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: Jan 1, 2020
The contact owns a 2018 Jeep Wrangler. The contact stated while driving 60 MPH, the vehicle experienced a death wobble. The contact stated there was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer and received unknown repairs. The vehicle was repaired but continued to experience a failure. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximat... Read more
Incident date: Dec 29, 2022
This is the second complaint I have filed, but it is the 3rd time my car has been at the dealership for the same thing. The brakes lock up without warning and the traction control error light and stabilitrak error light come on. This time the transmission didn't go into limp mode it just shut down. The 1st repair, dealership told me that it was a corroded fuse block. I paid to repair that. The day... Read more
Incident date: Oct 24, 2022
My 2011 ford explorer steering randomly went out . As I researched I realized that there was a safety recall 14s06 for that particular car. Apparently that recall was announced in 2014( before I purchased the vehicle) the previous owner took the truck to the dealership the have the pscm checked and no codes came back so it was only reprogrammed which is suppose to prevent steering loss which is wh... Read more
Incident date: Jan 3, 2023
The contact owns a 2022 Jeep Wagoneer. The contact stated while reversing out of the driveway, there was a loud booming sound coming from the rear of the vehicle. Upon inspection, it was discovered that the rear driver’s side rim and tire had exploded, leaving shards of metal and rubber on the ground. The contact also discovered that a single suspension arm was unsecured and missing a bolt and t... Read more
Incident date: Jan 5, 2023
The vehicle is a 2019 GMC Acadia with 45,255 highway miles on it. On 1/5/23, I took the vehicle to the GMC Dealer for a routine Pennsylvania State Inspection. I was told that the vehicle's rear toe links were loose and that I would not pass the state inspection unless they were replaced. Upon some research, I found out that it is unlikely that toe links would be loose on a 4 year old car with 45k ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 23, 2022
We are experiencing the "jeep death wobble" intermittently, usually at speeds 60-70 mph only happens when hitting a bump, it shakes steering wheel violently until finally slowing down to 50-55 mph. Our jeep is all stock, with standard street tires and Never been off-road. Our Jeep has 28,000 miles and is still under warranty, although warranty ending March 2023. We have had it to dealership two ti... Read more
Incident date: Jan 5, 2023
Hit a minor pothole at 70 MPH, had sudden "death wobble" and almost lost control of the vehicle. 100, 410 miles on the vehicle, have had minor wobble in the past occasionally. Steering parts replaced at about 37,000 miles due to failures, installed a steering dampener years ago due to the potential problem, also current tires have less than 8,000 miles on them. Clearly a known danger to these v... Read more
Incident date: Dec 29, 2022
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while having a routine oil change at the local dealer, she was informed that the driver’s and passenger’s side rear toe links needed to be replaced. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, and a case was filed. The manufacturer referred her to the NHTSA Hotline for assis... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2021 Jeep Wrangler. The contact stated while driving at speeds exceeding 70 MPH, the vehicle started to shake and vibrate violently. After reducing the speed to 55 MPH the shaking ceased and the vehicle operated normally. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer was notified of the failure and indicated that the failure might have been caused by a faulty... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
C300
(2010) - SUSPENSION
Jan 4, 2023
Incident date: Nov 7, 2022
The Rear Subframe of the car rotted out, making the car dangerous to drive. This problem has been identified by Mercedes and IS considered a safety hazard in Canada and Europe. This problem should also be covered here in the USA. Unfortunately Mercedes Benz USA will not offer any help here, instead trying to charge customers more than $7,000.00 for the repair. A frame should last the lifetime of... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
E550
(2011) - SUSPENSION
Jan 4, 2023
Incident date: Jan 3, 2023
The vehicle felt like it was all over the road at highway speeds. Took it to a mechanic and the rear subframe had become weakened with premature rust. The mounting point for one of the rear suspension arms had broken off of the subframe and was making contact with my gas tank. I called the dealer to see if there were any recalls. No recalls for this issue however there are a few reports on thi... Read more
Incident date: Jan 3, 2023
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Windstar. The contact had taken her vehicle to an independent mechanic and was informed that the rear axle had cracked due to severe corrosion. The mechanic informed her that the vehicle was unsafe to drive. The contact was also informed that the vehicle might be included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 10V385000 (Suspension). The dealer and manufacturer were contacted, and ... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
