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: Oct 16, 2022
See attached document for complaint
Incident date: Jul 19, 2023
It started with a creaking sound in the drivers door. Then three days later the door became very difficult to close. Took the car to the dealer service department and was told it has a broken spot weld failure that causes the door to be difficult to close and and the window to nor open fully. It is my understanding that this is a known safety problem with other vehicles reporting the same issue... Read more
Incident date: Oct 8, 2023
The paint on my pearl white kia optima is peeling badly, primarily on the hood but now its starting to peel near the doors.
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE 4XE
(2022) — STRUCTURE:BODY
Oct 16, 2023
Incident date: Jun 21, 2023
My Honda Element unibody has rusted out resulting in the real axle trailing arm separating from the vehicle. This happened while my daughter was driving - luckily she was not injured. This is a known issue at Honda. Honda Elements years 2003-2011 have already been recalled for a repair or reimbursement in Canada (see recall # 2021024) and all Honda CR-Vs in the United States model years 2007-20... Read more
Incident date: Oct 7, 2023
Tiffin issued the following recall for some models of their Allegro motorhomes. https://www.usatoday.com/recalls/automotive/NHTSA-22V273000/#:~:text=Tiffin%20Motorhomes%2C%20Inc.,seals%20in%20the%20hydraulic%20cylinders. The model I have is not included in the recall, but I am experiences the same problem, the slide-out extends while parked (or possibly while moving). I brought the unit in for re... Read more
Incident date: Oct 6, 2023
The passenger side front windshield molding blew off during highway driving and almost hit the car traveling behind.
FORD
EXPEDITION
(2022) — STRUCTURE:BODY
Oct 16, 2023
Incident date: Oct 16, 2023
Drivers side front door making creaking noise upon opening and closing. Does not properly close after 3 days since initial noise was noticed. Window does not go down. Believed to be faulty spot weld due to Fords negligence
Incident date: Oct 14, 2023
Frame is rusted. Lancaster Toyota Mazda body shop recommended the frame be replaced. They will not repair it.
Incident date: Oct 4, 2023
Drivers door limiter broke away from the door creating an issue opening and closing the door. Also unable to roll the drivers window down very far.
Incident date: Oct 9, 2023
09/17/23 Was driving 65mph, car was slowing Down in front of me and turned cruise control off. Immediately car started stalling. Was in middle lane with cars on both sides. Turned on flashers and no power in gas pedal. At about 30mph, was struck from behind by Jeep! Third car behind struck Jeep and Jeep struck me again. There were injuries and a death. My car was towed. 10/02/23; Now car is... Read more
Crash
4 injured
1 deaths
Incident date: Apr 9, 2023
Frame corrosion safety card never been reported to us by mail, I stop by the dealer and they say is expired the recall. I reported to toyota springfield VA. they say this recall is close back in 2019 and they not be able to fixed. corrosion is extremely serious!
Incident date: Oct 13, 2023
In November 2022 we discovered that both brackets holding the front nose piece to the frame had broken away. Then we discovered the wall on the front passenger side of the Motorhome had pulled away from the floor and left an inch gap between the floor and the wall. We were able to temporarily fix it until we arrived home and it sits in our driveway. Thinking maybe the broken brackets had caused th... Read more
THOR MOTOR COACH
HURRICANE
(2018) — STRUCTURE:BODY
Oct 14, 2023
Incident date: Nov 1, 2022
paint peeling/rapid delamination on 2015 Kia Sorento (Snow White Pearl color) on both passenger side front and passenger side rear doors. Prior rapid delamination on "A" pillar of both passenger and driver sides and center roof (repaired 2021, out of pocket cost $2000). Rapid delamination began approximately October, 2022, 105,000 miles on vehicle; increasingly becoming worse.
Incident date: Oct 9, 2023
My interior door handle cannot unlock the door. As I pull on the interior door handle, the door lock pin would come up partially, but it doesn’t unlock or open the door. I tried multiple pulls, because this car required two pulls to unlock.
Incident date: Oct 13, 2023
Peeling/ chipping paint down to primer in areas.
Incident date: Sep 25, 2023
The driver's side door has a broke weld - there is an issue that it will not open and close correctly. Also due to the issue the window can not be rolled down which can causes visibility issues when rain or fog conditions are present. The door can sometimes be latched closed and other times will unlatch on its own. I tried to resolve with Ford but they indicate it is a known issue and will not c... Read more
Incident date: Oct 13, 2023
The sunroof detached and the water from the rain leaked through the faulty sunroof into the interior doors, floorboard and dashboard. This happened to both the passenger side and the driver side. It was repaired out of pocket because of the hazard and lack of dealership accountability. Because the dealership wanted to charge $1000 to provide a water intrusion inspection so we went to an a MB autho... Read more
TOYOTA
COROLLA CROSS
(2023) — STRUCTURE:BODY
Oct 13, 2023
Incident date: Oct 13, 2023
Frame & suspension problem. Left front wheel attaches to frame was rusted and the wheel tilted in so it was not drivable. Fortunately, I was not driving at highway speed. Otherwise, I easily could have lost control of my truck. Navarre Ford Body Shop, St. Louis, Michigan looked at the damage & shipped it to Grand Rapids Michigan, ProAm Collision & Mechanical for repairs to frame & suspension.... Read more
Incident date: Sep 17, 2023
My 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee has a water leak in the rear compartment area. It is leaking next to the wiring which could cause a fire or electrical short.
