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 73,546 complaints - component: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Incident date: Jun 4, 2024
Car shuddered horribly on interstate. RPMs revving up like crazy. Transmission struggling. This caused the car to slow down drastically in the middle of traffic, nearly causing myself a fatal accident amongst others around me. No warning indications, just Transmission Fault Service Now as soon as it happened. In the past this vehicle has had transmission issues fixed and replaced by Ford themselve... Read more
Incident date: Aug 19, 2024
Cruise/Speed Control Switch recalled due to explosions/fires. Contacted Ford, they stated to take it up with a local dealer. All local dealers are taking it seriously scheduling me for months out or telling me its for an inspection only and the part wont be replaced unless it is leaking fluid. The recalls associated, hower, state there are 3 total recalls regarding the same issue in which the wire... Read more
Incident date: Mar 1, 2024
The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Avalon. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed and attempting to accelerate, the vehicle inadvertently lost motive power. The vehicle then returned to normal functionality, but the failure became a regular occurrence. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. After i... Read more
Incident date: Jun 14, 2022
Will driving on the interstate, using the adaptive cruise control feature, vehicles were slowing down to a stop ahead and my car accelerated instead of slowing down. I then pressed the brake and simultaneously, the car breaks locked down (automatic braking). Unfortunately I wasn’t able to avoid an accident as I rear ended the vehicle in front of me. My vehicle has been turned over to the insur... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Aug 23, 2024
A month ago I started my vehicle and 1/2 a mile into driving, all my electronics turned off with no warning(radio, instrument cluster, A/C, gauges, turn signals, headlights). The only electrical component working was the power windows. I couldn't see my speed, any warning lights or my turn signals. I immediately pulled over as I couldn't even tell if my car was still drivable. I Turned off the car... Read more
Incident date: Aug 7, 2024
First date was 04/23/2024 my truck went into limp mode with an alert reading engine and transmission control module problem. Brought it in and they reset the sensors. Shortly after the alert warning goes off again and I turn the engine off and start it back up. It cleared the alert, I brought it back in on 06/15/2024. They reset sensor and fixed a recall on tailgate. I picked up truck, drove it fo... Read more
Incident date: Jul 6, 2024
There are two recurring issues effecting my truck. These have been ongoing for 6 months, since March of this year. I have been to my dealer Lum's in Warrenton, Oregon 8 times for this. They have been unavailable to fix the issues and told me they needed a Toyota factory person to fix the issues because they do not have anyone at the dealership that can do it. Nate Whisnant, the service manger at... Read more
Incident date: Jul 15, 2024
See attached document for complaint.
Incident date: Jul 1, 2023
The NTSB requires that the manufacturer install ABS and SRS systems on the vehicle. The manufacturer is having issues supplying repair parts , the Anti Lock Break Control module is on national back order with no idea of when it will be available. This is a serious safety issue and someone needs to review and determine if this can be corrected. I as well as many other vehicles are on the road witho... Read more
Incident date: Jul 25, 2024
I received a recall letter 24V-444. My 2014 F-150 has repeatedly shown the symptoms described in the recall letter. Truck will downshift to 1st gear at various speeds, and the rear tires will slide when it occurs at a higher speed, and has done so on several occasions. On [XXX] I took vehicle to Auto Gallery Ford in Gaffney SC. They supposedly did the fix recommended. They told me to bring it bac... Read more
Incident date: Dec 24, 2023
My car lost power. It would come and go. Now it's gone. The codes that come up pertain to the wheel speed sensor and timing.
