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 42,929 complaints - component: EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Incident date: Oct 3, 2021
When the headlights are on "auto", they shut off at night while I'm driving. This has happened when I have been traveling out of state on dark highways and it is very dangerous. It is available to be inspected. I have not taken it in to get checked. I have not been able to use the "auto" feature because I do not want to take that kind of risk.
Incident date: Sep 1, 2022
The low beams have gotten so dim that driving at night has become hazardous. Both the passenger and driver side lights are dim but the passenger side is the worst. The problem is internal to the headlamp assembly. Cleaning the outer lens has no effect. The high beams function fine but we can't drive with the high beams all of the time because they blind oncoming drivers. When the lights switc... Read more
Incident date: Oct 16, 2022
While driving the vehicle at night with auto diming feature there is a line across the top of the windshield, and it is exceedingly difficult to see through the windshield above that line. When the lights are automatically dimmed the line is extended downward about a third of the windshield. It is difficult to see thru the windshield above this line. Extremely dangerous.
Incident date: Oct 1, 2022
On 10/1/22whike driving my 2011 Ford F-150 eco boost with a130 k miles the service advancetrac warning came on along with turn signals not working and the electronic power assist failure warning came on and stayed on .This is a well documented issue with 2011-2014 f150s especially 2011 model because this is the first year cord changed to Electronic power steering,the issue almost caused me to wrec... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2020
Rear tail light accumulates water causing a portion of the LED lights to burn out.
Incident date: Apr 23, 2021
Inner taillight on passenger side of vehicle not working. According to an independent service center, there is a faulty seal and water/moisture in inner taillight housing.
Incident date: Oct 11, 2022
The automatic high beam headlights do not operate correctly. When in auto mode, on a dark road with no other light sources, they will go to high mode for a second or two and drop back to low beam for no reason at all. they keep doing that at random intervals. They will go from low beam and go to high mode when cars are approaching within 100 yards. pretty sure the other car does not like that. the... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
C300
(2009) - EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Oct 14, 2022
Incident date: Sep 14, 2022
The contact owns a 2009 Mercedes-Benz C300. The contact stated while driving at an unknown speed, several unknown warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the connector for the rear taillights was melted into the bulk assembly mount and needed to be replaced. The contact was then informed by the dealer of NHTSA Campaign Number: 14V177000 (Exterior... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2022
It’s one problem but it’s a big problem and for the life of me it seems as if I can’t get through to someone. My headlights are so dim that I can’t drive at night it’s already know that this is a manufacturer problem I know its known that it is. Listen I’m a disabled veteran on a fixed income I need help with this problem can you help me?
Incident date: Oct 19, 2021
Since I bought my 2015 Nissan Altima, the low-beam headlights have been dangerously dim. I stopped driving at night as I almost hit pedestrians. I'm jeopardizing my safety and others on the road. Installing a new headlight did not change visibility and the Nissan dealership inspected the problem and recommended an "Aftermarket" headlight assembly. There are no warning symptoms or signs of this pr... Read more
Incident date: Oct 14, 2022
The air conditioning turns off by itself and the high beams don't work
Incident date: Oct 8, 2022
What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request: Auto high beams; car is available for inspection How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk: In Arlington Heights, IL the car started automatically switching the high beams on and off. At first the auto high beams would engage for 7-10 seconds, then disengage for 7-10 seconds. Then the ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 12, 2022
The auto lights turn off randomly during night operation
Incident date: Aug 14, 2022
The contact owns a 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 MPH with adaptive cruise control mode, the electronic stability control warning light was illuminated. The contact also stated that the vehicle hesitated to respond when depressing the accelerator pedal or the brake pedal. Additionally, the adaptive cruise control mode was no longer operable. The contact s... Read more
Incident date: Jan 14, 2022
The right Headlamp stopped working and Jeep keeps recommending fixes that don't work. This has created a big expense because they recommended running the diag, replacing the bulb, replacing the fuse, then finally replacing the entire Head Lamp Assembly. The HeadLamp still does not work and this is a safety issue.
Incident date: Oct 13, 2022
When I put the battery terminals after swapping a new battery, my FRM got damaged. No brake or head lights are working, no turn signals, no windows moving etc. It's a safety issue on the road
Incident date: Feb 28, 2021
Headlights high beams have not been working for over a year. When the high beams trigger is pulled/turned to on you can see a slight lift in the low beam attempting to transition to high beams but it fails. No high beams are activated.
