Consumer Safety Complaints
Search 2,245,377 safety complaints filed by vehicle owners with NHTSA, including 140,173 crashes, 56,794 fires, and 8,580 deaths.
What is a NHTSA consumer complaint?
A consumer complaint is a free-form report filed by a vehicle owner directly to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) describing a safety concern about their vehicle. NHTSA collects these reports through its Vehicle Owner Defect Report (VOQ) system and publishes them publicly. Each complaint includes the affected component, the date and circumstances of the incident, whether the failure caused a crash or fire, and any reported injuries or deaths. The owner's full narrative description is included verbatim, NHTSA does not edit or moderate the descriptions.
The database below contains over 2,245,377 individual complaints. NHTSA's investigators monitor it for clusters of similar reports, when enough owners describe the same failure mode on the same vehicle, NHTSA may open a Preliminary Evaluation that can lead to a recall. Many of the largest recalls in U.S. history, including the Takata airbag recall and the Hyundai/Kia engine fire recalls, started as patterns visible in this complaint database years before they became formal recalls.
How to interpret what you read
A few principles for reading consumer complaints usefully:
- One complaint is anecdote; a hundred similar complaints is data. NHTSA does not investigate the truthfulness of any individual report, that's the job of the Office of Defects Investigation, which looks at the full pattern. When evaluating a vehicle, look for whether multiple owners describe the same chain of events.
- Crash, fire, injury, and death flags are owner-set. They are not verified by NHTSA. They are still useful as a filter, because owners who tick those boxes are typically reporting more serious incidents than those who don't.
- Component categories are NHTSA-assigned, not owner-assigned. NHTSA standardizes the component field so that complaints can be aggregated. The owner narrative often goes into more detail than the component category captures.
- Complaint volume scales with sales volume. A best-selling model will accumulate more raw complaints than a niche model even at the same defect rate. To compare across vehicles, look at complaints per 100,000 units sold, not raw counts.
If you've experienced a defect
File a complaint. NHTSA's investigators rely on this database to detect emerging defects, and useful complaints, specific, concrete, with dates and mileage and clear descriptions of what happened, feed directly into the agency's pattern detection. The form takes about 10 minutes and is at nhtsa.gov/recalls under "Report a Safety Problem." Your complaint becomes part of the same public record that this page is built from. Owners filing detailed VOQs are how recalls get triggered.
Read more from our blog
Showing 73,546 complaints - component: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Incident date: May 22, 2023
The "Check Antilock Brake" message appears on the dashboard. The vehicle has been inspected by a mechanic who confirmed that it is either the supplementary brake fluid pump, or the brake pump control unit. Because of the intermittent nature of the problem, the manufacturer requires replacement of both expensive parts, as they do not know the exact problem. Because of the issue, the following vehic... Read more
Incident date: Apr 5, 2023
When stopping for traffic or at a light and accelerating for take off the car has a delay. It does nothing. It’s a 2sec delay that will be deadly to someone.
Incident date: May 25, 2022
Water has been pooling in the wheel well under trunk of my car undetected due to the covering overlap. Water has been leaking due to the rain from outside in. My back seats were wet, my spare tire was flooded, and a smell has began to set in my car. My cars speed has been slower to increase which can put my response time to dangerous situations slower. I have an appointment on the 10th of January ... Read more
Incident date: Dec 15, 2023
Abs light and traction control light will flash and beep intermittently when driving have researched a lot of people have the same issue newer models have been recalled for the same problem.
DODGE
CHALLENGER
(2018) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Dec 20, 2023
Incident date: Dec 9, 2022
Service Electronic braking system. ABS dashboard light illuminated. Traction control symbol illuminated. Dashboard brakelight illuminated. Faulty ABS control module diagnosted by independent repair center.
Incident date: Aug 9, 2023
My Kia Sorento uses roughly 2-4 quarts of oil every week or 2. The smell of oil is so strong in the car it’s almost unbearable. Just this week the the alert about a door being open is going off and the locks are malfunctioning. It locks and unlocks at random and it keeps sayings a door is open when it isn’t. The cruise control also stopped working.
