Consumer Safety Complaints
Search 2,245,377 safety complaints filed by vehicle owners with NHTSA, including 140,173 crashes, 56,794 fires, and 8,580 deaths.
What is a NHTSA consumer complaint?
A consumer complaint is a free-form report filed by a vehicle owner directly to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) describing a safety concern about their vehicle. NHTSA collects these reports through its Vehicle Owner Defect Report (VOQ) system and publishes them publicly. Each complaint includes the affected component, the date and circumstances of the incident, whether the failure caused a crash or fire, and any reported injuries or deaths. The owner's full narrative description is included verbatim, NHTSA does not edit or moderate the descriptions.
The database below contains over 2,245,377 individual complaints. NHTSA's investigators monitor it for clusters of similar reports, when enough owners describe the same failure mode on the same vehicle, NHTSA may open a Preliminary Evaluation that can lead to a recall. Many of the largest recalls in U.S. history, including the Takata airbag recall and the Hyundai/Kia engine fire recalls, started as patterns visible in this complaint database years before they became formal recalls.
How to interpret what you read
A few principles for reading consumer complaints usefully:
- One complaint is anecdote; a hundred similar complaints is data. NHTSA does not investigate the truthfulness of any individual report, that's the job of the Office of Defects Investigation, which looks at the full pattern. When evaluating a vehicle, look for whether multiple owners describe the same chain of events.
- Crash, fire, injury, and death flags are owner-set. They are not verified by NHTSA. They are still useful as a filter, because owners who tick those boxes are typically reporting more serious incidents than those who don't.
- Component categories are NHTSA-assigned, not owner-assigned. NHTSA standardizes the component field so that complaints can be aggregated. The owner narrative often goes into more detail than the component category captures.
- Complaint volume scales with sales volume. A best-selling model will accumulate more raw complaints than a niche model even at the same defect rate. To compare across vehicles, look at complaints per 100,000 units sold, not raw counts.
If you've experienced a defect
File a complaint. NHTSA's investigators rely on this database to detect emerging defects, and useful complaints, specific, concrete, with dates and mileage and clear descriptions of what happened, feed directly into the agency's pattern detection. The form takes about 10 minutes and is at nhtsa.gov/recalls under "Report a Safety Problem." Your complaint becomes part of the same public record that this page is built from. Owners filing detailed VOQs are how recalls get triggered.
Read more from our blog
Showing 78,884 complaints - component: SERVICE BRAKES
Incident date: Sep 9, 2025
After starting to accelerate from a stop light ,the Dashboard had a warning message that the accelerator and brake pedals were pressed simultaneously. The acceleration stopped and the car slowed automatically. After a few seconds the warning indicator went away and the car could accelerate. The cars behind my auto had to stop suddenly. At the time. I though that I might have hit both petals at the... Read more
Incident date: Jun 24, 2025
The powertrain jumps sometimes it is not smooth.The brakes does not hold too good.
Incident date: Sep 23, 2025
Started 09/17/25: While braking, a front-end clunk or thud occurs. Directly afterwards, a cluster of warning lights appeared including Brake, ABS, Collision avoidance/forward collision, and Stabile track stability control) Brake pedal is now inconsistent and soft. Every time the brakes are activated, the thud or clunk occurs. When I start the vehicle, I get warning messages of Service Brake Assist... Read more
Incident date: Aug 11, 2025
While driving on U.S Highway 521 in South Carolina, the vehicle experienced SUDDEN, UNEXPECTED BRAKING AND VIOLENT SHAKING even though there were no cars or obstacles directly in front of me. The sensation was so strong it felt as if the car had been rear-ended, but there was no impact. The issue has happened MULTIPLE TIMES since I purchased the vehicle new in 2023. Each time, traffic was flowing ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 23, 2025
My son was driving the vehicle down the interstate and attempted to exit. He hit the brakes and the car would not slow down. He had the pedal all the way to the floor and the vehicle still would not slow down. The vehicle went off the exit ramp, through a grassy hill area, across the entrance ramp, and finally stopped when the tire broke off. Even with the tire broke off and the vehicle not moving... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Sep 11, 2025
The ABS and traction control warning lights came on. The dealership diagnosed the issue as a failed ABS control module, part number 68259556AD. The vehicle is now considered unsafe to drive, and I am on a waiting list for a replacement part with no estimated time of arrival, and several others have been on this waiting list for two years. Replacement part can not be found.
