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: Jul 29, 2022
This vehicle has had bad engine rumbling since I have Owens’s the vehicle and makes loud noises all the time since I have owned it new. Also this year car online has had known suspension issues and alignment issues. My vehicle pulls to the right all the time and steering wheel is off center. Also my front socks with only 6200 make noise when going over bumps. I have been to the dealership over t... Read more
Incident date: Oct 20, 2022
Passenger side front control arm mount has extreme rust that degrades the integrity of the front suspension. Many others report this same problem especially with the V6.
Incident date: Oct 17, 2022
The subframe/suspension has completely rotten away
Incident date: Oct 20, 2022
Several small issues with F-350 but nothing to stop using until yesterday. I was running along about 45 mph and front began to shake and in fact so bad started bouncing about 1’ to 2’ high. I did not brake or speed up but took foot off gas and slowed down to approx 15mph and stopped. I was in traffic so went back to 45 mph and has not acted up since. But this could have been disaster.
Incident date: Oct 20, 2022
Component that failed: rear upper suspension control arm developed a crack where it connects with the rear wheel knuckle. Other Lotus Evoras have reported this failure, across several model years. Component has not been inspected by others. No warning lamps. Suspension started making a clunking noise.
Incident date: Sep 20, 2022
Death Wobble was a consistent problem. Driving at approximately 40-60 mph and the front end and steering wheel shook violently after hitting a bump in the road. I have an extended warranty and Ford repaired it yesterday (I hope). They said it was caused by loose parts. Here is a list of their repairs: Installed BC3Z 3050 C : Joint ASY - Ball Installed AC3Z 3A116 A : Bush - Front Suspension AR ... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2019
Known Ford Superduty "death wobble"...violent shaking of truck's front end at highway speed. Happens randomly and usually after hitting a bump or going over uneven road surfaces. Only way to stop wobble is to slow down to below about 50 mph, putting myself and others on the road at risk. Known Ford issue.
Incident date: Oct 12, 2022
The vehicle violently shakes when it encounters a bump, pothole, or other road surface deviation while driving over 60mph. The steering wheel and front wheels of the vehicle both do this until speed is reduced to under 50mph. Control of the vehicle is greatly reduced during this period. The vehicle is currently at the dealership with 3,000 miles and was purchased new in June of 2022. There are no ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 20, 2022
The frame is damaged from excessive corrosion. The rear cross member that supports the trailer hitch and rear bumper is almost non-existent, which could result in the loss of the trailer being towed, and it will reduce the truck's rear impact resistance. The front right lower control arm has a 2'" x 3/8" lateral hole from corrosion, which could result in a catastrophic failure of the right front s... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
GOLF SPORTWAGEN
(2017) - SUSPENSION
Oct 20, 2022
Incident date: Sep 30, 2022
At 28,700 miles both rear coil springs on my Volkswagen failed. This spring failure was addressed in Volkswagen's 42J5 recall campaign and NHTSA's campaign # 19V188000. However, my vehicles VIN # was not part of this recall. Since the springs on my vehicle failed at a low mileage why was my vehicle not included in the 56,000 vehicles recalled. Perhaps this indicates a wider issue than Volkswagen f... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
C300
(2013) - SUSPENSION
Oct 20, 2022
Incident date: Oct 19, 2022
While driving on highway, started to slowdown on exit. Vehicle rear end felt waiving side to side. Had vehicle checked with local mechanic. Reported rear subframe rusted and split. Advised not to drive & replace the subframe. Visited MB dealer service. Informed it is a known problem and a safety problem. Can repair when part is re-stock in January 2023?? $4,000 + Research online. Plenty reports in... Read more
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2020) - SUSPENSION
Oct 20, 2022
Incident date: Oct 17, 2022
I was taking my truck to have an oil change and tire rotation at the dealership. I have just traveled approximately 15 miles on the freeway, exited, and entered the parking lot of the dealership. I went over a speed bump at about 5-7mph and felt a clunk, with a grinding sound and the car pulled to the right. I got out of the truck and found the front passenger wheel was hanging off with only the ... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
C300
(2013) - SUSPENSION
Oct 20, 2022
Incident date: Oct 20, 2022
Filing complaint for my 2013 Mercedes C300. I was informed by the dealership this vehicle has a rusted out rear subframe and the vehicle is no longer operable. This is a very common and serious safety issue, and the Mercedes dealership is refusing to cover the cost of the repair. Please help!
