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: Sep 19, 2025
One night I was out and stop to get gas then out of no where I turned my truck back on and my steering locked up.Ive been told I need change out the whole rack and pinion. I’ve looked online for answers and all I see is recalls for EPS on these trucks.
Incident date: Aug 23, 2025
While driving at highway speeds, a warning appeared on the Driver Information Center (DIC): “Steering Assist is Reduced – Drive with Care.” Simultaneously, the temperature gauge was stuck on “C,” the radiator cooling fan ran at high speed, and the air conditioning stopped blowing cold air. After researching the issue, I discovered that these symptoms are commonly linked to a failing the... Read more
Incident date: Sep 19, 2025
First I had my engine replaced in May 2025 under the recall and service advisor informed me it would be about 3 days before they completed the engine swap and it had to sit to make sure there were no leaks anywhere and in less than 24 hrs the called me and told me my truck was all done. I went to pick my truck up they had it waiting in the service line with the engine running, I heard a strange t... Read more
Incident date: Mar 26, 2025
Sudden loss of power steering. After starting car, Codes came up immediately for backup sensor needing service, then loss of power steering needing service, check engine light and flashing mileage on dashboard. Currently at dealership waiting for assessment.
Incident date: Sep 20, 2025
Leaving home to go to the grocery store and as I exited my street a dash warning came on stating "Power Steering Assist" fault Steering wheel locked up making it impossible for me to steer. Fortunately this happened in a spot where there was no other traffic and I was able to just turn off the car and restart and the message was gone and my steering was restored. I am now terrified to drive ... Read more
HARLEY-DAVIDSON
RA1250SE
(2024) - STEERING
Sep 20, 2025
Incident date: Aug 1, 2025
I was sitting in my car, and the entire steering and brake system went offline and the car had a bunch of hazard lights on and said to tow to a dealership. I tested the steering, and didn’t feel the wheels turn with the steering wheel, and the brakes went to the floor. When I went to shut off my car, it did the emergency shut-off (press 2xs or hold for 3 seconds). I attempted to restart the car ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 19, 2025
Driving this vehicle yesterday, the power steering assist failed. Fortunately, I was traveling at a low speed at the time. A message appeared on the dash telling me there was a power steering issue and to drive cautiously. I can make this vehicle available for inspection upon request. I have not yet taken the vehicle to the dealer; nor had it inspected by any other party. The message in the dash d... Read more
Incident date: Sep 18, 2025
Malfunction of the Honda CRV's Rear upper control arms. Yes it will be available to inspect until the 13th of October. Safety risk is the fact there is no more adjustment on the factory installed rear upper control arms. When on the rack and they align the vehicle, they only want a .5 degree when being done. The factory installed rear upper control arms makes the camber maxed out at 1.25 degrees t... Read more
Incident date: Sep 18, 2025
In March of 2025 my vehicles driver assist lights started blinking coming out of my apt complex and within 15 seconds I couldn't even turn the wheels at all. Ive had several mechanics run their computer to diagnose the issue and was told that this make model and year has a recall for loss of steering which is an electrical issue. I called Ford themselves and they refused to even look at my car. I ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 22, 2022
I was travelling back home at about 65mph on the highway in my 2018 ford f250 crew cab and my left front wheel hit a small bump in the road. The whole truck started to shake violently and I couldn't hold the steering wheel as it was also shaking uncontrollably. I thought at first that I had had a puncture but the truck wasn't leaning as such. The wheels where simply shaking from side to side very... Read more
Incident date: Sep 19, 2025
Power steering lights up and I am unable to turn the steering wheel. When I shut the motor down and start back up, the steering starts working again. This has been doing this for about 4 years now. I took it to White Allen Chevrolet when it first started happening and they told me that they drove it around and that it did not happen while they test drove the car. It happens intermittingly. I ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 18, 2014
Steering is binding during turning. Very scary. Beginning at startup and continuing while driving.
