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 6, 2023
The Tesla computer and especially the USER INTERFACE IS UNSAFE. More accurate to say I hate the UNFRIENDLY user interface. I am surprised NHTSA OKed this computer interface. It needs a GOOGLE quality voice activation feature. The current one is deaf to most words normally used to drive a car. E.G., to turn the lights on while driving on a road where “LIGHTS ON” is required. I must hit... Read more
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2018) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 10, 2023
Incident date: Mar 30, 2023
2017 Chevy Malibu has P2138 showing up.. I was on the highway loss half the power to my car, almost causing a major accident, went from 65 mph to 30mph in seconds.. This is a safety issue & needs to be address ASAP!! I have my vehicle at the dealership, the service teams seems to have no clue that there is an issue with the mailbu's !! The P2138 is defined as “Throttle/Pedal Position Sensor/... Read more
Incident date: Mar 26, 2023
i am an owner of Mercedes 2022 EQS, living in Westchester, New York. There are a number of flaws in the auto drive software system that the company refuses to acknowledge. 1) the sensors on the passenger side of the car do not register a car immediately adjacent to you. Thus, while the auto steering feature still keeps the car within the lane, if the car to the right lane of my vehicle is adjac... Read more
Incident date: Apr 9, 2023
On long, straight interstate highway roads where speed limit is 80mph in GOOD to EXCELLENT weather and visibility conditions the vehicle on average would apply emergency braking at least 10x per 1,000 miles when no hazard or obstruction was present. This was often caused by asphalt color changes, slight hills, or shimmer in the distance…all of which are normal conditions for average driving. If ... Read more
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2011) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 9, 2023
Incident date: Oct 11, 2022
I bought a 2019 Ram July of 2022 - I drove it home and pick up my dad to drive my old truck back (didn’t trade it in), as I was pulling up to the dealership, I experienced a huge safety issue with the truck continuing to accelerate after multiple alarms were flashing on my dash - service electronic stable control, service electronic throttle control, parking break - along with others. I pulled i... Read more
Incident date: Apr 9, 2023
I had my adaptive cruise control on while driving on a highway and suddenly lost power/acceleration. I was able to limp the car back home and the check engine light came on. I took it in to get the error code read, which prompted that there was an issue with the high pressure fuel pump. I got that replaced by our normal service provider and picked up my vehicle. While driving the vehicle again (wi... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
BEETLE
(2013) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 9, 2023
Incident date: Apr 3, 2023
Unwanted sudden engine speeding up,No warning or messages.
Incident date: Apr 9, 2023
Yesterday I experienced an SUA incident and nearly lost my life. I was entering a freeway and began to accelerate my car. Suddenly I felt as if the gears kicked and the car began to accelerate on its own to max revolutions. I pressed down on the brakes to see if it would stop and there was heavy resistance. I took my foot on the break and the car began to accelerate and rev completely on its own a... Read more
Incident date: Mar 24, 2023
Vehicles continues to make random unwanted and dangerous sudden braking at highways speeds while the cruise control is engaged.
Incident date: Mar 5, 2023
I have two warning messages appearing on my dash. Service Electronic Braking System and Service ABS System. Took it to my dealership Michiana Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram FIAT in Mishawaka Indiana. I was informed that it needed an HCU (hydraulic control unit) and that the part was unavailable because of engineering review until at least August 2023. The work order was closed and i was sent on my way a... Read more
Incident date: Apr 7, 2023
I was driving down the road an the car started accelerating all by it's self so I pulled over but every time I let off the break it acted like I had the gas to the floor. The O2 sensor wire's shorted and burnt up the ECM making the CPU light to come on.
