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: Oct 1, 2025
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while in a drive-through and attempting to shift into drive to move forward, the transmission remained in neutral, causing the vehicle to jerk. The contact was able to roll into a nearby parking space, and the vehicle came to a stop. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, who diagnosed the vehicle ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 4, 2026
Yesterday I left to run errands and noticed that my vehicle shifted fine into reverse, but did not want to go forward when put in gear. I thought maybe it was cold and let it warm up the more I drove the more sluggish it became going forward I came back home after driving about 4 miles when I pulled in the garage. I noticed there was transmission fluid on the floor. My grandson came and looked at ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 24, 2026
The contact owns a 2026 Ram 1500. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the tow module independently switched from automatic drive to tow. The contact stated that the trailer tow module switched as if a trailer was being towed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or the dealer. The contact stated that the failure was a known failure with th... Read more
Incident date: Feb 28, 2026
While driving on a busy road. My car gave a message saying electrical failure and transmission failure. Within 20 seconds shut the car down before I could safely pull over and it was unable to start. Hazard lights didn’t work and I was stuck in the middle of the road until a tow truck came. The dealer diagnosed the problem as a failure of the dc to dc converter. It has been replaced but to... Read more
Incident date: Mar 1, 2026
The contact owns a 2023 Ford Bronco. The contact stated that while driving a motorhome at an undisclosed speed and towing the vehicle in tow mode, the transmission blew up. The contact pulled over to retrieve sunglasses from the vehicle and became aware that there was an odor of transmission fluid coming from the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer, who confirmed there was no warran... Read more
Incident date: May 11, 2025
While driving on the highway the vehicle lost all power and it completely shutdown which was very scary. There was never any warning lights on dashboard and was told it was probably due to bad gasoline. Now the cruise control is shutting off an long with hesitation. Again no warning lights. Ford dealership said it was the spark plugs and coils, wanted to charge me $800! Local mechanic ran a diagno... Read more
Incident date: Mar 3, 2026
Transmission randomly stopped driving at highway speeds rpm spiked and no movement was in fast lane at 75 mph. Transmission is toast now in for 4-6 thousand dollars to replace also ford did the recall on the emissions reprogram a few months before this issue then tells me it needs a catalytic converter another costly repair car is unsafe. I’m thankful I was driving and not a family with kids.
VOLKSWAGEN
JETTA
(2019) — POWER TRAIN
Mar 4, 2026
Incident date: Feb 5, 2026
The hybrid propulsion system on my 2020 Chrysler Pacifica Plug-In Hybrid has repeatedly failed, resulting in sudden and complete loss of power while driving at highway speeds. The vehicle enters full limp mode, displays a red turtle warning light, and the motor cuts out entirely, creating a serious collision risk. The failure occurs without warning and has happened on multiple occasions. The root ... Read more
Incident date: Dec 19, 2025
The vehicle has experienced repeated failures of the high-voltage charging system that prevent normal charging. The first failure occurred at approximately 511 miles, with warning messages related to the charging/high-voltage system and inability to charge reliably using normal AC charging equipment. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer/service center and the issue was confirmed. The veh... Read more
Incident date: Feb 27, 2026
Two separate times, driving at highway speed, the truck shifted into first gear and I had to pull over. A wrench symbol also popped up where the speed is usually displayed.
Incident date: Mar 3, 2026
The contact owns a 2022 GMC Yukon XL. The contact stated that while driving approximately 45 MPH, the vehicle jerked as if the brake pedal was depressed and failed to accelerate as intended, with the check engine warning light illuminated. The message "Reduced Acceleration - Drive with Care" was displayed. The contact stated that when the vehicle was stopped, the gear shifter was shifted into reve... Read more
Incident date: Mar 3, 2026
The contact owns a 2023 Ford F-150. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V512000 (Power Train); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact stated that while stopped at a red light, there was an abnormal popping sound coming from the vehicle while ... Read more
Incident date: Dec 30, 2024
The contact owns a 2019 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated while driving 4 MPH into a parking lot, the “Service 4WD” light illuminated and turned on and off. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed and a code for the PTU was retrieved. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The “Service 4WD” light was illuminated. Additionally, while driving, accelerati... Read more
Incident date: Feb 16, 2026
I was driving on the highway with the cruise control engaged. An instruction came on the information center telling me to push the start button, while I was driving at highway speeds. Then the transmission downshifted numerous times violently the last few times. By the tachometer the engine was doing 6000 rpm. I pulled over and the start button would not shut down the engine until about the third ... Read more
Incident date: Dec 14, 2025
Transmission failure at 125,000 miles. Vehicle has been used minimally for towing. Mainly highway driving. Looking at a $10,000 repair bill.