Incident date: Sep 7, 2025
The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Camaro. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the power steering became inoperable. The contact pulled over to the right side of the road, turned off, restarted the vehicle, and the power steering functionality returned. A dealer was contacted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed, and determined that the power steering ne... Read more
Incident date: Jul 31, 2025
The "ESL Module" in this model is designed to unlock the steering and ignition when the vehicle key's passcode matches, using a small, mechanical motor with significantly poor durability. The problem is that this motor's failure is unpredictable, and many users of this model have been stranded and unable to start their vehicles due to the motor's lifespan ending. Even when the car is painstakingly... Read more
Incident date: Mar 3, 2025
The contact owns a 2024 Honda Pilot. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V735000 (STEERING). The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where the recall repair was performed; however, the contact stated that afterwards, while driving at various speeds and making a right or left turn, the steering wheel was making an abnormal clicking sound and was jerking abnormally. The Lan... Read more
FORD
EXPEDITION
(2019) - STEERING
Sep 19, 2025
Incident date: Jan 5, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 Land Rover Range Rover Sport. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V514000 (Steering); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. Several local dealers were contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The co... Read more
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2000) - STEERING
Sep 19, 2025
Incident date: Mar 5, 1998
Steering wheel when turned to right or left makes a loud screeching sound. It was brought to dealership and diagnosed that the steering wheel computer is failing and only way to fix is to replace the entire steering wheel rack. 5k to replace. Vehicle was inspected in April ‘25. Same issue has been happening constantly since. 80k miles Also, rear back up camera goes blank intermittently.
Incident date: Aug 26, 2025
Year: 2014 Make: Toyota Model: RAV4 Approx. mileage: 60K 2. Incident Details Date of most recent incident: [XXX] Problem: Vehicle stalls and loses power steering while turning. Engine shuts off suddenly, causing complete loss of steering control. Consequence: On [XXX], my son lost control of the RAV4, hit a curb, and went through bushes before stopping. Previous stalls also occurred while turni... Read more
Incident date: May 5, 2025
The contact owns a 2024 Toyota Corolla Cross. The contact stated that while driving approximately 10 MPH, the steering wheel suddenly malfunctioned and erroneously self-turned to the left, causing the vehicle to crash into a pole, where the vehicle came to a stop. The damage was to the front of the vehicle. During the incident, no injuries were reported, and no police report was taken. The cause o... Read more
Crash
HARLEY-DAVIDSON
RA1250S
(2023) - STEERING
Sep 19, 2025
Incident date: Aug 16, 2025
While performing a left-hand U-turn across three lanes and into the far right-hand 4th turning lane, at less than 15mph my 2013 Ram 1500's power steering failed and jerked the wheel out of my hands back towards the neutral position. This action forced me across all the lanes and into the curb on the right edge of the 4th lane which was the turning lane that I was trying to reach. When I finally go... Read more
Incident date: Sep 19, 2025
Steering wheel is peeling/degrading and causing difficulties with steering and control.
Incident date: Sep 16, 2025
Was driving at about 45mph on [XXX] on [XXX] and there was a lower control arm failure on the front passenger side of vehicle. Caused the vehicle to be inoperable. I was able to have someone pull me out of the way to not impeded traffic with the car in neutral but was unable to do much with it. It was late at night so I was unable to really access the damage. My wife had our insurance tow the... Read more
Incident date: Sep 18, 2025
On 9/18/2025, while driving at approximately 45 mph on a busy road called Hualapai in Las Vegas, Nevada, my Porsche Taycan suddenly displayed “Electrical system error – Park vehicle in a safe place”. The car immediately slammed to a stop in live traffic. I heard a loud thump from the front end as this occurred. I was nearly hit by six cars swerving to avoid me in the rain. Gladly no one made... Read more
Incident date: Sep 4, 2025
The steering wheel has a knocking in it. KIA has issued TSB CHA074 for the problem, the deterioration of the MDPS Flexible Steering Coupler. The bulletin covers my 2013 KIA Soul. It's annoying and sounds dangerous.
Incident date: Sep 12, 2025
Car difficult to control found to have corroded sub frame and rear break lines. Very unsafe to drive brought to independent dealer who had car towed back to Mercedes. No warning lamps, or other symptoms prior to failure. Scary situation.
