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: Aug 4, 2022
Yesterday I had the most frightening driving experience of my entire life. It was raining heavily and I was going about 35 mph on the local road in my model 3 standard, 3 years old. Suddenly I lost all traction and was slipping side to side +/-90 degrees from the direction of traffic. I immediately took my foot off the accelerator and tried to slow down but didn’t brake. I swung 180 degrees each... Read more
1 injured
Incident date: Jul 19, 2022
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Mustang. The contact stated that the vehicle was repaired under NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V011000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic); however, while driving with the cruise control activated, the brake pedal was depressed but instead the vehicle accelerated and failed to stop as needed. The contact stated that an excessive amount of pressure was needed to depress the brake ped... Read more
Incident date: Aug 2, 2022
The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Forester. The contact stated as she pulled into a parking space, the vehicle inadvertently accelerated forward causing the vehicle to drive into the bank building. The contact stated she depressed the brake pedal, but the vehicle would not stop. The air bags did not deploy. One of the employees suffered minor injuries and a police report was filed. The vehicle was to... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Aug 4, 2022
Slid warning light, VSC comes on randomly. Has been happening beginning at 110K miles. Taken to dealership and reported durning normal service. I worked at a Toyota dealer. Front end suspension has been rebuilt. CV shafts replaced. Rock solid. Dangerous as the VSC system engages and the slid light comes on, tire speed control engages, happens in a normal 70mph easy turn on the expressway. ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 4, 2022
I had an accident , last night 08/04/2022 I was parked an upper hill and out of no were my truck blast up w speed and went forward at full speed I couldn’t control it I try braking and the brakes weren’t working my foot was literally all the way forward. The steering wheel got really hard couldn’t control it . Unfortunately I end up crashing and hitting an innocent man performing his job my ... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Aug 5, 2022
Speedometer shut off. Truck stayed in 6th gear and wouldn't down shift. Gears are erratic. Wrench shows on screen. Check engine light is on. Truck won't shift properly.
Incident date: Aug 5, 2022
Car regularly brakes for no reason causing near accidents constantly and posing a huge safety risk. Additionally, the full self driving option is totally unusable. Both these issues have been reported to Tesla multiple times. We have been told the only way we can have an actual working cruise control is to disable the full set aware driving without refund for that Bert expensive option
Incident date: Aug 1, 2021
Vehicle does not accelerate once running for a period of time despite pressing down on gas pedal.
Incident date: Apr 11, 2022
I have had several instances while driving on the highway when my forester revs to a very high RPM, the vehicle speeds up suddenly, and then shuts off completely. The only fix is to put the vehicle in neutral, move to the shoulder, and restart the vehicle. This has happened approximately 4 times during my 1 year of ownership and it is completely random when it occurs.
Incident date: Aug 4, 2022
When accelerating hard (pedal to the floor) from approximately 55 mph, the transmission may not downshift correctly and loses power causing a safety issue. When attempting to continue accelerate at full throttle, the RPMs hang while simultaneously losing vehicle speed. Other symptoms noticed were slight vehicle jerkiness from RPMs bouncing up and down a couple of hundred RPMs. When letting off of ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 30, 2022
Took my car for Regular maintenance and they did tire rotation and etc after that the car was driving kind of off now its just acting up started shaking and jerks like shutters and stuff feels vrry unsafe
Incident date: Jul 26, 2022
I started my car to drive to an appointment and noticed that the car was jerking/bucking as I pulled out of my driveway onto the main road. I was unable to accelerate appropriately for oncoming traffic behind me because the car was jerking violently and it was a bit scary since this had not happened before. This continued for several days, primarily when I would attempt to drive the car in the m... Read more
Incident date: Jul 27, 2020
I have a 2005 Nissan Xterra. I am the original owner and have been driving it over 16 years. Two years ago, in 2020 while driving my car on the road and with kids inside (with a 1 year old and a 6 year old child), the car began to shake and turned off (we were stranded in the middle of the road, at a traffic light). Since it was my only means of transportation I kept driving it (no kids inside a... Read more
Incident date: Aug 2, 2022
I was driving with cruise control going around 70 when the car started slowing down suddenly. Not wanting to slow down even more, I turned off the cruise control by hand using the cancel button on the steering wheel (rather than tap the brake) but when I then hit the accelerator, the engine felt like it was in neutral, revving past 6000 rpm on the tachometer. At that point, I realized I had no con... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
TAOS
(2022) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Aug 4, 2022
Incident date: Aug 1, 2022
While driving, there is a significant lag in acceleration after pressure is put on the gas pedal. There have been multiple instances where I have been making a left turn across traffic and the lag in acceleration has caused me to almost get into an accident. Downshifting and attempting to accelerate immediately after also produces a significant delay, which prohibits the driver from avoiding accid... Read more
Incident date: Mar 21, 2018
The original side detection system is not an enclosed system. Allowing water, snow, sleet, and salt can penetrate the system. Once, there is penetration and corrosion in the system it effects the entire automobile's electrical system and instrument cluster. Causing the vehicle to come to a complete halt.