TOYOTA
COROLLA CROSS
(2022) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 8, 2023
Incident date: Apr 1, 2023
While driving my dodge journey 2016 crossroad plus my engine started to hesitate when giving it throttle pressure to accelerate and when attempting to accelerate it decreased in speed and would in then cut power to speed up and then gain it back rapidly going into high rpm’s vehicle would then slow down on highway causing a huge safety risk for myself and others on the interstate
Incident date: Jan 15, 2023
While driving down the road the steering wheel began to wobble and shake really bad and the power steering light came on and then power steering locked up, I was barely able to get out of the way of oncoming traffic which was very difficult for me because I have Lupus and not very much strength in my arms. Had to turn car off and restart several times before getting the light to stay off long enou... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 2500
(2009) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 8, 2023
Incident date: Apr 8, 2023
On my way to work my 2019 Jeep compass all of a sudden started flashing all these error messages while I was driving (check shifter, service transmission, service ESC, AWD warnings, check coolant, car shutting down) my car seemed to be stuck in 1st gear, and my parking brake came on. While panicking trying to get off the road, I turn left but my car is going so slow a truck comes over the hill and... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Apr 8, 2023
My Vehicle has no warning signs lights that it has an problem/issue to warn. When driving to 30mpg the vehicle does a forceful jerk forward to a stop causing whiplash effect to driver and passengers. When vehicle comes to a near stop to traffic or light it creates the same effect. This is a constant through the entire driving trip. I have taken it to several mechanics and they have accurate or cer... Read more
2 injured
Incident date: Mar 28, 2023
At highway speed, using the autopilot feature for speed control only, the car applies severe braking when there is nothing obstructing the road or requiring brakes. This has happened dozens of times over the first several thousand miles we have owned the new car. We filed a report with Tesla and they said this is not a problem and is expected behavior. We are concerned this will occur with ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2023
At random times the vehicle will slam on the brakes although there is nothing in front of it. It has happened with vehicles behind me and I have averted multiple crashes by luck I suppose.
Incident date: Dec 18, 2022
Clockspring has failed . Hyundai has extended the clockspring warranty for 2011 to 2014 Elantras to a 15-year unlimited mileage but has excluded the 2010 models for some reason. I would like Hyundai to extend the warranty to all affected vehicles as it is a safety hazard.
Incident date: Mar 26, 2023
I carry my family in the vehicle and the lights would come on for the traction control and check engine light and speed sensor light and the car would stop moving and shut off while going down the road and the brakes would barely work and the transmission would stop pulling or slip and the engine would not rev up that is really dangerous when your traveling with traffic something needs to be done ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 5, 2023
The series of events leading to my theory of what is wrong with my 2012 Kia Soul: 1. Steering coupler replacement in March of 2021 left my steering wheel sideways instead of straight, air bag light remains on, and traction control light as well. The after-market (I assume) cruise control is automatically on when car is started. Must turn off manually. 2. U-joint connecting to steering column fel... Read more
Incident date: Mar 10, 2023
Today 4/7/23 My 2017 Toyota Sienna accelerated on its own. I was driving my 4 children to school and we were at a stop light. When I took my foot of the brake to start making a turn the car gunned it around the corner. It scared everyone in the car half to death. Thankfully no one was hurt but it looks like others on here haven't been so lucky with this issue. I hope toyota does the right thing a ... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2013) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 7, 2023
Incident date: Mar 15, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 Toyota Tacoma. The contact stated while her husband was depressing the brake pedal, the vehicle accelerated independently. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The driver was able to regain control of the vehicle and continued driving to the residence but experienced the failure for second time. The vehicle was not drivable. The contact towed the vehicle to ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 6, 2023
Bought new in 2020, then after 24k miles, had rough idle, uneven acceleration, occasional lurching while decelerating. Check engine indicator, code p0301. Dealership diagnosed faulty transmission, said needed replacement, then took about 90 days to finish repairing the vehicle. Now, as I expected, 25k miles later, exactly the same situation, except so far the check engine light has not come on and... Read more
Incident date: Mar 31, 2023
On Wed, April 5th, 2023 at approximately 10:15 pm I was returning home from a class in my 2021 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid. I was on local roads and had just transitioned from EV mode to gas mode (having used up all of my battery after about 30 miles of driving) when the car flashed the attached warning sign and I had very little power provided by my accelerator. Note that something similar to this... Read more
Incident date: Apr 6, 2023
Transition stalls when cold
Incident date: Oct 17, 2019
This problem started 3 o 4 day after I got the car from the dealer, I was driven to my work in highway 70 lonoke Arkansas and suddenly my car started to shift back and started to lose velocity and others cars started to pass me, was very scary ,I took the car to the dealer and they told me, they don't know what happen with the car,they don't let the mechanic to fix it and I took the vehicle to O... Read more
Incident date: Apr 6, 2023
Special Coverage Adjustment N172097060 Side Blind Zone Alert Module Water Intrusion was issued for my vehicle. I took it in to get fixed and was told I was past the 6 year extension (May 2022) but under the milage (79,199). They told me the parts are on back order from GMC. This was on 04-03-2023. On 04-05-2023 I was driving my vehicle and the instrument cluster went partially blank. I lost my spe... Read more
Incident date: Oct 12, 2022
Digital dash/display and the whole cluster freezes while driving. The recall 22v-779 update was done on the truck 4 weeks ago and it still have the same issue.
