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: Aug 23, 2023
In June of 2023, I was driving home and the vehicle became unresponsive, but still powered on. I was able to steer it partially to the side of the road. The gas pedal was unresponsive, all electrical was unresponsive and it also would not turn off. I called my husband, when he arrived about 20 minutes later we were finally able to turn off the truck, but electrical was still unresponsive so the wi... Read more
Incident date: Apr 15, 2024
I had just driven roughly 30 freeway miles on my way home and the truck suddenly flashes a barrage of errors, ESC fails, gear selection at low speed message, hill assist disable, pre-collision assist disabled, ABS light is on, MIL is on, service wrench is on, and drive mode selection is disabled. My truck lost all response to gas pedal, slows down and then slams on the parking brake at like 1-2 mp... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2024
While driving, check engine light went on, stabilitrack and traction control went off (information from Driver Information Center) and power was reduced. This occurred several times a week and vehicle slowed down dramatically and had to be driven slowly from the roadway. This was a dangerous situation. After safely stopping, I was able to resume travel after turning off engine and restarting, alth... Read more
Incident date: Apr 15, 2024
When coming to a stop on a 25 mph road, saw a cascade of warnings come up, including: Hill start assist not available, precollision assist not available, service AdvanceTrac, service vehicle soon, check engine light, service light, traction control light. Once stopped the car turned the parking brake on and requested that I put it into park. After putting the car into park and turning off the park... Read more
Incident date: Apr 4, 2024
“Shift system fault” flashes on dash and car suddenly and violently shakes and loses power at higher speeds when trying to accelerate. Also heard a metallic grinding/metallic rattle noise under the car and could not accelerate. Has happened multiple times over the last year and a half.
Incident date: Sep 10, 2023
The "distronic" cruise control is so abrupt in its acceleration and declaration that vehicles behind me tend to take evasive action. The car doesn't sense vehicles far enough ahead to take smooth action, resulting in a jarring, favorite, and fearful ride.
Incident date: Mar 28, 2024
On [XXX] at [XXX] I was driving home from work as I turned on [XXX] road in Jackson CA I felt the vehicle pull and not want to pick up speed to drive up the road like it wanted to stall and only rolled forward a bit. The vehicle then picked back up and I made it to the stop light at the end of the road once I stopped for less than 1 minute the light turned green, I tried to go and the vehicle s... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Mar 19, 2024
While using Autopilot or Beta self-driving - when a Minimum Speed Limit sign is detected on [XXX] in Georgia, the system usually reduces to the speed of the vehicle to posted minimum speed (40 miles an hour) instead of maintaining current speed limit. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Incident date: Jan 26, 2024
Abs and tc light turn on ad off intermittently regardless of what mph driven. Constant audible warning sound. Dealer states known issues with abs system hydraulic contol unit with similar vehicles.
MERCEDES-BENZ
ML350
(2010) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 14, 2024
Incident date: Sep 6, 2019
This incident had happened twice in the last 30 days. I have been stopped, then starting to accelerate after a stop sign, I push on the accelerator and the vehicle slows down, as if it’s losing power for about 5 seconds. I do not release the accelerator and after the 5 seconds of what feels like no power, the van begins to accelerate like normal. This poses a severe safety risk while crossing i... Read more
Incident date: Apr 11, 2024
My 2015 Jeep Compass will randomly stall while I am driving... randomly breaking while im driving. Then very frequently it will not let me drive past 20 miles per hour (sometimes slower than this). It randomly acts like this. It always feels like it does not want to accelerate... it will sometimes but most times doesn't. I have taken it to both a private service center and to the dealership multip... Read more
Incident date: Apr 9, 2024
This vehicle has massive and unbearable static electrical shock when the car stopped and trying to close the door as metal body of the car. and I have several Videos showing the electric shocks The auto pilot stop the vehicle on the highway for no reason that’s put the passenger in serious rear collision
KTM
1290 SUPER ADVENTURE R
(2021) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 13, 2024
Incident date: Apr 12, 2024
This car, like many Teslas, is experiencing what has been come to be known as phantom braking. When in the autopilot or full self driving, this car will occasionally to frequently, depending on the day, suddenly break where it will decelerate from say 65 mph to 45 or 50 in a very short period of time. This can happen in very busy traffic conditions. It seems to happen when I'm going faster rather ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 3, 2024
I am complaining about my new $ 79,000 BMW 440i that I just took possession of. I found out that the speedometer doesn't really tell you how fast you are driving. In SD the max speed on our interstate is 80mph. However, in my new car when the speedometer says you are going 80mph you are really only going 76mph. I consider that a serious safety issue since you never really know how fast you are g... Read more
Incident date: Mar 31, 2024
All safety system alerts appeared while driving on the highway saying there were failures with all of the safety systems. Electronic steering suddenly stopped working and vehicle slowed down forcibly until its stop in the middle of the highway. I had to call roadside assistance to get the car towed to the dealership. ALL ERROR MESSAGES CAME ON, THE VEHICLE ELECTRIC POWER STEERING,VSA , HILL STAR... Read more
Incident date: Apr 9, 2024
Tesla has failed to provide a software update to address both recalls, and has made it impossible for me to get support to have this rectified. They cancelled a service appointment I made and are no longer responding to my inquiries.
