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 28, 2023
Experienced a failure of the ABS Control Module and Electronic Traction Control during a light snow storm in September of 2022. Dash warning lights come on and go off intermittently. When warning lights come on and cruise control is being used, cruise control is deactivated. Dealership confirmed ABS CPU failure on 11/17/2022. Still waiting on replacement parts and are projected to be in around 4/1... Read more
Incident date: Feb 16, 2023
The contact owns a 2023 BMW I4. The contact stated while turning into a parking space, the vehicle experienced sudden unintended acceleration and crashed into a post and then into a wall. No warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that there were no injuries sustained. A police report was not filed. The vehicle had not yet been taken to an independent mechanic or a local dealer to be d... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Feb 28, 2023
Fuel leaking an different problems happen do to fuel default.
Incident date: Feb 20, 2023
After my test, here's what I found: If the cruise control is Off and you press and hold the cruise control button for more than 2 seconds, the speed limit function activates as indicated by the "Limit" indicator on the multi-function display. In this mode, if the vehicle speed exceeds the limit speed and you press on the gas, the power is immediately cut off, and you can't accelerate. If the ve... Read more
Incident date: Feb 27, 2023
Rear tailgate lights red and white fill up with water and stop working. Cruise control jumps up 10mph when passing signs, very scary!
Incident date: Dec 18, 2019
While driving on the interstate in the right lane with adaptive cruise set at 70mph the cameras will occasionally read the off ramp/exit speed limit signs and brake hard to decelerate to the posted off ramp speed limit. This creates an opportunity for a rear end collision. Additionally, the adaptive cruise will “see” vegetation or guard rails on the opposite side of the road, while in a turn,... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2023
The 2007 X3 BMW suddenly accelerates when stopped. This has happened multiple times' and is extremely dangerous. I have to put the vehicle in neutral and hit the gas pedal to stop it from racing. No codes come up when my mechanic scans the computer.
Incident date: Feb 28, 2023
Driving along freeway to visit family, cruise control engaged, travelling 65 mph, when all of a sudden several messages flashed on the dash to "check electronic braking system", and traction control disengaged light and service light came on as Cruise control shut off. after a few seconds lights went out and system returned to normal. Repeated several times on way back home (3 hr drive) and had ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 18, 2023
While driving my Hyndua Palisades on the Southern State Parkway at 55mph, my car shut off. When it happened, I didn't know what was going on. All of the lights on the vehicle went off, and then it shut off while I was still driving it. My 11yr old son and I could have been killed. When is Hyundai going to address the significant problem? My son no longer wants to ride in my car because he has been... Read more
Incident date: Feb 27, 2023
The contact owns a 2022 Nissan Rogue. The contact stated while merging onto a highway at 60 MPH, the vehicle continued to accelerate upon releasing the accelerator pedal. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact depressed the brake pedal to slow the vehicle; however, upon release of the brake pedal, the engine began to rev, and the vehicle accelerated to 85 MPH. The contact depressed th... Read more
Incident date: Jan 2, 2023
The contact owns a 2021 Lincoln Nautilus. The contact stated that while his wife was pulling into a parking space, the vehicle abruptly accelerated, crashing into the handicap pole sign. There were no injuries. No air bags were deployed. There was no police report filed. The vehicle was towed to the dealer; however, the contact was unaware of the diagnostic results, or the repairs performed. The m... Read more
Crash
FORD
ESCAPE PHEV
(2022) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Feb 27, 2023
Incident date: Jan 9, 2023
Forward collision avoidance; automatic emergency braking; adaptive cruise control; I pulled into a straight-ahead handicapped parking slot to park, going about 1-3mph . There was a handicapped sign in front of me on a newly installed steel pole. I pulled in within inches of the pole. When I tried to engage the brakes, the braking system failed to engage the brakes and slow down the car. The car i... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Feb 20, 2022
I get "phantom braking" on average about every 2-3 hours of highway driving with cruise control enabled. All of a sudden without any road obstructions or vehicles ahead, the car will suddenly break hard even at highway speeds. Sometimes it happens when I approach an underpass or get to a section where the pavement is darker than before.
