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: Sep 18, 2022
REAR SUSPENSION FAILURE DUE TO EXCESSIVE CHASSIS COROSION. FORTUNATELY FAILURE OCCURRED AT LOW SPEED. TOTAL LOSS OF CONTROL WOULD RESULT AT HIGH SPEED. INDEPENDENT BODY SHOPS CONFIRM THIS DEFECT IS NOT REAIRABLE. PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE IS A RECALL FOR HONDA ELEMENTS IN CANADA FOR THIS SAME DEFECT. I CALLED AMERICAN HONDA AND THEY DENY ANY KNOWLEDGE OF THIS DEFECT IN THE U.S.
Incident date: Sep 18, 2022
Rear suspension failure due to excessive corrosion. Fortunately failure occurred at low speed. Total loss of control would have happened at high speed. Independent body shops confirm this damage is not repairable. Please note that there is a recall for Honda Elements in Canada for the same defect. I called American Honda and they deny any knowledge of this defect in the U.S.
Incident date: Sep 13, 2022
Experience the famous death wobble from 50mph to 70mph hitting a bump or uneven surface you have to stop the vehicle to regain control.
MITSUBISHI
MIRAGE G4
(2019) - SUSPENSION
Sep 22, 2022
Incident date: Sep 20, 2022
My passenger front wheel came off the vehicle because the control arm cracked and broke. There was no damage to the vehicle with no collision’s.
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2021) - SUSPENSION
Sep 22, 2022
Incident date: Aug 17, 2022
Body control modules sas modules no communication service esc light and traction control lights coming on vehicle looses all steers ng when lights come on at any speeds it says service esc power steering loss drive with caution have had it into multiple shops and no diagnostic scanners can get into the 3 systems there 6050 miles on vehicle we haven’t gotten in a wreck yet but that is totally n... Read more
Incident date: Sep 6, 2022
The back passenger tire started rubbing and smoking. After getting home, noticed the wheel was at an angle. After taking off the tire, noticed the whole rear suspension cradle was completely rusted through. I contacted Chrysler dealer to find out no recall. Contacted the place I purchased the jeep only 18 months ago, sent them pics, and was told "That is normal". I could have been on the Interstat... Read more
Incident date: Jul 20, 2022
My struts we’re going through my dash board and I had it repaired and my engine light is just constantly on.
XTREME OUTDOORS
LITTLE GUY MAX
(2022) - SUSPENSION
Sep 21, 2022
Incident date: Sep 14, 2022
The contact owns a 2022 Extreme Little Guy Micro Max trailer. The contact became aware of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V565000 (Suspension). The contact called the dealer and the manufacturer and was provided conflicting information about the recall. The dealer stated that the trailer was included in the recall however, the manufacturer informed him that the trailer was not included. To ensure his saf... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2021
The contact owns a 2011 Cadillac SRX. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle would drift out of the intended lane with the stabilitrak warning light illuminated. The contact also stated that the brake pedal would depress to the floorboard with the ABS warning light illuminated. The contact then received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V473000 (Suspension) whi... Read more
Incident date: Aug 21, 2022
The contact owns a 2019 Ford F-250 SD. The contact stated while driving 55 MPH and driving over a speed bump, the vehicle started to shake uncontrollably. The contact stated that the vehicle was pulled over and stopped, restarted, and the vehicle operated normally; however, the failure recurred several times. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the contact was informed that the vehicle was exp... Read more
LAND ROVER
LR2
(2012) - SUSPENSION
Sep 21, 2022
Incident date: May 29, 2022
The first day I purchased car problems started there was a rattle in the front end and emergency brake did not work. I drove for a short time because dealer told me it was a good reliable car and it shouldnt give me any problems. The rattle got worse tried to talk to dealer but he would not return my calls and he has done the same with other clients. Dealer told me all cars are hand picked and SAF... Read more
Incident date: Aug 29, 2022
I pulled up to a stop sign having been traveling at less then 20 mph, and only while the vehicle is in drive but not moving, it was shaking like the motor was going to jump out of the vehicle. I assumed it was the motor mount broken and took it to the mechanic and found out it was the subframe on the front passenger had corroded and had detached from the frame .I need it repaired but I ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 20, 2022
While driving on Interstate 45 south of Houston at highway speeds, the steering wheel began heavily vibrating after hitting a small pothole in the freeway. It vibrated violently until I was able to apply the brakes and slow to under 40 mph. At that point, it smoothed out and control was restored.
HONDA
CR-V HYBRID
(2020) - SUSPENSION
Sep 21, 2022
Incident date: Jun 30, 2022
The contact owns a 2020 Honda CR-V Hybrid. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 MPH a loud banging noise suddenly occurred and the vehicle had become undrivable. Upon inspection, the contact discovered that the front passenger’s side wheel had failed and was positioned sideways. The vehicle was eventually towed the local collision center who diagnosed that the front passenger’s si... Read more
Incident date: Sep 21, 2022
Both rear coil springs observed to have failed (broken) upon bringing car to mechanic for brake job. Less than 60k miles.
