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: Apr 1, 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: Jul 15, 2021
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
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS
(2019) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jul 24, 2023
Incident date: Jul 21, 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
Incident date: Jul 22, 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: Jun 19, 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: Jul 23, 2023
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 23, 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 22, 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 19, 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
Incident date: Jul 21, 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
Incident date: Jan 23, 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
Incident date: Jun 22, 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.
FORD
EXPEDITION
(2020) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jul 22, 2023
Incident date: Jul 9, 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: Mar 23, 2023
BOTH rear speed sensors have gone bad. One under warranty, one outside. This disables safety speed systems and speed control.
Incident date: Jun 4, 2023
The digital speedometer will shut off and all screens will turn of them keep restarting while driving.
Incident date: Jul 21, 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
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2017) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jul 21, 2023
Incident date: Jul 21, 2023
When the car starts all warning lights come on. Hill start assistance, pre collision assistance, all assistance. There is no cruise, no safety collision assistance at all. First appeared on June 13 2023. Ford Dealer is currently trying to fix the problem. They are unsure why it’s doing it. It puts all occupants life at risks as the car doesn’t have any safety assistance.
Incident date: Jul 8, 2023
This whole vehicle has several recalls, looking at what the recalls stated, those are all safety issues that could occur at any moment. The engine has failed in said vehicle. The issues at hand have been confirmed by a registered mechanic. He was unable to locate any engine for this vehicle and it was taken to a dealership, in which they will not fix. Also, have been in touch with Stillantis, howe... Read more
Incident date: Mar 10, 2023
on a recent 800 mile road trip, there were no less than 7 incidents of the vehicle suddenly braking on its own while on cruise control with no vehicles in front of us. one incident occurred with a semi truck behind us that almost caused an accident. the car went from 80 mph to 45 mph before I had time to react and press the gas pedal.
FORD
EXPEDITION
(1998) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jul 21, 2023
Incident date: Jul 8, 2023
The motor inverter for the rear motor failed while I was driving. The power cut out, and luckily I was able to drift over to the side of the road. On a highway, it would have been very dangerous. The dealer diagnosed the inverter issue, and said it needs to be replaced. The car has not been inspected by the manufacturer, the police, or insurance representatives. A warning message appeared the mo... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
TIGUAN
(2018) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jul 21, 2023
Incident date: Jul 20, 2023
The gas petal broke while accelerating to get on the highway. My safety was put at risk as I was unable to move out of harms way. I was shocked to find out the gas pedal was plastic. It was the original gas pedal provided by Nissan and I am the original owner.
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2022) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jul 21, 2023
Incident date: Jul 21, 2023
The ASCD Switch failed while traveling > 60mph. The car lost all acceleration down to ~ 5 MPH. The car lost power to the steering.
FORD
ESCAPE HYBRID
(2020) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jul 20, 2023
Incident date: Jul 12, 2023
In May of 2021 my 2014 Kia Sorrento had major engine problems. I brought it to Myrtle Beach Kia immediately and after 5 months of back and forth and paying for rental vehicles, I was told that they would not cover any repairs due to the Recall! I then paid $8, 663.63 for a repair that was never fully completed. Immediately after receiving vehicle back, check engine light was on. Numerous call to t... Read more
FORD
F-150 HYBRID
(2023) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jul 20, 2023
Incident date: Jul 20, 2023
My car won’t go up to speed and it keeps throwing out it’s the turbo boost sensor not only that I almost crashed when I pushed on the brakes a little bit
Incident date: May 5, 2023
I, and many other owners of Chevy Bolts are having our speed suddenly reduced without warning. The vehicle immediately drops to a max speed of 30 mph and gives an error message "Propulsion Power is Reduced". One common cause seems to be defective transmission fluid pumps, although other electrical and mechanical components also seem to cause this problem. One common error code seems to be P2797,... Read more
Incident date: Jun 17, 2023
