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: Jun 10, 2022
The Jeep Wrangler JL Sport S (2018), has been having steering issues (death wobble) while driving at highway speeds whenever it encounters a bump or potholes at speeds greater than 60mph. The only remedy is to break and slow down to 40mph, this poses a safety hazard on interstates and highways as the vehicles behind have limited time to react and operating this vehicle while it is vibrating is ext... Read more
1 injured
MERCEDES-BENZ
E350
(2012) - SUSPENSION
Jun 10, 2022
Incident date: Jun 10, 2022
I found that the subframe had been recalled in other countries, but not in the united states? The large number of failures on this subframe across multiple models is concerning. This is a gross failure of a major safety component that can cause serious injury or death. My research showed this part has been recalled in Canada; MBUSA feels the need to wait to do so until a serious injury or death... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
ML320
(2009) - SUSPENSION
Jun 9, 2022
Incident date: Jan 1, 2021
Rear coil springs rusted through and broke resulting in greatly diminished vehicle stability, especially in emergency maneuvers. Have had numerous repair facilities evaluate, including the dealer. All have refused to replace rear springs due to safety risk
Incident date: Jun 9, 2022
Suspension control arm failure on front left and right. It happened twice on two separate occasions while driving. Before failure it was making a creaking sound. It failed while driving on both occasions. The first failure happened pulling out of the driveway. The second failure happened driving down the street and it certainly put myself and others on the road at risk. Speed was fairly slow whe... Read more
Incident date: May 10, 2022
Service rear axle message is displayed on the driver information center. The code indicates AWD has been turned off which can put my safety and or safety of others at risk. Service Bulletin (PI0703B) was issued for numerous 2010 Cadillac SRX, unfortunately the recall wasn't issued for my vehicle (VIN). The service bulletin was for DTC c0407 with symptom code 64, the exact same code that was found ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 3, 2022
Rotted Subframe on Dodge Caliber I was driving home after picking my kids up from school and my front tires would not steer and were wobbling while driving, losing control of my vehicle. I had to pull over on the side of the road so I did not crash with my children in the car. I called a tow company and had it towed to the closest independent service center. Yes, the problem was reproduced by a lo... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2015
The contact owns a 2011 Ford Edge. The contact stated that while turning the steering wheel in either direction, a clunking noise was coming from the front of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the local mechanic who diagnosed that the front driver’s and passenger’s side axle, cv joint, and wheel hub assembly had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure had... Read more
Incident date: Aug 31, 2020
The contact owns a 2020 BMW M4. The contact stated while driving approximately 40 MPH, there was a failure with the wheelbase and the front end was raising off the ground while turning. The contact stated there was no warning light illuminated. The contact performed a personal diagnosis with adaptive mobility deactivated. The vehicle was towed to the residence and then towed to the local dealer to... Read more
Incident date: Jun 8, 2022
Rear subframe broke and the back tire came off. The problem was the rear subframe was rusted out. The rust has eaten away the entire subframe of this vehicle. The VDC off light had been on for 2-3 days and it was scheduled to go into the shop.
Incident date: May 26, 2022
Doing 55 mph on the highway hitting a small bump in the road and the whole front end started shaking and had a hard time controlling the truck. The steering wheel was actually shaking. Had to slow down to get it to drive correctly. I haul a horse trailer and this could have been fatal. Took it two different Ford dealers and got two different solutions. One wanted to replace suspension parts and th... Read more
Incident date: May 17, 2022
We were turning a corner at a light and our tie-rod, axel, control arm, sway bar link and CV Shaft all broke at once causing our car to come to a dead stop in the road and we could not even push it out of the road, we were able to purchase the CV Shaft, Control Arm ASY, and The Sway Bar Lnk. for the one side the car is still not moveable we need a tire that we cant afford and from the looks of it ... Read more
Incident date: May 17, 2022
We were turning a corner at a light and our tie-rod, axel, control arm, sway bar link and CV Shaft all broke at once causing our car to come to a dead stop in the road and we could not even push it out of the road, we were able to purchase the CV Shaft, Control Arm ASY, and The Sway Bar Lnk. for the one side the car is still not moveable we need a tire that we cant afford and from the looks of it ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 9, 2022
Vehicle has less than 100,000 miles (strictly highway miles) and rear sub frame has completely rusted through causing back alignment to be drastically out, and fish tailing, which also causes hazardous steering control on dry and especially wet roads. Rapid wear and replacement of tires on rear end. I have researched and found this to be a consistent problem on multiple sites and forums.