Incident date: Aug 23, 2024
On highway with my 18 month old and as a cat merged on ramp I signaled and moved to left lane. I had to move and quickly so that another fast car would not hit me in the rear end where my baby was seated in car seat. In only the 3 seconds I had to make decision which hit would be better for me and my child, my car stuck in the lower gears and I could not speed up to move out of way or pass vehicle... Read more
Incident date: Aug 22, 2024
unknown defects in some vehicles that could cause sudden and unintended acceleration without driver input Yes, our safety was at risk. The vehicle was clearly not in our control. A police report was generated. The car plowed through the garage no control to brake The damages are being inspected by insurance. There were no waring lights that I could see
Crash
Incident date: Aug 22, 2024
2019 Acura TLX 28k miles - was slowing pulling into a parking spot in a parking garage downtown San Diego. Suddenly the car had no brakes while pressing the brake pedal to the floor with no resistance from the brakes, the car start revving hard and accelerating very fast. I stopped by hitting a brick barrier. Steering wheel and knee airbags deployed. Fortunately I arrived at work early that day an... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Aug 22, 2024
The Service Anti-lock Braking System warning lights and audio alarms come on almost constantly at times along with the cruise control failing, a common problem I understand which Dodge Ram has to be aware of. This truck has only 7000 miles on it!
Incident date: Aug 21, 2024
Below are the diagnostics that Rivian says happened. I pulled into a parking space and as I placed my foot on the brake the car launched forward. I DID NOT hold both peddles down at the same time. The car malfunctioned and thank god I hit another parked car and not a person. The car has no been in the shop and at Rivian service center for the last 4 months. They are taking no responsibility f... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Aug 8, 2024
ABS light came on, car will stop on its own while driving 70 miles an hour and kill the acceleration. steering will go out. speedometer will not work. check engine light will come on. gear shift gets stuck in place. This car is a major safety hazard that Jeep has ignored. I have gotten stuck on the side of the road on bridges, highways side streets due to the fact the gear shift will not move out ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 2, 2024
Trying to drive across a road and the van started and stopped and just went again and I almost got tboned.
Incident date: Nov 16, 2023
While driving in the left lane on a three lane highway (about 70mph) the car's automatic braking system engaged. The car would not accelerate creating a very dangerous situation on a congested highway at night. Luckily, we are able to navigate to a brake down lane without a collision. The check engine light, Eyesight light and RAB light turned on. The car would not function normally and was towed... Read more
Incident date: Aug 19, 2024
The contact owns a 2015 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that while making a right turn into a parking space, the vehicle experienced unintended acceleration and lunged forward. The contact stated that the failure had occurred on several occasions. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were not yet contacted. The failure mileage was 70,000.
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS CROSS SPORT
(2024) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Aug 21, 2024
Incident date: Apr 5, 2024
I own a 2023 Fisker Ocean One. Regenerative brake and normal brake usually lose control when the vehicle driving through a bumpy surface. The vehicle loses the ability to slow down and brake seems to be released. This is an obvious manufacturer defect and increase the risk of accident when the vehicle is failed to stop when it needed to be. I urge to speed up the recall process to have this defect... Read more
Incident date: Jul 1, 2024
I was driving my car through the mountains on a very hot day. The speed limits are 65-70mph. After driving for a couple of hours, a warning light/message appeared: Hybrid system overheated Reduced output power The car began to have trouble maintaining speed. At one point I had to pull over and wait a while because the car became unresponsive to the accelerator. After waiting a bit, I was able ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 2, 2024
The issue started happening [XXX]. I was driving home and the car went into limp mode. Several errors came on the heads up display and on the dashboard. At first I could not go faster than 31mph, then it dropped down to 17mph, then to 7mph by the time I got home. 1.When accelerating from a stop light, car goes into limp mode and won’t accelerate almost stalling in the road. You must pull over, ... Read more
