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: Mar 25, 2026
The warning light is saying engine power reduced having to do with the DEF system
Incident date: Feb 20, 2026
At speeds of 65-75, both with the adaptive cruise control enabled and disabled, I accelerated a little bit to pick up speed and pass another vehicle. The vehicle responded initially by gaining speed, then it feels like I hit something and the front brakes lock up for 1-2 seconds and the tires start screeching from sliding, then everything resumes to normal. I was very shocked during a recent roadt... Read more
Incident date: Nov 22, 2025
My truck only has 26000 miles and the transmission started acting very funny, shifting erratically, then it was stuck in 5th gear limp mode. There is some kind of bushing that comes loose in these 10 speed transmissions. It cost me $7597.48. And $150.00 towing.
Incident date: Mar 24, 2026
This is my 10th report; it relates to 2 issues I have reported before 1. The "phantom breaking" on cruise control that I have reported a few times previously has apparently been fixed on a software update, but we were not notified. I went in to Santa Fe Tesla where I took delivery of my vehicle and got into a discussion about my disappointments with this car, specifically the tires (see #2). I m... Read more
Incident date: Jan 9, 2026
"Verified internal hydraulic cross leak due to CDF drum bushing movement. Transmission has delayed engagement in 4th, 5th, and 6th gears. This is a known manufacturing defect in the 10R80 transmission."
Incident date: Mar 10, 2026
While driving at any time, the speedometer will instantly drop and the car feels like it's about to shut itself off. After a diagnostic with a mechanic, they stated this was the crankshaft issue; similar to a recall for other 2016 jeep compass. My vin is not currently associated with this recall notice, however based on these safety defects, it seems it should be considered under the recall
Incident date: Jan 1, 2024
I am writing to file a formal safety complaint against Tesla, Inc. regarding a software update failure that has disabled legally required vehicle functions on my Tesla for over two years. For more than 26 months, my vehicle has been unable to complete a software update through Tesla's over-the-air (OTA) update system. As a direct result of this failure, my vehicle's display screen does not functi... Read more
Incident date: Dec 4, 2025
On 12/4/25, I was pulling into a space in a parking deck, was approximately one quarter of the way into the spot and the vehicle suddenly accelerated and struck a cement wall. I did not have my feet on the pedals at the time and was going at approximately 5 miles per hour. The airbags did not deploy, and no automatic braking or warning systems engaged. As a result of the accident, I sustained thr... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Mar 20, 2026
The vehicle accelerated without input and the brakes failed to respond. I am notifying you that this vehicle is a life-threatening safety risk and should not be rented again until a master technician clears the electronic throttle control and breaking system. This condition presents a serious safety risk and could lead to a car crash or injury. Additionally, the vehicles, climate control system be... Read more
Incident date: Mar 13, 2026
Manufacturer recall #24E12 (PCM software update) triggered a PO430:00-ED code (Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold - Bank 2) because the new software more strictly monitors the catalytic converter, causing it to detect previously ignored degradation. This reprogram scamming program makes community bothered by paying parts replacements more than 2K, even vehicle was fine before the recall. T... Read more
Incident date: Mar 5, 2026
My Mercedes Benz GLE450e Hybrid SUV has had a persistent but sporadic safety issue that suddenly causes the vehicle to go into "turtle mode" with a "performance extremely limited" warning when trying to accelerate quickly or sometimes when breaking quickly. In turtle mode, the car quickly loses acceleration, drops in speed and is then unable to accelerate properly. The sudden drop in speed and in... Read more
Incident date: Aug 8, 2025
UNINTENDED VEHICLE MOVEMENT AT STARTUP - POTENTIAL CLUTCH DEFECT On January 17, 2026, at approximately 1:59 PM, I started my 2019 Genesis G70 (manual transmission) while parked in my garage. The vehicle was in Neutral with the parking brake engaged. I depressed the clutch pedal fully before pressing the start button, with no foot on the accelerator. Immediately upon starting, the vehicle lurch... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Mar 24, 2026
I have not had an issue as of yet...but my insurance company has warned me of 4 recalls that are apparently active on my vehicle and told me to come to your site to verify, but it says there are zero recalls on my vehicle, so I am wary of what to do. I was told by a local mechanic that one of the things listed in the recalls was potentially a issue for me but I would need to take my vehicle to the... Read more
Incident date: Mar 18, 2026
The vehicle recently updated to software version P4.2.13 after this update the vehicle sporadically losses the ability to accelerate fully from a stop, it just creeps forward. When your truning onto a street from a stop, or forward at a srop sign or ligjt sometime the vehicle accelerates normally, but what seems like about 50% of the time it just creeps forward a couple seconds then takes off. Yo... Read more
POLESTAR
POLESTAR 2
(2022) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Mar 23, 2026
Incident date: Mar 23, 2026
Vehicle would not accelerate in high speed zone.
