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: May 13, 2023
I was backing out of a parking spot when I came in contact with a vehicle going east bound in the parking lot the contact was on the rear right side of my vehicle before I could do anything my vehicle sped up and proceeded to go forward jump a curb I had my foot on the brakes when I realized I wasn’t stopping and heading for a garage I turned right trying to avoid the garage but still hit the co... Read more
Crash
Incident date: May 14, 2023
About every 10 to 15 seconds an alarm sounds and warning sign blinks on dash with message to service anti-braking system and traction control. If cruise control was engaged it disengages and sometimes will not reset until engine is turned off and restarted. Vehicle seems to have braking issues, especially on wet pavement. Brake pads have been checked and are ok. Vehicle odometer has 34102 miles on... Read more
Incident date: May 11, 2023
The car started to slow down on its own even when my foot was on the gas it wouldn’t pick up speed over 20mph then it started to over heat, then smoke. It sounded like sparks like from a firecracker and smelt like something was burning to the point I had to pull over and turn the car off so my children and I could get out and breathe. When I restarted it turned on but would not drive when put in... Read more
Incident date: Apr 23, 2023
We had just provided a jump start from our Truck to a disabled older Honda Passport with a suspected low battery. This wasn't successful as it turns out it was a broken fuel pump causing the issue with the Honda. We had taken off the jumper cables, closed the hood and I pulled over to let my husband get into the vehicle. I was at idle, in drive with my foot on the brake when our Tundra started to ... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
EQS 450
(2022) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 14, 2023
Incident date: Apr 10, 2023
While driving reduced power light came on. On Highway speed reduced to a crawl.
Incident date: May 11, 2023
Recently purchased a used 2017 Toyota Corolla. During the test drive I did not attempt to use the cruise control as it was only driven on city or small highways. Travel with the car at those locations has been good. Yesterday while on a freeway, I used the cruise control. It started out okay, but when I got to a downhill or uphill location, the car engine got very loud. The rpm’s revved to an ex... Read more
Incident date: May 2, 2023
When I put my truck in gear from park it makes a loud banging noise. Also, my transmission makes loud noises when shifting into various gears. When using cruise control the other day the transmission violently jerked my truck as it was downshifting. I thought the transmission was going to break. I've taken it to the dealership multiple times and they say the transmission has "slack" in it. No... Read more
Incident date: May 13, 2023
Dtc p0707 transmssion would go into limp mode while driving in the freeway at highway speeds and drop down to 20-30 mph almost got rear ended common issue on ford f150 with the 6r80 transmssion for the module lead frame recall but only for earlier built but this are also having issues sane transmission same concern
Incident date: Apr 22, 2023
I live in a very rural area with very little traffic on two-lane country roads. When my cruise control is active, my Tesla sometimes brakes for no reason. A couple of days ago it violently braked from 70 mph to 50 mph for absolutely no reason. On that particular trip of 30 miles or so it "phantom braked" four times. I have had this car for almost 4 years and this problem appears to be getting w... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2023
I had 2 accidents in the same week. First one was Monday 2-20-2023. Leaving work heading home, I was at a red light. The light turned green and the car in front proceeded to go. As I hit the accelerator, my car ran into the back of a car full speed. Every attempt to stop car and was unsuccessful. I called to make appt at dealership to have car inspected. Before I could get to said appt at dealersh... Read more
Crash
1 injured
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2014) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 13, 2023
Incident date: May 13, 2023
When applying the brakes to stop at a stoplight, I noticed the brake pedal was very hard and was not stopping the vehicle as it normally did. The stop at the light was not a sudden stop. At the time this incident occurred, the brakes were being gradually applied as the vehicle was coasting to a slow stop. As the vehicle came to rest, the engine started to race with tachometer showing 4500 rpm. I p... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ID.4
(2023) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 12, 2023
Incident date: May 1, 2023
