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: Feb 14, 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 28, 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 27, 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
VOLKSWAGEN
ID.4
(2021) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 28, 2023
Incident date: Apr 28, 2023
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: Aug 21, 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: Mar 2, 2023
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
LAND ROVER
RANGE ROVER SPORT
(2015) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 28, 2023
Incident date: Feb 27, 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 28, 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
VOLKSWAGEN
ID.4
(2021) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 27, 2023
Incident date: Apr 26, 2023
Unknown I had just financed the vehicle 2-3 days prior.
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Apr 27, 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
Incident date: Apr 4, 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: Mar 31, 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 25, 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 21, 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
Incident date: Jan 15, 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.
Incident date: Apr 25, 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
Incident date: Apr 25, 2023
Multiple "phantom braking" events in which the car, on a clear day & no cars around, would suddenly slam on the brakes and try to stop. No messages were displayed on the screen. Tesla Service seems uninterested as it is a "software" issue. I tried a full reset of the car with no improvement.
Incident date: Apr 23, 2023
Problems with Nissan Murano CVT transmission - Transmission slips with loss of power/acceleration while in traffic, then jerks or lurches forward. No codes (DTC) registered for the symptoms. Dangerous for myself and other drivers as this occurs without warning. Fortunate not to end up in an accident. Nissan manuals do not recommend precautions or service for this. Now faced with all repair costs.
Incident date: Mar 26, 2023
On at least six occasions since I took possession of this Hyundai vehicle the vehicle has been automatically slowed down accompanied by a "25 mph speed limit" sensor light coming on - and most of these instances could be dangerous because they were not in low-speed zones. This has happened in low-speed zones or near those, in particular on/near a college campus that I drive through or near, but se... Read more
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2009) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 25, 2023
Incident date: Apr 23, 2023
The contact owns a 2023 Kia Sorento. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH, the vehicle independently decelerated with the transmission error warning light illuminated. The contact was able to push the vehicle to the side of the roadway. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted but no assistance was provided. The failure milea... Read more
Incident date: Apr 9, 2023
There has not been an accident. Hopefully it won't come to that! This needs to be addressed
Incident date: Apr 19, 2023
I was backing up a residential driveway. My backup camera showed my wheels were in line. My steering wheel turned and my car had a sudden unintended acceleration. My car destroyed a double steel garage door. Pushed a parked vehicle forward approximately 10-12”. The vehicle crushed a riding lawn mower, pushing the mower through a sheet rock wall. If anyone had been in this area of the garage, the... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Mar 25, 2023
The contact owns a 2021 Jeep Wrangler. The contact stated that while pulling into the parking space, the vehicle suddenly lunged forward crashing into the rear of a parked vehicle which then crashed into the rear of a second parked vehicle. The contact indicated that the vehicle lunged forward while the accelerator pedal was released in order to press the brake pedal. During the incident, no injur... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Mar 28, 2023
The ABS light is on, states it needs to be fixed, we were told by our mechanic that this is a known issue. HCU unit fail and throws service ABS light. Cruise control does not work due to this issue. This started last November and are waiting for parts for the repairs. The truck only had around 74,000 miles when this started. Our repairs are going to be over $1200 to fix. This is crazy, Ram s... Read more
FORD
BRONCO SPORT
(2022) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 24, 2023
Incident date: Sep 14, 2022
My Hyundai Elantra started completely shutting off while I was driving. This happened on multiple occasions like in slow traffic and while going high speeds on the highway. This is scary and dangerous when my toddler child is in the car. I took it to 3 different mechanics and no one can find any codes or anything wrong with it---but it continues to happen and put my life and my daughters life at r... Read more
Incident date: Apr 17, 2023
Accelerates on its own from idle or low speeds. Was recalled on 2/8/2010 #2010018..and repaired on 6/21/ 2010. Approx. 2 years ago it started to "take off again". Grand Buick... Grandville MI advised there was no current recall. I'm waiting for GM to advise of a no charge to owner recall.
Incident date: Apr 14, 2023
After the recall was corrected, the engine light came on two months later. I noticed the car will not accelerate and now will not start. The engine rumbles on the occasion that it does start.
Incident date: Mar 24, 2023
Car speed control malfunctioned. There was a sudden acceleration when car was below 10 miles in the parking lot. The driver lost control on braking and car keep accelerating even no force was applied to pedal. Dribe had to steer out of parking lot and crash through a wood en fence on next door neighbor. Car still keep going thru front yard of two houses cross the street and eventually hit a con... Read more
Crash
FORD
TRANSIT CONNECT
(2019) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 24, 2023
Incident date: Apr 4, 2023
My vehicle accelerated when I was at a red light. My foot was on the brake. It also accelerated when I was backing out of our driveway. This resulted in a type of “ lurching” motion. The incident at the red light happened once. The incidents while backing out happened 3 times. No warning light were displayed. The vehicle has not been inspected yet. My safety was at risk because it accelerated... Read more
Incident date: Apr 23, 2023
The vehicle experiences intermittent fault displays for "electronic brake service" and "ABS Service". This causes the vehicle to suddenly come out of cruise control and slow dramatically. This causes the vehicles ABS safety function to be inoperative reducing the overall braking capability and increasing the safe stopping distance This causes traction and stability controls to be disabled furth... Read more
Incident date: Apr 23, 2023
This vehicle accelerate suddenly while it is slowing down even if I have foot on break paddle. I have complained to Toyota dealers but they said that hybrid vehicle operates like that. This is very dangerous and nobody is taking seriously. I do not believe that this works like that. I have seen so many people complain online about this problem in 2022 hybrid sienna. Please help.