Incident date: Jun 8, 2022
My friend was driving the vehicle (a 2019 Tesla Model 3) while it was engaged in Full Self-Driving Beta 10.12.2 mode. The vehicle was navigating through roadworks with temporary signage and cones in place. This seemed to interfere with the FSD with the vehicle moving left to right in an erratic manner and accelerating to 28mph whilst still in the roadworks zone. There is Go_Pro video of the incide... Read more
Incident date: Jun 9, 2022
My friend was driving the vehicle (a 2019 Tesla Model 3) while it was engaged in Full Self-Driving Beta 10.12.2 mode. The vehicle failed to recognise a speed limit change approaching a sharp left turn. The vehicle took the turn too fast at 29mph veered into the oncoming lane. The quick reactions of the driver, who took control averted a collision. There is Go_Pro video of the incident here https:... Read more
Incident date: Aug 2, 2022
-Loss of power from the pedal, not able to accelerate from a stop. RPM rides high until it shifts. "Transmission Malfunction. Service Now" notice. -Unaffected by other traffic but not able to properly maneuver traffic. -Problem has re-occurred but not taken to a service center. -No inspection conducted yet. - No warning lamps appeared until issue occurred a few times.
Incident date: Aug 3, 2022
Numerous times while on cruise control “autopilot” the car suddenly and rapidly decelerates for no apparent reason. Most often when no other cars or obstacles are seen and during full daylight (no rain or other complicating weather) but has also occurred at night. Typically while driving at highway speeds 65-80mph and the deceleration is rapid and significant (decreases by estimated 20 mph wit... Read more
Incident date: Jun 6, 2022
2019 Subaru Forester 2.5L JF2SKAEC0KH576270 I use cruise control most of the time in all of my cars. Tapping the inc/dec button in my Subaru changes speed in 5 mph increments. This is very dangerous because my other cars use 1 mph increments. My use case is on long climbs I like to slow down my car 1 or 2 MPH as it works harder. When I double tap the Subaru it drops by 10 MPH instead of the exp... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
SPRINTER 2500
(2012) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Aug 3, 2022
Incident date: Jul 15, 2022
Wheel speed sensor malfunction, partially addressed in NHTSA recall ID: 21V042 Why only rear speed sensors? As of Aug. 2, 2022, I am facing the replacement of both front speed sensors one of which was replaced a year ago. No ABS braking, No stability control, faulty parts creating on going safety problems not addressed in recall 21V042.
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2018) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Aug 3, 2022
Incident date: Jul 25, 2022
THE SPEED OF THE TRUCK WILL NOT INCREASE. THE RPMS GOES REALLY HIGH AND THE TRUCK WILL NOT MOVE INTO THE NEXT GEAR. THE REAR END OF TRUCK VIBRATES. I TOOK THIS TO THE DEALER AND WAS TOLD IT IS THE TRANSMISSION FLUID IS FAULTY. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT DOES COME ON. I DID NOT HAVE THE NEW TRANSMISSION FLUID CHANGED BECAUSE DEALER SAID IS COST $300 FOR THE FLUID AND $100 FOR THE LABOR AND $168 FOR TH... Read more
Incident date: Aug 3, 2022
When decelerating at transmission shift point the engine will accelerate 200 to 500 rpm with no gas applied. The vehicle will lurch forward. Additional breaking is required to prevent possible incidents. Dealer say no codes so nothing they can do issue is repeatable.
Incident date: Jul 30, 2022
I purchased a Subaru for reliability and safety reasons. This car has placed my family in some dangerous situations. Every time the outside temp is 90+ degrees F and it is driven on a road trip of 200+ miles, the car's acceleration shuts off. There is never any warning or check engine/trans lights until after this happens. Nate Wade Subaru in Salt Lake City cannot find any codes and does not know ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2022
When I was driving on suburban roads with speed limit of 45 mph, I received a waring from my vehicle saying "engine high temperature, drive moderately". After sometime, it said "engine overheated stop carefully". During the first warning, I felt loss of acceleration power and during the second warning I felt completely no power in acceleration that too when I was yielding for a left turn which was... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2022
When driving at 70 or above mph for a long distances, speed automatically declines to 60 mph and will not increase. When trying to accelerate, nothing happens. After a few miles, my vehicle then starts to accelerate on its own. The problem is extremely unsafe and frightening, especially with express highway traveling. Ive traveled out of state and the past 6 months when I've moticed this now frequ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 1, 2022
UNKNOWN My vehicle stalls while I’m driving. My RPM tends to stay at one number when this happens. I was nearly struck by a vehicle while trying to merge onto the highway. This is very dangerous. There’s also I light that comes on my dashboard that seems to be indicating an accident or something of that sort.