Incident date: May 10, 2023
Ford did an update recently, 6.8.0, which obscures the speedometer and moved it to far right of the IPC making it difficult to see now when driving. This is safety issue and I like to have the speed of my vehicle right in front me where it should be.
Incident date: Nov 20, 2023
About 3 months ago, I took this car in after receiving a recall notice for unexpected acceleration while on adaptive cruise control even though this was an issue I had never experienced before. But on monday, driving in stop and go traffic in light rain (intermittent wipers on slow setting), all of a sudden the car started accelerating directly towards the car 20 feet or so in front of us; the br... Read more
Incident date: Dec 15, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated that while driving approximately 65 MPH, the vehicle suddenly lost power and decelerated to 35 MPH. During the failure, the message "Reduced Power" was displayed. After turning off and restarting the vehicle, the failure remained, and the vehicle was driven to the residence at a reduced speed. The cause of the failure was not yet determine... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2018) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Dec 20, 2023
Incident date: Nov 20, 2023
On December 9th, 2023 my 2020 TESLA Model X accelerator pedal broke off while accelerating up a hill. This caused the vehicle to stop and become undrivable on a blind curve uphill. This caused a significant safety risk to me and other drivers. The vehicle had to be towed with police assistance to block traffic due to where the vehicle became inoperable. I had to pay out of pocket about $50... Read more
Incident date: Dec 18, 2023
Problemas con el sistema de precolosion falla del sensor el carro es inseguro e tenido 2 incidentes donde el sistema no responde ni se activa antes del impacto problemas con el motor, estabilidad del carro, conteo de velocidad, frenos, llantas, cruze de carriles, puntos ciegos
Crash
Incident date: Dec 19, 2023
This same scenario has happened 3 times since I purchased this vehicle - first event at mileage of 6273, 2nd event @ 7586 miles, and 3rd event @ 12,506 miles. All events were the same - while driving, dash board light start to flash and the vehicle looses all ability to accelerate. For each event, we have been able to coast out of traffic, turn the car off & restart. Once the car is restarted... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2023
DOCUMENTATION OF UNWARRANTED / UNCONTROLLED VEHICLE ACCELERATION: DRIVER STATED THAT WHILE VEHICLE WAS STOPPED IN TRAFFIC, VEHICLE ACCELERATED WITHOUT USE OF ACCELERATOR PEDAL. VEHICLE LURCHED FORWARD INTO VEHICLE AHEAD, AND INTO 2ND VEHICLE AHEAD IN TRAFFIC. ENGINE CONTINUED TO RACE AT HIGH SPEED WITH TRANSMISSION IN DRIVE, SPINNING REAR TIRES UNCONTROLLED WITH BOTH FEET DEPRESSING BRAKE PEDAL.... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Dec 19, 2023
I honestly have no idea what system failed but I was doing 80 on the interstate and my car shifted into nuetral . All of the lights came on parking brake , brake and then my car would not drive any longer , luckily I was able to coast onto the shoulder but I literally could have been killed. I had just passed road construction that went from 4 lanes to 2 barracaded lanes. i waited 30 minutes and m... Read more
Incident date: Nov 27, 2023
When traveling on the highway, the cruise control system will cut out on random intervals, and not be available to turn back on unless you stop the vehicle, turn it off, and then turn it back on again. This poses an electrical system risk, and may encourage drivers to pull over on the side of the highway to restart their vehicle to regain access to cruise control. There are already many Reddit and... Read more
Incident date: Dec 18, 2023
this vehicle has had multiple check engine failures it has been in for service six times in a matter of months. In September I had Service Traction control/StabiliTrack lights come on and the car losses of engine power. I had it serviced again in October for the same issue it was at the dealership for 20 days all they did was clear the code and drove it 38 miles, including the technician driving i... Read more
Incident date: Dec 17, 2023
This has been going on since May of 2022 Every time I start my truck I get a warning that my ABS is not working and that my electronic braking needs to be serviced. While these lights are active, I have no ABS, traction control, or cruise control. After about 10 to 15 minutes of driving, the warnings go out. The lights sometimes will stay off for twenty to thirty minutes, but normally flash on be... Read more
Incident date: Dec 18, 2023
I just purchased this vehicle on Saturday.And now my engine light is on.It is blinking.I did my research after getting the car and the code p1326 came up at autozone.after that it showed that code with recalls for 2011 to 2017.