Incident date: Sep 9, 2025
The issue has happened multiple times while driving, sitting in traffic, or parked idling. The Brake Light comes on and starts flashing, Alarm Chimes, Brake Pedal goes to the floor seems to not have any hydraulic pressure, the brakes grind like I have no brake pads, and essentially I have NO Brakes. If I turn the car off and on it goes back to normal. I took it to have it checked for a diagnostic ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 22, 2025
I own a 2018 Chevrolet Equinox with a 1.5L engine. While driving with my children in the vehicle, the car experienced a sudden and frightening failure. The engine began malfunctioning, and after inspection, my mechanic and the repair shop confirmed damage to the vacuum pump, broken engine pieces, and issues with the timing chain and camshaft. These issues are identical to those described in an ex... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2025
The contact owns a 2017 Kia Sportage. The contact stated that while accelerating from a complete stop, the vehicle failed to respond as intended. The contact stated that the vehicle drove 2 MPH for approximately 2 minutes and was jerking abnormally. The contact stated that the failure recurred while driving at various speeds. The check engine and the brake warning lights were illuminated. The vehi... Read more
Incident date: Sep 22, 2025
While moving at a very slow speed parking the vehicle in my driveway, I was slowly turning to the left. The vehicle accelerated suddenly and quickly. This cost the front end to strike the deck and steps to the deck of my home. It also damaged the lower front end of the vehicle.
Crash
Incident date: Sep 22, 2025
While driving, the brakes completely failed without any warning. There were no signs, alerts, or symptoms prior to the failure. The braking ability was suddenly and entirely lost, creating an extremely dangerous situation. Upon inspection, it was determined that the brake booster had failed. This component failure directly caused the complete loss of braking power. Because this occurred without w... Read more
Incident date: Sep 22, 2025
I was within the town limits so I was driving slowly. When I approached the first stop light in town I saw that it was red. There were of three or four vehicles stopped at that light. At that point I was probably only going 5mph. I took my foot off of the gas pedal and put my foot on the brake to make a slow stop. Instead, the car accelerated rather quickly. I continued to brake but the car ... Read more
Crash
KAWASAKI
NINJA ZX-6R
(2024) - SERVICE BRAKES
Sep 22, 2025
Incident date: Mar 15, 2025
ABS MODULE fault Abs Traction control inoperable, no parts available, no fixes available.
Incident date: Aug 13, 2025
I had the car for less than a month. It had about 850 miles on it. I was driving on a flat service going between 25-30 mph. I was NOT using the Adaptive Cruise Control. Without any warning, the car suddenly accelerated and I immediately felt like I had no control. I do not know how fast the car was going at that point. I tried to brake - I was practically standing on the brake pedal. It all ... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jul 1, 2021
Unknown. Fatal motorcycle accident. Based on the police report, one witness said he blew a tire and all witnesses state that he and the bike went airborn. The motorcycle was part of the group of ZX6R's recalled by Kawasaki though its since been salvaged. The officer at the scene confirmed the bikes tire was intact so there's some suspicion that something else happened such as other parts coming o... Read more
Crash
1 deaths
Incident date: Sep 22, 2025
7/1/2021 my Honda Accord spinned out on the freeway, the car next to me avoided me driving towards the right side where guardrail was, hitting the wall, right tire collapsed; State Farm paid out $6k damage, slapped me with a premium increase from $300 plus /6 mos to $700 plus, also I had to repair the car $500 plus; that was a car defect, Honda motor co. was liable for all damages and repair and ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 22, 2025
I bought this car used in August 2022. September 2022, I paid for diagnostics because every warning light was on. They returned the car and the warning lights were clear. They eventually reappeared. I called, complained and was told I would need to pay for another diagnostic. This has been an ongoing problem. The lights are: Collision Mitigation, braking system problem. TPMS system problem,... Read more
Incident date: Sep 15, 2025
The CMBS alerts braking despite there being no obstacles in front or around the vehicle. Also, the at stop lights when the engine shuts off, on several occasions the car has completely turned off and will not let you do anything (place in park or drive) until you manually start it again.
Incident date: Apr 17, 2025
Got the warning code for C1391 for the brake booster. It failed at 140k miles but because it failed past the 10 year mark did not qualify for the Toyota extended warranty program. I don't think the warranty program is good enough and should be addressed as a recall. I had sudden total brake failure on the highway which could have been extremely deadly.
Incident date: Sep 20, 2025
The contact owns a 2025 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that while driving at 35 MPH, the brakes independently engaged. The contact was unable to disengage the brakes. The vehicle was stopped in the middle of the road with several warning unknown lights illuminated, and undisclosed messages were displayed. The contact turned off the vehicle, and after several restarting attempts, the contact ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 19, 2025
While driving , brake pedal went to the floor causing vehicle to barely stop. upon stopping and exiting vehicle noticed brake fluid on the ground and right side brake hose had ruptured. Vehicle had to be towed for repairs. Ford Service department says entire brake line and hose must be replaced due to "fitting is swollen".
