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 133,534 complaints — component: POWER TRAIN
Incident date: Aug 1, 2025
To Whom It May Concern, I am submitting this complaint regarding a serious and costly transmission issue with my 2019 Lincoln Navigator. At approximately 114,000 miles, the vehicle’s transmission failed and required a full rebuild. The total repair cost was around $8,000, which I had to pay out of pocket. When I brought the vehicle to the dealership for diagnosis and repair, the technician... Read more
Incident date: Sep 2, 2025
2019 Ford edge 40000 miles and has shuttering and jerky shifting below 30mph. Dealer says torque converter is bad also auto start stop not working. Car is well taken care of and garaged. This seems to be common issues with this model and year vehicle should be a recall
Incident date: Oct 10, 2025
Car began shuddering when trying to accelerate. Car periodically will stop running or not start. No dash lights came on until recently when car would not start the battery nd engine light came on This all started end of September. Has been diagnosed by Nissan Dealership with 2nd diagnosis by an automotive shop close to my home. Informed this is a known issue with this make and model. Researched... Read more
Incident date: Sep 29, 2025
My pm sensors or particulate matter system malfunction and failed which lead to emissions issues and created my vehicle to drive in limp mode. Limp mode basically slowed downs the vehicle is slow as 5 mph as soon as this light displays at any time while driving on the highway. This put my safety in danger and the public as I transport what dot considers a type hazardous material. The sudden loss ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2025
Sunday, September 21, 2025, while on my way to church around 8:40am, while driving in traffic, car began to slow and then stopped (CAR WAS IN DRIVE, NOT IN PARK). The "Shift to Park" and ABS light appeared on dashboard. After the car completely stopped, and with other motorists blowing their horns behind me, I put the vehicle in park and was able to restart it. I immediately returned home and ca... Read more
Incident date: Oct 3, 2025
My car started to stutter whenever I was at a red light and had to accelerate or when I was turning and had to coast and then accelerate. I thought it was my tires and had Goodyear check my tires.. Then it continued. I thought it was a bad tank of gas so when I filled up again, it was still happening. I brought it into the dealership on Friday, October 3rd. It has been at the dealership ever since... Read more
Incident date: Aug 15, 2025
The contact owns a 2022 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact stated that after reversing out of the driveway and shifting into drive(D), the accelerator pedal was depressed the vehicle made an abnormal sound, as if the transmission and engine had detached and fell onto the road. The contact had only driven forward approximately 30-feet when the rear wheels locked up. The contact shifted to park(P) and ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 15, 2020
At around 61,000 miles my transmission started having a shuttering noise and had a harsh jerky shift from 3rd to 5th when vehicle was recently started up for the first time of the day. multiple TSB's on Ford's website for this issue including the latest TSB 25-2301. It appears that the interior drum has failed which has been a known issue. Dealer states $6219.87 to repair the transmission. CDF... Read more
Incident date: Oct 4, 2025
The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact stated that the vehicle was retrieved from a dealer after a recall regarding the air bags; however, while driving approximately 25 MPH and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle lunged forward. The contact stated that the Stability Control warning light illuminated. The contact drove the vehicle back to the dealer, and the dealer was u... Read more
Incident date: Jul 14, 2025
Went By Lee Hyundai of Fayetteville my 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe [XXX] my vehicle gave a warning check transmission oil immediately vehicle was sluggish. I was told to bring it back Monday October 6th they kept it for a week pick it up today October 10th, 2025 they worked on it I had to bring it right back. Went to Sam's club up the street got ready to leave message pops up check your transmission oil... Read more
Incident date: Oct 10, 2025
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving approximately 15 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated, and the vehicle felt as if the transmission had slipped into neutral(N). The contact was not able to get the vehicle back into gear, and the vehicle lost forward momentum. The contact was in the parking lot of the residence and stopped and called a tow truck. ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 3, 2025
It has been 10 months since the recall was sent out. There is still not a solution. My vehicle seems to be increasingly getting worse.