Incident date: Jan 11, 2023
We have owned a 2022 Sante Fe Hybrid for less than a year. Although we haven’t had any mechanical issues until recently, I have been slightly alarmed at the number of recalls that have been fixed throughout the year. This week, our check engine light came on. We were able to drive it home and to our local dealership (Victory Hyundai in Jefferson, Ohio) for service. The problem was diagnosed... Read more
Incident date: May 20, 2022
We have the Ford "death wobble"—have had a few scary incidents on the freeway at speeds 50 or above.
LAND ROVER
DISCOVERY SPORT
(2016) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 22, 2023
Incident date: Apr 17, 2023
On May 20, 2022, I was attempting to back into a parking space when my car lunged forward and crashed into two parked cars. I suffered a cracked sternum. No one else was hurt but I was just a few feet from the ground-level windows of a motel. Much body damage to my car (in excess of $13,000) and the other two cars. Police report was filed. Insurance claim filed. No reproduction of problem sought f... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Mar 1, 2020
Car accelerated into a garage door unintentionally. The brakes did not work. The problem has not been reproduced. The car was taken to a honda dealer twice before the accident for the same reasons of sudden unintentional acceleration. The vehicle has been totaled and has not been inspected by anyone. There were no warning indicators that I am aware of.
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Apr 21, 2023
I was driving on a dry road, going 70mph when my car began flashing the abs indicator and it began breaking and controlling my steering taking me into another lane. The car slowed my vehicle suddenly down to 60 mph and then went off like it never happened. I then had control. There was no reason for the car to do this. There was nothing in the road and luckily no one was to close to me or the... Read more
Incident date: Apr 19, 2023
I like to have metric units active in my vehicle and this Colorado enables me to switch to metric (i.e. 24h clock, temperature in Celsius, mileage in km,...) It is my understanding that, in the US, this function is allowed but the current speed must also always be displayed somewhere. This is not the case. When switching to metric ALL units everywhere switch to metric, also the current speed is ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 15, 2023
Same issue as the last time, and the time before that. Very dangerous, battery completely fails. The instrument meters are wrong and it shows that there is gas when there is really not any gas. Also more recently, we were driving on the highway in the express lane in the car just suddenly came to a stop. We could have died - luckily there was no one behind us. I managed to get the car over partial... Read more
Incident date: Apr 21, 2023
We were traveling on California Interstate 5 North. About 5 miles south of Junction 152 the car started malfunctioning. Suddenly there was acceleration beyond my control. I pushed the brake as hard as I could. It felt like the car was going to explode. Somehow miraculously the car landed on the shoulder of the freeway. It missed hitting any other cars or trucks. This was a rental car from Avis. I,... Read more
Incident date: Apr 20, 2023
Automatic emergency braking occurs without cause at high speeds on flat divided Hwy. Happened on multiple trips 5 or more times in a 3 hour drive on 3 different highways in NM. Tesla service has addressed the issue twice. said everything is working properly. Happens when Cruse control + auto steering are active.
Incident date: Apr 19, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Hyundai Veloster. The contact stated that there was an abnormal knocking sound coming from the vehicle. While driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled, and the RPMs failed to exceed 200 RPM. The contact stated that the vehicle was consuming an excessive amount of engine oil. The oil warning light was illuminated after the failure. The vehicle was towed to the lo... Read more
Incident date: Jan 14, 2022
While driving down the road, my vehicle will completely shut off and shut down. Sometimes, emphasis on the sometimes, I can push my key into the ignition a bit more and it will start back up. I lose all function and control of my vehicle. My dash lights and exterior lights completely shut off. I can't steer my car and it comes to a complete stop within seconds because everything locks up. I have h... Read more
Incident date: Apr 19, 2023
The driver owns a 2013 Hyundai Elantra with 37,657 miles. While slowly turning left into a parking space, the car had a sudden acceleration event. The Elantra sped into the parking space and ran over two concrete parking spot blocks. The Elantra glanced off a grey pickup truck and scraped by a grey SUV. The Elantra entered the empty parking space opposite the SUV and proceeded to impact the side o... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Apr 20, 2023
The cruise control is activated by the slightest touch of the button. Running the heel of your hand over the button will activate it. The button acts like a screen touch rather than a button.
Incident date: Apr 14, 2023
The cruise control on this 2023 Kona has not worked since the day I purchased it. When the cruise control is engaged it will suddenly decelerate, but the cruise still appears engaged. It sometimes then suddenly reaccelerates. This causes traffic to suddenly back up behind me, and also to be in danger in front of me when it reaccelerates rapidly. I informed the dealer immediately of the issue. They... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2022
While driving across the Nevada and Utah deserts, while on cruise control, traveling at 80 MPH we experienced 7 phantom braking. There were no vehicles or obstructions in sight and it was on straight stretches of road. We are no longer using cruise control due to the danger of possibly causing an accident.
Incident date: Apr 19, 2023
The V6 version is under recall. However, this vehicle should be as well. The car fails to accelerate. My car was at the Honda Dealership for over ten days. I came in because my car was unexpectedly unable to accelerate. Honda advised me there wasn't a code but I needed a new battery and other maintenance. I picked up my car, and within 1 mile, I could not accelerate when exiting and was nearly in ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 19, 2023
Vehicle stalled while driving 60mph , vehicle overheated upon restarting