Consumer Safety Complaints

Search 2,192,899 safety complaints filed by vehicle owners with NHTSA — including 137,559 crashes, 55,854 fires, and 8,555 deaths.

2,192,899 Total Complaints

137,559 Reported Crashes

55,854 Reported Fires

8,555 Reported 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 2,192,899 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

How to Read NHTSA Consumer Complaints › How NHTSA Investigations Work › Used Car: 7 Recall Checks to Run First › The Takata Airbag Recall: Full Story › OBD-II Codes Explained › All Articles ›

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Showing 76,359 complaints — component: SERVICE BRAKES

Incident date: Sep 28, 2025

Loss of control due to brakes locking up.

Incident date: Sep 13, 2025

Upon stopping at a red light and or stop sign, when applying brakes, the car continues to move forward, even after pumping the brakes. Vehicle has been diagnosed by a certified auto mechanic. The findings and recommendation for the Brake Master Cylinder to be the reason the vehicle continues to creep forward, when brake are applied and held. This issue has on two separate occasions near collision,... Read more

Incident date: Sep 22, 2025

BRAKES WON'T WORK AS EXPECTED ON SLOPES/UNEVEN ROADS

Incident date: Sep 30, 2025

i have a 2015 jeep wrangler unlimited sport and the ABS controle module has failed rendering the jeep without traction control and without abs system i have contacted service centers and told that it has been a backorder part for several years and that mopar has been less then responsive to the issue and all the service centers has waiting list of customers with the same issue that it is a wel... Read more

Incident date: Dec 31, 1969

With my vehicle the brakes go straight to the floor. I took it to the mitsubishi dealership closest to me (Bobmills mitsubishi Jacksonville Nc). When I got there i told them what was going on, and if you bleed the brakes they worked fine for 3 or 4 days but after that the brakes would just go to the floor again. They said they bleed the brakes to replace the fluid and then tested the ABS module fo... Read more

Incident date: Sep 25, 2025

I had a recall on my car for brake hoes was leaking i fixed it but now brake fluid is leaking from right passenger side calliper after recall was done on my car and the recall done by Purvis Ford Inc 11335 Patriot Hwy, Fredericksburg, VA 22408 and they are not taking the responsibility that it happened after the recall done by them

Incident date: Jul 15, 2025

The contact owns a 2025 Lexus RX 350. The contact stated that while driving into a parking space, the vehicle suddenly experienced unintended acceleration and drove forward at a high rate of speed before crashing into the brick wall of an office building. During the crash, no air bags deployed, and the brake pedal was hard when pressed and did not stop the vehicle. Also, the manufacturer's APP in... Read more

Crash 1 injured

Incident date: Jul 4, 2025

Excess play with front axles, manufacture defect improperly torqued axles, under or no grease for axles. Loud clunk noise when braking, rotors and brakes were replaced noise still exists, dealership claims it was the rotors and brakes from harsh driving which is false. Issues with axle, premature wear of front and rear rotors and brakes caused by front axles and suspension failure & defects dealer... Read more

Incident date: Aug 29, 2025

16,000 miles driven and my replace brake sensor light came on the dashboard. I took it in to get looked at and was told the Front Drivers Side has 1 brake pad showing a life of 5 while my other pads all showed a life of 9/10. I was told that most likely something stuck inside the brake pad itself causing it to wear unevenly but I don't drive anything but highway and paved roads. I looked around... Read more

Incident date: Sep 10, 2025

ABS sensor has failed at 35,000 miles and has left me without antilock brakes which impairs the braking ability of my vehicle in emergency situations. This needs to be issued as a recall.

Incident date: Sep 25, 2025

Front brakes make scratching sound, dealer alleged brakes and rotor are fine after inspection. Steering wheel shakes at times when braking down hill. Cabin too noisy, air and sauna enter cabin by driver side door. Reported issue to dealer, they alleges the seal may need to be replaced; but not covered by warranty.