Incident date: Apr 13, 2022
My radio went out about 3 years ago had to be replaced and now I can not listen to my radio without the car actually being on. My second issue is with my rear axle drive train, I currently have 127k miles on my vehicle took it in to a Ford dealership for diagnostic and repair I was informed that the rear axle needed replacing, they replaced it , however the problem persisted I was then told by the... Read more
Incident date: Jun 9, 2022
The spare tire stabilizing bracket rusted away and fell off. The rear shackles for the springs broke on both sides, and is coming up through the bed. The frame has rusted apart and it’s not possible to bolt a new shackle for the rear springs on. The body is not rusting out. They used inferior steel on the frame and it has rusted away. They should do a recall on these like other manufacturers h... Read more
Incident date: May 25, 2022
In 2019 I had to take the vehicle to the Ford dealership to have it inspected for violent shaking and loss of steering control after hitting a uneven spot in the road around 55 mph on a two lane highway towing a 40' 5th wheel. The dealership added a component which eliminated the issue for a short period of time. The vehicle has low miles and has exhibited the same issue 4 times in the last two ... Read more
LANCE CAMPER
LANCE CAMPER
(2018) - SUSPENSION
Jun 8, 2022
Incident date: Jun 8, 2022
The rear axle broke loose from the vehicle on the right side. The entire axle assembly could have broken loose from the vehicle and been lost into traffic had it not been identified early. A Dexter lift kit, supplied with the Lance trailer was attached between the axle and the frame by means of two screws into the frame axle bracket and two screws into the axle assembly to the lift kit. Cracks... Read more
Incident date: Jun 8, 2022
2013 PORSCHE BOXTER. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARD TO NHTSA SAFETY RECALL 21V-679. THE CONSUMER STATED THE MANUFACTURER EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME COMPLETING THE RECALL. THE CONSUMER RECEIVED A LETTER STATING THE PARTS WERE AVAILABLE, BUT THE DEALER DENIED HAVING THE PARTS.
Incident date: Jun 6, 2022
Air bag light comes on when no on is in the passenger seat, the coolant light is coming on saying turn engine off when my coolant level is fine, the suspension cracks even though I have had this checked by Audi in Birmingham, Al. multiple times.
Incident date: Jun 5, 2022
On approximately 26 May 2022 I was driving down an entrance ramp to I-77 and the front end of the truck started shaking very severely -- violently. This was without any warning and I had never experienced anything like this before on this vehicle, or any other vehicle I had ever driven. I took my foot off the gas and pretty much coasted to the side of the road to a stop. I caught my breath, susp... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2022
The drivers seat back is extremely lose. Moves forward and back with every brake and acceleration. The seat base also moves slightly, rocking left to right in turns. The suspension completely failed and had to be replaced. An unknown oily substance has been coating the inside of the windshield since the purchase of vehicle in 2015. Requires constant deep cleaning in order to see through windshie... Read more
Incident date: May 16, 2022
While driving, received notification of a suspension fault. Was able to drive vehicle home, and found code for suspension C104600. Cleared code, and didn't see it return. Car sat a few days, and next time it was driven, received cascade of MIL warnings for suspension auto leveling failure, auto leveling headlights, adaptive cruise, lane keeping, and auto braking. Console advised to keep speed belo... Read more
FORD
EXPEDITION
(2019) - SUSPENSION
Jun 7, 2022
Incident date: Jun 7, 2022
This vehicle has only 10300 miles and never driven off road and the struts have failed. An independent garage confirmed the drivers side front strut is leaking and both rear. My Ford dealer stated they would replace the front and one rear under warranty but the second rear strut is leaking within Ford's "tolerances". This is just Ford's way of avoiding a warranty claim and hoping the bad leaking... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
CLS550
(2014) - SUSPENSION
Jun 7, 2022
Incident date: May 21, 2022
Front passenger assembly strut went out suddenly while driving almost caused an accident.No warning signs just gave out. Vehicle is in the shop but cannot be repaired because the part is out of stock and no ETA on when vendor will restock them.
