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
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2023) - STEERING
Sep 4, 2026
Incident date: Aug 15, 2026
The contact owns a 2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that the vehicle swayed from side to side without warning while driving at highway speeds, and the contact lost control of the vehicle. Additionally, there was an abnormal clunking sound coming from the vehicle while driving over bumps in the roadway or making a sharp turn. Upon a dealer inspection, the rear passenger’s side knuckle... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2025
Honda 2018 crv with approx 56,000 miles began to have a sticky steering issue. It feels like it causes the car to wander in the driving lane, especially at highway speeds. Making the driver constantly correct the vehicle to keep a strait line. But in reality it seems to over-correct the steering which makes it feel impossible keep a strait line while driving. The steering is not smooth during ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 1, 2026
The contact owns a 2022 Ram 1500. The contact stated that while driving on several occasions at various speeds, the ABS, brake, and other unknown warning lights illuminated, and the messages "Traction Control Disengaged", "Shift Knob Required Servicing", "Cruise Control Disconnected", "Video Display Need Servicing," and other unknown messages were displayed. The steering wheel was firm and difficu... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2026
We had the battery die about 2 weeks ago. We replaced that. Then this week the power steering just went out. The vehicle has no power steering. The mechanic "thinks" the power steering control module is bad but he cannot be sure till he replces it.
FORD
EXPEDITION
(2020) - STEERING
Sep 4, 2026
Incident date: Jul 1, 2026
The leather on the steering wheel keeps peeling off. It’s unsafe Becuse the steering wheel becomes slippery
Incident date: Jul 27, 2026
I am reporting Hyundai’s failure to complete open Campaign 127/NHTSA Recall 15V-100 on my 2009 Hyundai Elantra. I acquired the vehicle from a family member in late July 2026 after the previous owner died and the vehicle was delayed in probate. I sought recall service immediately after legal transfer. Component/system: The Electronic Power Steering (EPS) failed. Power steering assist is completel... Read more
Incident date: Apr 11, 2025
I was driving down the road going the speed limit and all of a sudden it felt like I hit a brick wall my car staked out and I was stuck in the middle of the road for about 20 minutes and finally I got it to start and drove home it did it again 2 months later
Incident date: Aug 10, 2026
The contact's spouse owns a 2013 Honda Accord. The contact stated that while driving on several occasions at various speeds, the steering wheel turned to the left independently and failed to remain straight. The contact stated that while turning the vehicle, the vehicle failed to respond as intended. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed the vehicle with charging system fa... Read more
Incident date: Aug 17, 2026
Vehicle has physically and forcibly moved both forward and backward, on its own, after being placed in Park and the engine turned off — including after occupants have exited the vehicle. This movement has struck the driver and two minor children on multiple separate occasions, as well as nearby curbs and objects, without physical injury. No warning lamps or dashboard messages appeared before or ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 2, 2026
While vehicle was parked and not in use, upon entering the vehicle, the steering wheel/column dropped out of its locked position on its own. Disassembly of the steering column revealed that the tilt-lock mechanism's steering lock fracture bolt has broken in half on the right side. This cause the steering wheel to fall out of a locked position and allowed the entire column to rotate skewed to the l... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2026
At highway speed, vehicle repeatedly started shaking and vibrating violently after hitting any bump or uneven portion of the roadway. Steering became extremely difficult to control and was completely useless for a period of time. A vehicle that loses the ability to steer at highway speeds puts everyone at risk of accident/death. In looking online, this has been experienced by many people and is... Read more
Incident date: Sep 3, 2026
The van has a consistent steering catch when traveling most pronounced at 11 and 1. The steering hangs and then releases which causes the van to travel unexpectedly into the other lane of traffic. There are no faults or other indicators visible with the vehicle to warn the driver of an issue. The issue is more noticeable when the outside air temperature is above 85 deg F and the van has been drive... Read more
FORD
BRONCO SPORT
(2022) - STEERING
Sep 3, 2026
Incident date: Sep 3, 2026
When turning any direction or hitting speeds of 75 mph +, vehicle makes loud noise and starts shaking. Took it to an independent mechanic and ran a diagnostic, they said the rear differential is going out which isn't normal for vehicles with this mileage and said it was a manufacturer defect. When I took the vehicle to a Ford dealership, the tech laughed and said there's a one month wait for parts... Read more
Incident date: Jun 25, 2026
The car suddenly started shaking and making a weird noise and it turns out the transmission went out. I know I’m not the only one with this issue.
Incident date: Sep 3, 2026
Idling, received a warning of "engine stopped. steering power low". Trying to restart the car - it would start up then immediately shut down w/ the same error. Letting it sit for 15 minutes allowed it to reset and start again. It was raining at the time, wind shield wipers were on if that matters.