During normal driving conditions going down a state highway, the vehicle lost speed with adaptive cruise control enabled. Noticing the vehicle was losing speed, I depressed the accelerator pedal. The accelerator pedal was unresponsive and unable to accelerate, I had to maneuver off the highway. Luckily, the car behind my vehicle was far enough behind me and my vehicle was going fast enough that... Read more
Incident date: May 12, 2023
MY CAR KEEPS SLOWING DOWN ON ME WHILE DRIVING AND THAS DANGEROUS I HAVE TWO KIDS!! MY CAR WILL NOT Accelerate ONCE IT SLOWS DOWN . MY CAR ENGINE LIGHTS KEEPS BLINKING. ALL MY LIGHTS BEEN ON MY CAR FOR A YEAR AND THIS NEEDS TO BE FIXED IT NEEDS TO B W RECALL OM THESE CARS BEFORE HONDA HAVE W LAWSUIT WITH THESE CARS TO MANY PEOPLE HAVING THESE PROBLEMS. I HAVE HAD MY CAR TWO YEARS NO WAY I SHOULD HA... Read more
Incident date: Jan 8, 2021
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Edge. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, she heard a rattling sound under the hood of the vehicle. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was then taken to Auto Zone where it was placed on a diagnostic machine and the contact was informed that the vapor canister was faulty. The vehicle was then taken to the dealer where ... Read more
Crash
Incident date: May 7, 2022
The Ioniq 5 offers a multi-level regenerative braking system, which slows the car down to varying degrees when letting off the accelerator pedal. While these systems work well to increase efficiency, the behaviour of the brake lights while in use is concerning. Very often the car is slowing considerably, enough to be akin to light braking, but the brake lights do not activate. This can be full let... Read more
KIA
SORENTO HYBRID
(2023) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 12, 2023
Incident date: May 4, 2023
Almost everyday I have to restart the car while I'm driving because the car starts playing songs that are mean, discriminatory, or out right telling me to "Kill yourself on the beach" and "You can't sit here". While I'm driving I'm forced to restart the car to regain control of my instrument cluster which when resetting while driving you basically lose all features of the car minus steering gas an... Read more
Incident date: May 2, 2023
The contact owned a 2013 Kia Optima. The contact stated while her son was driving approximately 35-40 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated and was flashing; however, he continued driving the vehicle. The contact stated that she later took the vehicle to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the knock sensor and an unknown component needed to be replaced. The vehicle was r... Read more
Crash
1 deaths
Incident date: May 10, 2023
The PCM shorts out and fails when sparkplug and Coil packs replaced this cause the steering system to fail speedometer to quit and no transmission connection
MERCEDES-BENZ
CLA250
(2014) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 11, 2023
Incident date: May 11, 2023
3 days ago my motorcycle stayed with maximum acceleration where I had to jump off the motorcycle and let it fall to the ground the motorcycle have minor damage on body
Crash
Incident date: May 4, 2023
The right camera and coax cable have gone bad. The coax cable is corroded and have water inside the camera. This is affect the car to use cruise control and the auto steer function.
Incident date: Apr 26, 2023
My 2019 Honda Odyssey regularly hesitates from the stopped position or when quick acceleration is needed on the highway. This causes a safety hazard when making turns into traffic because I am not able to accelerate for approximately 1 second before I am able to increase speed. It is a known mechanical defect with Honda and they do not currently have a resolution. I reported this problem to my dea... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2023
There was no accident but I would like to prevent one. I believe there should be a recall on my vehicle regarding the service shifter. This defect could potentially result in power loss to the front wheels and the transmission being impossible to put into park. My vehicle service shifter light is on and my car jerks while driving. Is this not a problem with many Jeeps?
Incident date: Jan 11, 2023
The contact owns a 2022 Ford Maverick. The contact stated while her husband was driving 60 MPH and entering the interstate highway, the accelerator pedal was depressed but the vehicle failed to accelerate. The vehicle instead decelerated to 40 MPH. The contact stated that the driver safely exited the roadway. The driver was able to park on the side of the road. The vehicle was not drivable. The co... Read more
Incident date: Apr 14, 2023
Driving normal and then sudden down shift while driving on the freeway Had the software update and it’s still doing the same thing. Was told the lead frame needs replacement. Ford has so many issues with the parts they are back ordered and I am now moving past the extended 10 year / 150,000 mile warranty. I can’t drive and have no idea when or if parts will be available.
