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: Dec 18, 2024
The issue is my brakes failed on me all of a sudden. My abs light, traction control light, and brake light came on out of nowhere. Suddenly didn't have brake pressure. Had to pump the brakes a few times before the car would stop. Luckily I didn't hit anything or anyone. I brought the car to Prius specialist and they diagnosed it saying it was the ABS Actuator Pump Assembly and Master Cylinder. The... Read more
Incident date: Jan 17, 2025
The contact owns a 2023 GMC Sierra 1500. The contact stated that while driving on the highway at 75 MPH, all of the warning lights on the instrument panel had illuminated, the contact depressed the brakes and the vehicle would not brake in a panic the contact quickly steered into the left lane, pumped the brakes frantically, and the vehicle was finally able to come to a stop. The vehicle was tak... Read more
Incident date: Jan 17, 2025
STARTED THE VEHICLE TO DRIVE 30 MILES FOR AN APPOINTMENT. WHILE DRIVING, ALL OF THE INTRUMENT CLUSTER LIGHTS ILLUMINATED. THE EYE SIGHT TURNED OFF, CRUISE CONTROL NO LONGER WORKED, PARKING BRAKE LIGHT WAS ILLUMINATED, ABS LIGHT WAS ILLUMINATED. TPMS LIGHT WAS ILLUMINATED. THIS HAS OCCURED 2 TIMES BEFORE. THE FIX FOR THE PREVIOUS ISSUES WAS TO CLEAN THE BATTERY TERMINALS.
Incident date: Dec 13, 2024
While the car was moving in reverse, the brake pedal went to the floor, and the driving had to steer off the road and hit a tree to stop the vehicle. The driver side door and front door was damaged in the collision. After the collision, the driver noticed the parking brake indicator light was on.
Crash
Incident date: Dec 17, 2024
In January, 2024, my vehicle (2023 Hyundai Santa Fe) started shuddering when brakes were applied at high speed, on quick or hard stops, in stop and go traffic, and especially going downhill. I had only been driving the vehicle for about 5 months. I took the vehicle to an independent mechanic, who explained that my front rotors had burn spots. He recommended that I have them resurfaced. I did not w... Read more
Incident date: Dec 26, 2024
The issue involved multiple systems, including the ABS system, brake system, and electronic stability system (ESG), along with a significant loss of braking power. These components may still be available for inspection. My safety and that of others were seriously at risk during my morning commute in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The truck lost braking capability, nearly causing a collision with t... Read more
FORD
F-150 HYBRID
(2021) - SERVICE BRAKES
Jan 17, 2025
Incident date: May 24, 2024
From very low speed (less than 5 MPH), car would not stop with full brakes applied. Front brakes were fully locked as evidenced by skid marks, but car kept pushing forward until stopped by solid object.
Crash
Incident date: Nov 20, 2024
Took delivery of vehicle 11/19/24. Had the vehicle 10 days. Let another vehicle out of the driveway & upon pulling back in got "brake system failure" alert and the car would not stop rolling not matter how hard I hit the brake. I had to push the brake button. The "one pedal driving unavailable" alert also came on. Towed to dealership same day(11/29/24). They tell me it's a software update, but the... Read more
Incident date: Nov 24, 2024
My brakes were mushy when braking. Warning notices on the dash for servicing brakes and other related brake systems came up. At one point I couldn't come to a full stop. Issue first noticed 9/26/24. Dropped the car off at the dealer 10/8/24 and it sat for four months waiting the brake master cylinder. Picked up on 1/9/25. So far the brakes are working fine. I am now noticing a clicking sound comin... Read more
Incident date: Jan 16, 2025
Due to the Pasadena wildfires the car has been highly affected due to the extreme heat and the ashes
Fire
Incident date: Jan 1, 2021
Anti lock brake malfunction. Code c1391 leak in brake accumulator. This seems to be a common code for brake issues with Prius. The cost to repair is significant, more than the value of the car. This is a certain safety issue that needs to be addressed. This is clearly a Hazzard and will cost lives to those who cannot afford the cost of repair.
