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: May 20, 2024
While driving at full speed on an interstate, I received the message, "Stop Safely, Vehicle Will Shut Off Soon." The van then lost power, and I was able to pull over safely (thankfully!). After about 15 minutes, the van restarted, and I made it about 10 miles until it happened again. After two more shut-downs, I was able to get the van to a dealership, where it has been sitting undiagnosed for ove... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2024
Ford Fiesta 2013 had a transmission malfunction warning pop up and the car aggressively jerked back then wouldn’t accelerate past 25 mph. The warning light stayed on. The car a couple miles after the incident wouldn’t accelerate at all even though the engine was on. This type of stopping happened twice. This issue is not related to my driving or accident but due to Ford producing a car with se... Read more
Incident date: Jan 30, 2024
May 30, 2024 To whom it may concern: This is to report a very serious matter on the 2019 Dodge Grand Caravan. The vehicle vehicle has an issue with the transmission. It shifts very rough. To make it worse, when driving on bad traffic, the minivan gets stuck on one gear after several stops and goes, the transmission seems to overheating and gets stuck on one gear.
Incident date: May 23, 2024
On 05/11/2024, I accelerated onto the freeway at which point my vehicle would no longer go past 50 mph with the pedal to the floor. I had my two small children in the car at the time. It was dangerous as cars around us were going 65+ mph. The check engine light started blinking when this was occurring. Prior to that the check engine light had been on because the dealership claimed they didn’t kn... Read more
BUICK
PARK AVENUE
(2002) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 29, 2024
Incident date: Jan 2, 2024
Repetitive intermittent failure of ABS and Traction control related to fault code of Right Rear speed sensor. This item has been worked 9 previous times by Chrysler / Jeep and is being delivered for additional work on [XXX]. This issue causes loss of ABS, traction control regardless of road or driving conditions for up to 8 continuous hours. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFOR... Read more
Incident date: May 3, 2024
Pull over police officer stated said lights are to dim to be driving at night told me I need to have my lights checked out. While driving about 60- 62 mph the vehicle just shut down without warning trying push the accelerator it would not go no further stuck on interstate with emergency blinkers if could of cause bad accident or someone could of hit me without warning. Dodge journey I need some... Read more
Incident date: May 18, 2024
FCA US LLC PO Box 21-8004 Auburn Hills, MI 48321-8004 Mopar part #68194693AF (discontinued) VIN# 3C4PDDBG8GT[XXX] Sir or Madam, I am writing to your Company regarding the lack of availability of the ABS Control Module for my 2016 Dodge Journey. My vehicle, like those of numerous other Dodge Journey owners, has a malfunctioning ABS Control Module. Because of this malfunction, the ABS and cruise ... Read more
Incident date: May 28, 2024
The contact owns a 2018 Honda Accord. The contact stated while driving 75 MPH and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle slowed down. Several unknown warning lights were flashing on and off. The contact was able to pull over. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the spark plugs, ignition coils, and other unknown parts had caused the failure and needed to be... Read more
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2014) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 29, 2024
Incident date: May 28, 2024
Was traveling along the [XXX] about 5 miles north of the [XXX]. Vehicle was in traffic awareness cruise control when it suddenly applied the brakes. Vehicle did not sound any warnings. Vehicle did not display any warnings. Vehicle made no attempt to warn driver of a braking event. Vehicle traffic awareness cruise control was set to 79 or 78 mph in a 70 mile per hour zone. I was able to push the ac... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2024
Subaru sudden acceleration – Garage Accident [XXX] [XXX] – before noon, wet, rainy day: [XXX] returning from grocery shopping - car suddenly accelerated from near stop as she was about to enter garage, the car hit the garage brick wall. When she put her foot on the brake, the car suddenly accelerated. I have security video showing this sudden acceleration (.mp4, nhtsa doesn't accept). After... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Apr 1, 2024
When pushing on the gas pedal, the vehicle often pushes forward aggressively and shifts very hard. Other times it does nothing when pushing on the gas and several seconds later there is throttling and intermittent shaking back and forth. It does not happen all the time, but happens quite often. I fear the vehicle could propel forward when I am driving and hit someone or something or it could slow ... Read more
Incident date: May 24, 2024
Faulty Tire Pressure Management system. Looking for recalls or service bulletins.
