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: Jun 24, 2022
When driving one day my car began to shift into higher and lower gears on its own. I began experiencing my car shifting and losing power randomly while driving. I brought my car to a nissan dealer and was informed that my car was one of many with a faulty CVT Transmission. My car is 6 months and 4,000 miles past the warranty so they cant help me, but im hoping you can help others before someone is... Read more
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2018) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jun 29, 2022
Incident date: Jun 29, 2022
The UConnect display on my vehicle is phantom pressing buttons, going to different screens, turning things on and off as I drive. Yesterday, I was put in a EXTREMELY unsafe situation with my vehicle where the UConnect screen turned off my blind spot detection. I was unaware until I attempted to merge into another lane and hit another car!!! I called UConnect and Jeep and they told me they won’t ... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jun 17, 2022
Sudden acceleration while braking. While towing a gooseneck trailer aprox. 25,000 lbs, with the truck in tow/haul mode and the exhaust/engine brake turned on, started down a long winding 8% grade, could feel the engine brake working as normal, holding the truck from gaining speed, as the truck entered the second turn, the truck lunged forward gaining a lot of speed causing me to quickly st... Read more
FORD
EXPEDITION
(2018) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jun 29, 2022
Incident date: Jun 13, 2022
Driving thru Atlanta traffic stop and go . One time I took off and all of a sudden vehicle jerk and didn’t go . NExt time it lunged forward . I notice the vehicle shutters between 20-30mph Tried to get a appointment with ford nothing available till august . Went to Panama City shopping the other day with my son he could not believe how bad the vehicle lunges sometimes and sometimes it stalls b... Read more
Incident date: Jun 16, 2022
I was at a complete stop at a flashing red light with my foot firmly on the brake petal. My intention was to make a left hand turn. As a truck going the opposite way started to pass in front of me, and the traffic was clear, I took my foot off the brake pedal and without touching the gas pedal the car on its own accelerated into the passing tail end of the truck. The airbag deployed and my smal... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: May 18, 2022
On May 17th, I had an oil change completed on my 2020 Hyundai Santa Fe at a Hyundai dealership. On May 18th, I was parking my Santa Fe in a parking lot with which I am very familiar. I parked in front of the building, but realized that I had not pulled up far enough to the curb. I went to pull up a couple feet and as I started to put my foot on the gas pedal, I heard the engine roar and take off... Read more
Crash
Incident date: May 2, 2022
The vehicle is a 2019 Toyota Camry XSE V6. It currently has 27,000 miles on it. On May 2, 2022 while crossing a busy 4 way intersection (35 mph) the car began to stall. The engine started to shake, impacting the ability to steer the car, the vehicle would not accelerate and nearly all of the dashboard lights turned on. It was taken to the dealership on May 3rd where a mechanic said a rock may have... Read more
Incident date: Jun 21, 2022
The contact owns a 2010 Nissan Maxima The contact stated that when attempting to park their vehicle and shifting into reverse while depressing the brake pedal, the vehicle suddenly accelerated forward. The vehicle crashed into the side of the building in front and through the wall of the building causing the front end to be inside of the vehicle. The air bags did not deploy. A police report was fi... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: May 12, 2022
2017 Hyundai Santa Fe. While driving, the vehicle stopped accelerating. The vehicle operated appropriately until half way through the drive. At stops, it would take several seconds (30ish) for the car to go about 20 mph (rough estimate). The car would not go above 50mph, and this took a few minutes to reach with the gas pedal all the way down. I parked the car and had it towed. After approximately... Read more
Incident date: Jun 26, 2022
Phantom braking at interstate speeds when vehicle was in autosteer. On a recent 600+ mile day trip I experienced 5 separate instances of instant phantom braking when the car was travelling between 70 and 75mph with autosteer on. The car would brake violently from 70mph to around 50mph in milliseconds without any observable obstacles and no visual or audible warnings from the car. The driver no... Read more
Incident date: Jun 27, 2022
My vehicle does the same thing as NHTSA ID Number: 11423521 and now I know not to bother taking it in for service for this issue. I was validated when I read that complaint as I have and continue to experience the same non-responsive issue when I accelerate from a complete stop ever since the vehicle was purchased 2020 February. This form asks for a specific date but there is no specific date. ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 24, 2022
I was driving along at 50 mh and all the sudden drops down to 30 mp and even thought I push peddle to floor it won't go above 40 mh and starts trying to cut off this has happened a few times to me as well as my mom who drove my car. This is a serious safety issue that needs to be addressed ..
