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: Jan 5, 2021
The emissions systems stated slippery when wet and the traction for the tires were loose. The tires were installed or balanced wrong causing the tires to slide. When braking the traction caused the car to be driven at low speed to avoid the problems with the steering wheel and the balance between it using the wrong amount of space to turn. It needed it large amount of space because the wheels were... Read more
Incident date: Feb 15, 2022
IN feb 2022 my dash produced a pre-collision assist not avaible and also a adaptive cruise not available sensor blocked see manual. when i tried to tap the button for cruise control it would show set speed , but wouldn't let me . i called ricart ford in ohio and took it to them . they said it was the cruise control manual bracket had been damaged by outside force( a rock) and ford wouldn't fix i... Read more
Incident date: Aug 30, 2022
The car randomly shuts off when driving. It also has problems with accelerating when the AC system is turned on.
Incident date: Sep 4, 2022
My vehicle is experiencing the same issues that were identified under recall 16V-248 with the exact same year, make and model vehicle. Several times, while driving at high speeds, the vehicle will display a wrench logo (MIL) and the vehicle will either downshift to 1st gear or completely lose all power to the pedal. After turning the ignition off and back on, for a period of time the vehicle wil... Read more
Incident date: Aug 23, 2022
While driving at highway speed and applying the brake the car independently accelerated. Vehicle continued to accelerate while applying greater brake pressure in an attempt to slow down. Vehicle had to be driven onto shoulder to avoid hitting the vehicle in front of it. Acceleration stopped after several attempts at braking.
VOLKSWAGEN
TIGUAN
(2022) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Sep 7, 2022
Incident date: Jun 1, 2022
When we drive the car the excelarator pedal does respond to moving the vehicle when in heavy traffic and starting off the response is slow the the vehicle jumps forward this has happened since we bought it please let’s not have another Toyota TPS problem with many people ding before anyone says something.
Incident date: Sep 7, 2022
The adaptive cruise control (Tesla "autopilot") system has unexpectedly disengaged and applied light to heavy braking numerous times. The system frequently mistakes a particular highway sign for a stopped vehicle and applies moderate braking. The system has also applied light to heavy braking in circumstances where I simply cannot figure out what the camera is interpreting as a hazard. This puts m... Read more
Incident date: Sep 5, 2022
My Pacifica suddenly will not start. I ended up jump-starting the van. Then whenever I stopped, it needed a jump start. This whole ordeal is from a single day. Driving back on the high-way, suddenly van acted weird, all electronics going haywire, various instrument "unavailable" messages started coming, and on the highway Van all systems failed, power steering locked, I pulled over and battery ico... Read more
Incident date: Jul 29, 2022
The performance of the car is impacted by the following: Service Advance Trac Steering Assist Fault Service Required Hill Start Assist Not Available. As a result, the vehicle drivetrain aggressively responds with drop in RPM and Steering Wheel gets tight; to a point the car is hard to navigate
Incident date: Aug 31, 2022
I was at a complete stop awaiting a draw bridge to lower. I put my vehicle in park. When the cars In front of me started to move I put my foot on the brake and turned the knob to drive. My vehicle immediately accelerated out of control. I immediately pressed both feet on the brake as hard as I could and the vehicle kept moving. I hit a guy on a motorcycle and swerved left as hard as I could. I tra... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Sep 6, 2022
On September 6, 2022, at 7:45 AM I was traveling from my home to work in my 2020 Acura RDX. As I was merging on to an interstate in heavy, high-speed traffic, my RDX suddenly lost power and started to decelerate with absolutely no warning at all as high-speed traffic was approaching from behind. My vehicle decelerated to a speed of about 20mph on an interstate in the midst of heavy, high-speed t... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2022
The cruise control stopped working.
Incident date: Aug 9, 2022
Transmission fault notification appeared on the screen while on the highway. Vehicle unable to maintain speed and has "bumping" when attempting to drive it. Poses a safety threat because I was unable to maintain speed while driving. Ford has not found remedy and it has been a month without ability to use vehicle.
