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: Nov 11, 2022
While driving at 45mph, a bump in the road caused the steering shaft to uncouple from the spline shaft on the steering gearbox. Control of the vehicle was lost but an accident was avoided. This problem has been reported in a few forums by other people who also installed the same part on their vehicles. The problem appears to be a design flaw in the set screw that is supposed to ensure the shaft is... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2025
Power steering assist fault message showed on display and the electric power steering assist stopped working. Oddly enough i found an article that low tire pressure may be common cause, I don't know how but since it was an easy attempt to fix, I tried. My tire pressure was at 16lbs psi. I inflated to 30 psi, hooked up scanner and cleared the dtc code C1277-20 on my scanner, shut off the car and r... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2025
My electrical power steering motor is no good on car it is at risk of causing harm to me
Incident date: Nov 15, 2024
51,000 miles and Power steering warning light came on, attempted to turn and the wheel and was a struggle to make a turn. I almost ran off roadway and struck a tree. I struggled to get the truck home, where it sat for a minute and reset itself and worked properly for now. Upon reviewing the electric steering in this year, make and model was very common within 15k miles to 65k miles. Upon internet ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 17, 2025
Power Steering EPAS Torque Sensor Failure.
TOYOTA
SIENNA HYBRID
(2025) - STEERING
Feb 24, 2025
Incident date: Feb 23, 2025
Original Problem: 2017 Nissan Tital Truck - Miles: 82706 Issue 1) Purchased the vehicle and owner of the Nissan dealership stated it had a "bumper-to-bumper" 100,000 miles warranty on this model truck. He never mentioned the warranty expired after 5 years in December 2022. Issue 2) Power Steering pump started making a "growling" noise Went to the local Nissan dealership and they determined a seal... Read more
Incident date: Feb 22, 2025
vehicle power steering stops working. Manual steering is extremely difficult to operate.
MERCEDES-BENZ
E350
(2010) - STEERING
Feb 24, 2025
Incident date: Feb 10, 2025
While driving towards our friends place, an alert came up saying "Steering Assist reduced" with error code GTW_w075. The car was running at about 60 to 65 mph and at that speed l, we didn't notice much issue in handling the car. When we were leaving for home, the alert was still active and at that time, we realized that the steering was extremely difficult to use. Herculean effort was required to ... Read more
MITSUBISHI
OUTLANDER
(2022) - STEERING
Feb 24, 2025
Incident date: Sep 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2010 Mercedes-Benz E350. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the low battery warning light illuminated. The vehicle was driven to a nearby parking lot. The contact parked the vehicle and opened the hood. The contact stated that upon inspecting the vehicle, the contact noticed pieces of the serpentine belt on the engine. The contact turned the vehicle off. T... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2025
Steering column makes a clicking sound when steering wheel is turned right or left.
Incident date: Dec 4, 2024
Older car models without lane assistance are swerving into my lane everytime I get near them.
Incident date: Jul 24, 2024
The contact owns a 2024 Honda CR-V. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 24V763000 (Fuel System, Gasoline) and 24V744000 (Steering); however, the parts to do the recall repairs were not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repairs. The manufacturer was not made aware ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 19, 2019
Power steering esc not working properly
Incident date: Feb 3, 2025
The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle became difficult to maneuver. The contact stated that the failure also occurred while the vehicle was parked. The failure had occurred on several occasions. No warning light was illuminated; however, the "Power Steering Failure Fault" message was displayed on the instrument panel. The vehicle... Read more
Incident date: Feb 21, 2025
Lane keeping assistance not updated to match roads and ran me off highway.
Incident date: Feb 21, 2025
Passengers side inner tie rod end. With normal driving conditions and normal road conditions with bumps and holes bent. So much so the self driving system nor I could drive it without turning it hard left to try and keep it straight. I have pictures this tie rod end is much to small of a diameter to be in a position to Carry the load of front drive and steering wheels. Normal road conditions today... Read more
GRAND DESIGN
SOLITUDE
(2023) - STEERING
Feb 24, 2025
Incident date: May 1, 2024
The steering doesn't return to center when making turns on occasion. This issue can cause an overcorrection, this does seem to be a fairly common issue seen in various forums and appears to be a very expensive fix.