Incident date: Jun 24, 2022
The vehicle was being driven with the cruise control set. Upon approaching an intersection on a four lane divided roadway I tapped the brakes to deactivate the cruise control. When pressure was applied to the brake pedal the cruise control did not disengage but the vehicle accelerated instead. I released pressure to the brake pedal and the vehicle continued at the cruise control set speed. I again... Read more
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Jan 1, 2019
My van regularly hesitates from the stopped position. This often causes a safety hazard when turning right into traffic or making a left turn because I am not able to accelerate for several seconds and the vehicle feels as if it is stalling out. It is a known mechanical defect with Honda and they do not currently have a resolution. When reported, I was told the mechanical system defects to swit... Read more
Incident date: Apr 28, 2022
The contact owns a 2021 Volvo XC40. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V288000 (Vehicle Speed Control) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufact... Read more
Incident date: Jun 25, 2022
Car engine accelerate on own. Tac meter shows over 3,000 RPM when I put it in neutral. I have to tap the accelerator and it goes back to normal. This happens about once a week now. I was slowing down for a stoplight and it happened. Brakes were not enough. Almost hit a car. Only by throwing into neutral allowed me to gain control and stop. My mechanic couldn’t find anything. I cannot allow any... Read more
Incident date: Jun 27, 2018
The contact owns a 2007 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while driving at 60 MPH on a bumpy road, the brake pedal was depressed and the vehicle accelerated unintendedly, hit a high curb, and stopped. The air bags did not deploy. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact was able to continue driving. The dealer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that she would need to ... Read more
Crash
3 injured
Incident date: Jun 20, 2022
One week ago 6-20-22, my car started to ‘chug’ and slow down as I was accelerating up a hill on a highway. It was almost as if my car was losing power. When this happened about 10 warnings signs came up on my dash. I drove it directly to the dealership. They replaced my oil saying the pressure was low. All was well for the day after 6-21 when driving it home from dealership. On 6-22 I went to ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 21, 2022
The vehicle will randomly lose power when going from a stop or low speed and attempting to accelerate. For example, if I am stopped at a red light and start to accelerate once the light turns green, the vehicle will not gain speed. I have to let up off the gas pedal and then I will feel a "jolt" and then the vehicle will pick up speed. The safety of myself, my kids and others were put at risk beca... Read more
Incident date: Jun 24, 2022
I was driving with the cruise control engaged set at 60 mph. Approached an intersection with traffic light with traffic stopped in both westbound lanes. Tapped the brake to deactivate the cruise control. The cruise control did not turn off but instead tapping the brake caused the truck to accelerate. Released the brake pressure and reapplied brake pressure. This action again caused the truck to ac... Read more
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Jun 25, 2022
Rubber stopper on brake sensor dry rotted and broke off. This caused the car to think I was applying the brakes when I wasn’t. It would cut the throttle while trying to maintain speed and my brake lights were always on even though I wasn’t touching the brakes or in the car for that matter.
Incident date: Jun 25, 2022
Brake hold disengages and the car starts to move forward often. The manual states it should stay engaged for 10 minutes. Car pulls away at stop lights and towards pedestrians and bikers while brake hold is engaged. https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-rdx-problems-fixes-458/brake-hold-issue-977762/
Incident date: Jun 16, 2021
For over a year now my car has a weird hesitation when I press the gas and fully have the pedal down it just crawls no more than 8mph then all of sudden it will jump into speed and take off. The shop has had my vehicle for over 3 months and couldnt figure it out just told me to put premium gas in and that still hasnt solved the problem. This car has been NOTHING but problems. Havent even had it t... Read more
Incident date: Jun 26, 2022
Was at a drive through and took foot off the brake and barely put any pressure on accelerator the car went out of control — sudden acceleration.. First time this has happened with this car. Was definitely not working properly. Less than a second was at full Speed. Had to swerve to try and avoid the car ahead of me. Entire left side of car is crushed and torn apart.