DODGE
CHALLENGER
(2018) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Aug 21, 2024
Incident date: Jul 16, 2024
When driving on hills or moving from a stop to get into traffic the vehicle will go from 4th gear to 1st and won’t accelerate. After this happens I’m alerted with “Powertrain system fault”. This causes a safety issue for me and others because on hills it won’t accelerate and it rolls backwards. From a stop trying to get into traffic it won’t move and becomes a collision waiting to hap... Read more
Incident date: Jul 19, 2024
When pressing the gas pedal, my Equinox does not accelerate and move forward. It takes approximately 2-3 seconds for the vehicle to react to the pressing of the pedal and that reaction is slow despite applying full pedal movement. This happens intermittently and appears to be most notable during extreme high temperatures. It also has been noticed while trying to accelerate to pass in addition to t... Read more
Incident date: Jul 1, 2023
This failure narrowly resulted in a serious accident when my vehicle applied the brakes without warning and dropped the speed to below 40 mph on the Highway! I was extremely fortunate not to have been closely followed by a large semi at the time. I researched on my own and found this was a known defect: Ford Recall reference #22S02 (21C24) March 2022. includes vehicles built in Hemosillo plant fr... Read more
Incident date: Jul 8, 2024
I was in a minor accident involving a small animal on [XXX] and there was not much damage done to it. After it got repaired a few months later the steering wheel started locking up on me so I had it towed down to Bob Johnson Ford in Pulaski NY. They couldn't diagnose the issue and said I was safe to drive it home. On the way home the steering wheel locked up while exiting the highway and caused me... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Aug 21, 2024
While driving th vehicle the component that ruptured was the vehicles vacuum brake booster pump which connected directly to the engine. The ruptured caused shards of metal to be launched into the engine resulting in no brake power and needs an engine swap. There was a recall on this model vehicle for the Pedal sensor malfunction that results in the cars engine going into a reduced power mode abrup... Read more
Incident date: Apr 4, 2024
Engine stall. The first time it happened I was going about 35 mph down the street and the car quit accelerating. Engine still running all the lights on did not notice any warning lights. Coasted into a parking lot. Turned off car and restarted and drove 1/2 block home. Read online to start car in auxiliary mode three or five times. Did that and did not have a problem. About 3 or so weeks later, it... Read more
Incident date: Aug 5, 2024
2021 Ford Ranger - 10R80 Transmission Failure while driving. Hard shifting, lurching, slipping gears then abrupt failure. It is available. Currently at Diehl Ford in New Brighton, Pennsylvania. - It went from being 90% drivable to coming to complete stop with no transmission engagement at all. Break down occured while climbing a grade and the complete stop happened over a blind crest with guard ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 20, 2024
The contact owns a 2019 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power while depressing the accelerator pedal. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer to be diagnosed; however, the failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was taken to another local dealer, Honda of Escondido (1700 Aut... Read more
Incident date: Jul 19, 2024
ABS light will come on, speedometer will stop working, Gear shift will lock up and not move. Jeep will stop moving while on highway at random times without any warning. Steering will lock up on turns not allowing the vehicle to turn.
Incident date: Aug 20, 2024
A diagnostic code has been displayed for the Anti-Lock Brake System - C0020-01 —> ABS Pump Motor Control - General Electrical Failure. Going over a bump in the road will cause the ABS system to deactivate the cruise control. The diagnostic code can be cleared and the cruise control will resume. Reading on RAM / Cummins online sites, many say that either the HCU and / or ABS Module needed to be r... Read more
Incident date: Mar 25, 2024
I own a new Fisker Ocean One (electric SUV) and have been notified that there is a safety recall due to a water pump problem that can result in the vehicle suddenly entering limp mode (20 mph) unexpectedly. I'd like the problem fixed ASAP, but do not know how to get the service done. Fisker Inc. is going out of business, and although they sent me a notification about the safety recall, they prov... Read more
Incident date: Mar 20, 2024
See attached document for complaint.