C300
(2012) - SUSPENSION
Jan 4, 2023
Incident date: Jan 3, 2023
During planned car service my mechanics discovered that rear subframe is broken and is not safe to drive anymore. After investigation I found that this is a major issue that Mercedes owners have with this particular model. In Europe for this issue has been issued Recall, however in US for some reason Mercedes don't take responsibility. This is a major Safety hazard with possible fatal consequences... Read more
Incident date: Jan 4, 2023
My car has approx 115,000 miles. I took it to Bass Mazda to have spark plugs and serpentine belt changed simply for maintenance purposes. After leaving dealership my car was pulling to the right. My steering wheel was no longer centered. It also was turned toward the right. Any time I had to hit the brakes the car pulled very hard to right. Long story short it we ended up finding out that my sub ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 4, 2022
The contact owns a 2011 Ford F-250. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH and switching lanes and depressing the brake, the vehicle started to shake abnormally. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that after decelerating, the vehicle stopped shaking. The dealer was contacted and made aware of the failure. The contact was informed that the VIN was not under recall. The cont... Read more
Incident date: Dec 2, 2022
The F250 will violently shake in an uncontrollable and unpredictable manner on occasion. It typically happens at speeds over 40 mph when encountering any variation from perfectly flat pavement. Ford has an extended warranty to cover the engineering and design failure of some portion of the steering and suspension system; however, the part is backordered and unavailable to make the covered repair... Read more
Incident date: Nov 26, 2022
On the interstate, my Jeep developed the "death wobble" causing us to have to greatly decrease speed among other drivers. This issue continued after each small bump in the road that we hit at interstate speeds, causing the vehicle to shake violently and requiring me to decrease speed repeatedly among other fast-moving traffic. It eventually required me to have to move over to the slow lane for e... Read more
Incident date: Jan 2, 2023
The front sub frame was recalled due to SEVERE rot and corrosion. It was replaced at the dealers cost. The issue is the rear subframe has the exact same, if not worse rot and corrosion. I called the dealer and no recall is issued. Thousands of people are having the same issue
Incident date: Dec 24, 2022
The wheel control arm bolts that hold the wheel onto the vehicle slowly unscrewed until they fell out (x2 bolts per wheel). It is available for inspection upon request. If a disconnected fully inflated tire is sucked under the car at high speeds, it may potentially flip the vehicle, badly rupture the battery pack or the wheel may jettison from the vehicle onto surrounding vehicles. It is unknown ... Read more
BUICK
RENDEZVOUS
(2004) - SUSPENSION
Jan 3, 2023
Incident date: Jan 3, 2023
Upon arriving at my destination and after i put my in park i was UNABLE to turn my engine off because the ignition was stuck in that position. I ultimately had no choice but to unhook the battery cables along with disconnecting the alternator to get my engine to turn off. Prior to this incident occasionally upon starting my car the ignition would not disengage immediately upon the engine turning o... Read more
CHRYSLER
TOWN AND COUNTRY
(2014) - SUSPENSION
Jan 3, 2023
Incident date: Jun 15, 2022
The contact's mother owned a 2014 Chrysler Town and Country modified adaptive wheelchair vehicle. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, he smelled a strong burning odor inside the cabin of the vehicle. Additionally, the contact stated while the vehicle was parked, he noticed that there was fuel leaking on the rear driver's side wheel. The vehicle was taken to the dealer Mobility Work... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2020
I purchased this 2003 Toyota 4Runner in 2018 under what I assumed was prime condition, for a vehicle that spent the majority of its life in Nebraska/Kansas before I moved to Texas in 2021. At 87,400 miles at the time of purchase, the vehicle had no visible damage to the exterior besides a few paint chips, some minor hail damage and scratches, and some easily fixed surface rust in the paint on the ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 3, 2022
I own a 2009 mazda 6 witch is my only vehicle I had tooken it to a mechanic shop due to noise comming from the front and rear of the car under farther investigation I was notified by the mechanic that the entire front and rear subframes were badly rotted and rusty i than took the car to a mazda dealer for further inspection we’re I was notified that they would replace the front sub frame under r... Read more
Incident date: Dec 26, 2022
The Frame of the truck in the back above the rear tire has rusted out and the Frame has broke.
