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: Jan 13, 2024
There were two incidents that had similar symptoms: one before the dealership said they fixed and one afterwards. The issue is that while driving I would get three warning, all at the same time: coolant too hot, 48v battery malfunction, shut the engine off. The first time it happened immediately after I turned on the vehicle and within 5 minutes of leaving a parking lot. The second time it happene... Read more
Incident date: Dec 11, 2023
On 11/18/2023, as soon as I started the vehicle, put it in reverse and let off the brake to back down the driveway, the car made a loud unfamiliar noise (like bzzzzzt) and suddenly and unexpectedly accelerated on its own. Nothing worked, brakes, automatic gear shift, gas pedal, and steering were all disengaged. It was terrifying to me and I was worried about anyone or anything behind me. At the s... Read more
1 injured
Incident date: Mar 4, 2024
I own a 2017 Ram the electronic breaking system light kept coming on when I had about 34000 miles on it but I had it over the 3 year period for warranty. Paid dealership about $1200.00 to get it fixed. Again at about 45,000 miles it started it again. Checked with dealer said it would cost about $1400.00 to get corrected and they would have to wait for parts. I see a lot of others have had the same... Read more
Incident date: Mar 4, 2024
I have twice experienced a sudden acceleration when decreasing pressure on the accelerator pedal. It felt like the motor was producing full power. In both cases, I was able to quickly apply the brake which stopped the acceleration. Both episodes happened at slow speed, less than 20 mph, while either starting to slow for a stop or making a turn. Software on the car is fully up to date as of Febr... Read more
Incident date: Feb 27, 2024
Vehicle “surges” at idle. 300-500 RPMS at a time. Sometimes the brakes hold and sometimes not. Have nearly been in 3 collisions the last 2 days because of this issue. The ECM codes indicate throttle body or TPS issue, both of which have been unfounded. Vehicle has 63,000 miles. Researching this topic online found that many others have had this issue with no associated safety recalls noted. I a... Read more
Incident date: Feb 27, 2024
The contact owns a 2024 Lexus NX350H. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed and parking the vehicle in the residential garage, the vehicle independently accelerated. The contact stated that the vehicle crashed into the wall, and the beam was damaged. In addition, the dryer and the door were damaged. The contact stated that the failure had previously occurred. The vehicle was tow... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2023
On two separate occasions during February this has occurred. While at a stop sign with the brake floored the engine revved and the car started to slowly inch forward. Later in the month, at a convenience store, before shifting into park the brake was thoroughly depressed and the engine once again revved and the car started to inch forward. It only stopped when I pushed on the brake with all my mig... Read more
Incident date: Mar 4, 2024
The ABS hcu fails intermittently causing a loss of traction control, cruise control. this is the second time i will have to replace the this unit. i had to first replace it at the end of 2021 and it failed a second time in october 2023.
Incident date: Mar 4, 2024
On February 11, 2024, as I was entering my house garage at a very low speed, the car suddenly accelerated and hit the wall of my garage, causing damage to the garage and interior of my house. The car was insured by State Fram. It was towed to a shop for repair at which time the insurance company notified me that the car could not be repaired. The car had been totaled. Over the following several we... Read more
FORD
ESCAPE HYBRID
(2020) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Mar 3, 2024
Incident date: Mar 3, 2024
Over the last several months my 2018 Ram 2500 is experiencing intermittent service abs traction control system issue. The lights on the dashboard will go on and off and it will "ding" when it does. I am very concerned from a safety stand point as I know this system is supposed to help with braking in an emergency and assist with keeping the vehicle under control in adverse road conditions. The tru... Read more
Incident date: Feb 13, 2024
Vehicle accelerated on its own as i was pulling into garage. Causing damage to the car, to my other parked car and house.
Crash
Incident date: May 9, 2023
While driving on the freeway, the car showed a message saying “performance issue” and lost power. I couldn’t accelerate and the car stopped. I couldn’t power on or down the car. It looked like an alternator issue and it wasn’t giving enough power to the battery. AAA arrived hour and half later. Tried to jump but it didn’t do anything. Finally had to tow the car to the nearest dealershi... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2024
On [XXX], I was driving from Victorville, CA to Las Vegas, NV on [XXX] northbound. Between [XXX] two incidents occurred. Both incidents involve phantom braking. My vehicle was in autopilot mode, which is essentially traffic aware cruise control. I was traveling at 70MPH and passed a semi-truck. I changed lanes back into the right lane after passing the truck. About 30 seconds later, the car slamme... Read more
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2018) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Mar 3, 2024
Incident date: Feb 29, 2024
Abs, traction and brake light all came on on dash. Part number 68228991AD needs to be set under a recall part as a safety concern.
