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.

2,245,377 Total Complaints

140,173 Reported Crashes

56,794 Reported Fires

8,580 Reported 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

How to Read NHTSA Consumer Complaints › How NHTSA Investigations Work › Used Car: 7 Recall Checks to Run First › The Takata Airbag Recall: Full Story › OBD-II Codes Explained › All Articles ›

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Showing 117,775 complaints - component: UNKNOWN OR OTHER

Incident date: Jul 5, 2026

The car will shut down/stall while sitting at a red light. The START/Stop function is turned off, I turn it off while driving. So I am stalled at a red light and then have to place the car back into park and restart it. There are no messages or warning lights that appear on the dashboard. This is a risk because we are sitting in traffic with a stalled car that quickly needs to be restarted. This h... Read more

Incident date: Mar 15, 2026

The Super Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD) system unexpectedly deactivates during cold weather conditions, creating a sudden loss of traction and compromising vehicle stability control on winter roads."

Incident date: Jul 9, 2026

My car stalled stopped and takes a While to turn on , all lights turned on .. coded came back and showed it was fuel pressure regulator / fuel pump. I believe it is part of the recalls put in place for other Honda accord lx as well since I’m having same problem

Incident date: Jul 22, 2026

I was getting into my car when I noticed that it was full of smoke, I then opened my hood and trunk. My trunk was on fire from a wire that had came down. I was only about to pull it out and put it out. Insurance said it will most likely be deemed a total loss.

Fire

Incident date: Jul 22, 2026

Vehicle hits a bump in the road and the check engine light comes on, followed by the gas pedal being non-responsive and an error code on the instrument panel saying “Brake Override System Malfunction. Check with dealer.” and “Pre-collision System Malfunction. Visit your dealer. ” When this occurs, have to coast the vehicle to a safe place, turn off and wiggle the Radar Control piece atta... Read more

Incident date: Feb 20, 2025

The honda dealer states that the clip/ brackt that holds the multi view camera has broken. There is no damaged to the windshield or housing of the camera, the clip just failed and they could not tell me why. The vehicle has never been in any accident and has never had any damage. Adaptive cruise, cruise control, auto high beam, lane keep assist, Road departure, object detection, collision mitigat... Read more

Incident date: Jul 8, 2026

While I was driving, my car turned off and on again while the car was in motion. I wasn't in an accident, but I did notice the headlights turn off, my dashboard turn off, and a red light appear on the dashboard before the car turned itself back on.

Incident date: Jul 20, 2026

I own a 2025 Hyundai Tucson Hybrid Limited AWD with approximately 15,000 miles. While driving, I heard a loud, sudden noise and then discovered that the glass panel above the windshield, below the moonroof, had shattered/damaged. The incident occurred at a slight bump in the road, but not a pothole. I did not observe any large road debris, object, or vehicle ahead of me that appeared to cause an i... Read more

Incident date: Jul 2, 2026

This vehicle burns oil at an alarming rate. I am getting oil changes every 3K miles, and when I take it in, the dipstick is dry. I receive no oil lights to tell me it is low. I just had to get spark plugs and the mechanic at the garage told me this was due to the oil consumption issue in these vehicles. I am at 71,000 miles.

Incident date: Jun 24, 2026

The seat memory of the vehicle will reset itself every few days. This is while using the same key fob and driver profile. Android auto does not stay connected wired or wireless. This is after the vehicle has been factory reset, new cables used and phone reset. Buzzing/ grinding noise while breaking Blind spot sensors do not beep while the setting is activated to beep

Incident date: Jul 22, 2026

Car shifted on its own from drive to park right after warning lights stating Electrical Parking System then Emissions the Transmission came on while in stop and go traffic. Car had just come back from Acura mechanic 4 hours earlier as these warning lights had come when starting car. Immediately had car towed to dealership.