CHRYSLER
TOWN AND COUNTRY
(2015) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Dec 18, 2023
Incident date: Dec 17, 2023
While driving, a warning came on my dashboard that I was unfamiliar with as it had never come up before. It informed me my oil pressure was low. I called someone familiar with cars and they told me I may need an oil change. As there were no gas stations near where I exited, I continued to my destination another ten minutes from when the warning came on during which my car began making a rattling/g... Read more
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2013) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Dec 18, 2023
Incident date: Nov 27, 2023
In some cases when slowing down to a very low speed an trying to to accelerate again. There can be either a brief (1/2 second) or a very long ( > 1/2 second) delay between pressing the accelerator and the engine responding. Because of this delay its very hard to gauge when and how the vehicle will respond. In some conditions this can be a safety concern as the vehicle behaves unpredictably. I wa... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2022
UNKWOWN: ASSESSMENT: Date of Event 19 December 2022 Upon taking delivery from Tesla for 2023 Model Y vehicle with the above or contained VIN, driver experiences a series of events that result from a autosteer activation. Approximately seven (7) calendar days after receiving the vehicle a FDU (Front Drive Unit) was replaced. At approximately another twenty-one (21) calendar days after the FDU was... Read more
Incident date: Dec 18, 2023
Hello, I took my Nissan Altima into my local Nissan dealer for a hood latch recall on 11/13/2023. On 11/21/2023 at about 6:40 pm I was driving my car at a speed of maybe 45-50mph and my hood flew open hitting my windshield causing damage to my car, and scaring my son and I. I called the dealer the next morning and spoke to Anthony from the service department regarding this situation, and he stated... Read more
FORD
TRANSIT CONNECT
(2016) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Dec 18, 2023
Incident date: Aug 18, 2021
Dec. 16 2023 / 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz(Daily Driver) VEHICLE SAFETY CONCERNS / DANGEROUS DRIVING SAFETY ISSUES INCREASED RISK OF CRASH (HIGHWAY) Transmission: Problems started Dec. 11,2023 Monday Having trouble gaining any speed. The engine revving when getting on freeway when practicing normal function acceleration, slow having hard time gaining speed, car jerking. Transmission gauge will go be... Read more
Incident date: Dec 17, 2023
This vehicle has an automatic transmission. It will not shift out of first gear in the drive setting and the speedometer registers 0 mph when moving in first gear. If I shift to the manual setting, I can shift up. I did not notice if the speedometer registered my speed at that point.
Incident date: Dec 12, 2023
Power steering very stiff and difficult to steer vsc light on and air bags light goes on and off and unknown cause.