Incident date: Mar 29, 2025
While driving on the highway on 09/19/2025, my 2023 Maserati Grecale suddenly lost all electrical power. The battery failed without warning, and the vehicle became completely unresponsive, including loss of steering and braking functions. This created an extremely dangerous situation where I had no control over the car in the middle of a highway while driving at 55mph. This is a major safety defe... Read more
Incident date: Jul 28, 2025
This is about Brake system and vacuum line linked Bronco. This is highly related to my own safety as when I go uphill or highway, this 'brake failure system' always is on and sometimes you are very hard to press a brake pedal as it's very stiff and not easy to press using your foot. But the thing is it comes and goes and sometimes it stopped and coming back. I today asked for a repair at dealershi... Read more
Incident date: Sep 22, 2025
Brake pedal goes to floor and stopping time is poor. Brake inspection leads to fault as possibly master cylinder or HCU. Master cylinder replaced and issue not resolved. The date range and manufacturing location matches NHTSA recall 19V904000 related to HCU valve issue but my VIN is not indicated. The vehicle is from the Hermosillo plant inside the date ranges indicated.
Incident date: Sep 2, 2025
The ABS system has malfunctioned 4 times now while braking when going over an uneven surface- railroad tracks, uneven older roads in the area. The car will start shaking and lunge forward even with the brake all the way down to floor. This has caused me to almost hit 4 vehicles now. Yes, it is available for inspection. My safety, as well as others on the road are put at risk until this issue is f... Read more
Incident date: Jul 11, 2025
The vehicle has difficulty coming to a stop and requires slamming the brakes in full which causes a loud churning noise, the braking is intermittent, sometimes it works well and sometimes it works terribly. It is a huge safety issue. Also the lane keep assist seems to not work so well as well, it will drift out of the lanes at times when it is on
Incident date: Jul 11, 2025
I purchased my 2014 Ford Edge in December 2023. March 2023, I started having issues with the driver side door lock sensor malfunction as shown in the last photo. The door would not automatically lock when I started driving, sensing that the driver’s side door was still open. It was not. I kept pushing the lock button to lock it, but it kept unlocking even while driving. Eventually it would lock.... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Oct 24, 2023
The Toyota brake booster system failed and is no longer safe to be on the road. The car will no longer brake properly and is a danger to anyone else on the road. It was inspected by Toyota prior. The entire dashboard warning lights for the brake system lit up 2 years ago and has fully failed now.
Incident date: Sep 19, 2025
Service brakes because the brakes engaged on their own while reversing, with no obstruction present. Power Train because the transmission downshifting unexpectedly in traffic, forcing us to pull over on the highway and restart the engine. Electrical because the rear camera blackouts while reversing fall under "back over prevention" and sometimes also electrical system. Engine because the oil pump ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 28, 2025
BRAKES JUST GAVE OUT ALMOST HIT THE CAR INFRONT AND SWURVED TO AVOID IT THE CAR ALMOST HIS THE WALL AND ANOTHER CAR WHILE TRYING TO CORRECT MY TRUCK IN A PROPER LANE. Brake pedal went straight down to the bottom and let the truck coast to a stop. SCARED TO DEATH THANK NGOD I DIDN'T HIT OR CRASH !!!!
Incident date: Sep 22, 2025
ABS module is bad and has been on backorder for well over a year now.
Incident date: Sep 1, 2025
At engine start up there were two warnings that came up on info screen. "Service Front Brake Monitor" and "Front Brake Pads Low". Just before this incident the monitor showed front pads at 82% brake life and the rear pads at 84%. Upon my own inspection the driver side front brake pads are worn significantly more than the passenger side. Front brakes are also squealing when coming to a stop. Chevr... Read more
Incident date: Dec 22, 2022
Transmission clunking when changing gears, while my abs light is on. The break pedals rumble and the car is scary to drive. These issues are with a faulty abs control module.
Incident date: Sep 19, 2025
This has now happened 4 times and I'm taking the truck to the dealership to figure out what the issue is. At high speeds, 65 to 75 mph, on the freeway, the rear brakes suddenly lock up for no apparent reason. Extremely dangerous for myself and surrounding vehicles, especially behind me. The most recent incident pretty much gave me whiplash because it's unexpected with no warnings whatsoever. The f... Read more
Incident date: Aug 25, 2022
The rims and the rotor have rusted together causing you to use excessive force to remove the lug nut holding on the tire and the nut snaps off.
Incident date: Dec 4, 2024
I was on the highway and a car came in front of me, When I tried to stop the brake was hard and wouldn’t stop! It veered me into the wall and totaled my car. My brakes stiffed up and didn’t stop which cause me to crash.
