Consumer Safety Complaints
Search 2,215,138 safety complaints filed by vehicle owners with NHTSA — including 138,663 crashes, 56,255 fires, and 8,561 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 2,215,138 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 48,554 complaints — component: SUSPENSION
Incident date: Dec 4, 2021
Two days in a row while driving 80 miles an hour on I-15, I drove over a rough spot in the road and the truck (steering wheel) immediately began wobbling violently and did not stop until I slowed down to about 20 miles per hour. Vehicles behind me had to switch lanes to over my truck. I took the truck to the local Ford dealer and reported the issue. They said this has been an avoid me as I quick... Read more
Incident date: Dec 10, 2021
Lower passenger front ball joint corroded and broke in half. Luckily this happened backing out of a parking space . Somehow this vin does not show on the F23 RECALL???
Incident date: Oct 10, 2021
my car is 7 years old but has only 57,000 miles on it. i had an older car so used that most of the time and saved this car. i have had endless problems with this car with its electrical system, the headlights go out all of the time and now the undercarriage is costing me alot of repair costs. dont know if i am being ripped off because i am a female senior citizen or the car is really fallingj apar... Read more
Incident date: Nov 20, 2021
The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Altima. The contact stated while parking the vehicle, he heard an abnormal sound. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated when exiting the vehicle, he noticed that the rear driver’s side tire was slanted. The contact stated while inspecting under the vehicle, he noticed the rear lower control arm was disengaged. The vehicle was not d... Read more
Incident date: Dec 9, 2021
The contact owns a 2009 Jeep Liberty. The contact stated while driving 20 MPH, he heard abnormal banging sounds coming from the rear of the vehicle and the vehicle was shuddering violently. The contact veered to the side of the road and exited the vehicle to determine the cause of the failure. The contact noticed that the rear tires had moved forward and were close to the wheel well. The vehicle w... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
C300
(2013) — SUSPENSION
Dec 10, 2021
Incident date: Nov 24, 2021
While driving at low speed, there was a sudden imbalance in the steering wheel and the car started to pull to the right. The problem was more exaggerated while breaking with significant fishtailing. I immediately took the vehicle to Mercedes-Benz dealership who diagnosed the problem as severely rusted subframe with corrosion and structural instability especially near the rear passenger side whee... Read more
Incident date: Sep 14, 2021
upon taking my chrysler 2015 200 limited 2.4L in-line into BAY AREA CHRYSLER dealership to figure out why my car wasnt running correctly they it on their diagnostic they said it needed a body control module which the dealership put a new one charged me 199.20 to put it in plus the $376.35 for the module that was ordered which I paid .when I picked up my car it was parked with the ignition on ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2021
Excessive Corrosion and Structural Integrity Failure of Rear Subframe - Rust Through and disintegrated into broken pieces with holes. 2014 - Car only 7 years old, the structural integrity and safety issue of this failure should not occur in this period of time. Dealer quoted $4,600 to fix, and denied it should be covered under warranty
Incident date: Dec 9, 2021
Since 2019 there have been several instances with my vehicle where someone has been able to knock the power offline thereby disabling it. It happened in five locations - a storage location in Olive BranchN MS, a former address in Memphis, TN (4330 Angarath Dr), a restaurant (Sonic) in Greenville, MS and twice in Greenville, MS both at a local park (Hardee Park). I never received any recall notic... Read more
Incident date: Nov 18, 2021
When driving down the road, the entire truck starts violently shaking and making it difficult to control the truck. Slowing down to 5-10mph stops the shaking.
