Consumer Safety Complaints
Search 2,215,138 safety complaints filed by vehicle owners with NHTSA — including 138,663 crashes, 56,255 fires, and 8,561 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 2,215,138 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 49,040 complaints — component: STRUCTURE:BODY
Incident date: Nov 4, 2023
I have only had my car for three years and it is well taken care of, but the door suddenly started popping. The same day, my door became difficult to open and extremely hard to close once I got it open. I contacted Ford Corporate the next day. I was told my car was out of warranty because I have 38981 miles. The only thing that was covered under the 5 year warranty in regards to safety would b... Read more
Incident date: Oct 28, 2023
I have maintained my 2011 Outback well, and in August of 2023, while driving the vehicle, I lost the brakes. I had to fully depress the brake pedal to the floor in order to stop, fortunately not hitting the car in front of me . I brought the car to my local mechanic who advised me that the brake line rusted and failed as a result. As he was making the brake line repair, he advised me that ther... Read more
Incident date: Nov 11, 2023
Both rear doors will not open from the outside. Driver rear door had child lock engaged when outside latch stopped working making the door completely inoperable. Upon contacting Kia consumer affairs it was stated that although both front door actuators are covered under a campaign number the rear doors are not covered. Kia consumer affairs refused to cover replacement of rear door actuators. Due t... Read more
Incident date: Jul 5, 2023
The driver side door makes a cracking sound when opening and closing and doesn’t shut correctly. Feels unsafe to be driving it around because I’m worried about door popping out at anytime.
FORD
FUSION ENERGI
(2019) — STRUCTURE:BODY
Nov 11, 2023
Incident date: Jun 12, 2023
On Thursday, May 25, 2023, I took delivery of my new 2023 Lexus RX 500h at Nalley Lexus in Roswell, Georgia. On Saturday, June 3, 2023, I noticed that the interior dashboard trim has become separated. I could (can) see the plastic clips and some exposed wiring. My initial thought was to not touch it because it could possibly cause an electrical shock and to take the vehicle back to the dealership.... Read more
Incident date: Oct 19, 2023
I have a snow pearl white kia that the paint started chipping off and is continuing to do such all over the vehicle. There is an area on the hood with rust starting where the paint starting chipping first. I have contacted kia and the rep looked for recalls but there were non for paint. The warranty was only for 3 years on the paint but the issue didn't start happening till after that. I have seen... Read more
Incident date: Sep 28, 2023
I received the camper in February 2023. I communicated with the company about numerous visible defects on the camper, some just about quality, others that concerned me about safety (lots of rust on the body). I was reassured that these were not safety concerns. On my second short trip with the camper, within minutes of returning home, a large metal bracket dropped from the bottom of the camper. Wh... Read more
Incident date: Apr 25, 2022
Kia America is failing to address a significant defect in the sunroof of my Kia Stinger. Despite multiple attempts to resolve this issue with the company directly and using the BBB AUTO line I have received dismissive and unhelpful responses. Kia America is demonstrating a complete disregard for customer satisfaction and safety. The interior of my Kia Stinger has been producing an excessively lou... Read more
Incident date: Oct 5, 2023
The hood latch opens while driving.
Incident date: Nov 3, 2023
Corrosión en toda la parte trasera (subframe) que sujeta la suspensión haciendo el carro inestable a la hora de detener el automóvil, y apaga los sistemas ABS,ESP. lo cual lo hace mas peligrosa la conducción. Si Toyota hizo el cambio en sus vehículos con por que mercedes benz deberia comprometerse a repara esta parte. Ya que es un riesgo a la seguridad.
