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.

2,245,377 Total Complaints

140,173 Reported Crashes

56,794 Reported Fires

8,580 Reported 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

How to Read NHTSA Consumer Complaints › How NHTSA Investigations Work › Used Car: 7 Recall Checks to Run First › The Takata Airbag Recall: Full Story › OBD-II Codes Explained › All Articles ›

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Showing 117,788 complaints - component: STEERING

Incident date: Apr 25, 2026

Our 2019 traverse transmission around 130,000 miles started shuddering when slowly accelerating or driving. Not sure what causes this but I do know that it should be doing this as well as getting the Shift to Park message. I looked online and found that it's supposed to be the torque converter. I then contacted a transmission repair specialist and he stated that changing the fluid may make it wors... Read more

Incident date: Feb 16, 2026

While traveling at highway speed on I-75 northbound, the vehicle experienced a complete and total loss of electrical power. and propulsion. The following conditions were present simultaneously: - Complete loss of propulsion - Inability to shift transmission to neutral — vehicle could not be moved out of the active traffic lane - Complete loss of hazard lights — no ability to warn approaching... Read more

Incident date: Apr 15, 2026

Steering feels lime it is catching and becomes jerky

Incident date: Apr 28, 2026

The vehicle has less than 600 miles on the odometer. The passenger side tie rod separated from the steering knuckle while driving causing a sudden and total loss of steering control. Thankfully it was at low speed so the danger was mitigated. The nut holding the tie rod to the steering knuckle is missing. The vehicle was towed to a Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge dealership where it awaits an inspection and r... Read more

Incident date: Apr 28, 2026

Car steering veered to left. Car died would not start again. Info center and 12v battery died and stopped working. Was unable to restart unsafe vehicle.

Incident date: Apr 28, 2026

Hello. We purchased this 2018 Honda CR-V new in 2018 from the local Honda dealer, Honda of Lake Jackson, TX. In the Spring of 2025 the A/C stopped working. We took it to a local shop and they had to replaced the following: Blower motor replaced, blower motor replaced, A/C evaporator replaced, A/C expansion/orifice valve replaced, Heater core replaced. This was around a $3,000 repair. A month or ... Read more

Incident date: Feb 2, 2026

rusted rear subframe. unsafe braking and suspension due to this. damage code 35441 47 shows 2008-2015 vins but my vin does not show active recall, yet has the issue

Incident date: Apr 20, 2026

My 2019 Toyota 4Runner has experienced an ongoing steering and suspension issue since early in its life. The vehicle required an alignment at approximately 6,800 miles and has required repeated alignments since. At approximately 48,000 miles, a separate repair facility identified lower control arm bushing concerns. The issue was not properly corrected, and the vehicle continued to require repeate... Read more

Incident date: Apr 20, 2026

While driving, the steering begins to bind and resist when turning, especially to the left. The wheel will “catch” and then suddenly release, causing a jerking motion and loss of smooth steering control. This creates a serious safety concern because the steering does not respond consistently. During the same event, the air suspension system lowered the vehicle into a safety mode without drive... Read more

Incident date: Mar 15, 2026

The steering wheel locks during left turns and then suddenly releases, while the onboard computer has generated a suspension error code and automatically lowered the vehicle for safety.

Incident date: Mar 11, 2026

Steering wheel feels stuck about the 2:30 position, requiring to pull steering wheel back .

Incident date: Feb 14, 2026

The contact owns a 2011 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while driving at a low speed, the steering wheel became difficult to turn. The vehicle was turned off and restarted, and the steering wheel started operating as intended. The dealer was contacted; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unavailable.

