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: Aug 26, 2025
The car turned off while driving on the highway. The car just recently within the last year or so started giving us electrical problems. The mechanic on August 14, 2025. Replaced the alternator, the second within 3 years. The battery replaced twice within 3 years, as well. Internal dashboard light flickers. The car fails to start several times a month. The driver & passenger seats is not stable,... Read more
Incident date: Sep 9, 2025
The power steering sticks when making a gradual turn which makes it feel like it's not going to straighten back up so overcorrecting is easy if you're not careful. It happens intermittently and the dealer said they were unable to reproduce it but it happens on a regular basis.
Incident date: Jul 19, 2025
During gradual turns, steering will experience a sticking sensation requiring extra effort when trying to return to straight line center while exiting the turn.
VOLKSWAGEN
JETTA
(2024) - STEERING
Sep 9, 2025
Incident date: Aug 13, 2025
The steering on my 2017 Chrysler Pacific sticks at the 11 and 1 position. It cause us over steer while driving down the road or on the interstate. It is very scary.
Incident date: Jul 25, 2025
When turning the steering wheel it will feel like it gets stuck for a split seconds. It happens alot.
Incident date: Jan 12, 2025
The steering wheel gets sticky when making turns and sometimes seems to be stuck when turning the wheel from a turn.
Incident date: May 5, 2019
I'm having a really back growling sound & it keeps having lose of steering. 1 minute it's fine the next it won't steer. There has been several recalls on lose of steering with this year. It says all recalls has been done on it. But if that's the case why is these problems still happening
Incident date: Sep 9, 2025
The power steering will suddenly go out while a “Stabilitrak” warning comes up on the display. There are many reports of this problem documented online in this year and model, and the 2015 had a recall for this known issue that was evidently not resolved OR recalled for the 2016 model. Suddenly losing power steering when traveling at highway speed or making a turn is a tremendous crash risk a... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2025
The steering gets stuck at the 11 o'clock position. The steering wheel does not respond immediately and is putting me in a dangerous situation and causing many close encounters with the vehicle oversteering in the neighboring lanes on the highway putting me and my family at risk for a major car crash. There was a past recall on the steering where the dealer checked the ground wire but no repair ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 31, 2025
When I’m steering to the right of the highway, my van is hard to steer back onto the roadway.
Crash
Incident date: Jun 13, 2025
V06 Recall was attempted, but welding could not be done correctly - was told that was the "best they could do" truck continued to steer poorly (constantly have to hold the steering wheel to one side or the truck will veer out of the lane) bc steer ahead wrong, and to wear outer edge of the tires to an unsafe level in less than half the normal mileage. Now Dodge dealership/Stellantis claims the dra... Read more
Incident date: Sep 9, 2025
The steering wheel sticks when exiting a turn, this can be reproduced on every turn. There is a risk of overcompensating steering if you do not anticipate the steering wheel sticking. There is also a vague spot in the steering when driving in a straight line, the vehicle will drift to one side and when you correct it will drift to the other side. Wheel alignment was checked and tires are in good c... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2022
While turning, my steering wheel will get stuck, sometimes causing me to over correct while trying to fix it. It has been happening for quite some time and seems to be an ongoing issue. It typically occurs when I'm going around a curve, not when I'm doing a complete turn. I am afraid this could cause an accident at some point.
Incident date: Jan 2, 2025
The electric steering has a stiff jerk at random positions when taking a turn. It seems to happen at the 11 o clock and the 1 o clock positions on the wheel. It causes a stiffness when driving on a turn that causes myself to have to jerk the wheel to get it out of the stuck position, which causes the vehicle to jerk and causes panic. It seems to happen every time I drive the van, several times dur... Read more
FORD
CROWN VICTORIA
(2007) - STEERING
Sep 9, 2025
Incident date: May 15, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel failed to turn in the intended direction. In addition, the contact stated that the transmission slammed into gear while shifting. No warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that the steering wheel pulled to the left while the contact was attempting to go to the r... Read more
HYUNDAI
SANTA FE HYBRID
(2025) - STEERING
Sep 9, 2025
Incident date: Feb 15, 2025
The contact owns a 2017 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds and making a turn, the steering wheel was sticking while making the turn, and after making the turn, it required an extra effort to turn the steering wheel. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The contact related the ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 9, 2025
The contact owns a 2017 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while turning the steering wheel in either direction, the steering wheel was sticking and notchy while attempting to return the steering wheel to center. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, who diagnosed that the power steering motor was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notif... Read more
Incident date: Aug 14, 2025
when driving into a left curve the chrysler pacifica minivan at roughly 10:00 on the steering wheel, the steering wheel locks and is very hard to get out of the locked state. in order to clear the locked state I have to jerk the wheel hard back to the right to get it free. I feel that it will eventually either stay locked in that position and cause a head on collision or if overcorrected will caus... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2025
Experiencing what is described as sticky steering. Driving the car on the highway the steering feels stuck and hard to maneuver, making correction tricky. This is dangerous and mostly occurs when driving on the highway at high speed.
