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 72,878 complaints — component: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Incident date: Jan 25, 2024
My vehicle incorrectly read highway number signs as though they were speed limit signs. This occurred eight times on state highway [XXX] in Florida; and once on state highway [XXX]. The speed limit was actually 55 mph on highway [XXX]. If I would have had “Predictive Speed Assist” turned on, and was using adaptive cruise control, it would have automatically decelerated to 40, +/- whatever ... Read more
GRAND DESIGN
MOMENTUM
(2021) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Feb 23, 2024
Incident date: Oct 20, 2023
The ABS light continuously comes on and off, especially when hitting a bump or going down a gravel road. Traction control light and ABS light will come on and off which ultimately causes a lack of control when roads are icy or wet. It's especially dangerous while in tow.
Incident date: Jan 22, 2024
Back in February my Tesla Model 3 started acting up Emergency Brake was disabled, automatic vehicle hold was disabled, and traction control was disabled all issues I reported to the company app with photo. This problem stated when a software update happened after the Tesla app requested it.
Crash
HONDA
ACCORD HYBRID
(2023) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Feb 23, 2024
Incident date: Aug 12, 2023
The contact owns a 2023 Honda Accord. The contact stated while driving at undisclosed speeds, the vehicle shut off independently. Additionally, while driving 70 MPH, the vehicle decelerated to 0 MPH. The transmission warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the Lane Keep Assist became inoperable. The contact was able to pull over safely. The contact was able to restart the vehicle. The v... Read more
Incident date: Feb 23, 2024
I was pulling into the parking lot of a restaurant and stopped briefly to decide where to park. When lightly applying the throttle to pull into a parking space the engine revved up, the bike surged, and my wife and I crashed into a picnic area. This GL1800 DCT motorcycle has no clutch lever or foot shifter because it has a 7-speed automatic transmission. Therefore it wasn't possible to stop the ra... Read more
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Jan 15, 2024
The ABS and Traction control lights began to flash and the alarm began to come on intermittently in 2021. I took the truck to the dealer for repairs because the ABS, Traction Control and Cruise Control were not working. The repair cost was $1,00.00 at my expense. The problem has recently returned and is going to need repaired at my expense again. The ABS system not working causes a safety concern ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 22, 2024
The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving from a complete stop and depressing the brake pedal, the vehicle made an abnormal grinding sound and accelerated unintendedly. The contact depressed the brake pedal, but the vehicle failed to respond. The contact depressed the brake pedal continuously until the vehicle stopped. There was no warning light illuminated. The ... Read more
CHEVROLET
TRAILBLAZER
(2022) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Feb 22, 2024
Incident date: Feb 19, 2024
I was told by dealership that due to the boosters transmitting radio frequencies in rural areas that it interferes with the adaptive cruise control. I have gone on 3 trips where this causes the front assist and cruise control to disengage at highway speeds. Had someone been behind me they would have rear-ended my vehicle. In 6 months has happened three times but the dealership has not been able... Read more
Incident date: Feb 21, 2024
I’m having two continuous, multiple incident, problems that the dealership swears up and down do not exist. I have tried calling the dealership multiple times, and the national Honda customer service line. Problem number one, sudden, breaking while driving at highway speed with no vehicle or other objects in front of me. Second problem is the adaptive cruise control no longer is activated on the... Read more
Incident date: Feb 21, 2024
The contact owns a 2020 Ford EcoSport. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed and attempting to overtake another vehicle, the vehicle failed to accelerate as needed. The contact was able to drive to the shoulder. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the residence. On another occasion while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2023
Have reported multiple times the safety hazard with the unnacuracy of the mileage given per charge. Vehicle will drain through battery leaving motorist standard. When using self drive option vehicle will not stay in appropriate lanes. Vehicle will overheat on battery and start making concerning sounds while driving. When reported to Tesla they acknowledged the issue but have failed to fix the issu... Read more
