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: Aug 27, 2021
I was getting ready to pass a semi and when I went to accelerate I had no power. I pushed the pedal several times with no power. Then it finally kicked in and the car accelerated. I was almost rear ended due to me losing power. This has happened multiple times. No lights ever come on. I am also experiencing the car completely shutting off while stopped. When it does this, a message pops up that I ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 13, 2022
The contact owns a 2021 Ram 1500. The contact stated while depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle operated for a second and then stalled while the shift to desired gear warning error illuminated. The contact mentioned the brakes were applied independently. The vehicle was able to restart. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the diagnostic result was undetermined. The vehicle was not r... Read more
Incident date: Apr 13, 2022
On 12-April, I filed Report #11460592 regarding stuttering and uncontrollable acceleration of Toyota RAV4, 2019 model year, <22000 miles, incident occurred 11-April. Vehicle was taken to Toyota dealership service department on 12-April, returned that day as described in previous report. On 13-April, one day after repair, exact same issue occurred. Family (with 2 children) driving on road, 45MPH... Read more
Incident date: Apr 11, 2022
Driving on 35MPH limit road. Vehicle began to stutter. Vehicle began to communicate warning lights - "PKSB Malfunction" and "Hybrid System Malfunction" and "Check Engine" and alerted to visit dealer. After stopping at red-light, received warning to pull over and stop driving. Vehicle could not exceed ~10mph no matter how much accelerator was depressed and received warning that vehicle had ~2.5... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
GLC 350
(2019) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 12, 2022
Incident date: Apr 10, 2022
As I drove the car a warning message popped in the screen stating "Malfunction" without any further details. The car kept running, apparently we'll at first. Then after car was turned off and turned on again the car accelerated by itself proving very dangerous. The day after, le message popped up again, but the car began accelerating by it self in more than three occasions, at one point almos... Read more
Incident date: Apr 12, 2022
I had just changed from the right-hand lane to the center lane of a six-lane expressway when my vehicle lost power and i was able to move over to the right hand shoulder of the road. The accelerator pedal did not work and I just coasted to the side of the road. I noticed that a red warning saying something about RADAR flashed on the instrument panel when this happened. I turned off the vehicle... Read more
Incident date: Apr 9, 2022
While pulling a loaded trailer I was going around a right-hand bend in the road at about 35mph and the steering locked up throwing us off the road into a ditch. Thank God it did not throw us into oncoming traffic. Couldn't move the steering wheel at all with two men trying together. Required a tow truck to move to dealer. Also having issues getting the cruise to engage.
Incident date: Mar 28, 2022
Jeep put out a recall for the transmission and the recall was supposedly done the recall states that it would correct the issue of the car putting itself into neutral at any speed and making the driver return to park before he could re-enter a gear and redistribute power to the wheels. The recall should make the car go into a limp mode with limited power yet still producing power so it can exit fr... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2019
The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving at a slow speed in ongoing traffic, the vehicle accelerated independently and bumped into the vehicle in front of her lane. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated no one was injured nor sought medical attention. No police report was filed. The contact stated her vehicle did not need any repairs... Read more
Crash
TOYOTA
REDUNDANT SIENNA
(2022) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 11, 2022
Incident date: Apr 9, 2022
The contact owns a 2022 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated while driving on the highway at 35 MPH, she depressed the brake pedal however, the vehicle inadvertently accelerated. The contact stated that there was no warning light illuminated showing that the accelerator and brake pedals were being depressed simultaneously. The contact was able to drive home safely. The vehicle was not yet taken to be... Read more
Incident date: Apr 6, 2022
I was driving and my tires felt as if they were locking while I was driving. As I was driving up a hill my car slowed down and I couldn’t press on the gas pedal. I luckily was able to get it to a safe spot but I wasn’t able to reverse back or drive forward.
Incident date: Apr 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2017 Hyundai Tucson. The contact stated that while the accelerator pedal was depressed, the vehicle hesitated and failed to move. There were no warning lights illuminated. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 68,000.