Incident date: Mar 19, 2026
On March 19, 2026, I was driving to work when traffic began to slow, and I reduced my speed accordingly. As traffic started to return to normal speed, I pressed the accelerator; however, although the engine revved, the vehicle did not accelerate beyond approximately 15 mph. I safely moved to the side of the road and turned the car off. After restarting the vehicle, shifting into drive, and pressin... Read more
Incident date: Mar 23, 2026
I was pulling out of a park my car accelerated at a high speed I applied brakes but car didn’t stop I hit another vehicle and my car still did not stop my I hit a large boulder and my car hydroplaned and landed by on it wheels and knocked the boulder into another vehicle my car still did not stop finally my car just shut down
Crash
Incident date: Mar 21, 2026
On one occasion, the car automatically applied the breaks and parked itself while driving on a main road. On another occasion, while parking the car at the home it accelerated aggressively and almost crashed into the garage- driver lost complete control of the car. On a separate occasion, the gauge console (screen behind the steering wheel) became morphed and could not show the MPH- an electri... Read more
Incident date: Mar 19, 2026
Since purchase as a preowned vehicle, we noted this vehicle is equipped with a faulty transmission/tcm software design that is dangerously unpredictable and creates erratic driving conditions. This passenger SUV Is equipped with a 10 speed automatic that (once at operating temperature) the gear shifts and operation become highly unpredictable, often causing severe safety issues navigating in traff... Read more
Incident date: Feb 24, 2026
The end of February was driving and I noticed white smoke blowing from my exaust, then my car lost power.
Incident date: Mar 21, 2026
While driving the truck will shift into 1st gear. It will also shift back and forth between gears randomly. When this happens, the wheels may lock up or just skid. The service engine light will come on, the speedometer will drop to zero while still moving and the "miles to empty" will show at zero miles. Sometime the tire indicator will turn on as well. This may/may not reset when the vehicle... Read more
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2020) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Mar 23, 2026
Incident date: Jan 24, 2026
The contact owns a 2020 GMC Sierra 1500. The contact stated that while driving at 65 MPH, the DEF tank failed. The vehicle went into three phases of LIMP Mode and the vehicle unexpectedly decelerated while driving. The DEF system service message was displayed. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with DEF tank failure, and the tank needed to be replaced, even though th... Read more
Incident date: Mar 21, 2026
WHile trying to park 2025 Q7 the vehicle accelerated without warning and adaptive cruise flashed quickly then disappeared. I was the driver and had a passanger along. THis incedent repeated itself within 30 mins. I am not comfortable driving the car..
Incident date: Nov 5, 2025
At the end of a downhill cloverleaf coming coming on and off a highway, the car slowed to a crawl but would not stop. It was going slowly as if "creeping" like when in B mode but was not in B mode. The brakes would not stop it. I was able to shift gears from Drive to N to P but no response, car continued to creep forward until it gently bumped into the back of an 18 wheeler. There was no collision... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jan 30, 2025
Transmission failure, unhealthy engine burning/consuming oil, emissions system/catalytic converter failure all before 100,000 miles.
