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 9, 2026
NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 25V011000 PTU RECALL has been addressed by local dealership 2xs. They have ran the update and receive no errors however they continue to experience loss of power when excelerating and loud grinding noises as described. Currently the dealership still has my keep until there is a fix. I’ve contacted the manufacturer whom said there is nothing they will do if there is no... Read more
Incident date: Mar 11, 2026
My 2024 Ford Ranger Raptor has been suddenly losing power or stumbling upon initial acceleration. This has been occurring intermittently since it was nearly new. My truck now has approximately 10,500 miles. The problem has become increasingly frequent. It seems to occur most often when accelerating from a complete stop. The loss of power can last for several seconds, then afterwards, normal power ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 31, 2026
around 170,000 miles the vehicle started to feel like it was jerking when you went to pull off. eventually when you put it into reverse and barely press the gas, the engine would rev loud and you can hear the transmission get loud and the car would start to jerk driving backwards. driving down the road after around 30 mins you can feel under the gear shifter and the center console will start to di... Read more
Incident date: Mar 31, 2026
The contact owns a 2020 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle unexpectedly downshifted. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and was diagnosed with transmission failure. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the fai... Read more
Incident date: Mar 28, 2026
Car is a Gas Hybrid (not plugin). 3 occurrences over the last couple of months. Car emits a warning sound and a message on the dash says "Check Hybrid System. Stop Safely". Basically right after this message the car starts losing power and stops. Doesn't matter if on freeway or not. You need to find a place to pull over or you stop traffic wherever you are. Looks like Hybrid Battery is comp... Read more
Incident date: Jan 24, 2026
The vehicle experienced a sudden loss of 4WD capability and transmission communication while driving. The dealership diagnosed a defective battery ground cable. GM has issued Customer Satisfaction Program N252515590 for this exact issue, but they are refusing to cover my specific VIN despite the truck exhibiting the exact failure described. This defect causes the vehicle to lose critical powertrai... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2022
11/26/25 at 85,400 miles on the v8 6.2L L86 engine, I began experiencing rough idle, loss of engine power and propulsion, a ticking/ knocking noise at idle and when RPMs increased as well as blinking engine warning light. Diagnostics/Repair work was done by Reliable GMC/Cadillac of Roseville to fix an ignition coil that was giving the engine error code. 2/24/26 At 86,697 miles, I began having rou... Read more
Incident date: Mar 24, 2026
The contact owns a 2024 Ford F-150. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V512000 (Power Train). The local dealer was contacted to schedule an appointment and was advised that the parts for the recall repair were on back order. The manufacturer was notified of the lack of parts and informed the contact that parts were anticipated in the 3rd quarter of 2026. The contact stat... Read more
Incident date: Dec 22, 2025
On August 10th 2025 I was driving down the 5 freeway to the airports All of a sudden I notice my check engine light is on. It was Sunday Chevrolet is closed so I got off the exit to go to auto zone in XXX. I stop at a red light my engine shuts off. I tried to turn it back on twice and it starts to smoke where the battery is. I have it towed to Chevrolet Fairfield. Where they figure out my ground w... Read more
Incident date: Mar 29, 2026
Transmission has gone out with just over 100,000 and will cost $8,000+ to fix! Vehicle is binding/jerking when trying to drive. Online comments appear to indicate Ford is aware of an issue with this vehicle, seems it was not manufactured properly to begin with and consumers were taken advantage of and left in tough circumstances when it fails.