Incident date: Dec 31, 1969
Steering wheel gets stuck on highway driving and hard to make fine adjustments without force
VOLKSWAGEN
TIGUAN
(2017) - STEERING
Sep 2, 2026
Incident date: Sep 1, 2026
Ive had every now and then a steering wheel light come on then come off. Well today 9/1/26 I had lost all steering to my 2017 vw tiguan. The electronic power steering has failed and I believe this is a safety issue that needs to be addressed. And push for a recall to be made on these vehicles.
Incident date: Aug 20, 2026
Electronic power steering went out a couple times on me .
Incident date: Aug 22, 2026
A critical failure in the direct fuel injection system caused severe engine misfiring, sudden loss of drive power, and a cascade failure that disabled safety systems during vehicle operation. Diagnostic scan confirmed DTCs P0172 (fuel system rich) and P0301 (cylinder 1 misfire). In response to the misfire, the vehicle's computer automatically disabled the Electronic Power Steering (EPS), Vehicle S... Read more
Incident date: Aug 18, 2022
The steering at times will “stick” and a bit of force has to be used to get it to release. Also, when turning slightly at low speeds (steering wheel in the 11 or 1 position at less than 20mph) the steering will “shudder” or “vibrate.” This affects the entire steering system. The entire vehicle vibrates and it feels as though you may lose control of the vehicle. This issue has been co... Read more
Incident date: Aug 19, 2026
Steering wheel sticking when I turn left and making ticking noise. Took it to Honda and I have to pay $5k to replace the steering wheel rack. They won’t tell me why this happened and it’s because they know the manufacturing part has a defect but they won’t put out a recall for this issue, even though Honda crv years 2023-2025 have an open recall for this issue.
Incident date: Aug 26, 2026
While driving, the car steering became very hard and uncontrollable posing a risk to me and other drivers on the road. A mechanic has checked.
Incident date: Aug 13, 2026
The electric power steering (EPS) rack has developed an internal binding at times, causing the steering wheel to sometimes fail to naturally return to the center position after completing both low-speed and highway-rate turns. Instead of self-centering, the wheel holds its turned angle, forcing me to manually pull it back to straight-line navigation. This creates a serious safety hazard, as it re... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2019) - STEERING
Sep 2, 2026
Incident date: Aug 25, 2026
My truck lost steering as I was trying to pull into a parking lot. It started as a momentary jerking of the steering wheel then total loss of steering. The ABS error and Trailer Braking failure warning also appeared. After 4 to 5 restarts of the truck the steering came back. If this was to happen at high speed it would have been very bad. I feel this is definetly a safety issue..
Incident date: Aug 23, 2026
My 2025 Ram 1500 equipped with the 3.0L High Output engine has experienced two separate incidents involving loss or severe reduction of electric power steering assist. The first incident occurred on August 23, 2026, while traveling at approximately 40 mph on a public roadway. The steering became extremely heavy, the odometer began flashing, and the check-engine light illuminated. The vehicle was... Read more
Incident date: Aug 7, 2026
My 2023 Tesla Model Y suffered a critical factory safety defect: under-torqued front suspension lateral link bolts, causing dangerous clunking noises under Autopilot. The official Tesla Invoice verified the defect and noted it was re-torqued to spec. Crucially, a close friend owning an identical 2023 Model Y in [XXX] experienced the exact same suspension noise. Upon inspecting his car, the Littlet... Read more
Incident date: Jun 2, 2026
The contact owns a 2017 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds and while driving 70 MPH on a toll road, the steering wheel unintendedly pulled to the right, nearly causing the vehicle to drift out of the intended lane. The contact was able to pull the steering wheel back to center after each failure, and the steering wheel was moderately difficult to turn. The v... Read more
Incident date: Jul 12, 2016
The contact owns a 2016 Honda Civic. The contact stated while driving 50 MPH, the steering wheel jerked, and the steering wheel was sticking. The contact stated that the failure was a known failure with the vehicle. The contact referenced an unknown recall; however, the VIN was not associated with a recall associated with the failure. The dealer was made aware of the failure by phone. The failure ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 23, 2026
Steering wheel makes a clicking/spring noise when turning, especially at low speeds
Incident date: Jul 20, 2026
My power steering failed. There is no pump it's electronic so I can get it replaced without taking it to a dealer. There were 2 recalls for the Power Steering for this make and model, but my VIN number does not show up in the search. You need to expand the recall. My Power steering failed
Incident date: Sep 1, 2026
Getting the well know Jeep "Death Wobble". Was advised by Carvana when I bought this vehicle that it had an open recall for this exact issue (Manufacturer Recall Number CDJR XF1) due to the Steering Damper having air in it. However, when I contacted a Jeep dealership to get it fixed, I was told there is no recall for the Steering Damper for my specific vehicle. When I look it up on NHTSA, there is... Read more
Incident date: Sep 15, 2024
The contact owns a 2015 Lincoln MKZ. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked and occupied, the contact became aware that the steering wheel was loose. A dealer was contacted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, and the contact was informed that there was a recall associated with the failure, however, the VIN was not included. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact associated the f... Read more
Incident date: Aug 29, 2026
The contact owns a 2019 Lincoln Nautilus. After several days of rain, there was moisture inside the vehicle. The contact detected a foul odor and discovered water on the floorboard. A box in the rear of the vehicle was covered in water, and the inside front windshield was foggy, but the contact was unable to determine how the water had entered the vehicle. Later, while driving approximately 45-55 ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 2, 2026
While driving to work this morning. Rate of speed under 45 mph with no apparent issues. Suddenly warning lights on the dash lit up and steering became difficult. Three separate information warnings: Lane Keeping assist problem, electric power steering problem, adaptive cruise control problem. I was able to continue to drive the 3 miles to work. Had to use 2 hands and pull hard on the steering whee... Read more
Incident date: Jul 17, 2026
I took my car in for a steering problem to the dealer. The car is weaving out of the lane when it hits uneven pavement. They looked at the car and did a wheel alignment. After that I noticed that the car was still weaving on uneven pavement. After some months I took it back to another dealer. They again tried to do an alignment. I told them to look deeper because that didn't fix it last time... Read more
Incident date: Aug 31, 2026
Power steering loss EPS unit, steering rack and pinion needs replaced, entire rack and pinion, only driven 107,000 miles. Bought off dealership almost 3 years ago with only 83,956 had purchased extended warranty that has expired in March.
