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
LAND ROVER
RANGE ROVER EVOQUE
(2017) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Sep 12, 2023
Incident date: Jun 1, 2023
While driving, the car came to an abrupt stop. Lights and alarms flashed stating "Do not drive" "hybrid system malfunction". Car could not be driven. Had I been on the highway, which I just exited, I could have been dead with how suddenly the car stopped without prior warning. The warning came when the car was shutting down. It has now been at the dealership for 3 weeks and they are unable to pinp... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2023
Around June of this year, my engine light came on. I took it to my technician, who cleared the code. After an accident on 7/4/23, and after picking the car up from being repaired, the engine light came on again. It is a code that indicates there is a "Cracked or faulty turbo charger". Extensive research has shown this to be a manufacturing defect, which can cause catastrophic failure. The manufact... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Sep 10, 2023
WHEN USING THE STEERING WHEEL PADDLES TO MANUALLY SHIFT GEARS WHILE DRIVING ROADS IN HILLS, THE VEHICLE WILL LOSE POWER AND SLOW DOWN. HAVE TO PULL OVER AND SHUT OFF ENGINE. ON ENGINE RESTART, ENGINE POWER IS BACK AND PROBLEM IS RESOLVED.
Incident date: Jun 12, 2023
WHEN USING THE STEERING WHEEL PADDLES TO MANUALLY SHIFT GEARS WHILE DRIVING ROADS IN HILLS, THE VEHICLE WILL LOSE POWER AND SLOW DOWN. HAVE TO PULL OVER AND SHUT OFF ENGINE. ON ENGINE RESTART, ENGINE POWER IS BACK AND PROBLEM IS RESOLVED.
Incident date: Sep 12, 2023
i had engine light a code P200a on my 2017 kia optima ex 17,000 miles i have like a hesitation when accelerating, sometimes just sitting idling or sitting at a light feels like going to stall. i had some one check it they told me to bring it to the dealer because they looked it up and said it is like a recall on 2016 kia optimas there is a Technical Service Bulletin on the same condition that i ha... Read more
Incident date: Sep 10, 2023
The contact owns a 2022 Toyota Prius Prime. The contact stated while driving at approximately 25 MPH, the vehicle suddenly experienced unintended acceleration, and the vehicle accelerated to 50 MPH before the contact was able to stop the vehicle by depressing the brake pedal. The contact stated that the failure reoccurred the following day. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manu... Read more
DODGE
GRAND CARAVAN
(2016) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Sep 12, 2023
Incident date: Jul 3, 2023
ABS , traction lights are on and cruise control , ABS and traction control doesn’t work. Safety issue. I understand that there is a recall on 2019 , 2020 models and wondering why the 2018 ram 2500 are not included in the recall .seems like a common problem says the dealership.
Incident date: May 16, 2023
There are occasional times (perhaps once or twice a month) where the vehicle does not respond with the expected acceleration of a depression of the accelerator pedal. Specifically, the vehicle "lags" when I depress the accelerator pedal. While I have not experienced a dire situation or collision because of it, I believe it might cause other drivers to experience a safety incident: a driver might... Read more
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2013) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Sep 11, 2023
Incident date: Sep 9, 2023
Many occurrences of phantom braking have occurred since I purchased the vehicle several months ago. I was driving on I-5 in California with the cruise control set at 70mph, then changed lanes from left lane to right lane with about 5-6 car links from the semi truck to the rear in the right lane. The emergency braking feature engaged with no vehicles in front of me in either lane for at least 500 y... Read more
Incident date: Aug 16, 2023
On 9/3/23 we were traveling from Moab UT to Green River UT and the cruise control was engaged at highway speeds. We were not using the "Autopilot" functionality. Without warning, the car suddenly decelerated under what felt like hard braking. There was no warning immediately before the hard braking started and the car had no warning indicators of any kind either before or after the incidents. ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 26, 2023
This accident involved a high speed collision on the 2nd floor of a parking garage at a hospital in a suburb of Houston, Tx. Both the driver and the passenger were killed. A question has arisen as to how the vehicle could have accelerated at such a high rate, in such a short period of time, especially inside a parking garage? When we found out NHSTA was re-opening, the Tesla sudden acceleration ... Read more
Crash
2 deaths
Incident date: Sep 5, 2023
There is so many customers that is having the same problem with the replacement of transmission at only at 38,000 miles there has to be an issues with the Toyota CHR my car now is make the same humming noise it started out low and now it’s very loud only for find it need a new transmission. It needs to be recalled by Toyota my car needs work right now!!!!!! I paid 162.00 thinking the transmissio... Read more
Incident date: May 11, 2023
We took our first long-disance trip (Albuquerque NM to Arlington TX, round trip) in our 2022 Tesla Model 3 and experienced multiple (4-5) phantom braking episodes to and from Arlington when engaging adaptive cruise control or autopilot. The car had been driven 5,760 miles before the trip. There were no warnings before the braking. The car was travelling at 70-77 mph on interstate highways and sudd... Read more
Incident date: Sep 4, 2023
ABS module or HCU bad. Anti lock brakes not working. Cruise control not working. 4WD not working. Caused issue driving with a load when ABS did not engage and almost rear ended another vehicle.