Incident date: May 30, 2022
I kept hearing an odd click, creek noise from the driver side front end. It sounded like something was hanging or something had broken off. I took it into a shop and it was discovered that the front sub frame was rotted in several places and had broken. When the rear was inspected, it is rotted to the point where you could push your finger through if you tried, and there was a section bent. I ca... Read more
Incident date: Jun 3, 2022
Drivers side rear control arm snapped in half (sheered cut). The aluminum solid piece broke in half, this is to knowledge an oem original part that was not replaced. Resulted in suspension and alignment issue, uneven tread wear on all four tires (excessive wear on short amount of time causing me to replace all tires).
Incident date: May 11, 2022
We purchased the vehicle on April 2nd. The front left strut airbag burst while we were driving at 23 miles an hour. Thankfully were weren't going fast when the failure occurred. I would imagine that at highway speeds this could greatly impact your driving ability as the front left of the car dropped down about 6 inches. The dealer currently has the part on backorder but has yet to attempt a repair... Read more
Incident date: Jun 5, 2022
On 4/24/2022 I purchased a used 2016 Ford 350 super duty 4x4 to tow my 3 horse trailer, with around 86,000 miles on it. As I was driving on the freeway traveling about 65 mph. I went to pass a slow vehicle , went over the reflector bumps. The truck started violently shaking, I could barely control the truck. It felt like the tires were falling off. I had to stop in the emergency fast lane get out... Read more
Incident date: Apr 25, 2022
Leaf spring snapped. Large piece of metal was found in the road. Rear shocks were replaced under warranty several years prior. Known weak point of xterras. Dealer replacement costs were astronomical so I upgraded the equipment for the same cost and did the work myself as I am now slightly out of warranty.
Incident date: Jun 6, 2022
Unable to steer, vehicle was wobbling almost losing control while on highway vehicle began to bounce side to side.
Incident date: May 1, 2022
Driving on highway at about 60 mph and truck wheel started wobbling violently ….. searing wheel violently oscillating right left right left uncontrollably!!! Finally stopped after slowing down to below speed on highway … totally unsafe !!! My shoulders and neck hurt for several days from trying to keep the truck straight. Thank God it was not a busy freeway at the moment or I would have bee... Read more
HYUNDAI
SANTA FE SPORT
(2017) - SUSPENSION
Jun 6, 2022
Incident date: May 10, 2022
The left rear differential completely failed at 25,000 miles. According to the repair shop (Connie & Dicks in Claremont, CA) there was something structurally wrong with the rear differential and it never should have failed like this on a 5 year old car with 25,000 miles. The pinion nut was loose which caused the pinion gear to walk forward and backward in the housing which caused wear on the dif... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
E430
(2002) - SUSPENSION
Jun 6, 2022
Incident date: Jun 6, 2022
Engine mount bracket broke causing steering problems from cv axel on drivers side
MITSUBISHI
OUTLANDER
(2022) - SUSPENSION
Jun 5, 2022
Incident date: Apr 1, 2022
Hood flutter at any speed, back struts leak oil now the SUV feel unsafe to drive car shake and feel losing control when driving in the highway, steering wheel is super sensitive quick turns this makes the SUV feel nervous and busy and is making worse the problem with the struts current miles on the car 9,452
Incident date: May 15, 2022
Broken rear K Frame/Sub Frame. Vehicle veered into oncoming traffic and left the roadway after fishtailing in the rain. Towed to repair shop. Inspection of the rear suspension shows multiple premature catastrophic failures of the rear K Frame and or Sub Frame structure. Stabilization bar is completely broken from it's mount. Rear K Frame/Sub Frame is prematurely corroded and completely broken in h... Read more
Crash
LINCOLN
AVIATOR PHEV
(2022) - SUSPENSION
Jun 5, 2022
Incident date: May 8, 2022
I ran over a pothole in NYC at approx 10 mph. The air suspension light came on and a warning message for service and to not driver over 35MPH. I brought the vehicle to the dealership and was told they needed to replace the full suspension system and two front struts. Vehicle has been waiting for parts for over a month.