NISSAN
PATHFINDER
(2018) — POWER TRAIN
Mar 31, 2026
Incident date: Jan 11, 2026
My Wife drove to work yesterday with no issues. After her shift she stops at the local gas station by her job, she puts the car in park but the car continues to roll forward( as if it was in neutral). Applies the brake and puts the E-brake on(car is now stationary). Puts in some gas, turn car back on, puts in drive and the car is makes a grinding like noise. We get the car towed home, jack it up, ... Read more
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2021) — POWER TRAIN
Mar 31, 2026
Incident date: Mar 30, 2026
The contact owns a 2023 GMC Acadia. The contact stated that while driving on the highway at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled, and the engine lost automotive power. The vehicle was able to restart. During a second failure, the vehicle lost automotive power and stalled in the middle of the highway, and the vehicle was unable to restart. An alert message was sent by OnStar reporting a transm... Read more
JEEP
WRANGLER 4XE
(2024) — POWER TRAIN
Mar 31, 2026
Incident date: Dec 17, 2025
Vehicle experienced a sudden rough shift followed up by hard shifting and transmission locking up rear wheels. If I was traveling at a higher rate of speed (over 30mph) a accident could've easily resulted. Check engine light and vehicle went into reduced acceleration mode after 3 to 4 severe shift occurances. Dealer has vehicle and found the valve body of transmission was faulty and will be replac... Read more
Incident date: Nov 15, 2025
Clutch began to slip at 20,000 miles. This caused unrepairable damage to the flywheel. This put my safety at risk as clutches wearing out could cause the car to slip out of gear and/or damage the maneuverability of the vehicle. This problem was fixed by the dealer, but they blamed me for the damage and claimed clutch is a wear component. I was charged $3,000 for the clutch and an additional $2,0... Read more
Incident date: Jan 21, 2026
See attached document for complaint.
Incident date: Jan 9, 2026
The contact owns a 2013 Dodge Dart. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V674000 (Power Train); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted but the vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue... Read more
Incident date: Jan 9, 2026
The contact owns a 2019 Nissan Sentra. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost automotive power. There were several unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact pulled over and restarted the vehicle. The contact stated that the transmission had previously been replaced twice. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who determined that the transm... Read more
Incident date: Mar 31, 2026
I am reporting a Failure of the Remedy for NHTSA Recall 23V634000 (Kia Recall SC281). The original recall attempted to "fix" a High-Pressure Fuel Pump (HPFP) issue via a software update to the Engine Control Unit (ECU). This remedy has failed. My vehicle is currently experiencing the exact safety hazard described in the recall: loss of motive power and stalling at various speeds due to HPFP failur... Read more
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2022) — POWER TRAIN
Mar 31, 2026
Incident date: Mar 31, 2026
The contact owns a 2018 Kia Niro. The contact stated that when the vehicle was shifted into reverse(R), the vehicle failed to respond. The vehicle was turned off and restarted to reset the transmission, but the vehicle failed to respond while in reverse(R). The vehicle was shifted to drive(D) but failed to respond. The vehicle was shifted into park(P). The vehicle was towed to a local dealer. The ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 17, 2026
Power Train- error message stating 4x4 is unavailable, message will appear anytime between when first starting the car to active on the road. While active, there sounds like there’s some sounds coming from the rear tires before message appears. This issue has been consistent since purchasing the car at 76k mileage. Airbag- at random and then noticeably when hitting some bumps, dash light stating... Read more
Incident date: Mar 1, 2026
The contact owns a 2022 Ford F-150. The contact received notification of a NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V896000 (Power Train); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted and confirmed that the part for 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... Read more
Incident date: Sep 10, 2025
My wife drove back home from work around 5:45 PM EST on March 2, 2026 and parked the car in the garage as always. She parked and turned off the car and got out to check the mail from the mailbox across the street. The music stopped when she turned off the car ignition after putting the transmission in park position and opened the door to get out. She walked to the mailbox and heard a loud bang. Sh... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2019
The contact owns a 2023 Ford F-150. The contact stated that the vehicle was slipping into park unexpectedly. No warning light was illuminated. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V512000 (Power Train). The local dealer was contacted and confirmed that parts were on back order for the recall repair. The manufacturer was contacted, but no assistance was provided. The failur... Read more
Incident date: Dec 5, 2025
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle jerked and hesitated while depressing the accelerator pedal. The vehicle was taken to an Auto Zone, but no diagnostic trouble code was found, and there was no warning light illuminated. The dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, and ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 30, 2026
The 10R80 transmission has shifting shutters and loses what gear it is in and causes loss of throttle, hanging in gear and sudden downshift at road speed causing control issues. A faulty drum in transmission is to blame is my understanding and Ford is aware of this problem for model year, replacement cost is over 10,000 dollars for a poor design. Reading online forums this is a common issue Ford i... Read more
Incident date: Mar 30, 2026
The contact owns a 2016 Nissan Rogue. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle lost automotive power and decelerated and failed to properly accelerate. During the failure, the cruise control unexpectedly deactivated. After turning off and restarting the vehicle, the failure was self-corrected. Additionally, the contact stated that while standing near the vehicle, the re... Read more
Incident date: Jun 8, 2025
I was driving down [XXX] . I stopped at a stoplight. When the light turned green I pressed the gas to accelerate when suddenly mid intersection my transmission went out causing me to have no power. Approximately 5 minutes prior to this I did get a message about a transmission malfunction. Due to the transmission going out I was stuck in the intersection. I had it towed to a shop where they have co... Read more
Incident date: Nov 15, 2025
very known issue of catastrophic failure to the oil pump, made in Italy with plastic component, used in my vehicle. The part has been updated to metal components on bmw side without any knowledge to the customers with same part number. Faulty xdrive tranfer case, wheel jerks on low speed turning. Currently in class action lawsuit.
