Consumer Safety Complaints
Search 2,215,138 safety complaints filed by vehicle owners with NHTSA — including 138,663 crashes, 56,255 fires, and 8,561 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 2,215,138 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 72,878 complaints — component: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Incident date: Oct 23, 2022
This is my 2nd report on the same issue. There is another report from me on the first and I will be discussing this with my Hyundai dealer today. On a 250 mile road trip, on the expressway, two separate times, the car suddenly braked hard and the emergency warning flashed on the speedometer. Each time it was about 3-5 seconds. On the second incident, my passenger thinks she noticed it happenin... Read more
Incident date: Oct 24, 2022
While on cruise control at @72mph the car has been “phantom” braking. The last time there were flurries, but the first several times there was nothing impeding the car nor were any vehicles within camera range. This is a very unsettling feeling. No, no and no. There have been reports to your site with this regard. tyvm
VOLKSWAGEN
JETTA
(2009) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Oct 25, 2022
Incident date: Sep 28, 2022
I was driving my car down at residential area and it came to a complete stop on its own I could not get it to accelerate it all I had to get out of my car pop the hood disconnect the battery and then I was able to put in a drive and accelerate all the lights are flashing on the control panel I had no control over my car whatsoever I took it into Tracy Volkswagen and they said they couldn't diagnos... Read more
Incident date: Oct 6, 2020
The contact owns a 2015 Chevrolet Spark. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle would intermittently hesitate upon depression of the accelerator pedal with a high-pitched, squeaking noise coming from the vehicle. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle had jolted forward after multiple attempts to accelerate. The contact stated that... Read more
Incident date: Oct 25, 2022
The ABS control module and the HCU has Failed twice on this truck resulting in loss of traction control, ABS and cruise control. The unit was replaced around 42,000 miles and then failed again at roughly 60,000 miles. Ram will not replace under warranty. the failure causes the abs and traction control light on the dash to come on and off constantly. it also shuts down cruise control. I believe it... Read more
Incident date: Jan 2, 2019
Speedometer stops working intermittently. This is a safety hazard as the operator cannot tell the speed that the vehicle is operating. It seems to occur randomly.
Incident date: Oct 20, 2022
The vehicle suddenly accelerates. The rpm’s shoot up real high, the Jeep accelerates and the brakes do NOT work. This has occurred while driving at 55-60 mph and twice driving in city traffic going approx. 30-35. The acceleration increases and is stuck. I press the brakes and they do not work until whatever is sticking releases.
FORD
MUSTANG MACH E
(2021) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Oct 24, 2022
Incident date: Aug 17, 2022
I keep receiving a fault for the front camera which seems to be a very common occurrence amongst Mach-e owners lately. After receiving this message, the cruise control abruptly kicks off. All functions of the cruise control do not work in this instance…adaptive, speed keeping, lane control, etc. This fault happens about once every couple of minutes while driving. When I’m using cruise control ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 21, 2022
Turn on cruise control, press +, hold until the rental car begins to accelerate, and release. Car continues to accelerate. This is not the same as my 2014 Ford Fusion Hybrid that accelerates only as long as the button is being depressed. The mileage of the rental vehicle is unknown. I DO NOT wish to receive safety recall alerts from NHTSA because the vehicle is a rental from Enterprise in Lake Pa... Read more
Incident date: Apr 15, 2022
The contact owns a 2020 Honda HR-V. The contact stated that while driving at a low speed attempting to park the vehicle at park, the vehicle unintendedly accelerated, jumped the curb and crashed into a fence. There were no warning lights illuminated. A police report was filed. The air bags did not deploy. There were no injuries sustained by the driver or the passenger. There was fire reported. The... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Oct 24, 2022
Several times, while using the cruise control, the car automatically braked at highway speed. The car is available for inspection. My safety and my wife's safety were put at risk by the car suddenly slowing down on the interstate without my control. The problem has not been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or service center - I have not had the car serviced. It has not been inspected. There wer... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2018
The contact owns a 2015 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated while driving at an undetermined speed, the vehicle was bouncing. The contact stated while driving, the vehicle was shifting roughly. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure persiste... Read more
Incident date: Sep 15, 2022