JEEP
WRANGLER 4XE
(2024) — POWER TRAIN
Mar 4, 2026
Incident date: Feb 11, 2026
I purchased this vehicle just over a year ago as a CPO model with only 8,000 miles on it. It now has just over 23,000 miles. In this short time of ownership, it has been back to the dealership 3 separate times for serious EV system issues. The first visit involved a software update intended to correct a 12-volt charging issue that could prevent the vehicle from charging and potentially cause ICCU ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 18, 2025
All dash lights are on and the Honda dealership told me I have a blown head gasket, need a turbo replacement & fuel pump in which I wasn’t able to drive the car for 7 months at 112,276 miles..This seems like a known issue for this make and model vehicle after 100,000 miles
Incident date: Feb 28, 2026
I noticed vehicle jerked a couple times when it shifted gears while driving. Shortly after, reduced power mode light came on. Vehicle did not shift past lower gears and had no reverse. Took to local dealership, they said it needed a transmission valve body overhaul. This is a known problem with 2022 gmc yukon xl, however, they said it was not associated with my vin. This cost me almost $2,000 ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 2, 2026
In 2020, I received multiple red recall notices in the mail regarding a safety issue. I scheduled an appointment with a Chevrolet dealership in Los Angeles and have a voicemail confirming the appointment. At the time, I did not follow through with ensuring the repair was fully completed, which I take responsibility for. However, the vehicle has continued to experience the same dangerous symptoms. ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 26, 2026
Having the same ICCU Failure that all other Ioniq 5 owners have. On February 26th, I was heading to work when I heard a pop and car displayed warning lights saying check EV system and stop safely. Car was limped home and towed to dealer. Was told fix will take a month.
Incident date: Mar 1, 2026
I was at a stop light, car was stopped, the electronics on the vehicle looked like it went through a reboot, a/c blower fluctuated (turned off then back on), all displays went out and restarted like it does when you start the car. When the traffic light turned green, and I stepped on the gas, the car shuddered and hesitated, like the transmission, abs and traction control were all going haywire. T... Read more
Incident date: Mar 3, 2026
The 10 speed transmission is this truck shifts horribly. It will stall in intersections as it works its way thru 3 or 4 gears shifting away while refusing to move faster than a crawl. It has occasionally jerked harshly into 2nd gear at ONE(1) mile per hour. When you are coasting towards a traffic light it will jerk violently downshifting from 4th to 3rd. That downshift feels like the rear brak... Read more
Incident date: Mar 3, 2026
My specific Tucson is equipped with 1.6L Turbo and a 7 speed Dual-Clutch Transmission. I see there are recalls for the 2016 models equipped with the same transmissions, so I'm concerned as to why there hasn't been a recall for the newer models. My transmission was replaced by Hyundai when the car only had approximately 15,000 miles (give or take) and now at 73,000 miles, I'm experiencing the same ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 3, 2026
Vehicle has been inspected by dealer and all I’ve gotten it’s a natural sound. Vehicle has been taken three times for same issue and nothing has been done. No accidents have occurred.