Incident date: Oct 26, 2023
DRIVER SIDE FRONT DOOR SENSOR SAYS CAR DOOR IS OPEN EVEN WHEN DOOR IS FIRMLY SHUT. CAUSES DOORS NOT TO LOCK, INTERIOR AND PUDDLE LIGHTS REMAIN ON, DRAINS BATTERY, DOORS WON'T LOCK EVEN WITH CAR IN MOTION. Severe Rust problems under carriage Air Bag light remains on
Incident date: Nov 10, 2023
In the beginning of July, the parking brake engaged on its own and a warning came up on the dash. It took some jockying to get the brake to disengage but it continued to happen. We took it to the dealer where purchased who told us that the parking brake control module was damaged by water and that bedause of this the extended warranty that we purchased for a few thousand dollars would not cover ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 1, 2023
Weather stripping around the solar sunroof cracked and has come off in sections. This is a very common problem with this specific model, but remains low due to the low numbers the solar sunroof packages was produced. Afraid the sunroof will leak if used, so it stays inoperable in order to not damage broken seals.
Incident date: Aug 7, 2023
2020 Ford escape with 37k miles The drivers door started making horrible noises. And became difficult to close properly. All of the spot welds that hold the limiting arm bracket in place have broken and now the arm hangs loose. Window will only roll down part way. This all started 4 weeks ago! I know there is already an NTHSA investigation into this issue. I want to help push it forward to force... Read more
Incident date: Oct 16, 2023
The car announced a low coolant in the system and then 10 seconds after the car turn on fire and burned down completely.
Fire
Incident date: Nov 8, 2023
On November 2nd of 2023, I was driving approximately 5 miles away from home when all of a sudden the sunroof glass shattered. It sounded like an explosion of glass. I was driving at 45 miles per hour which is the speed limit in the area. It was very alarming when the sunroof glass shattered, I was nervous and thought that someone threw a rock at the car. I wasn't sure whether to stop the car or k... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2023
The sunroof got stuck in the open position. It is available for inspection. Wind/rain/foreign objects are able to enter stuck sunroof and cause injury and or vehicle damage. Kia dealership confirmed that this has happened to others with the same male and model. Others have reported issue causing whole sunroof glass to crack/break/explode. No warning lights or signs.
Incident date: Nov 9, 2023
Back window leaked. It was a heavy mist all night, not even heavy rain yet, and when we opened the passenger back door in the morning around 7:30 am, we found a pool of water on the back seat and water running down the seat. When I checked the forums, there is an abundance of complaints about the back windows leaking in Chevy trucks for many years now.
Incident date: Oct 25, 2023
Every time the car was put into park, or when the car turned off the passenger front door would pop open. Please see concern 7 on Tesla repair invoice.
Incident date: Sep 9, 2023
Front trunk latch would not engage to latch frunk, and when frunk opened, would not engage to lock frunk. Error message kept repeating that frunk was opened, but it would not latch. When asked about the existing recall, was told that it does not apply to my vehicle, despite the problem being exactly as described in the recall.
Incident date: Nov 9, 2023
The truck had the tailgate recall complete and it keeps popping open on its own. It as damaged the rear tail gate. I had a new flat screen tv fall out also lost a car battery one time it popped open. Took it back to the dealer last week after call ram customer care. Was took that there is no problem with the latch and that it is lined up no fault found. Tonight on the way home when i pulled in to ... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
C300
(2011) — STRUCTURE:BODY
Nov 8, 2023
Incident date: Nov 8, 2023
The contact owns a Thomashilfen Recaro Monza Nova 2 Reha car seat. The contact stated that the back of the seat detached from the seat base due to the connector fracturing. The safety seat had not been repaired or replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure.
Incident date: Jul 12, 2023
In 2021, driving down the highway, our driver side windshield trim partially broke free and started smacking against the driver side window before breaking off and flying behind the vehicle. Then in July 2023, the passenger side windshield trim broke free on the highway. Appears the rubber seal disintegrates allowing the wind to grab it and rip the plastic trim piece off the vehicle. Currently, th... Read more
Incident date: Nov 5, 2023
While driving on on Interstate 80 near exit 70 in Illinois the battery box containing 4 coach batteries dropped from under the vehicle onto the highway. We were able to pull off the interstate on the offramp at exit 70. It appears the small bracket was underrated for the structural loads or improperly welded by the OEM. In addition the Positive battery wire was chaffing on the step framework.
Incident date: Sep 14, 2023
Paint peeling rapidly on each side of windshield.