Leaving a parking lot, the car jumped out of gear. Thought maybe I had bumped the gear selector but attempts at putting the car in gear resulted in grinding noises and the only option was to put it in PARK. Check engine light came on. Mechanic diagnosed a speed sensor. Had this happened on the freeway or while trying to pass another car on a two lane and a speed sensor disable the entire car to... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2017) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Oct 24, 2022
Incident date: Oct 20, 2022
I was driving on along WT Harris highway and I attempted a turn along JW Clay Blvd. when my I pressed the gas and my truck didn't respond. I lost acceleration and it took a dangerous amount of time for me to cross the Highway. There aren't any warning lights or a check engine light on, but my transmission has begun to slip gears. This is after I had over 2k work done at the dealership for other pr... Read more
Incident date: Apr 3, 2021
Vehicle will give you a warning to not shut off vehicle or you may not be able to put it back in drive, it automatically puts itself in park when coming to a stop at a stop light (without any door being opened). Automatically gives itself throttle when in Four Low. This vehicle has been in the shop more than I have had it since purchasing on 3/27/2021 for all of these electrical problems and w... Read more
Incident date: Oct 21, 2022
Vehicle not shifting properly..sometimes when you let off gas it will accelerate and rpms shoot up..I believe it's a transmission issue..dealership was able to confirm this happened...definitely not safe if a car is in front of you and it just decides to accelerate on its own
Incident date: Oct 18, 2022
The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while pulling into a parking space very slowly, the vehicle unintendedly accelerated, and crashed into a concrete pole. The air bags had not deployed during the crash. There were no warning lights illuminated prior to the failure. The contact stated that his wife suffered a fractured sternum, and he had lower back muscle strain with ... Read more
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Oct 17, 2022
For the past 5-6 months I’m have ongoing issues with my engine and excessive oil consumption. I’ve completed the three oil consumption test per 1000 miles. On the last test(3rd check), I was told I passed and nothing further was needed. Approximately 1 month after that my engine light illuminated and my car violently shook upon acceleration and while sitting idle. Was informed it was my spark ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 13, 2022
3rd and worse instance where had loss of power. While trying to accelerate onto the highway my vehicle would not do over 30mph (highway is 60mph zone). No lights illuminated on dash that there was any issue. Impeded traffic until I could pull over. This was VERY dangerous, I was lucky to not be rearended while trying to merge on highway. Dealer has had my vehicle for a week not being able to repro... Read more
Incident date: Oct 7, 2022
While driving with cruise control set to 70-74mph, we had several incidents of phantom braking on a recent road trip. From 70mph with no obstacles, trees, structures, or other cars in sight, the car would suddenly brake itself. This happened multiple times, sometimes just a minute or so after the previous time. We were saved from being rear-ended only because the cars behind us were far enough ... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2019
Reduced engine power alert. Ongoing issue since 2019
DODGE
GRAND CARAVAN
(2017) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Oct 22, 2022
Incident date: Oct 10, 2022
The van slid backwards then accelerated at a higher speed going from a stop to slowly with a light tap on the gas pedal. The speed does not go higher than 15mph with the rmp too high when this occurs. It jerks back when trying to drive it forward. Has not left the dealership parking lot. Drove out 3mile out with this occuring. 3 attempts to fix. Still not driving well and can't leave the dealershi... Read more
Incident date: Sep 17, 2022
My 2015 Kia Soul recently went out of service. One day last month my car randomly started stalling and shaking to the point of barely being drivable. There were no signs or dashboard lights. Thursday, September 15th, 2022, I took my car to a local repair shop and they ran a diagnostic that came back as a bad Catalytic Converter on Friday, September 16th, 2022. According to the mechanic, the conve... Read more
FORD
MUSTANG MACH E
(2021) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Oct 21, 2022
Incident date: Dec 6, 2021
The contact owns a 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E. The contact stated that while her husband was driving slowly into the garage and the vehicle suddenly experienced unintended acceleration and crashed into the home and went through to the bedroom, causing damages to the vehicle and the home. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer for an unrelated recall repair and th... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Oct 19, 2022
Car shuts down in the middle of driving and cannot idle. Had transmission 1x lat year and battery replaced 2x. Even after repairs car randomly does this. I have taken it to shops several times but no one knows what the problem is.... When it randomly chooses to do it, I cannot accelerate, and the car power will go out in the middle of driving decreasing the speed dramatically. Right after it does... Read more
