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
HYUNDAI
SANTA FE SPORT
(2014) - STEERING
Apr 13, 2026
Incident date: Feb 23, 2023
I was driving the vehicle and a warning message came on related to the power steering module not functioning correctly. Immediately after the steering column locked up and was stiff and to tough to continue driving. I looked into repairs and notice a recall # 19S26 was issued in 2019 with my specific vehicle in the list by year, brand and model for the exact problem described. When I contacted For... Read more
Incident date: Mar 21, 2026
Car got stuck between gears while driving on the road. The vehicle accelerated by itself almost causing me to crash. I immediately pulled over into a business and put the truck in park. The car stayed on. It turned on and off but would not shift gears. Would not go from park to reverse or drive. And unfortunately the “warranty” only cover 60k miles. Conveniently right before this well known is... Read more
Incident date: Nov 20, 2025
The electric power steering system has now completely failed and the steering is fully locked/stiff at all times. The vehicle cannot be safely driven or operated. The issue began as intermittent loss of power steering assist and progressed to total failure without warning. Steering now requires extreme force and is effectively unusable. This creates a serious safety hazard, especially if it occu... Read more
Incident date: Nov 20, 2025
The contact owns a 2014 Ram 1500. The contact stated that while driving on several occasions at various speeds, the steering wheel became stiff, and the vehicle failed to turn as intended. The contact stated that the message "Service Power Steering System" was displayed. The vehicle was taken to the residence. An independent mechanic arrived at the residence and diagnosed the vehicle with steering... Read more
Incident date: Mar 28, 2026
The contact owns a 2025 Honda Pilot. While the contact’s wife was driving approximately 70 MPH, the steering wheel became extremely difficult to turn in either direction. The driver was able to forcefully steer the vehicle over to the shoulder. After turning off and restarting the vehicle, the steering failure was self-corrected, and the vehicle operated normally. The driver was able to continue... Read more
Incident date: Apr 13, 2026
My vehicle has had the steering recall performed. However I have an issue where the steering is becoming very sticky, mostly when turning left. For example on an interstate clover leaf where steering angle is held constant for a short period of time, the steering feels stuck and requires extra effort to overcome that stuck point. It's alarming. This appears to be getting worse over the past few m... Read more
Incident date: Jan 22, 2026
Problem presented in April 2026 at 34,300 miles on odometer. The vehicle steering sticks or locks at the 12 o'clock position at highway speeds. A high degree of effort is required to overcome the steering stiction resistance to make small steering adjustments to maintain vehicle course. This anomaly results in overshooting the desired steering adjustment which could potentially cause a accident ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 11, 2026
While making sweeping turns, but predominantly left-hand turns, the steering wheel will get momentarily stuck in a turning position. Sometimes it is more difficult to get the wheels to straighten out than other times. Also, it normally only happens at higher rates of speed, more than 30mph. The steering getting "stuck" in a turning position, especially at elevated speeds, poses serious risks of ge... Read more
Incident date: Apr 11, 2026
I have a 2024 Mazda CX-90. I want to report that about two years ago I was contacted regarding a recall (or possibly multiple recalls). The steering would become stiff while turning on curves. I took the vehicle to the dealer, and they reprogrammed something, which fixed the issue for a few months (I don’t remember exactly how long). However, the same problem happened again about three times. I... Read more
Incident date: Apr 13, 2026
I’m having issues with my control module not going forward or backwards at times and there was a recall on models of this vehicle for that exact reason NHTSA ID: 17V078000 Issued: Feb 2, 17. Dealership is telling me it’s not open. I’m scared for my safety when my car doesn’t shift in the correct gear. This started in 2021 or 2022 and I’m not getting resolution. When getting my bumper rep... Read more
Incident date: Mar 26, 2026
Vehicle GPS self driving is malfunctioning. GPS shows the route driving through houses and buildings The assisted self driving is extremely unsafe to use and the same goes for the GPS guided navigation The GPS is untrustworthy giving multiple unsafe routes.
Incident date: Apr 12, 2026
I took this car in a year ago and they replaced the steering wheel because I kept getting a "travel assist" error. Not only is this problem back but has a very load chime every other min that is very distracting while driving. I have taken the car back to the dealer and they state they dont see the problem. yet it seems many VW owners are having this issue.
Incident date: Apr 1, 2026
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30 MPH, the steering wheel failed to turn left or right. The message "Power Steering Assist Fault" was displayed. The contact stopped, turned off, and restarted the vehicle several times to reset the power steering assist feature; however, the steering wheel was still difficult to turn. The vehicle was not t... Read more
Incident date: Apr 7, 2026
There are no lights on the dash or any kind of notification of this issue. The issue is the “sticking” of the steering wheel. It sometimes gets stuck while driving and applied force to the wheel in any direction is the only thing to fix it. It is a very dangerous defect of the car and can cause serious injury to the driver and or others around. It has been an ongoing issue. There is already a ... Read more
HYUNDAI
ELANTRA GT
(2018) - STEERING
Apr 13, 2026
Incident date: Apr 9, 2026
While driving, a deer entered the roadway. I applied the brakes to avoid hitting the deer and lost traction due to icy road conditions. The vehicle spun out and struck a utility pole. I later became aware of an open recall involving the ABS and/or electronic stability control (ESC) system for this vehicle. There were no warning lights, messages, or alerts before or after the incident. The vehicl... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Mar 6, 2026
Plug to electronic power steering rack and pinion corroded causing low voltage and loss of power steering control.