Incident date: Sep 3, 2025

The car suddenly dead in the intersection when driving the car, then can’t start the car, can’t shift the gear, stay in neutral position all the time. A message came out staying “Brake problem “! After around 20 minutes, system messaged us “problem solved, OK to drive “, so we were able to start the engine and start driving as normal. I called Service center let them know the scenar... Read more

Incident date: Aug 1, 2025

I am unsure what exact component malfunctioned but in 5 separate times within the past 2 months, the vehicle has failed to stop at a normal time when pressing the brakes and a loud rumbling occurs. It feels as if I am sliding on ice.Two of the times it occurred on uneven road surfaces, however 3 times I could not identify an issue with the road. They all occured when coming to a stoplight/stop sig... Read more

Incident date: Sep 29, 2025

After applying the brakes in a sudden situation, the automatic emergency braking came on but the car didn't stop. The brake pedal was pushed all the way to the floor board but the car didn't stop and crashed into the vehicle in front. This happened once before but didn't end in a crash. This was a total brake failure.

Crash

Incident date: Sep 29, 2025

I took my truck to the RAM Dealership to check my ABS light on and Brake light on and 4 warning messages that the Brake system needs to be serviced. In the afternoon I called the dealer and the answer was that the ABS module failed and needs to be replaced, but the part is on national backorder and they cannot provide an estimate on when and even if a part will ever be available for my ABS module ... Read more

Incident date: Sep 29, 2025

Recently, I just purchased my vehicle from Wally Edgar Chervolet with no open recalls on the vehicle. As of September 29th, 2025 for my very first oil change on the vehicle I was made aware for 4 OPEN Recalls which was told to me at the time of purchase. The dealership closed the all recalls without actually checking my make the vehicle was safe to drive. The Recall Numbers are: N252510321, N22236... Read more

Incident date: Aug 23, 2025

The contact rented a 2025 Chevrolet Trax. The contact stated that, while her husband was driving at 25 MPH on a decline and attempting to slow the vehicle upon approaching a curve in the road, the brake pedal depressed all the way to the floorboard but failed to bring the vehicle to a complete stop. As a result, the driver briefly lost control of the vehicle, only coming to a complete stop after c... Read more

Crash

Incident date: Aug 15, 2025

Break monitors for front breaks have dislodged and caused damage to rotors and pads. Dealer claims this is normal wear! Breaks shimmy when breaking in all directions and squeak when backing. I travel to my work requiring mountain passes during inclement weather. The most important safety method while traveling on snow and ice is smooth steering, acceleration and breaking. With my font breaks shi... Read more

Incident date: Sep 27, 2025

In August of this year while the truck was moving, it just shut off and the parking brake was engaged. I brought it to the dealer and they checked the truck through the computer. They could not find any issues. Just this past Saturday 9/27/2025 while i was backing up into a parking space, the vehicle shut down again in gear and the parking brake was again engaged. I call the Service dept at Gaines... Read more

Incident date: Sep 24, 2025

The rear brakes are failing at unusually low miles with no indicator on the dashboard that they needed service. Basically we just started hearing a grinding noise. The Nissan dealer says this is normal for that vehicle, but I have never seen brakes begin to fail this soon under normal driving conditions and no indicators.

Incident date: Sep 29, 2025

Brake Accumulator and Master cylinder has failed. All lights for the ABS, TSC, and VSC are iliuminated

Incident date: Mar 18, 2025

ABS pump and module have failed according to my mechanic. ABS lights and traction control lights are on all the time. If I were to drive this car on the road, and I would have to make an emergency stop, my brakes would lock up and I would slide. This is an extreme safety hazard.

Incident date: Aug 7, 2025

The hybrid braking systems on Toyota Prius' manufactured from 2010-2015 had a serious failure of the hybrid braking system that had additional long term warranties to repair, but never recalled in order to save the money from a total recall. The Sloan Toyota dealership in Glenside knew before I purchased the 2013 Toyota Prius I purchased that a serious brake system failure was very probable with m... Read more

Incident date: Sep 27, 2025

We were driving on a local road and saw the car ahead parked at the traffic light. We began to brake from a safe distance. The car began slowing but instead of coming to a full stop, the brake resisted, the car made an odd sound, and instead the car accelerated into the car in front of us. The Tesla in front captured the odd behavior of the vehicle on camera. BMW will perform diagnostics.