Incident date: Jun 15, 2022
Well not even at 100,000 miles yet suspension noise all four engine not good as its not work well with the way they have set up with no dip stick suspension clink clack crazy not even at 100.00
Incident date: Oct 20, 2022
Backup camera, and MMI SYSTEM DONT WORK GOOGLE MAP,suspension front has been replaced at 90k miles
Incident date: Oct 20, 2022
The passenger front tire suspension makes a cracking sound on low speed. We brought our car to the local service center for repair twice over the past year (spent $5000), and the noise is still there. Tesla had a recall on this issue: https://cdn.motor1.com/pdf-files/sb-21-39-001-replace-front-drive-unit-halfshafts.pdf but they told me that my vehicle was not included, even though my vehicle was m... Read more
Incident date: Aug 6, 2022
I own a 2019 F250 platinum diesel and the last 5 months have been teetering on a very thin line of causing a serious accident. At highway speeds, my truck will start to violently shake after hitting small bumps, bridge entrances/exits, potholes. Pretty much any un-level surface has the potential to cause my truck to violently shake. It’s referred to as Death wobble and for good reason. It feels ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2020
This car has been drifting to the right since bought causing premature tire wear which has now been 5 sets of tires in 36k miles. The front right tire always seems to blow out. Alignment has always been knocked out in within weeks. Several independent shops point to defective bushings while infiniti doesn't see the issue. This same issue was recalled for the 2016 models. I've replaced the knuckle ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 8, 2022
Left front air strut broke two weeks (600 miles) after delivery. There was no warning, just a loud noise when it broke. Warning light showed chasis issue. BMW towed car and replaced strut under warranty.
NEWMAR
LONDON AIRE
(2020) - SUSPENSION
Oct 19, 2022
Incident date: Sep 6, 2022
UNKNOWN I was traveling in this new to me 2020 Newmar London Aire on a trip of approx. 2,700 miles. The first issue was coming to a bridge in SC that was maybe 400 feet in length. There were lots of transition strips and dips on the bridge. When I first approached the bridge, my Motorhome bounced/propoised so violently that my wife flew up out of her sit and the front end dropped to the stops ... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
C300
(2011) - SUSPENSION
Oct 19, 2022
Incident date: Aug 2, 2022
Rear Sub frame faiIure / rusted and rotted On this site alone there are complaints listed under 3 different heading Structure (30) / SUSPENSION (38) / UNKNOWN OR OTHER (20) all related to the rear sub frame. not to mention 100's on the web. I nearly died when I hit the brakes the car lurched to the left at highway speed. My mechanic told me that the rear Subframe was rotted and the rear cont... Read more
Incident date: Oct 16, 2022
Third time returning my Ford F350 to the Friendly Ford dealership where it was purchased because of death wobble. Vehicle is driving at high speeds all three times has been on the freeway and all of a sudden it shakes violently and almost loses control of vehicle. The first time happened in January 18 of 2020 the second time happened June 25 of 2022 and then just three days ago October 12, 2022. T... Read more
Incident date: Sep 16, 2022
Extreme steering wheel shaking aka death wobble. Caused my truck to jump across 3 lanes on i75 almost costing me and my wife our life's. Starts after hitting pot hole and becomes so extreme your hands loose contact with steering wheel. This is clearly an A Rank Safety issue that Ford has not addressed. No warning when it happens, all control is lost and up till now we have been lucky. Truck did t... Read more
Incident date: Oct 15, 2022
The contact's husband owns a 2003 Jeep Liberty. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH, the front driver's side suspension of the vehicle inadvertently lowered, and the tire became flat. The contact veered to the side of the road. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the front driver's side lower ball joint had fractured and needed to be replaced. The conta... Read more
Incident date: Oct 9, 2022
The contact owns a 2018 Ford F-250. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle experienced the death wobble, causing the vehicle and steering wheel to violently shake and vibrate. The contact indicated that the failure had occurred after driving over a bump in the roadway, causing the vehicle drift into the other driving lane. The cause of the failure was not determined. The m... Read more
Incident date: Oct 18, 2022
Car is 4 years old with 22k miles only and never was involved in an accident or high impact situation. When backing out of driveway and then turning wheels going forward at low speed, a loud noise occurred in the front passenger wheel area and car came to a complete stop. After going out to investigate, the car body was resting on the wheel and two bolts were on the road and the lower control arm ... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