Incident date: Dec 9, 2021
That's not normal that's recall rust necessary
Incident date: Dec 9, 2021
I have experienced a "death wobble " 3 times in this truck. The last being today. I have my truck in Cruz doing between 70/80 . When I hit an expansion joint on a bridge It feels like violent shaking in the front axle to the point of losing control. It has been happening at the same spot all 3 times and I can probably cause it to happen at will. In that spot of the interstate. It only stops if yo... Read more
Incident date: Oct 21, 2020
our mileage/odometer is flashing and states TSB. The TCM has been reprogrammed 3-4 times and still malfunctioning. Electrical issues through out cause stereo to not turn on sometimes and the all the sudden turn on its own. We have made complaints to the jeep and they said the recall have already been done they wont help us and then close our case with out any solutions. We have already spent 2000 ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2021
The contact owns a 2017 Tesla Model S. The contact state that while driving at slow speeds over minor bumps in the road, an abnormal clunking noise would emit from the vehicle. He also stated that as the failure was intermittent and that no warning light would appear on the instrument panel during the failure. The contact had taken the vehicle to a service center where a service manager requested ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2021
The contact owns a 2010 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 MPH, the vehicle started shaking abnormally. The contact stated she was safely able to slow the vehicle to approximately 10 MPH and proceed back to her residence. The contact stated that on her way to the residence she noticed that the power steering warning light illuminated, and the steering wheel was difficul... Read more
Incident date: Dec 7, 2021
The contact owns a 2013 Cadillac SRX. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V473000 (Suspension) and the vehicle was taken to the dealer to be serviced. The contact stated that before she received the recall notice for repair her vehicle was driving perfectly fine, but after picking up her vehicle from the dealer the vehicle was not driving properly. The contact stated that... Read more
Incident date: Dec 8, 2021
While driving on a highway and hitting a small bump the truck starts shaking violently. It caused me to lose control and almost caused me an accident. This has happened a few times and I’m now afraid to drive it. I have not taken it in for repair since this should be a recall that I should not have to pay for. There is only 10,525 miles on it. This flaw is going to end up getting someone kille... Read more
Incident date: Dec 1, 2021
There is a safety recall campaign for the front coil springs breaking for all Nissan Versas registered in "salt states" The car is registered in a "salt state" and the the front coil has snapped. For a reason that neither corporate Nissan nor the local Nissan service center can explain, this car is excluded from repair.
MERCEDES-BENZ
S500
(2004) — SUSPENSION
Dec 8, 2021
Incident date: Jan 13, 2021
The dash board lights lose their ability to illuminate the dashboard and the back airbags on the suspension keep deflating
Incident date: Dec 7, 2021
AS I AM TRAVELING DOWN THE ROAD, USUALLY BETWENN 50-70 MPH AND I GO OVER A BUMP IN THE ROAD, THE VEHICLE STARTS TO SHAKE VIOLENTLY TO THE POINT THAT IT IS ALMOST UNCONTROLABLE. STEPING ON THE BRAKE SLOWS THE TRUCK DOWN BUT DOES NOT STOP THE SHAKING. IT APPEARS THAT THE TIRES SHAKE BACK AND FORTH, AND THE ENTIRE TRUCK, ESPECIALLY THE FRONT END, SHAKES BACK AND FORTH VERY VERY VIOLENTLY. I HAVE H... Read more
Incident date: May 17, 2015
The Frame and Suspension Components of the vehicle have corroded or rusted badly and prematurely even though the rest of the vehicle is in excellent condition. This is a known and common occurrence with the 4th Generation Toyota 4Runner Vehicles such as this 2006 model. - Currently the upper Rear Differential Stabilizer Arm has completely rusted off causing handling problems with the vehicle. Many... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Nov 24, 2021
While driving at highway speeds hit slight transition in road and vehicle steering shakes uncontrollably to the point of extreme danger. Slow down to a stop thinking blown out tire or something snapped in front end. No signs of physical damage. try to limp home find condition is no longer present. It has happened two more times since then with passengers in vehicle on busy roads. Extreme danger ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 11, 2021
Transmission is overheated, burning smell, the car lost control, start zigzagging on the high way , and got into an accident, I was injured, and lost my job. The CarMax dealership, refused to take care of a car, or even take it back, because of the safety issues. Then, second time, the transmission slips on acceleration at starts and on highways. It feels like it's the transmission is in neutral.... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Dec 1, 2021
- Brakes, Wheels, and possibly suspension. - Car shudders under braking, impacts stopping ability. All tires vibrate while driving. Wheels are warped/damaged. - Vehicle went to the dealer. Replaced all four rotors, repaired all for rims. - I have reached out to the manufacturer for support. They declined to get involved. - No messages or warnings
Incident date: Aug 14, 2019
WHEN DRIVING THE VEHICLE AT ANY SPEED AND I HIT ANY BUMPS IN THE ROAD CAUSES THE STEERING WHEEL TO SHAKE VIOLENTLY AND THE FRONT WHEELS TO HOP. FEELS LIKE THE TRUCK IS OUT OF CONTROL. I HAVE TO SLOW DOWN TO AROUND 10 MPH BEFORE I CAN GAIN CONTROL AGAIN. VERY DANGEROUS WHEN THIS HAPPENS ON THE INTERSTATE AND HAVE TO COME TO ALMOST A COMPLETE STOP. THIS HAS HAPPENED SINCE I BOUGHT THE TRUCK NEW AND ... Read more
Incident date: Dec 2, 2021
Violent death wobble on highway. It is so bad other cars on highway slam on brakes to get away from our truck. We are experiencing some loss of control when it happens. Truck has been repaired once in the past for this and now it has started happening again. Took it to dealership that did original repairs and they claimed was not able to replicate. It then happened again for us and we have an a... Read more
Incident date: Dec 5, 2021
On 12/5/21 - at approximately 11:00am, I driving my 2019 Ford F-250 towing a utility trailer and an ATV. My speed at the time was 60 mph, and I have 41,211 miles on the truck. As I started to make a lane change the steering wheel started to violently shake, and the entire front end of the truck started to violently shake as well. It was all I could to do keep from crashing into another vehicle.... Read more
LAND ROVER
RANGE ROVER SPORT
(2011) — SUSPENSION
Dec 6, 2021
Incident date: Nov 24, 2021
SAFETY RECALL N623: Gasoline Fuel Tank Flange Assembly Cracking WHY is this recall not showing when I enter my VIN number here? Vehicle was towed back to house November 24th, 2021 after discovering it was leaking gas all over the Walmart parking lot. I have been smelling gas inside the vehicle and on the outside passenger side of the vehicle for almost 2 months! I saw no visible evidence to pr... Read more
Incident date: Dec 5, 2021
Rear passenger control arm separated from frame due to corrosion.
