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: Mar 18, 2021
I was driving about 45 mph when the car just turned off the first time. I was able to put it in neutral and start it back up to get to the side of the road and it died on me again. I was about 30 feet from my destination at this point so I got it where I was going and turned it off. When I turned it back on it was making a terrible knocking/grinding noise. It didn’t have a drop of oil in it (abo... Read more
Incident date: Jun 20, 2023
The dial on the dashboard that gives gas tank I do, speed and time do not light up or appear all jumbled if it is below 60 degrees outside. This is not cool.
Incident date: Apr 24, 2024
My wife and I purchased a model Y 2024 just a few weeks ago. We have had multiple experiences when using cruise control where the car inexplicably slows down rapidly when there are no vehicles in front of us decelerating.
Incident date: Apr 26, 2024
This is a repetitive intermittent issue. The ACC will engage without any command to do so. I have been to the dealer several times, but they have not been able to duplicate the issue. Because I never know when this will occur, I drive with caution. When I realize this is happening, of course I brake, and the ACC disengages as it should. These incidents are somewhat hazardous, as I am expecting to ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 26, 2024
I was in the freeway and out of nowhere an alert message popped up on the dashboard saying Engine power reduced. This made my car go from 65mph to 30 mph is the freeway luckily I was able to exit and go to the nearest gas station and was able to keep myself safe as others on the road but it could've easily gone very badly. The car won't go over 30 mph. The car is available for inspection upon req... Read more
Incident date: Mar 10, 2024
The contact owns a 2012 Honda CR-V. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH and attempting to make a right turn, the vehicle unintendedly accelerated while the brake pedal was slightly depressed. The brake pedal was violently depressed for the vehicle to come to a stop. The failure recurred on several occasions. The vehicle was towed to the dealer but was diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer wa... Read more
Incident date: May 10, 2023
My vehicle was driving 35MPH westbound on a 4 lane road (2 lanes easbound, 2 lanes westbound, no divider separating) a vehicle also traveling westbound, NOT in my lane, turned off the road. The Emergency braking system activated, bringing my vehicle to a full stop with no warning. There was NO traffic in front of me for a considerable distance (1/4 mile, approximately) No damage or impact, cars... Read more
Incident date: Feb 16, 2024
I had my vehicle take to Coughlin Kia in Dublin Ohio on [XXX] and got my vehicle back on [XXX]. The service center at Coughlin claimed I had bad gas, they took it upon themselves to approve services I did not approve of. When I got my vehicle back on [XXX] I found wires under my hood and caps left under my hood as well. Then on 4/26/24 my vehicle started having problems, my vehicle would have the ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 16, 2023
Front collision sensors and lane keeping sensor do not work in direct sunlight. For 2 hours in the morning and two hours at dusk. Sensors are behind rear view mirror and they do not work when sun is at eye level.
Incident date: May 10, 2023
See attached document for complaint
Incident date: Apr 20, 2024
While driving temperature light, check engine light, all ADAS lights came on as inoperable (cameras, warning, ABS, BSD/RCTA), no heat (including defrost) available to defrost or for cabin. Appointment 3/13 replaced thermo control valve assembly , coolant bypass valve, intake gaskets, fuel line, coolant, total charges $2070. Luckily had extended warranty I bought, that I had to make a claim on. Da... Read more
Incident date: Mar 7, 2024
I purchased the vehicle 1/21. I only took my car to Midland Honda to do all repairs. The last repair I paid them for was a tuneup June 2023. I paid them $1082.90 for the service. October 2023 my car started to do the same thing it did back in June for the tune up. So this time I took the car to AutoZone because the check engine light came on. It showed that it was a misfire. They said the car shou... Read more
Incident date: Apr 25, 2024
I was driving on 4/24/23 going 75 MPH. The car made a rev up noise and be RPM’s suddenly increased and the speed was decreasing. The car was losing power. I had to pull over to the side of the road and shut the car off and let it sit for awhile. The. When I started it back up it ran fine. This is a safety issue as I had to pull over on the highway and sit on the shoulder and could have been... Read more
