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: May 10, 2022
When headlights are in AUTO mode (i.e. headlights off in sunlight and daytime running lights on, and headlights on in darkness), they will go in and out from on to off doesn't matter weather it is bright sunlight or darkness, and in darkness the headlights will sometimes turn totally off - there is no consistency as to when this happens. This could be a very hazardous condition especially when dri... Read more
Incident date: Jul 7, 2022
1. Our 2014 Honda Pilot EXL with only 70,000 miles on it needs a complete engine replacement. The cause was determined to be driving with low oil. The oil life gauge read 50% and we had an oil change only 3 months earlier. No check engine light or low oil light came on, so we had no way of knowing the oil was low unless someone qualified had done a manual inspection which ordinary drivers don't/ca... Read more
CHRYSLER
TOWN AND COUNTRY
(2013) - EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Aug 8, 2022
Incident date: Jul 20, 2022
Right headlight stopped working, tried replacing bulb, but still did not work. One year before Bettenhausen Chrysler had replaced bulb in April 2021. July 20, 2022, I took the car in to Bettenhausen and they fixed the light, but wanted to charge almost $2,000. I had a Mopar 10% off coupon, which brought the cost to nearly $1,700 that I had to pay. Having working headlights is a legal & safety... Read more
Incident date: Jul 25, 2022
The left rear turn signal stopped working. Along with the left brake light. Currently getting the part fixed that is causing the issue. Part is being melted by something. Yes there has been warning lamps and messages.
Incident date: Jul 31, 2022
My head lights go out and will not come on while driving and the parking brakes turns on by itself
Incident date: Jun 27, 2022
Low beam illumination is not sufficient. Attached picture shows someone holding a measuring tape disappears completely in the dark around 76 feet from the car.
Incident date: Jul 13, 2022
I have a 2018 Jeep Compass with 22k miles. The touch screen panel is delaminating, it started in June at the top of the screen and has already moved almost halfway down the screen. It’s causing “ghost touches”. The radio station changes on its own, the thermostat and seat heaters are turning off and on. It’s distracting while driving. The headlights intermittently stopped working abou... Read more
Incident date: Aug 6, 2022
Can’t go over 60 miles n the brake shake The gas pedal seem to be look at I purchase it 4 $3000 at a car lot last month
Incident date: Jul 1, 2022
The brake light assembly seem separates and water leaks in causing the brake lights to fail. I went online to see if this was an issue, it seems to be a very big issue with this vehicle.
Incident date: Jan 6, 2018
The headlights are extremely dim. I have replaced the bulbs 2x. After looking on line, see that owners of 2013 - 2015 Acuras report this dangerous problem - can’t see clearly at night and especially in the rain. Called Acura - they said no recall. From the hundreds of posts it is a visibility/safety problem. Has gotten worse over time.
Incident date: Jan 1, 2022
Headlights keep burning out in less than a year.
Incident date: Jan 1, 2019
****BIG safety issue. Headlights low visibility- doesn't shine far enough ahead to avoid any possible collision w/ pedestrian/vehicle. Headlights seem to shine down more and not far enough up ahead. I've avoided driving at night all together due to this safety issue. I do NOT have vision issues- it is the vehicle itself. There is no way to adjust headlights unless the car is physically taken apart... Read more
Incident date: Aug 3, 2022
Headlights are extremely dim. No usable light, even though the headlights are not old.
Incident date: Aug 1, 2022
Left rear brake and turn lights malfunctioning -issue not fixed after changing light bulbs. Noticed that metal pins in the connector was melted and stuck into the wiring harness. Problem affects brake light and turn signal. Melting of the the metal pin in the connector housing clearly is not a wear and tear situation but a defect in manufacturing that needs to be repaired and corrected by BMW.
Incident date: Jan 7, 2022
Prior to this incident with my car i was having alot of power issues,the car was giving me alot of issues starting up or after being parked it sometimes wouldnt want to turn on i took my battery to get checked and battery had no issues and i continued to start to have electrical issues with my turning signals my lightning and windows stopped working until January 7 as i was driving my car just beg... Read more
Incident date: Jul 29, 2022
The left headlight has a dead spot where it does not light up the driving lane.