Incident date: Jan 15, 2021
The contact owns a 2022 Nissan Versa. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the accelerator pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended. In addition, the contact stated that the vehicle seemed sluggish, and the vehicle failed to accelerate above 30 MPH. The contact stated that several times, the vehicle was driven to the shoulder and the vehicle w... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2024
WHILE USING CRUISE CONTROL ON FREEWAY AT APPROX 70 MPH WHEN HEADED UP HILL AND THE VEHICLE REACHES APPROX. 2500-3k TACH, THE CRUISE WILL DISENGAGE AND SPEED WILL DROP IMMEDIATELY WITH NO WARNING. DEALER SAYS MANUAL STATES ONE MAY HAVE TO USE THROTTLE TO MAINTAIN SPEED BUT DOES NOT MENTION CRUISE DROPPING OFF. THIS IS AN EXTREME SAFETY RISK WHEN A VEHICLE IS BEHIND YOU ACCELERATING ON THE SAME INCL... Read more
Incident date: Jun 22, 2024
I recently took my car in for a recall for the trunk wiring harness and have never had any major issues since I purchased it in 2018. Since replacing the recalled harness, I’m starting to receive several alerts from my driver assistance system (emergency brakes, camera failure). I called a service tech who mentioned there’s either a failed camera or a failed wiring harness. Looking online, I w... Read more
HYUNDAI
TUCSON PLUG-IN HYBRID
(2023) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Aug 20, 2024
Incident date: Aug 16, 2024
The contact's niece owns a 2017 Ford Edge. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle made an abnormal sound and accelerated slowly with the accelerator pedal being depressed. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was driven to the dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that there was coolant intrusion into the engine, and the engine needed to be ... Read more
TOYOTA
SEQUOIA HYBRID
(2024) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Aug 20, 2024
Incident date: Aug 15, 2024
Driving a Lexus UX300h 2025. Making a right turn from an alley onto a driveway of a house in low speed. Then the car was malfunctioning and suddenly unintended accelerated, and the front end on the driver side hit the brick structure of garage. The car is equipped with Lexus Safety System + 3.0 with Pre-Collision System (PCS). However, the system did not give any warnings to the driver of an ... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Aug 19, 2024
Abs module failure. Traction control failure Stability control failure. Module replaced by dealer once under warranty and failed a little over a year later. Dealer would not replace defective unit stating it was out of warranty.
Incident date: Feb 2, 2022
The contact owns a 2019 Honda Pilot. The contact stated while driving at approximately 15 MPH, the vehicle independently accelerated with the RPM elevated beyond 5,000 RPM. The contact had taken his foot of the accelerator pedal; however, the unintended acceleration persisted, and the vehicle reached 40 MPH without the accelerator pedal being depressed. The contact stated no warning light was illu... Read more
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2023) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Aug 20, 2024
Incident date: Aug 20, 2024
We bought this truck from a dealer in March of 2023. We were never informed by the dealer that the truck had this issue. ABS light and traction control lights come on & stay on for periods of time. Sometimes lights come on & off repeatedly while driving along with chime on & off. When lights come on, there is no cruise control available to use. I took it to the dealer we purchased from over a year... Read more
Incident date: Feb 20, 2024
Transmission whirring, vehicle is skipping while driving, gear/rpm not downshifting after acceleration
Incident date: Aug 8, 2024
Many engine related problems. Have proof of related problems and/also I have prof of me repairing the vehicle my self in present day
Incident date: Jul 21, 2024
The Honda of Downtown Chicago dealership has informed us that there is a fuel injector problem with this vehicle. On 8/11/24 it caused the vehicle to cycle through a series of errors before it stopped accelerating on the highway with our young son inside, and eventually stopped moving altogether after we were able to get off on an exit. When the car failed, we were given a final Power System warni... Read more
HONDA
ACCORD HYBRID
(2024) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Aug 19, 2024
Incident date: Aug 16, 2024
My abs system is not working the ETC is not working was told this is because of the abs pump and abs computer. Most safety components related to brakes not working. There are over a thousand complaints to Chrysler about these trucks and still no recall. Please help.
Incident date: Aug 19, 2024
Fuel regulator- high/low pressure failed. Yes the vehicle is available for inspection (currently at Rotolo Chevrolet). My safety and others were compromised because was on freeway approximately 75 mph and my power and speed was unexpectedly reduced. Almost caused pile up, I had to take evasive measures to guide truck to slow lane, and off the road. Yes, the problem has been confirmed [XXX] by cer... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2024
I have been driving many times with cruise control on. With cruise control on and I hit a bump or pot hole in the road, the cruise control stops and the car immediately slows down. This happened many times as we drove [XXX] in Nevada and crossed cattle guards, and it has also happened while driving on two lane roads and I hit a pot hole or change in pavement levels. When the cruise control come... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2024
The contact owns a 2001 Ford F-150. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked and turned off, there was smoke coming from the vehicle. The contact stated the engine compartment had caught on fire. The fire was extinguished by the Fire Department. A fire report was filed, and a fire report number was provided; however, the cause for the failure was not yet determined. A police report was not ... Read more
Fire