Incident date: Sep 20, 2025
Took my 2019 Ford Escape in for oil change and tune up. Couple days after tune up check engine light came on (cylinder 3 misfire) and vehicle overheated. Got vehicle back to local repair shop and discovered coolant intrusion in cylinder 3. Overheating of engine left me stranded in traffic, as there was no shoulder, only a guard rail on side of the road. Could have easily been rear ended. Lucki... Read more
Incident date: Oct 10, 2025
I have been hearing noise coming from the rear of the engine or front of the transmission. I took it to my local shop and they said it appears to be coming from the transmission and that I should take it to a Chevrolet shop because their is a service bulletin (PIP5996A) that describe what I am experiencing. They gave me a copy of the service bulletin and it covers many models and years of the Sil... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2025
Vehicle: 2018 BMW X3 VIN: [XXX] My 2018 BMW X3 has had continuous oil and coolant leaks for several years. Major parts have already been replaced including the turbocharger, oil cooler, water pump, turbo lines, radiator hose, thermostat, and valve cover gaskets. The dealer recently confirmed my crankshaft seals are leaking. These issues are consistent with a defective Positive Crankcase Ventila... Read more
Incident date: Jul 3, 2025
While driving the car was stalling not getting up in speed on a hill and the 4wd service came on. We took it to Jeep in Jenkintown for a diagnostics test and it was the Power transfer unit.
Incident date: Oct 6, 2025
When I shift my car to park, it doesn't register that it is in park. It won't let me shut the car off. I can move the gear shift around a bit and it will eventually say it is in park. It can take sometimes up to 10 minutes for me to be able to shut off my car. I have read that this is a known issue and there was a recall, but my vin number was not included for some reason? The issue started about... Read more
Incident date: Oct 6, 2025
I was driving my 2021 Jeep wrangler and it started running poorly. I was near the dealership. I called them and told them I was headed to them asap. (I was within 3 mile range). The car died in the middle of an intersection. I could not put the car in neutral to move it out of the way of traffic. I got a tow truck to bring it to the dealership. Where they told me that the coolant tube fasteners fo... Read more
Incident date: Oct 10, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Edge. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the brake pedal was depressed, and the contact noticed that the brake pedal was extremely spongy. The contact stated that several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that because of the failure, the contact had to drive the vehicle below the speed limit. The contact stated that... Read more
Incident date: Oct 8, 2025
Shifting assembly failed. When the service center went to order it, it was heavily backordered (meaning many people with this Make / Model experiencing the same failure at the same time). Service center showed me that a thin rubber gasket is all that failed … it is no more substantial than a rubber washer you put in a water hose). Why a $500 part for a $0.50 failure? (Perhaps that is the service... Read more
Incident date: Sep 9, 2025
the accident occurred on [XXX] in the city of Visalia, Ca. I’m not sure what time it was happened and any other details because I’m not the person involved in the accident but I bought the car from a dealership located in Corona, Ca on [XXX]. They never mentioned that the car was involved in a collision or if it had an accident reports. Even brought a Vehicle History report with the contact de... Read more
Crash
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO EV
(2025) — POWER TRAIN
Oct 10, 2025
Incident date: Oct 9, 2025
Transmission malfunctioned leaving me with stuck in an intersection with no power, has down shifted unexpectedly on the highway causing the truck to slow down out of nowhere, also very rough shifts at low speed. No warning lights on the dash, problem appeared intermittently but was confirmed by AutoNation Ford St Petersburg location by Ford tech. Took it to an independent transmission specialist a... Read more
LAND ROVER
RANGE ROVER SPORT
(2020) — POWER TRAIN
Oct 10, 2025
Incident date: Oct 1, 2025
Faulty code P0A7B and P0A1F for the Battery Energy Control Module BECM was diagnosed. Check engine light appeared and then car shut off at a light when attempting to press accelerator. Was told by dealer the part needed replacement instead of just a software update. A recall was shown in general for my year and type but not specifically for my vehicle. My vehicle should be included with this recal... Read more
Incident date: Oct 6, 2025
The engine makes a noise like a knock, when the car is running or the speed increases the noise becomes louder and it feels like a strong blow coming from the engine.