Incident date: Sep 8, 2023
The contact owns a 2022 Acura MDX. The contact stated while driving approximately 40 MPH, the vehicle independently accelerated. The contact stated that the failure occurred at various speeds. The contact stated that the failure had been intermittent but had become a reoccurring failure. Additionally, the vehicle hesitated while depressing the accelerator pedal. The contact stated that no warning ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 11, 2023
The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while their spouse was parking the vehicle and pressing the parking button, the vehicle suddenly accelerated. The vehicle jumped the curb, crashing into two different vehicles to eventually be stopped after crashing into a tree. The air bags did not deploy. There was damage to the other vehicles and to the tree. The driver received inj... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Sep 11, 2023
A friend and I was driving out of town we drove approximately 3 hrs before vehicle stalled on us at a stop sign. The car had no power after driving 60-70 miles on highway. We exited access road & once we stopped at stop sign car acted as if it had no power/gas. Although foot was on pedal all the way to the floor. Transmission has been replaced a year ago. Vehicle did not want to go over 50 mph aft... Read more
Incident date: Nov 4, 2022
The car has been stalling when the fuel level reaches the half point for over a year now. Now it is stalling at any time regardless of the fuel line level. Recalls completed and up to date. Informed it was a software issue. Car still performing the same after recall.
MERCEDES-BENZ
C350
(2008) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Sep 11, 2023
Incident date: Aug 18, 2023
Driving on I-5 North from Los Angeles to San Francisco with adaptive cruise control activated. Suddenly and without warning car activates emergency braking as if it sees an obstruction on the road but obviously road was clear of any obstructions. This happened 4 times then I finally decided to no longer use cruise control. This happened on a clear sunny day around noon time 9/8/23.
Incident date: Sep 9, 2023
1. When vehicle is on autopilot mode. Vehicle will all a sudden brake by itself with no reason as to why, no cars in front of me intermitly. Mostly happens when driving at highway speeds and when approaching a overpass. 2. Could be crash from the rear. 3. Have not notified Tesla. 4. No inspections have been performed 5. No warnings and no beeping either just brakes by itself intermitly.
Incident date: Mar 28, 2023
The ABS light, break light and traction. Control due to either a faulty abs modul or tip computer. Dealers unable to replace until MAY 2024. Concern is the abs breaking and traction control for safe driving. From what I have read this is a common problem that needs to been corrected.
