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 31, 2012
I was going to work on 12/15/2022. There was a stop sign and I needed to take a right turn in order to join the freeway-10 east highway to head on to work. it was about 6: 40 am approximate time. There were too many cars ahead of me at the stop sign. My brakes failed to hold on while I waited for my turn. There were at least 3-4 cars ahead of me. Therefore I did not want to hurt anyone or any oth... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Feb 5, 2023
Was driving vehicle on a rock road, when rounding a slight curve in the road, the antilock brake system light and the traction control lights both illuminated at the same time. The rear end of the truck began to slide due to having light pressure on the brakes and I was pulling my fifth wheel camper. Fortunately there were no injuries or damage to the truck or the camper. I washed off the mud when... Read more
Incident date: Mar 15, 2023
The problem is with the whole DEF System in the truck. for the last 6 months I can't go a week or less without getting some kind of code. Every time it effects the electronic throttle control and the truck goes into limp mode, I can be going 70 mph and it drops down to 30-40 mph no matter where I am at. I have almost been rear ended several times. I fix that code and a week later another code pops... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2018) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Mar 17, 2023
Incident date: Mar 3, 2023
Abs braking system has been flashing and traction control light flashing. My left front wheel started grinding and smoking out of the blue when driving today. No problems with brakes before that. Cruise control doesn’t work. And four wheel drive service light is flashing again!! The four wheel drive sensor was replaced once already a couple years ago.
Incident date: Oct 11, 2022
The car now has come to an emergency stop twice on two separate occasion's here in Columbia and in Atlanta while I am attempting to cross an intersection or leaving a median lane. The cars safety features stop working at random times and throw several warning signs. Car has lost power while attempting to drive forward and rolls back with an initiates rear view camera. I have taken my vehicle to th... Read more
Incident date: Mar 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2012 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 2500. The contact stated that on various occasions after coming to a stop at a traffic signal, the vehicle was stalling and shaking while depressing the accelerator pedal. The contact stated that the engine revved loudly before accelerating. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer on various occasions; however, the ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 20, 2022
The airbag light is on, indicating that the airbox is not operating and will not go off in case of an accident. All steering wheel controls also don't work so it's impossible to adjust settings using the steering wheel or to enter cruise control at all. Previous years of this same vehicle had clock spring recalls and this appears to be the same problem so I wonder if the other recalls should be ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 3, 2023
I have dash lights going on and off for the ABS and traction control. This is very intermitted. On two occasions I have experienced times where I had to slam on the brakes to avoid an accident. Both times the ABS failed to work causing me to come to near collision with another vehicle. One of the times this caused me to go off into a ditch. This was with slick roads and snow covered in areas. Have... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2022) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Mar 16, 2023
Incident date: Mar 16, 2023
There's a recall on the display monitor the screen will go black sometimes come back on sometimes never come back on there was a update to fix the issue if the update doesn't work they will have to change the display module or computer that controls it when I brought it to the dealer they want to charge me to replace the display or computer , I called the manufacturer and they refused to fix the r... Read more
Incident date: Feb 14, 2023
2018 Ram 2500 6.7L Cummins. While driving, at any speed, “Service ABS” and/or “Service Electronic Braking System” flashes rapidly and intermittently on gauge cluster display. During this, the “Traction Control Fail” icon displays. Additionally, the cruise control will automatically disengage (creating a safety issue through increased risk of being rear ended while at highway speeds) an... Read more
Incident date: Mar 16, 2023
2022 RAM 3500 6.7L H/O AISIN transmission failed going down the road. Very bad
Incident date: Mar 12, 2023
The vehicle is very delayed shifting and will slow down without pushing the breaks
Incident date: Mar 14, 2023
Hello dear….I suffer from a problem when I’m driving my truck and it’s as follows: when the gear is on D and my truck stopped ,and I stomp the gas pedal with a little force my truck keep going I can’t stopped for 40 seconds after which return to the normal driving state,this situation happened to me 5 times,I don’t know if the speed control cable can interfere with the speed control serv... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Mar 13, 2023
On 3/8/23 I was attempting to turn around on a residential street. I put my car in reverse and started turning steering wheel to the right when suddenly there was a loud pop and my steering wheel tighted up and I could barely turn it. IThen when I put in drive it stated rattling everywhere. I almost hit another car trying to turn in a drive cause couldn't turn. With in an hour the check engine pow... Read more
1 injured
Incident date: Mar 15, 2023
Service Anti-lock brake and Service electronic braking errors come up on screen at random, sometimes the lights will stay one and cruise control is disabled. While braking they seem to shudder. Not safe for a Heavy duty truck that is able to tow 15k lbs.