Crash
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE L
(2025) - SERVICE BRAKES
Sep 21, 2025
Incident date: Aug 7, 2025
The braking system has been an ongoing issue, shuddering and grinding when braking and hitting an uneven surface, especially at slower speeds. It has consistently become worse, shuddering, grinding and not stopping when going down a driveway. Tonight when going less than 20MPH and on a smooth surface, it would not stop when coming up to a light/intersection. The shuddering and grinding was much wo... Read more
Incident date: Sep 21, 2025
On [XXX] around [XXX], turned right from [XXX] is very bumpy due to potholes. My palisade’s ABS kicked in and I was not able to break my car before the red traffic light. The car went over the light. If there was a car in front of me, I wouldn’t be able to stop my car without accident. This is not the first time my palisade’s ABS suddenly engaged. The ABS seems always kick in when driving i... Read more
Incident date: Sep 11, 2025
Updates to the case#11679471. Since my initial report, Jeep arranged for an independent technician to retrieve and review the Event Data Recorder (EDR) from our vehicle. While Jeep has not shared the expert’s conclusions with us, we obtained a copy of the raw EDR data file from the same tech (attached). Based on the EDR data: 1. The brake pedal was fully applied approximately 0.4 seconds bef... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jul 7, 2024
On the day of purchase, while driving on a freeway, the vehicle would not accelerate. The RPM's went up, the engine revved, but the vehicle acted as if it was in neutral. These vehicles will not accelerate if they think the brake pedal is also being pressed. The brake was not being depressed. As I was pulling the vehicle to the side of the road, suddenly it allowed me to accelerate again, and I co... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2025
I was driving the service brake assembly light came on the. Then the service stability control light came on, I couldn't do anything, I remember hitting my head off the steering wheel in which air bags did not deploy. Thank god it didn't hit someone else.
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Sep 15, 2025
ABS system is malfunctioning when going over bumps. For instance, I tried braking when going over small bumps and car started jerking and skidding almost rear ending car and finally brakes kicked in at end. Happened 4 times now after buying it a year ago. This is a known incident online that needs to be addressed. Could be very dangerous at higher speeds and cause a wreck. Dealers apparently aren... Read more
Incident date: Dec 10, 2024
The car automatically brakes at lower speeds. This happens about 3x week and typically on a specific freeway entrances but in other locations as well. I believe this is a known phantom braking issue but for some reason my car is not included in the recall.
Incident date: Aug 31, 2025
Corroded brake lines. This is a well known issue for many ML350s built during this time period. This car was built with steel brake lines that easily corrode and present a serious safety issue. While driving a few months ago, the car suddenly lost the ability to brake because a line rusted completely through. The mechanic noted the lines are rusted in many other places as well. Mercedes refuses to... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2025
The brake pedal suddenly went almost to the floor while attempting to stop. Researching I found there was a recall. NHTSA Recall No. 11V-562. My car was not apparently among the ones being recalled, yet this problem is exactly as described in the bulletin. The component in question is the master brake cylinder. It is available for inspection. It happened on Sat Sept 20 2025 returning from a trip a... Read more
Incident date: Sep 19, 2025
Since early ownership, my Palisade’s ABS activates improperly on bumpy/uneven surfaces like railroad tracks, construction zones, causing brake pedal pulsing, vibrations, and significantly longer stopping distances. Braking feels ineffective, as if the brakes “don’t catch,” unlike my wife’s new SUV, which brakes normally on similar surfaces. This occurs at low to moderate speeds (10-40 mp... Read more
Incident date: Jul 25, 2025
Subject: Complaint Regarding Failure to Repair Safety Recall – Brake Booster (STOP DRIVE ORDER) Background In August 2022, I received a “STOP DRIVE ORDER” recall notice from Mercedes-Benz, informing me that my ML350 was unsafe to drive due to a defective brake booster. Despite repeated attempts over nearly three years, the recall repair has not been completed. Attempts to Obtain Recall Repai... Read more
Incident date: Sep 12, 2025
ABS light, parking break light, tire pressure light, ESC light, and outdoor temperature and climate control all flicker and the speedometer stops working. Multiple cars with same make and model have same issue and are constantly in and out of the dealer with the issue unresolved.
Incident date: Sep 4, 2025
On Saturday, August 9, 2025, my brakes failed at highway speed. My vehicle's stopping distance was severely increased, forcing me to perform an emergency swerve into the leftmost lane to avoid rear-ending a truck. The maneuver was extremely hazardous, as it occurred in a construction zone with concrete barriers and no shoulder, leaving no safe escape path and endangering myself and others. I conf... Read more
Incident date: Sep 20, 2025
3 weeks after purchasing a brand new 2024 F150, brake light, ABS, traction control, Hill start assist, antilock brake fault pre-collision assist warnings all illuminated and sounded. Took an exit and had no brake control. Went into a ditch and hit a piece of metal, causing minor body damage to my new truck. Vehicle is being worked on and electronic brake booster is being replaced. Battery was not ... Read more
Crash