Since the purchase of my vehicle I have noticed from time to time it will accelerate when I’m pressing on the brakes. Recently, this issue has gotten worse. I have almost drove my car in to our garage doors, or come close to hitting someone in front of my vehicle, because of its unpredictability. There are also issues with a delayed acceleration when accelerating from a stop. I will press on the... Read more
Incident date: Jul 14, 2023
Car accelerated without warning propelling me across a curb, street, then a second curb. The SUV was stopped upon impact at a concrete building. Fortunately there was no injury to others but the accident caused the car to be totalled by my insurance company. There were no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure. The airbags did not deploy upon impact,
Crash
Incident date: Jul 19, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the vehicle hesitated while depressing the accelerator pedal, before accelerating as needed. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact called the dealer and was informed that the vehicle was not under recall or covered under warranty; and was referred to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The manufacturer had not been notified... Read more
Incident date: Oct 28, 2022
The vehicle stopped measuring speed accurately, resulting in all safety features and multiple vehicle measurements becoming non functional. The vehicle was towed to Fowler Honda, Norman OK. Diagnostics revealed the sensor bolt had backed out and the sensor had backed out (code C0039-62). The sensor and bolt were installed correctly and all systems functioned again. I was travelling at interst... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2015
The vehicle was serviced not long after I got it as a certified pre-owned vehicle for reprogramming of the transmission, which I told it was a just a reprogramming to make it more reactive. The vehicle would fail to accelerate, or have delayed acceleration. I was not aware at the time that these vehicles were known to have faulty transmissions and if I known this at purchase I would have spent my ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 6, 2023
my son-in-law went straight off country road and into a tree car burnt to ground was burnt to death date was [XXX] sheriff Spokane county investigating teal front suspension repaired 1 month before at local Tesla shop Spokane wa INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6
Crash
Fire
1 deaths
DODGE
GRAND CARAVAN
(2017) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jul 19, 2023
Incident date: May 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2007 Toyota Camry. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed with the accelerator pedal depressed, the vehicle unintendedly accelerated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic; however, the mechanic was not able to determine the cause of the failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 200,000.
Incident date: Feb 23, 2023
The contact owns a 2023 Honda CR-V. The contact stated that while driving at slow speeds, the contact slowly entered a parking space; however, as she removed her foot from the accelerator pedal to depress the brake pedal, the vehicle lunged forward. The contact stated that she abruptly depressed the brake pedal to stop the vehicle. As a result, the front of the vehicle front swiped two parking pos... Read more
Incident date: Jul 18, 2023
I was driving and slowing down to 45 mph going through Corrigan, TX on 59. The truck all the sudden accelerated pulling to the left, then all of a sudden slammed to the right and went over a curb. I had no steering control and my foot was all the way down on the brakes to try and stop. I'm lucky it didn't happen 20 min before when 75mph was speed limit. The a frame broke, Ball joints, broke rack a... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jul 15, 2023
The shift started locking, followed by consistent tugging while driving above 20 mph. It stutters and pulls when driving down hill which has caused me to pull over and restart the car in heavy traffic on the freeway. Now the car pulls so much it is not safe to drive above 20 mph. I have taken it to two service centers and both have confirmed the CVT transmission is faulty. No lamps or messages ... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ID.4
(2023) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jul 18, 2023
Incident date: Jul 15, 2023
The vehicle has significant lag when trying trying to accelerate quickly. It also surges wildly on occasion when cruise control is engaged. It has happened both on slight inclines and when cornering. Both of these events are outside of operator control and could cause an accident. The vehicle has not yet been inspected by a dealer and there are no warning indicators. The vehicle is available for i... Read more
Incident date: Mar 3, 2023
The plastic break switch pad broke when I was driving on the highway. I lost engine power and RPMs were erratic. Brake lights would not turn off even when brakes were not applied. I could not excellorate normally or maintain speed. Upon examination the pad was brittle and yellowing. There is already a safety recall for this part but only in certain states that does not include Arizona.