Incident date: Apr 26, 2023
My hybrid vehicle lost speed on the highway while going approximately 60 mph. The engine light started blinking. The battery charge icon started decreasing. I was able to exit the highway and pull into a parking lot. After 20 minutes, my car turned on and the battery icon showed it was charged. I drove to the dealership and after having my vehicle in the shop for several days. I forwarded an ... Read more
FORD
EXPEDITION
(2023) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 10, 2023
Incident date: May 9, 2023
While applying the breaks the vehicle will deactivate ABS and force the vehicle to slide without control. ABS will turn off and on without warning. While using cruse control abs will deactivate and cause cruse control to stop working, causing the vehicle to slow unexpectedly. This has happed while towing a goose neck trailer causing additional pressure on vehicle when sudden loss of cruise control... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2022
I rented the vehicle in question from Hertz. The vehicle's cruise control and vehicle acceleration system repeatedly malfunctioned over the course of several days. I would have cruise control set for 35 mph and the vehicle would automatically re-set cruise control to 55 or 65 mph. Likewise, I could have the cruise control set for 55 mph or 75 mph and it would automatically on its own re-set the cr... Read more
Incident date: Oct 15, 2022
The contact owns a 2008 Ford Explorer Sport Trac. The contact stated that on three occasions while the vehicle was in drive but stationary, the brake pedal was depressed, and the vehicle accelerated unintendedly. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 130,018.
Incident date: Jan 1, 2023
I had recently just had gotten and oil change less than 2 months ago, I had to take my car back to the dealership because it was taking a while for the car to pick up speed. Once I took it into the dealership they told me my engine needs to be replaced. I know someone else that I know that has a hyundai as well and their engine completely gave out as well. What's going on with the engines. My car ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 6, 2023
I was driving in 55 mph zone in heavy rain and car slowed down to less than 25 mph and would not accelerate over 25 mph when I pressed the gas. Dashboard lit up amber and stated “collision mitigation braking system problem..see your dealer” and lane departure problem. Car eventually accelerated but automatically decreased speed again and I was unable to accelerate after pressing gas. This happ... Read more
Incident date: Dec 3, 2022
My car was purchased with 12,000 miles and supposedly worn tires. Because of that, I went to the dealership to get new tires and an alignment since the car was always pulling to the right. My car has been at the dealership four times for the same problem, and they still haven't fixed it. My car continues to constantly pull to the right, and when I use the cruise control, it stays above the other c... Read more
Incident date: Apr 8, 2023
Anytime I drive down a moderately steep hill, the transmission down shifts to a lower gear and the RPMs go above 5000. It seems to get stuck in this gear for a bit of time. If I speed up, the RPMs get to about 6000 before shifting. Otherwise, I’ll need to slow the vehicle considerably before it will change gears. I contacted the dealership and they told me to bypass it by switching to the manual... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2023
The forward collision avoidance system is malfunctioning and shuts down the traction and stability control systems making the vehicle more vulnerable to collisions. Multiple attempts to repair this system have been unsuccessful
Incident date: Aug 2, 2021
The ABS, Service Electronic Brakes, and traction control warning alert constantly goes on and off while driving, deactivating cruise control as well. It does it all speeds, in all gears, including on the highway, at 70, in traffic. This is especially problematic in the rain, as I don't know if the ABS will work or not. The alert goes on, resets and goes off, then goes on, then resets, constantly. ... Read more
Incident date: May 9, 2023
I was driving down the interstate with my cruise control on. It was set to 75 mph. The vehicle began to speed up on it's own. We reached 86/87 mph when I turned off the cruise control but the vehicle was still accelerating. We reached ~95mph, I was slightly applying brake pressure and this slowed down the rate of acceleration but did not stop it. I tried shifting to neutral but the car didn't... Read more
FORD
ESCAPE HYBRID
(2022) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 9, 2023
Incident date: Feb 22, 2023
I have taken my 2017 kia sportage in the dealer several times due to loss of power and hesitation when trying to accelerate. They always say they cant find any issue. Also, my Kia is using or losing oil. I get oil changed every 5000 miles and the last two changes I had less then the low mark, barely showing on dip stick. I have had to add quarts of oil after only 2000 miles since oil change. Oil ... Read more
FORD
F-150 HYBRID
(2021) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 9, 2023
Incident date: May 6, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Subaru Outback. The contact stated while the was stationary at a traffic light, the vehicle accelerated independently while depressing the brake pedal. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the RPM’s was elevated to 5,000. The contact stated that he turned off and restarted the vehicle and was able to continue driving to his destinat... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ID.4
(2022) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 9, 2023
Incident date: May 3, 2023
I’m not sure exactly when everything started but it’s been a 2ish years. The lights on my steering wheel started blinking randomly. Then the cruise control stopped working. Then the lights went out entirely. Now the horn only works occasionally. It slowly got worse over time.