Incident date: Apr 5, 2024
The contact owns a 2023 Ford F-150. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH, the vehicle unintendedly accelerated. The brake pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to decelerate. The contact shifted into neutral, and the brake pedal responded as needed. The contact merged to the side of the road. A local dealer was contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer wa... Read more
Incident date: Dec 30, 2023
Push start/stop button was noting working properly (this had a recall and was replaced). However after it was repaired, I noticed the right-sided gas gauge with service repair numbers, milage etc is not working properly; the gas guage and service repair codes disappear and/or are scrambled. I took this to the Honda dealership in Coon Rapids, Minnesota, and was told by the service advisor (Drew Mec... Read more
Incident date: Oct 5, 2023
I purchased a new 2023 telluride-SX in April 2023. For the first time since owning the vehicle, I used the Snow Mode during the snowstorm on 14 March 2024. I then used it again on 15 March 2024. I experienced a serious problem on both days. When I stopped at redlights, I tried to accelerate as I made a turn. I lost all power, and the car came to a near stop, nearly causing an accident by being rea... Read more
Incident date: Jul 10, 2023
While driving to work, using FSD, the autopilot steered me into the path of an overtaking vehicle moving at about 20 mph faster than my vehicle. By quickly taking over steering and speed control, I was able to avoid a collision. A couple miles further down the road, the car could not decide on which exit lane to use, and weaved between two possibilities, probably alarming and angering drivers b... Read more
Incident date: Dec 18, 2023
I stalled the vehicle then noticed a little later that my acceleration was greatly reduced. I could not get up to 20 mph with my accelerator pedal all the way pressed while in 3rd gear.
MERCEDES-BENZ
E350
(2008) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 12, 2024
Incident date: Mar 6, 2024
So I purchased a 2012 Kia Soul A few months ago and since I got it the car has been having issues with accelerating the car delays to respond and I have had many closed calls specifically when entering a freeway the car losses power and I have to really press on the pedal for the vehicle to respond then the check engine light started to come on showing Code P0420 Catalyst operating below minimum t... Read more
FORD
MUSTANG MACH E
(2022) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 11, 2024
Incident date: Apr 9, 2024
*4th report to NHTSA* Trouble getting response from HMA case manager. Delaying/not responding to multiple emails/calls/contact forms. Please advise. 1. What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? - Multiple systems continuing to fail/malfunction. Multiple attempts to repair at Hyundai dealerships. Vehicle is currently at the dealer service ce... Read more
Incident date: Apr 6, 2024
I was traveling from Tennessee to Indiana on [XXX] going about 76 mph. I attempted to switch lanes and at the same time the other vehicle decided to speed up as the semi behind started speeding up. When my 2024 Santa Cruz Turbo (which only has 12,000 miles) jerked and started slowing down, the check engine light came on and it started declining acceleration. I mashed the gas and nothing happened (... Read more
BILT HELMET
AMPED EVO ADULT
(9999) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 11, 2024
Incident date: Apr 11, 2024
The contact owned a 1996 Ford F-150. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 05V017000 (Vehicle Speed Control). The contact stated that while parked in the driveway, she observed fire between the finder and the hood. The heat from the fire rippled the front of the garage causing property damage. The vehicle was not diagnosed and the origin of the fire was not determined. The ... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Apr 10, 2024