Incident date: Mar 31, 2025
The rear wheels suddenly locked up while driving. It did it twice then the check engine light came on and then the transmission would not shift into gear until I turned off the truck and turned it back on. This happened 3 days in a row all while driving. Exactly the same. No prior symptoms or warnings before the incidents happened. The vehicle is currently at the dealership being inspected. The... Read more
Incident date: Aug 25, 2025
While trying to engage the reverse feature on this Road Glide 3 trike, it will not engage. This has happened many times and it gets worse overtime. As of this past Saturday, it would not engage at all.You turn the bike off and it will sometimes engage, but only for a moment or two it will not allow you to back up. It has not been used very much at all, but it will not work any longer. I use my fee... Read more
Incident date: Mar 10, 2026
The contact owns a 2014 BMW I3. The contact stated that while driving at 49 MPH, the vehicle made an abnormal screeching sound and was leaning on the driver's side rear-end. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where a rear-end inspection was performed, and the contact was informed that no failure was found. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact related the failure to... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2024
The vehicle experienced a complete transmission failure following a period of abnormal operation. The component that failed is the automatic transmission (8-speed). Prior to total failure, the vehicle began exhibiting multiple symptoms, including delayed engagement when shifting into drive and reverse, hesitation during acceleration, and inconsistent power delivery at low speeds. At times, the eng... Read more
Incident date: Oct 15, 2025
Transmission will down shift randomly or not even engage when trying to accelerate. It shudders or harshly shifts.
Incident date: Mar 11, 2026
transmission is very rough, especially when going into a stop to where there is a loud clunk, and feels like a bowling ball falling out of the transmission. this happened from new until now.
Incident date: Mar 28, 2026
My vehicle has been saying engine will shut off soon, and loses power . Transmission is the issue as I have had it diagnosed 3 times with the code P0a43. Mazda dealership which I purchased the vehicle verified by running a diagnostic.engine light comes on after the vehicle shuts off. Me and my children’s safety is at risk due to it stopping multiple times on freeway also stopping at a stoplight ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 30, 2026
On December 3, 2025, Volkswagen of XXX performed an intake manifold recall repair on our 2017 Tiguan (VIN: [XXX] ) while the vehicle was under factory warranty. Approximately six weeks later the low coolant warning light appeared and the vehicle began actively leaking coolant. No other work had been performed between the recall and the onset of the leak. Our independent mechanic discovered physica... Read more
Incident date: Feb 10, 2026
March 2026: The 2017 Jeep Cherokee Warning light appeared on the dashboard "SVC4WD" Safety issue with the four wheel drive system. A mechanics diagnosis code was determined stating a PTU failure. To resolve the warning light issue is to flush the oil from the PTU assembly and/or replace the PTU assembly. The complaint that is being filed is Chrysler has issued 3 recall on this matter with their 20... Read more
Incident date: Mar 30, 2026
Incident 1: While driving my 2024 Mazda CX-90 PHEV at low-to-moderate speed, the vehicle suddenly and completely locked up without any driver input. There was no gradual slowing or normal braking behavior. Instead, the vehicle went immediately from moving to an abrupt, forceful stop, as if maximum braking was applied instantly. There were no warning lights, alerts, or audible signals before or dur... Read more
FORD
MUSTANG MACH E
(2021) — POWER TRAIN
Mar 30, 2026
Incident date: Feb 26, 2026
The steering wheel clunks and locks when turning at low speeds or when ISG turns the car back on. At times, it is a hard enough jerk to pull it out of my hands. It was taken to the dealership multiple times. The coupler was replaced, but it still jerked the steering wheel. The dealership in Utah could not replicate the sound, even though it occurs multiple times a day at this point. Loss of the ab... Read more
Incident date: Mar 9, 2026