Incident date: Oct 12, 2022
Financed last year (2021) at 38,000 miles, financing a vehicle i wish I knew to do research before hestitly excepting my first offer, first waring was on the test drive. The car had to be towed back to dealership because the battery was dead. In the sub-zero cold, the battery with read low and this causes electrical issues, from remote start not working to unable to open the doors. The more com... Read more
Incident date: Oct 12, 2022
Having to replace headlights and brake lates every month, now rear passenger side light is completely out and will not come on after changing all bulbs and fuses, see this as a major safety issue, there are many complaints about this same issue and Hyundai is ignoring this safety issue
Incident date: Oct 12, 2022
Turn signal and headlight assembly. Turn signal and headlight assembly intermittently not working. I believe there is a design flaw in the headlight assembly letting moisture build up causing the electronics to fail.
Incident date: Nov 30, 2017
Purchased vehicle around 9/2017 and noted low headlights were not bright. I used high beam more than with other vehicles I have driven. I requested the Acura Service Dept to look at them and they changed the bulbs out. This did not help. I was still using my high beams. I requested again for them to look at the lights and Acura told me I would have to replace. I have been driving with high bea... Read more
Incident date: Sep 14, 2022
One of the electrical fuse boxes on the vehicle (right side as viewed from front of vehicle) had water infiltration causing fuses to corrode; leading to an electrical failure at dark, where the vehicle had no headlight, tail light, brake light, turn signals or emergency flashers. Due to this failure I was almost rear ended when stopping for a traffic light. Also the cooling fans would not come on ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 10, 2022
Purchased a new Honda RTL-E Ridgeline 3 days ago... Traded in a 2017.. Both have auto high beam feature.. The 2022 is erratic, at times fails to operate (engage the high beams even after surpassing the 45 MPH cut in speed. In addition to that, the high beams fail to remain on even when there is no oncoming traffic or fail to disengage etc.. This is not caused by ambient outside light or reflect... Read more
Incident date: May 4, 2022
Nissan got sued for Altima headlights that would dim after a certain amount of time. They reached out to everyone affected and offered to replace their faulty headlights. They even put a campaign (recall?) on the affected cars. I went to the dealership which performed a test and determined that both my headlights were faulty and were dimming and I'm eligible for a replacement. They placed an ... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
C300
(2010) - EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Oct 11, 2022
Incident date: Aug 13, 2010
I purchased the vehicle in 2010 & immediately had to have the electrical system for all lights replaced. The lights on the vehicle goes out every 2 mos as if theres an electrical issue. Air bags had a recall & have been replaced now the system states there is a malfunction. This started 09/08/22.
Incident date: Oct 10, 2022
All the exterior lights went out. None of them will come on.
Incident date: Dec 18, 2017
My head lights are NOT sufficient. It does not have the option for 2 bulbs. I have changed out the bulbs 3 times while owning this vehicle and from the first night I drove it after owning it, I noticed the lights where very off. I drive around town and on dark roads where there is NO Road LIGHTS at night with my head lights on Bright and I DO NOT get brighted back. I have hit an animal due to the... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Nov 6, 2021
Headlights are defective. There is a "V" shaped dark spot in the headlights of the vehicle when on low beam. The significant unlit "V" shaped area does not allow the driver to see objects in the roadway which come up on a driver rather quickly, resulting in collisions. Toyota is aware of the defect, but will not act on it. Toyota Claim # 220811002276. There have been two collisions involving it... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Oct 9, 2022
Headlights and daytime running lights turn on and off at random
Incident date: Oct 2, 2022
Vehicle abruptly downshifted to lower gear during a busy street almost causing an accident....dash miss indicating gears and almos hitting a person going reverse when I suppose togo forward...no reverse lights needing help to park when dark
Incident date: Oct 9, 2022
The front headlights of this car do not work properly. It is almost impossible to drive this car at night without always using the high beams - the front headlights do not provide enough light to see the road, people or animals clearly. This is a mayor safety hazard, not only for the driver but also for other vehicles and pedestrians. This is an issue that has taken place since the car was purcha... Read more
Incident date: Oct 8, 2022
The head lights aren’t working properly ,it’s so damped that I can’t see at night time, Dealer said there is no thing we can do . I can’t put my family at risk of crash or hitting something that I didn’t see because of the light was very low. Please help.
Incident date: Oct 7, 2022
Some times car will not accelerate no matter how much stepping on the gas pedal, car will slow down like its going to stop or no power to the car while car is moving/driving. All lights on the dash board lights up, one of them that is known is the "brake malfunction" light.
Incident date: Sep 28, 2022
My incident is related to the Keyless Module Part #0 38320-T6Z-A31, My pick up was parked outside in my work parking lot. It started the alarm making sounds, my coworkers let me know it,I just went to take look check it and I just turned off the alarm and set it on again, after that the car started do it again after 5 minutes, and it was a nightmare because after several times, I tried to disable ... Read more
FREIGHTLINER
114SD
(2022) - EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Oct 8, 2022
Incident date: Aug 1, 2022
My problems are the same as what is listed in recall 21V-00H. I have experienced a loss of rear turn singles, brake lights not working, wind shield wipers going off no mater of switch position. The lack of rear lighting can in increase the possibility of a crash .