Incident date: Apr 4, 2024
The contact owns a 2014 Nissan Altima. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the steering wheel became firm and difficult to turn in either direction. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that both front suspension control arms needed to be replaced. The vehicle was taken to a local independent mechanic for a ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2025
The contact owns a 2011 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the power steering assist function failed to operate as needed with the "Power Steering Assist Fault" message displayed on the instrument panel. The contact also stated that the steering wheel was shaking abnormally while in park(P). The contact stated that the vehicle had previously been repaired under N... Read more
Incident date: Feb 12, 2025
As I was driving about 25-30 mph when the front drivers side lower control arm snapped, resulting in loss of control and steering, which could’ve caused a major accident if driven on a highway/interstate at a higher rate of speed. The damage revealed the control arm had rotted from the inside and had broken from the bushing connected to the frame, with no indication of rust in the outside, which... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2024
When driving above 40 mph, in conditions above 45 degrees f. The steering is jumpy or sticky. It takes a larger input to steer the car. The steering wheel will jump about an inch. There is no way to steer between the area it jumped over. It leads to swerving down the highway. I went to the dealer concerning recalls on all other years and models. They said I did not qualify due to my vin number not... Read more
CADILLAC
ESCALADE ESV
(2022) - STEERING
Feb 23, 2025
Incident date: Feb 20, 2025
I was in an accident on November 22, 2024 wherein my vehicle became difficult to control due to issues with steering. I was severely injured. I broke my left arm, had a right orbital floor fracture, and a severe concussion. I later learned my vehicle was under recall for issues related to a defect in the steering column of my vehicle. I was not able to get the vehicle repaired under the recall due... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Feb 21, 2025
It’s either my ball joints or the suspension or the arms. But they have a recall of the same exact issues I’m having but my car isnt part of the recalled list. But I am having the same issues and I’m at 109k miles. And i wasn’t in an accident. It actually started happening after I had my car in the shop to replace my turbo. Since ive gotten it back it sounds and drives horribly and from w... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2025
Clicking sound coming from be front wheels when turning
Incident date: Feb 13, 2025
Car shut off while driving because warning light for the power steering came on p.451stating check power steering fluid level. Vehicle has either a sealed power steering system or its electric. It was raining at the time that this happened. This is a big risk factor that could have led to a wreck but thank god that it did not was able to get out of traffic and stop. It took an hour of waiting bef... Read more
Incident date: Feb 22, 2025
In two separate incidents (six months apart) and without warning, the Jeeps power steering suddenly failed. An indicator warning did come on but not prior to the failure in both instances. In both situations, I was attempting to exit very busy highways and little to no control over my vehicle. Some time after I had exited the highway, the Jeeps powering steering suddenly came back on. When I retur... Read more
Incident date: Feb 21, 2025
My Transmission failed on me driving on the highway.
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2023) - STEERING
Feb 23, 2025
Incident date: Dec 19, 2024
Hello! I started financing my 2019 Subaru Crosstrek in 04/2023. A month after that date, I had a head gasket issue. Then in 2024, a radiator cap deformed after going to the dealer to get an oil change at SF Honda. (The time on that was suspicious being that I didn’t touch that cap at all.) so I had to pay for that repair. Now in 2025, after getting an oil change at Subaru, a day after that oil c... Read more
INDIAN
CHIEF DARK HORSE
(2022) - STEERING
Feb 23, 2025
Incident date: Sep 1, 2022
Death Wobble At 70 MPH When Driving Over Rumble Strip In The Middle Of The Road. Slowed Down To Almost 15 MPH To Stop The Excessive Violent Shaking.
Incident date: Feb 2, 2024
Noticed steering wheel “sticks” when lightly turning to the left. I have to use significantly more force to move the steering wheel past this stick compared to the rest of its travel.
Incident date: Feb 23, 2025
Power Steering intermittently stops working upon starting the vehicle, trying to park the vehicle and twice during driving on the road. This condition makes it almost impossible to turn the steering wheel. If on a curved road it could cause the vehicle to leave the road. Problem was replicated by Dodge / Ram dealership with a dash warning to "Service the Power Steering Unit" but code and messag... Read more
Incident date: Feb 22, 2025
Steering makes a noise. SOS light is red and it's the second time this happens. Last time the dealerships charged me $700.00 to fixed it. And now it's red again, and it hasn't even passed 2 months.
Incident date: Feb 8, 2025
While driving at low speed the power assisted steering quit working. I could steer but with great effort. Drove two blocks home. Shut it off and restarted. Everything was fine after restarting. I’m afraid to drive the vehicle after this experience.
Incident date: Feb 15, 2025
The Factory Aluminum Steering Box presents a severe safety hazard and should be immediately recalled due to its dangerous failure in cold temperatures. In low temperatures, the steering sticks and does not move freely, making normal driving extremely hazardous for both the driver and others on the road. While straight roads may not reveal the issue, attempting to turn on a curve becomes life-thre... Read more
Incident date: Jan 3, 2025
At approximately 25k miles, the steering became "sticky" at all operating speeds. Extra effort was required to maneuver the vehicle or to simply keep it within the travel lane. The car was not safely operable prior to repair. A local dealership replaced the steering rack and pinion (at my cost). Issue was resolved.