Incident date: Oct 2, 2023
from online research, seems to be a common problem with the ford escape. while in normal use the front driver side door check rod failed. the door was very difficult to open after the failure and now no longer closes
Incident date: Oct 4, 2023
Tried to open Our Sunroof and it went off the rails, sounded like something broke off while driving. When we went to close it, to see if it was an easy fix, it popped completely off and is now just bouncing.
Incident date: Sep 25, 2023
MY 2023 HYUNDAI SONATA LIMITED HAS AN ISSUE WHERE WATER ENTERS THE REAR LEFT DOOR AND GETS TRAPPED BETWEEN THE LOWER DOOR SEALS. WATER POURS OUT WHEN THE DOOR IS OPENED. A GOOGLE REVIEW OF "SONATA REAR DOOR LEAK" SHOWS THIS IS A WIDE SPREAD ISSUE WITH THIS DOOR AND CAR MODEL. IF THIS WERE TO OCCUR IN A NORTHERN CLIMATE THE DOOR WOULD HAVE ICE COLLECT BETWEEN THE DOOR AND DOOR SILL AND PRE... Read more
Incident date: Oct 11, 2023
Left door weld broke. Making a popping noise. The window will not go up or down.
DODGE
GRAND CARAVAN
(2018) — STRUCTURE:BODY
Oct 11, 2023
Incident date: Jun 15, 2022
Car was parked in residential parking lot overnight. This morning I noticed my vehicle had rolled forward and hit a pole and the curb, cause front left damage to the fender, wheel and wheel hub assembly, and the brakes. Call is currently under recall due to a problem with the transmission slipping out of gear
Crash
Incident date: Sep 18, 2023
The windshield trim has come loose & come off on the left side while going down the road. The right side is beginning to do the same thing. I noticed pieces missing on 10/10/23 & on 10/11/23 a big piece flew off the car as I was driving down the highway.
Incident date: Sep 5, 2023
Hi, I have a 2005 Toyota tundra with 115,000 miles on it. I took it to my mechanic because of the rust underneath basically my frame and the mechanic looked at it and said it was rusting out so bad it was too dangerous to drive, I called Toyota and they said they had a recall on it and sprayed it that was back in 2014 here it is 2023 and I am afraid to drive it because it could cause a terrible ac... Read more
Incident date: Sep 4, 2023
Today the rear windshield of my 2023 Honda HR-V shattered instantaneously while the car was parked in my driveway. The car was outside during a cold night and then warm day so I wonder if the temperature change impacted the glass. I see other reports online of rear windshield shattering, but no recall. When I called the service department at the dealer, they were unaware of the issue. I am tha... Read more
Incident date: Oct 10, 2023
Unknown , on November 23, 2022. I [XXX] hit a deer that jumped out in front of me while driving 45, 50 mph not one airbag went off and I hit the deer pretty hard. The deer had broken legs and it was all broken up, scared me because not one airbag not no nothing was there to help me. I then called 911. The police officer arrived. Asked me if I need an ambulance. I said no he said I was very lucky ... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Oct 10, 2023
Factory pearl white paint peeling around rear windshield in the rain channels
Incident date: Oct 10, 2023
Both of my passenger sliding doors failed, resulting in both of them opening while driving with my children in the back seats. In August 2022, my driver side passenger door swung wide open while I was driving the car, with the error on the dashboard showing door open. Took the car to Honda Dealership, who stated that the door latch failed and replaced the door latch. Now, a year later, in Octob... Read more
DODGE
GRAND CARAVAN
(2014) — STRUCTURE:BODY
Oct 10, 2023
Incident date: Oct 8, 2023
I have snow white pearl color car. I noticed that the there is painting peeling off my car. I also had my windshield replaced by safelite and they took a chunk of paint off my car as well and are refusing to pay for damage.
Incident date: Jan 10, 2023
Frame rotted and will not pass state inspection. Toyota dealer stated there was no recall on the frame, but some kind of warranty extension which is no longer active since 2022. I don't remember getting any notice from Toyota. I did get 3 recall notices, but nothing on the frame. Now they will not fix or do anything. I did not see it when I looked up recalls 2 years ago, and thought it was not ef... Read more
Incident date: Sep 6, 2023
Rocker panels rust out and cause the lifting points on the car unable to be used. Mechanics refuse to work on my car due to not being able to lift the vehicle per manufacturer lifting points.
