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: May 3, 2019
The Collision Mitigation Braking System is overly sensitive, aggressive, unpredictable and sometimes erratic causing extremely dangerous situations including almost causing traffic accidents due to unwarranted locking up of brakes sometimes on the freeway at very dangerous highway speeds. I've had about 5 scenarios where the system has terrified me by applying heavy stopping power in a dangerous ... Read more
MITSUBISHI
OUTLANDER SPORT
(2015) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 3, 2023
Incident date: May 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport. The contact state that on several occasions while driving at various speeds, the vehicle hesitated and then stalled. The contact stated that while accelerating, the vehicle lunged forward then inadvertently increased in speed. The contact was able to stop the vehicle. Additionally, the contact stated that while shifted in reverse(R), the vehicle ... Read more
TOYOTA
COROLLA CROSS
(2023) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 3, 2023
Incident date: Mar 16, 2023
Ram truck was taken to dealer December of 2022 with 7,000 miles due to ABS lights on dash. The dealer Larson Dodge ordered a new part and said they would not be able to complete it until March and to "drive it as it is". The vehicle doesn't have functioning anti lock brakes etc. Now they have told me it will likely be August due to Chrysler being the problem. This is obvious far too long and n... Read more
TOYOTA
HIGHLANDER
(2022) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 3, 2023
Incident date: May 1, 2023
According to Toyota, the wire harness needs to be replaced due to damages caused by animals (rodents). My main concern is, this vehicle is not safe to drive. Because if a midsize animal could find its way inside the engine compartment and caused so much damages to a car I drive every day, what would happen if a snake or a rat shows up inside the cabin while driving at 65 or 70 mph. Secondly, what... Read more
Incident date: Apr 6, 2023
I took the vehicle in for a recall for unrelated issues to this problem at 90,000 miles (July 6 2022). The technician noted that the vehicle was leaking oil and it needed an oil pan reseal. I brought the vehicle back for this service on March 6 2023. Between the initial recall service and this service, I noticed that the vehicle was consuming a significant amount of oil, beyond regular consumption... Read more
GENUINE SCOOTER
URBANO 50I
(2022) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 3, 2023
Incident date: Apr 28, 2023
EVERY SINGLE TIME I DRIVE MY 2017 NISSAN ROGUE, it acts up at the worst times when I'm trying to cross a busy street with oncoming traffic, sometimes very high speed, I cannot get sufficient acceleration!! I HAVE COME SO CLOSE TO GETTING HIT THAT NOW I AM CONVINCED, IN A MATTER OF "WHEN", THAT I WILL BE HIT!! I am aware that You and Nissan are aware of the CVT being a problem that no one wants to ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 6, 2022
I have been encountering issues with my 2007 Hyundai Sonata SE in the following manners: 1- At times the brake lights will be on and the car will have anyone inside. 2- My ESC OFF light comes on will not go off. 3- When using my headlights the cruise control will not work. (Specifically when the automatic lights would come on the cruise goes off) 4-At random times the key will not turn. All the... Read more
Incident date: Jul 2, 2022
I was making a right turn into a McDonald's and heard engine rev and car accelerarated involuntarily and brakes not engaging to stop the car. Eventally the car hit curb and went down onto grassy slope area next to road with traffic all the time brakes not engaging to stop the car. Finally able to turn car away from roadf back onto the grassy slope and it finally stopped.
Crash
Incident date: May 2, 2023
2017 Hyundai hybrid Sonata Check hybrid system turn off engine, It’s been at a dealership for three months last time. after year later same issue again.