Crash

Incident date: Sep 27, 2025

As I was coming down thew mounts (44 miles of 7-9% grade) as I slightly hit the brakes the truck shook so badly is was vibrating me off the road. The only way to avoid to to put strain on my engine as to manually shift it down to 3rd gear to forcibly slow the truck to a speed where this could be controlled. Causing overall traffic issues.

Incident date: Sep 28, 2025

pulling out of a dark parking lot at night, slowing to a stop at the stop sign. The road was bumpy and the abs kicked in for no reason, the brakes started juddering like crazy and the vehicle refused to stop. A loaded pickup was driving on the street and I was headed right in its path. I twice tried releasing the pedal and then reapplying it. the send time finally worked and the car came to a hard... Read more

Incident date: Aug 23, 2025

Component/System: Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS) or related software. Vehicle available for inspection. Safety Risk: Vehicle brakes or decelerates unexpectedly during normal driving, risking rear-end collisions. Most recent incident on August 23, 2025, required override by pressing accelerator and shifting to neutral in traffic. Reproduction: Dealer could not replicate issue during... Read more

Incident date: Sep 19, 2025

In the first week with only 107 miles, the brakes failed 3 times at very low speeds. Once while backing out and no brakes at all. 2 days later while turning a corner in a parking light they totally failed and I just missed hitting a car. And the 3rd time when I was trying driving out of the Ford dealership they failed and I hit the dealership truck and damaged both vehicles. They didn’t believe ... Read more

Crash

Incident date: Aug 23, 2025

On 8/23/25 at approximately 7:20 PM, the vehicle approached a red stoplight in a turn lane to merge onto the highway, the car began to shake violently and the brakes functioned only minimally, not allowing the vehicle to slow down/stop as expected. The vehicle eventually came to full stop, however, given that there was another vehicle in front us that was stopped, there very easily could have been... Read more

Incident date: Sep 26, 2025

My truck is experiencing the Brake Controller failures as documented in GM Bulletin N232414840 - Customer Satisfaction Program Intermittent Loss of Trailer Brakes. This problem has occurred several times over the past year. I thought it was the wiring on my trailer - so I checked and found no problems (plus it works properly on other tow vehicles). Additionally, the problem resets and works pro... Read more

Incident date: Sep 28, 2025

Upon reversing the vehicle and apply the brake, as if in a parking lot or driveway, if pushing the brake pedal more than twice the pedal becomes hard and the vehicle becomes hard to stop without and excessive amount of force being applied to the brake pedal. If depressing the brake pedal more than 3 times, it is almost impossible to stop the vehicle with it coasting several feet. Checked for a re... Read more

Incident date: May 15, 2025

The 2024 Ford expedition brakes was not working at the time of the accident, we later found that there was a recall on the brakes. PMA companies is the TPA for the Victaulic Companies, please see accident description below: Insured driver states she Pulled in driveway and was trying to park vehicle. Driver hit the brakes all the way down and the vehicle did not stop. Vehicle went through drivers f... Read more

Crash

Incident date: Feb 27, 2025

I have this truck from 2024 , the safety recall came up from February 2025 . But the company not fixing this issue. I’m a rideshare platform driver . My rideshare company also remove this vehicle from their platform for open safety recall . I contacted with my dealer also the Toyota main phone number . They still not solving my issues . Please help me out I’m now job less person because of t... Read more

Incident date: Sep 28, 2025

I took the vehicle to the service station because it takes a long time to stop, and I braked close to a vehicle on several occasions. They replaced the brake pads, and when I took the baby in, it was worse. When they finally agreed to let me take the baby in for another inspection, they said they would have to remove and reinstall the parts. Two months later, my baby started doing the same thing.

Incident date: Oct 24, 2017

Vehicle is not available for inspection upon request due to the vehicle being in an accident. As a result from the accident, the vehicle was a complete loss and beyond the point of repair. Without pulling the vehicle computer for operation list before accident occurred, it is specifically unknown what component or system failed and or malfunctioned. looking at pictures taken the night of and days ... Read more

Crash Fire 1 injured

Incident date: Sep 28, 2025

While gently slowing/braking on warm and dry pavement, the vehicle proceeded over bumpy railroad tracks which seemingly activated the Anti-lock brake system and prohibited the vehicle from stopping effectively. I had to turn the vehicle away from the vehicle stopped ahead of me because my vehicle was not stopping in time and I narrowly avoiding an accident due to this situation. Due to this inappr... Read more