Incident date: Nov 5, 2023
The Tesla model 3 rear bumper came off completely while driving in rain when I drove into a very light puddle. Having a rear bumper detaching completely off could be a serious hazard for someone that driving a motorcycle on the road it could result in a deadly accident. this problem has been addressed to Tesla and they do not have a service bulletin or a recall for 2023 model only 2018 model throu... Read more
Incident date: Apr 7, 2023
Paint is peeling off the car. Car is 3.5 years old. Kia refuses to take issue with the car. They are standing behind mileage. I first reported this KIA of North America at 40K+ miles..
MERCURY
GRAND MARQUIS
(2005) — STRUCTURE:BODY
Nov 7, 2023
Incident date: Nov 7, 2023
Loud popping noise when opening driver side door, feels like the door is starting to slip, at times have trouble closing, now the window when rolled down will not roll back up. Popping, cracking noise started 3+ months ago, have call into dealership at this time. Not able to use the window at all now and not sure the door will stay continue to be usable.
Incident date: Aug 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2020 Ford Ranger. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, an abnormal squeaking sound was coming from the rear passenger’s side of the vehicle. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer however, the dealer was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The manufacturer was also notified of the failure and the contact was give... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2023
The passenger rear door no longer opens from either the outside or inside. Door unlocks but unable to open door.
Incident date: Oct 28, 2023
Yes components available for inspection/ yes sold by dealership with undisclosed problems/ yes problems confirmed by dealer/ no component inspected. 1st noticed foul smell upon starting vehicle/ failure to start/ chugging/ brakes noise/ smell inside cab. Been Verified noted vehicle was in flood??? all occurred beginning 2022. Could not get the vehicle in till 03/23. All dealerships backed up wait ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 2, 2023
Driver side door hinge/weld breaks. The metal pops, makes a loud sound, door then has to be forced shut. Due to this the window and lock does not work properly. It goes down particularly then stops. Was taken to New Brighton Ford and spoke with Dan who diagnosed the problem. Was told needed new door. The car was purchased brand new from Freeway Ford in October 2020. Was told no warranty and extend... Read more
Incident date: Nov 6, 2023
The drivers side door - the weld on the arm has fractured. Causing a loud clunking noise every time the door is opened or closed. This 'break' has caused the window to only be able to roll down about 6 inches. Also, because of the break, the interior lights don't recognize that the door is closed and will stay on as if there is a door open. When called local Ford Dealership, I was advised it is a... Read more
Incident date: Nov 2, 2023
Received recall notice from Honda, attempted to make an appointment in May 2023 with Lia Honda in Enfield. Lia Honda failed to return multiple calls and set up an appointment, telling me “We will call you when we have the parts for this recall”. Once it reached September, I called a Honda dealership and repair center in Manchester and have an appointment with them in November 2023. This is com... Read more
Incident date: Sep 11, 2023
Cowl trim on front windshield is detaching from the windshield and flapping while vehicle in operation. Concerned this will fly off the vehicle snd possibly land on another traveling vehicle and possibly cause an accident. This just started making a buzzing noise approximately two weeks ago and after further investigation the trim is literally coming off the windshield in pieces. No warning lig... Read more
Incident date: Nov 6, 2023
Hood latch will not release. Suspect the latch or components under the hood, similar to other Nissan Altima's that were recalled for same issue, failed similarly and now repairs and or quick access to engine bay in the event of an emergency is impossible without first repairing the latch and components involved. Called Nissan dealership they said some Nissan Altima's had been recalled for the same... Read more
Incident date: Oct 24, 2023
I was driving on the highway on my way to work and the windshield trim panel on the passenger side flew off of my vehicle. This is definitely a safety hazard as this flying part could have hit another vehicle and/or caused an accident.
