights go out completely. When operating the headlights with auto dim mode turned off and the headlights are bright, when I try to dim the headlights manually using the dimmer switch, the headlights will not dim. This places myself and oncoming ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 26, 2026
According to repairman, water made it into the rear tail light, shorting out a module that controls all lights, windows, a/c and heating controls.
Incident date: Nov 13, 2025
I purchased the 2022 Lexus RX 350 used a couple of months ago. While driving down the highway the instrument panel went blank. I was terrified. I continued to drive not knowing what speed I was driving. The instrument panel went panel came back minutes later. Another incident occurred when the car was parked in my driveway. I turned on the engine and the instrument panel was blank. No numbers ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 11, 2026
My 2024 Cadillac EV is only 9900 miles. I was driving the car on Sunday Jan 11, 2026 with my family when we noticed smoke filled inside the cabin. My 3 children (a [XXX] , a [XXX] old, and a new-born who is [XXX] old) were in the car; they inhaled the smoke. We evacuated the car and called onstar for assistance - who towed the car. The smoke originated from the tailgate of the car. Alarmingly, ... Read more
Fire