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 14, 2023
Driver experienced an unexpected uncommanded sudden acceleration upon application of the braking system in the driveway, which caused a collision with the garage/house. The safety of the driver and other were put at risk. Significant damage to the house/garage occurred. This is a first time occurrence. Owner has not yet had the opportunity to have the vehicle inspected by dealer, independent s... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jul 24, 2023
Was driving and came to a stop. Went to accelerate and car stuttered and acted like it didn’t want to accelerate. This is not the first time, but it was about a month ago when it last did it and almost caused me to wreck. Car is only at 99k miles.
Incident date: Jan 2, 2023
While driving on the freeway, my 2020 Model 3 “phantom braked” multiple times while using the cruise control. No autopilot for lane keeping assistance. There were no cars in front of me or any hazards. The pavement was pretty new. I was using this feature earlier in the trip with no issues then it started all the sudden with multiple incidents in a short amount of time.
Incident date: Jun 22, 2023
Dash light warning lights come on and causes the cruise control to stop working. A total of 6 fault lights comes on and also causes the Adaptive Cruise Control to not work. This is the 3rd Freightliner Cascadia that I have driven in the past 3 and a half years and every single truck has had the same problem. Freightliner has refused to acknowledge that there is a problem. Nobody seems to know what... Read more
Incident date: Jul 28, 2022
I was driving on the highway and my Jeep shook for a moment and then the D started blinking and there were 2 lights that came on. One was the battery light and the other one was the charging light. There was also an on screen message about a charging problem and to pull over safely. I was on the highway and this was very dangerous as the car was slowing down with cars behind me. I managed to pu... Read more
Incident date: Dec 1, 2022
We were traveling to Illinois when with out warning the car downshifted and went 55m/hr at 5000 rpm instead of 70m/hr at 2000 rpm. Incident occurred 7/22/2023. We were on the tollway coming in to Rockford Illinois at the beginning of rush hour. The mechanic found that the transmission had failed at 47,190 miles on the car. Of course the auto was out of warranty. 2015 Chrysler Town and Country... Read more
FORD
MUSTANG MACH E
(2021) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jul 28, 2023
Incident date: Jul 10, 2023
The contact owns a 2008 Honda CR-V. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 45 MPH, the accelerator pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle was slow to respond. The vehicle lost motive power and shut off. The contact stated that after five minutes, the vehicle was restarted; however, while driving at an undisclosed speed the vehicle inadvertently shut off. The contact was eventual... Read more
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2014) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jul 28, 2023
Incident date: Jul 28, 2023
Since we have owned the vehicle (April 2021), we've had three separate incidences where, when pulling out into traffic from a stop, and the accelerator (gas pedal) is pushed, the vehicle begins to move, but then power is immediately lost, leaving you stuck for a moment. Each time has been temporary, and when the pedal is released and depressed again, the vehicle begins moving. However, this sudden... Read more
Incident date: Jul 4, 2023
While driving on the interstate at 85 mph on a straight flat road, with no other vehicles around, the car suddenly and violently braked. Car was in autopilot beta mode. However, this has happened before while only using cruise control. This happened twice only minutes apart. This issue is typically called phantom braking.
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2019) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jul 28, 2023
Incident date: May 11, 2023
I WAS DRIVING DOWN US 19/27. THE ROAD WAS WET AND A DEER RAN OUT IN FROUNT OF ME. WHEN I APPLIED BRAKES MY TIRES LOCKED UP AND I SKIDDED OF THE ROAD. MY ABS LIGHT STAYS ON AND EVERY TIME I TAKE TO THE DEALER TO HAVE IT FIXED THEY TELL ME THEY CAN NOT GET PARTS. THE TRUCK HAS BEEN DOING THIS SINCE I FIRST BOUGHT IT. AT FIRST IT WAS INTERMITTEN BUT NOW THE ABS LIGHT STAYS
FORD
EXPEDITION
(2020) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jul 28, 2023
Incident date: Jul 19, 2023
5 different occasions where the car enabled the emergency braking system for collision when there were no possibility of collision. This has occurred twice on the freeway, where all of a sudden, the vehicle slams down on the break, coming to a screeching halt. No vehicle or other object in front, side or back of vehicle that should cause this. The other instances happened on city roads and similar... Read more
1 injured
Incident date: May 1, 2023
My car stalled while backing up in heavy gravel. I started out and did not notice that my car was not accelerating. I pulled out into a 65 mph road and began shifting and realized my car was not accelerating. It was a road where pulling over was dangerous. I found an area and turn the car off. I restarted (fixed it when 1st occurrence happened). Got back on the road and again my car was not a... Read more
Incident date: Jul 27, 2023
I was traveling on the 8 freeway in Az going around 80 passing a tractor trailer. I had the cruise control on. Then the car breaks for no reason dropping me to 50 mph. It happened maybe 3 other times on that trip. Maybe 10 times since I purchased the car 5 months ago
Incident date: Jul 27, 2023
When I turn the steering wheel, the ac turns off, lights turn off, the computer screen turns off, steering wheel gets hard and does a jerking movement. The truck turns off too and then suddenly turns on. This can cause a death. If this happens in a highway or a street where speed is high this can easily cause a death.. fortunately this has happened going at 30 mph and no one close at the time and ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 1, 2022
Previous issues with brakes, suspension, leaking sunroof, electrical and gauges. Vehicle became disabled due to defect with coolant system, smoke from engine compartment, towed to Monterery Volvo (dealership/service center identified issues with coolant leak present turbo & cooling Plastic pipe. Cruise control-Vacuum Pump: Found vacuum pump leaking oil. Estimated repair $5,414.38
Fire
Incident date: Jul 22, 2023
The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that while his wife was driving at a slow speed in the automatic braking mode, the vehicle experienced unintended acceleration. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to stop. The contact stated that his wife used the parking brake to stop the vehicle. The contact was concerned that the failure could cause injury or an accident. The con... Read more
Incident date: Jul 27, 2023
A knocking noise from the engine that increases in frequency as the engine rpm increases. Reduced power and/or hesitation and vibration. Illumination of the “check engine” light in the instrument cluster. Illumination of the “engine oil pressure” warning lamp. My car will drive up to maybe 37mph and then the engine will seize up and go into safety mode and it becomes inoperable. THIS is a... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
JETTA
(2019) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jul 27, 2023
Incident date: Jul 27, 2023
The contact owned a 2016 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated that the vehicle was previously stolen, and she related the failure to Hyundai Campaign Number: 993. The contact stated while driving 25 MPH, the vehicle accelerated unintendedly to approximately 45 MPH. The contact depressed the brake pedal and the vehicle decelerated. The contact stated that the failure had been reoccurring while drivin... Read more
Incident date: Jul 24, 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
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2015) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jul 27, 2023
Incident date: Jun 8, 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
Incident date: Jul 26, 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
Incident date: Jul 27, 2022
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: Jun 12, 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: Jun 15, 2022
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 1, 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
Incident date: Jul 26, 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 17, 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: Feb 11, 2017
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: Jun 30, 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: Jun 27, 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 20, 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: Jun 23, 2016
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: Jul 15, 2023
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
MERCEDES-BENZ
C300
(2015) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jul 25, 2023
Incident date: Jul 21, 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: Jul 4, 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: Jul 24, 2023
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
Incident date: Dec 23, 2022
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).
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2019) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jul 25, 2023
Incident date: Jul 11, 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: Nov 1, 2022
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: Jun 20, 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
NISSAN
PATHFINDER
(2020) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jul 25, 2023
Incident date: Jul 13, 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: Jul 24, 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 1, 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: Nov 15, 2022
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: Jul 22, 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 22, 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