Incident date: Mar 15, 2023
For the past several months my car will simply stop accelerating while I am driving down the road. I can put my foot on the gas, and it will not accelerate. The RPM's and speed go down and I must pull over to the side of the road quickly and turn the engine off, wait 5 minutes or so and try again. Sometimes I must wait longer before it will go back in gear and accelerate. It has been very unsafe w... Read more
Incident date: Mar 15, 2023
AFTER POGRAM THE COMPUTER MY TCM STAR FAILED..MI TRASMICION GEAR SHIFT STOCK SO DANGER SITUATION
Incident date: Mar 1, 2023
Sometimes upon depressing the accelerator the engine does not respond. The car does not move in a traffic situation. Putting the car in park, shutting it down and restarting makes it go away for a while. Getting on and off the highway is especially dangerous. This has happened intermittently for the past 1-1/2 years. The dealer says that they cannot reproduce the problem. So, they cannot repair it... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2023
I was driving at 70 MPH on the freeway when off a sudden my car haulted back and said engine power reduced. I had my kids in the car and traffic behind me when my car went into an auto decline in MPH reaching 30 MPH before I could quickly pull over. I called the company I bought my car at the next day. They told me I needed an inspection but my check engine light only stayed on overnight and was o... Read more
Incident date: Mar 12, 2023
abs trailer brakes traction control works on and off
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2019) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Mar 15, 2023
Incident date: Mar 1, 2023
My airbag light is on and I have no power to my steering wheel controls including my horn.
NISSAN
PATHFINDER
(2014) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Mar 15, 2023
Incident date: Mar 14, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle suddenly unintendedly accelerated. The contact depressed the brake pedal to regain control of the vehicle. The contact stated that approximately 10 minutes after the first failure, the failure reoccurred. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware o... Read more
Incident date: Mar 10, 2023
I have had this 2011 Rogue in a repair shop 6 times for the same issue and each time the technician replaced the air flow sensor because of “ code reading “ the rogue lost power without warning and stalls at red lights. My most recent repair the technician stated the cruise control spring needed replaced and could be the issues with sudden power loss . I have had the O2 sensor replaced, cataly... Read more
Incident date: Feb 3, 2023
It's like the transmission has hesitation before it decides to go. I step on the gas and it doesn't go right away, it takes a couple seconds and then the rpms go up really high. There has been no accident but this has happened many times.