Incident date: Apr 24, 2026

Vehicle steering wheel gets slightly stuck around 70+ mph on highway. Possible issue with the EPS, steering rack, 4 pin point connecter. Lexus isn’t able to diagnose it

Incident date: Apr 24, 2026

I was starting to lose control of the car and took it to the dealership for a check . The car has only 52000 miles and the Ball Joints and the sway bar links are leaking grease according to the dealer

Incident date: Apr 28, 2026

The contact owns a 2018 Honda Civic. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the steering wheel was firm and was sticking while turning. The contact referenced NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V663000 (STEERING); however, the VIN was not included in the recall repair. The vehicle was driven to the dealer, where it was confirmed that the VIN was not included in the recall. The vehicle was not ... Read more

Incident date: Feb 18, 2026

The contact owns a 2010 Pontiac G6. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost electric power steering assist. The electronic stability control (ESC) and traction control warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who determined that the electric power steering assist needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. T... Read more

Incident date: Jan 1, 2026

The contact owns a 2018 Ram 1500. While driving through a parking lot and hauling a boat, the steering wheel seized, and there was a screeching sound coming from the steering column. The contact attempted to turn the steering wheel and the steering wheel seized. The vehicle was towed to the residence. An independent mechanic arrived at the residence and diagnosed that the rack and pinion needed to... Read more

Incident date: Apr 17, 2026

Was driving on curves in country and steering went out totally light came on on dash made it home carefully and after an hour went back out totally start truck and light was out steering good. Started to drive to the store and again Steering went out. Parked it

Incident date: Apr 17, 2026

The contact owns a 2024 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that while driving approximately 25 - 35 MPH, while driving near cones on the road, the contact manually turned the vehicle towards the right, and the steering wheel failed to perform as needed. The contact attempted to manually correct the steering wheel but was unable return the steering wheel to center because the steering wheel was inde... Read more

Incident date: Apr 28, 2026

There's a knocking or clicking sound when I turn, and sometimes when I'm not turning. It seems to be coming from the front left wheel area.

Incident date: Dec 1, 2023

Steering is sticky at highway speeds, steering wheel will not move without force that can cause lane departure. This is dangerous when attempting to follow the curve of the road. Component: steering rack. Inspection availability: yes. Safety: jerky steering and lane departure Reproduced: no, though it is a known issue among many Honda vehicles due to method of lubrication for the steering rack. In... Read more

Incident date: Apr 19, 2026

My 2021 Model Y has about 24,500 miles began squeaking when turning the steering wheel or hitting bumps. I read online that many tesla owners had the same issue. The design on these weren't great allowing water to penetrate these parts and cause them to ware down faster. I already paid for the replacement of the upper and lower control arms.

Incident date: Mar 10, 2026

When driving the vehicle on the highway the vehicles steering wheel started shaking lightly and then all of a sudden the steering got hard and locked up the power steering and it also put a message on the stereo display saying “power steering”. I was able to pull aside of the highway and turn the car off and then back on. That seemed to reset it but the steering wheel kept shaking on its own. ... Read more

Incident date: Dec 31, 1969

Since 2021, I've replaced both CV Boot Axles twice and I do not go off-roading. Urban and highway mileage.

Incident date: Apr 21, 2026

Approx 2nd week of March, steering wheel began to have 1” play both left and right. Scheduled an appt although there were no warning/indicators illuminated. The day before appt, while traveling at approx 30 mph, applying brakes and coming to a stop, the vehicle began to make a rumbling sound near the engine. On the same day traveling up hill about 40 mph, applying gas, sounded like scraping nois... Read more

Incident date: Apr 24, 2026

While driving at speeds above 30mph truck will have the death wobble. We will lose complete control in direction of steering. Have to try to stop and then turn the wheel right and left before the truck will regain normal travel. Is a huge safety issue and has almost caused us to wreck. Has happened multiple times and we have been unable to determine what has caused the issue. We have had the steer... Read more

Incident date: Nov 24, 2025

The contact owns a 2017 Ram 1500. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost power steering functionality. The contact stated that extra effort was needed to maintain control of the vehicle. No warning light was illuminated. The dealer was contacted, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact associated the failure with NHTSA Campaign Number: ... Read more