Incident date: Sep 19, 2022
Truck making a whooping sound when driving and front tires wobbling and front suspension sloppy. Could be hub assembly, ball joints etc which can cause wheel to detach. All recalls for fwd and awd 2006 dodge ram 1500 but not for 4wd. My truck has every recall problem listed on the recall list for fwd and awd vehicles why weren't same recalls put out for the 4wdodels? Seatbelt won't latch, steerin... Read more
Incident date: Sep 19, 2022
Left rear lower control arm broke while driving due to rust and cracked weld. I was lucky to be going at a slow rate of speed when it happened. The rear left tire turned inward and it was undrivable.
Incident date: Sep 15, 2022
Death wobble horrific experience (2)x on 9/15/22 after work on the interstate coming home. Almost rear ended by 18 wheeler. Travel speed 74. 6-lane highway, I had to control the vehicle best as possible in order to move over (3) lanes safely. Cars raced past blaring their horns b:c accident almost happened. Again on 9/18/22, merging on the interstate travel speed 60 with trailer attached. It w... Read more
Incident date: Jun 29, 2022
Yo compre este carr9 desde el principle salio con problems ellos no quieren arreglarlo ni devolverme los 5 mil dollars que di de deposito. Translation-I bought this car from the beginning, it came out with problems, they don't want to fix it or give me back the 5 thousand dollars I gave as a deposit.
Incident date: Sep 20, 2022
My 2016 RAM has very loose steering and has almost caused me an accident several times due to my lack of control of the steering. The steering stabilizer jam nuts have been welded to the adjuster sleeve (as the referenced recalls below suggest as a fix) but the entire assembly rotates freely by hand! I am constantly having to get alignments to help control my steering, however, it seems to be gett... Read more
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2012) - SUSPENSION
Sep 20, 2022
Incident date: Sep 20, 2022
The frame is so rotted it will not pass state inspection.
Incident date: Sep 20, 2022
Toyota Tacoma was sprayed in 2020 for frame rust. Rust has began again on the frame. Also the suspension and behind the two rear wheels rust is rampant. Lots and lots of rust but no new holes since was sprayed. Pictures attached of the 2011 Toyota Tacoma with 68,000 miles.
Incident date: May 19, 2021
The contact owns a 2021 Honda Pilot. The stated that the vehicle was pulling to the left or right while driving. The contact stated while depressing the brake pedal the vehicle started pulling to the right. Additionally, while driving over rough road surfaces the vehicle was making a loud rumbling sound as if the traction control was failing. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact had... Read more
Incident date: Sep 16, 2022
I made a right hand turn on a 25 mph street in my vehicle and the butt end of my vehicle kicked out and i temporarily lost control of my vehicle. I then heard a high pitch squealing and a thud. I was able to gain control of my vehicle and safely pull into a parking lot where my i saw my rear pass side tire jammed into the wheel well. I had my vehicle towed to the dealership Classic Painesville ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 17, 2022
Driver side fore link snapped causing wheel to move in hazardous conditions
Incident date: Aug 30, 2022
Rear K sub frame is 100% rusted out. The main front K suspension brace where it meets the mainframe is completely rusted off on both sides at front, The rear main mounting studs for rear of k brace are broke off at threads from rust. Where swaybar mounts at bottom of subframe. In my 20+ career of being a mechanic I have never seen anything like it. It is clearly an issue with the steel used when ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 19, 2022
Vehicle has a sudden violent shimmy, vibration ("death wobble") at highway speeds, requiring the vehicle to be slowed or stopped immediately to stop the vibrations. So far no complete loss of control. The track bar ball joint was identified as the issue and has been replaced 3 times in the last 2 1/2 years. The most recent replacement include a new track bar and lasted 17 months.
Incident date: Sep 3, 2022
The first time it happened was about 9/3/2022. I was driving down the road at 60 mph and hit the rumble strip in the middle of the road. The truck started shaking violently until I slowed substantially. I started back up and it was fine. On three separate occasions it has started to do this went hitting a bump in the road. Each time I was driving about 60 mph and it stopped when I slowed substanti... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
C300
(2013) - SUSPENSION
Sep 19, 2022
Incident date: Sep 14, 2022
Brought my car to the dealership because I was hearing a noise when going over bumps. Also noticed some instability when braking and driving at highway speeds. Dealer informed my my subframe had rusted and told me the car was unsafe to drive.