Incident date: Jan 1, 2023
Rear sub-frame welds failed. On January 1st 2023 while driving the vehicle a loud noise was observed. We got an appointment at the local Honda service center and we were told in fact it was the sub-frame and that Honda is refusing to cover this under the factory warranty. We are almost 500 miles from home and have a two year old vehicle with a broken sub-frame
Incident date: Dec 19, 2022
Driving slowly, in reverse, in a smooth parking lot, the front right suspension made a big thudding noise and both steering and any braking made horrible metal and other screeching noises. This was at a very low speed. The suspension part, the forward link (lower control arm) had split open and no longer held the ball joint in place. This happened without any warning of any sort, and with no (I've... Read more
Incident date: Jan 3, 2023
While pulling forward to straighten out car into parking/charging spot at less than 1mph at EVGo charger in front of Meijer store the front passenger wheel made loud clunk and would not move. Another motorist charging said he heard it and offered to help. I called Tesla roadside from car’s service screen and waited over half hour before being disconnected. The Tesla App provides NO applicable op... Read more
Incident date: Jan 2, 2023
Well to put it lightly my rear axial the whole rear end is a mess this did not happen from normal were there is not that many miles I am very confident that if I was mot train on how to control a car if it were to go out of control at a high speed this would be a whole different story just thank how many are still on the road this year 2006 escape is a ticking time 💣
1 injured
Incident date: Nov 18, 2022
I was driving on the highway over a bridge and the truck started wobbling uncontrollably when I hit 55. The scary part is you couldn’t really control the vehicle when it was wobbling like that. So the next day we went and bought me shocks for the front and back and it’s doing this.
Incident date: Jan 1, 2023
The subframe has completely rusted and broke apart. This is a known issue on the Nissan's. We heard a rattling and upon inspection found a piece of the frame had rusted off. The entire rear subframe is rusted through. The vehicle cannot be driven. Nissan should pay for this repair.
Incident date: Jan 2, 2023
The unregulated sale and installation of lift kits and parts on pickup trucks causing an unsafe condition for the operator and the motorists. Raising the vehicle raises the vehicle's center of mass height. This alone changes the vehicle operation dynamics in several ways. 1. The cornering weight transfer is magnified and can contribute to a rollover or loss off traction. 2. The braking of the vehi... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
E350
(2011) - SUSPENSION
Jan 2, 2023
Incident date: Dec 29, 2022
I was on the highway traveling at 70 mph, when I noticed something was not right. I would switch lanes and notice the vehicle swaying in the rear I would also brake, and notice car would sway. I didn’t have any warning signs, and have deemed my vehicle unsafe to drive. Upon further inspection, I noticed that the rear subframe has been compromised with rust, fully detaching the lower control arm ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 13, 2022
THIS IS THE SECOND TIME THAT I HAD TO REPLACE THE TRANSMISSION ON THIS CAR THEN THE AXLE TWICE AND THE BRAKES THEN ETC
Incident date: Dec 10, 2022
While my wife was driving my RLX I left my neighborhood and made a right turn onto the main road, while on the main road the PAWS system malfunctioned and the vehicle "Fishtailed" causing the vehicle to swerve violently, steering turned violently as well and instrument cluster illuminated with multiple warning lights. PAWS system malfunctioned/failed (its available for inspection) The safety of my... Read more
Incident date: Oct 22, 2022
We have experienced “death wobble” several times with the Ford. Every time we get all the necessary parts replaced and they’ll last about 6 months and the death wobble will return. It’s highly dangerous as you lose control of the vehicle and it can walk into another lane with traffic. You are unable to steer when this is happening. The only way to regain control is to slow the vehicle down... Read more
Incident date: Dec 31, 2022
This vehicle was maintained by Audi/VW for 60000 miles under a service contract. While changing my snow tires I noticed the spring was broken. My wife did claim she heard a rattling in the back of the car, this must have been it. I’ve found multiple complaints from different owners on car online forums claiming they found the same spring, the right rear, unexpectedly broken. A suspension failure... Read more
Incident date: Dec 25, 2022
In March of 2022, this vehicle was repaired for a rear suspension toe link recall. On Christmas evening, December 25, 2022, the toe link failed. The car fishtailed briefly before veering uncontrollably off the road. I had no warnings that this was going to happen aside from a slight "clunk" in the rear of the car a second beforehand. Fortunately oncoming traffic immediately stopped and avoided me... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2023