C300
(2012) - SUSPENSION
Oct 19, 2022
Incident date: Oct 18, 2022
I went to my dealership for a routine yearly service appointment, which I do regularly, along with yearly inspections. My car was purchased new to my liking in 2012 with input from my late partner who passed before I received it! I waited quite some time to get my gem. When it arrived, I had all I could do to drive it, given my loss. I garage it every day for the last 10+ years, never left it ... Read more
MITSUBISHI
LANCER
(2008) - SUSPENSION
Oct 18, 2022
Incident date: Oct 5, 2022
The contact owns a 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer. The contact stated while her daughter was driving 45 mph, the vehicle began to roll out of the road and she was unable to steer back into the road. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The vehicle rolled over into a ditch. The contact stated no air bags deployed. The contact stated the driver hit her head and sought medical attention. A po... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Oct 13, 2022
The car was being driven at a low speed across a school parking lot when there was a loud bang, the car dropped in the back and stopped movong. The rear trailing arm came apart from the body causing it to be inoperable. If I the car wasn't in a school zone and traveling at a high rate of speed this could have been a very serious accident. If there was a vehicle behind they would have rear ended th... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Oct 15, 2022
The contact owns a 2015 Nissan Rogue. The contact stated that she noticed that the rear control arm and axle were rusted and had detached. There were no warning lights illuminated. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted but no additional assistance was provided. The approximate failure mileage was 70,000.
MERCEDES-BENZ
C300
(2013) - SUSPENSION
Oct 18, 2022
Incident date: Aug 30, 2022
August 30,2022 local Mercedes Benz dealer stated that their inspection found that the rear sub frame was rusted and needed to be replaced (estimated cost $4,699.88). I had two other independent repair shops confirm the sub frame condition.My car had 78,753 miles on it at time of discovery of sub frame corrosion condition. My independent repair shop says that OEM sub frames are back ordered with no... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
E350
(2014) - SUSPENSION
Oct 18, 2022
Incident date: Sep 9, 2022
In a routine oil change, Mercedes dealership reports poorly rusted subframe. 2014 E350 with 160,000.
Incident date: Oct 15, 2022
The contact owns a 2019 Ford F-350. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH and driving over a pothole, the vehicle was vibrating and shaking abnormally. The contact stated that he felt the vibration coming from the front of the vehicle. The contact stated that several minutes later the vehicle operated normally. The vehicle was not diagnosed. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileag... Read more
Incident date: Oct 4, 2022
Steering wheel just keeps shaking real bad and I the power steering goes in and out all the time
Incident date: Sep 19, 2022
The rear suspension has design problem that even within the alignment spec and normal driving conditions, the inner side of the rear tires are wearing off in an astonishing speed. This is s a known issue to all customers. Just in my personal case, the inner side of the rear tire wear off to thread within about 5000 miles driving and began leaking. This has extremely serious potential danger in lo... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
C300
(2009) - SUSPENSION
Oct 17, 2022
Incident date: Oct 3, 2022
I bought this car for my 18 year old son based on Mercedes reputation for safety and longevity, only to discover that Mercedes has a widely acknowledged issue with rotted sub-frames -- it's a serious safety issue and recalled in other countries. My son was was driving on the highway and the tire exploded. He was so close to being killed because the car went out of control. After getting it towed ... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
C300
(2012) - SUSPENSION
Oct 17, 2022
Incident date: Oct 13, 2022
The contact owns a 2012 Mercedes-Benz C300. The contact stated that upon parking the vehicle at the dealer parking lot, she heard abnormal sounds coming from the rear of the vehicle. There was no warning light illuminated. The dealer diagnosed that the rear subframe was severely corroded and the rear control arm was detaching from the subframe. The dealer diagnosed that the subframe needed to be r... Read more
Incident date: Oct 2, 2022
The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Tahoe. The contact stated that while driving upwards of 80 MPH, the vehicle would violently shake without warning. The vehicle was not taken to be diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 20,000.
