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: Mar 6, 2026
When driving home one night the dash board in the car all of a sudden hade a lot of warning lights come on. I brought it to my mechanic to have a look at it and he suggested to change the spark plugs and the coils which was done and he cleared the codes. About two days later I went to go to work and once again all the warning lights on the the dash board come on and it wouldn't drive over 5 MPH. ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 14, 2026
while traveling the car begins lurching and jerking until it reaches 40 MPH, At that seed it resumes traveling smoothly. As soon as it slows down the lurching and jerking resume. We have taken it to a dealership, and they claim it is the transmission. The problem started approximately 2 months ago at 74,000 miles.
Incident date: May 12, 2026
2015 Ford Transit. While driving at approximately 60 MPH, the vehicle was at first humming loudly...thought initially it was a neighboring noisy car muffler, but the van starting shaking and vibrating abnormally. Upon decreasing the speed, a loud thumping noise from beneath the car was heard, then squeeling while debris was being left in the road behind, and finally a violent shaking that was alm... Read more
Incident date: May 9, 2026
Our 2012 Ford F-150 truck had no issues and no dashboard lights when it randomly downshifted while driving and almost caused an accident. On Sat, May 9, 2026, my husband pulled onto the road and got up to 40 mph when the speedometer stopped working and the truck randomly downshifted. The car behind us had to swerve to avoid a collision. On Mon, May 11, 2026 we called the Ford garage they told u... Read more
Incident date: May 14, 2026
Ford states torque converter issue causing shutter when shifting, similar to other vehicles of this year,make,model but ours is not under a recall. Significant shuttering when in low gears and low speeds.
Incident date: May 15, 2025
The contact owns a 2016 Ford F-150. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the transmission independently downshifted. In addition, the vehicle stalled and then the vehicle independently accelerated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The contact received a recall notification, NHTSA Campaign Number: 26V237000 (Power Train) however th... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2023
When driving at speed, the car will lose power, and you cannot go anywhere until the transmission reengages Also when starting out there is a hesitation sometimes very dangerous at intersections
Incident date: May 14, 2026
2017 KIA SOUL, at approximately 87,000 miles began to show intermittent oil warning lights under regular G-loads pointing to oil starvation issues.Vehicle was taken to KIA Dealer for oil change. Dealer stated that possible oil consumption would trigger a need to return to dealer before the 1000 mile marker for second round of warranty checks per TSB 222 rev 8 Excessive Oil Consumption Nu/GAMMA/the... Read more
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2018) — POWER TRAIN
May 14, 2026
Incident date: May 7, 2026
On 5/72026@app 3:14pm after picking up one grandchild, and at a stop light on the way to p/u the other, the Jeep without warning just disengaged when the gas pedal was depressed, but to no avail. While frozen, the dashboard may have displayed something that was not noted in the panic to get the car moving! The internal panel was still illuminated, however the car would not move forwards although s... Read more
Incident date: May 9, 2026
The contact owns a 2010 BMW Z4. The contact stated while driving at 45 MPH when attempting to depress the accelerator pedal the vehicle decrease speed independently. No warning lights illuminated. A dealer was contacted. The vehicle was taken to an dealer where it was diagnosed the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and t... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2021) — POWER TRAIN
May 14, 2026
Incident date: Mar 31, 2026
I am submitting a formal safety complaint regarding an electrical system failure on my 2021 Chevrolet Silverado with approximately 61,000 miles. I brought the vehicle to Taylor Grubaugh Chevrolet of Waynesville after the check engine light illuminated. The dealership diagnosed a premature wiring harness failure caused by chafing. They also stated that this issue is known to affect multiple GM vehi... Read more
TOYOTA
HIGHLANDER
(2020) — POWER TRAIN
May 14, 2026
Incident date: May 1, 2026
This Toyota Highlander make whining sound when I try to speedup, even a little bit. I had a transmission shop checked, and I was informed there is metal pieces in transmission fluid. I am concerned it will break one day on highway while driving.