Incident date: Jan 28, 2021
While driving our minivan it stalls or it seems like the gas isn’t getting to the engine. It has happened when I’ve been accelerating from a side road across a very busy road on more thank e occasion. We thought it was the gas we were using. Now we’ve been advised it is due to a “crank shaft sensor”. (?) We may not be eligible to get it fixed because we got our 2017 Pacifica in Oct 2016... Read more
NISSAN
PATHFINDER
(2019) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Mar 14, 2023
Incident date: Feb 2, 2022
ABS traction control warning comes on intermittently. This causes cruse control to disengage intermittently, and causes braking and traction to be compromised at times
Incident date: Jan 1, 2022
There seems to be a huge ongoing problem with ABS pumps and control modules for this model vehicle. I can find pages and pages of issues online for the same truck. The 'service brakes' warning comes on and off intermittently and I managed to replicate the fault after several months long enough to get it diagnosed. I am told the following parts are the issue: 68347098 - AB MODULE AN 08035030 68143... Read more
Incident date: Feb 13, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Honda CR-V. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the brake pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle unintentionally accelerated. Additionally, the RPM was fluctuating. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the dealer was unable to duplicate the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 4... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2017
Catalytic converter is going out. Although apparently there was no recall for MY car in particular but there has been a recall for the converter overheating and damaging the engine. Car no longer goes over 40 mph; meaning I can no longer use the freeway. Oil light comes on at least twice a month. Even after a oil change It comes right back on. Check engine light never goes off. Piston Rod is dama... Read more
Incident date: Mar 1, 2023
February 23rd: car shut off while getting off the freeway. Would not restart for 5 minutes. Had no acceleration but could still steer. February 23rd: brought car to the dealership, they scanned the car and there was no code. February 26th: car shut off 3 times on the freeway going 70mph. Had to pull over and restart car to be able to accelerate. I had my 2 kids in the car at this time and fear f... Read more
Incident date: Jun 27, 2020
On multiple occasions, my 2022 Venza does not accelerate when hitting the gas pedal after coming to a complete stop. I can press the pedal all the way to the ground but it is delayed by 3-5 seconds and just idles slowly into the intersection. This is happening when turning onto streets where you need to accelerate quickly to avoid oncoming traffic on left turns, and to not get rear ended when ma... Read more
Incident date: Mar 5, 2022
When I was parking my Honda Pilot 2019, the car suddenly accelerated on its own without pushing the gas pedal and hit the wall of a building. This accident caused head, neck and back injury for myself. FYI, there was not any warning lamps or messages or other symptoms. I have also reported this incident to American Honda Motor but no one has inspected my car yet.
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Feb 28, 2023
The engine lost power taking off crossing a major roadway, resulting in a stall, vehicle had to be restarted in a panic. The knocking and loss of power put me and my passenger in danger of a side impact from cross traffic. The issue was reproduced by a dealer upon further inspection. The vehicle will be inspected by a service department at certified dealership. No warnings lights or fault warnings... Read more
Incident date: Mar 7, 2023
Sudden acceleration accident
Crash
Incident date: Feb 1, 2023
Rode the motorcycle on the Interstate using cruise control at 70 MPH and suddenly the cruise control cut-off with no warning. Vehicle directly behind me nearly rear-ended me. This happened twice so I no longer can use cruise control. VERY DANGEROUS. After further troubleshooting it appears the Motorcycle Gear position sensor is flakey and will cause the computer to see the wrong gear selected ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 24, 2023
Car randomly slams on the brakes while cruise control is active. Happen most frequently mid-day while the sun is out. Most frequent when coming over and overpass or small hill on the interstate. ~5 time in a day and of travel. Brake are apply and vehicle slows from 80 to sometime as slow as 60 in a couple seconds. No visible hazards or vehicle on the road at the time. Very scary and dangerou... Read more
Incident date: Feb 15, 2023
On freeway in traffic, autopilot is enabled. Vehicle is running perfectly fine in start stop traffic slowing down and speeding up as needed. Traffic starts to clear up, and as vehicle speeds up, there is a sudden slowdown again. Instead of braking/slowing down, autopilot turns off without an additional audible alarm (just the standard sound for turning off autopilot), instead the forward collision... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
TAOS
(2023) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Mar 11, 2023
Incident date: Mar 11, 2023
I have a 2018 Honda odyssey 9 speed and I am well aware of the many issues people have been complaining of and I am experiencing many of those same issues. My number one issue is my acceleration. I need to step down all the way on the gas pedal to make the car move and once it does my rear tires spin because of the acceleration. I have also had many instances where my car will not accelerate fast ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 11, 2022
On March 10, 2023 I exit Hwy 35 at the City of Cottula Texas, as I took the exit lane and arrived at the stop sign, the vehicle came to a complete stop the engine stop idling and the transmission switch to neutral, this created a safety issue for me and my family because I was unable to restart vehicle and I created traffic congestion at the intersection, I am worried that this can happen again an... Read more
NISSAN
PATHFINDER
(2018) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Mar 11, 2023
Incident date: Jan 31, 2023
While driving acceleration pedal got loose and fell on the floor or the car.
