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
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2022) - STEERING
May 27, 2025
Incident date: May 27, 2024
Loss of power steering on startup or at stop light. A message pops up indicating that the Dynamic Stability Control is re-initializing and that steering may become difficult: Drive carefully. The warning message usually appears shortly after the failure. In fact, the steering gets so stiff, that my wife can barely turn corners. The problem comes and goes unexpectedly. This is my wife's car, and i... Read more
Incident date: Apr 2, 2025
When entering a left hand turn at moderate speed, the vehicle will go into a lurching, bucking, hesitation period, usually when under slight or moderate acceleration. This results in an uncontrolled wobble that will eventually smooth out but can also result in a sudden burst of power that tends to rapidly propel the vehicle further to the left unless the throttle is quickly relaxed. Hard to descri... Read more
Incident date: Nov 28, 2023
My vehicle is experiencing a sudden loss of power steering assist.
Incident date: May 26, 2025
The contact owns a 2009 Saturn Aura. The contact stated that while coming to a stoplight, the transmission failed to shift properly, and the vehicle jerked. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel seized with the power steering warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the steering wheel became difficult to ... Read more
Incident date: May 11, 2025
The steering in my 2019 Honda CRV started sticking when turning, almost like it was clicking into notches. There were no warning messages that anything was wrong. Brought the car to the dealer who determined the power steering rack needed to be replaced at the cost of $4579. Not doing so was a safety issue as the steering could lock up. I'm the original owner of the vehicle which has less than 30,... Read more
JEEP
WAGONEER S
(2025) - STEERING
May 27, 2025
Incident date: May 16, 2025
My vehicle was inspected in order to determine why my vehicle is stalling, jerking, not going into reverse and giving a warning message that the car is overheating. My spouse and I were told the transmission control module needs to be replaced. Upon reading about my car's maje and midel, I learned this is a problem with 2018 Ford cars. It stalls and almost cuts off in traffic which is very dang... Read more
Incident date: Feb 20, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while the daughter was driving at an undisclosed speed and turning away from the curb, there was a snap, and the steering wheel became horizontal regardless of the efforts to manually center it in its normal position. The vehicle continued veering to the right. The vehicle crashed into the rear of another parked unoccupied vehicle, where... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Feb 20, 2023
Power steering failure on may 26th and 27th upon start up. Had to disconnect battery terminal to reset torque sensor
Incident date: May 21, 2025
The contact owns a 2019 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated that after restarting the vehicle, the steering wheel became difficult to turn in either direction. The contact stated that the messages for the ABS, Traction Control, and Parking Brake were displayed. The cause of the failures were not yet determined. The local dealer and manufacturer were not contacted. The failure mileage was 101,000.
Incident date: May 23, 2025
The contact owns a 2021 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel became stiff and hesitated while turning to the left or the right. The steering assist, traction control, and collision assist warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where the battery was replaced; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was no... Read more
Incident date: May 16, 2025
The steering started having a sticky/pulling problem on 5/22/25. When driving and taking a left curved road at 30 mph, the steering tries to pull me back to the right. This can be felt in the steering wheel and another person confirmed this same issued that I described. I checked online and found that some 2020 Honda CRVs are on a recall for an issue with the worm gear expanding causing this same... Read more
Incident date: May 16, 2025
I have had Supervised Full Self Driving in the vehicle for well over a year. I have used the Smart Parking feature Monday-Thursday to park the vehicle at work and it has worked flawlessly. On [XXX] around [XXX], I went to [XXX] . After entering the gate to parking on [XXX], I drove slowly. I was able to select a parking spot and tapped on it on the screen for the selection and then started the a... Read more
Incident date: May 24, 2025
The vehicle is making a loud ticking noise which leads me to suspect this car has similar, if not the same issue as the 21-24 recalled L87 6.2 engines. I took it in the first time, they couldn’t reproduce the noise but I already have video documented footage over a few days with the sound of knocking/ticking from the motor. After they did an early oil change at the same mileage I brought the v... Read more
Incident date: Apr 22, 2024
Vehicle has not have the complete OS2.2 update mandated by the recalls, vehicle does not have ADAS at all, it’s completely turned off
Incident date: May 1, 2025
It is making a noise when turning steering wheel to one side and it has play and clinking noise in steering wheel. Is this included in SC155 recall?
Incident date: May 9, 2025
recall 15n01,,,dealer SAM GALLOWAY FORT MYERS FLORIDA is refusing to repair steering recall for bad gear i was NEARLY KILLED as can was unstteable in a near HEAD ON CRASH!!! the diagnostic is showing the code u3000:49 in the dtc and they REFUSE>>>PLEASE HELP...im DISABLED.