Incident date: May 2, 2022
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fiesta. The contact stated that the transmission was not working as designed. While driving at various speeds, the vehicle accelerated abruptly. While changing gears at low speed, the vehicle was shaking and shuddering. While driving approximately 30 MPH, the RPM raised up to 3,000 RPM. While attempting to accelerate from a stop, the vehicle failed to move. Additional... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2020
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Edge. The contact stated that while pulling into a parking space with the foot on the brake pedal and when shifting to park the vehicle suddenly experienced unintended acceleration and drove forward into a fence and down an embankment. During the crash, the driver sustained a back fracture and leg injuries and was transported to the hospital. A police report was taken ... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Apr 14, 2023
The contact owns a 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that on several occasions while driving at undisclosed speeds, the brake pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle experienced unintended acceleration. The contact stated that he shifted into neutral(N) to stop the vehicle. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed tha... Read more
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2015) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 2, 2023
Incident date: Apr 27, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 Chrysler 200. The contact stated that while driving 40 MPH, the brake pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle unintendedly accelerated. The contact had to depress the brake pedal very forcefully to stop the vehicle from accelerating. The contact stated that while her sister was driving the vehicle, she also experienced the failure. Additionally, the vehicle failed to acce... Read more
Incident date: Apr 25, 2023
PowerTrain Malfunction Failed, notification on my vehicle appeared on 4/28/23, although I had been notifying dealer for 3 months prior the safety issue I was experiencing, and nearly got killed on a major interstate, on 4/26/23 my truck stalled as foot pedal would not work. Major safety of semi-trucks and other vehicles on main I30 Interstate were trying to avoid hitting me due to my vehicle abrup... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
SPRINTER 2500
(2020) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 2, 2023
Incident date: Apr 29, 2023
None responsive throttle, driving on highway and engine loses power and loses all throttle response causing rapid slowing to traffic behind the vehicle. No warning lamps and CEL’s. Problem occurs at random times with no CEL or warning.
Incident date: Mar 14, 2023
The contact leases a 2020 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that while idling at a red light, the vehicle would suddenly and unintendedly surged forward. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The manufacturer was not yet notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 3. The consumer stated she intends to purcha... Read more
Incident date: Apr 8, 2023
The vehicle will not accelerate properly. Several times, I have been on the interstate, and the vehicle would barely increase in speed. Several instances have let to life threatening situations. Numerous times, I have gone to get on the interstate, and the vehicle would slow to nearly a stop, and even when having no other choice but to floor the gas pedal, it still would not accelerate. I've been ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 15, 2023
accelator stuck to the floor a couple of times when gassing it to pass other cars on the roads. The pedal would actually will stay pressed down even when my foot is off the pedal, it will speed the truck up even when pressing down hard on the brakes. when i got it to stop and cut the truck off while in park and turning the key the rpms were going absouletely nuts. looking to see if this is a ... Read more
FORD
EXPEDITION
(2021) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 1, 2023
Incident date: Apr 29, 2023
Abs system has moisture in there was a recall on. Couse the abs system to fail and is not working. I was driving in snow condition when it went fail the first time and almost lost control when applying the brakes. The problem has been reproduced and the car is at an independent repair shop. The abs trackion control light and check engine light where turned on.
Incident date: Apr 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Toyota Camry. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the contact depressed the accelerator pedal; however, the vehicle failed to accelerate. The failure occurred intermittently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, no failure was found. The failure recurred. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, who was unable to duplicate the failure. T... Read more
Incident date: Apr 22, 2023
We were driving locally, and the car stopped abruptly for no reason. There was no one and nothing in front of it, no animal around, and no reason for the stop. Had there been someone behind us, we would have had a big problem. We called the salesperson at the dealership only to learn that he had moved to Germany. We were told that another representative would return my call in about six minutes. ... Read more
JAYCO FIFTH WHEEL
EAGLE
(2022) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 1, 2023
Incident date: Sep 1, 2022
My infotainment center has repeatedly failed during operation. It is distorted while driving, freezes, stuck on previous screen display. This causes all safety features to be inoperable. I can’t see the camera back up display. I can’t see the map or upcoming exit/next direction. The Honda genius features are impacted by this. My vehicle suddenly thinks I am exiting while I’m driving and rand... Read more
Incident date: Jan 10, 2023
While driving in FSD, autosteer, traffic aware cruise control, and with all turned off, I have experienced 5-10 episodes of “phantom braking” on the highway at high speeds over the past 48 hours. I have driven in 4 states total so far; in sunny, cloudy, straight road ahead conditions, sometimes with cars around and sometimes on totally empty stretches of road. The first episode took my car fr... Read more
Incident date: Apr 26, 2023
While driving on many occasions the last incident happened Friday April 28th 2023. My 2020 Malibu lost all communication on 231 Hwy. All dash gauges went haywire power dropped on vehicle RPM was accelerated but vehicle speed would not change engine light and traction light came on. I then had to pull over brakes made a loud thud noise when stopping. Turned vehicle off sat for about 15 minutes and ... Read more
MITSUBISHI
GALANT
(2007) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 30, 2023
Incident date: Apr 11, 2023
Here I explain the problem better, when the car is at a low speed, such as when parking, the gasoline engine starts and it starts to rev up to 6k RPM and after that it brakes and hits hard, this would be dangerous on the highway and another problem is that when accelerating it has a delay of 1-3 seconds, and I want to report this problem to see if there is any solution
Incident date: Apr 3, 2023
The jeep had a p2138 code which is pedal sensor bad and p2127 took to black dodge jeep they found it bad replaced with OEM part 800 mi later p2138 code is back on and takes off on it's own
Incident date: Jan 6, 2023
3 separate times the right pillar camera and 2 times for all cameras: The car's computer lost contact with the cameras and could not reconnect. In 2023, Tesla changed from radar to camera sensing technology. All driving functions relating to car positioning and cruise/speed control were lost at those times. Twice the car was under cruise control so the car interpreted this as 0 mph and initiated e... Read more
Incident date: Apr 30, 2022
Throttle sticks. When pressing acceleration pedal down from a stop or from a change of reverse to drive, there is a 2 second lag. This issue can cause serious problems if you’re pulling out from a stop sign. A burst of acceleration then happens after the 2 second lag, causing cabin disturbance.