Incident date: May 6, 2026
The contact owns a 2019 FORD F-150. The contact stated while driving at 65 MPH, The vehicle came to a sudden stop and swung the to the left side of the road. The contact was able to get the vehicle in control and moved into the side of the road. The vehicle was towed to the residence, and later taken to a independent mechanic and was diagnosed to need a full transmission replacement. The vehicle w... Read more
Incident date: May 13, 2026
The contact owns 2017 Ford -F150. The contact stated while driving 55 MPH occupied with his wife in the vehicle, the gear shift independently downshifted into second gear causing the vehicle to engage into limp mode and the speed decreased. The service advance track warning light illuminated. An independent mechanic and dealer was contacted. The vehicle was not taken a dealer and an independent me... Read more
Incident date: Apr 30, 2026
The contact owns a 2020 Ford Ranger. The contact stated that while driving, at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle began to shift hard when downshifting and upshifting. The vehicle jerked. The vehicle went into limp mode. There was a reduction of power. No warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who determined the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle w... Read more
Incident date: May 14, 2026
The valve body on these cars are useless. Driving down a highway and cant shift out of 3rd gear almost had a car re-end me. Today I am driving and the ECU is not responding I see the check engine light on then I'm like not again. This would be the 3rd valve body I replaced. First I replaced the whole transmission thinking that is what I needed and advised that the valve body and the transmission ... Read more
Incident date: May 13, 2026
The check engine light illuminated on my 2020 Toyota Camry XSE 2.5L with approximately 132,798 miles. An OBD2 scan revealed fault code P26AE — Engine Coolant Bypass Valve 'B' Control Circuit High. This is a known widespread defect affecting 2018-2022 Toyota Camry, RAV4, and Corolla vehicles equipped with the 2.5L Dynamic Force engine. The plastic valve casing is prone to cracking, allowing coola... Read more
Incident date: May 11, 2026
2019 Ford F-150 4wd super crew 10 speed automatic with 51,330 miles. The transmission upon acceleration will slip, slow to shift, disengage, then slam into gear. I was afraid that the transmission would lock-up disengage causing an accident. There was a warning icon of a wrenchon dash display. I took to Ford dealer where they confirmed a Cylinder Bushing had slipped. They recommended to replace th... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2025
I received Safety Recall 23S65 in May of 2025. As of now, May 14,2026 parts are still NOT available for repair. Ford was aware of this safety issue well before May of 2025, yet they do not seem concerned at all to make parts available to dealers to repair this defect. This should be considered well beyond any reasonable time frame for Ford to have corrected this problem.
Incident date: Feb 2, 2026
I am writing to report a safety defect regarding the 8-speed automatic transmission in my 2017 Toyota Sienna. The vehicle exhibits severe hesitation during acceleration, harsh shifting, and a high-pitched whining noise, specifically consistent with the 'whine of death' described in Toyota's Customer Support Program ZJC and related Technical Service Bulletin T-SB-0160-18.Despite these identical sym... Read more
Incident date: Feb 25, 2026
This is an extremely common issue plaguing Hyundai & Kia vehicles with the Theta III 2.5L Turbo engine, Such as Kia K5 GT, Hyundai Sante Fe, Hyundai Santa Cruz, & Hyundai Sonata N-Line. Its a failing ITM (integrated thermal management) unit or otherwise known as an ITMS unit. There is a rod within the ITM that prevents proper control of the flow of cooling the oil and engine coolant of the engine... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2026
The contact owns a 2021 KIA Sorento. The contact stated while driving the vehicle on a hill he states the vehicle stutters very hard and moves back and forth with hesitation to accelerate. The vehicle was seen by a dealer 3 months before and was made aware of a transmission failure starting, the contact moved to an area that has much more hills and is now experiencing hard transmission failure sym... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2026
The contact owns a 2021 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while driving rotating noise coming from and louder when accelerating. The was taken to local mechanic transmission. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the transmission needed to the be replaced. A transmission software update was performed but the failure continued to occur. The manufacturer was notified of the... Read more
Incident date: May 14, 2026
transmission is locking itself into either 3rd or 5th gear and will not shift. sometimes it will lock itself in 1st gear and not shift.
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2024) — POWER TRAIN
May 14, 2026
Incident date: May 14, 2026
The contact owns a 2024 Chevrolet Silverado. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed and also while the vehicle was parked, a “Service Transmission Unable to Shift” warning message was displayed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the PCM and the shifter had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not ... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2026
Car started to pull moving out of 1st gear into 2nd. Took to a shop to have the issue diagnosed, shop states torque converter is failing and taking the transmission with it. This car has just over 80,000, it should NOT be having transmission problems. There should be a recall or something for this. This is unacceptable.
