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 49,170 complaints - component: SUSPENSION
Incident date: Oct 20, 2023
Turned my wheel to pull out of a parking spot. I heard a grinding noise as I moved forward and then lost the ability to steer my car. I was able to get my car off the street and upon inspection found my left front tie rod had snapped in half.
TOYOTA
SIENNA HYBRID
(2023) - SUSPENSION
Nov 12, 2023
Incident date: Oct 4, 2023
The Mechanic Wedige Automotive in Elkhorn Wi, use AC Delco Parts, Just in This year He installed The Rear Swaybar links part#45G0403 The same part Broke Twice and put the same for the third time. We don't know if is going to brake for the third time, but we are afraid that if we drive in a highway we can be on a bad car accident. The second time it broke, our car got left wheelbearing damage and... Read more
Incident date: Oct 29, 2023
Front left tire control arm completely separated from suspension with no obvious warning. Fortunately happened while backing out of driveway otherwise could have been catastrophic on street/freeway.
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: Oct 2, 2023
Bought a 2023 Tesla model 3 performance that vibrates from the day I bought it. After 12 service visits, new wheels tires and even a new brake rotor the car is still vibrating. Tesla seems to say it’s normal and that all teslas drive like this but no other vehicle manufacturer has ever produced a car that vibrates. It’s unsafe and scary to drive this car the way it is. They tried fixing it at ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 10, 2023
In 2013 and 2014 my wife complained of the jeep having the "death wobble" on several occasions when she hit a bump on the highway at speeds of 40 MPH or higher. She would slow down to less than 10 mph for the wobbling to stop. The dealership attempted to determine what the issue was but was not able to find anything wrong. We had the same issue with our 2008 wrangler, and after paying over two... Read more
Incident date: Jul 28, 2023
After 131,500 miles, struts, rotors and pads wore out. Lower ball joint and control arm also wore out, No injuries or accident.
Incident date: Oct 27, 2023
I had a flat tire while driving to work and was unable to pull over for about a few thousand feet. As the tire went flat I swirled into the grass on a street without a shoulder. The tire snapped off and was not locatable. I filed a police report and called the police at time of incident. The total damage on the vehicle was under $3,000 but because the tire snapped off and damaged the firewall Dodg... Read more
Incident date: Jul 5, 2023
While driving I heard a popping sound and felt the vehicle sway slightly. The vehicle continued to making intermittent banging noises towards the rear passenger side. Upon stopping and investigating I found the rear control arm had failed on the passenger side. I also examined the driver side rear control arm. It was intact but has significant rust, which likely contributed to the passenger side f... Read more
KIA
OPTIMA PHEV
(2017) - SUSPENSION
Nov 11, 2023
Incident date: Oct 15, 2023
It’s it’s firing and shaking, and I have kept up on the oil changes. It’s a lot of money
GMC
HUMMER EV SUV
(2024) - SUSPENSION
Nov 11, 2023
Incident date: Nov 2, 2023
The vehicle steering wheel shudders at speeds from 40-55mph. The steering wheel shudders at 2-second intervals and is constant between those speeds. At first, I thought it might be one of the safety systems. It is not. This is unsafe and GM should be held responsible.
Incident date: Sep 25, 2023
In April 2023 during an inspection to correct a misalignment of my 2019 5th wheel trailer's dual axles, it was discovered by the servicing shop (Straight Line Suspension, Mesa AZ) that the left rear spring hanger had failed causing one of the axles to become misaligned. Straight Line informed me that this was a very unusual situation but we assumed it was a one off situation which was then correc... Read more
Incident date: Nov 10, 2023
My ball joint failed on my brand new 4 month old vehicle at mile 2077. You absolutely have the ability to inspect it if you would like. This caused a MAJOR safety issue to both me and people around me as I lost complete control of my vehicle. Luckily, no one was injured. I believe this is an independent claim thus far on a CX-50. Mazda claims they had it inspected but I never saw anything in writi... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Nov 11, 2023
My car has a rotten rear subframe and has holes in it and the dealer doesn't want to repair it and Mercedes announced that it had a 20 year extended warranty. I'm from Manchester, New Hampshire. They inspected it and say they can't change it for free. The warranty doesn't cover it. I don't know what's going on. with that
Incident date: Feb 7, 2022
Shock absorber severe noise driving over road imperfections , lower front ball joint failure full pull through of the joint off of the control arm assembly pulling the cv axle apart and basically having the front wheel more or less completely separate from the body where the vehicle is no longer moveable
Incident date: Nov 3, 2023
a rusted rear subframe is more prone to crack when a driver hits a pothole or wants to brake quickly, which can lead to instability in the vehicle's rear suspension.
Incident date: Nov 9, 2023
Rear subframe is completely rotted service tech advised parking the car it is unsafe to drive
Incident date: Oct 15, 2023
Death wobble at 45 and 74 mph. Driving on freeway and vehicle begins to shake violently: Has been a problem with other year models in the past after researching. Very dangerous on busy freeways.