Incident date: Jun 8, 2026

My vehicle has an active status under Ford Safety Recall 20S15 (NHTSA Campaign 20V177) for a fractured door latch pawl spring. The defect has fully manifested: my side door physically will not latch or stay shut. There was no warning that the latch has malfunctioned. I was driving and my door swung open when I made a turn. I’ve been trying to get my car serviced because of the safety recall i... Read more

Incident date: Jul 22, 2026

Recently my car has had a series lights come on including 4wd fault, pre-colliosion assist not available, service advance trac, hill start assist warning, and something with the brakes when in reverse. I took it to the dealer and they said it's something electrical that will need parts, and further investigation with removing the seats. That will be another day. Today, while driving with my son in... Read more

Incident date: Jul 22, 2026

My 2023 Toyota Camry has developed an intermittent defect where the ignition key becomes stuck and cannot be removed even though the dashboard shows the vehicle is in Park. The only way to remove the key is to disconnect the vehicle's battery, which is not a normal or safe operating procedure. The problem occurs intermittently and has happened multiple times. I believe there may be a defect involv... Read more

Incident date: Jul 20, 2026

On a long trip the fuel tank straps and bolts holding the gas tank failed causing the fuel tank to fall and be dragged causing massive fuel spill. The problem has been confirmed by the dealer. The part was not inspected by police. However, we did get pictures of the tank at the scene. No warning lanmps or sfty signals were

Incident date: Jul 18, 2026

The radiator had a crack that nobody located even though I had been smelling antifreeze since I purchased it at 24,000 miles just over a year ago. I brought it in for an oil change today because I was leaving town for the weekend tomorrow and now a hole had blown through the bottom of the radiator. Had this happened when I was in a remote area of the mountains without cell service this could hav... Read more

Incident date: Jun 25, 2026

Hello, My name is [XXX] and I have a Subaru BRZ 2013 which harbors a valve spring recall (NHTSA Campaign ID 18V-772, Subaru Recall WTY-84). In seeking help to repair this, I had a customer experience that can be viewed as neglectful, deceitful and malicious in nature. Dealership Recall Refusals I called into two different dealerships to get this recall taken care of under the policies and procedur... Read more

Incident date: Jun 10, 2026

7/20/26 My 17 year old daughter was on the way to work and heard a loud noise like an explosion in her car. She, new to driving, scared and in a panic just assumed this was a blowout on a tire and pulled over to check the tires. All tires were clear so she proceeded to work cautiously, on her way home she noticed her check engine light had come on and noticed there was some road noise coming fro... Read more

Incident date: Jan 2, 2026

The recall causes the cruise control to be inoperable, the abs system to be inoperable and causes the warning messages to flash and the audible tone to sound constantly. I am currently unable to utilize the vehicle as intended (towing) because of the braking safety issue.

Incident date: Jul 4, 2026

Entire vehicle got burned while driving on the highway, the car is available at the impound shop for inspection. I was driving the car on the highway during the hours of rush hour when the car started burning, there were many drivers around on the other lanes. The NY Fire Department battalion and the NYPD responded to the scene and we have reports. The car was inspected by the NY fire department ... Read more

Fire

Incident date: Jul 16, 2026

I was driving on the interstate going 70-80 mph and my car would not accelerate and I got a bunch of yellow error codes. I pulled over and shut it off and restarted. I drove it straight to the nearest Nissan dealership. In that time driving to the dealership my car barely would go over 60 mph and the RPM's would go high then low. The dealership looked it over later in the day and called me and s... Read more

Incident date: Apr 15, 2026

2010 Toyota Avalon [XXX] purchased used. Sticker on driver’s door post states 32PSI for all tires. Low tire pressure light activated, XXX Toyota dealer ordered 5 new tire sensors and installed them XXX. Light reactivated in fall, I put 32 PSI in all tires, light stayed on. I used Costco air service to put 32PSI in all tires light stayed on. I took to dealer; they said gauges must be wrong and li... Read more

Incident date: Jun 3, 2026

1. What component/system failed, and is it available for inspection? The HVAC (heating/ventilation/air-conditioning) system — specifically the A/C evaporator and its condensate drainage — in my 2022 BMW X5 (G05). It emits a recurring musty/vinegar-like odor, consistent with microbial contamination on the evaporator. The system remains installed in the vehicle and is available for inspection u... Read more

Incident date: Jul 22, 2026

The splines to the transmission and front transfer case are worn and stripped and that is causing a bad transmission fluid leak. The fix for this unfortunately is to replace the Transmission and the Transfer case assy. I am not getting any support from Acura, as this is a known problem according to the dealer. Acura is not cooperating and the cost to repair is $14,000. I noticed a transmission ... Read more