MERCEDES-BENZ
SPRINTER 2500
(2022) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Sep 6, 2022
Incident date: Sep 2, 2022
Brand new van with less than 1000 miles on it. Driving in the High Sierras 8600 - 9000 ft. Altitude seems to be related to this problem. I have not had the problem in San Francisco on steep hills. Problem: When leaving a stop, on any uphill slope RPMs will stay well under 2000 and the van barely moves or not at all. Occurs even with full throttle, manually in lowest gear and in low range (low ra... Read more
Incident date: Sep 6, 2022
I was driving on the highway at speeds of 75 mph and the car suddenly stopped entirely and began decelerating at a VERY quick speed to almost 30 mph in just a few seconds. Luckily, nobody was behind me, otherwise the speed at which it was slowing down would have caused a collision. The car would not accelerate in the time that it was decelerating and the gas pedal stopped working entirely. There w... Read more
Incident date: Sep 5, 2022
Beginning in 2018, perhaps earlier, I noticed that often when I would press the accelerator all the way, the engine would (and still does) make a sound (I’ve since learned, through many dealership interactions and internet searches, that the sound is referred as pinging or knocking from pre-detonation), and it SEEMED that the car’s computer would (and still does) electronically back off the th... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2021
The infotainment system is so buggy and slow it's dangerously distracting. It crashes all the time and takes a few minutes to reboot which is not good when you're using navigation. The volume randomly will go to 100% and the only way to fix it is to restart the car. I've had it happen maybe 10 times. It's very startling and it's painful to the ears. The most dangerous problem with the infotainment... Read more
Incident date: Sep 5, 2022
Phantom braking aggressively appearing during a family road trip. Violent braking leading to a 20-30 mph drop in speed.
Incident date: Sep 4, 2022
Upon leaving work and gaining speed to 40mph I received a dash notification specifying engine power reduced and my mileage went down abruptly to 20mph. My check engine light came on and the power steering light appeared on my dash with the engine power reduced notification. I was not able to accelerate past 20 mphs.
Incident date: Sep 5, 2022
The system is malfunctioning. Indicators on dash come on showing pre collision system is off. And I have to manually go into the controls, turn it on, but it doesn't immediately turn on. I have to exit out, and enter the menu several times to get it to turn back on. It happens when idling and while driving.
Incident date: Jan 1, 2022
My 2018 Ford Ecosport odometer goes black when it’s parked in the sun while I’m driving I can’t see my dashboard when it’s cool it’ll turn back on sometimes when it’s not under the sun
TOYOTA
PRIUS PRIME
(2022) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Sep 4, 2022
Incident date: Sep 1, 2022
When adaptive cruise control is engaged and a car cuts in front of you the car will accelerate rapidly at first nearly hitting the car before it slows.
Incident date: Sep 4, 2022
While on a cross country road trip, our 2022 Tesla Model Y has repeatedly slammed on the brakes at highway speeds with nothing in front of us. Most times have been cresting hills, but one time it was on straight road with, fortunately, no other cars near us.
Incident date: Sep 1, 2022
While having my car on for an extended period of time, my car will randomly not accelerate when I push on the gas pedal. As soon as I turn the car off and turn it back on, my car will reset itself and will resume as normal, until it happens again sometimes just 30 minutes later. This issue has happened since I have purchased the car. This happens mostly when I am in stop and go traffic, when I ne... Read more
Incident date: Sep 4, 2022
Car occasionally experiences unintended acceleration. This happening today 9/4/2022. Car was brought to a complete stop. It suddenly accelerated while the foot was still on the brake, causing it to rear-end the car in front. Thankfully there no physical injuries reported (yet) We had experienced this a couple of time before. I had contact Honda as well as the local dealer and they cleared the car... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Aug 15, 2022
at random times my vehicle will lurch forward when I am driving. It could be right after I begin to accelerate or while I am at a consistent speed. It usually occurs under 40 mph. I have almost lost control many times. And had to slam on my breaks to avoid hitting people in front of me.
Incident date: Jul 9, 2022
Fuel gauge says zero miles to empty and will not take any gas more than a few gallons before kicking pump off. Gauge shows it's over heating but if you turn ignition off and turn right back on it resets and is fine. Codes come back saying nothing about fuel or cooling, but only something about speed control in the hub. Sounds like an electrical issue but no where to be found.
