Consumer Safety Complaints
Search 2,215,138 safety complaints filed by vehicle owners with NHTSA — including 138,663 crashes, 56,255 fires, and 8,561 deaths.
What is a NHTSA consumer complaint?
A consumer complaint is a free-form report filed by a vehicle owner directly to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) describing a safety concern about their vehicle. NHTSA collects these reports through its Vehicle Owner Defect Report (VOQ) system and publishes them publicly. Each complaint includes the affected component, the date and circumstances of the incident, whether the failure caused a crash or fire, and any reported injuries or deaths. The owner's full narrative description is included verbatim — NHTSA does not edit or moderate the descriptions.
The database below contains over 2,215,138 individual complaints. NHTSA's investigators monitor it for clusters of similar reports — when enough owners describe the same failure mode on the same vehicle, NHTSA may open a Preliminary Evaluation that can lead to a recall. Many of the largest recalls in U.S. history, including the Takata airbag recall and the Hyundai/Kia engine fire recalls, started as patterns visible in this complaint database years before they became formal recalls.
How to interpret what you read
A few principles for reading consumer complaints usefully:
- One complaint is anecdote; a hundred similar complaints is data. NHTSA does not investigate the truthfulness of any individual report — that's the job of the Office of Defects Investigation, which looks at the full pattern. When evaluating a vehicle, look for whether multiple owners describe the same chain of events.
- Crash, fire, injury, and death flags are owner-set. They are not verified by NHTSA. They are still useful as a filter, because owners who tick those boxes are typically reporting more serious incidents than those who don't.
- Component categories are NHTSA-assigned, not owner-assigned. NHTSA standardizes the component field so that complaints can be aggregated. The owner narrative often goes into more detail than the component category captures.
- Complaint volume scales with sales volume. A best-selling model will accumulate more raw complaints than a niche model even at the same defect rate. To compare across vehicles, look at complaints per 100,000 units sold, not raw counts.
If you've experienced a defect
File a complaint. NHTSA's investigators rely on this database to detect emerging defects, and useful complaints — specific, concrete, with dates and mileage and clear descriptions of what happened — feed directly into the agency's pattern detection. The form takes about 10 minutes and is at nhtsa.gov/recalls under "Report a Safety Problem." Your complaint becomes part of the same public record that this page is built from. Owners filing detailed VOQs are how recalls get triggered.
Read more from our blog
Showing 72,878 complaints — component: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Incident date: Jul 21, 2023
I have a 2019 Model 3 and yesterday, while making a left turn and applying pressure to the brake, receiving feedback from the brake, my car lurched forward for about half a second. I thought I may have been rear ended, but no one was behind me. This has happened on the freeway before as well. I'll be accelerating at a totally even place and BAM, I'll jolt forward out of nowhere. On the rare occa... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
E350
(2011) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jul 27, 2023
Incident date: Jul 25, 2023
The contact owns a 2007 Honda Accord. The contact stated that after shifting into drive(D) with the brake pedal depressed to the floorboard, the vehicle suddenly accelerated and crashed into nearby vehicles and structures. The contact was able to use the parking brake to stop the vehicle. The contact stated that she had smelled gasoline inside the cabin of the vehicle prior to the failure; however... Read more
Crash
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2018) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jul 27, 2023
Incident date: Jul 1, 2023
Consistent warning stating, "Service Anti-Lock Braking System" and "Service Traction Control System" from the vehicle. While this warning is indicated by dinging tones, text displaying in the vehicle information screen, and lights lit on the dashboard, the ABS, Traction Control, and Cruise Control Systems do not function. This is a severe safety risk as if this occurs while driving your cruise con... Read more
CHRYSLER
TOWN AND COUNTRY
(2010) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jul 27, 2023
Incident date: Jan 2, 2023
My A/C Compressor Unit froze up. Tearing my Serpentine Belt. Causing my engine to not run at all. My Driver side window Switch wiring melted. So now my window does not function at all. My vehicle doesn't go over 40mph and no longer shifts properly. Most of my engine wiring has melted. I have replaced the MAP Sensor, but it says there is a problem with the circuit. Also says a problem with th... Read more
Incident date: Jul 26, 2023
The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while parking, the vehicle suddenly accelerated, jumped the curb, and crashed into a building. There were no warning lights illuminated. The driver noticed smoke coming from the vehicle. The passenger's front seat occupant sustained injuries to her hand. The passenger rear seat occupant sustained injuries to her neck, and medical atten... Read more
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Jul 21, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle suddenly shifted into neutral and lost motive power. The contact received Police assistance when the vehicle failed to immediately restart. The contact was then able to pull the vehicle to the shoulder of the roadway. The transmission and check engine warning lights were illumina... Read more
Incident date: Jul 27, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 Ford C-Max. The contact stated that upon shifting to park, the vehicle accelerated forward unintendedly. The vehicle ran over the curb and crashed into the handicap sign. The fuel tank detached during the crash. There were no warning lights illuminated. The fire department was on the scene. A police report was filed. There was no reported fire, air bag deployment, or injury... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jul 23, 2023
check engine lights display periodically. The main one involves the fuel injectors. It has been an on going problem for 6-8 months. When I contacted the dealership I was told the part is not available Nationwide at this time and not sure when it will become available. While driving the car can go into "limp" mode where it doesn't let you go above 30 MPH. This problem first started approximately Oc... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
TAOS
(2022) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jul 27, 2023
Incident date: Jul 6, 2023
While driving sometimes even the speed is below 40mph pushing the accelerator will not accelerate the vehicle making a loud engine noise for 4-5 minutes deaccelerating the vehicle. And again, working fine. It happens random and had happened 5-10 times after I purchased the vehicle in 2020. The frequency of the problem is random.