Incident date: Sep 30, 2022
We took our first major road trip in our new 2022 Tesla Model S on Friday 10/14, leaving at 10:00 am for a 9 hour trip. During the trip the car experienced multiple severe incidents of the car braking hard while at highway speeds and two of the incidents almost caused an accident. The car drops 10 to 15 mph instantly for no reason. We drove the car home on Monday 10/17 without AEB, Auto Steer, F... Read more
Incident date: Aug 20, 2022
Hello -- My Jeep has had a repetitive issue with the Start/Stop system since I took ownership. In recent months, my vehicle has stalled on two separate occasions by completely shutting down at a stop light. First the "hood switch is open" alert comes up, then an emergency braking alert comes up, all while the vehicle completely shuts off as I am accelerating. This is extremely dangerous as it coul... Read more
Incident date: Oct 8, 2022
Transmission refused to down shift from 5th gear or go over 55 mph. Truck began to shutter and the powertrain wrench error code appeared on the dash. Truck also began to have a clanking sound. The truck jerked violently at 50 mph causing the safety of myself and 3 other passengers at risk. The Marshal Mize Ford dealer in Hixson, TN confirmed the transmission lead frame was faulty, just like the... Read more
HYUNDAI
SANTA CRUZ
(2022) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Oct 19, 2022
Incident date: Oct 11, 2022
WHILE DRIVING ON THE 405 FWY MY VEHICLE WOULD NOT ACCELERATE PASS 20 MILES IT WAS 11 PM SO NOT MANY CARS ON THE ROAD , I HAD TO DRIVE WITH MY HAZARD LIGHTS ON 17 MILES TO GET HOME , I AM TAKING IT TO THE DEALER TODAY. NO WARNING LIGHTS , OR MESSAGES CAME ON DURING THE WHOLE ORDEAL
Incident date: May 6, 2021
Please also reference NTB21-028, NTB21-073. The failed system appears to be the engine/transmission power control. My safety and passenger safety was at risk. A dealer did inspect in May of 2021 and was not able to duplicate and did not perform any corrective action. The problem is twofold. First the vehicle can fail to accelerate during a rolling stop (i.e. entrance into a traffic circle) and bec... Read more
Incident date: Oct 16, 2022
The contact owns a 2017 Honda accord. The contact stated that while driving approximately 65 MPH and changing lines, while attempting to accelerate, the vehicle hesitated and lost motive power. The contact stated that several unknown warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed that a valve adjustment was needed. The vehicle was repaired but the fai... Read more
FORD
MUSTANG MACH E
(2021) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Oct 19, 2022
Incident date: Jun 5, 2022
The contact owns a 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E. The contact stated that while her mom was driving, the vehicle accelerated without warning. The electrical system was inoperable. While the contact was driving at low speed in a parking lot approaching a stop sign, the vehicle accelerated. The brake pedal was applied but the vehicle continued to drive and crashed into a Toyota 4 Runner. The air bag de... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Oct 16, 2022
I was driving my daughter’s 2013 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid to the gym early one Sunday morning. I pulled into the parking lot to park the car. When I stopped to put the car in park the car suddenly accelerated and I drove through the glass wall of the gym. The car accelerated through the gym, hit a metal pole , and crashed into a wall on the far side of the gym. The front end of the driver’s side ... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Feb 10, 2022
Engine Check Light On took in for diagnostic and was told nothing was wrong just over heated. Taken in multiple times. Finally on February 10, 2022 a visual inspection of leak was done to find rear main seal blew out and leaking oil! At which point it was recommended replacing engine. Through a search on 2011 Chevrolet Equinox it was found to be a common problem for this model. Also mentioned was ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 15, 2022
Stopped working with a message ' radar control in not available'
Incident date: Sep 12, 2022
The contact owns a 2016 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated that while driving out of the driveway, the vehicle experienced unintended acceleration. During the incident, the engine's RPMs suddenly increased before the vehicle erroneously accelerated forward and crashed into a tree causing body damage to the vehicle. During the crash, no injuries were reported and no police report was taken. The ve... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Oct 9, 2022
This is aTesla Model S electric car. The battery was 80% charged at the time of the incident. Under normal driving at a speed of around 40 MPH in a city road road, suddenly the car lost power. The steering wheel locked and I had no control over the car. Display screen in the instrument panel and the large central tocuh screen display blacked out. A few seconds later, the car control returned and I... Read more
Incident date: Oct 8, 2022