MERCEDES-BENZ
GLA 250
(2015) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Sep 2, 2022
Incident date: Sep 1, 2022
Upon start, got a "reverse not possible" warning. Tried to drive home, but shifting was very erratic and car slowed dramatically between shifts. On several occasions, cars behind me had to swerve to avoid me. And, if I would have had to reverse out of danger, I would have been in serious trouble. After too many close calls, I stopped to arrange a tow. When I returned to the car to move it, the pro... Read more
Incident date: Aug 16, 2022
On 8/16/2022 Tuesday, I went to work at about 10:24 and parked by the road next to mcDonalds to call my husband. I wanted him to take the car to park elsewhere as that spot had no parking starting at 10:30. My husband was not available so I was about to move the car and had my feet slightly touching the brake. At that point the car suddenly accelerated and jumped forward without any control and hi... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Aug 28, 2022
The cars gives warning warning and high beeping sounds to shift and car engine to P and then shuts of randomly. Happended to me twicw at 65mph and 35mph. Also the car randomly gives worng way notifications even on the perfectly straight road over and over again.
Incident date: Aug 30, 2022
The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that while driving approximately 5 MPH and making a right turn onto the driveway of the home, the vehicle suddenly experienced unintended acceleration and drove forward into the garage door. The contact indicated that during the incident the accelerator pedal was not being pressed. No injuries were reported. The garage door and home were da... Read more
Crash
MERCURY
GRAND MARQUIS
(2004) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Sep 1, 2022
Incident date: Sep 8, 2021
While driving, I came to a stop light and suddenly, the car idled high and lurched forward while my foot was on the brake, luckily, I was stopped well away from the vehicle in front of me. The car idled high and seemed to have a mind of it's own. I took the back roads home and backed into our garage. The car smelled hot, and I though I had smoked my brakes, trying to keep control of it. Later th... Read more
Fire
FORD
MUSTANG MACH E
(2022) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Sep 1, 2022
Incident date: Aug 20, 2022
The contact owns a 2022 Ford Mustang. The contact stated while pulling into a parking spot at approximately 2 MPH and had not yet placed the vehicle in park, the vehicle had an unintended acceleration. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The vehicle crashed into a light post, ran over the post, and crashed into a back of a building. The vehicle had damage to the hood, grill and bu... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Aug 20, 2022
Vehicle fails to accelerate and breaks for no reason. Driver is not in control of vehicle. Last I checked I have the drivers license not the vehicle, yet I am unable to accelerate when pressing the gas at times. Other times driving 65 on the expressway the vehicle abruptly stops nearly causing me to be rear ended. Nissan isn’t addressing safety concerns. I’m traumatized by this vehicle.
2 injured
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2008) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Sep 1, 2022
Incident date: Jul 14, 2022
the jeep goes into limp mode and gets stuck in 2 gear I have replaced the shifter solenoid and still happens I have read about this happing to the same jeep from 2005-2010 model and this is a safety issue that need to be recalled immediately. I was driving on the highway and the jeep shifted into 2nd gear mind I was going the speed limit of 65 and it went down to 30 MPH and it almost caused a pike... Read more
Incident date: Aug 30, 2022
The contact owns a 2014 Maserati Ghibli. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to the dealer where a manufacturer recall was performed and the front driver's side mat and accelerator pedal were replaced; however, the contact stated that while driving, the front driver's side floor mat hooks failed. As a result, the front driver's side floor mat slipped underneath the brake pedal and the ac... Read more
Incident date: Aug 21, 2022
Autopilot's adaptive cruise control has caused numerous sudden slowdowns without any traffic in front. Fortunately there wasn't a vehicle close behind me but had there been it could have caused a collision. I took a 3100 mile road trip and it probably happened between 20 and 40 times. Sometimes it would only slow from 70 to 60, but on a few occasions it was as if the brakes had been applied hard a... Read more
CHEVROLET
TRAILBLAZER
(2002) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Aug 31, 2022
Incident date: Aug 28, 2022
The car rmp goes high when accelerating it's a common problem with the cooling fan which the company is aware of it but aren't held reliable! It's a shame that nhtsa hade many complaining about the issue but aren't holding the manufacturer responsible this could of hade me and my family in an accident!