Incident date: Mar 1, 2024
The vehicle has lost all antilock brakes Lights on dash warn there is a issue with vehicle safety capabilities. The trailer brakes will not activate. Dealer says common issues with 2017 2018 and cannot fix due to parts not available for a year. People are putting their lives in danger operating this truck with this issue. I have had work on this problem before costing thousands of dollars. I ca... Read more
Incident date: Feb 8, 2024
In 2020 my abs traction control warning light came on took truck to dealership. They replaced ABS motor. 1 1/2 year later the warning lights started to flash on which progressed into always on by April 2023. I had the truck at dealership for another recall and they tested and system. Dealership stated they would repair under warranty. I have been waiting 10 months for repair and they state th... Read more
Incident date: Mar 2, 2024
AFTER USING CRUISE CONTROL THEN BRAKING -CRUISE CONTROL DISENGAGES AS NORMAL. THEN PROCEEDING TO PARK AT LOW SPEED AND TURNING THE STEERING WHEEL TO PARK-IT SEEMS LIKE CRUISE CONTROL ENGAGES AND CAR ACCELERATES. IT ONLY HAPPEN A FEW TIMES -5 SO FAR- ONLY HAS ABOUT 9000 MILES. APPLYING BRAKE DISENGAGES THE PROBLEM. NO INCIDENTS OCCURRED, BUT COULD CAUSE SERIOUS PROBLEM.
Incident date: Nov 30, 2023
Car has 5000 miles on it. Numerous issues with car. Unsafe steering. Dealer not able to repair steering until Mazda provides parts for recall. Now on the highway with a medium depressed foot pedal the car speeds up on its own. Happened 2 times so far. Brakes had to be applied to slow car down. It was very brief because I immediately stepped on the brake, but it was definitely an uncommanded accele... Read more
Incident date: Mar 1, 2024
I was driving today 3/2/24 and speed was about 40-50 and suddenly/randomly the vehicle would do a jerk once it got to about 50 and the rpm’s would jump up between 2-3 and quickly drop back down to normal. I was not pressing the gas hard or a lot just lightly and also the jerking would happen if I was going down in speed from like 60-50 it would randomly jerk again and rpm’s would increase and ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 2, 2023
While driving, van went to half power with no warning light. Would not go above 15 MPH. It had recently had an oil change at a KIA dealership, but when we took to the shop, the oil was barely existent and foamy. It is undriveable and 3 different mechanics have said it cannot be fixed without a new engine.
Incident date: Jan 1, 2024
While backing out of a short driveway and placed t to drive, the vehicle revved and started speeding out of control with brakes applied. The vehicle sideswiped a neighbors vehicle before crashing head on into a tree causing it to stop. I had jerked up the emergency brake and ripped the key out of the ignition. The replaced airbags did not deploy.
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Jun 3, 2023
Intermittent EPS warning light illuminates during highway driving with steering wheel lock-up subsequently followed by a reset of certain electrically powered items associated with but not necessarily limited to the following systems: 1. Stability Control System warning indication 2. TPMS light 3. Radio power cycles 4. Check engine light. After turning the car off and then back on again these issu... Read more
Incident date: Feb 24, 2024
It started [XXX] when i took my car to the dealership due to it going into limp mode. The dealership took it in and said it was throwing error code p1326 which is the knock sensor code. they replaced the knock sensor, drove my tucson home after the replacement, by the time i got home it went into limp mode again, took my car back to the dealership turns out it was a faulty sensor they received. So... Read more
Incident date: Mar 1, 2024
I was trying to accelerate with pushing the gas pedal and the truck would not go any faster than 22 mph. This went on for 15 minutes until the truck was turned off and restarted. It seemed to be corrected with turning the vehicle off. No engine warning lights came on and the vehicle was in drive the whole time. The concern was not being able to accelerate on the on-ramp to the main highway. The ve... Read more
Incident date: Jul 15, 2019
My Renegade fuel pump failed in a very unsafe manner without an engine light at only 42,000 miles, less than half the expected life of that component. I was driving on the highway and without warning I could no longer accelerate and I had plenty of fuel but no engine light came on and I had to glide to the right while cars were speeding around me before I reached 0mph. This is extremely dangerous... Read more
Incident date: Jan 14, 2023
My ABS and Traction control lights will come on and off, making my cruise control stop working without warning. sometimes it stays on and sometimes it goes off. it is completely random. I'm seeing lots of reviews saying this is happening to others and its the HCU module and the abs control. please help get this fixed