The vehicle has a serious transmission/drivetrain defect that repeatedly occurs when accelerating from a complete stop, especially onto an incline. The vehicle sometimes does not respond at all when the accelerator is pressed and fails to move, even though acceleration is being requested. In one recent incident, it remained stopped for about one minute before finally responding. During these event... Read more
Incident date: Mar 27, 2026
I encountered two incidents of the same type. One was on Friday, March 27, 2026, the same day I picked up the vehicle from a local Chrysler dealership, where software updates and issues related to recalls were supposedly completed. The vehicle was at 38% battery level at the time of pick up from the dealership parking lot. After driving it for about 14 miles, the battery level depleted to <1% and ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2023
There is a Ford Customer Satisfaction Program, 25N09 issued September 2025 which covers half shaft replacement for Mavericks manufactured from 12/01/21 through 11/23/22. The upgraded beefier replacement half shafts were not available until late 2024. The program states that if the half shafts on one side fails that that both half shafts are to be replaced. My 2022 Maverick was manufactured 11/21... Read more
Incident date: Feb 21, 2026
This vehicle is subject to NHTSA Recall 25V-655 involving the high-voltage traction battery. The recall restricts the vehicle from using DC fast charging (Level 3), which significantly limits the safe and practical operation of the vehicle for its intended use. My household must routinely complete 300+ mile one-way trips on a weekly basis. Without DC fast charging capability, the vehicle cannot r... Read more
Incident date: Mar 4, 2026
The contact owns a 2011 Dodge Ram 1500. The contact stated that while the vehicle was being serviced by an independent mechanic, the contact was informed that the motor mounts were old and fractured. The independent mechanic suggested that the vehicle was taken to the dealer for the repair. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who confirmed that the motor mounts were fractured and that the vehicle... Read more
Incident date: Mar 21, 2026
I was taking my kids to school and then suddenly a knocking sound started and then a boom. I found out that at 134,000 miles my engine threw a rod and punched a hole in my block. My [XXX] old was freaking out because there was smoke coming from the engine and her sisters said the car was going to catch fire. The [XXX] old was stuck in her seatbelt and couldn't get out. Then as I was calling a to... Read more
Incident date: Feb 19, 2026
Our 2019 Jaguar XJ only has 41000 miles on it but it has a poorly designed cooling system: Hoses for the cooling system travel directly under the super charger assembly and are not designed to stay intac for anywhere near our 100,000 mile Warranty but are NOT covered by warranty. This, I would argue is a definitive safety issue with the fumes that are produced and the leakage from the pink hybrid... Read more
LAND ROVER
RANGE ROVER SPORT
(2015) — POWER TRAIN
Mar 30, 2026
Incident date: Dec 14, 2025
The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. While the contact was operating the vehicle, the vehicle came to a stop at a stop sign. While attempting to accelerate, the vehicle stalled and failed to move. The contact stated that the transmission failed to operate properly, and the vehicle was unable to shift into gear. The contact stated that the vehicle shut off with the check engine warning... Read more
TOYOTA
SIENNA HYBRID
(2025) — POWER TRAIN
Mar 30, 2026
Incident date: Oct 22, 2025
The contact owns a 2020 BMW X5. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to a dealer for routine maintenance and it was discovered that there was a coolant leak and that there was a failure with the front differential failure, and that the A/C unit was leaking. The leaking valve was replaced but the differential was not repaired. The contact stated that the failure was a known failure with th... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2026
Transmission will jump out of gear. Transmission will shift from 1st to 5th skipping all other gears. Transmission will stay in a high gear even when I’m stopped. transmission will get confused on what gear to be in and jump all around. sometimes the transmission will get stuck in limp mode in fifth gear and I will not be able to move until a loud bang when it shifts back into first. These probl... Read more
Incident date: Mar 26, 2026
Sudden and harsh downshifts happening at speeds above 40mph in normal drivign conditions. The vehicle now shudders while crusing and clunks into and out of gears. The 6R80 transmission now feels like it is slipping when giving the vehicle gas from a standstill.