Incident date: Jan 16, 2025
Driving home from dropping my daughter off at school. When slowing down at stop sign, car locked up brakes completely, almost went through stop sign, car shut down engine and placed vehicle in park. Diagnosis is a vacuum pump failure, causing reluctor wheel to spin freely from camshaft. This happened without warning at 70k miles. Diagnostic report from three weeks prior showed no bad diagnostics w... Read more
Incident date: Jan 16, 2025
I brought the vehicle in to have recalls addressed on 12/30/24. Starting the next day we noticed the car was weaving without any steering, but thought it might have been icy road conditions and waited to see if it reoccured. The car has since weaved intermittently, but has righted itself after releasing the accelerator. However, on 1/15/25 while traveling about 50mph, the car started weaving on it... Read more
Incident date: Jan 6, 2025
The car was being driven down the road, when the brake pedal went soft. At that point the vehicle had lost all braking power. I pulled the vehicle over to the side of the road and proceeded to check the vehicle. The vehicle brake reservoir was empty, and the line underneath the car was leaking fluid out. Then I called a tow truck to tow my vehicle to get repaired. The mechanic then told me about t... Read more
Incident date: Jan 14, 2025
Driving down CR 230 in Wyoming, the situation started if I have to estimate, 7 miles west of Woods Landing, I heard a metal on metal grinding noise from the engine bay, and a loss of power on the throttle. I look at my RPM gauge and notice it is a zero. No check engine light, all electronics working as normal along with the brakes, and I slow the vehicle down to 30 MPH. Shortly after noticing, I g... Read more
Incident date: Jan 16, 2025
Ford 2015 CMax Energi with 41,000 miles. I was driving on a 2 Lane Highway coming to a stoplight and had to press the brakes firmly to avoid an accident at which time my 2015 CMax Energi abruptly stopped w a growling noise,. The dashboard lit up like Christmas. I observed The ABS system/ABS module failure/malfunctioned lights. 2015 C Max Energi was available for inspection when I brought it to th... Read more
Incident date: Aug 14, 2024
On more than several occasions the car has slammed on the breaks for no apparent reason. This has happened multiple times and thr dealer can’t fix the issue because the computer is showing no error. This is a serious concern for me as the last time it occurred a child hit her face on the back of the passenger seat causing her lip to bleed.
1 injured
Incident date: Jan 16, 2025
ABS module part no. 68295368AC has failed. Cannot replace due to Chrysler has engineers taking product off line. This has been a known defect for years and has not been recalled. My wife now drives a malfunctioning vehicle. Cost of repairs will be over $1000.00 There is no info of when this part will be available. Have contacted Chrysler customer care and they have confirmed this defect and no ans... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2024
ABS and traction control lights consistently light shortly after starting the truck. ABS, traction control and 4 wheel drive are disabled when this happens. This issue has been ongoing for many months with several attemps to repair that have not worked.
Incident date: Jan 14, 2025
Fault code in the Automatic Braking System C24020 C17410 White body paint bubbling and peeling off the car for no reason. Passenger door roof frame and trunk. Hood previously repaired
Incident date: Jan 1, 2023
While driving the vehicle at 60 MPH the vehicle powered off and displayed multiple warning lights. After pulling over and making a complete stop I restarted the vehicle and a warning message displayed "Brake system problem. Brake performance may be reduced. See your dealer." The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection.
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2016) - SERVICE BRAKES
Jan 16, 2025
Incident date: Jan 16, 2025
My brakes are not working properly. I can be backing up and put my foot on the brake. My truck will keep moving until I apply a lot of pressure on the brake pedal. I can be backing up and my truck will automatically brake and stop moving. I have to cut the truck off, start it back up for it to move. I was in a stand still traffic jam and braking a lot and my truck did stop it keep rolling. Someti... Read more
Incident date: Nov 28, 2024
My new Acura MDX has very soft braking under normal braking and with harder braking the pedal normally is at the same level as the accelerator pedal which I feel could be a safety issue if your foot is then pressing both pedals at the same time. Also, when driving with adaptive cruise activated, when the car starts to brake on its own following another slower car, with my foot resting on the accel... Read more
Incident date: Jan 13, 2025
Anti-lock brake system and stability control system control module has failed and replacement parts have been unavailable. (For over a year me dealer has said.)
Incident date: Oct 1, 2018
Rotors went bad with less than 250 miles on new car. Per American Honda rotors are not defective, because Dealership didn't day were defective; therefore, not covered under warranty, considered wear and tear. Dealership initially stated the cause of the rotors going bad was me: that I was hard braking and riding the brakes; however, first, I'd only had the car about 3 months and second, I cont... Read more
Incident date: Dec 4, 2024
The passenger side rear brake hose is leaking severely, causing soft breaks. Making it very difficult to stop. This happened suddenly and did not experience any issues prior to the hose starting to leak. It will be towed to Ford for inspection and repair. We had no warning lamps or messages prior to the hose leaking.