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2015) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 5, 2023
Incident date: Apr 5, 2023
It seems that, from the day we purchased the vehicle, there have been issues with the transmission regarding how it is programmed and how it responds to drive or input through the throttle. This causes the vehicle the occasionally lurch forward under acceleration, especially at low speeds in the parking lot. And times the throttle gets really confused and the transmission fails to deliver power to... Read more
Incident date: Feb 9, 2023
My vehicle was purchased from Shottenkirk Ford new in 2016. They perform my maintenance regularly. Recently, I experienced a leak and took it in; I had it towed to them. Shottenkirk wanted $1200 because they stated that the water pump needed to be replaced. After replacing the water pump, the leak was worse. Shottenkirk wanted $1200 to replace parts they said needed replacing in the transmission c... Read more
Incident date: Nov 24, 2022
The contact owns a 2011 Freightliner MT-55. The contact stated while coming to a complete stop and depressing the brake pedal, the vehicle inadvertently attempted to accelerate. The message "Check Hybrid System" was displayed. The contact applied more pressure to the brake pedal and the vehicle started to jerk. The vehicle then responded as needed once coming at a complete stop. The contact stated... Read more
Incident date: Feb 15, 2020
The car jerks forward when accelerating from a stopped position which throws everyone in the car forward and it could potentially hit something or someone. The car does not stay in position when put in park or even turned off. It rolls back 2 feet and it hit my daughter and knocked her down from the rear and the car door hit my mother because it rolls back too far. Also, it has a major hesitatio... Read more
2 injured
Incident date: Dec 24, 2022
The throttle body system keeps failing and causing my ETC light to come on. This causes the car to lose speed and almost stalling while driving. Thus happens out if no where and while driving the car will automatically slow down on it own and won't let me accelerate which is very dangerous when driving on the highway or trying to make a turn and your car stops accelerating. I have had the throttl... Read more
FORD
C-MAX ENERGI
(2017) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 5, 2023
Incident date: Feb 10, 2023
ABS and traction control failed causing me to lose control on an icy road. I was able to regain control without hitting anything or having an accident but now I get an intermittent ABS control module service warning. When this appears the antilock brakes, the cruise control and traction control do not work. Once the light goes off all systems return to normal operation. It is intermittent and unpr... Read more
HYUNDAI
ELANTRA GT
(2019) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 5, 2023
Incident date: Mar 26, 2023
My wife was driving our 2014 Odyssey. She went to visit a neighbor. As she pulled up in the driveway and applied the brakes the car acceleration engaged. She was unable to stop the car. I hit the neighbors garage door, totaling it and damaged both of their cars inside. She had complained previously about what she had described as a braking problem. The car was taken into Honda service to check out... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Apr 5, 2023
The contact owns a 2023 Chevrolet Blazer. The contact stated that while driving approximately 50 MPH, the vehicle experienced unintended acceleration and the speed increased to over 70 MPH. The contact indicated that while depressing the brake pedal the vehicle failed to slow as needed and the parking brake was activated to eventually stop the vehicle. The vehicle was later towed to the local deal... Read more
Incident date: Mar 29, 2023
ABS & Traction Light flicker on & off randomly at no specific duraction. I cannot predict when lamps will come on, also cruise control is disabled when lamps light up. I understand this has been an on-going issue for Ram.
Incident date: Mar 15, 2023
After starting the vehicle and going from reverse to drive the vehicle stalls out. After the initial stall and traveling a few miles, while stopping at a traffic signal the vehicle stalls out again and more times than not can accelerate at a speed higher than prompted. This is a frequent occurrence and other owners of the same make model and year that I have spoken with have the same issue.