Incident date: Sep 24, 2025

Since last Wed. (9/24/2025), the car started to show the warnings of "Adaptive Cruise Control Problem", "Brake Hold System Problem", "Brake System Problem", "Electric Parking Brake Problem", and "Road Departure Mitigation System Problem" from time to time. I bought this VHonda Clarity Plug-in Hybrid 2018 in June 2023 as the HoneTrue Certified. Then probably the same time, the car lose the EV mode... Read more

Incident date: Aug 19, 2025

When driving on uneven bumpy roads, I find my ABS gives a collision warning and engages the brakes. I’ve almost crashed once already and I don’t know what to do. Also when parking in tight spots, the ABS turns on due to collision warning and instantly activates the brakes, causing me to almost hit the cars in front or behind me.

Incident date: Sep 9, 2025

I went to put Brakes on and didn't have any Brakes which created an accident. (9/27/25)

Crash

Incident date: Oct 1, 2024

My BMW X5 has a recall on the braking system that was sent to me on October 2024 and still nothing has been done about it yet, the dealer always says it's not available yet, I believe this problem should be fixed by now and wonder if BMW will ever fix this problem, I believe they have had enough time to correct this. [XXX] , [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (F... Read more

Incident date: Aug 23, 2025

The transmission and/or shift-by-wire control system appears to have failed. While the vehicle was in motion, the system engaged “Park” and remained stuck in this position. The vehicle immediately became immobilized and could not be shifted out of Park. The vehicle remained locked in Park for 3 weeks. The failure occurred without prior warning and eliminated essential vehicle control functio... Read more

Incident date: Sep 3, 2025

Going down a hill and had to do a hard brake for a animal and brakes locked up instead of gradually stopped causing me to slide Truck presenting a c0020 code

Incident date: Sep 26, 2025

I was driving my vehicle through a parking lot at a low rate of speed (approximately 5 mph) with my wife and three children in the car. A pedestrian suddenly stepped out from a shopping strip on the passenger side to cross the road, about 8–10 feet in front of my vehicle. I immediately attempted to apply the brakes manually. However, the vehicle’s automatic emergency braking system unexpected... Read more

Incident date: Apr 9, 2025

abs light on no communication with abs module cause speedometer not fonctionning abs light on epc light on

Incident date: Sep 12, 2025

When braking to a stop at low speed (stopping at stop sign or at light), then car accelerates forward even though my foot is on the brake attempting to slow the car down. This unintended acceleration is dangerous and can cause an accident.

Incident date: Sep 25, 2025

I was coming off the freeway on 9/25/25, and when I pressed on the breaks they completely locked up and would not break at all. The car turned off, no warning lights nothing, and I continued to hit the break and the car would not stop, then all of a sudden it came to a stop almost colliding within inches of hitting the Semi-Truck in front of me. This is the second time in one year that this has ... Read more

Incident date: Jan 11, 2017

Some times the passenger airbag light comes on and off. This is a reoccurring problem and I don’t see any recalls on this

Incident date: Jan 15, 2025

ABS light on dash is illuminated, speedometer works intermittently, and sway bar dash light flashing. Power feels reduced when sway bar light is flashing. Occasionally while driving, door locks engage, sway bar light disappears and power is back to normal. ABS lights remain illuminated. No replacement part available.

Incident date: Aug 15, 2025

Reference complaint no.11684658 confirmed. From email from Tech representative "VDC HYDRAULIC UNIT REPLACEMENT. IT IS AN INTERNAL FAILURE OF THE ABS CONTROL UNIT. THERE ARE SENSORS INSIDE THAT MEASURE BRAKE LINE PRESSURE. THE LEFT FRONT SENSOR IS STUCK AT NEGATIVE 59 BAR. SHOULD BE ZERO AT REST. NOTHING TO DO WITH EYESIGHT THAT LIGHT WILL COME ON WHENEVER THERE IS A WARNING LIGHT ON." The modulat... Read more

Incident date: Sep 18, 2025

My chevy has 3000 miles on it and the service the brake Assist and service the ESC Information flashes on the screen and the Brake and ABS lights are lit up.

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