Incident date: Jul 14, 2023
Driving and car cuts off without warning. Could be going 35 mph could be going 65 mph. Have to shift to N to cut car back on. Sometimes it won't cut back on. I pressed gas after light turned green in a busy intersection and car cut off in middle of intersection. This has happened in more than one occasion and almost caused many accidents. Throws code for crankshaft position sensor. It has been rep... Read more
Incident date: Jul 17, 2023
My 2018 Ram 2500 6.4l is experiencing intermittent ABS, traction control, electric braking warnings on the dash which affects cruise control once alarm is active. This issue seems to be globally.
Incident date: Jul 26, 2023
What’s driving and all the stiff on the instrument panel stop working and down shifted in to first gear got a six speed transmission in it was going 55 sometimes it goes faster by it’s self just started out of nowhere
Incident date: Jul 10, 2023
The entire dashboard set of alarm lights go ON as soon as the vehicle starts. The speedometer stops working, the hand break light is on so it appears as it actually activates it and it slows the vehicle impacting drivability, the radiator fan is constantly working, the 4WD mode is activated by default also impacting drivability, impossible to see if the car is overheating, and it could very well b... Read more
Incident date: Jul 25, 2023
ABS, Traction control light came on. Shut down 4wd, parking assist, cruise control. Trucks not braking evenly. Feels like differential is locked
VOLKSWAGEN
TIGUAN
(2022) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jul 25, 2023
Incident date: Jul 25, 2023
Unknown, this is what I remember, As I was traveling on this highway I pushed the lane correcting button on because it was raining and I don't like being out in the rain. I had put on my Cruse control and after about halfway to the exit I turned the Cruse control off so that the vehicle could slow down and I could cost to the exit however out of nowhere my steering wheel starts pulling to the left... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jul 25, 2023
2015 Ford Focus, 67,000 miles would jerk , shudder & shut off completely , it would not accelerate or reverse half of the time. Stops in the middle of no wear.. the engine light would come on for a few days then go off and come up again.. the music stopped working& the RPM’s would go pass the 6,7 or 8 at only 10-15 miles & jerk while goin forward .. a safety problem would pop up “ transmission... Read more
Incident date: Jun 25, 2022
accelerator dangerously increased and could not slow down. i pressed the ignition button(to kill the engine and was "jamming on the brakes to no avail. to my knowledge subaru has not recalled vehicles for these reasons. no warning lamps or other symptoms. my car traveled approximately 1/4 before it stopped. i took out a tree or trees knocked down a light pole which slowed me down, hit a... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Apr 19, 2023
I was reversing in order to go up a driveway at an Airbnb where my husband and I had been staying. The bottom of the car is low to the ground, and it was difficult to clear a rise at the bottom of the driveway. I was putting the car in reverse in order to try again when the car made a loud noise and in a split second veered at high speed to the other side of the cul de sac (the wheel was turned in... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jun 29, 2023
Front collision shuts off intermittently for no reason. Causes cruise control to shut off immediately and disabled collision avoidance breaking. If cruise is on and approaching slower vehicle car will not slow down causing driver to break aggressively.
Incident date: Jun 30, 2020
Ram stated they fixed a previous 29 recall bcrm and pcm. Car will not turn off now bcrm failed 12 of 24 modules and engine won’t turn off.
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2020) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jul 25, 2023
Incident date: Jul 25, 2023
Power steering turns off when you go above a certain speed and the service advance power steering comes on.