Incident date: Nov 8, 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 1, 2023
My car has has very loud creaking sounds coming from stabilizer links and upper control arms. This is a known defect and there are already service bulletins about this. Those bulletins are: SB1831005R1, SB-20-31-006 R3, SB-18-31-005 Unfortunately, when I took my vehicle into be repaired, they said that my VIN isn't covered by this recall... Yet, I am having the same issue. Tesla charged me $2... Read more
FORD
FIVE HUNDRED
(2007) - SUSPENSION
Nov 10, 2023
Incident date: Oct 10, 2023
There is an unknown smell (kind of smells like Carbon Monoxide) when cranking up my car. There is this knocking noise that I continue to hear as if something is loose under my car, but when inspected, nothing was loose. It happens when I hit a bump or go over a hump in the road. The unknown smell scares me as this could be potentially hazardous to me and drivers around me. The knocking noise is te... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2023
I experienced the death wooble on my 2019 f250 took truck to ford dealership and had the steering dampner replaced as this what ford says causes the problem but a week after it was supposed to corrected i was driving on the interstate and hit a ruff spot in the pavement and experienced the death wooble again . This was on11/04/2023 . So the part ford says should correct the wooble didnt fix it. S... Read more
Incident date: Nov 4, 2023
During driving on the highway control arm failure causing wheel bearing failure and loss of control of the vehicle putting my safety and others at risk of collision at high speeds. Thankfully no major issue occurred and the vehicle was taken to be confirmed and fixed immediately. I paid for all service repairs out of pocket The vehicle was inspected and issue confirmed by independent service ce... Read more
Incident date: Nov 9, 2023
The car started very slightly making a clunking noise and it progressively got worse. We've taken it for every scheduled maintenance and didn't know anything was wrong. We asked for it to be specifically checked at our recent oil change and were told it is a unfortunate COMMON issue that HYUNDAI IS AWARE of BUT the warranty ended on that about 6 months ago - something that should've been addresse... Read more
Incident date: Oct 31, 2023
There is a noticeable clunking or knocking noise from the rear suspension, possibly the leaf springs
Incident date: Nov 8, 2023
Estaba manejando a 35 millas y de repentes la jeep comenzó a perder fuerza y se apagó, tuve que durar como 30 minutos para que pudiera prender, porque cuando la encendía temblaba y los frenos frenos y el guía se ponían duro.
Incident date: Nov 7, 2023
Noise in the rear of the vehicle during low speed tight turns (parking lot speed). Vehicle has had axle bearing/hub replaced along with 7585W oil. The problem never went away even after this repair and has become worse. The dealership has had my vehicle for over 2 weeks and cannot find the problem. My concerns are: The dealership cannot diagnose the problem and if the problem is related to th... Read more
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2014) - SUSPENSION
Nov 9, 2023
Incident date: Jul 1, 2022
Rear suspension spring failure on both sides at 54k miles. Happening across many Q7s. Can result in a serious accident due to loss of control especially if towing a trailer. Audi is aware of issue and has revisioned the spring parts. Consumers in states without annual inspections can be driving very dangerous vehicles due to the defective springs without knowing. Should be recalled.
Incident date: Nov 9, 2023
Entire frame of the vehicle is rotten with rust and holes. This vehicle has been inspected by McDaniel Toyota, Marion, OH 43302 and the damage was confirmed. I have been and must continue to drive this vehicle even though the dealership did not recommend it. No evidence of the extent of the rust and damage was not noticed until October 2023 when a strap on the gas tank came loose. Upon furth... Read more
Incident date: Aug 30, 2023
Rear shock absorbers leaking and need replacement Can fail at any time and cause vehicle to swerve while driving Yes,inspected by dealer and was told "its a known issue" Loud clunking noise coming from rear is how we noticed
MERCEDES-BENZ
ML350
(2013) - SUSPENSION
Nov 8, 2023
Incident date: Nov 7, 2023
my vehicle with apparently refurbished engine was purchased certified used through carvana in 2019 & was one of the recalled vehicles from 2017 (which I was NOT informed of at them of purchase)and is exhibiting the same signs as those in the recall, loss of power at acceleration, vibrating, etc & my local dealership, Doug's Hyundai of Edmonds is refusing to service my vehicle. I don't feel safe dr... Read more
FORD
MAVERICK HYBRID
(2022) - SUSPENSION
Nov 7, 2023
Incident date: Jun 1, 2023
On July 25, 2023, I was driving in our town when I heard a noise coming from the rear of the car. I was very close to a repair facility that I sometimes use, so I slowly drove there. They looked at the car and showed me that the rear driver-side wheel was about to fall off. They then raised the car in the shop and told me that the rear upper-control arm had rusted through and broken, causing th... Read more
Incident date: Oct 23, 2023
I was driving my vehicle down a pier to the parking entrance for the USS Midway, 610 N Harbor Dr, San Diego, CA 92101, when for no reason my 2022 GV70, AWD, veered sharply (45 degrees) to the right and made violently contact with a cement block on the pier used to moor ships. I believe there was a failure of the right front suspension system. When I got out of the vehicle to inspect the damage I f... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Nov 10, 2020