Incident date: Sep 10, 2023
I was slowly pulling into a parking space at the beach. Pulling into the space the car accelerated, fast. It crashed in to the two cement barriers at front of parking space. I heard the air hissing out of the right front passenger tire, as it deflated. The front of the car was badly damaged from the crash into the barriers. Luckily no one was injured or killed. This is the second acceleration ... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Aug 15, 2023
For the 2nd time in about 8-10 months, while braking and having nearly come to a stop, on a slight incline, the car had a sudden acceleration. Driver repeatedly stomped on the brake as the car tried to leap forward. Extremely dangerous. No warning lights. I know the dealer won’t do anything because they won’t be able to reproduce it. Conditions were mild, slight sprinkle. I bought the car fro... Read more
Incident date: Sep 7, 2023
My car would randomly shut off at red lights, one time I was on a hill & thought I was going to roll back into the car in front of me. After restarting it would turn on. The radio would randomly shut off. We eventually replaced the battery. On a Fri.(Dec 17th) my car would not start, so my Husband drove the kids & I to school, upon my return the car started. He told me the wheel locks & I need to ... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Sep 9, 2023
All of my lights on the right side of my dashboard is on..the traction light, brake light,steering wheel light and the speedometer is acting iradical..I put new speed sensors on it and it still haven't fixed the problem..alot of mechanics say it's and electrical problem..I bought the car from flow Mazda dealership a couple years ago it's been sitting since then
Incident date: Jul 4, 2023
C0020-01. Electronic Braking System and stability control system continually go in and out of alarm kicking the truck out of cruise control suddenly. This was repaired once under warranty by replacing the hydraulic control unit at 40,000 miles and it is now doing the same thing again at 90,000 miles. This is a significant safety issue as it prevents the use of cruise control and turns off the s... Read more
Incident date: Jun 4, 2022
Cruise control switch began smoking, disconnected it and took it to Awesome Ford of Chehalis, WA for recall service sometime in June or July. Service tech found that brake fluid had wicked its way up electrical harness into cruise control servo, necessitating replacement in order to complete recall service. FoMoCo has been unable/unwilling to replace cruise control servo and is instead requiring t... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Sep 8, 2023
On multiple occasions this vehicle has lost power whilst driving on public roads including but not limited to interstate roadways. The vehicle will be operating normally at speeds of up to 75 miles per hour (depending on the posted speed limit) and will suddenly lose power and speed to such a degree that it is unsafe and the speed cannot be regained. Vehicle has been inspected and "fixed" on mult... Read more
Incident date: Aug 16, 2023
We had two tires put on/rotation at the dealership and the two recalls repaired via a software update on or around the end of August. Once I left, felt the steering was hyper sensitive thought it was the tires. I had two incidents upon acceleration the truck aggressively yanking me into the opposing lane without driver input. Secondly, my wife had it happen to her on a very busy feeder road, the t... Read more
Incident date: Aug 29, 2023
On Wednesday, our 2021 Tesla Y - which we have LOVED driving for the last 3 years - took off on its own while I was sitting in traffic - where traffic was at a standstill, and the max speed was probably 4 MPH. Construction ahead had closed a lane, so there was a massive back-up and cars were creeping along each time the traffic light ahead turned green.) As any Tesla owner will tell you, the be... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Nov 1, 2022
Unintended acceleration, hesitation, and transmission issues. When accelerating from first gear to second gear, hesitates and then suddenly lurching forward.
Incident date: Sep 7, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 Toyota Avalon. The contact stated while pulling into a parking space, the vehicle accelerated unintendedly, drove over the curb, and crashed into bushes. The air bags did not deploy. The contact did not sustain any injuries. There was no police report filed. The contact was able to drive the vehicle to the residence. The vehicle was then taken to the dealer, where she infor... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Sep 8, 2023
The adaptive cruise on the Mercedes has a habit of harsh braking during stop and go traffic. It's not a natural braking manev8, instead it's jarring and I feel like it could cause a rear end with how jarring it is. Many other users are experiencing the same.
Incident date: Sep 7, 2023
Similar to the 2019 & newer Ram HD recall for the ABS electronic control module, my 2018 Ram 2500 has the same issue. It was recently diagnosed at the dealer in August 2023, but due to the abundance of impacted trucks, the dealer estimates that replacement parts will not be available until at least February 2024. While I wait for the repair I have no ABS, traction control, stability control, or cr... Read more
Incident date: Sep 5, 2023
Over the last 3 years we have had ongoing issues with our truck going into limp mode. We have spent thousands of dollars at dealerships and mechanics trying to troubleshoot the issue. Several occasions while trying to merge onto the freeway the truck would slip into limp mode causing us to have other drivers slam on their breaks almost hitting us. We had 2 cars in January of 2023 veer off the ... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2019) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Sep 7, 2023
Incident date: Aug 1, 2023
Adaptive cruise control on at 70mph, speeding car pulls into my lane with no gap (completely cut me off), hard brake by computer, I did not tap the brake to take it off of cruise, car that had cut me off zigs into another lane while adaptive cruise control has car at about 40 mph due to hard brake. As car in front pulls out of the lane, adaptive cruise control guns the engine to 3500-4000 rpm si... Read more
Incident date: May 2, 2023
Phone charging cord is prone to getting pulled into the steering column and extremely difficult to remove. When I was able to remove the cord, I discovered a wire or spring the steering wheel assembly must have come undone, because the airbag light is on, and my cruise control no longer works, and neither do the steering wheel controls for the radio
Incident date: Sep 14, 2014
When using one pedal drive modes going down an incline as a slow rate of speed say 2 - 3 mph. If you release your foot from the pedal the truck will come to a spot, then reverse 3 - 6" on that incline. This has cause on more then one occasion almost back into a vehicle that was behind me.