Incident date: Oct 20, 2021
When car came to a stop at a red light I put my foot on the gas once the light turned green. When I tried to proceed through the light my car was at a complete stall. I had to then place the car in park, power the car off and then power the car back on. The other car behind me almost ran into the back of my car due to the light was green. When I contacted the dealership the service department they... Read more
Incident date: May 16, 2023
I was on the highway during traffic hour going approximately 40 mph at 2 rpm and when I tried to accelerate to keep up with the flow of traffic, the car did not accelerate and actually slowed down and suddenly shifted down below 1 rpm which caused the oncoming cars behind me to hit their brakes hard. After it slowed down and did not accelerate, even though I pressed the gas pedal further, it sudde... Read more
Incident date: Mar 13, 2023
This incident is reported by a law office. The car being driven by our client was a TESLA Model 3 which made a SUDDEN UNEXPECTED ACCELERATION when our client was slowly looking for a parking space at a parking lot. The TESLA car suddenly accelerated at a high rate of speed without client pressing on the accelerator. On the contrary, our client was stepping on the brakes in an attempt to stop it bu... Read more
Crash
4 injured
Incident date: Feb 20, 2024
Since new, maybe once a month, Cruise control idiot light comes on and flashes until car is turned off. usually no bother but one day it started braking without me and I bought the DUMB base model!!! before extended warranty expires, this august, hopefully dealer will replace wheel speed sensors on rear wheels. not sure if this will fix problem. I have asked them to check this six or seven t... Read more
Incident date: Feb 16, 2024
Vehicle speedometer working it radically
MERCEDES-BENZ
SPRINTER 2500
(2022) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Feb 21, 2024
Incident date: Feb 9, 2024
My 2013 F150 downshifted abruptly from 5th to 1st gear going 55. This caused me to stop dangerously and abruptly. It then got stuck in 1st gear. I turned off truck and restarted and it was stuck in 3rd gear. I did have a check engine light read which were codes: P0720/p0721/p0720 pointing to the output shaft speed sensor. I had Ford dealership TSB performed in 2020 to reprogram PCM to prevent thi... Read more
Incident date: Jan 18, 2024
P1. On or about Feb 9, Power Train transmission, Modular’s. While traveling about 40mph the truck shifted suddenly to low gear, and the water pump blew resulting in steam or smoke from engine hood. Automatic shifting was not possible, after slowing to 5-10 mph check if mauls shifting was an option. All gears L1 L2…were replaced with ‘L’. P2 March 2023 to presented 2024, the vehicle wil... Read more
Incident date: Feb 20, 2024
My vehicle's throttle position sensor malfunctioned while I was driving on a busy highway at 55-60MPH, causing it to suddenly enter limp mode and display the error code P2138. This resulted in a rapid and unsafe reduction of speed to 30MPH, then down to 15MPH posing a hazard to myself and other drivers. Despite replacing both the gas pedal and the sensor itself in an attempt to rectify the issue, ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 2, 2021
The vehicle hesitates like it doesn’t want to get up to speed, despite pressing the gas pedal to accelerate. The RPM needle bounces. Dealership has not been able to “replicate the hesitation I feel when accelerating.” They originally tried to say I didn’t tell them the problem was happening when it had time to warm up, which is a lie, I have all the scheduling notes made by the employee wh... Read more
Incident date: Feb 9, 2024
While driving in the highway I took my foot off the accelerator and despite one pedal driving being on the car did not brake. I then tapped the brake. When I then pushed the accelerator to keep up with traffic, nothing happened. I checked the screen for warning lights. The car had none. The accelerator pedal was non responsive causing a huge safety issue for me and others on the road as the car wa... Read more
Incident date: Jan 13, 2024
Recently started having erratic shifting issues. Will downshift randomly out of nowhere while driving. Sometimes will just be stuck in 1st gear and won’t go anywhere until I pull over and shut off/start up again. Dangerous because I never know when it will do it. Might seem like everything is fine and then all of a sudden, it downshifts and loses power. Rpm’s rise but car has no power. Have t... Read more
Incident date: Feb 5, 2024
