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 117,788 complaints - component: STEERING
Incident date: Oct 17, 2025
Driving the car at under 20 mph making a left turn into my cul-de-sac which has an upward slope. Car system thought it would crash into the tree straight ahead and started emergency braking making loud noise and then the steering wheels locked. Ended up hitting the parked car in front of neighbors house due to brake and steering malfunction. Heard from other Volvo owners that this has been a probl... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Oct 16, 2025
The first time I was stopped at a red light and the car started acting like it was missing and then it shut off this was during rain the message on the dash said engine stopped steering power low. The next time this happened I was parking it a parking lot and the engine did the same it rpm started going up and down like it was missing then it shut off and showed the message engine stopped steering... Read more
Incident date: Aug 26, 2025
Car was shaking over anytime went over 70miles an hour. Would not stay in lane . Steering dampener was replaced . Car continues to do this when I hit a bump. I’ve taken it back two more times, the dealer says they cannot duplicate the problem and therefore cannot fix it . It pulls completely to the other side and snaps back . They said it’s because the back is heavier than the front . They cla... Read more
Incident date: Oct 21, 2025
The contact owns a 2011 Ford Fusion. While the contact's daughter was driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel failed to turn in the intended direction. The contact stated that the power steering warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was driven to the residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The dealer was made aware of the failure;... Read more
Incident date: Oct 17, 2025
Clock spring in steering column Clock spring controls: Buttons on steering wheel Heated steering wheel Turn signals/lights Air bag in steering wheel My issue was just starting at making the heated steering wheel not work. And could potentially effect the other functionalities (ram had a previous recall on later models) This was reproduced at the service center Not sure if it was inspecte... Read more
Incident date: Oct 16, 2025
Steering wheel sticks when traveling over 60 MPH and trying to make minor lane adjustments on the freeway. This causes the driver to over correct and jerks the car back and forth.
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2012) - STEERING
Oct 21, 2025
Incident date: Oct 18, 2025
The front upper control arms on my 2018 Tesla Model 3 have failed multiple times, producing loud clunking, popping, and binding noises during steering. The issue has worsened and poses a serious risk of loss of control while driving. Tesla replaced these parts under goodwill in the past, but the failures have returned. The most recent incident occurred around 03/05/2025 at approximately 106,867 mi... Read more
Incident date: Aug 15, 2024
When taking turns the steering "sticks" amd it takes extra physical force to "unstick" the car. While unsticking by turning the steering wheel harder than normal, it either crosses into uncoming traffic or runs off the shoulder. It unsticks but with the extra physical force, it generally causes you to over correct and/or swerve/veer all over the roadway. 2018 with 72k miles
Incident date: Oct 17, 2025
I have received 2 recalls regarding my steering rack. I did have the gear box worm wheel spring replaced but that did not solve the problem my steering was sticking, hard to turn , clunking it would veer off to the right. I took it back to Honda dealer and was told it was dangerous to drive my whole power steering rack needed to be be replaced but Honda said it was not part of the recall I had to ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 20, 2025
Intermittent short discovered in the electric power steering (EPS) system. I took the vehicle to the dealership to perform diagnostic testing and the dealership confirmed the issue is a short-circuit within the EPS system. This issue has already been covered in a separate NHTSA recall (19E-077) however my VIN was not included. Amplifying information for this being a prevalent issue includes backor... Read more
Incident date: Oct 15, 2025
On October 8, 2025, my wife and I purchased a 2025 Ford F-150 Lariat, 3.5L Full Hybrid, with Ford's BlueCruise hands-free driving feature. As first-time users, I reviewed the owner's manual and Ford’s videos to understand BlueCruise. After several uses, I noted unpredictable behavior and now report a serious safety issue warranting federal investigation. On October 15, 2025, while driving north... Read more
Incident date: Oct 18, 2025
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Soul. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 17V608000 (STEERING); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The vehicle remained at the dealer unrepaired. The contact stated that on a separate occasion, while driving at 40 MPH, the transmission seized and failed to function as intended. Th... Read more
Incident date: Oct 18, 2025
I’m writing this message out of frustration, exhaustion, and genuine concern for public safety. Over the past months, I’ve been renting and driving multiple cars from different brands and models — Toyota, Subaru, Nissan, and now a 2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E and all of them show the same dangerous behavior: sudden phantom braking for no reason, traction control malfunctioning, throwing the ca... Read more
Incident date: Sep 20, 2025
Front Suspension Knuckle Crack was knocking and ready to break on my 2017 Range Rover. I had to bring it into an independent service center due to the inability of the dealer (JLR Newport Beach, CA) to get me in (I was told 200 cars were in front of me and it would be an undetermined period of time before they could get to me). The suspension and steering were affected and I had to have it repair... Read more
Incident date: Oct 12, 2025
My battery light has been on for about a week it will come off and on thos morning as I was pulling into work I notice the power steering wasn't working right!