Incident date: Apr 25, 2024
The contact owns a 2007 Dodge Caliber. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 10V234000 (Vehicle Speed Control) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had... Read more
Incident date: Mar 1, 2024
While driving my 2018 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport in freeway traffic, I felt the vehicle begin to heavily vibrate and the engine was jerking severely. The speed began to slowly descend. I was unable to control this. I was in a one-lane overpass, with no safe place, room, or lane to pull over. I felt hopeless and fearful for my life. I was literally drifting, praying the vehicle would be able to handle ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 15, 2018
My car went into the limp mode when I was driving and would only go 7 to 8 miles per hour. This is a big safety hazard. Had I been on the freeway and not near my home, it could have easily caused an accident.I had it towed to the dealer and they could not find anything wrong and said it was probably Bad gas. Prior to this, several lights had come on the dash stating that all of the systems in th... Read more
Incident date: Jul 12, 2022
When my car is going down a steep hill and I have the brake applied, Suddenly the car will speed up and lurch forward instead of continuing to slow down. This is not how cars normally behave in the 30 years I have been driving. I could have slammed into the car in front of me. This has happened over 100 times. My vehicle has approximately 27,000 miles and I have mentioned it at the Toyota servic... Read more
Incident date: Apr 21, 2024
While entering into a parking spot at minimal speed, the vehicle experienced an unexpected spontaneous acceleration, causing it to lunge forward, climb onto the curb, and collide with the adjacent building. This resulted mainly in damage to the front end and front passenger door, and the shattering of a large tempered glass window that cushioned the impact. Thankfully, there were no pedestrians on... Read more
Crash
MERCEDES-BENZ
ML350
(2010) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 25, 2024
Incident date: Feb 18, 2022
Car accelerated by itself in Drive. I'd to either apply brake or put the car in Neutral to stop it. When shifted back to D, it auto accelerated. After I got home, shut it off and after 10 min. it started working normally.
Incident date: Mar 25, 2024
My parents are [XXX] . They were coming home from there doctors appointment on [XXX] and traveling about 50 MPH heading home and all the sudden my father tried to press on the brakes to slow down and there was no brakes at all. He could not stop the vehicle and the ONLY thing that saved his and my moms life was the fact that the 2018 Land Rover discovery sport SE came to a hill and immediately as... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Mar 12, 2024
During a 2,300 miles recent trip in Texas, the vast majority of the speed limit signs were not seen by my 2023 Tesla Model Y autosteer/autopilot (not FSD). This created issues with the autopilot/autosteer as it was not usable in several instances and can create safety issues like distractions, etc... I had the latest software revision. The key point is that this is not happening at all in Colora... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2024
Vehicle began to lose power while on highway. The loss of power occurred for a few seconds, then came back. Shortly after, the RPM began changing uncontrollably. Tried shifting to manual control using paddle shifters and was able to maintain steady RPM until vehicle software switched back to automatic and RPM swung crazy again. Endangered other vehicles on road due to loss of power and fluctuation... Read more
Incident date: Apr 25, 2023
Vehicle is equipped with Subaru EyeSight Driver Assist which includes reverse automatic braking. Vehicle was reversing towards a parked vehicle on the street and the RAB feature failed to apply the brakes and the vehicle collided with the parked vehicle. I am extremely disappointed that the safety system in this car failed to work as advertised/expected resulting in damages to both cars.
Crash
Incident date: Jul 28, 2023
While driving i started to notice my RPM increasing and my acceleration decreasing. I have stayed up to date and proactive on maintenance. at 110000 miles my transmission has started to have gear slips, My RPMs increase and my car will randomly lose the ability to accelerate at random times leaving me vulnerable to an accident car crash.