Incident date: May 17, 2025
About 2 months ago, the power steering assist stopped working and has been intermittent since. As I drove it to the dealership, I splashed into a puddle and the power steering returned. The dealership ran a check and found the code C2128 but said they could not replicate the problem. They found the PSA module cover was rusty. They wanted to charge $3,500 to replace the module as well as $2,300 ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 27, 2025
Steering feels slightly loose and keeps drifting to the left. When I have people in the backseat and I take off from a stop, the vehicle swerves to the left. Hoping the dealership will do an alignment when I take it in.
Incident date: Jan 20, 2024
Steering default on the dashboard and I can’t drive steering is too stiff , hard to turn
Incident date: May 24, 2025
As of 05/20/2025 my vehicle would not detect the Key in the vehicle to start. Put the Key in the slot to detect just in case it’s a bad battery on the Fob and nothing was being detected. Found out the steering lock unit is faulty. Called a local Nissan dealership and was told my VIN does not fall under a recall but I am having issues regarding the recall that has been sent out to some customers ... Read more
Incident date: May 12, 2025
We were traveling on a highway doing 70mph and the whole truck started to shake really badly. My husband could not steer the vehicle safely, nor could he brake without losing control. He had to slow down until the shaking stopped. When we got back on the road, the vehicle did the same thing three times. This is known issue with Dodge, yet they don't have a fix for it. They call it the "death rattl... Read more
Incident date: May 24, 2025
Auto was purchased several months ago from CarMax. Initial test drive was fine. Started noticing steering was sticky and made a noise like a soft click as I turned the steering wheel. More of a jerk left or right. Seems to be increasing with a little difficulty as I turn the steering wheel. Hard to describe. Reminds me of a go cart I once drove. Not smooth as you would expect. I have not taken to ... Read more
Incident date: May 7, 2025
cuando obtuve el vehiculo a los 5 meses comenso con un golpeteo al girar el volante lo lleve al consecionario y me dijeron que tenia que cambiarle una pieza pero que no la tenian que tocaba esperar un tiempo. pregunte si no habia ningun problema y me dijeron que no que podia seguir conduciendo asi el vehiculo. yo lo lleve en el mes de enero y hasta el mes de abril me llamaron para decirme que la ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 12, 2024
Very common problem it appears as there are several forum post from other accord owners 2013 and above that have all reported dash lights up with traction control, tire pressure, power steering, ABS and some instances Brake will illuminate on the dash board, and some have reported a combination of these lights or all of them. The culprit is a broken solder on the ABS module from my understanding ... Read more
Incident date: May 22, 2025
While idling, especially at red lights or in park, my 2019 Jeep Cherokee vibrates noticeably. This happens almost daily, and the vibrations are felt throughout the cabin, particularly through the steering wheel and seat, and has caused my phone to fall off its mount while driving. The issue has been consistent and now appears to interfere with the Auto Start-Stop feature. On several occasions, the... Read more
Incident date: May 23, 2025
I was sitting in my driveway 5 minutes after getting home from work and the car engine turned over and message on the screen said “engine stopped, power steering low”. I tried turning it back on and it turned over again with the same messsge.
Incident date: Apr 2, 2025
Power steering fails go return to center intermittently causing unexpected handling characteristics while turning that could cause to over/undershoot a turn. Haven't taken it to the dealer to check and there are no warnings or lights.
Incident date: Feb 9, 2025
UNKNOWN I was driving with no Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). My vehicle took control of the steering wheel, swerving uncontrollably, almost hitting approaching cars, and a wooden electricity post. It was diffucult to keep the steering wheel steady. I struggled to pull the vehicle to the side of the road until I made a complete stop. A witness checked on me and was concerned that I h... Read more
Incident date: Mar 28, 2025
the power steering losses fluid the steering is hard to turn and makes noise and the fluid gets on an area that gets hot i have not had an accident yet
Incident date: Apr 28, 2025
The car completely stopped without warning. The dashboard lit up with all the lights and informed me that the I need to pull over. There was no time to pull over as the car completely lost all power. The car was traveling on the freeway. It would not start back up and I needed to call 911 for help. The tow truck could not get the car started and the CHP needed to run a traffic break to get it towe... Read more
Incident date: May 23, 2025
While driving car, power steering will fail and deactivate leaving the steering extremely heavy and manual. Can happen at any speed, and has happened on the interstate at highway speeds. Information cluster states, "power steering fault - service power steering immediately" When this happens it is highly unsafe and happens instantly without warning. Makes getting the car off the road and stopp... Read more
LAND ROVER
RANGE ROVER EVOQUE
(2017) - STEERING
May 23, 2025
Incident date: Jan 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2011 Dodge Grand Caravan. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, there was an abnormal whining sound coming from the engine. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the water pump was replaced. The contact stated that several months later, while driving 65 MPH, the steering wheel seized without warning. The cont... Read more
POLESTAR
POLESTAR 2
(2022) - STEERING
May 23, 2025
Incident date: May 23, 2025
At 62,000 a very noticeable gap in steering going left or right become present. As you turn the steering left or right before the tires began to turn a noticeable clanking notice like gears hitting. The action of clanking was repeating every move more noticeable in park while running and off. Same while driving at 30 and below. ASE mechanic stated it was the rack and pinion issue which could lead ... Read more
Incident date: May 23, 2025
The contact owns a 2014 Mazda CX-5. The contact stated that while her husband was driving at a slow speed and attempting to parallel park, there was an abnormal sound coming from the engine before the steering wheel seized. No warning light was illuminated. The contact's husband exited the vehicle to inspect the vehicle, and another person stopped to assist and became aware that the ball joint had... Read more
Incident date: May 22, 2025
There are 2 issues that I have noticed since I bought my car from a subaru dealership 10 DAYS ago. the first is that upon driving at highway speeds (over 50 mph) It feels like the car is jerky and pulls in a shaky rocking manner. this happened continuously, when I was using the cruise control and when I was not using the cruise control. It basically felt like I was driving in 40mph winds that wer... Read more
Incident date: May 22, 2025
My steering wheel and front wheels shake uncontrollably make it dangerous to drive . A complete rack and pinion needed to be replace . The atlas only has 85000 miles . This happened at as slow as 10 miles an hour. Making the vehicle very unstable
Incident date: May 23, 2025
The steering has gotten stiffer over time. It no longer returns to center on its own.