Incident date: Oct 9, 2025
When I was driving on the highway I was going about 65 mph in 6th gear and then without warning my 2012 Ford f150 3.5 truck shifted all the way down to 1st gear which almost caused me to wreck on the highway and other cars to almost slam into me. Now when I try to drive the truck it keeps throwing a wrench and the wrench blinks and my truck will not shift hardly at all between the gears. After I h... Read more
Incident date: Jul 9, 2025
While driving on the interstate doing around 70 MPH I I Stanton drive up a fairly steep hill on the road . About half way up the truck down shifted from 10th gear too what it said was 7th. The gear did not engage and the truck revved up like it was in neutral. I pulled over immediately. Checked under the truck and no leaks. Got back in and truck ran like normal. Went to the dealer and was told th... Read more
FORD
EXPEDITION
(2025) — POWER TRAIN
Oct 9, 2025
Incident date: Sep 27, 2025
The contact owns a 2017 Dodge Durango. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle jerked and hesitated to respond, and the engine made an abnormal revving sound. No warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that upon taking the vehicle to an independent mechanic for brake servicing, the contact was informed of NHTSA Ca... Read more
Incident date: Oct 9, 2025
After Ford performed a PCM (Powertrain Control Module) reprogramming recall on 16 July 2025, the vehicle began experiencing repeated engine misfires, loss of power, and engine warning lights. The condition progressively worsened, leading to a leaking fuel injector, an EGR valve that stuck open, and eventual internal engine damage requiring full engine replacement. These failures involve PCM-contro... Read more
Incident date: Oct 3, 2025
The contact owns a 2021 Ford Expedition. The contact stated that while stopped at a red traffic light and attempting to accelerate, the vehicle briefly lost motive power. Additionally, the contact heard an abnormal thumping sound coming from the transmission, and the vehicle experienced a hard shift before returning to normal functionality. The contact stated that the failure had been recurring wh... Read more
Incident date: Oct 9, 2025
My Mini Cooper has been showing repeated warnings stating “Start-off assistance inactive. Caution: vehicle may roll back!” for some time. This issue appears to relate to an existing recall involving potential electrical and starter/rollaway defects. The vehicle also has a persistent front parking light malfunction and intermittent electrical issues with the windows, which stop mid-way and roll... Read more
Incident date: Jun 24, 2025
The contact owns a 2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the accelerator pedal was depressed, but the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended or to exceed 20 MPH. The contact stated that several warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that the failure had occurred several times, and the vehicle had been taken to the dealer on several... Read more
Incident date: Oct 9, 2025
I was driving on the freeway on my way to the house my car start to make some noises and I was loosing power I pulled up on the shoulder and turn off the car because the check engine came on turn off the car again but was struggling to go into first gear
Incident date: Oct 7, 2025
Dealership did a tune-up in June 2025 and had my truck for 2 weeks, no issues with transmission discovered or discussed. Now in September 2025, 2018 GMC Yukon has developed a torque converter shutter when driving between 40 and 50 mph. I took the vehicle to an independent shop who told me they had some computer tool to manually control the transmission, and there is an internal failure. There was ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 20, 2025
rear diff. tries to lock up while driving in auto mode and should not on dry pavement. grinding noise until you slow down enough to engage with a bang. this is a known problem with jeep, the internet has several complaints about this problem, our jeep only has 75k miles on it and others reported with only 40k. I've been told rear diff. needs to be replaced at 4k$
FORD
BRONCO SPORT
(2021) — POWER TRAIN
Oct 9, 2025
Incident date: Oct 9, 2025
Persistent seat/floorboard vibration at highway speeds (60–80+ mph) on my 2024 VW Atlas Cross Sport 2.0T SE w/Tech. Began after 10,000-mile service (June 2025) at Bob Boast VW (FL) and has continued despite multiple dealer visits and repairs, including tire/wheel balancing, alignment, tire replacement, and later axle + bevel box replacement (Sept 2025). Dealers verified the vibration but ultimat... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS
(2024) — POWER TRAIN
Oct 9, 2025
Incident date: Nov 1, 2024
The contact owns a 2021 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at 35 MPH, the vehicle was shaking erratically. There were no warning lights illuminated. In addition, the gear shifter independently shifted into neutral. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with transmission failure. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle w... Read more
Incident date: Aug 30, 2025