Incident date: Mar 1, 2024
Car has intermittent electrical issue that causes ECUs to reboot often times disabling safety systems such as ABS, Airbags, Collision Avoidance, Adaptive Cruise Control, power steering and power brakes. Ford dealer believes that it's a short in a wiring harness. They claim this issue has been seen in several vehicles like mine. Ford was able to reproduce the problem and recommends replacement of a... Read more
Incident date: Mar 1, 2024
As I was leaving my son's school parking lot - moments away from an on-ramp to a major freeway - an error message flashed on the dash saying "Service Charging System" followed by a message about the vehicle's speed being limited and a red turtle icon. The van instantly was driving strangely. Since I was in a parking lot, I turned everything off and waited for the van to shut down completely. I res... Read more
Incident date: Mar 1, 2023
Since I purchased my 2013 KIA SORENTO I have had at least 3 recalls. My vehicle AIR BAG LIGHT is still ON. I have been waiting since last year (2023)to get this recall item repaired and the local dealership has informed me that the part is on ORDER but never received( I have the work order from dealership stating that).. My Anti- thief system won't allow my vehicle to start upon demand I have to ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 20, 2024
On 1/24/24, we were driving at about 65 mph. With no warning, FCW, LDW, ABS, Tire Pressure and check engine lights as well as FCW System Failure reported on dash. The car slowed to about 20-25mph and sounded rough. Cars behind were going with speed of traffic (about 65) and had to break behind us and were honking their horns at us despite emergency flashers on. We pulled over and turned off engine... Read more
Incident date: Nov 28, 2023
My car first had a warning “Electrical system: malfunction! Please contact Service.” I made a appointment at my Audi dealership 2 days later, but the next day i got more warnings. “Automatic start/stop system: malfunction!” then my power steering was not working. I decided to drive straight to the service department that afternoon, but never made it. In rush hour traffic on a busy street,... Read more
Incident date: Feb 15, 2024
I have a Hyundai Ioniq 5. I purchased it in July 2022 and have been driving it with no major issues except for a couple recall updates. On Monday, [XXX] I was driving home on the Highway when a warning light came on telling me to check EV Connection, it was an orange message. Then the light and message switched to red and displayed a battery symbol. The message said to stop vehicle and check power... Read more
Incident date: Feb 17, 2024
This has happened twice at highway speeds only. Check engine light comes on and car dies. After pulling to side, car is turned off and then runs again when turned back on. This is a huge safety hazard at highway speed in traffic, with the instant deceleration and the possibility of being rear ended. The car was inspected by Honda and Motorwerks Barrington without them being able to identify an... Read more
Incident date: Feb 29, 2024
Top right edge of shoe (Taos Women's Startup Sneaker) can be entrapped between top face of the accelerator pedal and lower edge of console trim panel, compromising car control. Seems to be shoe specific. Inspection available upon request. Problem has not been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center. Vehicle has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance rep... Read more
Incident date: Jun 9, 2022
I was driving in 80 mph traffic in and my car instantly lost all power while alarms starting blaring while I was changing lanes. I was unable to brake or to accelerate and had to coast — over 6 lanes of 5:00 traffic to a stop and was lucky we weren’t killed. According to the dealer, it’s a known issue with the fuel injectors and Honda is planning to repair it at their cost, but have no idea ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 6, 2023
System failed was the throttle body, power (engine?) and brakes. I was unable to accelerate while going up a hill. When this happened the whole vehicle shut off which wouldn't allow me to push in the break pedal since I was still in drive. This could of caused us to be hit from the traffic following behind me. This put our lives at risk. Unknown, unsure what is being questioned as far as repeoduci... Read more
Incident date: Apr 26, 2023
Since more than 18 months, we have the known intermittent problem described in TSB [XXX], where all of a sudden the wrench appears, speedometer drops to zero and car can't change gear anymore. Sometimes going to manual gears works, sometimes car needs to be stopped, locked and completely shut down several times for the problem to go away. Before turning off, error P0720 appears (as described in TS... Read more
Incident date: Feb 28, 2024
