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: Mar 27, 2025
The brakes did not function at all. Upon trying to brake, the brake pedal was hard and the car would not stop. The car went into s storefront where the cashier is located and could have resulted in serious injury or death to anyone waiting to pay at the store. The forward collision alarm did not sound, the dashboard indicator for an impending forward collision did not illuminated. The car did ... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Aug 15, 2025
Brakes. Abs and traction control Brakes can fail Kindle dodge had truck for over a month cannot obtain part Abs and traction control lites appeared on driver information center
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2019) - SERVICE BRAKES
Sep 4, 2025
Incident date: Sep 4, 2025
I purchased a car from Middletown Nissan on May 24, 2025. The car was assured to have all these different safety checks so far it had to have the power steering pump replaced twice the power steering lines replaced all new control arms a new bearing brand new back brakes which include rotors and pads, and four new tires When the tires were put on they found that the car had significant damage in t... Read more
Incident date: Aug 6, 2025
There was a recall on the brake system before and that they fixed it and the same thing that it was a recall before is doing the same thing again with my brake system
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2023) - SERVICE BRAKES
Sep 4, 2025
Incident date: Jun 6, 2025
The primary component that failed is the brake caliper, which caused a dragging brake, overheating, and visible smoke after a brake pad replacement. This is a defect in a critical safety system, not routine wear and tear. The caliper failure, combined with rapid deterioration of the pads within only seven months of purchase, makes clear that the Jeep was sold to me with preexisting and undisclosed... Read more
Incident date: Sep 4, 2025
HAND BRAKE STICKS ON AND WONT RELEASE
Incident date: Sep 3, 2025
Brakes make loud noise when I come to stop when leaving highway. Rear pads are at 2mm as of 8/28/2025 when they were replaced in on 5/14/2025. Repairs were performed by dealership on 5/14/2025 but they did not replace the rotors, they only replaced the rear pads.
Incident date: Sep 1, 2025
When going over small bumps on road and applying breaks, ABS system kicked in and would not stop car. I had to swerve away from car in front of me from stop hitting it. While doing some investigation on this 2024 Hyundai Palisades it seems that is a common problem.
Incident date: Sep 1, 2025
A couple months ago, my right rear brake line broke. Yesterday, my left brake line also broke. On the first occasion, a warning lamp appeared on my dash, but it did not alert me this most recent time. On both occasions, my breaks were very spongey and I noticed my car take an extended time to stop, and it never came to a complete stop. I also noticed greasy fluid leaking from the rear. The right s... Read more
Incident date: Jul 9, 2025
Incident 1: Rear brakes needing replaced within 30,000 miles. Rear brakes at that mileage is unheard of. Incident 2: Coil packs failing and leaving me stranded. 34,000 miles Incident 3: Most recent at 44,000 the flex plate is now broken. With a simple internet search the flex plate is a reoccurring issue that a lot of motorist are experiencing.
Incident date: Jan 1, 2023
I was at the gas station, in line waiting for one of the three gas pumps to be available. I put my car in reverse to back up and pull around another car in order to go to the open pump in front. When my car was in reverse motion, I stepped on the brake pedal, but the car did not stop. I stepped on the brake pedal numerous times, but the brake did not function. My car backed into the front of... Read more
Crash
JEEP
WAGONEER S
(2024) - SERVICE BRAKES
Sep 3, 2025
Incident date: Aug 7, 2025
I have a 2015 Toyota Prius with 48,600 miles. My breaks started failing suddenly while driving which almost got me into a car accident. I took it to my mechanic immediately and the DTC was Code C1281. I was advised to take the car to A Toyota dealer. I got an appointment and a manager was waiting for me wanting to charge me $250 for a new diagnostic test and $2,500 - $3,000 for repair if the diagn... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2025
The contact owns a 2007 Ford Edge. The contact stated while driving 30 MPH and attempting to depress the brake pedal, there was an abnormal clicking and popping sound coming from the brakes. No warning light was illuminated. An independent mechanic was contacted. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed and it was determined that the wheel bearings and the brakes were loose... Read more
Incident date: Jan 27, 2025
At low idle speeds like in a parking lot we almost hit another car because the brakes were very hard to press. No power brakes. Felt as I was having to stand on the brake pedal with both feet to stop my vehicle from hitting another car at a grocery store parking lot going 5 mph! A light flashes on and says”service brake assist “ light goes away and drives normal and brakes normal except when y... Read more