Incident date: Dec 2, 2025
P0471 code before 55k miles even after repair is made
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2019) — POWER TRAIN
Mar 3, 2026
Incident date: Mar 1, 2026
The driver (my wife) was operating the Kia EV6 (with approximately 10,000 miles) when the vehicle suddenly experienced a severe loss of motive power. While driving, a warning message appeared on the dashboard indicating an issue with the power supply. Immediately after, the vehicle forced itself into "turtle mode," severely restricting the maximum speed to 20 mph and refusing to accelerate further... Read more
Incident date: Feb 9, 2026
Hi I bought a Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk 2018 at GM Motors (Old Bridge), I have on open recall and I take it to the dealer, Jeep Dodge Chrysler located at Bloomfiel, I talked to Tony the supervisor and they refused to fix it,this incident happened last July he told me come back in 6 months so in December when I get there he told me they have a lot of work call them in January, and when I call them la... Read more
Incident date: Feb 19, 2026
The transfer case leaked out all the fluid while driving over a period of time and damaged internal parts before the first oil change. This has happened 2 times now, and is currently leaking again with less than 10k miles.
Incident date: Mar 2, 2026
The transfer case on my 2020 BMW X7 failed and had to be replaced. Turning the vehicle became unstable as the vehicle shuttered badly. BMW confirmed the shuttering and first changed the transfer case fluid. However, it only slightly helped at first but the shuttering came fully back shortly thereafter. The vehicle was inspected by BMW twice. I don’t remember any warning lights on the dash. ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 3, 2026
not every time, but several times throughout driving around all day, i notice: the vehicle is in 'eco' driving mode, and while i start to slow down, lightly applying constant pressure to the brake pedal, the vehicle goes from a smooth constant slowing down pace, and all of a sudden, the vehicle seems to surge/lurch/lunge forward at a faster pace, and then a fraction of a second later, the vehicle... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2025
Vehicle WITHOUT WARNING will start to jerk then go into “limp” mode. Pressing on gas pedal makes the revving noise but with not physical movement made. This has happened on MULTIPLE occasions (13 times in 4 months) including in the snow and on the interstate while driving at 70mph where no shoulder is available to pull over. Car was taken to dealership 3 different times with no actual diagnosi... Read more
Incident date: Dec 22, 2025
On March 1, 2026, while traveling south on Colonel Rodman Highway, I heard a sudden explosive noise and the Jeep bucked and jerked violently, nearly causing an accident. We were able to reach the breakdown lane, but the situation created a highly hazardous driving condition. My research identified a significant PTU recall and TSB 9004402, which acknowledges complexities and compatibility issues b... Read more
Incident date: Mar 3, 2026
Shifter stuck in drive and blinking yellow D indicator light after stopping for a gate to open. Power cycle of vehicle did not resolve. Leaving vehicle stranded. No service lights engaged. A quick internet search shows this to be a known issue. Self-resolved after letting vehicle off for 30 minutes.
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2018) — POWER TRAIN
Mar 3, 2026
Incident date: Feb 18, 2026
The 948TE 9-speed automatic transmission failed at approximately 75,000 miles on my 2021 Jeep Cherokee V6 80th Anniversary Edition. The Engine light eliminated while traveling down the highway. No noise or indication of engine or transmission trouble, Decided to head directly to the dealership. When I approached my first light off the exit (still no sign of trouble) the vehicle rolled backwards. A... Read more
Incident date: Nov 26, 2025
Torque shudder , involuntary downshifts , gets stuck in 2nd ,
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS
(2024) — POWER TRAIN
Mar 3, 2026
Incident date: Jan 15, 2026
The contact owns a 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended while depressing the accelerator pedal, and the vehicle stalled. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact was able to coast to the side of the road and drove into the gas station parking lot. The mechanic was able to restart the... Read more
Incident date: Feb 25, 2026
The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, there was a whining sound coming from the vehicle. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with transmission failure. The dealer stated that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. After the vehicle was parke... Read more
TOYOTA
HIGHLANDER
(2021) — POWER TRAIN
Mar 3, 2026
Incident date: Mar 3, 2026
There is an investigation currently, but it is when the transmission is going from higher gear and shifting to lower gears/locking the rear wheels unexpectedly. It actually shut my truck off when it happened and I had codes PO706, and PO707 displaying that I had an issues with my transmission range sensor. At the time my truck only had 108,000 miles. I had to replace the entire lead frame in order... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2024
I have had to put my vehicle in the shop for transmission repair. The first time it was in the shop for over a month to only get it back and have the same issue. Now the shop is telling me that GM is having a system glitch and they are unable to program it.