On the afternoon of February 6, 2024, as I was turning into my driveway to park in front of the garage, my car unexpectedly accelerated despite my foot being on the brake pedal. Despite my attempts to brake, the pedal didn't respond, causing the car to collide with the garage door and subsequently damage storage shelves and containers inside. My mother and two brothers were passengers, returning f... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Feb 28, 2024
DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY AND ALL OF A SUDDEN STEERING WHEEL STOPS WORKING GETS SO STIFF THE ELECTRICAL STEERING WHEEL COLUM COMPONET STOPS WORKING.JUST ABOUT CRASHED. THANK GOODNESS NO ONE IN FREEWAY. TPS LIGHTS GOES ON. PAYED ALL THE DIAGNOISES AND SAYS WEEKS TO ORDER THE PART. SAYS DON'T DRIVE. RED WARNING LIGHT. DID 3 DIAGNOSIS AND ITS THE CPU COMPONET THAT CONTROLS THE DASHBOARD AND FLIP SCREEN... Read more
1 injured
Incident date: Feb 21, 2024
Can’t pass the nyc inspection because computer frozen. Everyone tech put cable in side no update. No record driven.3 times didn’t pass the inspection. Speed go up while driven
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE 4XE
(2024) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Feb 28, 2024
Incident date: Feb 28, 2024
Driving at approximately 55 mph and dash lights started flickering, radio went off, reset to 530 (am radio). Vehicle started sputtering and slowing down in traffic and completely shut down. Lost all power and coasted to side of road. I had no or little control of vehicle. I have "connected services" that was to warn me about mechanical and electrical failures and no warning of this happening. Th... Read more
Incident date: Feb 28, 2024
2008 Jeep Commander, 4.7L, QDII system. Vehicle experiences a sudden an unexpected loss of power and braking action while driving at speed. After loss of power, ABS, Stability Control, Brake, Check engine light, dash board warning lights illuminate and flash. Park assist and service 4wd error messages flash intermittently. Vehicle begins to buck and surge, accelerator becomes unresponsive. Ha... Read more
FORD
FUSION HYBRID
(2018) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Feb 28, 2024
Incident date: Jan 30, 2024
The contact owns a 2011 BMW 535i. The contact stated while jump-starting another vehicle in the driveway, he reversed to park the vehicle by the side of the other vehicle; however, the vehicle surged and accelerated unintendedly. The contact stated that he depressed the brake pedal, but the vehicle failed to respond. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle sped into the garage, hit eq... Read more
Crash
2 injured
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE 4XE
(2024) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Feb 28, 2024
Incident date: Feb 27, 2024
The conditions listed in Toyota Customer Support Program ZJB for the brake booster and master cylinder occurred after the 10 year in service date on my vehicle. Brake, ABS, and Traction control warning lights turn on intermittently and when this happens brake response is poor and cruise control shuts off. When applying the brakes an audible tat tat tat sound can be heard from the front of the car ... Read more
HONDA
CLARITY PLUG-IN HYBRID
(2018) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Feb 28, 2024
Incident date: Dec 20, 2023
There is a code that comes on my car, makes the engine light come on then it goes out on its own . And every year it’s back on same code. Has been happening for years . I took it to the dealership 2xs for the same reason each time they said nothing was wrong cleared the code and the engine light went out. This year being the 9th year having the vehicle the engine light kept coming back on every ... Read more
Incident date: Dec 14, 2023
Our Nissan Leaf experiences dangerous behavior while driving on the freeway. After approximately 23 miles of driving, the car suddenly displays a slippery road sign (The day is dry, no rain) and significantly reduces speed on its own. Attempting to accelerate has no effect. To ensure safety, we activate the hazard lights and pull the car to the side. Only after turning off the car and restarting i... Read more
Incident date: Dec 26, 2023
Complete computer failure leaving cars safety systems not working. Had to pay 3000$ for a new computer for a new car. Did not have car for three weeks. No systems would work.
Incident date: Jul 1, 2023
The Instrument Panel Cluster failed and is completely gone black. Due to the failure, there is no speedometer, or other safety notifications being delivered to the driver. The lack of knowing your current speed, the speed cruise control is set at, along with zero safety notifications is a huge safety issue for the driver and passengers, other vehicles on the road and pedestrians, etc. All of the a... Read more
Incident date: Feb 2, 2024
When pulling out of a parking area the vehicle accelerated without me pressing the gas pedal. Attempts to stop the vehicle by pressing the brake were unsuccessful. The vehicle stopped when we struck a building.
Crash
2 injured