Rear subframe cradle failed on new years day while family was in vehicle and attempted to stop at red light. Rear trailing arm mount was fully rotted and snapped off while braking for red light and fully occupied vehicle. Luckily the brake line wasn't pinched and we walked away. Purchased this vehicle with 8k miles certified used amd waited for this color combo and package to be available, owned a... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
C300
(2011) - SUSPENSION
Dec 31, 2022
Incident date: Dec 30, 2022
I was teaching my 16 year old son how to drive when he got his learners permit . When we got onto the highway a car cut him off and he had to apply a firm steady brake . When breaking the car swerved from the rear into the other lane , nearly striking another vehicle . This also resulted in a loss of control when applying heavy breaking after I had him pull over and I took control of the vehicle... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
E350
(2012) - SUSPENSION
Dec 31, 2022
Incident date: Dec 1, 2022
I have video available that shows significant premature corrosion of the rear subframe and brake line. The safety of others will be put at risk at the time of failure. Failed subframes can lead to loss of control. This problem has been identified and the part inspected by a Mercedes dealership. There are no warning lamps or messages to alert the driver that failure is imminent. This was discovered... Read more
Incident date: Nov 21, 2022
I was driving down a well paved road obeying the speed limit of 35MPH when a loud bang startled me. There was nothing in the road, and I checked my rear view mirror to confirm and there was nothing in the road. The car started handling a little differently. I brought it to the dealership and they told me both rear springs had broken. The vehicle only had about 70K miles on it. It could have... Read more
Incident date: Nov 15, 2022
About a week after i bought this car and i bought it used but the abs light came on i took it to have it check out and was told the complete suspendtion system front and back was shot and that it all had to be fix i don't have the money for that i am a disabled veteran and i am scraping by as it is
Incident date: Jul 7, 2021
My 2021 Jeep Gladiator Sport is very unsafe to drive specially at Highway speeds or speeds above 45 mph and multiple dealerships service departments are refusing to fix or even acknowledge the issue after not being able to fix the problem already due to no major recalls being offered by Jeep only a bulletin. Steering is very loose, and I cant drive my Jeep Gladiator Sport straight specially on a ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 16, 2022
Vehicle front end started to violently shake when hitting small bumps while driving over 55 mph. When this happens, I have to slam on the brakes to get the vehicle back below 40 mph to stop the shaking, then can accelerate back to speed.....only to happen again when hitting a bump. The dealer states that it is worn parts on a vehicle with less than 20,000 miles on it. The vehicle has been at the... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
S550
(2014) - SUSPENSION
Dec 30, 2022
Incident date: Nov 25, 2022
The vehicle dropped at front axle areas on both sides. The next message stated "Vehicle to Low". Vehicle is available for inspection upon request. Could not drive regular speed limit almost got rear ended. Reproduced i am not sure, there is however about 3 manufacturer communications on this issue. There have not been any inspections relating to this issue with insurance. The manufacturer Me... Read more
Incident date: Feb 10, 2021
Death wobbles on a stock Jeep nothing at all has been changed on this vehicle. I am unable to take this vehicle anywhere without experiencing death wobbles. Dealership will be replacing the stabilizer, but many Jeep owners are telling me that this is not a fix and more of a band aid for the problem. I am seeing this same complaint over and again in Jeep Facebook groups. The bought this vehicle bra... Read more
Incident date: Aug 8, 2022
Multiple failure of left and right suspension link and sway bar
MERCEDES-BENZ
A 220
(2019) - SUSPENSION
Dec 29, 2022
Incident date: Dec 17, 2021
The contact owns a 2019 Mercedes-Benz A220. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V990000 (Suspension, Steering) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts dist... Read more
Incident date: Dec 28, 2022
Known problem to later model Ford F250 Sper Duty pickup trucks (2015 to 2019??) experiencing a violent steering wheel oscillation after hitting a minor bump in pavement or a pot hole. aka "death wobble" at highway speeds. This has occurred three times thus far on this truck. This seems to occur at approximately 55 to 65 MPH. The shaking is so bad that the driver could easily loose control. The... Read more
Incident date: Dec 26, 2022
The contact owns a 2006 Hyundai Azera. The contact stated while driving approximately 70 MPH, the vehicle rode over a slight bump in the roadway and the rear-end of the vehicle started swaying to the left and the right. The contact pulled over and stopped the vehicle to check for a flat tire and observed that the tires were inflated. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent but occurre... Read more