TOYOTA
HIGHLANDER
(2023) — POWER TRAIN
May 14, 2026
Incident date: May 8, 2026
Right after vehicle passed 60k miles mark (manufacturer warranty ended) I noticed a whining noise under load. During acceleration the noise is most noticeable between 30-50 mph speed range. If a gas pedal released the noise is gone and if pressed again the noise is coming back. The pitch increases with a speed increase. I took the car to dealership (current odometer reading 61,037 miles) and they ... Read more
Incident date: May 2, 2026
My car has been in and out of the shop since 2024 due to the power train system. As this is an active recall case my car was repaired 5 times. Recently, with the recall part replaced in January 2026, I got my car back and in May 2026 while driving, my car once again loss power. Going from 50 to coasting. After many guarantees that the problem is fixed, I continue to have the same dangerous probl... Read more
Incident date: May 9, 2026
After a decel to 20ish mph, the automated manual transmission attempted to shift into gear to begin acceleration. The transmission made load noises indicating a failure followed by a transmission warning with the fault code being 617 FMI 14. All acceleration and engine braking ability was disabled, increasing the risk of an accident due to the vehicle being disabled. A similar safety recall for th... Read more
Incident date: Apr 27, 2026
NHTSA VEHICLE SAFETY COMPLAINT Vehicle Information: - Year/Make/Model: 2024 RAM 1500 (V6 eTorque) - VIN: [XXX] - Current Mileage: ~70,000 miles - Warranty Expired: 60,000 miles - Purchased/Serviced at: Smithhaven Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram, [XXX] Complaint Summary: I am reporting multiple recurring safety-related electrical, lighting, and drivability issues involving my 2024 RAM 1500. The vehicle... Read more
Incident date: May 5, 2026
The CVT transmission on my 2019 HR-V (VIN: [XXX] ) failed, causing a sudden loss of motive power in traffic. This is a known manufacturing defect (TSB 21-047). Honda is currently denying repairs for low-mileage vehicles (75,600 miles) based on arbitrary time-limits and illegal 'dealer-only' service requirements. This defect causes an immediate safety hazard (Loss of Motive Power). This 'Warranty E... Read more
Incident date: Oct 17, 2025
Worst dealership my husband and I ever dealt with. We purchased a 2019 Nissan XD Titan Diesel with warranty. Two days after purchase, the check engine light came on. I called Spencer from the service department to let them know. They took the truck the very next day; it was some issue with the gas tank, so the part was back-ordered. After getting that fixed, the check engine light still never went... Read more
SUBARU
XV CROSSTREK
(2015) — POWER TRAIN
May 14, 2026
Incident date: May 11, 2026
I am filing a complaint regarding a major CVT transmission failure in my 2015 Subaru Crosstrek at approximately 117,318 miles. Prior to failure, there were no warning lights, dashboard messages, or significant indications of impending transmission failure. The only noticeable symptom was a slight whistling noise coming from the vehicle shortly before the transmission issue became severe. The sudd... Read more
Incident date: May 12, 2026
Hard downshift caused my truck to slow suddenly and became very hesitant where the vehicle behind me had to slam on their brakes. I then pulled over when it was safe, turned the truck off and then attempted to turn back on with no success due to the shift indicator no longer lighting up. This matches up with the current recall for this particular vehicle.