Incident date: May 25, 2024
Since I got the car, if I let it go in auto stop, it has a hard time accelerating when I push the gas. It has gotten worse and now it has a hard time accelerating in general. When I push the gas it sounds really loud like it’s struggling to go. I realized this is a safety issue for me and others when my car wasn’t going at the light of a busy intersection, or when I’m getting onto a highway ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 22, 2023
The vehicle shifter tends to easily break and wiggle, not allowing the vehicle to go on drive or reverse. SAFETY concern, Rivian charges around $600+ every time you have this consistent problem. Severe vehicles, especially from Amazon have been called out for this ongoing situation.
Incident date: Jan 1, 2023
SECOND REPORT SAME PROBLEM: See NHTSA tracking Number 11583215, 04/16/2024. Took to dealer (Autonation Ford, Frisco, Texas) and they kept vehicle four (4) days. Upon return they told me diagnostics showed no alerts on vehicle, thus no problems. So, nothing was done. 05/26/2024 approx. 8:05pm, traveling 50-mph had sudden loss of power and speed. Warning lights and prompts appeared on cluster. Vehi... Read more
Incident date: Apr 20, 2024
Less than 2 hours before my car completely shut down while driving, I received an error message stating "Stop safely. Electrical fault detected." I immediately reached out to the service department who told they didn't think the car would have any additional issues and that I should bring it to the shop on Monday (the incident happened on Saturday). While driving down an entrance ramp to a major... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
C 300
(2018) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 27, 2024
Incident date: May 17, 2024
Abs light comes on and disables the cruise controls. Says abs brake failure and I have researched this and found it is a common problem. 6 speed Transmission is turning on check engine light and says gear 5 and gear 6 has improper ratio. Shifts hard into gear5 and won't downshift for passing gear.
Incident date: May 26, 2024
The car was bought at matt blatt kia in July 2023 certified pre-owned with 164 safety inspection check. 2 weeks ago the check engine light came on and it was code p0420. Kia told me to call ford and they told me I have to pay for the diagnostics and the repair. The car was smoking under the hood and didn't drive safely. It's at a shop and was told the catalytic converter needs to be replaced and i... Read more
Incident date: May 25, 2024
On may 23,2024 I was on a very busy highway going 66. All of a sudden my 2016 malibu lt aburtely slowed to 27 miles an hour and two warnings lights came on 1 -engine power is reduced 2 - speed reduced to 27 I barely avoided getting hit by two semi trucks, as well as a car. The car is available for inspection on request. An independent service person confirmed it was indeed a defective electron co... Read more
Incident date: May 26, 2024
The car wouldn’t break a few months back causing it to smash into the person infront of me ever since then and getting repaired nothing has fixed it.
Crash
Incident date: May 8, 2024
Air bag light is on as soon as car power on until it turns off passenger airbag is off I dont know if my airbags will deploy if I get in an accident . While driving steady speed of 50-60 mph while pressing gas sometimes it doesn’t increase speed but instead jerks until I let go of the gas and then depress it again it happenes maybe 2-3 times during a drive .
Incident date: May 7, 2024
In September 2023, my 2016 Nissan started vibrating with noise. It was not shortly after that a warning appeared on the console. The warning, "Chassis Control System Error" caused research as the vehicle worsened. As I was driving, a warning of the brakes shutting down appeared. I returned home in time, and parked the vehicle. The truck was then sent to the mechanic where I was told that the trans... Read more
Incident date: Mar 15, 2024
Vehicle suddenly starts showing all warnings lights on dashboard, including: - Adaptive Cruise control - Collision Mitigation - Road Departure Mitigation - Vehicle Stability Assist - Hill Start Assist - Electric Parking Brake - Tire Pressure Monitoring and many more.
Incident date: May 14, 2024
Due to the recall of the ABS fuse I believe it has caused a electrical short and that's why my junction box does not work, also I had problems with slow acceleration almost causing me to get hit.