Incident date: Aug 1, 2022
Driver's side headlight flickering on and off at times. Inspected wiring and it looks like the harness socket is burning out. It looks like this is a common problem with this car and can prove to be a safety issue if your lights go out while driving
Incident date: Apr 15, 2022
Over the last 7+ months, my vehicle will not go into gear. When I push the starter, the vehilce flashes a number of warning lights and codes then the service shifter warning comes on and stays on. The vehicle will then not go into gear. The dealership has now looked at it 3 times and can not find the issue. They can see the code, have replaced the auxillary battery and traced the wiring. This happ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 3, 2022
Wiring harness in many vehicles defective. Letter sent, but not a recall. I drove from NY to VA unaware that a headlight was out- I had to change bulbs several times, and ended up having to pay $500 for a new lighting system because I put the bulb in (apparently) wrong the 5th time. Accident could have happened due to bad lighting, but fortunately did not. Toyota did not make this issue easi... Read more
Incident date: Mar 8, 2022
The contact's wife owns a 2016 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 while his wife was driving at an undisclosed speed, the headlights were ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 3, 2022
The issue is with the front turn signal harness. After, changing the right side turn signal bulb twice I brought my Kia to West Hills Kia in Bremerton, WA…The technician informed me that the front turn signal harness was not the correct harness for this type of vehicle. The service person at West Hills suggested that I contact Kia Corporation. I had emailed Vice President Mr. Shamit Choksey, Kia... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2022
testetest
Crash
Fire
Incident date: Jul 13, 2022
-Head lights -When driving in mountains (curves and going up and down hills) at night the head lights produced a shadow effect, which gave the impression it was on the windshield sight line. This shadow effect varied from 1/3 to 2/3 of the windshield which caused a distorted view of the road ahead. There were 4 adults in the car and all agreed that it was making the road dangerous to drive on. We... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2021
The contact owns a 2019 Ford Ranger. The contact stated that the driver’s side rear taillight intermittently failed to illuminate while depressing the brake pedal. The contact also stated that the horn failed to operate as needed. The contact took the vehicle to a dealer where he was informed that his vehicle was not included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V839000 (Exterior Lighting). The manufactu... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
TOUAREG
(2005) - EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Aug 2, 2022
Incident date: Jun 27, 2022
Gas leak (see pics). I started noticing a strong gasoline smell and my car keeps running out of gas almost immediately after filling up. This has not been inspected nor confirmed by a dealer. This is my only source of transportation and needs to be fixed ASAP. There is not a VW dealership where I live, the closest being in Mario, IL, or St. Louis, MO.
Incident date: Sep 4, 2018
Kia Sorento 2011 LX 2.4L Oil disappears weekly, I have to check it often and/or refill. I use the required oil it calls for on the engine oil cap. Vehicle jolts while driving. I've been parked with vehicle off, turned it on, reversed from parking spot and about an tenth of a mile vehicle stalled, put it in park, and restarted. While driving headlights flicker Tapping/knocking noise from engine a... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2022
Nissan has a recall for headlamps, i am an owner of a make and model and year of said recall, and have attempted to have headlamps corrected; dealership says i won’t receive the remedy. I cannot see with the current headlight and it is a safety issue.
Incident date: Jul 7, 2022
When i went to open the panoramic roof shade it ripped and tore. The manufacture acknowledges that there was a different design to fix the issue that came from the factory with a flaw in the design. The sun shade for the panoramic roof has had a different design created from a flaw in the original design. The original part will cause the shade to rip & tear. Once the rip and tear are created, th... Read more
Incident date: Jul 27, 2022
Rear tail light side parking marker. All marker lights in working order is required to pass Delaware state inspection. The LED is hard wired within the housing unit and is not a replaceable bulb. I have to replace the housing assembly for 160.00 plus tax for a simple light. Car is 10 years old. I don't believe Ford expected it to fail for the life of the car. Part 13404. The side marker light ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 4, 2022
Low beam/ high beam still work normal, but the daytime running light is stop working.
Incident date: Aug 1, 2022
Driver side front turning signal/Daytime Running light burns out constantly. I have replaced that bulb at least 6 times since purchasing the car in 2018. Dealer confirmed it's common with my vehicle, and advised me to use OEM bulbs only as other bulbs would blow out faster. After the first bulb was replaced with a dealer OEM and that blew out within a few months, I purchased one from auto zone and... Read more
Incident date: Jul 5, 2022
I've had the vehicle since around 44 k , Purchase and shortly months later technology lighting a battery issues, someone started hacking me saying they were a car warranty services , harassment in cybersecurity daily I've had over 6-8 electrical light replacements, 2-3 battery replacements, 3 alternator replacements, hacking is daily asking me to pay brides of 1000.00 which I have never participat... Read more
Incident date: Jul 7, 2022
The headlights will occasionally turn off at night while driving. We have to then turn them back on by touching the light switch. The are set on AUTO always and should not go out AT NIGHT, especially while driving. They should only go out when exiting the car after engine shut off. The parking lights (front and back) occasionally do not turn off when leaving the car, after engine shut off. Th... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
PASSAT
(2014) - EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Jul 31, 2022
Incident date: Jul 31, 2022
headlight adjustment recall
Incident date: Dec 1, 2021
A recent software change removed the automatic activation of headlights with wipers. Headlights on with wipers is the law in most states and a common sense practice. However, with the removal of the automatic activation, you are forced to tap into several sub menus on the touchscreen in order to manually activate the head lights, all while driving in less than ideal conditions.