Incident date: Mar 10, 2023
I used Autopilot on my Model 3 for the first and only time a few weeks ago, and had a terrifying experience with "phantom braking" that could have killed my entire family while going ~75mph on the I-5 near Bakersfield, CA. The I-5 here is split with 2 lanes in each direction, and is straight with no bends. I was driving in the right northbound lane, with Autopilot engaged (adaptive speed control o... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
JETTA
(2011) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Mar 10, 2023
Incident date: Mar 10, 2023
1. There is some sort of severe throttle lag/takeoff issue that happens intermittently, but almost always several times a day. always from a stopped position. 2.When you are turning left (going across the oncoming lane) you hit the gas pedal and nothing happens for 2-3 seconds and then it shoots off like a rocket ship. I have never been so close to a severely injured or more likely fatal car cras... Read more
Incident date: Mar 1, 2023
On 3/1/23 on my way home from my which the site was in Perth Amboy, NJ. At the North Somerset rest stop, just exited the I-76 westbound. I lost power around 65 mph. I didn't get any response from my brakes at first and nothing from my accelerator. Upon drifting and praying that I'd make it to the lot out of the main exiting lane. Upon pulling into a spot at the very farthest spot from the buildin... Read more
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2013) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Mar 10, 2023
Incident date: Dec 10, 2013
Unintended acceleration from a stop when pushing accelerator. Has happened 2 times in the last 2 days. I touched the throttle from a stop 2 time and it took off like I put the accelerator to full throttle (which I didn’t). Very dangerous situation in parking lots or around pedestrians. I have scheduled an apt with my local dealer.
Incident date: Feb 28, 2023
Electronic Braking System and Antilock Braking System is defective, similar to being described in FCA Case Number S2005000004. This issue also effects the Speed Control System
Incident date: Mar 10, 2023
I was driving on the highway and my car started to jerk when I accelerated and hit the brakes. I pulled over to see what was wrong with the car. It hesitated to start back up and when it did it stalled. My ESC light came on and my engine light came on before I pulled over. I was stuck on the side of a busy highway with a car that almost caused an accident when it jerked. Took the car to AutoZone f... Read more
Incident date: Mar 9, 2023
Car was purchased December 30, 2022. The first time I engaged auto pilot, an oncoming semi was in its lane and my car slammed the brakes on while on auto pilot. It happened the next time I used auto pilot with zero perceived “threat”. I was extremely hesitant to use it, henceforth. I tried auto pilot over and over with my foot, poised and ready to take over the throttle, and my hand poised t... Read more
Incident date: Mar 9, 2023
Veh accelerated on its own into traffic was sitting at a stop sign it just took off i was t-boned in the incident no lights or warning lights were on
Crash
FORD
FUSION HYBRID
(2016) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Mar 10, 2023
Incident date: Oct 26, 2022
I was driving my Tesla Model Y on 02-26-2022 with my wife in the passenger seat. We were on our way to pick up our son and his two friends from the movie theater in Lincoln Square North, Bellevue Square, Washington. As we entered the Lincoln Square parking garage approximately around 6 30pm and turned into the narrow passage leading down to the several floors of parking lots at approximately 5 mil... Read more
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Mar 9, 2023
The car is currently in the shop at Jim Shorkey Gainesville Kia and is available for inspection. They have contacted me to tell me the transmission/engine failed. I was driving on interstate when I suddenly lost the ability to accelerate and was forced to get off of the highway. After coming to a complete stop I pressed on the gas pedal but the car would still not accelerate. I tried putting into... Read more