Service abs system and traction control
Incident date: Apr 23, 2021
engine failed due low engine oil pressure not getting oil pressure for an extensive amount of time. low oil pressure caused the rod bearing to fail causing internal engine failure. I was driving on the freeway going on 65mile per hour when I have loss the control of the vehicle i almost died thank god there was not near other vehicles
Incident date: Feb 20, 2024
On almost a daily basis, with the cruise control set to maintain speed (vs the option of advanced speed control that will adjust to signs), the car will inexplicably and quite randomly decelerate aggressively at highway speeds. On four separate occasions just today (although it happens at least once or twice a day), with the cruise set to 70 MPH, the car will randomly decelerate aggressively or... Read more
Incident date: Feb 17, 2024
This was unintentional acceleration case: When I got into the parking space, the car was almost stopped and I was about to press the park button (gear) and the car suddenly accelerated and in a fraction of a second, climbed the curb, crashed into the fence, broke the fence and crushed on a tree. I was still applying brake to stop it and I could not do anything else. The following facts show tha... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Feb 15, 2024
The abs system failed and caused the cruise control to not function as well as the trailer brakes not operating. It has been inspected by a certified ram dealership in Corscanna, Tx and confirmed that the abs system is out. The abs warning lights comes on and off, on a 30 mile trip it will come on and off 15 or 20 times. This started in May of 2023 on a planned trip of 330 miles pulling a 10,00... Read more
Incident date: Feb 15, 2024
I have ford escape 2018 S and I bought the car from koons ford silver spring MD. It is unfortunate whenever I drive the car for long hours ; suddenly the acceleration declines and the vehicle loose its power. And a strange click sound comes up and the check engine light on. Once I parked the car and the car cool down --the warning system disappear. I tried to contact the dealership and I was told ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 9, 2024
The Power Brake Vacuum Assist Failure nearly caused a wreck. The part failed while we were driving on [XXX] going 65 miles per hour on a busy highway. As the breaks gave out the engine light said “Reduced Power”. Moments later, the breaks stopped working and the engine stopped running. We were able to coast off the highway and into an HEB parking lot and have the vehicle towed. The mecha... Read more
Incident date: Feb 16, 2024
While driving on the highway, the computer system shut down and all screens went black. The car still drove but none of the controls worked anymore. We could not roll the windows down or turn the fans or a/c on and it was summer so the interior of the car immediately became unbearably hot. We pulled over as soon as it was safe to do so and turned the car off and back on. The system came on partial... Read more
Incident date: Feb 16, 2024
When towing a trailer with my Rivian R1T on interstate 75 I set my cruise control while going with the speed of traffic at approximately 60 mph. Instead of cruise control setting at the speed I was traveling, it instead sets at the posted speed limit. In most conditions, this wouldn't create a hazard as adaptive cruise control would keep the vehicle from accelerating more than the speed the vehi... Read more
Incident date: Feb 17, 2024
Saturday morning this is now the 3rd time it's been fixed and safe to drive. Once by the dealership in Baltimore Towson area. Check engine light came on I ran diagnostic I bought at the store to get the codes come to find out class actions for wrongful death because company knew about it. As I also see hundreds of he same complaints here. My wife on [XXX] Baltimore MD at the merge. She went f... Read more
ALFA ROMEO
TONALE
(2024) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Feb 18, 2024
Incident date: Feb 9, 2024
Car was coasting into a resteraunt chain drive-thru lane, coming to a slow when the car very quickly excellerated. A quick application of the brakes stopped the rapid acceleration. Neither foot was on the gas, one was resting over the brake pedal in order to stop the car before reaching the car ahead of us. I have OEM floor mats that do not sit on the pedals. I was not using the Paddle shifters. ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 9, 2024
Air duct tube was broken when driving on interstate 94 east. stepping on gas pedal there was a buuuuuuzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz noise. Also, the check engine light is always on, a mechanic said that the PCM programming is mis-communicating.