Incident date: Feb 1, 2023
Car will not accelerate or moved after stopping at red light..even after pressing the pedal all the way to the floor..very dangerous situation..some one is going to get hurt or kill...Nissan needs to recall because almost every nissan altima experience the same problem..very scary and dangerous situation it happens every day now..car will not move at all or sometimes very slow..please help..Dealer... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2020
Driver drove approx. 3.5 to passenger’s home. While sitting & talking to the passenger for several minutes, the car suddenly, rapidly lurched forward, crashing into neighbor’s property. Substantial damage was done to the neighbor’s deck and brick wall at rear of the house. At least one piece of heavy lumber speared through the windshield between the driver and passenger. Vehicle is auto-s... Read more
Crash
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2015) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 3, 2023
Incident date: Apr 3, 2023
At elevations above about 6,500ft, the Sprinter is essentially immobile or becomes intermittently unresponsive to the gas pedal when it is depressed. This happens routinely at elevation and has led to unresponsive acceleration while driving. The unresponsive accelerator has compromised safety when trying to pull out onto roads. This issue has occurred frequently to other Sprinter owners in similar... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ARTEON
(2019) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 3, 2023
Incident date: Nov 17, 2021
My transmission had to be replaced. It has always lunged, jerked, shake and make several unnatural noises. It would clunk into gear or not go in the proper gear. Several times it would not down shift and pushed me into the intersection either at a stop sign or red light. It felt as if I was hit from behind. One day it wouldn't go forward or reverse. It started working later and I took it to a deal... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2023
Vehicle suddenly braked while traveling 70mph on freeway with traffic aware cruise control engaged. This incident happened 3 times during the same 40 mile trip. No other vehicles were within 50 feet of the vehicle in either direction. A rear end collision could have happened if another vehicle were behind me. No warning sounds occurred or warning indication on the computer screen. I purchas... Read more
Incident date: Mar 9, 2023
I was parking the car it suddenly accelerated jumped the curb and was heading towards the building entrance dore. I could not stop it. To avoid entering the building I turned the vehicle tight and it collided against the wall. The air bags inflated.
Crash
Incident date: Feb 23, 2023
on 30th MAR 2023, when my wife drove on to our drive way with gentle speed, car rammed into closed garage door and broke the door and rammed into living room wall with breaking room entry door . there is neither emergency breaking /stop nor collision warning . it damaged wall , garage door and more living room property damage with addition to damage to the car. i am really worried about the safe... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Mar 1, 2023
All I did was take it to get new rear calipers and an alignment and when I left the shop I got a light on the dashboard that says service traction control service stabilitrak and sometimes the abs goes on and off and sometimes the airbag light comes on and turns off. I can't drive over 1.5rpm and it's jumping when trying to accelerate. I'm not getting codes. I changed the brake pedal sensor to see... Read more
Incident date: Mar 1, 2023
I was driving and came to a stop sign. When I was getting ready to pull off my entire vehicle automatically went into park and shut off. I was almost rear ended by the vehicle behind me. People were blowing at me. I just restarted the vehicle after a few attempts it started and I drove off. Also my entire dash went black while I was driving. I also felt water on my feet why on the passenger side (... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 2500
(2013) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 2, 2023
Incident date: Apr 1, 2023
ABS module and traction control starting going off while driving. I took the car to the dealer but refused to fix it despite being under warranty at the time. The ABS and traction control lights go on/off suddenly and my cruise control shuts down and I loose ABS braking which is CRITICAL. this can cause an accident and I am not the only one with this issue. 2019+ Rams have already been recalled fo... Read more
Incident date: Nov 30, 2022
I pulled out of my brothers driveway as I pulled out the car failed to go over 10mph and started to lurch back and forth. I almost got in an accident because of this. There was a car coming down the road and they had to swerve to miss me because I couldn’t get the car to go over 10. I promptly pulled the car over after that.The car also would go into reverse but would not move. I had the car tow... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2023
Dec 1, 2022, Service dept. at Local RAM dealer in Binghamton, NY, diagnosed and concluded that the vehicle requires a new abs hydraulic control unit. PN: 68143491AB was ordered (Order # 1201BP) At that time, Parts were listed as being on Backorder and unavailable until mid January, 2023. ?? Mid January 2023, Part still unavailable, New estimate of part availability was mid March 2023. ??? M... Read more