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2023) - STEERING
Apr 13, 2026
Incident date: Mar 22, 2026
Vehicle is experiencing critical mounting component failure very early on. Vehicle has under 50k miles but the engine mounts and thrush rod bushings are failing, putting the car at risk when driving or starting. It has been inspected by the dealership and the manufacturer has confirmed that the issue exists.
TOYOTA
HIGHLANDER
(2024) - STEERING
Apr 13, 2026
Incident date: Apr 9, 2026
The contact owns a 2012 Dodge Ram 3500. The contact stated that while driving 70 MPH, the steering wheel was loose. The contact pulled over and discovered that the steering shaft had detached. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who repaired the steering shaft. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 151,000.
Incident date: Apr 13, 2026
The contact owns a 2011 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 35 MPH, the steering wheel became difficult to turn left or right. The contact stated that an unknown warning light was illuminated, and the message "Service Power Steering Now" was displayed. The contact had not taken the vehicle to a local dealer or independent mechanic to be diagnosed or repaired. The co... Read more
Incident date: Mar 22, 2026
Repeat catastrophic steering failure on 2017 Model X (VIN [XXX] ). Steering wheel spins freely with zero connection to the wheels (complete mechanical disconnect). This is the third steering-system repair in under 12 months. • April 8, 2025: Lower intermediate shaft replaced (still inside 12-month parts warranty). Invoice does NOT list ‘shielded’ or part 1027851-00-A. • Current failure n... Read more
Incident date: Apr 9, 2026
My car gave a “power steering fault” message on the dash while my son was driving on I-95 on April 12. The steering wheel locked up making turning impossible and could have been fatal. He had pull over and have the vehicle towed home.
Incident date: Mar 11, 2026
I was driving my 2024 Tesla Cybertruck on the Freeway 57 southbound between 9:06 AM to 9:10 AM at about 60 mph when the vehicle suddenly steered sharply to the left without any input from me. It completed a full 360-degree spin, hit the concrete median, and then came to a stop. No other cars were involved. The truck is heavily damaged and not drivable. This appears to be a sudden mechanical or sof... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Apr 12, 2026
As I am driving a warning pops up on the dash and says “ power steering unavailable service required “ while that shows up the steering wheel locks up. It goes away abruptly but it causes me to over turn.
Incident date: Dec 31, 2025
I don't know, is 4:20 in the morning. Oh, is it work? I was sitting in my car and all of a sudden pop and I had ringing in my ear. According to Mazda, connect, I got some weird network. Error the network failure error some kind of engine failure. Error I don't know what happened. But I've been having a lot of network issues. I've had a lot of battery issues with the car. It's been in the shop at c... Read more
1 injured
Incident date: Jan 26, 2026
Airbag light is activated and controls do not work.
Incident date: Aug 27, 2025
The warning steering assist reduced, drive with caution appears. Shift to park appears. Temperature gauge drops to zero. Fan runs on high. A/C & heater don’t not work when this happens. We certainly do not feel safe driving our Acadia like this. Can’t trust that it won’t start on fire.
Incident date: Jan 8, 2026
Knocking when turning left, right and making U-turns
Incident date: Feb 7, 2026
The steering sticks when making turns and does not return to center. This causes the steering to drift on the highway and reduces the ability to steer in a straight line. I have not reproduced or confirmed it with the dealer. No inspection and no warning lamps. This issue occurs for a large number of Chevrolet Bolt owners.
Incident date: Apr 2, 2026
On Feb 7th, notice a Knocking/Clicking noise coming from right wheel when making slight right turn, but not often. Called my dealership and immediately they said they were aware of issue and said it is common in Prologues. But due to the prologue being a GM make and not Honda, they were told they needed to wait till GM comes up with a solution, as well as parts being backordered. A few weeks later... Read more
Incident date: Dec 10, 2025
My vehicle was returned to me following a torque sensor replacement on 4/9/2026 in poor condition (locked steering and a catastrophic gash in the driver-side tire) rendering it undrivable and unsafe. Crossroads Ford of Prince George shop's inspection report claims the tire damage was pre-existing, I have conclusive evidence to the contrary: Virginia State Inspection: My vehicle passed a Virginia s... Read more
Incident date: Apr 3, 2026
Power Steering will stop working at different times
Incident date: Apr 4, 2026
The steering wheel is sticky and jerky when turning. It has not been smooth for years and I often have to force it to turn a little at high speeds. It’s been like this for years. I am reporting this because it seems to be a major issue online for a lot of civic owners.