Incident date: Oct 16, 2022
While driving at freeway speed between 55-75MPH, the steering wheel oscillates after hitting expansion joints or pot holes. The oscillation was on multiple occasions throughout the trip and, sometimes, was so violent the truck drifted into another lane. Luckily there was no other traffic in the other lane at the time. It has done this before both while towing and not towing. This particular tr... Read more
Incident date: Oct 14, 2022
When driving at speeds in excess of 45 mph, if the front wheels strike a pothole or some other significant bump in the road, occasionally - but with increasing frequency - it will cause the wheels to start violently bouncing up and down (alternating each wheel so one is up and the other is down) and the steering wheel shimmies violently back and forth. This will continue until the vehicle is slow... Read more
Incident date: Oct 2, 2022
While traveling at Interstate speed (55-75 MPH), when you hit a certain bump or pothole or road irregularity, the front passenger wheel will begin vibrating which quickly grows in magnitude until the entire engine compartment and cab starts to violently shudder, to the point where all 4 tires begin losing contact with the road surface. The only way to regain control and reduce the harmonics is to ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 8, 2022
As I drive on the freeway, if I hit even the smallest bump or rough patch in the road, the vehicle begins to shake violently and the only way to stop the shaking is to slow way down to an almost complete stop. It is difficult to see and steer to control vehicle. Often I am not able to pull over to the side of the road to stop and end up stopping in a lane in the middle of the freeway. This is very... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
GLK350
(2010) - SUSPENSION
Oct 16, 2022
Incident date: Oct 5, 2022
On 10/5/22, my wife was driving her 2010 GLK 350 to work, suddenly she felt the break pedal was going deep inside easily and noticed break fluid light warning sign in dashboard. She was scared to drive and slowly drove car to Mercedes authorized technician. After diagnosis, MB technician said the issue in not just on break fluid leaks but the entire breaking system is failing due to rear subframe ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 16, 2022
The van seems to prematurely wear tires out before their service life expectancy. I've owned the van for seven years, and I've had to purchase over five complete sets of tires. The front tires wear-out much faster than the rear tires, and do not last more than 15K miles. I've had several alignment jobs done, both (L&R) control arms replaced, ball joints, and struts - the van still wears out ti... Read more
Incident date: Oct 14, 2022
Unknown. Recently bought vehicle, it's in great condition other than there is noticeable problems with the front and rear steering and suspension, missing airbags with no sign of being wrecked, windows and window buttons don't work as well as power seat, and a awful gas smell and fume. Inside vehicle after. Pumping gas. Wanting to see about any recalls or defects that can be fixed without out of p... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
C300
(2011) - SUSPENSION
Oct 16, 2022
Incident date: Oct 9, 2022
What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? Rear subframe has rusted out and left side arm has separated- my car has been routinely maintained and primarily housed in garaged parking. It does not have a history of flood or water damage. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? My steering and breaking was impacted even at low... Read more
Incident date: Oct 15, 2022
Any time I hit a bump going over 50 mph the front end of my truck starts shaking violently. So much that it feels like the front end is about to break apart. The only way to stop is to slam on the brakes and slow down as fast as possible. It’s ways on the highway so it’s a danger to myself and the people behind me. I have to hold the steering wheel as tight I can to keep from losing con... Read more
TOYOTA
FJ CRUISER
(2007) - SUSPENSION
Oct 15, 2022
Incident date: Oct 8, 2022
Backing out of my driveway we heard a slight pop and a dragging feel on the right passengers front.( thought I ran over a landscape brick) Stopped and inspected nothing was under the vehicle starting to leave my complex vehicle started to shake some. When I got up to 20 MPH it was obvious I should not drive. Called tow truck. Thought I needed ball joints or something similar. Mechanic said frame... Read more
NEWMAR
LONDON AIRE
(2022) - SUSPENSION
Oct 15, 2022
Incident date: Mar 18, 2022
The 2022 London Aire is on Spartans’ K3 chassis. The unit experiences extreme porpoising to the point it is dangerous. Any road that has undulations set up porpoising that continues on for 4-5 cycles limiting steering control. Passenger has been lifted out of her seat literally. She did not have seat belt on but we have never experienced anything like this and it was on a freeway. Made appointm... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
C250
(2013) - SUSPENSION
Oct 15, 2022
Incident date: Oct 14, 2022
Rear subframe rusted through. This is a safety issue. The driver side is rusted through but not other. This a design flaw and Mercedes Benz should have recall. Many other people have reported this problem. I have serviced my vehicle via the MB dealership since owning the car. The only owner. No one told about the rust issue for years. I was recently just told recently. This is dangerous and will c... Read more