Incident date: Jan 11, 2023
My 2013 Ford F150 has been throwing wrench light while downshifting automatically. for months. Then I lose my speedometer and the airbag light illuminates. I also have had random downshifting that causes a lock up in the back end (basically giving the feeling of slamming on the breaks). I took my vehicle in to Ford dealership on 12/8/22 and they did states that it was part of the 19N01 lead fram... Read more
Incident date: Feb 26, 2023
Vehicle through a "service engine" and lost partial power. The vehicle slowed considerably and was not able to accelerate as expected. Fortunately, this was rush hour traffic and it was slow. Normally, the traffic moves at 60 MPH plus or minus 5 MPH. The loss of power on I10 can be extremely unsafe. The dealer revealed that our car had a scan code P0299. They cleaned the Thottle Body and sta... Read more
Incident date: Feb 26, 2023
On numerous occasions the dash warning light will come on stating "Service Advance Trac". When this happens traction control, hill assist & cruise control all shut off without any warning. Sometimes the ABS light illuminates also. Ford does not seem to have a fix for this problem as it has effected many newer F53 chassis. Ford tells customers to just stop for a few minutes & cycle the key. It c... Read more
Incident date: Dec 17, 2022
Feb 25 around 4pm PT we were driving north on US Hwy 101 using the basic cruise control feature of our Model 3. Based on our settings I believe this would be considered adaptive cruise control, but I'm not sure. Enhanced Auto-Pilot was not in use. On a largely open highway, in particular with no one in front of us, and thankfully, no one close behind us, the car suddenly started to lose speed, n... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2023
Twice I was interstate speed driving and lost speed the first time I thought it was the fuel system. The car was towed to the dealership and after they " checked it out" , they told me all they found was a weak battery. The second time was a few days ago but this time, I was revving the engine as I was trying to get my car off the interstate. Thank goodness there was very little traffic. This t... Read more
ROAD HUGGER
GT ULTRA
(9999) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Feb 25, 2023
Incident date: Feb 16, 2023
When we started vehicle, a wide array of systems shut down including cruise, Eye Sight, lane detection, auto high bean, adaptive light cornering - essentially anything “automated” or assisted - along with the heating. The car ran at a higher RPM at idle - 2000 vs a usual 700-800 - and rough shifted at speed. Again, as if the automatic transmission lost its sync. The water temp gauge was also o... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ID.4
(2023) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Feb 25, 2023
Incident date: Dec 27, 2022
On February 24, 2023, my 2019 Hyundai Veloster Turbo (~36K miles) would not accelerate and began losing power while driving. Problem seemed to be worse while driving uphill. At one point, car would also not go into reverse. Turning car off and then on seemed to resolve the issue with reverse. Similar issue occurred in early November 2022. Local Hyundai service center performed maintenance und... Read more
JEEP
GRAND WAGONEER
(2022) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Feb 25, 2023
Incident date: Dec 21, 2022
I was driving with the Autopilot on, traveling about 65 mph on the freeway when the automatic emergency braking system kicked in for no reason. There was absolutely nothing in front of the car when it aggressively braked, very suddenly. I was very lucky no one was behind me. I have not reported this directly to Tesla, no one has inspected or confirmed this event.
Incident date: Feb 25, 2023
I have owned my 2012 KIA Sorento since 2014 and thoroughly enjoy my car. After 9 years of satisfactory ownership which include dealer servicing, my car scared me and now I question my safety. On Friday 24th, 2023, I pulled into my driveway and the car suddenly accelerated out of control. The brakes did nothing to slow its acceleration. By the time I reached the key and turned the car off it had ac... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
C250
(2013) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Feb 24, 2023
Incident date: Feb 24, 2023
I bought this vehicle in Sept 2019 drove off the lot with it brand new and the headlights and whole dash lights went out when I hit a bump. For the next two years, the car kept having electrical problems when it rained or the vehicle was washed but the Virginia dealership could never duplicate the problem. I moved to Indiana where these problems continued. Finally, an Indianapolis dealer discov... Read more
Incident date: Feb 23, 2023
My car would not accelerate when the gas pedal was pushed. It was in snow mode and we had to switch modes to make it go. My wipers also stopped working when snow and ice collected at the base. We had to remove all of the snow and ice before they would work. It was actively snowing and this was a a real safety issue.