Incident date: Jan 8, 2026
I am experiencing a severe defect involving a recurring clicking and popping noise from the front end of the vehicle when turning at low speeds. This issue is tied to a known premature failure of the front drive axles and constant velocity (CV) joints, which is currently the subject of federal class-action litigation ([XXX], et al. v. American Honda Motor Co., Inc.). The progressive failure of the... Read more
Incident date: Dec 31, 1969
While driving I'm going around a corner and the steering was grabbing and getting tight I had to mussel the car home then it stopped doing it the again and again now my steering has not power steering and when I back up it grabs sometimes out of my hands and almost breaks my arm. This car is a death trap. There were no warnings till it happened
Incident date: Sep 1, 2026
The steering sticks normally when slightly turned especially going highway speeds around bends. You have to “yank” the wheel from it being stuck and risk over steering off the road or into other lane. Huge safety risk.
Incident date: Jul 21, 2026
While traveling I lost assisted steering to my vehicle, this was while traveling at a low speed, and while cornering. This mechanical failure caused my vehicle to travel off the road causing personal damages. I've since learned of manufacture recalls that describe this situation. I've experienced it once prior while in traffic. other than towing it home I've no contact with any insurance or other ... Read more
Crash
Fire
Incident date: Jul 15, 2026
While driving my 2020 Chevrolet Colorado through [XXX], the truck began having difficulty accelerating. As I exited the highway and turned into a gas station, the truck suddenly lost power. The steering became extremely difficult, and I lost normal brake assist. The brake pedal became extremely hard, and I had to apply extreme force to stop the truck and avoid crashing into a wall at the gas stati... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2026
The steering wheel sticks. Used to be very smooth but the last few months it stick in one place and often makes a clicking sound when stopped.
Incident date: Sep 1, 2026
Sticky steerinng on highway Feels tight and difficult to make small adjustments Car then over corrects Has been happening for a while several years
Incident date: Aug 26, 2026
When turning the steering wheel a clicking sound happen full lock both ways.
Incident date: Aug 3, 2026
When turning left, my steering wheel sticks/locks. This is an ongoing issue and continues to get worse.
Incident date: Aug 23, 2026
While driving my 2018 Chrysler Pacifica FWD with approximately 86,000 miles, I have noticed abnormal steering behavior when going around gradual curves. The steering does not feel smooth and natural through the turn, and I feel like I have to pull/force the steering wheel to continue through the curve. The steering can feel like it is sticking or resisting rather than smoothly following the turn. ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 28, 2026
Steering Rack: The internal components of the rack bind up and create heavy resistance, causing the wheel to lock into a turned position rather than gliding back on its own to maintain control. This issue forces you to manually pull the steering wheel back straight after every turn, making high-speed and everyday driving unpredictable and dangerous. Power train: The powertrain is loose when movin... Read more
Incident date: May 30, 2025
I am submitting this complaint because I have experienced serious safety-related concerns involving Audi vehicles, and I am extremely concerned that these issues could result in a serious accident, injury, or loss of life. My personal vehicle is a **2024 Audi Q3**, which has experienced safety-related problems involving the braking system, wheel/speed sensors, parking recognition system, and other... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Jul 8, 2026
My 2014 Acura RLX has experienced a severe failure of the Precision All-Wheel Steer (P-AWS) Rear Toe Control (RTC) Actuators. The vehicle and its components are currently located at the Hiley Acura of Fort Worth dealership and are fully available for inspection. Safety Risk: This failure causes dangerous rear-end fish-tailing, violent swaying, and completely unpredictable steering control at highw... Read more
Incident date: Aug 20, 2025
I took my car to ford and the guy working hit a curb in there own buisness and they had to replace my two tires and rims and I just don’t trust anything because it took them 2 months to fix it , happened like a year ago