Incident date: Jul 18, 2023
While I was driving along a freeway using autopilot cruise control, the car suddenly slammed its brakes even if there was no cars in front of us. I thought it was just a fluke but it happened at least twice if not thrice during that trip. There was at least an approximate of 3 miles gap between us and the car in front, so practically no cars in front. Had there any vehicles behind us, it would f... Read more
Incident date: Jul 16, 2023
While attempting accelerate on the highway at 70 MPH the car entered "Engine power reduced" mode resulting in the car to slow down. This reduced speed resulted in a few near misses on the highway. The check engine light than began to flash for about 15 seconds before all the messages went away and normal driving conditions occurred. Taking it into the dealership they pulled from the computer th... Read more
Incident date: Jul 7, 2023
At 65 miles an hour on the interstate, I suddenly lost control of the accelerator and the car immediately began to lose speed. I pulled into the breakdown lane and came to a stop. I put the car in park and attempted to increase the engine speed by pressing on the accelerator. It was only when I jammed my foot to the floor that the engine responded. I then drove the car carefully to a Genesis deale... Read more
CHEVROLET
CHEVEROLET SS
(2014) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jul 18, 2023
Incident date: Jul 18, 2023
I have need to get 3 oil changes within the past month and a half. Twice I was told I was driving with no oil in my car and the engine was getting ready to go. I notice when I start my car in the morning it is making a rattling noise, this also happens when I try to accelerate and the car will get stuck in gear and hesitate before speeding up. It's been dangerous trying to drive on this highway. ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 11, 2023
I was on my way home from work sitting at the red light and when I was release my feet from the brake to take to driving, the auto start failed to start the car and I was stuck on side the road for 30 minutes because my vehicle wouldn’t not start. Finally the car started but I couldn’t get it to go over 15 mph. The car has been to the shop twice for service. Once was an electrical and the oth... Read more
Incident date: Dec 19, 2022
I was driving the 2014 ford focus and it slipped out of gear no warning lights when accelerating only rpm’s would go up the vehicle still out of gear I immediately put on my flashers and pulled to the side of the highway with cars going by and the vehicle would restart no go in or out of gear. I had it towed to the nearest dealership after pulling over and turning car off after I turned key bac... Read more
FORD
MAVERICK HYBRID
(2022) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jul 18, 2023
Incident date: Jul 5, 2023
Tesla Model Y purchased on 06/23/2023 from Springfield NJ center. I had 2 accidents on the same day. I having been driving in the US from more than 5 years and never had a scratch on my vehicle nor even a parking ticket. i drove approx 600 miles in 2 weeks. So I was very comfortable in driving the tesla model y. Date of incidents - 07/07/2023. At Tinton Falls NJ. I was trying to take a K turn on ... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Jul 7, 2023
As I was leaving work yesterday, I noticed that the Air Bag indicator was showing on the dash. It was not showing when I drove it to work. I also noticed that my Cruise Control is no longer working.
Incident date: May 15, 2023
While driving home from vacation I started noticing my car wasn't letting me drive over 65 mph. It felt like the car need to shift but wouldn't. I pulled over and turned my car off. Opened the hood of the car and everything seemed ok. When I got back on the road and started to pass traffic my car wouldn't engage when pushing on the petal. I had multiple cars behind me that needed to brake for me t... Read more
Incident date: Jul 8, 2023
Hello, I have been having issues with my 2018 Ram 2500. The Service Traction Control and ABS lights on the dash have been flashing on and off constantly. Along with no Cruise Control when this happens. This has been going on now for about 3500 miles. I am still driving the vehicle due to being my only work truck. I have been doing some research along with talking to the Ram Service Departments... Read more
COOPER
COOPER DISCOVERER H/T (T-RATED)
(9999) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jul 17, 2023
Incident date: Jun 17, 2023
When driving for a distance at higher speeds, power will suddenly drop to the zero point btw acceleration and regeneration. You can feel the car start to drag as the power drops. If you press hard on the accelerator to stop it from slowing, it will suddenly jump forward. This has happened now on several long trips where I am constatly fighting with the car to keep it powered and not slipping int... Read more