Incident date: Jun 28, 2026

Unable to put car into park, stuck in reverse

Incident date: Jul 16, 2026

While driving using Apple Carplay with maps loaded, the multimedia screen switches to Toyota's Experience Drive Connect. The only way to get directions back up is to reboot the Multimedia screen by holding down the power switch, which takes a long time while trying to navigate. I called Toyota Connected Services and was informed that they are aware of the problem, but there is nothing they can do ... Read more

Incident date: Jul 22, 2026

My primary safety complaint is that the automatic emergency-call function failed during an actual airbag-deployment collision even though the SOS indicator was green and appeared to show that the system was operational. The vehicle is a 2023 Volkswagen ID.4, VIN [XXX]. On XXX, at approximately 8:04 a.m., while traveling southbound on Columbia Pike near Trader Joe’s, the vehicle was involved in ... Read more

Crash 3 injured

Incident date: Sep 11, 2025

A/C shuts off after 30-45 minutes of running cold. It’s clear from the amount of condensation after I park, that the evaporator core is freezing due to a faulty temperature sensor

Incident date: Jun 8, 2026

The infotainment and vehicle information system randomly goes black, resets itself while driving. There are no error messages or warnings. The system reboots and the screens come back after about 10-20 seconds. There was a recall issued for this back in May of 2026 and I had Mercedes Benz of Asheville, NC perform the required system update on June 17, 2026. Obviously the update did not correct... Read more

Incident date: Jul 12, 2026

My Honda Ridgeline 2022 stalled out at a red light in [XXX] on XXX and ,in [XXX] cross-section also on XXX. It again stalled Exit [XXX] at the red-light stop on XXX. I took the truck to Dover Hona Dealer down here in [XXX]. They said 'they tested battery, ("battery is testing okay") scanned trouble codes found none, test drove 3 times, started 20 times next morning and it seemed to sta... Read more

Incident date: Jul 22, 2026

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 111 regulates rear visibility systems. It requires backup cameras to shut off within a specific time or distance after moving forward to prevent driver distraction. A screen stuck on the reverse camera means the vehicle failed to comply with federal safety safety standards in that moment, actively flashing an illegal, high-contrast visual distraction w... Read more

Crash

Incident date: Jul 22, 2026

Pulling into a gas station, a turtle warning light (limp mode) came on in the dash, and the car started moving very slowly. Moments later the engine was on fire. Basically the entire front end of the car melted away before the fire department in New Buffalo, Mich., could put it out.

Fire

Incident date: Jun 14, 2026

I had the same issue that prompted a recall of the 2024 prologue, screens went completely black while I was driving on the interstate around 8 pm. The black screen spontaneously resolved after about one minute. That was really scary not having important operating info such as my speed and my GPS directions!

Incident date: Nov 28, 2025

Vehicle safety SOS button is not functioning properly. When the SOS button is depressed in case of emergency, the vehicle notifies user at the emergency system is un operational. Toyota includes this for 10 years from the date purchase and my vehicle is a 2021 making this feature active till 2031. By having the SOS button nonfunctional occupants of the vehicle, which may rely on this feature may s... Read more

Incident date: Jul 21, 2026

The rearview camera on my 2017 Honda Accord has permanently failed. When the vehicle is placed in reverse, the display activates and the yellow guide lines appear, but the actual camera image is completely cloudy and unusable. The camera appears to have an internal failure. The vehicle has lost the ability to provide a clear rear view through its factory-installed backup camera system. Honda has r... Read more

Incident date: Jul 22, 2026

UNKNOWN - I'M NOT SURE IF IM EVEN IN THE RIGHT PLACE TO EVEN COMPLAIN ABOUT THIS , BUT I HAVE A 2008 INFINITY FX35 AND 3 OUT OF THE 4 OUTSIDE DOOR HANDLES HAVE JUST LITERALLY FELL OFF IN MY HAND AND THEY ALL FELL OFF LIKE WITH IN 3 WEEKS OF EACH OTHER .SO NOW I HAVE 1 REMAINING OUTSIDE DOOR HANDLE THAT WORKS. AND I CAN'T AFFORD TO FIX THEM . AND I'M JUST WORRIED THAT IF I GET INTO A CAR ACCIDENT ... Read more

Incident date: Jul 12, 2026

Auto stop / start system. When engaged and engine turns off like at a stop sign, once I press on accelator engine will ratttle, sputter and sometimes steering wheel will briefly lock or turn all before it comes back on completely and is ready to drive. This has happened several times to me. Has almost caused a crash after I attempted to pull onto a cross road in traffic. The system cannot be p... Read more