Incident date: Apr 9, 2022
While driving at speed approximately 4:20PM EST April 9th, 2022 on I95 near the Georgia/South Carolina border the onboard computer froze and became unresponsive, including the speedometer, the radio, navigation system, etc.. I became aware of the issue because the car started to slowly slow down but the display continued to show 70 MPH. I forced the computer out of Autopilot but the car continued... Read more
Incident date: Jan 13, 2022
I purchased a new 2021 Infiniti Q50 from Infiniti of Cool Springs on September 28, 2020. There was an incident on January 13, 2022 due to a manufacturer defect that caused my car to accelerate on it’s own. I was parked at a car wash to vacuum my vehicle. I had my foot on the brake to move the gear shift into park when my car rapidly accelerated which caused me to crash through a metal fence that... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Mar 31, 2022
My lights are on and when taken to the dealership they said it was a recall.
Incident date: Apr 8, 2022
Dash had gone black intermittently, did not know what speed I was going. OnStar called oor phone multiple to notify us that our airbags we're offline for ten days no warning light on dash until one to two days later . Took to service was informed that gear shift control, engine control module, passenger presence module and airbag sensor needed replaced. All within a month of purchase of said USED ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 6, 2022
Something is happening to cause delayed shifting in this vehicle without warning or any rhyme or reason to it. One moment you're going 40 and all is well then suddenly the rpms go high the car slows way down and doesn't want to shift. There is no light to indicate the issue and no codes so no way to tell what to fix also no warning as to when it will happen. This car has become so unpredictable wi... Read more
Incident date: Apr 7, 2022
I275 southbound in Terra Ceia, FL. 11PM. Road surface damp. Speed 80 mph with adaptive cruise control engaged. No other vehicles within view. While on cruise control, the vehicle suddenly engaged the brakes slowing from 80mph to 65mph in a violent manner in a fraction of a second. Wheels broke traction slightly. This has occurred on a number of occasions to me since owned on 12/10/21. It's extre... Read more
Incident date: Apr 7, 2022
The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while her son was driving 70 MPH on autopilot, the vehicle independently decelerated to 45 MPH. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The driver was able to continue driving to his destination. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The fai... Read more
Incident date: Apr 8, 2022
I am being targeted as a DRIVER since 2010 for driving programs that automatically adjust the weight needed to effectively press the brake and gas pedals of any vehicle. 4/8/2022 3:34 PM PST, such activities occurred when merging onto traffic on the 57 N freeway from Imperial Hwy on ramp. To confirm that such occurred and that it was not due to overwhelming the engine during driving in high heat... Read more
Incident date: Apr 8, 2022
It appears to be a problem with all the Hyundai Santa Fe Sport. It has abs, downhill, stability control lights on at the same time. It appears to be wheel speed sensor but they do not know which one. The service manager had said it happens to be a lot of the time the rear sensor that goes out. The service manager made it seem like it happens frequently. When I check online a lot of owners appear ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 6, 2022
The contact owns a 2017 Lexus ES350. The contact stated that while in reverse and slowly reversing into a parking space, the vehicle suddenly experienced unintended acceleration and crashed into a tree. The contact indicated that the unintended acceleration occurred while pressing the brake pedal and also the crash avoidance safety features did not activate. No injuries were reported and no police... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Sep 6, 2021
I always use cruise control whenever i drive because this would always makes me put on a safety automatic brake whenever i get close to the car next to me. But it seems like my automatic emergency brake is defective which Lexus Dealership denies on the inspection when i complain. A lot of times the automatic emergency brake does not work when i use it even when im backing up it suppose to stop but... Read more
Incident date: Apr 4, 2022
Complete loss of engine power while going 65mph on highway. Warning light of low power first followed by check engine light then power reduced to 5mph. I turn the car off then restarted after 15 minutes, the morning light was off but the check engine light remained on. I then went to AutoZone to have a diagnostic test done which resulted In error code P2138. P2138 is for throttle/pedal position. M... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2022
Unknown Vehicle won’t take speed. Only reaches 30 miles an hour, thereafter vehicle starts to excessively shake. Lane assist does not function.