The spool valve had a complete seal failure leaking oil onto the alternator causing the alternator to fail. As result the entire electrical system failed, shutting off all propulsion of the van. This occurred while the vehicle was in the high speed left lane on [XXX] @ the [XXX] exit. I had to coast the vehicle across two lanes of 75 mph traffic, cars and large tracker trailers. I was passed by... Read more
Incident date: Mar 29, 2024
The contact owns 2023 Fisker Ocean. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 45 MPH, and on other occasions while driving at various speeds, the vehicle drove over a small bump on the roadway and the vehicle unintendedly surged forward, accelerated, and then decelerated. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified... Read more
TOYOTA
COROLLA CROSS
(2023) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 11, 2024
Incident date: Jan 5, 2024
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle failed to properly accelerate. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent and mostly occurred while driving up an incline. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The local dealer was not yet contacted... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
C300
(2016) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 11, 2024
Incident date: Apr 8, 2024
The instrument panel goes black while driving in daylight. Seems to be a non issue at night. You can not tell what speed you are traveling, if the car is running hot or how much gas is in the tank. Appears to be a major problem by searching for solutions. Many solutions have already been tried but seems to not fix the issue. Could be dangerous not knowing how fast / slow you are traveling. If... Read more
Incident date: Apr 10, 2024
My Transmission failed. My odometer reading is 92901. Dealership said not manufactured coverage. No message on dash. Happened while driving with children. Mechanic said needed to be replaced. This is a expensive repair. I believe manufacture should have told drivers about problems with transmission.
Incident date: Feb 23, 2024
I was driving my car to appointment up a hill and the transmission completely gave out, additionally, since I bought it, It has consistently had problems accelerating, and getting above 45mph. The problem cannot be pinpointed
Incident date: Apr 3, 2024
The clutch on my 2017 Ford focus needs to be replaced due to it slipping/shuttering when I go to accelerate.
TOYOTA
AVALON HYBRID
(2021) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 10, 2024
Incident date: Apr 10, 2024
Hello, I noticed my battery light came Friday, April 5th, but the indicator light went off after about 45 seconds. Saturday, April 6th, I was driving and the battery light came on again, after 5 minutes the acceleration stopped working as I turned into the subdivision. The vehicle was going 5mph, I was able to make to a relatives house. Once I pull in the driveway, all of the indicator lights c... Read more
Incident date: Apr 8, 2024
Today, I had to slam on my breaks on the freeway. Luckily I was able to stop in time. However the Fisker completely shut off, flashed every warning light imaginable and wouldn’t respond. I sat diagonally in the middle of a 6 lane freeway and for 5 straight minutes the car wouldn’t work. I finally got the car to turn on but it wouldn’t switch to drive, it was stuck on park or neutral. I had t... Read more
1 injured
Incident date: Jan 29, 2024
The contact owns a 2024 Jeep Wrangler. The contact stated while stopped at a toll booth, the vehicle independently accelerated with the brake pedal depressed. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer and was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 317.
Incident date: Apr 9, 2024
When driving down the road at approximately 35-40mph, the accelerator pedal stopped working and a variety of warning messages and lights popped up on the dash. Some of those messages included "gear selected will engage at low speed", "powertrain system fault", and "pre-collision assist not available". Because the vehicle suddenly became undriveable, it rolled to a stop in the middle of the road. ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 16, 2024
Vehicle seems to be stalling when you stop and then try to pull out. It takes minutes to accelerate after stopping.