Incident date: Jan 15, 2024
Just recently my power steering started cutting in and out in parking lots. I have seen that there is a ongoing investigation into steering problems with these trucks. I have not took it to a shop, because it just started and has only done it in parking situations. There are no lights or warning codes on the dash. It was about two weeks ago that it started. The vehicle is available for inspection ... Read more
COOPER
DISCOVERER RTX
(9999) - STEERING
Oct 20, 2025
Incident date: Oct 18, 2025
While driving in local traffic, my vehicle completely shut down. All power was lost. The engine shut off, shift control was disabled and the power steering did not work. Several warning lights were displayed including a "shift to neutral" warning, which was disabled. I was unable to restart the vehicle. After sitting for 10 minutes, the vehicle was started and resumed normal operations. This has h... Read more
Incident date: Oct 20, 2025
My car has never been in an accident. One day while turning into my driveway, I heard a large clicking sound. Since then, my airbag malfunction light is on and my car horn does not sound/work. All steering wheel controls are broken. This has been an issue for about 6 months. I've been waiting on a recall impacting my specific VIN/year/make/model, however I am being informed that I will need t... Read more
FORD
BRONCO SPORT
(2021) - STEERING
Oct 20, 2025
Incident date: Jun 19, 2024
The contact owns a 2015 GMC Canyon. The contact stated that while driving 35-40 MPH, the power steering became inoperable. The steering wheel was difficult to turn. The vehicle was restarted and worked as designed. The message “Power Steering Fault - Drive with Care” was displayed. The local dealer was contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and con... Read more
Incident date: Oct 10, 2025
On October 17, 2025, while using Full Self-Driving (FSD) mode on my 2021 Tesla Model S Plaid, the car failed to stop at two red lights within a three-hour period. In each case, the car attempted to drive through the intersection even though the signal was solid red. I intervened manually and applied the brakes to prevent a potential collision. There were no prior warnings or alerts, and I have not... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2025
The steering does not self-center after making a turn. It feels stiff and remains in the turned position, requiring manual effort to bring it back to center.
Incident date: Oct 17, 2025
Power steering assist drive with care warning popped up on dash. Took the vehicle to the dealership and they said the power steering gear failed.
Incident date: Aug 5, 2025
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 35 MPH, the steering wheel became difficult to turn to the left or to the right. The contact stopped and turned the vehicle off and restarted the vehicle, and the power steering functionality returned. The contact stated that the failure had occurred twice and during the second failure the check engine wa... Read more
Incident date: Oct 14, 2025
The steering locked up could not turn or straighten car out. All electrical things lights air conditioning gas light just went haywire and is still not working. The shifting system I guess is what u call it started slipping out of gear like going into natural or first gear and nothing else. Several cars had to serve to keep from getting hit at 70+ miles an hour and I had no control other than to h... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2025
Steering wheel is very still. I checked online and noticed there is a recall for this problem. I am requesting a recall on my vehicle so that the problem can be resolved.
Incident date: Jun 20, 2025
I have had a problem with the theft deterrent system which, shuts the truck down and issues a message saying "turn the driver side window down and then up". After 5 minutes the truck starts back up by itself? This has occurred sitting in Popeyes drive thru line in August 2024 in Benton Harbor, Mi. This has occurred 3 times in the past week, 09/25/25 driving on Garrett road it shut down during th... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2025
Engine temperature gauge is not working. Dash is displaying driver assist issue and steering intermittently locks up while moving. Air conditioning does not work and cooling fan is running at high speed. Thermostat and coolant temperature sensor need to be replaced. Such a high number of these vehicles are failing that i can’t even get factory parts
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2024) - STEERING
Oct 19, 2025
Incident date: Jun 1, 2024
Loss of steering, good this I parked and back up and loss power
TOYOTA
HIGHLANDER
(2024) - STEERING
Oct 19, 2025
Incident date: Jan 1, 2024
My vehicuel vibrate at low speed or hight speed, speed does not descrimita, the steering wheel vibrate in a very strange way, when the car hit a bump, at any speed, it vibrate like a motor, for a short period of time, and them it goes back to normal, until agiang I hit a bump
Incident date: Aug 7, 2025
The problem I am reporting I found reported on the internet. My dashboard lite up with power steering and brake warning lights and told me to contact the dealer. Power steering was lost and braking power diminished. Pulled over and restarted the car several times and steering and braking came back but the warning lights still on. After sitting for an hour while we ate the car started with no warni... Read more
Incident date: Aug 4, 2024
This is a notice for Ongoing consumer fraud and deceptive business practices that are negatively affecting the community and jeopardizing life and safety and through unsafe work practices that are negatively affecting the community’s safety and well being. When I returned to request official documentation of their unsafe work practices, I was lacked up by the employees and manager [XXX] , who th... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Sep 3, 2025