Incident date: May 16, 2025
Upon start up Power Steering failure. Code U2011 'Service Advancetrack' 'Power Steering Assist Fault'
Incident date: May 16, 2025
On [XXX], I began experiencing trouble wiht my vehicle; speeding up, slowing down, turning, all of my safety display lights began to flash, and the display was showing several different malfunctions, advising me to visit my dealer. Prior to [XXX], there were not any warning lamps, messages, nor symptoms that presented suspicion of safety or failure. Display warnings included: - pre collision ... Read more
Incident date: May 8, 2024
Power steering suddenly quit at highway speed. Found a loose negative battery Pole. Tighten it. Then two weeks later it did the same thing at highway speed. No steering at all. Very dangerous at 70 mph on curved roads. Took it to chev dealer truck repair shop. Said the negative cable was bad and an electric motor in the steering housing had an electric short. Able to fix it at $2729!
Incident date: Mar 28, 2025
My truck shakes like a bad washing machine with an uneven load at 50mph+ only while accelerating. While turning it squeals. I have a hybrid and have not done any off-roading. All my miles are from highway or city driving.
Incident date: Jan 1, 2025
I was going down the road and I couldn't steer my truck the power steering went out cause me to almost wreck power steering is electrical
Incident date: Dec 20, 2023
When traveling on [XXX] in New York, at 78 mph, my 2018 Range Rover Evoque experienced an electronic power steering rack failure I had just picked up my neighbors from the airport and were on the way home. When traveling on a smooth, straight highway, the audible notification alerted and a message on the dash appeared stating "power steering reduced". When just trying to change lanes on the str... Read more
Incident date: May 21, 2025
Can't turn...steering wheel is very hard to turn....
Incident date: May 21, 2025
I was driving on a city street at about 30mph. There was no one in front of me or behind me. Nothing in the road. The orange rectangular brake light came on for no reason, kept flashing and it felt as if the brakes were automatically being pumped, slowing the car down to a compete stop. In addition, I had no control of the steering. It was very dangerous situation which could have resulted in acc... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2017) - STEERING
May 22, 2025
Incident date: May 22, 2025
Mazda issued a recall on the steering column which was done a year ago. The steering wheel continues to stick when turning on an intermittent basis requiring extra force to bring the wheel back to center. It’s been happening for a while and the service dept told me it was the tires. I replaced the tires and it continues to happen. Mainly happens when driving around turns towards the left and dri... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2017) - STEERING
May 22, 2025
Incident date: May 22, 2025
I believe the steering wheel coupler is bad on my 2013 Kia Optima. It is a known issue for this year/make/model. The steering wheel is slipping and makes a clicking noise occasionally when turning.
Incident date: Apr 18, 2025
My accord has an EPS gearbox recall. Causing problems with steering. The issue has been confirmed by Honda dealership. I’ve researched the issue, it could cause the vehicle to lose steering control and crash. I started hearing a loud springy/scraping noise about a week and a half ago. I took my vehicle to Pat Peck Honda (Gulfport, MS) the next day. Today I was at the dealership for 5 hours, they... Read more
Incident date: Nov 30, 2023
The gear in gearbox is sticking causing sticky/jerky steering. There are recalls on other vehicles but not this one specifically even though it's having same issue.
Incident date: May 22, 2025
The contact owns a 1997 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the steering wheel started to wobble. 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 not notified of the failure. The approximate f... Read more