Incident date: Sep 7, 2023
- my car started releasing white smoke - i took it to repair shop, stated it was fixed, white smoke continued -car started overheating -Took it to KIA dealership and was told i was responsible for fuel leaking into engine, was told my car was not covered under warranty, I also have an extended warranty at the dealership which they wouldn't honor stating it was not covered -Recently while driving t... Read more
Incident date: Sep 5, 2023
Power train light came on a busy highway, Transmission disengage from engine ,vehicle stops In the middle of traffic. Towed truck to the dealership on the on the 08/21/23. Reset PCM and TCM module.On the 09/07/23 same problem vehicle stop in traffic.Truck would not move in drive or reverse when engine running ,towed to the dealership today .
Incident date: Aug 31, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Soul. The contact stated while driving at an unknown speed, the vehicle shuddered and stalled while accelerating. The transmission also shifted hard, and the vehicle shook abnormally. The vehicle was consuming an excessive amount of oil. The vehicle was overheating. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer, where it was d... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
E350
(2015) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Sep 6, 2023
Incident date: Sep 1, 2023
I was driving no warnings lights to shutting down on the road to black smoke came out of the back luckily a guy was going by and helped me move my car
Incident date: Sep 6, 2023
I was driving and suddenly 13 flashing lights and codes from check engine to loss of cruise control and RAB -dealer says it needs a new thermo control valve (thermostat). This failed part has been common on Subarus for 3 years-reported on internet and even to the point where a guy sitting next to me today with same car and year and same $1800 bill and diagnosis. Should be a recall. Part was redes... Read more
Incident date: Sep 5, 2023
I have a 2013 Ford Edge. Mileage approx 55,000 miles. All scheduled maintenance was up to date. In July 2023, while driving, car started to decelerate. No noises, smells or loss of steering. It was as if my gas pedal just stopped working. My dash had a warning to refer to owners manual. I Thank the Lord there was a break in traffic and I could "coast" to the emergency lane. I shut off the car, res... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
JETTA
(2015) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Sep 6, 2023
Incident date: Nov 6, 2022
Transmission downshifts during normal driving conditions on highway. There is a recall for this defect. Recall #1901(transmission). Called Ford on 9.6.23 and spoke to employee #219738 and Ford refused to correct known defects.
Incident date: Jun 28, 2023
ABS LIGHT CODE C002-01 AT 16582 MILES .REPLACED HCU .19710 MILES ABS LIGHT BACK ON CODE C002-01REPAIR LASTED 3128 MILES.TOOK VEHICLEBACK TO DEALER WITH SAME PROBLEM 3/29/23DEALER SAYS NO PARTS AVALABLE SO NO TRUCK TILL PARTS COME IN .AUGUST IS BEST GUESS AS TO PARTS .CALLED DEALER IN AUGUST NOW NO PARTS TILL DECEMBER AND MAYBE NOT THEN.BOUGHT TRUCK NEW FEB 2019 TRUCK BEEN DOWN MORE THAN DRIVEN.DEA... Read more
Incident date: Aug 31, 2023
The vehicle has stalled as trying to continue after a stop at a light or stop sign. It will not travel except at 10 miles per hour or less while trying to cross the intersection. Other drivers are impatient and start honking. This has also happened while going down a busy street . It jerks when you start to go after stopping. Happened in July 2023 -- 2X August 2023 --... Read more
Incident date: Sep 5, 2023
I turned on Cruise Control at 60 mph and it immediately set itself to 20 mph, braking fast to slow down quickly. This caused the car behind me to slam on his brakes so he would not rear end me. I tried increasing cruise control speed to no avail. I had to turn it off. Once I did not have any cars behind me, I tried once again so I could take a video and of course, it worked as it should. Not ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 24, 2023
On 6/27/22 we were driving roughly 35 mph and all of the sudden the warning light Engine Malfunction Power reduced Service now warning light came on and the car immediately slowed to 20 mph with no warning. It was a Sunday so we couldn’t take it to the dealership that day. We turned the car off and in about 20 minutes turned it back on and the warning light had cleared. We took it to the dealers... Read more
HYUNDAI
SANTA FE SPORT
(2014) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Sep 5, 2023
Incident date: Aug 31, 2023
The vehicle has a terrible delay when accelerating from a rolling stop between 8-11 mph. If you try to accelerate and the vehicle is at this speed, the delay is about 2-3 seconds before the transmission gets it into gear.