Incident date: Mar 26, 2022
While driving, typically on two lane roads with oncoming traffic, the vehicle will suddenly break hard for no visible reason. Often it is the case that the vehicle breaks so hard that things in the car fly forward and the seatbelts lock up causing people to grunt at the force and scream. This happens while using full self driving or just regular cruise control. There is no warning and people behin... Read more
Incident date: Apr 5, 2022
My vehicle has a problem with delayed acceleration and excessive acceleration. When releasing my foot from the brake pedal then pressing on the gas pedal, the vehicle doesn't always accelerate when the gas pedal is pressed. There seems to be a few second delay and then all of a sudden there is too much acceleration. We've reported this to our dealership several times. Several of their employee... Read more
Incident date: Mar 29, 2022
The truck will accelerate on its own during highway speeds of 60+ MPH and residential 25+ MPH. Also accelerates when coming up to a stop sign causing me to almost hit a child in a crosswalk. There was no cruise control engaged during the incidents. I took it into the Autonation toyota dealership twice and they said they could not reproduce and or duplicate the problem. It is very frightening when ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2022
while vehicle in autopilot mode and driving on 2 lane highway, vehicle would suddenly brake hard for no reason to do so. The same would occur on the freeway at the beginning of a bend in the road. This phenomenon commonly occurred and I have stopped using the autopilot feature for fear of being hit from behind if the vehicle suddenly braked for no apparent reason. No previous warning lamps or mess... Read more
Incident date: Mar 30, 2022
A strange thing occurred while I was dropping my grandchildren to school on 3/30/22 at 8:45 AM. After dropping off the kids, as I started the car in the car drop off lane, there was no acceleration despite me hitting the accelerator, the car would not accelerate, and cars exiting the school parking lot backed up behind my car. Suddenly, the car accelerated in an uncontrolled manner on its own, b... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2021
The entire vehicle shakes and vibrates violently at 50 mph and over.
Incident date: Apr 3, 2022
I was driving on the highway at normal highway speeds of 70MPH when the car lost the ability to accelerate, and I was forced to make an emergency stop on the side of the interstate. With the heavy traffic on the interstate, this scenario could have been catastrophic as there is currently construction and no place to pull over for emergencies. The vehicle was towed to Hubler Acura in Greenwood IN... Read more
Incident date: Apr 3, 2022
Highway driving using cruise control and car suddenly brakes hard. Has happened 3 times. All the incidents seem to be on slight hills with no traffic/nearby cars or road hazards. Took place in remote parts of New Mexico on Interstate 25. The braking is hard enough to cause an accident or to be rear ended due to the fast deceleration.
Incident date: Apr 15, 2021
ABS Electronic Brake System warning. "Service Antilock Brake System" warning as well as "Service ABS System" warning. Warnings are intermittent. It is available for inspection. Traction control light is on and braking seems difficult. I have not taken to a dealer because of prohibitive costs. This vehicle has not been inspected as it is a very common problem for this model truck. The problem has b... Read more
Incident date: Mar 30, 2022
While driving on the freeway at 75 mph, the Adaptive Cruise Control was engaged, and when commnig up behind a slower moving truck in the slow lane, our car decelerated to match it's speed. I then went to pass the truck after several vehicles passed us on the left. As soon as I started to change lanes, the cruise control shut itself off and the car started to slow down with several more cars now ri... Read more
Incident date: Mar 16, 2022
Frequent abrupt and unsafe phantom braking while using cruise control. Mostly due to headlights from semi-trucks coming in opposite direction but occasionally from just a dark patch on the road. On a long road trip from WA to AZ, it made using the speed control feature impossible. The vehicle would lurch hard enough to physically throw you forward in your seat and rapidly slow the car (increasing ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 3, 2022
Vehicle’s engine began to emit a knocking sound that would increase in volume and speed as engine progressed in speed. Engine suddenly lost power, check engine light began to flash and traction control disabled itself. Vehicle was pulled over and turned off when it immediately began to rapidly self immolate over the course of minutes while the power to the engine was completely disabled.