Incident date: Mar 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2019 Nissan Sentra. The contact stated she was unable to start the vehicle. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated shortly after she received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V135000 (Exterior Lighting) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated experienced the same failure in July for a second tim... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Oct 2, 2022
The automatic emergency braking system on my 2019 Nissan Rogue will come on and stop the car dead in its tracks for no reason or no obstruction in the way that should cause this to happen. I feel it is very unsafe as this has now happened to us while driving three times. and one day the warning indicator lights came on, but they don't stay on. It has been checked at Bristol Honda dealership in Bri... Read more
Incident date: Oct 6, 2022
I went in yesterday, 10/6/22, for a fix to recall #N222363740. All they did was put an applique on the outside of both my headlights which came off at the car wash today. I waited 4 years for a remedy and an hour at the dealer for cheap looking bandaid. NOT ACCEPTABLE!! See attached photo of GM's fix.
Incident date: Oct 6, 2022
I went in yesterday, 10/6/22, for a fix to recall #N222363740. All they did was put an applique on the outside of both my headlights which came off at the car wash today. I waited 4 years for a remedy and an hour at the dealer for cheap looking bandaid. NOT ACCEPTABLE!! See attached photo of GM's fix.
Incident date: Oct 4, 2022
10/5/2022 Driving down Texas Interstate 20 last night, just east of Willow Park, Texas the headlights turned off. I switched the lights from the auto position to the On and the lights turned back on. Wife informed me this has happened to her previously as well. Driving down the road at 70 MPH and everything goes dark is a bit frighting. From my search, this has become a common issue with our KIA m... Read more
Incident date: Oct 6, 2022
On 3 different occasions, my headlights have gone out during driving at night. My switch is always set to auto. I have noticed at times during the day they will shut off as well. Shutting off during night driving is very dangerous as i'm not always in areas that are lighted. On a few occasions my eyebrows and tail lights have randomly come on when my car is off during the night. These issues are ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 9, 2022
While driving at night down an unlit roadway, the headlights turned off. I was the passenger and my wife the driver. She touched the light control arm and they came back on. She said this has happened about 5 times, all at night. It takes about 3-5 seconds to get the lights to come back on. We were on a back country road driving about 55 mph which means we drove anywhere from 240 feet to 400 feet ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 8, 2022
The contact owns a 2017 GMC Terrain. The contact received notification NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V137000 (Exterior Lighting) 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 local dealer was notified of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufactur... Read more
Incident date: Oct 6, 2022
Water is collecting in the outside taillights (attached to the body, not the rear hatch) on both sides. There are no visible leaks in the seals or holes in the lenses. In the attached photos, finger is pointing to water level on both lenses.
Incident date: Sep 1, 2021
High Beam lights do not work when activated making night driving very dangerous. I have read repeatedly online that this is a known problem. Essentially, the high beams are activated by the bulb housing moving around the bulb to enhance illumination. However, this housing STOPS working on many Kia Tellurides and the only solution is to replace them according to online reports. However, this is no... Read more
Incident date: Oct 6, 2022
Both driver and passenger day time running lights have burned out. The Honda CR V has 19000 miles on it. Honda did a recall on the Accords for the same issue, why not the CR V and civic that have the same problem.
Incident date: Jul 19, 2017
Car was stalling and had electrical issues. I paid to get it fixed but never knew there was a recall for my vehicles alternator. The vehicle battery dies fairly quickly from time to time still and every know and then I have to call AAA to jump my car and they say my battery is good. Chrysler's number for this recall is T36. I never received a noticed.
MERCEDES-BENZ
C 300
(2022) - EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Oct 6, 2022
Incident date: Jun 27, 2022
Starting from the date I purchased the car, I realized dark shadows (always there) below the headlight line closer to the left and mid zone at the low beam. These shadows are actually formed within the illumination zone as if something is blocking them. I took it to the authorized Mercedes service (Hartford, New Country Mercedes-Benz, CT) and they confirmed the shadows. They told me that there are... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2015
The contact owns a 2012 GMC Terrain. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V137000 (Exterior Lighting) 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 contact stated that the passenger's side headlamp failed to provide proper illumination. The dealer... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2018) - EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Oct 5, 2022
Incident date: May 21, 2022
April 2022 & 5 2022 Complete transmission failure in traffic ALMOST causing death in traffic, emissions failure, leather seat defect REPEATED left fog light failure