Incident date: Oct 10, 2021
Multiple times after hitting a small bump at anywhere between 35-60 mph the steering wheel locks and the entire truck shakes violently. It will continue doing this until I stop the vehicle completely. Once it started doing it again as I accelerated after it had stopped. It seems to get worse. I’ve read it is a mechanical fault and causes “Ford death rattle”. It is very dangerous and I h... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
C300
(2012) - SUSPENSION
Jun 5, 2022
Incident date: Jun 5, 2022
Part number: 207-350-97-02 This is the sub frame part number, during routine maintenance i found a cracked rear sub frame mount. Upon googling, there are hundreds of owners with that same problem. Cars with milage ranging from 40,000-150,0000 with the same issue. Under hard braking the car is unstable. When I called the MB dealer to inquire about the problem they did confirm that the problem is ... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
B 250E
(2017) - SUSPENSION
Jun 5, 2022
Incident date: Feb 1, 2022
Glad to have found this group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/bclasselectric?sorting_setting=TOP_POSTS Here's my situation with my B-250e 2017 model with 38,000 miles. Bought from a used car dealership in California. Took it to Mercedes-Benz of South Bay. First, they had it for 2 months and could not diagnose the problem with the error messages. This is when it was still drivable. Th... Read more
Incident date: Jun 3, 2022
crus traction control problem raking pinion. problems
Incident date: Jun 3, 2022
After driving over a train track at low speed the front passenger coil spring snapped and it ripped up the tire. The car is not drivable. It seems that this has happened to other models around the same year and it shouldn’t have failed at only 110K miles.
Incident date: Jun 1, 2022
WHEN MAKING LEFT TURNS THE REAR WHEEL FEELS LIKE IT WOBBLES THEN THE OTHER DAY WHEN MAKING A LEFT TURN FROM A STOP THE RIGHT FRONT WHEEL FELT LIKE THE BRAKES WHERE ENGAGING THEN A LITTLE FARTHER DOWN THE ROAD MAKING ANOTHER LEFT TURN AND THE RIGHT FRONT BRAKE ENGAUGED AGAIN AND A VSS FAULT OCCURED ANF THE BIKE WENT INTO LIMP HOME MODE WHEN I CHECK THE CODES I GET C006C AND C0063 WHICH IS A YAW SEN... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2022
Under normal acceleration, car shake and vibrate violently. This is a known design flaw in all AWD model x and s. Tesla issue a TSB...but still refuse to fix design flaw for free
Incident date: Jun 4, 2022
We had our vehicle recalled for links in the rear suspension some weeks ago. Saturday 6/4/22 we were going south on hwy 19 south of Tavares Florida at 45 to 50 MPH in a light rain. We went thru a light puddle in the road twitched. Didn't feel like anything I had experienced before. A couple of blocks further on the back of the car veered back and forth significantly and I thought i had ... Read more
Incident date: Dec 1, 2020
This truck has the problem known as the “death wobble.” I bought the vehicle from Johnson City Ford in Johnson City Tennessee after they said they had inspected it and everything was fine on the truck. It was used so I bought the extended warranty. The truck started shaking so violently I couldn’t drive it. I took it back to this Ford place. They replaced the universal joint under my ... Read more
Incident date: May 27, 2022
The rear suspension on this vehicle stinks! I've done 2 recalls for the toe links. Now I've had to replace the rear wheel bearings. They were both bad! Niw that's done, i've a really bad(dangerous) swaying problem! The darn thing won't hardly stay on the road! I had to go to the VA for a dr appt last week in Huntington WV. On the way home i hit a downpour. I was lucky to get pulled over! The thing... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2022
I bought my 2004 Toyota 4runner Sport edition as a new car, and have been the sole owner of the vehicle. I have taken good care of it the entire time. Regular car washes, service maintenance and necessary repairs over time. I recently had my 4runner in for repairs and spent a considerable amount of money, over $6,000 in anticipation of driving it for many more years. Following the repairs ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 2, 2022
The Driverside Front suspension fore links completely failed and broke off, and separated and it made the Tire shift towards the the wheel arch liner and rub against it which damaged the tire and the wheel arch liner. And it caused the Front suspension LINK bushing to become damaged as well when the FRONT SUSPENSION FORE LINK broke ( the metal completely broke in half & became separated from each ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 2, 2022
Pulled into a parking lot. Heard a loud crunch and then the front of my vehicle dipped down. I put my vehicle in Park. Got out and realized that my tire was separated from my vehicle. The ball joint had completely separated.
INTERNATIONAL
PROSTAR
(2011) - SUSPENSION
Jun 2, 2022
Incident date: Mar 1, 2011
The contact owns a 2011 International Prostar. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle became very unstable and difficult to control. The contact stated that the failure mostly occurred while driving on poorly paved roads. The contact stated that the failure was due to improperly installed air brake canisters during the manufacturing of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to... Read more