Incident date: Aug 8, 2025
This vehicle on multiple occasions per week will have what my husband can only describe as the ABS incorrectly kick on. It happens in our driveway, rocky parking lots or streets that aren’t even. The vehicle shakes uncontrollably and the brakes can not be pressed when it happens. In the worst situation we ended up over a curb, luckily the curb seemed to help stop us before potentially hitting a ... Read more
Incident date: Dec 16, 2024
The contact owns a 2025 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 45 MPH through a green light, another vehicle failed to yield at 50 MPH for a red light due to being impaired, causing a collision in which the contact’s vehicle was T-boned. No warning lights were illuminated before the crash. The front and side curtain air bags failed to deploy. The contact repor... Read more
Crash
1 injured
HARLEY-DAVIDSON
FLTRXSTSE
(2025) - SERVICE BRAKES
Sep 3, 2025
Incident date: Aug 28, 2025
While driving at varying speeds the service brake warning light would come on and the vehicle would shudder while decelerating before coming to a full stop as the brakes were engaged resulting in a longer distance required for breaking. After initial occurrence the vehicle was inspected by the local dealership where they determined that "The brake lines passed inspection and there were no other ob... Read more
Incident date: Sep 3, 2025
The contact owns a 2020 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while her son was driving at approximately 35 MPH and going up a slight hill, the vehicle stalled. The contact's son said multiple unknown warnings illuminated. The son depressed the brake pedal and felt that it was very hard to depress. The son was able to restart the vehicle and continued on to his destination. The contact stated that the... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Sep 3, 2025
The contact owns a 2023 Jeep Wagoneer. The contact stated that several unknown lights on the instrument cluster were illuminated and flashing. Additionally, the headlights were flashing, and the camera screen was blank. The contact stated that while depressing the brake pedal, additional force was needed to stop the vehicle. There was an abnormal horn sound detected. The contact stated that the en... Read more
Incident date: Aug 22, 2025
Vehicle Fire Summary – Arvada, CO On [XXX] at approximately [XXX], the Arvada Fire Department responded to a report of a vehicle fire on [XXX] . The vehicle involved was a 2013 gray Subaru Impreza WRX. The driver reported noticing smoke coming from the engine compartment before pulling over to the shoulder. Within minutes, flames became visible. Fire crews arrived promptly and extinguished the... Read more
Fire
BFGOODRICH
ALL TERRAIN T/A K03
(9999) - SERVICE BRAKES
Sep 3, 2025
Incident date: May 15, 2025
Electronic parking brake malfunction, disengage ineffective. Ongoing 2020 BMW mechanical issue, multiple dealer submissions, BMW refuses to open active recall. BMW requires $3,000 center panel replacement, out-of-pocket.
Incident date: Aug 21, 2025
ABS braking issue at low speeds on uneven roads. I was coming out of an alley, with fences on both sides. NOT driving fast. It's an alley. At the end of the alley they had one of those speed bump plastic things, not a speed bump, but something to protect COAX/cable being temporarily run. The alley goes to a T and the top of the T is a county road/2 way traffic that is like 60 MPH. Coming to the s... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2025
ABS and Traction Control lights are on. Sometimes Emergency Brake light comes on causing it to go into “limp mode”. This is dangerous for me bc this is my Mail Jeep. I’m driving on roads where the speed limits are sometimes posted at 55mph. Mechanic replaced the rear wheel sensors because the computer indicated that was the problem. Did not fix the problem. The ABS Module has to be replaced ... Read more
Incident date: May 30, 2025
The rear brake pads on my 2021 Volkswagen Jetta have worn out prematurely twice by 20,000 miles. The first replacement occurred at only 8,006 miles in April 2023. At that time, Volkswagen acknowledged the problem and provided “goodwill” coverage of 50% since my vehicle was only one month outside of the Rear Brake Pad Limited Warranty Extension. Now at approximately 20,846 miles in September 2... Read more
Incident date: Aug 23, 2025
Brake Calipers are getting stuck often damaging the rotors and pads. This happens even for new calipers and rotors that won't last more than one year after replacement. The parts were original from manufacturer. The rear and front brakes were randomly getting stuck on one wheel after a period of using brakes. This put the vehicle in danger of getting fire from overheating rotors or increasing t... Read more
Incident date: Sep 2, 2025
Tesla Model 3 while using the “FSD” or auto pilot mode will do what’s called “phantom breaking” with its emergency breaking system. This is very scary and has almost caused more accidents than preventing them in my experience. Tesla had not addressed or fixed this issue even with their constant software updates. How is this FSD considered legal I wonder.