Incident date: Jun 3, 2022
The contact owns a 2019 Ford F-250. The contact stated that while driving downhill approximately 70 MPH, the vehicle started shaking and vibrating uncontrollably while driving over surface changes in the road pavement. The contact was able to stop and inspect the vehicle but was unable to identify the cause of the failure. After continuing the long-distance trip, the failure reoccurred on two sepa... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
C300
(2012) - SUSPENSION
Sep 19, 2022
Incident date: Sep 12, 2022
Diagnosed with broken rear sub frame: "Broken rear sub frame, left side lower link is broken off and contacting Fuel Tank. Rear tires are also bald and care is unsafe to drive". Recall in Canada, but not USA. Sub frames on backorder until January 2023. I have three years of payment left, and am now being quoted 6,300 from the MB Service Ctr in Wilmington DE to fix this problem. Again, the ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 17, 2022
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Flex. The contact stated while driving approximately 60 MPH, the suspension suddenly failed causing the rear end of the vehicle to become unstable and the vehicle fishtailed. The driver was able to drive to the side of the roadway and stopped the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the residence and upon inspection it was discovered that the rear passenger’s side toe l... Read more
Incident date: Sep 19, 2022
The contact owns a 2021 Jayco Precept built on a 2020 Ford F-59 chassis. The contact stated that upon purchasing the RV, the RV remained at the dealer to be repaired under NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V202000 (Suspension, Power Train). The RV dealer then towed the RV to a Ford dealer where the recall repair was being completed. The contact followed up with the RV dealer and was informed that the Ford ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 14, 2022
The left fore link broke while backing out of a parking spot. It's not available for inspection. If it had broken at a higher speed it could cause a loss of control. This is a known issue. The broken fore link has been replaced by a non-Tesla repair shop. There was no warning this would happen.
Incident date: Aug 23, 2022
Excessive Corrison through out the frame.Was informed bu certified mechanic really it is unsafe to drive. What can I do I still owe money on this vehicle.
FREIGHTLINER
CASCADIA
(2021) - SUSPENSION
Sep 19, 2022
Incident date: Sep 19, 2022
This complaint is being filed in addition to my previous complaint which is complaint #1147128511471285. Both left and right vehicle airbag suspension height regulators were just replace a month ago, and once again, the right side airbag ride height regulator has blown apart, causing my semi truck to lean heavily to the right side, and wear out my right front steer tire exceedingly fast. And, the... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2022
Ford has started a recall for vehicles with a single bolt in the rear differential mount. This is in reference to the roll away issue as their calling it. Some people have recieved notice for this and others have not. My production date is listed as 8/21. Which I believe is in part of the recall. Even if not this vehicle has only one bolt in the unit and not 2. Which is part of the recall issue.
Incident date: Sep 7, 2018
NOISE COMING FROM FROM SUSPENSION.
Incident date: Sep 9, 2022
This truck has the death wobble. Started when I purchased the truck at 19000 miles. When at highway speeds, bridge joints and bumps will make the truck nearly uncontrollable. This has happened MANY times in the 80K miles that I've put on the vehicle. It has new tie rod ends, new shocks and has had several sets of tires in the 70k miles that I've owned it. Nothing that I've had mechanics do ha... Read more
Incident date: Sep 16, 2022
About a year ago my husband and I noticed there was alot of rust in the rear end on the sway bar and around it not to long after the sway bar looked as If it was going to come apart on the left side my husband got it to stay put for a little while but as time went on the truck just became more unsafe anytime we tried to drive it it was all over the road it's kept pulling to the left very badly we ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 1, 2022
Both front coil springs broke resulting in a jagged piece of metal coming loose from the vehicle. The first spring broke and was replaced in 2020 and just replaced the other side in 2022. The vehicle currently only has about 95,000 miles. Wanted to report this because I have never had a vehicle break on coil spring, much less two in such a short time period.
Incident date: Sep 14, 2022
The 2013 Ford F-350 Death Wobble. The front end suspension was affected. It occurred on an Interstate freeway at approximately 75 MPH. This is the first time for the vehicle. It has not been to a shop post incident. There were two occupants in the vehicle at the time of incident. There was a section of less smooth pavement at the time the shake started.
Incident date: Sep 18, 2022
I own a properly maintained 2011 Ford F-250. Today, 14 instances of what is commonly know as "Ford Death Wobble" occurred to me on the interstate highway while I drove 250 miles. Violent front end shaking at speeds over 55mph after driving over rough bridges or bumps in the road. Several times I almost lost control of my truck it shook so badly. I had to sharply decrease speed below 35 mph before ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 13, 2018
violent shaking from front end at moderate highway speed experienced when bumps road or when driving on groved surfaces. problem confirmed by ford mechanic and repaired at my expense. Approximately one year later same violent shake. same ford dealer replaced parts originally repaired by them. from time to time a less severe shake has been noted. Have repair invoices. concerned this problem wil... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2018
Adaptive cruise and speed control were intermittently operating eventually resulting in a defective system. No resolution at this time
Incident date: Jul 7, 2022
Drive train vibration, also known as “Death Wobble.” My truck is experiencing shaking, or vibration at driving speeds of 70MPH. Problem is getting worse.
Incident date: Oct 11, 2018
The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Tacoma. The contact stated that while driving approximately 55 MPH, the passenger’s side axle fractured and the wheel detached. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who replaced the ball joints. The local dealer was not contacted. On another occasion, while driving at an undisclosed speed, the driver’s side ax... Read more
Incident date: Sep 15, 2021
Constant rattle and vibration coming from passengaer seat belt connector, sunroof and HUD module on dash
Incident date: Sep 15, 2022
Head lights. Not working. It's not the bulb or fuse. This is a safety issue. It looks like it's an issue with most make, model and year. My family's safety was put a risk drive when the lights when out. No to Q 3 No to Q 4 No warning intel i could see the road anymore then warning lights came. For the suspension the tire shop says there's an issue with suspension due to manufact Airbag Sensor wa... Read more