FORD
MUSTANG MACH E
(2021) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 24, 2024
Incident date: Apr 13, 2024
I have bought this vehicle Oct/Nov of 2023 , from private dealer on at least three occasions I have experienced the vehicle automatically speeding up without stepping on the gas pedal. I had to hold down the braking system and pulling over to avoid an accident. Although , I've quickly placed the vehicle on neutral the engine was still revving . I then powered off vehicle for a few minutes and res... Read more
Incident date: Apr 23, 2024
Having completed the high voltage junction box recall with the Mach-E a week or so before, I was braking in order to complete a left-turn in one-pedal drive mode (therefore lifting my foot off the accelerator causing the vehicle to slow down). I received a notification as I did so that one pedal drive mode had a fault and was deactivated (this appeared on the screen by the steering wheel). This ca... Read more
Incident date: Mar 15, 2024
My vehicle jerks back and forth at low acceleration, and it often goes into limp mode which makes the vehicle only drive at around 20 mph at most. I was on the highway, when this happened. I have a 722.9 transmission, and this is a common problem. Why is the snapping recalled? I have had a checked with Mercedes-Benz of music City when I had gotten my recall work done, and they said that it just ne... Read more
Incident date: Apr 22, 2024
The contact owned a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while parking the vehicle, the vehicle suddenly accelerated to approximately 80 MPH unintendedly. The contact stated that she depressed the brake pedal, but the vehicle failed to respond. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle spun several times, causing her to lose control of the vehicle. The contact... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Feb 1, 2024
The components that failed are Traction Control, Stability controls, and Anti-Lock Braking while in high regeneration mode. Vehicle can easily become incontrollable in low traction situations (in high regeneration mode) that is a danger to the driver and others on the road. Sequence of Events 1.Vehicle begins to Aquaplane 2.Driver (myself) removes foot from the accelerator pedal (standard techn... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Mar 27, 2024
I was performing a 3-point turn on a residential street. While reversing during the turn the Automatic Emergency Braking enabled and slammed on the brakes, bringing the car to a complete halt instantly. This caused my head to hit the headrest with enough force that I have headaches and brain fog the next day, indicating a concussion. I was 10 feet from the nearest parked vehicle when reversing; th... Read more
1 injured
Incident date: Apr 6, 2024
I was parking the car in a parking lot. I had my foot completely off of the gas pedal while allowing the car to roll forward into a parking spot. The car suddenly accelerates and I could not slam on the brakes fast enough to prevent damage. This was the 3rd time this type of incident occurred in this car.
Crash
Incident date: Mar 23, 2023
While sitting at a stop right, the truck unexpectedly revved to full throttle. I stood on the brakes, shifted to neutral and turned it off.
Incident date: Jan 15, 2024
My Ford Expedition has lost power 4 times requiring me to pull off the Interstate and have the car towed. I have been driving 75-80 mph each time this has happened. It is as if the car takes a big deep breath, and then loses all power. It failed most recently on Halloween 2023, and then again in March of 2024. Prior to these two times, the car has lost power 2 other times. It has always been servi... Read more
Incident date: Apr 23, 2024
I bought my 2011 Equinox new then in 2013 the gas pedal went to the floor and stuck down on a two lane road and I could not control the speed as we react 90 I shut down the vechical took it to the dealership the next day the chevolet co had the dealership dump the on board computer and then down load a new program this worked until the other day we were coming home from taking another couple to th... Read more
CHRYSLER
PACIFICA PLUG-IN HYBRID
(2018) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 23, 2024
Incident date: Mar 26, 2024
The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle at 5 MPH, the central display became inoperable and turned black. The contact stated that the vehicle was locked and she was unable to exit the vehicle. The contact received assistance from a bystander who opened the door from the outside. After that, the contact stated she was able to drive to her destinatio... Read more
Crash
AUDI
Q4 E-TRON SPORTBACK
(2023) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 23, 2024
Incident date: Mar 14, 2024
my car engine did not shut off i had to call on star to assist turn off my engine. there is problem with ANTI theft system and cruise control. i had to press cruise button numberous time to shut it off. on start customer advice me to take it to dealer to take look. they did on board diagnosit test they found these code
Incident date: Nov 1, 2023
2 ISSUES - 1) vehicle repaired 5 times for "transmission" problem by replacing wiring harnesses. On 5th attempt, the GM factory part or the technician caused the Tahoe to catch fire. Worst part is that it happened 1 hour after test driving and parking the car at their dealership, thankfully, I would normally have driven it home and it would have destroyed my home too. GM investigated and was un... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Apr 17, 2024
Slowly and cautiously entered parking lot of a small strip mall. Proceeded to a parking space located in between two parked vehicles.Maneuvering into parking space I removed foot from gas pedal toward the break pedal; before foot made contact with break pedal the vehicle accelerated on its own surging over the cement parking bumper, over bushes, through the grass, down the curb and into the street... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2016) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 23, 2024
Incident date: Apr 22, 2024
My catalytic converter failed just under 4 years after getting the SC176 recall done in July 2020. I believe it's possible there was a step missed in the replacement of my catalytic converter related to the recall, specifically the Catalytic Overheating Protection Engine Control Unit logic that may have caused the converter to fail. I do not detect that on the attached receipt from the repair that... Read more
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2017) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 22, 2024
Incident date: Apr 13, 2024
My car accelerates automatically and doesn’t stop unless slam on break This is happening occasionally Yesterday I was about to hit front car after taking the exit. Even after breaking the car kept moving at full speed. It’s a huge safety concern I was with family and we all got so scared
Incident date: Apr 22, 2024
1. The vehicle going less then 25 mph accelerates with out foot on the gas paddle. This problem has occurred multiple times on and off. 2. The Transfer case and axle seal started leaking at 74000 miles. Purchased the vehicle as a CPO dealer asking for $4000 to make repairs I only had the vehicle for 8 months. Are there recall to fix this issues?