Incident date: Dec 25, 2020
My 2016 Jeep Cheroke with 75,000 miles started to show a yellow 4WD service light. It would come on and off. I brought it to a Jeep service repair center, where it currently sits, and they confirmed the PTU is NO good. Needs to be replaced at a cost of over $3,000. And to make matters worse, I was advised not to drive the Jeep because it is a safety issue! Also, there is a recall out for "cer... Read more
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2015) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jul 25, 2023
Incident date: Feb 15, 2023
While traveling on the interstate using cruise control, my vehicle abruptly started to break which caused the vehicle behind me to brake as well. I did not touch the brake, accelerator, or the cruise control itself during this incident. And there were no cars in front of me or to the right of my position (I was in the far left lane).
Incident date: May 10, 2023
This car followed me all the way home. I knew the driver was following me because I took a fake route home. I eventually stopped and he stopped with me. This driver is not mentally stable enough to own a license.
Incident date: Jul 20, 2023
On July 20th, 2023, while driving home from work, my vehicle without warning made a sudden jerk and all the warning light s came on the dash board. The car had reduced power and acceleration and an automated voice from the dash board warned to pull over the car. I pulled over into a garage who performed a diagnostic. They stated the error codes indicated MPI failure (IMA power moter invertor). The... Read more
Incident date: Jul 25, 2023
ABS light turned on on the dash. Next a warning that the park sense, ABS, four wheel drive, and Cruise were disabled. Had Diagnostics run and found that the vehicle ABS is logging C0020-01 and C0020-16. Case number S2005000004 from STAR showing this to be a known issue. Contacted every dealership within 100 mile range and the needed part of an ABS HCU is unavailable until at least February 2024. C... Read more
Incident date: Jul 3, 2023
Steering wheel locked up suddenly on the freeway. Once it started working again, and I continue to drive, it did the same thing and entire engine shut off in the middle of intersection, as well as steering wheel locking up. Car has not turned on since.
Incident date: Mar 3, 2023
I've gone to the Nissan center in Antioch to have the transmission fixed due to a failure on the freeway. Cars Rpms went up and my foot was pressed down on the accelerator. The Center said they fixed it and I shouldn't have issues. 4 years later I'm starting to have the same issues.
Incident date: Jul 22, 2023
I get Reduced Engine Power and Service Stabilitrak messages. Engine Code P2138 is prevalent. The car will not accelerate, nor maintain highway speeds, forcing the driver to pull off the road and shut off the car. The warning message returns under normal driving conditions. This code points to several components [Accelerator Pedal Position (APP) Sensor, Throttle Body Assembly with Sensor, Manifold ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 16, 2023
The contact owned a 1999 Ford F-150. The contact stated that he had parked the vehicle and was standing outside of the vehicle, between the driver's side door and the vehicle; however, the vehicle reversed independently at 5-7 MPH onto the highway. The contact's back was slammed against the pole of a speed limit sign and he hit his face against the door. The contact stated that he was crushed betw... Read more
1 injured
Incident date: Jun 12, 2023
On 6 June 2022 I was driving Eastbound Interstate 80 passing Fairfield, CA. Traffic was moderate, average traffic speed 65. The Kia’s Adaptive Cruise was enabled and set to the maximum amount of safe distance. I recall the car directly in front of me changed lanes to pass a truck towing a trailer. I remember the Kia began to accelerate and I couldn’t turn the wheel. Next memory was opening my ... Read more
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Jul 24, 2023
C0020-01 ABS Pump Motor Control - General Electrical Failure Under Warranty by FCA Extended Warranty Unable to order part until after 2/21/24 Unsafe to drive with issue and cruise control is inoperable Dash continues to beep while driving which is also very distracting
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2016) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jul 24, 2023
Incident date: Jul 19, 2023
Vehicle appears not equipped to operate in heat with air conditioning on. Vehicle struggles to keep running, idles high and jerks while driving on the highway. When trying to accelerate after slowing down it doesn’t accelerate.