Incident date: Apr 24, 2026

The power steering locks up and message appears saying power steering enabled please drive carefully. When this happens the steering wheel becomes very hard to turn, sometimes making it impossible to turn right or left if it is a sharp turn. I then have to shut car off and start it again and move steering wheel in order for it to steer properly again. Sometimes I have to repeat this process over a... Read more

Incident date: May 14, 2025

We bought or Mazda cx 90 pre owned from a dealer so all recalls, billions etc had been taken care of. We been to notice a “sticky” steering wheel which is gradually getting worse. When taking on/off ramps on interstate we must yank steering wheel to correct direction as the wheel doesn’t move on its own. We are very concerned we will be in a serious wreck due to this. There is not a current ... Read more

Incident date: Dec 4, 2025

I was driving for couple hours then my oil light came on check engine light came on. Vehicle started to shake very badly. I had to pull over and see what happened. I started the vehicle up again and the oil light and check engine light are still on. I know that these vehicles have the wet belt system on the automatics. But they don't have one for the manual transmission. There should be a recall f... Read more

Incident date: Apr 14, 2026

The contact owns a 2013 Toyota Camry. The contact stated that while driving on several occasions at various speeds, there was a knocking sound coming from the steering column. The contact stated that while driving downhill on several occasions, the steering column and dashboard vibrated abnormally. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The fai... Read more

Incident date: Apr 2, 2026

Steering system failed and started to jerk -- Contacted Honda and while there was a recall on the NEWER models, we experienced a similar issue on our 2020 Civic.

Incident date: Jan 16, 2026

The contact owns a 2022 Ford Expedition. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, it failed to start with several unknown warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was jump-started. The dealer was contacted, but the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. Additionally, the contact stated that the air bag warning light continuously remained illuminated. T... Read more

Incident date: Apr 2, 2026

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while his wife was making a left turn, the steering wheel lost steering capabilities, and the vehicle did not steer as intended. The vehicle then ran into a divider on the four-lane highway and then came to a full stop. The contact did not sustain any physical injuries, but his wife sustained emotional injuries. A police report was filed... Read more

Crash 1 injured

Incident date: Nov 19, 2025

My 2021 ID.4 has experienced two separate incidents of sudden, unintended forward acceleration while parking. In both cases, I was maneuvering at very low speeds (less than 5 mph) and transitioning from a stopped position, or from reverse into drive, with the intention to move forward only a few inches. But instead of creeping forward as normal, the vehicle suddenly jerked forward approximately on... Read more

Crash

Incident date: Apr 17, 2026

The clock spring needs fixed no features including the horn is working in my airbag light is staying on. Also I now have a loud knock in my motor I understand this should fall under the extended 15 yr 150k warranty; 2012 Kia vehicles (specifically the Sorento) with V6 engines are covered under major safety recalls for engine failure and fire risks. The primary issue involves metal debris from man... Read more

Incident date: Apr 17, 2026

This involves a rental from AVIS at Orlando International Airport that I picked up on the 24th of March. I drove up to Palm Coast, as that journey progressed I began to notice that turning the steering wheel, either right or left the beginning of that motion had no effect on the direction of the car, which meant you had to turn the wheel further than you would normally that gave the driver a lack ... Read more

Incident date: Apr 25, 2026

Good morning my (eps) Electronic steering system isn't working I have the light on my dashboard and while driving it went on and couldn't steer it needs force to turn and its difficult to keep it straight this is the second time im replacing this part last time I had this same problem was 2 yrs ago and I've noticed online people having the same issue with not only challengers but other dodge veh... Read more

Incident date: Nov 1, 2025

We are experiencing “sticky steering” issue that has been recalled in 2023-2025 Honda CRV yet ours does not seem to have a recall at this time. Driving down the highway on curves car needs to be pulled back as it does not go back to neutral on it’s own This issue affects our safety as well as our passengers and other vehicles around us.