FORD
EXPEDITION
(2018) — SUSPENSION
Dec 6, 2021
Incident date: Dec 6, 2021
Left front Strut was leaking at 7000, was replaced by ford. 12/6/2, the SUV has 27,800 miles and the same Strut is leaking again. The car is been only drive on city roads and freeway. I can see many people are complaining about the same issue.
Incident date: Dec 2, 2021
Our 2018 CX5 has only 28K miles. During a recent oil change at our local auto repair facility I was informed that the driver's side rear shock was leaking oil and needed to be replaced. After some research I found there is a Mazda TSB (Bulletin No.: 02-001/21) stating that many 2017-2020 CX5s left the factory with defective rear shocks. In my opinion, loss of shocks could affect stability of a v... Read more
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2015) — SUSPENSION
Dec 5, 2021
Incident date: Sep 14, 2021
The front suspension makes a creaking noise when it gets cold outside and gets worse the colder it gets. It was like that when I bought it from the dealership, but they would not let me test drive the vehicle on the road. They also had to replace the radiator. With the suspension acting up, it was knocking the front end out of alignment, so the dealership did an alignment for me. 3 months late... Read more
Incident date: Nov 29, 2021
my front and rear sub-frame rotted out, making my vehicle dangerous to drive for me my family and other passengers that ride in my vehicle,it is also a danger to other vehicles and persons on the road. Chrysler knows of this problem with 2010 jeep compass but has never issued a safety recall, it seems only fair that Chrysler should held responsible to recall this vehicle since they used cheap p... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2021
Had starter replaced on my vehicle and still doing the same thing it was doing before. I click the push to start button and just get a grinding noise or sometime nothing will happen. I been reading forms and a lot of Rlx owners are reporting the same issue. Other problem I’m having with the vehicle is the Paws system can feel the car wanting to kick out in the rear wheels feel like they are turn... Read more
Incident date: Nov 18, 2021
Rear suspension lower control arm disconnected from the rear crossmember due to crossmember rust. The manufacturer isn't honoring the x69 front and rear crossmember rust out extended warranty because the vehicle is a few weeks past 10 years, but the vehicle was at the dealer a year before the warranty ran out and the rear crossmember was apparently not inspected, only the front suspension was loo... Read more
Incident date: Dec 2, 2021
My car is very rusted out,underneath the body and no one will work on my car because they feel it's a hazard to drive and work on. I went to an iron works shop and mechanic said it's a common problem with Saturn Vue's,I took it back to where I bought it because they knew it before I bought it . All they wanted to do was put me ina sports car,my car is a hazard to drive it plus I have 1 more year t... Read more
Incident date: Oct 29, 2021
ABS light, brake light came on. The seatbelt unhooks while I’m driving, I was told I had a cracked axle, the wheel bearing was very noisy, I’ve paid a lot of money to get things fixed. The labor was at a ridiculous amount on $25 parts. I’m wondering if I’ve paid to have parts fixed that were under recall. I fix one thing and then there’s another issue. Oil is leaking under the hood and I... Read more
Incident date: Jul 6, 2021
I had been noticing since November 2020 a strange noise from the rear on the driver side anytime I parked the car, as it goes over a step about 2 inches in height when entering it. I took it to the dealer an explained them that it wasn't just the noise but that I could move with my hands the rear tire on the driver side back and forth. They told me NO PROBLEM FOUND. Also, that day I did have a wh... Read more
Incident date: Dec 2, 2021
This is to report another incident of what is now known as the Ford Death Wobble. Despite Ford's denial of this condition existing, it is real. My truck has only 18K miles on it and I experienced the issue three times while driving on the freeway yesterday, Dec 02, 2021. It is terrifying and if one of my daughters or other family member had been driving, I am scare to think what the result migh... Read more
Incident date: Sep 22, 2021