Incident date: Mar 16, 2026
When driving mountain roads I often need to engage the paddle shift to downshift. When I do, the transmission has a lag where it feels like it goes into neutral for a second, the speed increases instead of decreasing, then the gear downshifts, the RPM's go up, but by then, it has defeated the purpose - I have to brake to slow down. Once I do, the lower gear helps me stay off the brakes until the... Read more
Incident date: Feb 7, 2026
The vehicle experiences a transmission/drivetrain defect involving delayed gear engagement, hesitation, and apparent slipping. When accelerating from a complete stop (especially onto an incline) the engine RPM increases but the vehicle fails to accelerate as expected. The vehicle jerks and shakes violently and is unable to gain speed. This issue is intermittent but highly repeatable and occurs al... Read more
Incident date: Mar 17, 2026
I was driving and the left side of infotainment system went out. I could not see my speed, odometer everything on the dash. I pulled over, stopped the car, turned it off and on but that did not work. This was very dangerous. After sitting for about 30 minutes it started working. i took it to the dealer and picked it up because they were waiting on direction from Nissan. Then the right side of the ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 21, 2026
The gas peddle got stuck and will not let me stop causing me to hit someone
Crash
Incident date: Feb 3, 2016
My vehicle was taken to Matt Burne Honda on at [XXX] for recall work on driveshafts since I got my vehicle back I have been having issue after issue. My vehicle was in there twice. He diagnosed the issue as a speed sensor from sitting in my passenger seat never even took on highway to see what the problem really was. My car has been unsafe for the road since I got it back. Brand new tires are now... Read more
Incident date: Mar 19, 2026
Vehicle looses power and can very easily cause a bad wreck I've replaced multiple thing and it still does it I'm not sure what it is possibly the timing or something to do with camshaft
VOLKSWAGEN
ID.4
(2023) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Mar 20, 2026
Incident date: Mar 4, 2026
1. The car accelerates erratically when it is charged to 90 to 100%. This just plain dangerous. 2. The battery is charging to 100% when it set to charge to 80%. I learned that there is a recall for this vehicle due to the battery overheating and possibly catching on fire. However as of yesterday, there are neither diagnostics available to show whether the recall actually applies to my car, n... Read more
Incident date: Mar 13, 2026
Multipurpose Camera Unit/Millimeter Wave Radar Internal Electronic Failure diagnosed with U3000-49 error code in my 2019 Honda Odyssey. The problem has been confirmed by the Honda service center and reason stated is low heat resistance. Coat of repair is approx $2000 and this is purely due to low heat tolerance levels of the Honda component
Incident date: Jan 16, 2026
The specific component or system has not fully failed. However, my vehicle is currently experiencing an intermittent check engine light condition, turning off and on, which was diagnosed at a Retailer producing code P0018 then at the dealership and produced code P0017. The codes relate to the engine control module (ECM) detects that the camshaft on is out of sync with the crankshaft resulting in m... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2020) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Mar 20, 2026
Incident date: Mar 19, 2026
Intermittent issue where info says brake failure/steering assist not working/limited speed to 43 mph. Very dangerous if you’re on the interstate. Becomes hard to steer, brakes don’t work, brakes start burning up. Have to carry tools with me to reset ecm. Very common problem with Silverado with 5.3 gas engine. Chevy needs to fix this issue before someone gets killed. I would give them my truck ... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2023) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Mar 20, 2026
Incident date: Mar 12, 2026
Driving at highway speeds the message center prompted us to restart the truck and put itself into neutral. Upon attempting to do so, the message center read conditions not correct to shift. We were traveling in a single lane highway thankfully on a decent where we coasted into a parking lot. The truck list all power steering and brakes. We turned the truck off and attempted to restart. Lights were... Read more
Incident date: Feb 25, 2026
Catastrophic power train failure No warning,except immediately before failure Car rolled to stop Extremely busy road,average passing speed of vehicles 40-60 mph Rear wheels locked Dash indicating drive train error, unresponsive vehicle Manufacturer diagnosed rear drive failure, inverter failure and faulty BDU, battery disconnect unit . Totally random, unprovoked, catastrophic shut down of vehicle ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 2, 2025
While driving the instrument cluster would flicker and then the truck would down shift gears. The first time it did, it dropped from 6th gear to 3rd gear at 70 mph, and the next time it dropped from 6th to 1st around 65 mph. It also occurred at lower rates of speed.