Incident date: Aug 4, 2025
Steering does not return to center without effort. Feels stiff. Very different from other owned cars.
VOLKSWAGEN
PASSAT
(2013) - STEERING
Sep 18, 2025
Incident date: Dec 31, 2024
I was driving down the road and the power steering completely stopped working. This could have easily caused a wreck. No warning lights or indicators were prior to failure. I pulled the truck over to avoid causing a collision and turned the truck off. After shutting down for several minutes the warning lights that appeared while I had been previously driving went away and power steering returne... Read more
Incident date: Aug 7, 2025
The contact owns a 2023 GMC Sierra 3500. The contact stated that while driving approximately 60 MPH, the messages "Service Charging System" and "Service Diesel Emissions System" were displayed, and suddenly the power steering and power brakes malfunctioned, causing the contact to almost lose control of the vehicle. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer was notified of t... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2025
WHEN I START THE CAR, THE STEERING WHELL IS FROZEN, WILLNOT MOVE AN THE GEAR SHIFT WILL MOVE BUT IT CAR WILL NOT MOVE,, AFTER SEVERAL ATTEMPTS OF PULLING THE EMERCENCY BREAK AN TURNING IT OFF AND GOING THRU THE SHIFT PATTERN , THE CAR MAY MOVE,,,SOMETIMES I HAVE TO SHUT THE MOTOR OFF AN ON TO GET THE WHEEL UNFROZEN AND THE GEARS TO WORK.... HAVE OWNED THE CAR 3 MONTHS AN THIS HAS HAPPENED 4 TIMES... Read more
Incident date: Sep 18, 2025
The contact owns a 2017 GMC Sierra 1500. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed and coming to a stop, the steering wheel seized. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that while attempting to make a turn, the steering wheel became difficult to maneuver. The dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made awa... Read more
Incident date: Aug 20, 2025
The contact owns a 2016 Land Rover Range Rover Sport. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 22V219000 (Seat Belts) and 25V514000 (Steering); however, parts to do the recall repairs were not yet available. The contact stated that the suspension warning light and other unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle was unstable while driving. The... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2019) - STEERING
Sep 18, 2025
Incident date: Dec 31, 1969
The contact owns a 2021 Honda CR-V. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the steering wheel was sticking. There was no warning light illuminated. The local dealer was contacted; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed. The contact was informed that the VIN was not under recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mi... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2025
While my daughter has been driving our 2013 Chevrolet Malibu 2013, the vehicle continues to experience add loss of electric power. The dashboard display and infortainment system went down black. The problem first began -2019-2020 and continues to recur about once or twice a month. The most recent incident occurred on September 18, 2025, with my daughter behind the wheel. An independentc mechanic ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 17, 2024
A car from the other side made an illegal left turn in front of me, and I braked very early, yet still slid into them. The car had been inspected at the time at the collision center, and had DTC codes from before repair and after repair, showing the Integrated Brake systems had failures before and after. There was no mention of the results of the inspection until I asked after another braking inci... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Sep 7, 2025
The Integrated Brake System and Dynamic Safety Control both malfunctioned, not turning on. The car is totaled, so I don't think anything is available for inspection. There was water on the highway, and the car ended up going off the road into the grass and rolled over a few times before landing at the bottom of the ditch 100ft away. The car was not inspected because I was not aware of the major re... Read more
Crash
1 injured
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2019) - STEERING
Sep 18, 2025
Incident date: Aug 1, 2025
The contact owns a 2011 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the steering wheel intermittently failed to turn in the intended direction. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that while driving 50 MPH, the power steering assist failed to operate as needed. The steering wheel became extremely tight, and excessive force was needed to drive the ve... Read more
Incident date: Aug 18, 2025
While driving i lost all power steering and the lane departure lights and power steering alarms came on.