TOYOTA
HIGHLANDER
(2020) — STRUCTURE:BODY
Oct 10, 2023
Incident date: Oct 6, 2023
White paint is peeling off on hood and roof.
Incident date: Oct 6, 2023
Failure point - Cracked back glass frame and gasket which allowed water to leak into the cab and onto the radio frequency module causing it to corrode. When raining the vehicle started on its own while I was sitting inside it. While driving to the mechanic the vehicle wouldn’t shift out of first gear. While driving multiple service systems lights came on along with service airbag system warning... Read more
Incident date: Aug 21, 2023
I wanted to open the hood using the hood support rod. Holding the hood with left hand using right hand grabbed the support rod . It burned my fingers immediately.Looking at the designed it is placed in the center of the hood underside right above engine compartment.It took one week and 3 phone calls to Toyota product liability area. I told him I learn my lesson the hard way that I will never grab ... Read more
TOYOTA
GRAND HIGHLANDER
(2024) — STRUCTURE:BODY
Oct 10, 2023
Incident date: Oct 3, 2023
I recently purchased this Ford Mustang 2016 from a used car dealer and while driving this car couple of times we noticed that the car door got unlatched while driving, it doesn't happen all the time but it happened twice so I started researching and found out that there was a recall for this model but I could get the appointment immediately so by the time I was able to get the appointment the dea... Read more
Incident date: Oct 5, 2023
Pearl white paint is peeling off in chunks. Not normal.
HYUNDAI
SANTA FE SPORT
(2018) — STRUCTURE:BODY
Oct 9, 2023
Incident date: Oct 4, 2023
I’ve only had the truck for 1 years and the frame is so deteriorated and rusted. My frame is now cracked/damaged. I’ve read up on the same manufacturer/trucks and it seems like an ongoing problem.
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE 4XE
(2023) — STRUCTURE:BODY
Oct 9, 2023
Incident date: Oct 9, 2023
Driver's side door the spot welds broke off, door was making a popping sound whenever opened. Driver's side window also wouldn't go down all the way. Took to dealer to check on it and they knew about this issue right away, advised us to take the car to a body shop because we would need a new Driver's side door put on.
Incident date: Oct 9, 2023
The White pearl paint is bubbling and peeling right above the driver door window. It's getting worse by the day. While driving with my window open a piece about the size of a nickel flew into my car and hit me on the face right under my eye. If it had flew into my eye I surely would have had an accident. Took car to Delray Hyundai on August 3,2023 for pictures and was lead to believe it would be ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 9, 2023
My front doors on the Tucson when first unlocked will not open from the outside, this is a huge safety issue as if there were a crash or fire where anyone in the front seats were unconscious then help would not be able to get them out quickly, this would endanger not just drivers and passengers but also first responders. This needs to be a Hyundai recall as this is one of thousands of reports on ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 27, 2023
Drivers door one day made a popping noise and then was unable to close. Door hinge issues and ford will not repair without cost although the door has not had any impact, collision or trauma, it just stopped working one day.
MERCEDES-BENZ
E350
(2011) — STRUCTURE:BODY
Oct 9, 2023
Incident date: Oct 9, 2023
The front driver door started to make large popping sounds and becoming difficult to close. The arm inside the door is now loose, grinding, and visibly not connected to the door. The drive window can also not be lowered now.
VOLKSWAGEN
GOLF
(2015) — STRUCTURE:BODY
Oct 9, 2023
Incident date: Mar 5, 2019
The vehicles panoramic sunroof shattered while driving. This created an unsafe situation and the insurance company still has not fixed in 6 months.
Incident date: May 3, 2023
My truck has had two leaks in the rear window area. I have owned it for 3 years it has 30000 miles on it. The vehicle is in otherwise perfect condition with no damage and no accidents. The first time it required the rear window to be replaced. This time it is uncertain where the leak is coming from. This could cause damage to the electronics as well as the rear airbags. It appears like these... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
PASSAT
(2021) — STRUCTURE:BODY
Oct 9, 2023
Incident date: Jul 1, 2023
The frame is rusted almost in half a mechanic said it's not safe to drive it will kill someone. The car lot that is selling me the car said he can fix it but it's being held together by welds and c foam. He wants me to still pay for it. I've complained about not being able to drive over 45 without swaying badly and they keep doing stuff to it saying it's fixed and it's not. It's to dangerous to dr... Read more
Incident date: Oct 2, 2023
Frame rust on my 2010 Silverado 1500 LT. Rear cross member is rusting through, rear shock Mounts are rusting off.
Incident date: Oct 7, 2023
Driver side Door hinge of my 2020 ford escape is starting to pull off the door spot welds
Incident date: Oct 8, 2023
Body: my vehicle has experienced a malfunction in the front passenger side door. This door does not open from the outside, regardless of it being unlocked. The failure occurs 99% of attempts to open said door. A repair was made by the dealer I purchased it from, yet the issue returned within a month. First incident: February 2022. Electrical: My vehicle has also experienced malfunctions in all f... Read more