I backed my vehicle out of the garage and put it in park and stepped out of the Driver's door. I was going to put my son in his car seat in the rear seat when the vehicle started moving backwards and the opened driver's door knocked us down. I was able to push my son out of the way, but the vehicle continued and the front left tire rolled over both of my legs. The vehicle continued in reverse a... Read more
1 injured
Incident date: Feb 2, 2024
The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while parking the vehicle and shifting from drive(D) to park(P) the message "Shift to Park" was displayed. The contact had shifted to park (P). The contact repeatedly shifted from neutral(N) to park(P) before the warning light turned off. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent but was a recurring failure. Additionally,... Read more
Incident date: Oct 3, 2025
On 10/3 driving at roughly 60mph on the freeway, when going to accelerate, the vehicle would not accelerate with no power going to the engine. The gas motor was not engaging, and the car rapidly decelerated to around 20mph in an incredibly unsafe situation. Coasting it off the freeway, it was towed to the local Kia dealership. No warning lights or any indicators went off during that event. 10/9/20... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2021) — POWER TRAIN
Oct 9, 2025
Incident date: Sep 12, 2025
This is related to an OEM Metal failure at the aluminum connection points. My 2013 Ford F-150s, experienced leakage of the high-pressure transmission cooler line. The leakage was due to corrosion and metal fatigue. If it had failed it would have resulted in a rapid fluid loss, transmission overheating, and a complete failure. The failure was related to corrosion & metal Fatigue. The aluminum quick... Read more
Incident date: Aug 22, 2025
Dual clutch transmission failed at 49,000 miles
Incident date: Oct 8, 2025
When accelerating from a complete stop, the vehicle intermittently fails to respond when pressing the gas pedal. It feels similar to when a bicycle chain slips—you press the pedal, but the vehicle doesn’t move forward—then suddenly it catches, causing a noticeable lurch. The duration of this lag varies, and it has been increasing over time. Most recently, the hesitation lasted long enough t... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
High oil consumption. Oil needs added frequently or it gets low and car doesn’t run correctly. Transmission slips daily at low speed first thing in the morning. When making slow turns tires tires don’t seem to remain steady/grip. The car is hoppy like there is a traction problem. Tires have been replaced and issue remains.
Incident date: Oct 3, 2025
The contact owns a 2017 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated that when the vehicle was started, the message “Service Shifter” was displayed. Additionally, while attempting to start the vehicle, the vehicle hesitated to start, but the vehicle started after the third attempt. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, where it was diagnosed, and determined that the gear shifter needed to be replaced. The v... Read more
Incident date: Sep 2, 2025
The contact owns a 2019 Ford F-150. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle made an abnormal banging sound, and the transmission was slipping. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that while at a complete stop, the vehicle failed to shift into gear for an extended for a while. The contact waited for the vehicle to respond as needed. The dealer and the ... Read more
Incident date: Dec 6, 2023
Rattling noise when accelerating after a gear change. Dealership replaced transmission and it’s still there. Found a video online of the exact same issue and it turned out to be the PTU (power transfer unit) that needs to be replaced.
Incident date: Dec 6, 2023
I own a 2018 Honda Accord EX-L equipped with the 1.5-liter turbo engine. Over time, the vehicle began showing symptoms of coolant loss without any visible leaks, a sweet odor under the hood, and intermittent white smoke from the exhaust after startup. The engine would sometimes idle roughly and hesitate under acceleration. No external leaks were found by my mechanic. I later learned that these sym... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2025
Vehicle started getting stuck in different gears. Would drive fine for a little while and then get stuck causing you to pull over on going traffic. Having to sit for a while until it was ready to shift again. Would have to shift at manual at times to make it back home. You wouldn’t feel safe at times driving because you didn’t know what to expect anymore. Wrench light would come on and sometim... Read more
Incident date: Jun 13, 2024
As I was driving my 2016 DJ just list power.. I coast my to the side of the road. I try cranking the car up but it wouldn't crank up. So I had it towed to my house which were about 5 mins away. Please help me with my car. Vehicle would not go up small hills
Incident date: Mar 1, 2025
Transmission on my vehicle has failed three times since I bought the vehicle in October of 2021. Vehicle currently has 39,000 miles. First transmission issue was resolved by the dealership by replacing the transmission valve body. This solved the problem for approximately 12,000 miles. In September of 2025 with 39,000 miles the transmission suffered a catastrophic breakdown which lead to complet... Read more