Incident date: Sep 18, 2025
Power steering service required message Power steering instantly failed at 55 mph Warning messages for AdvanceTrac and Terrain Assist Blinkers only work if held after all this Every other motorist in the road at the time (this morning) was put at risk as the vehicle was nearly impossible for my wife to steer. Multiple dealers claimed there is no recall for this. After online investigation, i... Read more
Incident date: Mar 15, 2025
All of these failed again after repair, the car hes been disabled for over 2 years with the same failures. < Dealer Recalls 14115 Dec 5, 2014 Product Safety - Electric Power Steering Assist 14113C Jul 17, 2014 Product Safety - Replace Ignition Lock Cylinder and Ignition Key 14113 Jul 17, 2014 Product Safety - Replace Ignition Lock Cylinder and Ignition Key
Incident date: Aug 26, 2025
Possibly a failing axle shaft. Which after researching it is a common problem in this make & model.
TOYOTA
HIGHLANDER
(2020) - STEERING
Sep 17, 2025
Incident date: Aug 13, 2025
Steering seems to catch at times, generally when the steering wheel is around 1 and 11 o'clock, steering wheel has to be turned harder to be straightened out which and lead to over correction and can possibly cause an accident, this has happened multiple times while driving
Incident date: Sep 17, 2025
For the past couple of months we noticed the car is swaying to one side when it accelerates. We took the car for an alignment and the problem persists. The car is now swaying aggressively to one side when driving at higher speeds. This occurs while driving in the highways. We have to be extra cautious because it can hit another car driving in the next lane. We took the car to the Weston AutoNation... Read more
Incident date: Sep 10, 2025
Power steering went out then came back on
Incident date: Jul 20, 2025
Steering sticks in position and requires extra force to correct.
Incident date: Sep 17, 2025
My 2023 Honda Pilot has had persistent issues with the steering system since it was purchased new. The problems manifest as knocking noises in the steering column, although no warning lights appear. The Honda dealer has replaced the steering rack three times. A rattling noise is now occurring in the steering column, and the dealer is advising replacement of the steering column. The dealer was in c... Read more
Incident date: Sep 16, 2025
My Audi Q3 2015 started with The TPMS on and the traction skid symbol also lit up on dashboard. I brought it to Audi of Warwick, Rhode Island and they did a diagnostic testing on it and found that it was the all-wheel-drive control module on a lot of 2015 Q3 is just like mine had recalls on that same part in my car only has 80,000 miles on it and at 49,000 miles or 50,000. The whole turbo went o... Read more
MITSUBISHI
OUTLANDER
(2020) - STEERING
Sep 17, 2025
Incident date: Jan 1, 2020
UNKNOWN, driving down a busy road and check engine light popped up and service electronic throttle system as well car stalled in the middle of the road and would not start when I tried to it would crank but not start. I noticed this incident was occurring in the past when I was close to half a tank of gas but now it’s occurring when I’m at 3/4 tank. I already addressed the possible issue of be... Read more
CHEVROLET
EQUINOX EV
(2025) - STEERING
Sep 17, 2025
Incident date: Aug 29, 2025
The contact owns a 2018 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds and attempting to turn the steering wheel slightly to the left or the right, the steering wheel was sticking, causing the contact to use added force to straighten the steering wheel. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to be diagnosed, and the contact was informed that the... Read more
FORD
F-150 HYBRID
(2025) - STEERING
Sep 17, 2025
Incident date: Sep 6, 2025
While having routine maintenance performed on 8/5/2025, I was advised that the steering rack must be replaced at an approximate cost of $2,200. I was told this should be done as soon as possible because it poses a safety issue. The vehicle only has 29,000 miles and has not been driven off road or in extreme conditions. I researched the issue and it seems that a number of complaints have been fi... Read more
Incident date: Sep 17, 2025
Electric Power Steering Unit suddenly failed upon start-up of vehicle. This truck manufactured in Feb. of 2015 but DID NOT receive NHTSA 16V-167000. The Safety Recall indicates RAM 1500 trucks manufactured from Jan. 22, 2015 to Sept. 13, 2015. This truck is within manufactured recall dates so why isn't it flagged?