DODGE
GRAND CARAVAN
(2019) - SERVICE BRAKES
Sep 3, 2025
Incident date: Aug 30, 2025
Continuous warnings and tones showing issues for anti lock brakes and stability traction control. In less than 3 months will be a year since the recall was announced and there is no remedy. This is a nuisance and safety issue and should absolutely be a priority to fix. NHTSA #24V-896
Incident date: Jun 6, 2025
My vehicle has defect in the electronic power brake assist system that lead to extended stopping distances and cause me to hit someone from behind.
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Sep 2, 2025
The Eye Sight warning system is activated occasionally and VDC is cut off. The dealer diagnosed code C1742, and recommended replacing the control unit due to a pressure sensor issue after measurement. The units are on back order, which indicates to me a wider spread problem. VDC units should not fail even after 10 years.
Incident date: Aug 9, 2025
Vacuum pump problem Hard to brake to stop My truck is LT not LD
Incident date: Sep 2, 2025
Car has, on more then one occasion, applied the emergency stopping breaks at times that may have caused an accident by themselves. Most often in heavier city traffic that can be unpredictable. Ie cars merging in quickly where they generally shouldn't
Incident date: Aug 8, 2025
Earlier in the year the brake light (some times with slip and ABS) came on the dash and suddenly braking was diminished. There was a horrid grinding sound plus vibration under the pedal. I was on highway 17 (a dangerous mountain freeway in CA) going downhill and it was extremely scary as has a car full of friends kids and hardly any brakes. I braked as much as it would allow, down shifted and ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 2, 2025
Went out for lunch and the following warning lights popped up on my dash, "Brake", the ABS light was lit up, service brake assist and service ESC all popped up. Had my truck towed to lexington park chevy because it said it was not safe to drive
Incident date: Aug 25, 2025
The emblem on my car contains a sensor/radar for adaptive cruise control and foward collision warning that is also connected to automatic emergency brakes. The safety of me and my [XXX] old are at risk because if I needed assisted braking/collision warning, my car no longer provides that. The braking on my car feels as if I am needing to apply a lot of pressure on the brake to stop completely or ... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Aug 27, 2025
The brakes in the new 2025 4runner howl and squeal extremely loudly. I avoid braking slowly to try to avoid the noise. The TSB was completed last month: TSB-0046-25. It did not work. The noise is back, and worse. I am worried I am going to get into an accident because the brakes are so egregiously bad. Please help make Toyota fix this. It's crazy!!!
Incident date: Sep 1, 2025
I was driving and all of a sudden I received a low oil pressure alert on my care and within a min my car lost all power and was completely unable to accelerate. It is currently in the shop and they said it will be months before it is repaired.
Incident date: Feb 10, 2025
The autonomous braking activates out of no where while driving. Violently hard and nothing around. A message appears on the dash board saying it can not sense hands on steering wheel. Also while backing up it will activate and no one is near the car or it even activates in an empty parking lot. The car jolted so hard when this happens and everyone went flying forward. No ..the dealer has had the... Read more
Incident date: Aug 28, 2025
The trailer brake controller goes off and on. A message in the truck reads trailer brakes off, trailer brakes on, check wiring. Repeats every 45 seconds or so. You never know when you have trailer brakes or not. Did not have trouble prior 3 years with a different truck? I saw 2022 trucks had a safety recall but my Vin was not included, which it should have. Very dangerous.