Incident date: Apr 10, 2026
For the past couple years, the electronic power steering system shuts off while driving. Turning off and on the car would usually reset it. These past couple months, that trick doesn't work anymore. Using an OBD two-way scanner, the codes popping up are PSCM not calibrated and it shuts off the braking system as well. This seems incredibly dangerous and am surprised it's not included in the recall.... Read more
Incident date: Apr 10, 2026
There is a terrible squeaking noise coming from the steering column. It feels like the car is unsafe to drive
Incident date: Apr 9, 2026
Summary: Honda CRV 2022 1.5L turbo - Sticky Steering. The steering wheel is sticky and needs extra force to stabilize the vehicle on road this is a big safety hazard. I can clearly hear and feel the steering jam during rotation.
Incident date: Mar 17, 2026
One day my truck drove perfect to, the next day while driving it starting losing power drastically on the highway and shuts off that i had to dead steer it to the shoulder.”engine power reduced/grinding/knocking sound came on. I brought it to my mechanic and he says change the engine he is seeing a common thing with these 2.7 liter from this truck model, i paid $6,500 to change it and it worked ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 2, 2026
All of a sudden my check engine light came on with the sudden loss of power steering. Almost impossible to steer at low speeds. After turning it off I waited about 15 minutes then restarted the engine and there was no problem steering. Concern about it happening again in the middle of traffic.
Incident date: Feb 19, 2025
I contacted Subaru in Mentor Oh at adventure subaru under TSB 19V065000 and was told to take it in to get looked at, my issue when I purchased the car at 67k miles i found that the car had a loud clunky sound while steering and going over bumps. After seeing the dealer and the stated the issue was from the steer rack and was exactly what was described exactly in the TSB but the only thing was they... Read more
POLESTAR
POLESTAR 3
(2025) - STEERING
Apr 10, 2026
Incident date: Mar 10, 2026
Went to turn left at barely 5mph and steering locked up with my front wheels pushed outside of wheel well (driver wheel, passenger is facing in), causing a collision. Steering wheel won’t turn at all now.
Crash
Incident date: Mar 30, 2026
Intermittent and brief increases in steering effort (described as “sticky steering”) while driving. I could also describe as "grabby" steering that causes me to have to grab the steering wheel tightly with both hands to prevent loss of control.
Incident date: Apr 9, 2026
The steering wheel gets stuck, is difficult to turn, and doesn't return to center. Issues with this make the car much more difficult to drive and makes it impossible to sense the state of the road with the steering wheel. This can lead to loss of control. No warning lamps or messages informed me of this issue.
Incident date: Apr 7, 2026
The contact owns a 2024 Ram Promaster 2500. The contact stated that while driving at 30-35 MPH, the steering wheel was difficult to turn to the right direction. The contact stated that the power steering failed to function as designed. No warning lights were illuminated. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure.... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS
(2021) - STEERING
Apr 10, 2026
Incident date: Sep 16, 2025
axle is deteriorating and make a clicking, vibrating and loud noise when turning or driving
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2024) - STEERING
Apr 10, 2026
Incident date: Feb 21, 2025
Lane assist system acts on it's own and attempts to override my input. It can be very jarring especially at high speeds. I notice the issue mostly when I'm on the highway/freeway and attempting to lane change or take an exit ramp. The system trys to correct my steering and I have to briefly fight against it to maintain control.
Incident date: Mar 27, 2026
This incident happens when driving home from work, it happened half a mile away from where I live on a local road. All of a sudden car lost all power, steering wheel and brake completely failed, drive train completely failed while the car was still moving. there was no way the car could be controlled to move to the side of the road or to break to completely stop it.. thankfully it coasted to a com... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2026
The steering wheel feels as if it is sticking while driving, forcing me to use slightly more pressure to force the wheel past the "sticking" point. This causes me to overcorrect my steering, making the car jolt to the left or right depending on which way I'm moving the steering wheel. I feel this mostly at speeds higher than 65, but it has happened at lower speeds as well. This has been happening ... Read more
TOYOTA
HIGHLANDER
(2021) - STEERING
Apr 10, 2026
Incident date: Feb 11, 2026
Intermittent loss of power steering with no warning other than message on dash saying loss of power steering then shut the car off and restart it and powering steering back for a little while and then it repeats
Incident date: Dec 30, 2025
2022 F350 SRW, King Ranch, Tremor Steering column began making clunking sound when hitting rough patches on highway. I then noticed that I was able to lift the steering wheel an inch or two up and also pull it towards me two to three inches and freely push it back in. I could wobble the steering wheel side to side as well. Felt very unsafe as I was on a 7 hour trip home. No warning lights or incid... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS
(2024) - STEERING
Apr 10, 2026
Incident date: Apr 7, 2026
When I am driving at highway speeds, my steering wheel sticks. I can't make small, smooth adjustments. The steering wheel pops loose and then over corrects. I have noticed this a little bit in the past, but lately it has gotten worse.