Incident date: Feb 9, 2024
Cruise control button only requires 1 touch to engage. old system required to turn on and then set. it would be to bad, however button is on left side of wheel and is easily accidently engaged. It has happened many times in 2 months of ownership. Dealer and ford won't act. this thing will engage i have had approaching curves and even stop signs. I'm very disappointed with 2 aspects of truck remote... Read more
Incident date: Feb 16, 2024
Snow Mode caused the vehicles accelerator and brakes to be unresponsive after stopping to turn. Kia could not duplicate the issue through service inspection and test drive. Since no alerts or sensors were tripped they ignore the safety concern. This major safety issue is is very very common problem among Telluride owners. A simple google search will reveal hundreds of complaints. Note: A child was... Read more
Incident date: Feb 17, 2024
The vehicle's primary Autopilot processor randomly and completely failed while in active use on February 10th, causing the vehicle to immediately change course towards a highway barrier at high speed. Since that moment, every time the Autopilot DAS computer is reset, the primary processor refuses to transition from the INIT state to the NOMINAL state and instead transitions to CRITICAL state. Th... Read more
Incident date: Jan 19, 2024
I was driving on the interstate in cruise, the car engine started revving hard. My speed jumped up to 85mph. Then all of a sudden the vehicle jerked hard and I lost all acceleration. The car rapidly decelerated. Then, the power steering, check engine, vehicle stability assist, electric parking brake, and low tire pressure lights all came on. As well as the gear indicator was unable to show if I w... Read more
Incident date: Jan 5, 2024
Car decelerated drastically to a low speed when driving on the highway using cruise control.
Incident date: Feb 3, 2024
Loss of power to speed unable to acceleration had to pull over
Incident date: Feb 1, 2024
Cruise control is messed up and is constantly and continuously surging on straightaway highways or on hills between 500 to 1000 rpms. A very uncomfortable ride that makes me nauseated. No dealership is acknowledging a problem or finding a diagnosis. Also, aa soon ans you turn on your cruise rpm’s will raise immediately even on a flat terrain negatively impacting fuel economy. Investing over $30,... Read more
Incident date: Nov 23, 2023
Switching gears is weird sometimes and sport plus mode revs engine
Incident date: Feb 1, 2024
The vehicle was crawling to a stop in preparation to park in front of my garage door. When I move my hand across the steering wheel, my hand must have come in contact with the toggle/scroll for the “resume speed” function of the cruise control. The vehicle abruptly began accelerating towards my house. I was able to press the brake pedal to deactivate and stop the vehicle safely. I note that ... Read more
TOYOTA
PRIUS PLUG-IN HYBRID
(2012) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Feb 16, 2024
Incident date: Feb 5, 2024
I was driving less than 55mph on freeway on February 5, 2024 when my vehicle went into an out of control spin, Brakes did not seem to work and unable to control vehicle until hit center divider on freeway, Spun 180 degrees and kept going back with no braking until hit center divider.
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Jan 5, 2024
I was driving on the highway at 65 mph and the truck downshifted on it's own from 6th gear to 3rd gear causing the truck to loose power. This has happened twice while driving on the highway and the transmission recall has been updated prior to this.
Incident date: Oct 6, 2022
Service Antilock Brake System Service Electronic Braking System Illuminated warning lamps. Impacts Braking and cruise control. Started 10/2022, and appears to trigger randomly and frequently.
Incident date: Jan 25, 2024
Instrument panel turns off on and on during driving. No ability to see speed, acceleration, engine heat, fuel, or any lights at all (unable to see warning lights like engine light or airbag or tire pressure and not even able to use blinkers or high lights). Problem occurs during driving (will even turn off and on many times within same driving session) but will also happen while car is sitting jus... Read more
TOYOTA
HIGHLANDER
(2004) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Feb 16, 2024
Incident date: Sep 1, 2023
Driving through my neighborhood. Went to enter a Hwy and tried to accelerate. Could only go about 25 mph. with engine speed fluctuating. Checked to see if I had hit paddles by mistake. That is what it felt like. Pulled over put in park. checked for dash notifications none. Got up to about 45, speed fluctuations again. Pulled over turned off ignition. That fixed the problem. Safety concern if traff... Read more
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE 4XE
(2022) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Feb 16, 2024
Incident date: Jan 17, 2024
Speed control sensor allows brake fluid leak through the plug connector and run down the wiring harness, allowing brake fluid to splash on the exhaust manifold and cause a fire.
Fire