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE L
(2023) — POWER TRAIN
Mar 3, 2026
Incident date: Feb 18, 2026
The contact owns a 2014 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving approximately 25 MPH, the vehicle lost power, and the power train warning light was illuminated. Additionally, the odometer was inoperable, and the gear shift indicator indicated that the transmission was in 3rd gear. The air bags and other unknown warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was pulled over to the side of t... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2025
The contact owns a 2012 Hyundai Veloster. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to the local dealer for an unknown recall repair. Upon retrieving the vehicle, the check engine warning light illuminated. The reverse and drive gears were inoperable. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer, where an unknown diagnosis was provided. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The cont... Read more
Incident date: Jan 26, 2026
as of [1/26/26], Recall 23S65 Is not complete Ford’s repair order states the vehicle is NOT SAFE TO DRIVE and cannot be repaired due to parts unavailability. This is a warrantable, safety‑related defect with no remedy available, rendering the vehicle unusable. Fords inability to repair a known safety defect do to parts shortage. Parts are back ordered for 8-12 months. parts delay ,a safety rec... Read more
Incident date: Feb 3, 2026
The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Express. The contact stated that while driving at 60 MPH, the vehicle experienced a sudden loss of power and was shuddering while driving on the highway. The vehicle was pulled over to the side of the road and restarted; however, the failure reoccurred shortly afterwards while driving at 15 MPH. The contact stated that the failure had occurred on several occasions... Read more
Incident date: Jan 30, 2026
Driving on the interstate merging from a ramp to go into the highway , heard a loud bang and the car drivetrain started to wobble . Next noticed more torque in front wheels . Transfer case failed internally , all services done at the right mileage by dealer , transmission spline end got wiped out 66,000 miles on vehicle never was abused just going from point A to B.
Incident date: Mar 3, 2026
Check engine light came on with a message to the Ford App for "powertrain malfunction". Took vehicle to Paul Miller Ford Dealership for comprehensive diagnosis. Diagnostic report indicated Gear 4 incorrect ratio. Transmission failure of CDF Drum. Transmission needs to be replaced. Dealership quoted $10,140.54. This is a know issue by Ford, as the 2018 F-150 with 10 speed transmissions have a recal... Read more
Incident date: Feb 26, 2026
Loss of power, warning to check EV system.
FORD
BRONCO SPORT
(2021) — POWER TRAIN
Mar 3, 2026
Incident date: Feb 2, 2026
dragging, grinding, or rubbing noises from the rear of a 2021 Bronco Sport during low-speed turns are a known issue commonly associated with a faulty rear drive unit (RDU), often appearing around 40k-60k miles. This problem, sometimes described as a, shutter or chattering, is often tied to contaminated fluid caused by a defective or improperly designed vent hose that allows debris to enter the sys... Read more
Incident date: Jan 22, 2025
I own a 2017 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk (VIN: [insert VIN here]) affected by NHTSA Recall #25V-011 (FCA #01C) for PTU failure due to an improperly seated snap ring, causing spline wear and loss of drive power. This is a safety defect risking sudden power loss while driving. The vehicle failed suddenly in July 2024 after a car wash: grinding noise, loss of power, unable to shift into park. It drove p... Read more
Incident date: Feb 26, 2025
On February 26, 2025 I was driving my 2018 Honda Accord Sport (118,000 miles) with a 1.5t engine on a 55mph 2 lane roadway at approximately 55mph with 4-5 cars behind me when the engine suddenly went into "limp" mode and quickly decelerated to approximately 25 mph. I could see the cars behind me suddenly brake to avoid hitting me. I pull off on the shoulder, turned my car off and restarted. The... Read more
Incident date: Mar 3, 2026
Harsh/Delayed Engagement And/Or Harsh/Delayed Shift Very hard shifting from 3-4 and 7-8 to suggest CDF drum failing