Incident date: Mar 16, 2024
The transmission on my 2018 Chevy Traverse went out per the mechanic that recently inspected it. It was just purchased from a Chevy dealership not even 8 months ago. I first noticed the problem a couple weeks ago when my car hit about 25mph getting on the highway then wouldn’t go any faster as I would try to accelerate speed, then it was jerking and was harshly engaging from time to time. Then i... Read more
FORD
MAVERICK HYBRID
(2023) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 9, 2024
Incident date: Apr 8, 2024
We bought a used 2020 Honda Odyssey, and a few months after buying this vehicle, the infotainment screen blanked out and the vehicle information screen also blinked out. This occurred at the same time with no warning whatsoever. I just turned on the car, and none of the screens came on. These screens are the ones that show the mph, our mileage, cruise control, etc, and also the screen that shows t... Read more
Incident date: Dec 21, 2023
The transmission began slipping causing poor control at higher speeds using the cruise control or passing gear. Only about 42,000 miles on the vehicle and no financial help from Ford. Service for a new transmission was $7667.11at Dave Sinclair Ford, 7466 South Lindbergh, St. Louis Missouri, 63125. 314-892-2600
Incident date: Apr 6, 2024
I was driving my 2023 Jeep Wrangler 2 Door Willys on a 4 lane divided road approaching a stop light. The stoplight was red so I started slowing down approximately 200 feet from the intersection. I applied the brake pedal and the vehicle started to slow down. As I was approaching the intersection I could feel the vehicle accelerating and it was difficult to get it to stop. I was almost stopped ... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Mar 1, 2024
I was driving the vehicle on the left lane of the freeway and the acceleration suddenly gave out. The car began to slow even when I pushed on the gas. Heat gage was fine and no lights went on. I quickly got over 4 lanes of traffic to the next exit and was able to pull over to the side of the road. White smoke began to billow out of the hood on the offramp and all the emergency light indicators c... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Apr 7, 2024
The 2021 Mustang Mach-E has repeatedly shown these "Pre-Collision Assist" and "Front Camera Fault" errors ever since we got it 6 months ago. The errors can come and go multiple times during any drive. For my wife it is just an annoyance since she never uses Adaptive Cruise. But for me or anyone else using Adaptive Cruise, it becomes a safety concern because this error suddenly cancels the cruise a... Read more
FORD
MAVERICK HYBRID
(2023) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 8, 2024
Incident date: Apr 7, 2024
Despite numerous attempts to resolve the matter, I've faced obstacles and a lack of clarity from Dodge Corporation. Recently, my 2014 Ram 1500 Laramie experienced a sudden ABS light issue, affecting traction and cruise control. This has made driving perilous in Texas's hazardous conditions. We've been quoted $2000 (part itself is $1300) for repairs, but the required part is on backorder, with no E... Read more
Incident date: Aug 7, 2023
Started experiencing the ABS and Traction Control lights coming on, sometimes momentarily and very intermittently, sometimes (but less frequently) coming on for long periods of time. The frequency of these events has been increasing. A scan of the vehicle indicates I am receiving these this code... C0020-01 - ABS Pump Motor Control - General Electrical Failure This seems to be a very common c... Read more
Incident date: Mar 11, 2024
The 2013 pruis has developed the notorious brake booster fault triggering the brake light abs light and traction control light to stay illuminated. Toyota has many complaints about this brake booster issue and needs to recall and fix this issue as they have done on other Toyotas. This is leaving owners with a $2500 repair or having to take a big risk driving these cars with a big prevalent brake... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
EQS450
(2023) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 7, 2024
Incident date: Apr 7, 2024
Total malfunction at highway speeds. Very unsafe, the car completely shut off. This may have resulted in a highway fatality due to collision as the vehicle was in the fast lane. NTSA please do your due diligence and investigate the faulty, defective HYBRID system as I believe the faulty inverter recall is much more larger than the original recall
Incident date: Feb 28, 2024
I was driving 75mph on the freeway and I heard a pop and then the electrical warning system on the car lit up. I lost power to the car and was only able to accelerate minimally. There was a warning of low battery and the vehicle was going to lose power. I turned on my hazard lights and was able to get to the exit and was able to exit the freeway safely. Once the vehicle lost power I was unable to... Read more
FORD
BRONCO SPORT
(2021) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 7, 2024
Incident date: Apr 7, 2024
On March 13th, 2024, while pulling into the driveway and lightly accelerating due to the slight incline of the driveway, the accelerator pedal fell from under my foot. The car accelerated hard, plowing through the garage door, a washer/dryer unit, a storage rack and into the back wall of the garage. The car bounced back but was still accelerating, leaving marks from the tire spinning in the garage... Read more
Crash
1 injured
VOLKSWAGEN
GOLF
(2017) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 7, 2024
Incident date: Apr 6, 2024
When braking the engine goes into an uncontrolled fast idle that smokes the tires. Need to shut off engine immediately. This is intermittent. It is the 2nd time I had in to the dealer. Had it towed.