Incident date: Jul 8, 2024
I was traveling at 80mph on an interstate in the fast lane. There were only two lanes. Road was straight with a slight incline. Temperature was 98 degrees. I had been traveling for 10 hours that day. I hear the same bing chime the Jeep makes when it switches from electric to hybrid mode. I was already in hybrid mode and I experienced a lost of power. My vehicle started to coast which it ne... Read more
Incident date: Sep 2, 2025
The ABS module has failed on my 2016 RAM 1500, which has disabled the ABS and the traction control system. This is a serious safety hazard because the vehicle now has no anti-lock braking or stability control, creating dangerous conditions in wet or emergency braking situations. •Component/System Failed: The ABS control module has malfunctioned. The part is still installed on my truck because I ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 15, 2025
The ABS system is completely shot. I have replaced the entire brake system besides the ABS. There is a recall on the ABS System for other 2012 Ford Edges, but for some reason my vehicle isn’t included. Please consider including my car in the recall as this is a serious safety issue. I cannot even drive the car, because i am not able to brake properly.
Incident date: Jun 22, 2025
First, I was not involved in an incident or accident with my vehicle. My concern is for my safety in the future while driving this vehicle. My RAM 2500 Power Wagon has a safety recall C4B/NHTSA 24V-896 for the brake system but there are no parts available to fix it. I currently have an ABS caution light with a "Service Electronic Braking System" and "Service Automatic Braking System" that constan... Read more
Incident date: Jul 17, 2025
I own a 2016 RAM 1500 Tradesman (VIN: [XXX] ). My vehicle requires a replacement for the ABS (Anti-Lock Braking System) module. This is a critical safety component directly tied to braking and safe vehicle operation. The problem is that Stellantis (RAM) is not producing or supplying new replacement ABS modules, and my dealer has informed me that there are currently over 390 modules on backorder n... Read more
Incident date: Feb 6, 2025
Was on [XXX] traveling 40 mph. Traffic came to a sudden stop, when I hit brakes the ABS never kicked in and I slid into car in front of me. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash
Incident date: Aug 26, 2025
I was driving over to walk my friends dog and I was pulling into the overflow parking area and my car just speed up and it would not stop. I went up a curb and I hit a small tree went down another curb crossed the street and then up another curb and the break would not stop the car. I finally just cut the car off
VOLKSWAGEN
TIGUAN
(2021) - SERVICE BRAKES
Sep 2, 2025
Incident date: Aug 22, 2025
While driving, the emergency brake system becomes enabled, which immediately causes the vehicle to stop and sometimes stall. This is so dangerous! My daughter has been in the middle of an intersection when the vehicle has done this, she's lucky she hasn't been struck and killed. We have not taken it to a dealership, however online reports confirm this problem, and that the NHTSA is investigating i... Read more
Incident date: Aug 18, 2025
Normal evening running errands and brake pedal went to the floor, unable to stop and starting rolling into oncoming traffic. Put transmission in Park, then reverse to get out the main highway and back to the service road, car would continue to roll. Service ESC, Service Brake Assist, Engine light and more popped up on dash. Vehicle had to get towed. This could have been a very dangerous situation.... Read more
Incident date: Aug 29, 2025
The ABS, Brake, TSC lights have all appeared on the dash. When running the OBD codes, the error C1391 appears indicating a problem with the ABS pump. When under the dash with the vehicle running, one can hear the abs pump engaging every few seconds which is not normal. After resetting the code. The error quickly pops back up. This is a known problem with this model Prius that Toyota is aware of. T... Read more
Incident date: Nov 21, 2024
Driving along the highway in cruise control at about 70mph without any trailer being pulled. Suddenly I got brake errors. ABS, ESC, Trailer brake error failures all popped on the dash warnings. Brakes were unresponsive only applying hard pressure to the brake pedal was effective. There was zero feedback from the brake pedal to myself on it engaging and braking effectively. If this happened in a si... Read more
Incident date: Aug 18, 2025
While driving the car flashes a BRAKE warning on the dash and then automatically begins emergency style braking attempting to bring the car to a STOP, but this happens while driving at highway speeds which is dangerous for rear approaching traffic. This has happened before and the dealership could not reproduce the action. This is the third time it has happened.