Incident date: Jun 1, 2022
Drivers side headlight has condensation in it & stopped working. Vehicle hasn’t been involved in any accidents or incidents that would have caused this. Dealer advised of the problem while performing oil change.
Incident date: Jun 14, 2016
Headlamps are very dim took vehicle for headlamps replacement, according to the dealership headlamps are okay. I am driving at night with basically no headlamps which makes it a safety hazard for me and other motor vehicles drivers.
Incident date: Jan 1, 2020
My passenger rear brake light will not come on after car has been in repair shop 11 times to correct issue. They have replaced the bulb, socket, light wiring harness, fuse etc. The brake light will work for a very short time after repair shop, but then go out again.
Incident date: Jul 1, 2022
Honda eliminated the dedicated automatic high beam camera and moved the functionality into the shared "multi-purpose" camera that is also used for Honda Sensing features and raised the activation speed. These changes not only ruined the automatic high beam function, but made it dangerous at times. The automatic high beams rarely work in my neighborhood which has zero street lamps and I was told by... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2021
The PASSENGER FRONT AIR BAG will be blocked from opening correctly in the event of a front end collision. The AUTOMATIC HEADLIGHTS lights flash on and off with small changes in ambient light causing distractions to oncoming vehicles and also inhibiting driver's visibility in low light situations. There is another sensor that is impacted by the defect, but I'm not sure of it's function. All of t... Read more
TOYOTA
HIGHLANDER
(2021) - EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Jul 28, 2022
Incident date: Jul 26, 2022
The headlights on the Toyota Highlander XLE AWD (2021) are set too high. They are constantly bothering vehicles in front of me, they believe I have the high lights and upcoming traffic are constantly putting on their highlights because they are annoyed. My Toyota dealership has not received any complaints but they are legit.
Incident date: Mar 8, 2022
General Motors Corporation has failed to remedy, in a timely manner, a known safety-related defect and, therefore, remains in non-compliance to a federal motor vehicle safety standard, a violation, in part, to S10.15.6 of FMVSS No. 108. Failure to remedy this defect increases the risk of a crash, and could lead to the death of a driver and/or passenger and/or pedestrian. Expecting owners/operators... Read more
Incident date: Jul 28, 2022
Headlights not working properly, sometimes one Headlight turns and then the other. Sometimes neither turn on you have to keep messing with switch until you finally get it to work. So frustrating!
Incident date: Jul 7, 2022
The transmission jerks when at a light it jerks forward. This is unsafe as I feel it could hit the car in front. I reported it to the dealer which I purchased and they say the transmission is gone. There is only 36898 miles on it. The dashboard lights shuts off while driving not allowing you to see the speed of the vechile or any other instruments.
Incident date: May 1, 2022
The headlight on the passenger side has LED daylight running lights. A number of the led's are not working of flickering. Toyota refuse to cover this under warranty even though the car was bought 8-31-2019. Not having working daytime headlights is a major safety issue to me.
Incident date: Dec 31, 2021
Like many other Acura RDX 2014 owners, I have also experienced the dimming of headlights to the point where it is unsafe to drive in the evening or during severe weather conditions. After replacing the bulbs twice and cleaning the lenses, I took it to an Acura dealership. They checked the wiring and confirmed there were no issues, and said that the headlight assemblies are failing and need to be r... Read more
Incident date: Jul 23, 2022
The Audi Q5 Premium Plus 2010 has a huge problem with the dashboard where it shows multiple dysfunctions! The worse is the back rear light and the steering wheels who makes awful noises, and so much more. I do not know why there is no recall for this model as they all have the same issues. Please advise.
Incident date: Jul 27, 2022
There wasnt an incident yet, but it was made a law that after may 1st, 2018, all new vehicles need rear view visibility systems. Ford made their vehicles have backup cameras, but they are faulty and stop working. Then charge consumers thousands of dollars to fix a safety issue that should be a recall, free of charge. I am filing a complaint om behalf of thousands and thousands of Ford owners. This... Read more
Incident date: Jul 17, 2022
The low beam left front headlight keeps going out every few months. It burns out and when I replace the bulb the harness looks hot and frayed. I keep loosing visibility while driving at night. Dodge stated I need a new headlamp harness. There are no warning lights present.
Incident date: Jul 1, 2022
The left brake light in the bumper intermittently fails. A warning is issued in the dashboard display. Switching bulbs with the properly lighting adjoining bumper tail lamp corrects the issue temporarily. The brake light will operate properly and the dash warning will reset. At some point, the fault reoccurs.