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2021) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 29, 2023
Incident date: Aug 16, 2022
The transfer case has locked up several times causing me to wreck once. The engine misfires and does not give the MPG advertised. The life of my family has been put at risk with little to no care from the dealer after several attempts for service.
Crash
Incident date: Apr 20, 2023
While driving down the freeway on 4/29/2023 my Tesla Model Y slammed the brakes on for seemingly no reason without warning. This incident occurred with auto pilot and auto steering engaged. The day was clear and road was clear.
Incident date: Apr 28, 2023
While driving at any speed the abs and traction control lights start flashing and a chime goes constantly. also when this happens it causes the cruise control to disengage without any warning. Also leaving you without abs brakes. I am on my 3rd abs module and 2nd hydraulic control unit and needing a 3rd hydraulic control unit for this vehicle with less than 62,000 miles the first one went out arou... Read more
Incident date: Apr 28, 2023
I was traveling on a multi lane road at a speed of approximately 45 mph. There were cars directly behind me. Multiple pedestrian crossings were in front of me but the pedestrians had already crossed the road and were safely on the sidewalk. However, the caution lights from the crosswalk were still illuminated from the pedestrians that had previously crossed. As I reached the pedestrian crossing, t... Read more
Incident date: Apr 28, 2023
Phantom breaking when adaptive cruise control is on. Manufacturer refuses to help and promises a software fix is on the way. No way to use cruise control without adaptive cruise control, so no way to use cruise control safely. I was pulled over today after the car decided to brake check a sheriff deputy. Lane departure warning activates for no apparent reason. Does not go away when the feature i... Read more
Incident date: Apr 26, 2023
While driving down the road in traffic, several errors started appearing on the Tesla screen, and the vehicle lost power brakes and steering, rendering it impossible to drive safely. The complete set of car systems that were disabled all at once was: stability control disabled traction control disabled automatic vehicle hold disabled lane departure avoidance unavailable ABS disabled steering assi... Read more
Incident date: Apr 24, 2023
Driving from Reno to Las Vegas on hwy 95. I was using the cruise control and the car repeatedly slammed on the breaks when there was nothing on the road to cause it. Breaking was applied dropping the speed from 5 miles an hour up to 35 miles per hour. The excessive breaking could have caused a crash if a semi was behind me. Every time it happened I noticed a phantom object showing up on the very l... Read more
Incident date: May 24, 2015
The contact owns a 2015 Volvo S60. The contact stated while driving approximately 15 MPH and slowing down for a crosswalk with pedestrians in the crosswalk, the vehicle independently accelerated while depressing the brake pedal. The contact stated that she had not noticed any warning lights being illuminated. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent. The contact had taken the vehicle t... Read more
Incident date: Jun 6, 2022
The contact owns a 2023 Buick Envision. The contact stated while parking the vehicle, the vehicle launched forward without warning, causing the vehicle to drive over the curb. The contact desperately depressed on the brake pedal and the vehicle came to a complete stop, causing damages to the front bumper and underneath the vehicle. The contact was able to park the vehicle. The vehicle was not diag... Read more
Incident date: Apr 28, 2022
The contact owns a 2018 Kia Sportage. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle independently accelerated with the tachometer elevated to 5,000 RPM’s. The contact shifted into neutral(N) to correct the failure. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 87,000. Th... Read more
Incident date: Apr 20, 2023
Tesla abruptly reduced speed by as much as 30 mph while using cruise control in various scenerios. @ lanes highway with oncoming traffic, divided highways with no traffic or obstacles nearby. It happened at least 6 different times while on a 1400 mile trip. There were no warnings issued in any of the occurances. I discontinued using cruise control because of this issue. I have an appointment to ta... Read more
Incident date: Apr 27, 2023
Driving down the expressway yesterday doing approximately 72 miles per hour and the vehicle does a HARD SLAM down to first gear and picks right back up to 6th. Now my concern is not only for the lead frame issue, but my transmission is being damaged every time this continues to happen. Since Ford was not able to even LOOK at my car until June 2023 (Its currently APril 28, 2023), I elected to take ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 27, 2023
Unknown I had just financed the vehicle 2-3 days prior.