Incident date: Nov 4, 2023
The driver's side door handle does not open on the first attempt. I have to pull between two and six times to get the door to open. This occurs attempting to enter the vehicle. I have not had issues attempting to leave the vehicle yet. It occurs after the doors have been locked. It does not matter if the door was locked using the fob or the button on the door handle. It also does not matter if the... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
GLC300
(2016) — STRUCTURE:BODY
Nov 6, 2023
Incident date: Nov 1, 2023
The bolts were loose on the driveshaft on the all-wheel-drive, which caused them to have to replace the entire driveshaft! If the driveshaft would’ve broke, whoever was driving the vehicle, whether it be me, or with my son in it, we would’ve wrecked and possibly died! The problem has been confirmed with a certified dealer! There is no warning signals. There was nothing and there is a recall on... Read more
Incident date: Oct 19, 2023
I opened my hood while parked in my driveway to use the fuse puller tool in the engine fuse compartment as my infotainment screen was out and i wanted to check the fuse under the dash. There is a slight incline in my driveway but not much. I left my hood up while i used the tool and switched a fuse under the dash to check my infotainment screen. When i went back to put the fuse tool in the engine ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 6, 2023
paint is pealing on car this is third time kia gave 1,800.00 dollars to have previous pealing paint repaired then pealed again on rear of roof now on drivers side pillar about 1 ft strip blew off cant locate date kia reimbursed me 1st time 2nd time 2022 3rd time 11 5 23
FORD
MUSTANG MACH E
(2022) — STRUCTURE:BODY
Nov 6, 2023
Incident date: Nov 6, 2023
A weld in the driver's side door assembly has failed. I am concerned that the door may inadvertently open while driving. The problem has been confirmed by a dealer. I had no warning of the problem until the door mechanism failed and continues to fail with each opening/closing. I do not have the funds to repair/replace the door of the vehicle.
Incident date: Oct 30, 2023
Contacted Ford again fourth time about saftey recall=20S30/20V331. I've been trying to get this fixed since i got the vehicle and recall letters from Ford. Multiple failed attempts because dealership's in my area stood me up, told me they dont do recalls, and said it was basically my fault for buying Ford. Ford customer service is no help, all they say is get in touch with my local dealership's to... Read more
Incident date: Jul 12, 2023
My 2018 Toyota Prius Supreme was parked too far away from the curb in front of a house where we were invited, in a residential area in Naperville IL. I entered the car to park it properly. I had my foot on the brakes and pressed the starting button for the engine to turn on. I then put the car on reverse and suddently the car accelerated uncontollably. Went on the grass, hit the neighbor's ma... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Nov 6, 2023
The drivers side rear trailing arm mounting point on my Honda Element has completely rotted out, making my car a seriously unsafe vehicle to drive. This is a well known issue to both Honda and the NHTSA as Honda has already recalled both the Element and CR-V in Canada, and the CR-V here in the USA, but not the Element. NHTSA # 23v-228, Transport Canada Recall - 2021024 - HONDA
Incident date: Oct 1, 2023
I was driving on the freeway and my hood popped and shattered my windshield. Why would you guys even allow a car on the roads with a defect as such? This is extremely dangerous! Now I am pretty much w/o transportation. I'm even more upset that I had to find out about the defect the hard way, to see that this is a known issue. What's next? looks like a few people have complained about this issue, e... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2023
2013 Toyota Sequoia Limited (108,000 miles) Rear lift gate around latch was not designed correctly to allow moisture out. Our vehicle is in pristine shape other than the rear lift gate latch. By the time you notice it, it’s too late and unfixable. I’ve seen these get so bad from doing internet research some people hold the door down with straps because the structural integrity is gone and t... Read more
FORD
F-150 HYBRID
(2022) — STRUCTURE:BODY
Nov 5, 2023
Incident date: Oct 16, 2023
While driving on the freeway, our sunroof window exploded and shattered completely. We were not around any other cars or an overpass. Thankfully the upper screen was closed otherwise glass would have fallen on us. I have read on Jeep forums that this is happening to a lot of newer Grand Cherokees, so it has to be a manufacturing issue.
Incident date: Nov 5, 2023
Rear subframe suspension weld bolt crack from the body subframe, Can observe on the truck of the car the fracture weld bolds. Critical, because it hold on site the differential and rear drives components.