Incident date: Jul 20, 2026

My 2021 Honda Pilot has a recurring electrical/network communication failure that causes “Network Communication Lost” and “MOST Net Off” messages to appear on the infotainment screen. When this occurs, the infotainment system malfunctions, audio becomes unavailable, and the backup camera display is lost without warning. The problem is intermittent, unpredictable, and has occurred numerous ... Read more

Incident date: Jul 2, 2026

The panoramic sunroof is cracked in several places impacting only the front half of the sunroof. There is not indication of a point of impact that would have caused the cracks. The vehicle is garage kept and has been driven minimally this summer. The were noticed on Saturday, July 18th when I opened the retractable interior roof. My safety is at risk because of the potential for the glass to fall ... Read more

Incident date: Oct 15, 2025

States “apply parking break before exiting” recall listed but not available. unable to drive vehicle

Incident date: Oct 15, 2025

Brake grinding constantly Infotainment overheating and shutting down Additional money on car insurance due to android auto failure with infotainment system Odometer doubling milage during infotainment failures Wipers going by themselves Windows go down when pressing up SOS BOX making random beeping noises Driver Chair constantly sinking back down Warning lights constantly coming on

Incident date: Jul 20, 2026

My 2023 GMC Yukon has had a strong mildew/musty odor coming from the HVAC system since the vehicle was new. The odor is most noticeable every time the vehicle is started after it has been sitting for several hours or overnight. After the system runs for a short time, the odor dissipates. This concern has been reported to my GMC dealer on multiple occasions. Previous repair attempts have not perma... Read more

Incident date: May 21, 2026

Since purchasing this vehicle in 2022 the crankshaft position sensor has been replaced 4 times (twice by the dealer in 2022, once in 2023 and once in 2024) and now it is dying while driving once again with the check engine light indicating that it is once again the crankshaft position sensor

Incident date: Jul 4, 2026

I have not the slightest idea what is going on with the vehicle that I just bought on June 25th 2026. I have a 2021 Volkswagen Atlas crossover and the car stopped on me three times today. And when I arrived in my garage it said that the engine was hot. I will be taking it to the dealership tomorrow.

Incident date: Dec 8, 2025

In the past month 4 times I had a Software, Module malfunction. All lights in in the dash are on like a Christmas Tree. Believe is related to the PGM. When to the Honda dealer in Winter Haven explained what happened and show a short video and they said that because my Vin [XXX] have no recall I have to pay $89.99 for an inspection and other charges to fix the problem. I told the service department... Read more

Incident date: Dec 4, 2025

Rear camera intermittently does not work properly. Multiple incidents of the rear camera flickering off and on when in reverse, image is sometimes upside down, or the rear camera doesn't work at all.

Incident date: Jul 14, 2026

July 12, 2026 I returned home and parked about 10 ft from my garage. I put my car in park, turned off the motor, and went to get out, when my husband started yelling at me that the car was moving. I pumped the brake, and heard a clicking sound. The car wouldn't stop, it ran into my house. Cracking my left headlight and denting my bumper. The car was in park, and I was unable to move the steering w... Read more

Crash

Incident date: Jul 21, 2026

They radio screen and radio navigation system. It will run batteries down replaced 2 Batteries this year. Radio goes haywire changes channels, makes dinging sound, navigation goes off. Screen moves jumps changes volume. Hard to drive very distracting and navigation stops working. None of this will stop until the vehicle is turned off and generally on restart it starts back up. Makes for very unsaf... Read more

Incident date: Jun 24, 2026

The sun roof came completely off the tracks and won’t close. The car is no longer weather proof and is at risk of the glass flying off at high speeds. Problem has not been reproduced or confirmed. Has not been inspected by the manufacturer or others. No warnings prior to the failure.

Incident date: Apr 2, 2026

The FSD (full self driving) failed when it backed into my garage. All passengers are safe, including my wife (pregnant), mother, and [XXX] child. I was following the supervised FSD requirement by supervising the FSD with hands on steering wheel and foot on brake the whole time. The FSD left very little amount of time for me to react. Tesla insurance judges it is my fault. INFORMATION REDACTED P... Read more

Crash

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Consumer Safety Complaints

What is a NHTSA consumer complaint?

How to interpret what you read

If you've experienced a defect

Read more from our blog