Crash
1 injured
VOLKSWAGEN
ID.4
(2021) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 27, 2023
Incident date: Apr 26, 2023
Yesterday, April 26th, 2023 the above vehicle was involved in a serious accident, possibly related to the safety recall for the high voltage cell module. My wife was driving the vehicle on her way to work, as she did for the past 2 years. Sometimes she gets coffee for herself and a coworker, so that day she turned into a parking lot of the last MacDonalds before her job. She pulled up to the drive... Read more
Crash
4 injured
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2023) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 27, 2023
Incident date: Feb 1, 2023
On March 19, 2023, I put my Tesla in drive and it went into reverse . When I tried to brake the speed accelerated. We were unable to stop the vehicle, while driving in reverse the car hit two mailboxes and two ceramic flower pots. It has been over 6 weeks and Tesla will not return my calls or messages. My insurance company looked at the body of the vehicle for a repair estimate. Nothing indicate... Read more
Incident date: Jan 2, 2023
Intermittent ABS, EBS and traction control issues causing spurious warnings and loss of cruse control. The alerts are distracting to the driver, loss of ebs/abs represents safety issues while traveling, as does the loss of traction control and cruse control. Dealer has diagnosed the issue to the respective abs/ebs controllers but reports no parts in inventory and no due date for when they will ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 20, 2023
There are two concerns-first the phantom breaking using cruise control and the other is poor functionality of using the windshield wipers. I have experienced the phantom braking since shortly after ownership to as recent as 2 weeks ago. This has caused me to no longer use the cruise control. It is very difficult to engaged the windshield wipers. During nighttime driving and sudden heavy rain I... Read more
Incident date: Apr 20, 2023
On 5 different occasions between January-March 2023 the accelerator pedal continued to accelerate after the pedal pressure was released. Even with braking, the accelerator pedal did not decelerate. Pedal had to be lifted back to original position by using toe of foot underneath the pedal. Occurred 4 times in city driving and once on highway. Extremely hazardous conditions if I did not react to... Read more
JEEP
GRAND WAGONEER
(2022) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 27, 2023
Incident date: Apr 25, 2023
Car started displaying all Mill lights in the message center, including “lane assist disabled,” “stability control arm needs servicing,” “traction control unavailable,” and others. After about 3-5 seconds of rapid fire messages being displayed, the car made a “shutting down noise” and then died on the side of the road. Had it towed to a dealership.
EVENFLO
REVOLVE360
(9999) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 26, 2023
Incident date: Apr 12, 2023
Both rear taillights have condensation since 1 month out from purchase till currently. Dealer garage will not fix it says it normal and will not even write up or make an appointment to have it checked. Recently, I was proceeding into the highway and I lost acceleration to move into traffic that scared the life out of and my family. Pressed the gas and car doesn’t move at all then hardly at 40rp... Read more
Incident date: Apr 22, 2023
This is the problem know in Tesla world as "phantom braking." This happens to me frequently. I am driving on a clear road, no obstacles, and the car will brake hard for no clear reason. At best this is annoying. But there are times when it is extremely dangerous. This happens on highways and interstates at highway speeds. Drivers behind me are forced to brake hard to avoid a rear-end collisi... Read more