HYUNDAI
SANTA FE SPORT
(2018) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 22, 2024
Incident date: Sep 1, 2023
Vehicle was in cruise control driving along the highway at-speed when the engine suddenly cut out and cruise control stopped maintaining speed. Pressing the accelerator did nothing, but the brakes still worked. After turning cruise control off the accelerator was still having no effect, and the vehicle did not let me re-engage cruise control. All other electronics (navigation, music, dash, hazard ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 22, 2024
Car warned that Drivability - Acceleration and top speed reduced/Performance may be restored on next drive but gave no opportunity for me to pull over safely. Felt like someone pulled the e-brake during regular driving speeds and prevented me from safely slowing down, steering or maneuvering the vehicle into a safe spot. This occurred during a rainy night with my wife and 3 daughters in the vehicl... Read more
Incident date: Mar 22, 2024
The vehicle would shudder when trying to accelerate. I almost was hit by a semi truck trying to merge onto the freeway. Made an appointment with the mechanic then a couple days later I was at a stop sign and the vehicle would not accelerate at all. I placed in park the tried shifting back into drive and still nothing. I had to turn the vehicle on and off twice before I was able to shift it in driv... Read more
Incident date: Apr 15, 2024
While driving, the vehicle will suddenly flash a message about gear selection being unavailable until speed is reduced, followed by error messages about collision-assist disabled, ESC disabled, hill-start assist disabled, and service messages. Check engine light and service lights also come on. No response to throttle inputs, once vehicle decelerates to around 1-2 mph electronic parking brake is... Read more
LAND ROVER
RANGE ROVER SPORT
(2006) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 22, 2024
Incident date: Apr 18, 2024
Recently got a couple recalls done and then yesterday while I was driving back home I Ford chimes twice and then see a plethora of service lights and dash warnings. Completely lost power on the freeway pulled over from originally being in the left lane in time. But could of been a lot worse if I wasn't coming back at 11pm. Restarted the truck and it let me go a max of 20mph all the way home (lucki... Read more
Incident date: Jun 12, 2020
The known issue that Ram refuses to is plaguing my truck. ABS and Traction Control lights come on. This shuts off the cruise control as well as makes braking difficult. It is very dangerous. This is a ticking time bomb. Vehicle has under 50k miles on it. 2017 and 2018 have been known to have faulty ECU Module and HCU. Loss of brakes momentarily occurred on [XXX]. I am having the issues unde... Read more
Incident date: Jan 29, 2024
While driving, the "service electronic brakes " and traction control light will come on periodically, then go away. The issue is random and not consistent or easy to predict. If the cruise control is active, the cruise control will disengage and the truck will start to slow down. The brakes seem to work the same even if the light is on or off.
Incident date: Feb 29, 2024
My truck has the Death Wobble . It has been worked on for the incident It happened again yesterday at least 4 times within 30 minutes We turned around and came are parked the truck. Am going to talk to the Dealer where I Purchase the vehicle and want some answers and to fix this major problem with my Ford Superduty 250 2017
Incident date: Feb 9, 2024
Speed control/transmission goes out while driving which results in my speedometer dropping down to zero and my RPMs going up. I have to completely shut my vehicle iff and wait a moment to restart it. Sometimes it fixes it and sometimes it doesn’t. It happens quite often, not everyday but several times a week.