FORD
TRANSIT CONNECT
(2016) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Feb 24, 2023
Incident date: Jan 24, 2023
My vehicle has 45347 miles. It started throwing "Service Electronic Braking system " and "Service Antilock Brake system" messages intermittently. While driving on highway, truck would abruptly throw these messages and turn off ABS, EBS and also cruise control. It appears to be a very common safety issue with 2018 RAM 2500. I took my vehicle to the dealer but he couldn't read the codes because t... Read more
Incident date: Feb 22, 2023
My car has approximately 14,000 miles on it and was purchased brand new. It still has 1,000 miles to go before the next servicing. Saturday I when driving approximately 40 miles an hour, the engine suddenly cut off and the car stopped in the middle of the road. I was able to start the car and drive for approximately 15 minutes before it slowed to 3mph and shut off again. I called the dealershi... Read more
Incident date: Jan 11, 2021
The cars battery and brake lights came on while driving and then after about 10 mins my gas pedal stopped working and I almost got in a really bad car accident. If i rev the car over 3000 rpms the lights go out. So while i was cruising i had to shift to natural and rev the car and shift back to drive when i needed to go faster. I brought the car to the mechanic got a new alternator and battery.... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2022
I had a number of systems suddenly cut out on me. The dealership thinks it was a fuse or fuses that went bad. They affected the car's following systems: * Primary Instrument Cluster (Left side) * Forward Collision Avoidance-Assist w/Car, Pedestrian and Cyclist Detection * Advanced Collision Avoidance (Auto-breaking) * Lane Following Assist * Lane Keeping Assist * Driver Attention Warning w/ Leadi... Read more
Incident date: Feb 23, 2023
2017 Chevy Malibu over 15 times this happens since we owned buying it brand new it has "Reduced Engine Power" error come on and the car can't accelerate over 30 miles per hour. This is a continued problem all the time and very dangerous when we are on the tollway that has a 70-mph speed limit, and you can't get the car to over 30 mph. This same problem happens on our 2018 Chevy Malibu over 5 times... Read more
Incident date: Jul 23, 2022
2018 Chevy Malibu over 5 times this happens since we bought it brand new it has "Reduced Engine Power" error come on and the car can't accelerate over 30 miles per hour. This is a continued problem all the time and very dangerous when we are on the tollway that has a 70-mph speed limit, and you can't get the car to go over 30 mph. This same problem happens on our 2017 Chevy Malibu that we bought b... Read more
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2021) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Feb 23, 2023
Incident date: Feb 6, 2023
The contact owns a 2011 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that while pulling into a parking space the vehicle suddenly experienced unintended acceleration and accelerated forward crashing into a parked van. During the incident, the airbags did not deploy. No injuries were reported and no police report was taken. the vehicle was later towed to a collision center and repaired. The cause of the failure... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Sep 22, 2022
We have a 2019 motorhome on a 2018 Mercedes Sprinter chassis. We are concerned about the wheel speed sensor failing. Three out of 4 sensors have already failed and been replaced on ours and Mercedes will not replace the 4th sensor until it fails. When this sensor fails it affects the ABS brakes and the braking distance is increased which can cause an accident. The cruise control is also affected a... Read more
Incident date: Feb 17, 2023
I am getting a P0299 code truck and according to research, this is something to do with the Turbo. It is causing my truck to lose power while driving. I have had it parked since then.
Incident date: Feb 23, 2023
Driving on the highway, when the car lights, radio, air conditioner, steering wheel, speed all goes out. The car wouldn’t crank back up and theft system keep coming on.
Incident date: Nov 25, 2022
Driving on highway with cruise control activated. No traffic around. Experienced phantom braking taking me from about 80mph to 65mph before I was able to react. Had this happened in traffic there is a good chance i would have been rear ended. No notifications or emergency lights appeared on my dash.