FORD
EXPEDITION
(2001) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Aug 31, 2022
Incident date: Aug 29, 2022
I gave a friend a ride to Wal mart in my 2001 Expedition to buy some power steering fluid, luckily I parked over by the automotive section. I turned it off and waited in vehicle till he returned, about 7 or 8 minutes. I started the engine, grabbed the brake and dropped it in reverse when engine revved sending us backwards completely out of control with both feet on the brakes, spinning rear wheels... Read more
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Aug 31, 2022
There is an "advanced" recall on the clockspring contamination on my vehicle. The local ford dealership is stating that they do not have access to the parts to fix this issue, as it's an advanced warning. The issue is that the truck is having the malfunction. The buttons on the steering wheel do not work, which is now causing me to not be able to see the display b/c it's blocked by a warning, th... Read more
Incident date: Aug 31, 2022
The car began to shake uncontrollably on the freeway at 55/MPH . The car then marked "Engine Power is Reduced", causing the car to no longer accelerate more than 5-7/MPH. This is a very dangerous situation because it can cause a terrible accident on the road since it's a random inconvenience. I have heard that many of these types of cars "Chevy Cruze" seem to experience the same type of problem. W... Read more
Incident date: Aug 23, 2022
The electronic brake light and ABS warning goes off intermittent and with hitting bumps. When this happens the cruise control shuts off. This leads me to believe that the antilock brakes and and will malfunction in a panic stop. This is a repeat issue, dealership has replaced the HCU and ABS modules twice within a three year window.
Incident date: Aug 18, 2022
The car does not accelerate or accelerate with jerky motion. Occasionally, the vehicle disengaged out of drive mode and would not accelerate. There seems to be some transmission issues as the vehicles is making jerky movement upon acceleration. Almost cause accident on a turn as it could not move forward out of cross traffics!
Incident date: Aug 29, 2022
While stopped at a red light, the vehicle automatically put itself into park, activated the parking break, and turned off. Had to power the vehicle back on while still at the red light, turn off the parking break and put it back into drive.
Incident date: Aug 28, 2022
When I engage the speed control on my vehicle, approximately 15 to 45 seconds afterwards, the system will temporarily disengage without warning, causing me to manually re engage the system. Sometimes it will re engage right away, and other times I need to press the resume button several times for it to re engage. There is no warning before the system dis engages.
MERCEDES-BENZ
S400
(2010) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Aug 30, 2022
Incident date: Aug 27, 2022
Airmatic Suspension sprung a leak and could not be driven safely due to the vehicle getting severely low where the tire and rim tucked into the wheel well. When the airmatic suspension fails the vehicle can get so low that it can scrape the roadway, hit bumps and damage parts under which can dislodge and cause an severe accident or pile up. Requesting a Nationwide Recall on all Mercedes-Benz vehic... Read more
Incident date: Apr 4, 2022
I bought my 2003 Chevy Tahoe used and as is at a dealership for $10,000. Yes, I've been robbed. The truck is in great LOOKING condition. Has a little bit of superficial dings and a couple dents but overall exterior is great. Interior isn't shabby. Has wear on the driver's seat but not bad. The first thing that happened, I was on my way to work at 4 in the morning, turned on right blinker to change... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2020
I have experience phantom braking on my Model 3 many times when I used FSD(full self drive) on the freeway. The car just randomly slows down / decelerates abruptly even if there are no obstacles or other cars in front. This results in a serious situation when the vehicle behind may ram into you causing a fatal accident. I have always reported this issue using voice control REPORT BUG and got ackno... Read more
Incident date: Apr 6, 2021
I have experience phantom braking on my Model Y many times when I used FSD(full self drive) on the freeway. The car just randomly slows down / decelerates abruptly even if there are no obstacles or other cars in front. This results in a serious situation when the vehicle behind may ram into you causing a fatal accident. I have always reported this issue using voice control REPORT BUG and got ackno... Read more
Incident date: Aug 12, 2022
Vehicle sped up/kept going towards the traffic ahead while on adaptive cruise control. Vehicle also started showing “radar disabled” warnings & has continued intermittently (on a daily basis) for about the past 3 weeks. The “forward collision avoidance disabled” warnings keep popping up even while NOT on cruise control. Nothing physical is blocking the radar. The on-board computer does NOT... Read more