Crash
Incident date: Jun 1, 2022
When I go to accelerate my vehicle it does not accelerate properly. It actually slows down to the point of almost stopping. It is very dangerous when I am getting on the highway. I have had cars almost rear end me due to this issue. I travel with my children in this car.
Incident date: Jun 7, 2021
Car jumps when going into reverse, going into a stop and coming off a stop. Hesitates off of stops. Feels like it goes into neutral when going around bends. When I’m park, it rocks back and forth and rpm’s go down. It’s been happening since I bought the car a year ago.
Incident date: May 15, 2022
The contact owned a 2021 Toyota RAV4. The contact stated while driving 65 mph and attempting to merge into the next lane, he was depressing on the brake pedal but it began to accelerate independently, and lost control of the vehicle. The contact stated he crashed into a concrete shoulder off the road, bounced off the concert shoulder, and crashed into another vehicle. The air bags did deploy. The ... Read more
Crash
7 injured
Incident date: Jun 4, 2022
I was driving my truck in north Georgia while towing a trailer under 5000 lbs. The truck was in cruis control at 68 mph and the truck suddenly down shifted from 5th to 1st. I got the truck off the interstate at a reduced speed since it wouldn't shift up. When this happened an orange wrench light came on. When I stopped I turned the truck off and the light went away. We fueled up and got on the roa... Read more
Incident date: Jun 18, 2022
Unknown I purchased this vehicle in 2019 About 2 and half years now. This car engine is malfunctioning. When i am driving uphill the speed is not transitioning and it had caused other vehicles behind me to slow down. Second major problem is during the summer season the speed does not adjust easily . I would have to press on the gas so hardly to be able to proceed. The worst of all is when am at a ... Read more
FORD
EXPEDITION
(2002) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jun 23, 2022
Incident date: May 12, 2022
My spark plugs are going bad, I bought three tires. But now I'm having to take it to the shop because it's weird noises coming from the tire it may be the wheel baring or sway bar link and bushing the mechanic say.
Incident date: Jun 1, 2022
Currently my ESC OFF warning light is lit on my dash, and while lit my vehicle has trouble accelerating from 0 to 40 mph. The warning light goes on and off at random. I have had the accelerator pedal assembly replacement in 2015 and 2019 due to the same issue. It is NOW happening again in 2022!!!. Is this a design flaw issue? It's definitely a safety issue! How can consumers be protected from ... Read more
HYUNDAI
IONIQ HYBRID
(2019) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jun 23, 2022
Incident date: Jun 20, 2022
One morning, my father turned on the car. It was still in Park. He and my mom heard a noise, as if my dad was pushing on the gas pedal, but he was not. They turned off the car, turned it on again, and everything seemed fine. After driving for a bit, my father was back home and parking the car. Because of the way the parking lot is, you have to go slowly, less than 10 miles an hour, pushing on the... Read more
Crash
Fire
2 injured
HARLEY-DAVIDSON
FLHTK
(2019) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jun 23, 2022
Incident date: Jun 11, 2022
Twist Grip Sensor ECM Code p2138 and P1510. twist grip sensor correlation error and Electronic throttle control limited performance mode.