While driving on an open highway using the Tesla Auto Pilot (Adaptive Cruise Control, NOT Full Self Driving), we experienced 3 separate instances of unexpected braking. In each case, we were on flat terrain with no vehicles in front of us for hundreds of yards. The weather was sunny and warm with few clouds in the sky. We were driving westbound between 10am and 1pm at the time of the incidents.... Read more
Incident date: Oct 17, 2022
The vehicle went into "REDUCED POWER" (Turtle Mode) error. Which reduced the power and the ability to accelerate out of an intersection and away from incoming traffic. I followed the recommendations of powering the vehicle off. It would correct itself then randomly does the same thing. This is SAFETY ISSUE and needs to be resolved before someone gets into a major accident which will result in ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 17, 2022
The vehicle is showing the same issues as found in the Honda Service Bulletin 20-029 for "9-Speed A/T Hard Upshift with Steady Acceleration", and an occasional hesitation or slip. Our Honda Pilot has a Honda 6-Speed Automatic Transmission and AWD. The transmission has just had a full service, which included a "transmission fluid exchange to include torque converter lines" and replacing the trans... Read more
Incident date: Jun 22, 2022
The adaptive cruise control. is subject to sudden phantom braking. On several occasions when the cruise control is engaged the vehicle will brake for no reason. On one occasion the sudden braking caused a semi-truck behind me to swerve just barely avoiding an accident. On another occasion the vehicle braked so hard that we skidded. There is no warning when the phantom braking will occur. The ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 17, 2022
My vehicle dashboard says Engine Power is reduced. This has happened to me before and I know that it starts slowing down quickly and then just stops. I turned off my car and waited for three minutes, and turned my car back on - it still showed Engine Power is Reduced, so I turned it back off for about 5 minutes and turned it back on and then it was back to normal. I've reported this before. This ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 17, 2022
I had almost gotten to the exit from the highway to get to my job, I was driving at approximately 56 mph. And my car dashboard started saying Engine Power is Reduced and then it started to flash slowing to 52 mph, slowing to 48 mph, etc. Fortunately I was able to safely make my exit and pull into a parking lot where I turned my car off and waited for 5 minutes and turned it back on it still said... Read more
Incident date: Dec 1, 2021
The contact owns a 2018 Subaru Crosstrek. The contact stated while driving at approximately 50 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power and stalled. While driving on a ramp at slow speeds and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle failed to accelerate and stalled. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the... Read more
Incident date: Oct 11, 2022
On or about 10/11/22 while driving I completely lost control of the vehicle suddenly. I was unable to break or use my steering wheel. The vehicle rolled over twice and the front airbags failed to deploy.
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Oct 16, 2022
The incident occurred when I attempted to shift the transfer case into 4-Low. The sequence of events is as follows: 1. I stopped the vehicle and shifted into Park. 2. With my foot on the brake, I shifted into neutral and attempted to move the transfer case lever from 4-High, to 4-Low. 3. As I started to move the transfer case lever, a warning appeared in the instrument cluster stating, "Vehi... Read more
Incident date: Oct 8, 2022
Incident occurred immediately after a full stop at an intersection. When I hit the gas pedal, the transmission sounded like shifting to Neutral gear, resulting in loud grinding, and with complete loss of power. Had do pull over the shoulder, place it on parking mode and then back to drive gear and continue. Now almost every time it's going to shift gears, you can hear and feel the a hard shifting... Read more
Incident date: Oct 17, 2022
While in Cruise control: I.e.going 70 + mph, when passing large trucks (18 wheelers) the vehicle will hard break down to 50 mph. Vehicles traveling behind don’t expect this and are barely able to stop from hitting into my back end. Only happens with large 18 wheelers, seems to be Trucks that are white in color. It has happened several times previously, stopped at dealer, told nothing wrong, reco... Read more
Incident date: Oct 14, 2022
When engaging cruise control on the highway we experienced phantom braking 2 times in 90 seconds while on an empty road. This was the first time we ever used the cruise control on the highway. The braking was aggressive, and enough to strain the passenger neck. It was scary and without warning. We feel it is too dangerous to use cruise control on our vehicle ever again for feet of causing an accid... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 2500
(2016) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Oct 15, 2022
Incident date: Sep 30, 2022
The infotainment center seems to malfunction and push buttons on it's own or not respond to input, which seems related to a more serious problem I experienced where the gauge cluster was not reading anything out when I was driving, including not knowing what speed I was at or what gear I was in. I had to turn the vehicle off several times and restart it several times before the issue resolved.