Incident date: Jun 15, 2024
I believe my car is affected by this recall and although it isn't showing up by my vin number, I am experiencing braking issues that cause the pedal to bounce while braking and it is getting worse by the day. NHTSA RECALL NUMBER:23V-458 MFR CAMPAIGN ID:VEU CAMPAIGN DESCRIPTION:2020-21 Civic Master Cylinder Mounting Inspection Safety Recall RECALL DATE:06/29/2023 RECALL STATUS:17 Character VIN Req... Read more
Incident date: Jan 16, 2025
Break fluid is leaking from abs cylinder and breaks are too soft to apply
Incident date: Nov 10, 2024
Yes, my vehicle is available for inspection upon request. When I go to put my 2019 GMC Acadia in "park" the shifter states it is in park & the dashboard shows it in "P." However, when I turn the vehicle off, an error message comes up reading "shift to park" and my car wont fully shut off. You can feel the car move forward or backwards a tiny bit (depending where vehicle is parked). This makes me ... Read more
DODGE
HORNET PHEV
(2024) - SERVICE BRAKES
Jan 16, 2025
Incident date: Jan 16, 2025
ABS system error StabiliTrak error Cruise Control error Vehicle with <14,000 miles is exhibiting symptoms of earlier ABS recall.
GRAND DESIGN
MOMENTUM
(2021) - SERVICE BRAKES
Jan 15, 2025
Incident date: Dec 14, 2024
My grandchildren and I were on our way to the Dentist, I stopped at a store, put the vehicle in park while waiting on my grandson to come out of the store. Then I proceeded to try to put the gear shift in drive but it was stuck in park. I could not remove the gear shift out of park. I was scared and so was my grandchildren.
Incident date: Jan 15, 2025
Was driving home and the brake light came on and dash said to pull over brakes started to grind as I pressed on them took it in and couldn’t find the problem looked online and a lot of people with my car are having the same problem read that there was a recall for the brake module 21V331000.
Incident date: Jan 27, 2024
Hello. I have a 20/20 Nissan Leaf SV Plus. This morning I had a total brake failure for lack of a better term. The E-Pedal system, which I always use, suddenly failed while I was driving, showing a warning on screen that said E-Pedal system malfunction... Please use pedal to break. When I went to use the pedal to break nothing happened except for this horrible sound and feel in the pedal. It barel... Read more
Incident date: Aug 13, 2024
While driving, the vehicle lost its brakes and rolled to a stop on [XXX] at that point the vehicle compartment began to fill up with black smoke and soot and flames started to come out of vents. My daughter immediately grabbed her dog and exited from the vehicle to a safe spot away from the car. Within 10 seconds the vehicle exploded and erupted into a 20 ft fireball. If my daughter would have ... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Jan 15, 2025
I was coming to an intersection where two cars were waiting for a right turn. I pressed on the brakes and nothing happened. The car continued to move without slowing down. The brakes felt "blocked" and unresponsive. I engaged the manual break at the last moment and that slowed me down. But I still hit the car in front of me which in turn hit another car in front of it. The police report says "... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Jan 1, 2025
Electric parking brake, driving at 70mph on freeway and Electric parking brake engaged. Almost lost control of vehicle and crashed. Stopped vehicle and turned ignition off let sit for 3 minutes and restarted. Problem cleared able to drive home with out issues. Called dealership to get vehicle in for service. Days later electric parking brake engaged again well driving at speed of 25mph. Again almo... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
C250
(2013) - SERVICE BRAKES
Jan 15, 2025
Incident date: Nov 15, 2024
My brake system light turn on my car won’t brake properly, Already change All the brake pads, brake fluid from all 4tires also taken it to the dealership and they changed the brake sensor . My car Still having issues braking properly. I’ve called Toyota and advised them it’s the Brake pump from the recall on vehicles 2018. But they won’t listen. Taking my car again to the dealership for a... Read more
Incident date: Jan 10, 2025
2024 Corvette included AEB. Window sticker shows AEB included. Build code shows AEB in build. Car one month old 650 miles. The sales dealership and second GM dealership communications with GM tech reads system as OK. BUT DOES NOT WORK. GM system tech says system reads OK BUT THE AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING HAS NEVER ASSISTED OAR APPLIED ONE OUNCE F BRAKES SINCE I BOUGHT IT 12/06/2024. I reported... Read more
Incident date: Jan 15, 2025
Twice while I was driving on the highway, my ABS and brake light came on, and my brakes became less sensitive to pressure. That is to say, it took more effort and I had to push my brakes further towards the floor in order for them to respond. I went to an independent mechanic and got the code C1391 which indicates a brake pump accumulator issue. I went to a Toyota dealership and and had the car in... Read more