corrosion on entire frame crossmember part
Incident date: Oct 13, 2022
Today while driving , the upper ball joint separated from the control arm, causing the truck to pull hard to the right. I was able to keep from wrecking the truck. While doing research it seems that this is a common occurrence with the Silverado Trail Boss and the Sierra AT4. I read a safety recall report on these vehicles, 21V-718, after reading this, it's exactly what happened with my truck. Bal... Read more
Incident date: Oct 5, 2023
Stock OEM right rear spring on 2021 BMW M2 Competition F87 had snapped in two back in August 2023. Vehicle only has about $10,000 miles. Online forums also had online users with the same problem where OEM rear springs snapping on either side. Users also stated that vehicles were parked and springs suddenly snapped. The OEM coil springs should be looked into as this poses danger and safety for the ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 5, 2023
All 4 struts and shocks are leaking. The vehicle has less than 30,000 miles. This is dangerous and will cause tire issues, stopping issues and more. A quick google search shows this exists on many expeditions. Diagnosed by mechanic during annual inspection. The parts are bad and others have reported the same issue at less than 10000 miles. Many states don’t require inspections so how many are ou... Read more
Incident date: Oct 28, 2023
The SUV is hard to control at highway speeds 65/75mph. It rocks and slowly pulls to the left only to sharply correct and pull to the right. BTW, the lane departure assist has been disabled so it's not the cause of it. I went back to the dealership multiple time only to be told nothing is wrong with the car. 6 month later they said it is the front tires that need replacement. I replaced all 4 ... Read more
LAND ROVER
LR4
(2016) - SUSPENSION
Nov 6, 2023
Incident date: Nov 6, 2023
Rear wheels cambering rubbing on shock absorbers.
Incident date: Nov 4, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 25 MPH, the front wheel turned at a 45-degree angle. The contact was able to pull over. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact who is an independent mechanic installed Monroe strut and coil system part number 173112 on the driver side front, the top nut fractured after two weeks. The conta... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2023
The electrical is so messed up the battery drains within hours, I have shorts in all aspects of this car(Bluetooth, navigation, clicking relays nonstop, heat goes out intermittently, power switches on doors. I saw my headlights surging in power in the middle of nowhere, they would get bright, then go dim, then a battery icon illuminated on my dashboard before my car downshifted so hard I almost lo... 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: Nov 5, 2023
Starting to exhibit signs of the death wobble at 46000 miles
Incident date: Oct 27, 2023
2001 Toyota Rav4 was sold at Auction, to a used car dealership. I purchased this car from the used car dealer on August 5, 2023. Unfortunately, the dealer tampered with the brakes. I witnessed their mechanic working on the rear brake system in person on August 4, 2023. The owner told me that because there was a noise coming from the rear, they were "fixing it". Upon buying this car and drivi... Read more
Incident date: Nov 4, 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.
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2017) - SUSPENSION
Nov 5, 2023
Incident date: Nov 3, 2023
Driving on the highway at speeds above 60 mph and hitting seams or bumps in the road, the front suspension starts to violently shake. It is random when it happens. The shaking causes the whole truck and steering wheel to shake uncontrollably. The only way to stop the shaking is to slow to below 40 mph. This happens at random places and times. There is no warning and the entire truck and steering ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 2, 2023
The dealer has been putting us off for months on the safety recall for the coil spring issue. They keep telling us that the parts are unavailable. We are afraid to drive our brand new car. They will not give us an ETA on the repair.
FORD
ESCAPE HYBRID
(2020) - SUSPENSION
Nov 4, 2023
Incident date: Nov 1, 2023
Inspection of the underbody revealed complete rusting away of the frame mount point for the passenger side lower control arm. The mounting has not failed yet, but the metal surrounding the bolt point is no longer providing any structure. I would not ordinarily have thought inform the NHTSA of this failure, but Internet searching has turned up many other owners of Elements experiencing this same ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 31, 2023
Driving 60+ miles you hit a bump and the truck starts shaking real bad the whole truck That the only way to make the vehicle stop from shaking is slowing down the speed to 30 mph or complete stop until it goes away the terrible shaking. I already reemplace many suspension parts like the track bar,tie rod and the drag link and still having that issue
Incident date: Nov 2, 2023
I own a 2018 GMC Denali, Yukon XL SUV, with 67k miles. While towing our 24’ Airstream (weight 4400 lbs) the vehicle excessively bounced in the air several times on a flat pull on I-80 in Northern Ca. I took it to three mechanics who told me that the front magnetic and rear air shocks had all failed and were leaking oil. The best price that we could secure for replacement is $2500. Each mechan... Read more