TOYOTA
HIGHLANDER
(2019) - STEERING
Sep 9, 2025
Incident date: Aug 12, 2025
I was turning into a parking space on the street. I let my foot off the gas in order to brake.... as I did so the car LURCHED forward on its own about 2-3 feet running into the curb and damaging the wheel, the rim and the tire. I stomped on the brake, turned off the car, and restarted the car in order to finish parking (get out of traffic) and assess the damage. Thankfully nobody was hurt, althoug... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Sep 8, 2025
THE MOST CAR HUNDIA ANTRA 2020 HAS ONLY 75000MILES NEED TO REPLACE SOMTHING IN STEERING WHEEL HAS COMMON ISSUE STERING WHEEL TRUN IS VARY DENGRES ISSUE UNTILL NOW IS NO RECALL DID CALL HUNDIA COORPRAT OFFICE ABOUT THIS ISSUE IS NO ANSWER IS VARY DENGRES ISSUE CAN LED TO BIG ACCDENT
Incident date: Jan 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Chrysler Pacific. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds and making slight turns in either direction, the steering wheel became sticky while attempting to return the steering wheel to center. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, who replaced the steering rack, but approximately two years late,r the failure reoccurred. The manufacturer was not notified... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2022) - STEERING
Sep 9, 2025
Incident date: Jun 4, 2025
The contact owns a 2018 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that while driving approximately 40-75 MPH, the steering wheel partially locked up. The contact used extra force to correct the failure. The failure had occurred while the steering was turned at a certain angle. The steering wheel was sticking while turning at the 10 o’clock or 2 o’clock positions. There were no warning lights illum... Read more
Incident date: Sep 8, 2025
Steering feels like it sticks when going around curves. Has been happening since we bought the van
Incident date: Dec 1, 2024
The contact owns a 2015 Ram 2500. The contact stated that the vehicle was initially repaired under NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V021000 (Steering) at a local dealer; however, after the recall repair was performed, the vehicle was unable to receive a front alignment. The contact requested that the welds be removed to perform the alignment; however, several dealers and independent mechanics refused to r... Read more
Incident date: Jul 1, 2025
Steering wheel gets stuck in place when making wide turns and especially curves on winding roads. You have to jerk steering wheel out of what feels like a locked/stuck position. Power steering light (lamp) comes on with noise but immediately turns off. Power steering light has been coming on and off inconsistently starting in 2023. I have many videos/pictures of light on. It has never stayed on fo... Read more
Incident date: Aug 28, 2024
The contact’s employer owns a 2018 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that while driving on several occasions at undisclosed speeds and making a turn, the steering wheel became stiff and required extra effort to return the steering wheel to the center. There were no warning lights or messages available. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failur... Read more
Incident date: Aug 20, 2025
The key does not release when in park! I have to adjust the steering wheel and gear shift multiple times to get it to release. This has been going on for a while and the truck only has 27,000 miles. I've called multiple chevy dealers (including the one I bought it from) they all want a 250 diagnostic fee! This should be under warranty. This problem is dangerous. I have seen I am not the only one h... Read more
Incident date: Aug 25, 2025
The car had ongoing issues with a warning sensor that stated Steering Fault - Service Now. There was also a clinking noise when driving straight and then turning right. Took car to dealer repair show and they ran a diagnosis report (I assume they did). It was reported that it was an internal fault with strut bearings and installed a bracket that was suppose to remedy the issue. Since then I wou... Read more
Incident date: Aug 30, 2025
Today I learned that there is an open investigation pertaining to the steering on my model of vehicle. What I orginally throught to be "normal" for the vehicle I now believe could be an issue. Since I have owned this van there have been numerous random times where I have been driving and it feels like my steeling wheel gots stuck in position and required extra effort to move it. It has always been... Read more
Incident date: Sep 8, 2025
The contact owns a 2018 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds and turning, the steering wheel was sticky and failed to return to center automatically. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Action Number: PE25009 (Steering). The manufacturer... Read more
Incident date: Jul 2, 2025
I have had multiple sensor issues with my Acadia since reaching 60000 miles. Currently, there is a thermostat sensor causing hard shifting, No cold air blowing from the AC, stabilitrack, traction control, steering assist reduced and fan running after turning off. I would not report it but I am in a facebook group where MULTIPLE people are reporting having the same issue in their Acadia's.