TOYOTA
GRAND HIGHLANDER
(2024) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Dec 17, 2023
Incident date: Dec 16, 2023
The ABS and Traction control lamp keep flashing on and off intermittently. When those warning lights are not lit up, I can use the truck normally. However when they do light up cruise control no longer functions. I have not tested if ABS or Traction Control is not functioning, but I am not going to take a chance. This endangered my family, and surrounding drivers as I was towing our trailer on... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2023
If I'm in city traffic with lots of traffic and a red light for a while or in a drive thru, my car takes longer to accelerate after coming to a complete stop. I'll push the gas pedal in to go and it takes a few seconds to get moving up to normal acceleration speed. The first few seconds of pushing the gas pedal my car barely moves, similar to idling forward without gas, even if I floor it, but onc... Read more
Incident date: Dec 17, 2023
The ABS and Traction Control lights flash and ding on/off intermittently. Sometimes the lights on the dashboard come on as soon as I leave the driveway and sometimes it takes several miles. But once they flash on and ding on the dashboard, the lights flash on and off intermittently for seemingly no reason at all. I am not sure if this is due to an electrical issue, a hydraulic control unit issue, ... Read more
Incident date: Dec 17, 2023
Approximately 2 weeks after purchasing the truck I noticed some harsh shifting, jerking, and sudden acceleration, and hesitation issues. They were intermittent and I was advised this is not uncommon with this model vehicle. However, these issues have become more frequent and severe. Next, I noticed the gears began slipping and the truck seemed to not be able to “find” the gear it needed to be ... Read more
MITSUBISHI
OUTLANDER
(2013) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Dec 17, 2023
Incident date: Dec 8, 2023
On December 12, 2023 at 6:50 AM my Check Engine light came on while I was driving, the battery gauge went to two bars, and the car powered down on Route 24 (a state highway). I took it to the dealer later in the day and they could not find anything wrong. Unfortunately, this is the third time my car has powered down/gone into limp mode on a highway. On August 8th almost the exact same thing happe... Read more
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2020) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Dec 16, 2023
Incident date: Dec 8, 2023
While attempting to accelerate at an intersection, the vehicle lurched forward. The gas peddle stopped working completely, leaving my vehicle stranded in the middle of the intersection with traffic coming from both directions. The engine was not revving when the gas peddle was being pushed. After repeatedly slamming on the gas peddle, the vehicle quickly accelerated forward, fishtailed, and sent m... Read more
Incident date: Dec 11, 2023
The car was behaving like in “rolling” mode even though it was set to “hold” mode. The modes refer to the stopping modes. I have reported the incident to Tesla and it’s been in the shop for over 1 week.
MERCEDES-BENZ
SPRINTER 2500
(2021) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Dec 16, 2023
Incident date: Sep 8, 2023
I am writing to bring to your attention a critical issue affecting my 2016 HYUNDAI SONATA 4 DOOR SEDAN, that warrants investigation and public awareness. Hyundai cars are currently plagued by ENGINE OIL CONSUMPTION PROBLEMS that ultimately lead to ENGINE FAILURE, due to there being NO WARNING LAMPS, MESSAGES, or OTHER SYMPTOMS OF THE PROBLEM PRIOR TO THE FAILURE. This is a concerning issue that r... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2017) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Dec 16, 2023
Incident date: Dec 15, 2023
Traction light will come on intermittently and abs and brake lights will flash and go away intermittently and all lights on dash and headlights will dim, radio shuts off, rpms will drop to 0 then go back to normal all while driving. Both camshaft sensors have been replaced twice in under a year. All spark plugs have been replaced twice in under a year as well as the crankshaft sensor. Something is... Read more
LINCOLN
CONTINENTAL
(2017) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Dec 16, 2023
Incident date: Dec 1, 2022
both digital and analog speedometer also the tachometer shows 0mph even through the car is being driven , also the fuel gauge shows Empty even though fuel is full.
Incident date: Dec 11, 2023
I have a 2016 Nissan Altima 2.5SR and have noticed every time I'm on the interstate and I have driven at least 70 miles of driving distance, the vehicle will all of sudden lose power and the accelerator will be all the way down and it won't go any faster. So, if the speed limit is 70mph and will automatically drop down to 60 and it has done this in front of an 18-wheeler one time scared me to deat... Read more
Incident date: Nov 28, 2023
On multiple occasions when traveling at a low rate of speed when the accelerator is pushed there is no response for up to 2-3 seconds then the car suddenly accelerates forcefully because the gas pedal has been pushed to the floor with no response. It has mostly happened when we are making a left hand turn and have slowed. Due to the seconds of delay we have been almost t boned and are hesitant to ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 31, 2023
While driving with cruise control activated the Service ABS light came on and made an audible ding and the cruise control deactivated resulting in a loss of speed traveling along an interstate highway. This has happened several times, and no time frame to get fixed.
Incident date: Dec 15, 2023
ABS electronic braking system failure.