Incident date: Mar 19, 2026
On 3/19/2026, the vehicle ignition was turned on. Immediately, we received a variety of warnings, including: "charging system malfunction", "i-ACTIVESENSE Partially Disabled", "Hybrid System Malfunction", "i-stop Malfunction", "Charging System Malfunction", and "Critical Systems Failure". Vehicle has only 20,040 miles. On 3/20/2026 8:30 AM, we contacted the Mazda dealer where vehicle was purcha... Read more
Incident date: Mar 19, 2026
On March 19, 2026, at approximately 1003 hours, I was traveling north on the [XXX] located in [XXX] . I was traveling in the number two lane and my speed was approximately 78 MPH when all of a sudden I had a loss acceleration power and my Kia EV9 began to decelerate rapidly and my dashboard began to flash a loss of power warning. I had no control over my accelerator and could not speed up. Due to... Read more
Incident date: Mar 12, 2026
ICCU unit of the car short circuited right in middle of driving and caused the car to go in "limp mode". Sudden pop noise and slowdown created situation where car could be rear-ended. The part has already caused recall for prior model years, but model year for my car is not included in the recall. Based on internet search it is a continued and widely prevalent issue, manufacture has not done en... Read more
Incident date: Mar 14, 2026
ICCU failure
CHEVROLET
EQUINOX EV
(2025) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Mar 20, 2026
Incident date: Mar 18, 2026
Front automatic emergency braking has activated abruptly three times in routine following traffic while I was already braking behind a slowing vehicle. It caused a very hard stop and nearly led to a rear-end collision from the vehicle behind me. Please inspect the forward camera/sensors, calibration, AEB settings, and check for any related fault codes or software issues.” This happened on 3/18 ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 15, 2026
COMPONENT: Vehicle Speed Control — Automatic Emergency Braking / Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) COMPLAINT: I am filing this complaint to report a POST-REMEDY FAILURE of the repair performed under NHTSA Safety Recall 24V589 (GM Program #N242453471) on my 2024 Cadillac Lyriq AWD. RECALL REMEDY COMPLETED: My vehicle received the Electronic Brake Control Module (EBCM) software update on August 13, 2... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Mar 19, 2026
I am reporting a serious safety defect involving unintended acceleration in my 2024 Mazda plug-in hybrid vehicle. On multiple occasions, the vehicle has suddenly accelerated without input from me, creating dangerous situations where I nearly lost control and risked a collision. This issue has occurred at least four times since January 2026. I previously brought the vehicle to an authorized Mazda d... Read more
Incident date: Oct 15, 2025
The contact owns a 2018 Cadillac XT5. The vehicle was recently purchased, and while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended while depressing the accelerator pedal. In addition, the vehicle failed to accelerate above 5 MPH with several unknown warning lights illuminated. The dealer was notified and sent a mobile mechanic to the residence to diagnose the vehicle... Read more
Incident date: Mar 3, 2026
While driving at normal road speed, the vehicle suddenly lost propulsion and entered limp mode. A turtle warning icon appeared along with multiple system fault messages. The vehicle began slowing down on it's own and was unable to accelerate. I pulled to the side of the road. The vehicle displayed an error "Stop Safely Vehicle Will Shut Off Soon". After sitting for a period of time, the vehicle r... Read more
Incident date: Mar 18, 2026
Today I was driving my truck at 55mph on a local highway and all of the sudden I felt/heard/experienced a massive clunk out of nowhere - almost like the truck tried to downshift into 1st or something similarly jarring. It only lasted a second, and then I got a dash light on that said Service AdvanceTrac. Based on the service codes I'm seeing (two of them that are both UO100 codes which indicate lo... Read more
Incident date: Mar 13, 2026
I am reporting multiple life-threatening safety defects with my 2025 Kia Telluride. The vehicle has experienced Sudden Unintended Acceleration, where it accelerates to excessive speeds without driver input. During these episodes, the braking system fails to respond, only allowing the vehicle to stop once its internal safety systems intervene. Additionally, the vehicle suffers from unpredictable st... Read more
Incident date: Sep 5, 2024
Battery charging system cannot be used on fast chargers without potential overheating and fire, therefore, I cannot travel safely beyond my immediate area without incurring a risk to myself and others. The recall has been ongoing with empty promises of a fix since September of 2024, over 1 year and 6 months ago. So, that means this risk has been in place for much longer.