This is our third Toyota 4Runner with the "X-REAS Sport Enhancement Suspension System". There has been some type of failure of this system on all 3 of the 4Runners we have owned. The latest problem with this suspension system on our 2015 4Runner was discovered during a Toyota dealership service appointment at 42,091 miles. It was recommended the full X-REAS system, front and rear shocks with li... Read more
Incident date: Sep 3, 2021
The contact owns a 2020 Jeep Gladiator. The contact stated that while driving approximately 65 MPH, the front end of the vehicle suddenly experienced severe shaking and vibration. The contact indicated that the failure occurred immediately after driving onto a bridge. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The manufacturer was also notified ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 16, 2021
On 11/16/2021, at approx. 1 pm, I merged onto a major interstate freeway from an on-ramp, in a westbound direction. The weather was a clear, sunny day and the roadway surfaces were dry and level. I accelerated to approx. 65 miles-per-hour as I merged onto the far right lane (slow lane), the roadway surface became a little uneven and contained several ripples. My 2019, Ford F-250 Super Duty, 4WD... Read more
Incident date: Aug 4, 2021
I have replaced every defective part on front end of my truck. Got it aligned every single time. Brand new tires and different tire pressures and it still does it. I still have a steering oscillation(death wobble) over 50+ mph.
Incident date: Dec 1, 2020
I bought a 2020 Tundra in mid year of 2020. By December 2020 I started to notice a strong vibration in the steering and from the front end between the low speeds of 20-30 mph and between 60-70 mph. The hotter the vehicle gets the more vibration occurs. Now my alignment seems off and curves to the left when trying to drive straight. I have taken it in to Alamo Toyota and Red McCombs in San Antonio ... Read more
CHEVROLET
TRAILBLAZER
(2007) — SUSPENSION
Dec 3, 2021
Incident date: Dec 3, 2021
Ive had to continueously replace the brakes axles, warped rotors . As well as needing to purchase tires for front end due to control arms malfunction. Constant replacemenf of front axle all causing rubbing, mis alignment and front end sitting inward. These replacements happen more than 3 times a year the last 3 years of ownership.
Crash
Incident date: Nov 25, 2021
This 2019 Ford F250 has a classic case of the "Death Wobble". Anytime the vehicle is travelling over 50 mph and hits a bump the truck shakes violently. It shakes bad enough to throw the contents of the door pockets throughout the interior. It is extremely dangerous when this occurs travelling on the crowded freeways of South Florida where I live and work. This is not an unknown condition of Ford t... Read more
Incident date: Dec 1, 2021
The steering wheel started shaking violently, fighting with me for control. Observers said my tires looked as though they where coming off. While this was occurring the vehicle drifted toward the center lane as if the alignment was out. Dealership stated it was called Death wobble a known issue on F-250's but it was not a recall
Incident date: Nov 29, 2021
Subframe is rotted. It snapped while driving; braking the control arm in the process. The lives of my children and myself were put at risk. If we had been on a busy road or highway, ourselves and others would have been at serious risk of sever injury and/or possible death. It has not been seen by a service center, incident happened 11/29/2021. The vehicle was inspected by a personal mechanic to ... Read more
Incident date: Dec 1, 2021
Right front lower control arm failed due to rust (safety recall WVX34 and NHTSA campaign 11v464000). Part of arm completely detached from connection to frame. Dealer states the recall is closed and there is nothing they will do. I notified Subaru by Email last night on the day it occurred -1 Dec 2021. Have not had reply as yet. This caused uncontrollable steering as it was not controllable by the ... Read more
JAYCO TRAVEL TRAILER
JAY FLIGHT
(2020) — SUSPENSION
Dec 2, 2021
Incident date: Sep 25, 2021
After a trip from Dallas to Los Angeles, I noticed inside tire wear on the rear tires. After close inspection, found both leaf spring support brackets had separated from the frame and rear axle was ~3" shifted to the left. If we had started to make the trip back home, the axles could've come off the trailer resulting in a terrible accident. Pictures were taken and sent to Good Sam for extended wa... Read more