Incident date: Dec 8, 2024
Once in awhile when the brakes are applied there is a loud sound that sounds like ache large can being crushed, and the brakes don't work properly. The car sort of lurches to a stop rather than coming to a smooth stop. If the engine is shut off and turned back on nine times out of 10 the brakes will begin to work again but occasionally it takes a few times of restarting the vehicle. I contacted Ni... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 3500
(2025) - SERVICE BRAKES
Jan 15, 2025
Incident date: Jan 13, 2025
had a recall on my truck to replace master brake master cylinder on October 2014, my truck lost braking power on [XXX] before I was able to leave my community almost resulted in me driving to a pond with toddler in the backseat. I was eventually able to bring truck to a full stop using extreme force to push brake to the floor. Upon discussion with Ford service representative, it is highly likely ... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS
(2024) - SERVICE BRAKES
Jan 15, 2025
Incident date: Dec 2, 2024
When traveling at approximately 40 mph, the vehicle displayed a service electronic throttle control warning. Turned on the engine light, then after 1 second the vehicle shut off while in motion with no warning. This disabled all power including brakes and power steering. After clearing engine code vehicle worked for around 20 minutes before repeating while idle in my driveway. Engine code displaye... Read more
Incident date: Jan 9, 2025
While braking, the car often lurches forward (so much so that it will throw my head back against the headrest). It almost feels like the car accelerated even though I have my foot on the brake. It will "re-engage" but it is frightening and also unsafe if you are close behind another vehicle or object. I have also felt the car lurch forward while it was in park a few times. Again, completely scared... Read more
Incident date: Jan 15, 2025
The truck has 59,005 miles on it. Driving down the road the following alerts displayed: Service Antilock Brake System Service Electronic Brake System Service Trailer Brake System The truck is available for inspect. There were no symptoms prior to this event but has continually displays these warnings since the first time of displaying in October 2024. I have another car so I parked the truck a... Read more
Incident date: Jan 5, 2025
Location: [XXX] Description of Incident: On a rainy morning, while driving to work, I encountered a sudden lane cut-off by a speeding truck as I exited a school zone. I applied the brakes to avoid a forward collision, but the brake system failed entirely. This resulted in the loss of vehicle traction, causing the car to spin out uncontrollably. The vehicle collided with an island, bounced into ... Read more
1 injured
Incident date: Oct 10, 2024
When pressing the accelerator from a full stop, the car would either not move at all, idle/roll forward, or unsteadily jerk forward. In addition, the car would brake while driving despite not applying any pressure to the brake pedal. This issue persisted regardless of "drive mode" and no cruise control was in use.
Incident date: Dec 9, 2024
The contact owns a 2019 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the brakes would activate causing the vehicle to stall and shut down immediately without any warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who determined that oil was leaking from the vehicle. The oil level sensor had been replaced but the failure persisted. The contact stated that whi... Read more
Incident date: Jan 10, 2025
The issue appears to be related to the vehicles electronic parking brake for manual transmission vehicles only. When stopping the car and with the car in neutral and engine running, the parking brake is applied per standard operating procedures. However sometimes the parking brake will disengage itself, seemingly at random. This caused a rollaway issue for me twice thinking that the car was in "p... Read more
Incident date: Dec 26, 2024
Vehicle was service at a Hyundai Dealer for routine required maintenance to continue the warranty. Less than 24 hours later I was driving my special needs, handicap daughter to breakfast and pulled into a handicap parking space and placed my foot on the brake. The pedal seemed to not have any tension and go to the floor. The emergency collision warning went off, but the brakes did not work. Th... Read more
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Dec 28, 2024
Power stop brake hose kit was recalled do to leaks part# BH00139 Amazon order # 112-6473860 / 113-5400733 Recall report 24E-053 Front hose began to leak causing me to loose pressure in the brake system and loosing brakes. Had to have the brake lines replaced