Incident date: Feb 23, 2023
My 2013 Impala Ltz Service Traction Control, Service Stabilitrack, Engine power reduced problem lights came on the dash. Almost had an accident I want to know why the 2013 model of impala has not had any recalls as the 2010 models with same issues..... My vehicle has the same major issue and need to be addressed & Recalled...... The 2013 Chevrolet impala LTZ Need to be Recalled to fix this issue f... Read more
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2006) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Feb 23, 2023
Incident date: Feb 21, 2023
What component or system failed or malfunction and is it available for inspection upon request. The CVT failsafe high fluid temperature protection mode enacted while I was driving on the highway at speeds of 65 to 70 mph going with the flow of traffic it is not available for inspection upon request because this issue only occurs while you're driving down the highway. How was your safety or the saf... Read more
Incident date: Feb 12, 2022
This is the 5th complaint I have called into JEEP directly as well as 2 different dealerships. My car is shutting down randomly on the highway. I was notified that it was "fixed" with a software update. This is a current recall that the dealership has said was "fixed". However they refuse to call a star tech or a field tech which JEEP service said was required at this point. I have tried to have ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 22, 2022
Only 67867 miles and the transmision is not working . I only drive short distances. Allwise have a problem. Since I buy the car. I never complain because I am very busy. But. know the car stop complete
Incident date: Feb 15, 2023
We’ve been leasing a Volkswagen EV car ID4. And after a recent software update, we got problems as in the following. Intermittently when coming to stop, The vehicle is difficult to stop and Pedal pressure seems low. When we experience concern, the accelerator does not seem to react in the same way. As a result, the car failed to stop at short of stop line. Volkswagen sent us a recall notice of... Read more
Incident date: Feb 13, 2023
Twice now when driving on the highway using cruise control my vehicle has unexpectedly applied the brake hard for no apparent reason. There were not vehicles ahead of me that were stopping/slowing. The warning "brake" comes across the dashboard. This potentially could cause a safety issue if someone were to rear-end me when the brakes were applied suddenly and hard. I am in the process of contact... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2022
Auto safety systems compromised with illumination of check engine light and engine temp warning light. Subaru dealership service department determined problem with Thermo Control Valve. Engine was not overheating as the vehicle was being driven in winter time, February in Alaska. Only indication of problem was indicator lights and reduced heat from cabin heat system. Vehicle went into "limp" mode ... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
C300
(2013) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Feb 21, 2023
Incident date: Feb 14, 2023
ABS / HCU System Failed. My safety was directly impacted. I was driving 70MPH on the expressway and had a SUDDEN deceleration, which nearly caused a rear-impact collision. Various warnings and lights on the dash lit up with "Service Electronic Braking System". When the ABS / HCU system has an issue, it deactivates the cruise control, ABS System, traction control, and parking detection system. ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 21, 2023
Throttle accelerates on its own when cold. This especially happens when vehicle has not fully warmed up in weather below freezing. I will let off the throttle and vehicle will continue to accelerate for several seconds before seemingly getting unstuck. There is no issue with throttle cable, and throttle body has been cleaned since the onset, which changed nothing.
Incident date: Oct 1, 2022
After car had leaking valve cover gaskets replaced the TCS and BRAKE indicator lights illuminated. Couldn’t reset. All fuses and light bulbs were good. E-brake limit switch OK, brake pedal switch ok but had small crack so REPLACED. TCS, BRAKE light went off then returned within 3 mins now with ( ! ) indicator light illuminated. Made appt with Honda Dealer however 2 days before appt vehicle lost ... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Jan 25, 2023
The component that needed replacement was the PTU (Power Transfer Unit). My Service 4WD drive light began going on so I brought it to my mechanic who told me there was a recall associated with this diagnostic code and to bring it to Jeep dealership. I then brought to dealership, was charged $160.00 and told that the recall was not for my particular VIN number and the cost of the repair was $3,00... Read more
Incident date: Feb 20, 2023
Blindspot monitoring, emissions system problem, transmission system problem all come on at the same time when vehicle is motion. Unable to manually shift if needed. A lot of vans had recall, however ours is not on the recall list, but we highly believe it should be due to safety concerns due to transmission failure.
CHRYSLER
TOWN AND COUNTRY
(2016) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Feb 21, 2023
Incident date: Feb 17, 2023
While attempting to park the car in a parking lot, the car did not respond to the release of the accelerator or the press of the brake but just continued. Car continued to jump the curb and run into a concrete wall without slowing or stopping. No auto functions were enabled on the car. Car was attempting to park in the spot on the right side of the photo but just continued on and ran into the sto... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Feb 20, 2023
The car continuously is throwing a code P2138 and a warning comes up on dash saying reduced engine power. This happened 6 times to me yesterday wherein I was traveling on 1 lane winding roads in my neighborhood so the speed drops from wherever it is down to 10mph instantly. On 1 lane roads in the area where I reside there’s no safe place to pull over. This is extremely dangerous and a massive sa... Read more
Incident date: Jan 21, 2023
While traveling down the interstate at the posted speed limit of 70 MPH in the fast lane, I experienced the vehicle immediately hesitating without pressing the brake and a loud grinding noise in the front drivers side and caused me to put on my brakes, change lanes and drive off to the side of the road. The grinding stopped and then it happened again about 20 more miles down the road. I was able... Read more