Incident date: May 14, 2026
The contact owns a 2009 Chevrolet Tahoe. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the contact noticed oil leaking from the vehicle with the transmission warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the JB Weld and the driveshaft had failed, causing the transmission to fail and needed to be replaced. . The vehicle wa... Read more
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2022) — POWER TRAIN
May 14, 2026
Incident date: Apr 5, 2026
2022 Limited GMC Sierra AT4 1500 motor seized on highway with loss of propulsions on highway while towing an empty horse trailer. Truck had 64,000 miles. While driving it had lack of power and then flashed on dash to shift neutral and press start/stop button. Coasted to a stop on the side of the highway and shut truck off at which point it would not turn back on. Officer stopped to check as co... Read more
Incident date: May 8, 2026
Vehicle has stopped running multiple times while at stop signs or traffic lights when engine is at idle and not running. The vehicle has to be restarted to go after shutting off while in traffic. It is very concerning when this happens in live traffic. The dealer has had the vehicle for days and were not able to replicate what happened. Asked me for more information on what was being used when it ... Read more
Incident date: May 14, 2026
The CVT transmission on my 2016 Nissan Sentra is failing. This seems to be an ongoing issue with Nissans CVT that I have researched. Dealerships are saying they are not replacing the transmissions because it is outside the warranty. The CVT issues started shortly after the warranty ended. Funny. The fact that the failure of transmission is causing potential life threatening accidents and nothing ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 24, 2026
DEFECT DESCRIPTION My 2020 Subaru Crosstrek has been diagnosed with diagnostic trouble code P2757 (Torque Converter Clutch Pressure Control Solenoid Control Circuit Performance), which my authorized Subaru 802 Subaru retailer in Vermont has confirmed is caused by a defective CVT Control Valve Body. Subaru of America has acknowledged this exact defect in Technical Service Bulletin 16-156-25R (revi... Read more
Incident date: Apr 29, 2026
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Transit. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to the dealer to complete a recall related to NHTSA campaign number 19V767000 (Power Train). The vehicle began shaking when put in drive and when idling. A vibration was felt when beginning to drive, but when reaching 15 to 20 mph, the vehicle began shaking harder. The front driveshaft was replaced. The dealer stat... Read more
Incident date: Apr 15, 2026
The contact owns a 2017 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle's speed independently accelerated. In addition, the power train failure warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately unknown.
Incident date: May 10, 2026
My vehicle has suffered a Transmission Control Valve Failure (stuck open). This is the exact mechanical failure detailed in GM’s Nationwide Recall N24245441-02. It is deeply disheartening and illogical that my vehicle—which shares the exact year, make, model, and identical mechanical failure detailed in the safety bulletin—is excluded from the recall purely due to an arbitrary VIN filtering ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 18, 2026
While driving transmission just died would only go in reverse. lucky it happened at midnight so there was no traffic and was able to pull over safely. I drove truck home in reverse has I was only about 1000ft from house. Checked transmission fluid was burnt and all black. there was no warning signs check engine light came on just has it happened. I then ordered a aftermarket transmission and had ... Read more
Incident date: May 14, 2026
There is a hard shift after the car has been parked. Bought the car with 6 miles on it, now has 35,000. This issue is not new, we have had it into 2 different dealerships, and neither "were able to duplicate the issue". It is increasingly getting worse so it will be going back to the shop yet again.
Incident date: Apr 1, 2026
Our truck has been experiencing downshift to a lower gear and the powertrain warning lamp wrench symbol in the instrument panel cluster comes on. This has been happening from about 4/1/2026 and ongoing.
Incident date: May 13, 2026
Transmission shifted from 6th gear to 1st gear while driving on the highway. Unpredictable hard gear shifts at times.
Incident date: May 11, 2026
delayed response when accelerating from a stop
Incident date: Apr 14, 2026
The contact owns a 2017 FORD F-150. The contact stated while her husband was driving the vehicle at an undisclosed speed, they witness the vehicle suddenly changing into different gears on it's own very abruptly. The contact referenced NHTSA Campaign Number: (26V237000 (POWER TRAIN) however, the vehicle VIN was not added to the recall repair.. The local dealer was not contacted. The contact stated... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2026
In January of 2026 the vehicle had a 4WD system unavailable/ Service required message pop up. It would come on and go back off. At the time there was also a whining/ grinding noise present especially at high speeds on the highway along with vibrations. We had the vehicle checked with. Code reader and was told it was sending a false code, and that a fuse probably needed replaced for it to go off. T... Read more
Incident date: May 4, 2026
The contract owns a 2016 Dodge Charger. The contact stated that while driving approximately 38 MPH, the vehicle began cranking. The contact was able to pull to the side of the road, where they called a relative. Once the relative arrived and inspected the vehicle, they noticed the drive shaft had detached. They drove back up the road the truck had just traveled and found the drive shaft. The vehic... Read more