Incident date: Jun 20, 2022
The contact owns a 2010 Lincoln MKZ. The contact stated that while in the car wash the transmission was shifted back to the Driver position when suddenly the vehicle experienced unintended acceleration causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle and crash into a pair of the iron post. During the crash, the front of the vehicle was severely damaged but the airbags did not deploy. The driver s... Read more
Crash
1 injured
SUBARU
XV CROSSTREK
(2013) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jun 23, 2022
Incident date: Jun 10, 2022
Whilst driving down Highway 101 near Sequim WA, I was on cruise control doing 55 MPH going up a steep hill which I have done numerous times before without issue. When all of a sudden the car suddenly slowed down, for me to hear honking from a Semi behind me who had to suddenly swerve to go around us to stop him from rear ending me (luckily that part of the road on the hill had a second lane for t... Read more
Incident date: Jun 20, 2022
MKX has 75000 miles on it and the tss and oss sensors have gone out. Car goes into limp mode and will barely move, it shifts very hard, speed odometer quits and all the warning lights come on. If you stop let it sit and restart car it resets issue but you never know when it will happen again. It can happen at cruising speed or at start of car. VERY unsafe
Incident date: Aug 21, 2013
I complained to a Toyota Dealer about this problem in 6-2017. The took it for a road test and the car did not do it and it did not record a code. So they could not find a solution. Intermittently and without warning the electronic link between the gas pedal and the engine is inoperative for 3-5 seconds. During this period the car is not under power, it is coasting and depressing the gas pedal ha... Read more
Incident date: Aug 26, 2019
Car falsely indicates overheating and goes into “limp mode” not allowing me to accelerate even while driving. Has occurred on freeway, while parked, in intersections, and has posed a threat to my safety over a hundred times. Been yelled at by other drivers and almost hit countless times because I’ve been unable to accelerate whilst trying to pull over safely. “Hill start assist not availab... Read more
Incident date: Nov 16, 2021
Have had issues from day one. Lane centering hugs middle line, back up camera is black at times, when in drive screen is blank, all tools on steering have went out including turn signals, cruse control, collision avoidance flashes when no one is in front of me, brakes due to collision avoidance malfunction etc. in November 2021 car was in park ( know that for sure it was in park and not moving as ... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Jun 2, 2022
was driving and no warning lights came on and then the engine seized up after buying it 3 months ago. then took towed to kia vw billings mt and they now have had the car for almost two weeks and none of my rights are being met and no communication back to me wont respond to several of my calls. i will be filing a lawsuit against either auto resource in billings mt for selling me a faulty vehicle ... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ID.4
(2021) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jun 22, 2022
Incident date: Jun 21, 2022
6/21/22 When I was pulling into a parking lot space, the car suddenly accelerated and the steering wheel turned uncontrollably, I could not stop the car, the brakes didn't respond at all. The car was driving by itself, I couldn't do anything to stop it, until I ran into two parked cars where it finally stopped; thank god no injuries. The car was undriveable, and was towed away, I'll have it inspec... Read more
Crash
NISSAN
PATHFINDER
(2019) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jun 22, 2022
Incident date: Jun 22, 2022
Unavailable radar obstruction notification warning, loss of cruise
Incident date: Jun 7, 2022
Rear wheel bearing is bad after only 35,000 miles causing the speed sensor to fail which causes the cruise control to fail. The wheel bearing has also caused extreme wear on the tread of my brand new tires, and the ABS and stability/traction lights to come on in the dash display. I have researched this problem extensively and found that many Dodge Journey owners have experienced the same issues.
Incident date: Jun 21, 2022
While driving abs light, stability control light, and hill decent light came on. ABS and stability control are important safety features to prevent loss off control and potential collisions. Seems to be a common problem for hyundai.
Incident date: Jun 16, 2022
Message board throttle body position sensor controls the speed of the car is having issues having a problem accelerating
Incident date: Jun 22, 2022
I didn’t know or the incident with the car until I purchased and started noticed The way it drives. It do have a problem with acceleration while shifting gears, and also loses power with A/c turned on.
Incident date: Jun 13, 2022
Passenger seat belts does lock all the time. Front brakes I've had issues with since day one. Dealer tells me on 3 occasions there fine nothing wrong but have gone thur 5 brake pads sets. Now when I step on brakes or give gad to go it's like the throttle cable or something isn't working because it won't go. Have to either give it afew than try paddle or put in N than back to drive. Happens alot in... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2022
None of the gauges work properly Gm has not issued a recall despite the numerous complaints and it is a 500 to 800 dollar repair bill to replace the instrument cluster. 2005 Sunfire and the instrument cluster is malfunctioning. The gas gauge has stopped working altogether and the temp and rpm gauge work erratically. This is definitely a recall issue and has nothing to do with the maintenance of t... Read more
Incident date: Mar 30, 2022
Every time I put my car in park and I take my foot off the break it rolls back a little. I did have a overheating warning and my rear camera didn’t work and it is also upside down.
DODGE
GRAND CARAVAN
(2013) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Jun 21, 2022
Incident date: Jun 21, 2022
The ignition is not responding as it should. I have to turn it more and more often when I should only turn it once. My grave concern is that of my wife and grandkids. When she is driving them to and fro, the car will hesitate to start and the real problem will be when it turns off. If they are all in the car and on the highway it could be a disaster. I had new key pods made and the vendor told me ... Read more