Incident date: Dec 1, 2023
Fisker Ocean One has less than 6K mileage and breaking system is extremely rough and makes lots of noise and squeaks, clash, etc. with abrupt halt sometimes throwing passengers forward. Fisker Ocean One User Instructions do not correspond correct with the actual user vehicle interface as items are missing or not available on the vehicle to correct safety issues per manual vehicle instructions per... Read more
Incident date: May 23, 2024
My car engine light goes on and off due to transmission fault. It continuously has a hard time shifting gears in between 2500-3000 rpm and gives a jerky stop before continuing to speed up/accelerate despite when I have not let go of my foot from the pedal. After taking it to the auto shop, I was told this is the same problem other Toyota RAV 4 between 2001-2003 experiences and the mechanics told m... Read more
Incident date: May 24, 2023
The contact leased a 2018 Honda CR-V. The contact stated that the vehicle was consuming an excessive amount of fuel. The contact stated that whenever the fuel level reached the halfway mark, the fuel then quickly became depleted. There were no warning lights illuminated. When the accelerator pedal was depressed, the vehicle was slow to respond. The contact stated that the brakes were making an abn... Read more
HYUNDAI
SONATA HYBRID
(2017) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 24, 2024
Incident date: Mar 16, 2024
My car accelerated significantly on its own while I was pulling into a parking stall in a private parking lot. It caused my vehicle to jump a curb and accelerate up a dirt divider and push over a bush that was planted in the dirt divider. Depressing my brakes did not Decelerate the car, so I pressed the Park button to eventually stop the vehicle. I’m not sure what speed it was traveling when it ... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Mar 14, 2019
While turning into a parking space, my car unexpectedly accelerated rapidly. My car crashed into a concrete barrier damaging the front end and tossing items around the car. Additional details: I was driving my car in single-pedal mode. In this mode, when you lift your foot from the accelerator, the car automatically brakes. I have a lot of experience in single-pedal mode, and I am very familiar a... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jun 16, 2023
Wheel hubs causes car to think that it’s going faster(200mph) causing car to drop speed, locks steering wheel making it impossible to turn away from traffic and drive it’s an accident waiting to happen not sure why there isn’t a recall. Also batteries causes the battery system warning to be a major problem even if alternator is good. I’m not sure if the two batteries is a good idea. The st... Read more
Incident date: May 9, 2024
While in the process of pulling into marked stall in parking lot car accelerated unexpectedly jumping over a concrete stop and crashing into the wall of a building. Car sustained eleven thousand dollars worth of damage and the wall that was hit was caved in. Cost of wall repair is unknown at this time. After the collision an attempt to dislodge the car was attempted by putting the car in reverse. ... Read more
Crash
Incident date: May 22, 2024
Glare in the cluster panel during the day. This causes me to not be able to see what is being shown on the cluster panel such as speed, engine temperature, or any other warning lights. I believe not being able to see the speed I am going because of this design error is very dangerous.
Incident date: May 23, 2024
Vehicle check Engine light on, showing "Reduced Engine Power." Vehicle still able to be driven, but will not accelerate with any proper pace or power. Cannot get above 3000 RPM without losing power, has put me in two dangerous situations in the last two days that almost made me lose my life. On highway, trying to accelerate to match traffic speeds, lose power and had to dive to the emergency lane ... Read more
Incident date: May 21, 2024
The Cruise control do not adapt to the speed of the vehicle in front of me like it’s supposed to and all of sudden windows won’t go up or down. Car is falling apart even though it’s new how is that possible.
Incident date: May 14, 2024
Reduced braking efficiency, loss of speedometer, loss of cruise control, brake light stays on when not depressing the pedal, electric power steering assist not functioning. Check engine light on, abs light on, traction control light on.
MERCEDES-BENZ
E500
(2005) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 23, 2024
Incident date: May 22, 2024
The car started jerking and slowing down on the highway and would not accelerate. I was able to pull over to the side of the road and had the car towed to a service center. A repair shop did a print out of the error codes from the computer which indicated an error relating to the power steering control module. A search online show that many other Ford flex owners have experienced similar issues.