Incident date: Dec 31, 1969

The contact owns a 2011 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle became difficult to maneuver. The message that the "Vehicle Needed Attention" was displayed on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to back to the residence. The contact researched and was made aware of an unknown recall; however, the VIN was not associated with the recall. The ... Read more

Incident date: Apr 5, 2026

The contact owns a 2022 Honda CR-V. The contact stated that on several occasions while driving at various speeds and attempting to steer the vehicle, there was an abnormal sound coming from the steering column. Additionally, while driving, added effort was needed to steer the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, where it was diagnosed, and determined that the steering rack needed to be repl... Read more

Incident date: Apr 25, 2026

I am experiencing the exact issues identified in NHTS Campaign Number: PE25009. The steering system on my 2018 Chrysler Pacifica exhibits a sticking sensation during gradual turns, particularly when the steering wheel is positioned near the 11 o'clock or 1 o'clock position. It is most prevalent at speeds over 60MPH. The safety of everyone in the van has been put at risk by requiring increased stee... Read more

Incident date: Apr 27, 2026

The contact owns a 2021 Honda CR-V. The contact stated that the steering wheel was stuck whenever turned three-quarters towards the left or the right. Occasionally, while driving and attempting to remain centered in the intended lane, while driving approximately 50 - 70 MPH. The vehicle was taken to be diagnosed. The vehicle was diagnosed with a steering gear box failure. The contact was informed ... Read more

Incident date: Aug 27, 2025

Summary: I am reporting two significant defects on my 2025 Nissan Sentra that pose safety risks. 1. Suspension/Steering: During low-speed maneuvers (approx. 20mph) such as navigating roundabouts, there is a persistent mechanical creaking/squealing noise from the front passenger side. The dealership technician verified the noise but provided a physically impossible diagnosis, claiming "tires were ... Read more

Incident date: Feb 28, 2026

This was an issue included in a prior recall (NHTSA #24V022000). My car received the Mazda repair for this recall but this did not solve the problem. Steering wheel still sticks when turning. I then have to overcorrect in the opposite direction to unstick out of the turn which results in the car suddenly jolting in the opposite direction once the steering wheel becomes unstuck. I see this as dange... Read more

Incident date: Apr 24, 2026

While driving my 2017 Honda CR-V, I experienced sudden, unexpected steering behavior consistent with a defective electronic power steering (EPS) gearbox. The steering wheel momentarily became difficult to turn in either direction, with a "sticky" or binding feel followed by a sudden release of resistance, causing oversteer beyond my input. When the wheel was turned to or near full lock, the EPS ap... Read more

Incident date: Apr 25, 2026

I was traveling in the right lane on I-75 at approximately 70 miles an hour, and my Wrangler completely lost all power and began to suddenly decelerate in traffic. I lost all acceleration ability, power brakes, and power steering. I immediately had to change lanes and exit the highway onto the shoulder while trying to avoid other vehicles all while struggling to steer and brake.

Incident date: Nov 19, 2025

Noticed problems with steering the vehicle. Initially the was not smooth when driving or turning and the steering would go through a very brief but light indecisive bump This problem started a week ago and has become worse. Plan to take car to dealer for diagnostics. Called Honda corporate and it looks like they may assist me with this

Incident date: Mar 19, 2026

My 2016 Kia Sorento was stolen because it wasn’t updated and also the engine caught fire because it wasn’t updated

Fire

Incident date: Dec 2, 2024

The steering wheel in the 2021 Honda CR-V LX is sticky and choppy when turning. Mostly when turning left or returning from a left turn. It makes turning through curves extremely dangerous because you cannot smoothly turn through the corners. I’ve asked the dealership to test drive the vehicle upon my first dealership visit for service at 16,000 miles. First bought at 11,000 miles as a certified ... Read more

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Consumer Safety Complaints

What is a NHTSA consumer complaint?

How to interpret what you read

If you've experienced a defect

Read more from our blog