Incident date: Jan 15, 2025
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Flex. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, the "Power Steering Assist Fault" and "Service Advancetrac" messages were displayed. The contact stated that the power steering assist had failed to operate as needed and excessive force was needed to steer the vehicle. The contact also stated that the turn signals failed to operate as needed. The vehicle was tak... Read more
Incident date: Sep 5, 2025
Steering has jerking sensation at higher speeds going around turns. Causing me to almost overcorrect. Safety of my children involved.
Incident date: Oct 12, 2022
There is a sticking of the steering wheel when I have a slow turn to the right or I am on a gradual curve to the right. The steering wheel "locks" temporarily and I have to tug to the left to get it to move back to the center position. I took note of an NTHSA warning about 2018/19 Pacifica models having this issue and I wanted to report that my model is having the same issue. We purchased the v... Read more
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2022) - STEERING
Sep 9, 2025
Incident date: Aug 23, 2025
The contact owns a 2017 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds and turning in either direction, the steering wheel became difficult to return to center. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, who was unable to identify the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the failure persisted. The manufacturer was notified of the f... Read more
KIA
SPORTAGE HYBRID
(2025) - STEERING
Sep 9, 2025
Incident date: Sep 8, 2025
The contact owns a 2017 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed and making a left turn, the steering wheel became stuck. The contact had the pull the steering wheel to correct the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or the dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximat... Read more
FOREST RIVER
SALEM
(2024) - STEERING
Sep 9, 2025
Incident date: Sep 6, 2024
On [XXX], at approximately [XXX], while driving my 2025 Kia Sportage with the lane assist system engaged in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, near the AT&T building at [XXX] , the system suddenly jerked the steering wheel sharply to the right while I was crossing an intersection. I had my hands on the wheel, but the force was so strong it felt as if someone else had grabbed it and tugged it hard. Despi... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Aug 30, 2025
The contact owns a 2017 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that while driving on several occasions at various speeds, and turning the steering wheel to the right, the steering wheel became stiff, and the contact had to forcefully maneuver the steering wheel to correct the failure. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed, and it was determined that the power steering sys... Read more
Incident date: Jul 1, 2025
Service Antilock Brake System. Service Shifter. Service 4WD. Loss communication with MPH. ABS light. Traction Control. Power Steering Failing. BRAKE. Doors Lock/Unlock. Vehicle shut down while I was driving and locked me out completely. Replaced Part No. 68321746AA-001 Vehicle was taken to four auto shops. None were able to diagnosed the issue. Mopar shop wanted to charge over $1,600 to replac... Read more
Incident date: Sep 9, 2025
The contact owns a 2017 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds and making a slight turn in either direction, the steering wheel had become sticky and failed to return to center. During the failure, the driver forcefully turned the steering wheel back to center. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer and manufacturer were not notified o... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2017 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds and making a slight right turn, the steering wheel became sticky and failed to return to center as designed. The driver had to forcefully turn the steering wheel back to center. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer and manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The fa... Read more
Incident date: Aug 3, 2025
Power steering issue when turning, if felt that the front wheels got stuck and then over corrected when I accelerated.
Incident date: Sep 1, 2025
The contact owns a 2019 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that while driving at higher speeds, the steering wheel failed to return to center after making a turn to the left or the right. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local independent mechanic for a diagnostic test; however, the cause of the failure was not determined. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehi... Read more
Incident date: Sep 7, 2025
The contact owns a 2017 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that occasionally, while driving at various speeds, the steering wheel failed to return to center after a turn to the left or the right. No warning light was illuminated. The contact scanned the vehicle; however, no error codes were retrieved. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacture... Read more
Incident date: Jan 17, 2023
Report is related to the probe into a sticking sensation on gradual turns. Particularly when at the 1 and 11 o clock position.
Incident date: Feb 8, 2025
Power Steering seems to have outages.
Incident date: Aug 30, 2025
Power steering is sticking. This requires me to use additional force and thereby resulting in over correction. This has caused unintentional swerving into the adjacent lane nearly hitting other vehicles. Seems to be intermittent, but this has happened on numerous occasions. I see there is a currently an investigation into this matter and want you to be aware this is happening on 2019 vehicles a... Read more
Incident date: Sep 8, 2025
Steering exhibits a sticking sensation on gradual right or left turns, like while driving along a wide sweeping cu4ve on a road. The steering hangs and does not return to center, and I have to pull it back to center.
Incident date: Sep 8, 2025
Unknown. Steering wheel sticks most days. Happens especially when turning and driving around a curb. Have felt this multiple times a day.