FORD
EXPEDITION
(2022) - STEERING
Feb 22, 2025
Incident date: Feb 19, 2025
While driving on the highway at maximum speed limit, I had a series of error messages that covered the complete screen. At the same time, my MPH dropped to zero although I was traveling probably 70 miles per hour. I had no control over the vehicle, no steering, I had no brakes. There was no way to control the car. Fortunately, I was traveling in a low populated area of the [XXX] between Los Angel... Read more
Incident date: Feb 10, 2025
Electronic power steering fail. The steering wheel completely locks up. Scared it will lock up while driving. Spoke with dealerships and this is a very common problem in this truck model.
Incident date: Jan 14, 2025
I bought the Jeep 2000 24 June 5th from Auto Lenders and Fairless hills vehicle had 34,632 miles on it took it back June 18th for inspection and that there was noise coming from the front end when you went over speed bump metal climbing I told him they said they found nothing took it back again July 10th with the same issues and everything they found nothing the miles on the car on July 10th in wh... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Feb 21, 2025
The cable harness (slip ring) connecting the steering wheel controls including the vehicle horn, steering wheel buttons, scroll wheels, and potentially the airbag (according to the service technician) failed on this vehicle in January 2025. The vehicle was inspected by Tesla’s mobile service and they acknowledged that the cable harness had indeed failed. It is available for inspection. We have... Read more
Incident date: Feb 22, 2025
We were heading out on a vacation trip on a cold(20+ degree day). We had just reached a road that we were merging on to and started accelerating to get up to speed. I went to change lanes, doing about 50mph, to pass a slower moving vehicle. I noticed the power steering quit functioning and had to muscle the steering to keep from going off the road. I continued down the road without power steering.... Read more
Incident date: Aug 23, 2022
Driving 60 mph and my power steering went out on me and I almost missed the curve and into oncoming traffic. Could have cost some lives! Took it to dodge dealer and the guy told me it was a huge problem with trucks like mine and there are no new parts to fix it. My truck has 60,000 miles on it and I cannot drive it and Dodge will not repair it! Not happy at all!
Incident date: Dec 15, 2024
[XXX] [XXX] Case #[XXX] [XXX] [XXX] Must be affixed to the vehicle before to deliver purchaser Dealer# 31804 Salesperson# S705254 License [XXX] VIN# [XXX] Date sold # [XXX] Mileage 110,411 REG 51 (REV) 9/2019) UH Pursuant to California vehicle code §4456 Reference: CCR §1962 Dealership on 1461 Concord Ave, Concord, CA 94520 and put me on danger caution warning didn't know that Acura 2010 ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 21, 2025
The vehicle lane departure will regularly steer the vehicle across lane dividing lines and leave the lane of travel. In one instance the truck continued to attempt to steer right even after crossing the white line. This complaint and specific instances were confirmed by the manufacturer however the manufacturer claims the vehicle is behaving as expected due to “limitations”. As such Toyota is ... Read more
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2019) - STEERING
Feb 21, 2025
Incident date: Dec 15, 2024
The manufacturer is using the wrong material for the parts on my car. Currently, the right-side lower control bushing is bulging out because a steel bushing was used instead of the aluminum one specified on the website. This issue is causing my car to pull to the right, making steering difficult. I've also experienced the same problem on the left side in the past. I request a recall to fix this an... Read more
Incident date: Apr 21, 2024
This happened on 2/18/2023. After I charged my car at a local supercharging station, I drove on the local roads for about 2 miles when the car started shutting down. I could barely steer, and the computer monitor stated that the brakes were turning off, and other parts, like cameras, were losing functionality. I pulled over into the local park. I was frightened that my car was no longer functi... Read more
Incident date: Feb 21, 2025
The contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while his son was driving at an undisclosed speed, he became aware that the electronic power steering assist was not functioning properly, requiring an increased effort to maneuver the vehicle. The service power steering warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed failures with the power steerin... Read more
Incident date: May 21, 2024
Vehicle was involved in recall 14S05 for electric power steering failure. Recall was completed in 2016 with no parts replaced because parts had not failed yet - only a reprogram of PSCM was done. Parts have now failed, and power steering has failed. I contacted my Ford dealer, who said they will not help, yet admitted that at the time the recall was completed parts had not failed but have now. ... Read more
TOYOTA
REDUNDANT SIENNA
(2022) - STEERING
Feb 21, 2025
Incident date: Nov 24, 2023
I was driving in a 55 MPH 2 lane road, when all of sudden the power steering went out. I had to man handle the steering wheel back to my house. It has 122000 miles on it but that should never happen, could of been a real bad outcome. I have checked out everything and have narrowed it down to the EPS system.