Incident date: Oct 31, 2023
On 3/11/2023, I was heading home when my vehicle lost power in the middle of the freeway. Luckily, I was able to safely pull over to the side of the freeway. Since this is a plug-in hybrid, there are two gauges showing how much electric and gas is in the car. When I checked, both showed were empty; however, although I knew that I did not have much electricity in the battery, I had nearly a full ... Read more
Incident date: Dec 11, 2023
When slowing to park, with foot on brake, vehicle suddenly and unexpectedly surged forward going up an incline, side-swiping the parked car to the right of the driver, without any action taken by the driver. Safety at risk from uncontrolled car during sudden unexpected acceleration. Reported hours after event, police report filed, insurance claim filed. Dashboard during the event light up with ... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Dec 7, 2023
The contact owned a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that after reversing out of a parking space, then shifting to the drive position and lightly pressing the accelerator pedal the vehicle suddenly experienced unintended acceleration and drove forward at a very high rate of speed. The vehicle drove across a street and crashed into a building. During the crash, the driver sustained an upper t... Read more
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Nov 29, 2023
Bought the car in July 2023. Nov 23: I had a check hybrid system followed by check engine + red battery warning while driving in the interstate. The car lost power abruptly. Coasted out of the interstate, took the exit, and turned it off. Restarted after 15 mins. Only the check engine light came back on. We drove it back home. Just as we were entering the garage, the sequence happened again: Che... Read more
Incident date: Dec 11, 2023
The contact owns a 2023 Nissan Frontier. The contact stated that when applying the accelerator pedal, the vehicle suddenly accelerated and lurched forward. There were no warning lights illuminated. While leaving a store and entering traffic, the vehicle accelerated and crashed into an unknown vehicle, which spun and crashed into another unknown vehicle. The driver was able to drive the vehicle awa... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Dec 11, 2023
ON ACTIVATING AND SETTING CRUISE CONTROL, VEHICLE CORRECTLY MAINTAINS STEADY SPEED. WHEN PRESSING THE (+) BUTTON TO INCREASE SPEED, VEHICLE ACCELERATES BUT UPON REMOVING FINGER THE VEHICLE CONTINUE TO ACCELERATE UNTIL APPLYING BRAKES OR YOU DISENGAGE THE CRUISE CONTROL FUNCTION. I'VE BEEN TO JEEP DELEAR TWICE AND THEY CAN'T DUPLICATE WHICH IS ABSURB. THEY SAID THE COMPUTER CONTROL UNIT WOULD HAVE... Read more
Incident date: Oct 6, 2023
When attempting to accelerate, the vehicle idles down and fails to accelerate for a period of 2-3 seconds. To initiate normal acceleration, fully depressing the accelerator pedal is required vs. a gradual depression of the pedal.
Incident date: Oct 18, 2023
My wife and I were returning from a Thanksgiving trip to relatives in Virginia southbound on I 95 She was driving and we both felt the car shudder as we began to lose speed. There was no acceleration even though the Tachometer was in a high range. We limped into a Rest Area ,shut down the car and called a tow service. We were towed to Deacon Jones Nissan in Golsboro, N.C. where we were told w... Read more
Incident date: Nov 10, 2023
A common problem with these Lexus ct200h, as well as Toyota Prius V models, are that the brake accumulators begin to leak internally, as they share the same part numbers. Therefore, the actuator pumpwill buzz every few seconds trying to keep pressure in the braking system to a safe operating level of gas pressure,to no avail due tothisleak inthe accumulator. After it quits buzzing, say shutting th... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS CROSS SPORT
(2021) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Dec 13, 2023
Incident date: Dec 9, 2023
I submitted this form earlier, but I’m unsure whether it went through. If this is a duplicate, please disregard. An incident of sudden, unintended acceleration occurred while pulling into a gravel parking area on a hillside at dusk. While turning, the vehicle suddenly lunged forward and struck a tree stump. It would have been avoided without the sudden acceleration. The driver slammed on the br... Read more
Incident date: Nov 17, 2022
having an issue with the warning light saying Secure Vehicle from Rolling. gear selector replacement Needed. Shifter Linkage needed replacing