Fire
Incident date: Apr 1, 2022
I purchased this 2009 BMW K1300GT used from a dealer 3 weeks ago. He only let me do a short test drive around the block and it ran fine. I purchased it and began riding it daily to and from work, 48 miles round trip. There are 6 lights and 4 Stop sighs on my route. If I do a slow roll through a stop it comes close to stalling. If there are several cars ahead of me at a stop sign, or I hit a r... Read more
Incident date: Nov 20, 2021
There is a pause upon acceleration from a stop (unresponsive). Then the vehicle will lunge forward and make a loud noise. For both driver and passengers, it can be quite startling and feels as though the car has been hit from behind. This started happening in the fall of 2021, when the car was about two years old with about 18,000 miles. It has happened about a dozen times in the six months since ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 2, 2022
I need your help to get Toyota to fix 2 items: -ABS Accumulator: I understand Toyota at one time had a recall on the ‘ABS Accumulator’, that may have expired. At that time, I did not have any issue, nor was I aware of the recall. Now the ‘ABS Accumulator’ has gone out and is really hurting the braking. I had to get new brakes & they get locked because of the ABS malfunction. It is an expen... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2022
While I am turning to driveway slowly on the brake all of the sudden accelerate d too fast hitting my house wall the went to driveway with very high speed crashing my safely parked Mercedes benz pushed to the garage .the Mercedes is destroyed and the home garage destroyed. Home security cameras have videos and recorded.
Crash
Incident date: Mar 2, 2022
Air bag light and speed gage are unreliable.
Incident date: Nov 9, 2021
1. Drivers power seat back changes position, seemingly by itself overnight. Dealer says it's a known "Engineering Issue." Service personnel said a fix is coming but not sure when. Some people think that those affected are accidentally hitting the power seat switches but I have doubts about that. It's an ongoing problem, on and off, since purchasing vehicle 11-9-21. 2. Cruise control is no... Read more
Incident date: Mar 15, 2022
The electric power steering and ESC systems. It is or was under recall for this type of vehicle. The steering becomes hard and vehicle shakes the tire rotation is being read wrong by computer. It doesn't want to stay 9n the road...the stability of vehicle is compromised.
Incident date: Mar 27, 2022
Red Turtle warning light appears and the vehicle slows down immediately to 5~8 mph. Happens without warning and apparent triggers. Occurred multiple times in last week on freeways, exiting parking lot and on side road.
Incident date: Jul 17, 2018
I was driving down the street and then my car lurched forward, the engine revving up. It is a 2013 Sienna XLE V6 & it had 113,000 miles on it. I had to STOMP on the brake to get it to stop.
Incident date: Mar 31, 2021
This is a very common and well-known issue with 2017 Infiniti QX 80 Vin number [XXX] The car RPMs flutter between 1000 RPMs to 2500 RPMs due to the TCM and EC M/ECU TCU failure to the transmission causing terrible gas mileage vehicle stalls in traffic which can cause accidents and has happened over 10 times to me I have called and reported this as well with you all Infiniti will not earn up to the... Read more
Incident date: Mar 28, 2022
At random times under all driving conditions, the cruise control will shut off. There will be an alert sound without any subsequent information and the car will start decelerating. The system cannot be re-engaged until after the car comes to a complete stop and the engine is restarted. There are many reports of this on Honda forums. Here is a link: https://www.civic11forum.com/threads/anybody-... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
TOUAREG
(2016) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Mar 29, 2022
Incident date: Mar 19, 2022
Random engine hesitancy reducing acceleration while driving. Vehicle maintained by the dealer for all scheduled maintenance and service visits. Within 30 days of a manufacture's repair that dealt with the HVAC and air filter AND a service visit to change oil and rotate tires, the hesitancy during driving was more pronounced. The dealer's service center stated the air filter was flooded from an ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 27, 2022
The vehicle on at least 4 occasions has stopped accelerating when driving the vehicle (first time I believe was fall 2021, this last time was Spring 2022). Most of the times that the issue was noticed, the car was was moving at slower speeds (35 or less). The engine remained running but pressing on the gas pedal didn't make the vehicle increase it's speed. The first time it did this we took it ... Read more