Incident date: Mar 22, 2024
DRIVING 60 MILES PER HOUR, ON [XXX] IN WALPOLE MASSACHUSETTS THE POWER STEERING FAILED OF OUR 5 MONTH OLD CHEVY EQUINOX. I WAS UNABLE TO TURN WITH THE CURVED ROAD. I PRESSED BRAKES AS HARD AS I COULD, HIT GUARD RAIL. DASH BOARD ILLUMINATED "SERVICE POWER STEERING DRIVE WITH CARE". CAR TOWED TO BOCH, I WAS HOSPITALIZED. INSURANCE AND GM INSPECTED SUV, GM ESIS CONCLUDED 3 MONTHS LATER NO ISSUES W... Read more
Crash
1 injured
FORD
MUSTANG MACH E
(2023) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 23, 2024
Incident date: May 23, 2024
Out of nowhere, a notification pops up and it says “engine speed reduced” and all of a sudden you can feel the car losing speed. Took the vehicle to the dealership multiple times and either they always say it’s a fuel injection problem or they have no idea what’s causing it but when they perform that service on the vehicle, it still happens. Dealership even told me once that my car comput... Read more
Incident date: May 23, 2024
Car suddently lost power. There no torque. High voltage battery warning came on. Car dontvrespond as expected auddently lost of power.
Incident date: May 19, 2024
ABS and traction lights have started staying on and when on the cruise system does not work
POLESTAR
POLESTAR 2
(2023) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 23, 2024
Incident date: Apr 27, 2024
Starting in 2022 the car started to "black out" when I drove it. The spedeometer and screen would go completely dark, especially at speeds over 60 MPH I reported this to Polestar in 2023, they incorrectly diagnosed it as a TPMS warning when I brought it to the dealer. I called Polestar back in July 2023, but a nearby dealer was 7 hours away. I brought the car into the dealer March 2024, they had... Read more
Incident date: May 23, 2024
I have started to experience sudden acceleration issues. The car, when you are attempting to pull into a parking spot or garage, will seem to accelerate, sensors beeping. I have jumped curbs and even crashed into bikes in my garage. The car has had a slew of issues (engine propulsion, losing power), and I have had it at the dealer 4 times. Polestar stopped communicating with me when I let them kno... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Apr 18, 2024
My car body material looks like a baby toy I have a bas accient and
FORD
BRONCO SPORT
(2021) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 23, 2024
Incident date: May 23, 2024
2017 Ford Escape SE 4WD with a 4 CLYINDER D 1.5 DI TURBO engine. We purchased this vehicle used, in 2019 with 42,384 miles. We have kept up with all scheduled maintenance through the dealership. Until April of this year, we have had ZERO issues with this vehicle! First, the check engine light came on Upon starting, another warning "Engine Fault Service Now" would appear. Aside from the lights, th... Read more
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2015) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 22, 2024
Incident date: Apr 1, 2024
When driving, after a period of 10 - 20 minutes usually, of the adaptive cruise being on (not necessarily in use), the buttons on the steering wheel will re-map. That is, the + button for adjusting the cruise speed up by 1 mph increments will switch with the - button that adjusts the cruise speed down by 1 mph increments. This happens reliably... if I've driven the car with adaptive cruise on ... Read more
Incident date: May 21, 2024
Service electronic throttle control keeps going off and car goes into Lino mode and cannot go over a certain speed causing me to not be able to drive it
Incident date: May 18, 2024
The contact owns a 2024 Nissan Versa. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled and went into LIMP Mode. The contact pulled over to the shoulder of the roadway. The contact was turned off and restarted. In addition, the contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed with the accelerator pedal depressed, the vehicle failed to respond as intended.... Read more
Incident date: May 19, 2024
Subject: Formal Complaint Regarding Vehicle Safety Issue with 2020 Audi Q5 Dear National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, I am writing to formally file a complaint regarding a critical safety issue with my 2020 Audi Q5, as advised by the New York State Division of Consumer Protection. Please find attached a copy of the Division's correspondence dated May 21, 2024, concerning my initial com... Read more
Crash
1 injured
CHRYSLER
PACIFICA PLUG-IN HYBRID
(2017) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 22, 2024
Incident date: May 10, 2024
The contact owns a 2019 Acura MDX. The contact stated that while his wife was traveling on Interstate 75 and driving 85 MPH, the vehicle independently slowed down, failed to accelerate, and shut off. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, who was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contac... Read more
Incident date: Jan 2, 2024
The contact owns a 2023 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while in a parking lot, the contact depressed the brake pedal and attempted to shift into gear and the vehicle accelerated inadvertently, jumped a curb, and crashed into a tree. The contact was able to put the vehicle in reverse; however, while the contact’s foot was on the brake pedal, the vehicle accelerated backward independentl... Read more
Crash
1 injured