Incident date: Nov 17, 2021
The contact owns a 2011 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that while driving approximately 25 mph, the vehicle in front of her abruptly stopped for an animal that jumped onto the road, as a result, the vehicle accelerated and crashed into the rear of a Toyota Prius. The brake pedal was continuously depressed. The "low tire" message was displayed. The driver sustained injuries to her knee, neck, and ... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Jun 19, 2023
The vehicle will accelerate unexpectedly without using the accelarator. Usually this occurs when releasing the brakes and on a slight incline.. To date no injuries or damage has occurred due to this. My dealer has not reproduced this defect as far as I know. This vehicle has nor been inspected by the daeler or insurance reps to my knowlwdge. There is no prior indication that an acceleration will ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 11, 2023
Phantom Braking occurred almost 40 times on our recent trip from Northern NV to California and return. We left on July 16 and returned on July 21. Our route was from Minden NV to Las Vegas on Highway 95 and then onto Temecula CA on Highway 15 and 215. The return trip was on Highway 15 to CA 138 to Highway 14 to Highway 395. All travel was during daylight hours. Sometimes phantom braking was so... Read more
FORD
F-150 LIGHTNING BEV
(2022) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jul 24, 2023
Incident date: Jul 23, 2023
Unintended acceleration / rolling may occur when vehicle is remote started through Fordpass mobile application. The 1 pedal-drive vehicle setting is NOT preserved when using remote start. Vehicle may roll down hill upon entry. Default driver profile has 1 pedal drive OFF while all device profiles linked to Fordpass and Phone-as-a-Key have 1 pedal drive ON. Fordpass mobile app remote start needs to... Read more
Incident date: Jul 3, 2023
We purchased a 2019 Chevrolet Colorado December 2022. Beginning in January 2023 to current month July 2023 the vehicle has been at the dealership 4 times for the same occurrence: SERVICE STABILITRAK and ENGINE POWER IS REDUCED A warning “ding” sounds (the same noise as seatbelt, door ajar, etc) simultaneously with the messages “SERVICE STABILITRAK” and “ENGINE POWER IS REDUCED” The ve... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2021
As I was trying to make a turn into the parking lot of a convenient store, my Tesla Model X started accelerating suddenly and unintendedly without my foot being on the accelerator. I kept pressing on the brake to stop the car, but it would not stop. I had no control and while it accelerated for 15-20 yards eventually it hit two other cars that were parked there. This happened so quickly. We all we... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jul 20, 2023
Shifter failure: IN DRIVE mode, the shifter moves to neutral with slight movement of wrist. The shifter is NOT locked thus requiring intentional shift movement, alas simply brushing your arm against it as you reach for the coffee or the radio causes the vehicle to STOP driving Safety Risk: While driving, the car STOPS accelerating and requires the owner to manually put the car back into drive, wh... Read more
Incident date: Jul 21, 2023
ABS / Traction Control turns on and off intermittently without warning when this happens the cruise control turns off creating sudden loss of speed control
Incident date: Jul 16, 2023
Since last year I am having this problem in this car, even after parking the car, it is giving an error of "shift to park', I have already taken it to the car dealership twice to fix this problem and still the problem is not getting fixed in the car. Not even that I live in California and while coming back from Vegas last year, this car suddenly stopped working while on the freeway, luckily I wa... Read more
FOREST RIVER
PUMA
(2017) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jul 22, 2023
Incident date: Jul 22, 2023
The gas pedal sporadically does not respond (though the car will still roll at idle speed). I learned of this issue first while attempting an unprotected left turn to exit a parking lot with cars approaching me quickly and the car not able to respond to the gas pedal. It almost caused a large crash. The lack of response seems to only happen when starting from a complete stop. The Volkswagen dea... Read more
Incident date: Jun 25, 2023
Vehicle problems experienced on 7/22/23. Traveling on Route 93 north to exit 17 just north of Concord, NH at 8:00pm. Used cruse control for most of trip, set to 60mph and 65 mph. The distance feature was working, what a PITA it is. Some where around Concord, NH a warning message in orange was displayed, “Engine speed max 4000” in center of display, an orange triangle with an “!” marked... Read more
MINI
COUNTRYMAN
(2022) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jul 22, 2023
Incident date: Jul 21, 2023
About 3 weeks ago, I started having issues with the truck where the tachometer would jump to redline at the same time the speedometer would drop to 0 driving at 30-40 MPH. The rear wheels locked up twice. This has happened 3 more times since it started 3 weeks ago. The code that came up on the truck was P0720, which is the output speed sensor. Ford issued a recall on 2011-2013 year models for the... Read more
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2022) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jul 22, 2023
Incident date: Apr 7, 2023
The trac control is activated while the car is driving variable speed and brake the car and and the driver loose control of acceleration.
Incident date: Jun 14, 2023
On more than one occasion, my vehicle brakes hard when on adaptive cruise control when approaching a shadow from a tree or over path
Incident date: Jul 22, 2023
BOTH rear speed sensors have gone bad. One under warranty, one outside. This disables safety speed systems and speed control.
Incident date: Jun 1, 2022
The digital speedometer will shut off and all screens will turn of them keep restarting while driving.
Incident date: Apr 12, 2023
This motorcycle is equipped with cruise control. At highway speeds in 6th gear, a design issue with the gear position sensor causes the indicated gear to rapidly switch between 6th gear and 1st gear. This has two effects: 1. Cruise control disengages 2. The engine shuts off and will not start again until the motorcycle is fully shut off (key turned to the off position and back on) This reaction ... Read more