while driving at slow and or highway speed limit, while turning to the rightor left, the steering wheel avts as if being hung up?catching onto something. it takes a little harder pull to release it out of the turn causing the vehicle at highway speeds to almost be uncontrollable. This in turn causes myself and others to be put in danger. While searching the internet for possible matches to my situ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 17, 2025
Intermittent steering catches
Incident date: Oct 16, 2025
Subject: Urgent Safety Concern – Immediate Attention Required Dear To Whom it may Concern, I am writing to urgently express serious safety concerns with the vehicle I recently [purchased/test drove/had serviced]. Seat Belt Malfunction: The children’s seat belts are not retracting properly, posing a significant safety risk. Braking Issues: Despite being told the brakes are at 90%, they feel... Read more
Incident date: Jul 22, 2025
I am writing to formally file a complaint for gross negligence, excessive delays, and repeated mechanical failures regarding my RAM 2020 ProMaster1500 HR; VIN: [XXX] at the authorized dealership Bomnin-Doral in Miami, FL. The vehicle remained at the dealership for 1 year, 4 months, and 18 days due to transmission damage and other mechanical issues. Five days after final delivery, the transmissio... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2024
Component/System Involved: The electric power steering system in my 2020 Chevy Blazer is malfunctioning. A warning appears on the dashboard: “Steering Assist is Reduced – Drive with Care.” When this happens, steering becomes very stiff and difficult. The issue is ongoing, and the component is available for inspection if requested. Safety Risk: This creates a serious safety hazard. The sudde... Read more
Incident date: Oct 16, 2025
I’m having an issue with my power steering assist. It just goes out while I’m driving. I almost hit a telephone pole one day almost 2 cars two other times. It started about seven months ago when you pull over shut off the truck open the door to break continuity for the electrical system close the door and start it. It goes back to working normal. It’s gotta be part of the connections underne... Read more
Incident date: Oct 13, 2025
The steering wheel does not return to center. This appears to be a common issue on Chevy Bolts based on various forums, for example https://www.chevybolt.org/threads/steering-wont-return-to-center-bad-steering-gear-steering-sticking-in-one-direction.42988/. One has to be very aware of the steering issue as it requires the driver to actively force the steering wheel to return to center. This can... Read more
Incident date: Jun 10, 2025
Happened twice now while driving, power steering suddenly lost and two messages on dash: Loss of Power Steering and Stabilitrak. Pulled over and turned off ignition. When restarted all errors automatically cleared and systems appear to be functioning correctly. Steering without power assist is very difficult and high safety concern at low speed driving.
Incident date: Feb 15, 2024
The steering sticks and makes a noise intermittently when turning the steering wheel. You cannot count on a smooth turn when turning. The dealership verified this and said the steering gear had to be replaced. While there are countless Honda CRV complaints about this, on several model years, including mine ,and a recall on some of the VIN's, my VIN was not included. Honda recall would not help wi... Read more
Incident date: Jul 1, 2025
The contact leased a 2024 Tesla Cybertruck. The contact stated while driving 25 MPH, the windshield wipers turned off. The contact stated that the indicator was inoperable. While depressing the left turn signal, the blinker was slow to respond. While driving on a narrow street, the vehicle swerved to the right. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact received a recall letter related ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 16, 2025
Power steering assist fault and service advance trac alerts came on in the dashboard when car was cranked up to drive. I was unable to turn the steering wheel easily and the vehicle was difficult to steer. My safety and the safety of others would be put at risk when attempting to drive the vehicle because the steering wheel locked up and was very difficult to turn. I happened to be at a Firestone ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 16, 2025
While driving all warning lights were activated and power steering completely failed. The vehicle was in drive and fully charged
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2020) - STEERING
Oct 17, 2025
Incident date: Sep 8, 2025
The contact owns a 2021 Subaru Crosstrek. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the steering wheel was difficult to turn in either direction. Several unknown warning lights were illuminated. In addition, the contact stated that the vehicle was repaired under an unidentified recall; however, the recall repair failed to prevent a failure. The contact stated that upon further inspection... Read more
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2017) - STEERING
Oct 17, 2025
Incident date: Mar 7, 2025
The contact owns a 2014 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds on several occasions, the steering wheel was loose while turning. Additionally, the contact stated that on approximately three occasions while in reverse(R), the steering wheel locked up. The contact stated that the EPS and ESC warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle was parked ... Read more