Incident date: May 5, 2023
upon entering the cross driveway at a mall parking lot, car suddenly veered right, accelerating & unresponsive to stepping on brakes pedal, steering wheel locked, gear buttons did not respond, seat belts tightened, but air bags DID NOT deploy. Speed was slowed when car ran over a large rock and crashed into the wall of small store front. I, the driver, have not been in any accidents, had not take... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Mar 18, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while driving at low speeds, the accelerator pedal was depressed but the vehicle failed to respond. The brake pedal was depressed to the floorboard. The vehicle was slow to respond and failed to move. After the vehicle responded, the vehicle failed to exceed 35 MPH. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to th... Read more
Incident date: May 3, 2023
The speedometer reads significantly higher than actual speed. Took to the dealership, they confirmed speedometer reads high but allege that it is within the 10% margin that is allow by Volkswagen. Car is currently still under full warranty and dealership says they are not allowed to fix because issue is "within allowable tolerance." Speedometer will read up to 4mph high at 60-70mph. This seems to ... Read more
Incident date: May 8, 2023
While traveling with cruise set at 62mph and a truck was in the right turn lane the automatic collision went off and hard brake when nothing was in front of the truck this has happen also with out cruise control on pulling up to a stop light and being first person no other vehicle was on the road I also don't have forward collision turned on or lane departure
CONTINENTAL
CROSSCONTACT LX SPORT
(9999) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 7, 2023
Incident date: May 6, 2023
Driving at 80mph with cruise control on in daylight, car suddenly for no reason braked hard, this occured 2 times hard and several other times enough to alert us while driving and take Cruise Control off by touching brake pedal Car went immidiately from 80mph to 60mph throwing us forward in our seats.
FOREST RIVER
SURVEYOR
(2019) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 7, 2023
Incident date: Aug 7, 2022
I’m having recalled issues in my car, but the car has no recall on it
Incident date: Jan 23, 2023
INTERMITTENT FAILURE OF ABS/HCU RESULTING IN NO ABS, CRUISE CONTROL, OR TRACTION CONTROL. UNABLE TO FIND THE PART IN QUESTION, DEALERS WANTING NEARLY $2000 FOR REPAIR ON UNACCEPTABLE TIMELINE. UNABLE TO HAUL SIGNIFICANT LOADS WITH TRUCK (I.E. CAMPER OR EQUIPMENT/TRAILERS). DOING RESEARCH I FOUND THAT THIS IS A VERY COMMON PROBLEM WITH THIS TRUCK AND NO RECALL WAS EVER ISSUED. HCU PARTS ARE NOW RES... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2023
It happened twice already when I step on the break pedal the car goes accelerated feels like you step on the gas pedal that is the problem the first incident I stopped and parked next to the gate because I need to put the code of the gate to open then when I come back to my car and step on the break to release the transmission from P parking 🅿️ then the car goes accelerate too fast almost hi... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2023
Within 2 months of buying the car, it has stalled in traffic twice with engine revving. During the first time, it was unnoticeable until my car did not react when pushing the gas pedal. The car stayed at a stop until I restarted it twice. Kia dealership was informed, however, they could not find an issue or code. Recently, the second time was different and more scary. It stalled once again and as ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 20, 2023
Sometimes when I mash the gas pedal to pull out from a stop it hesitates and doesn't move, then is sluggish when it does. This has happened often. It's dangerous.
Incident date: May 5, 2023
Engine and brake lights have come on. Engine knocks bad. Vehicles stall when pressing gas. Dangerous driving soecialy going through stop sign. Low power while pressing gas.
Incident date: Jan 2, 2023
The wrench light came on in the car and my OBD sensor will not pick up a code on what it could be. I was driving it yesterday to merge onto a highway when suddenly I couldn’t pass 15 mph and was stuck witch cars beeping and zooming around me. I had to shut the car off wait and turn it back on. The amount of complaints I’ve seen about the same exact issue happening to people in the same exact c... Read more