Incident date: Jun 8, 2022
My friend was driving the vehicle (a 2019 Tesla Model 3) while it was engaged in Full Self-Driving Beta 10.12.2 mode. On a section of road with a 15 mph limit the vehicle was travelling at 39 mph. It then attempted to take a corner at 25 mph veering into the oncoming lane. Vimeo Link - https://vimeo.com/735797650/15baa75187
Incident date: Jun 8, 2022
My friend was driving the vehicle (a 2019 Tesla Model 3) while it was engaged in Full Self-Driving Beta 10.12.2 mode. On a section of road with tight, blind turns, the vehicle accelerated from 23mph to 27 mph into the approach to a turn. In making the turn the vehicle crossed the median into the oncoming lane. There is a Go-Pro video of the incident here https://vimeo.com/735805944/eab3a31083
Incident date: Jun 8, 2022
My friend was driving the vehicle (a 2019 Tesla Model 3) while it was engaged in Full Self-Driving Beta 10.12.2 mode. On a wide residential road, with a speed limit of 30 mph, the vehicle accelerated to 44 mph. The display on the vehicle incorrectly says the limit is 65 before the driver had to manually adjust the maximum speed. There is Go-Pro Video of the incident here https://vimeo.com/73581574... Read more
Incident date: Jun 8, 2022
My friend was driving the vehicle (a 2019 Tesla Model 3) while it was engaged in Full Self-Driving Beta 10.12.2 mode. At 45 mph and without indicating etc, the vehicle swapped lanes from left to right on a dual lane highway. There is Go_Pro video of the incident here. https://vimeo.com/735819637/601febb81d
Incident date: Jun 8, 2022
My friend was driving the vehicle (a 2019 Tesla Model 3) while it was engaged in Full Self-Driving Beta 10.12.2 mode. Cruising at 35 mph on a broad residential street, the vehicle failed to recognise road markings and signage indicating that the vehicle was entering a “slow school” zone. There is Go_Pro video of the incident here https://vimeo.com/735823359/7795c10089
Incident date: Oct 1, 2019
I was at a stop street in Toledo and was pulling out onto a four lane street. I pressed the accelerator and the car crept slowly onto the street for about two or three seconds and the surged to about 3000 rpms and 20-25 mph. This has happened repeatedly an on occasion the delay has been 4-5 seconds. The dealership denies that there is a problem and refuses to repair the car.
HYUNDAI
ELANTRA HYBRID
(2021) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Aug 2, 2022
Incident date: Jul 6, 2022
The contact owns a 2021 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated that on several occasions while decelerating, the vehicle would lunge forward and the engine would rev. The contact stated that the vehicle would shut off while stopped. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the failure was not determined. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to the dealer ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 17, 2022
My experience is in the attached file. My concern is Honda (Acura, same company) issued a service bulletin with VIN ranges (which my vehicle falls in) and yet there is no diagnostic error code to show it happened to the car, repair persons/dealerships can and have denied fixing anything because they can’t diagnose it and it’s in the owner’s manual directing the owner to take it to the dealer... Read more
Incident date: Jul 30, 2022
The engine stalls out randomly. This is the third time it's done it. The first time was while I was exiting the freeway on March of 2021, which I thought was a fluke. The second time was July 19th and the third time was July 30th. There were NO warning lights or messages. Took it to the dealer and they said that everything came back fine with the engine. They confirmed that the RPMs were too... Read more
Incident date: Jul 20, 2022
Defective EGR valve. No ETA of repair. Vehicle failed to accelerate several occasions and was almost hit due to defective part. Dealership was able to get a code off the vehicle, yet no warnings for driver. Valve failure could have caused fatalities. Dealership advised Nissan is aware of defective EGR valve and that is why the mechanic could identify the problem.
2 injured
Incident date: Jul 29, 2022
Emergency Braking system is activated while the car is on road in 30+ miles speed and the car lost it control. Managed to stop it after driving a car for almost a mile long and then applying the break with hard attempt. This happened twice one around 10:30 PM on Jul 29th, 2022 and the subsequent day when I try to pull my car out of drive way. I decided to call my insurance for towing the car and... Read more
Incident date: Jul 9, 2022
May 2, 2022 - While driving home one evening, my check engine light came on, flashing. I was able to get into my neighborhood and once I got on my street, the front of the car started shaking violently. I made it into my driveway. This was very distressing and frightening. Scheduled a tow through USAA mobile app for next morning to be taken to Honda. There is way more detail - can't paste all her... Read more
Incident date: Jul 31, 2022
My 2020 Rav4 transmission is lagging power during acceleration and will not get up to speed, and also is stumbling and making a pulse like motion during acceleration. My safety and my family safety and others safety are put at risk when entering a highway, feeder, any busy road. We have taken it to the dealer for them to inspect it and the mechanic told us that his personal Rav4 does the same thin... Read more
Incident date: Sep 4, 2018
Kia Sorento 2011 LX 2.4L Oil disappears weekly, I have to check it often and/or refill. I use the required oil it calls for on the engine oil cap. Vehicle jolts while driving. I've been parked with vehicle off, turned it on, reversed from parking spot and about an tenth of a mile vehicle stalled, put it in park, and restarted. While driving headlights flicker Tapping/knocking noise from engine a... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
JETTA
(2019) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Aug 1, 2022
Incident date: Jul 31, 2022
While driving yesterday afternoon, the electrical system shut down thrice. Everytime i had to restart the car. When it shuts off it pops up a notification that says “Please check the starter system”. Reddit has many complaints regarding the 2019 Jetta Shutoff problem while driving. https://www.reddit.com/r/jetta/comments/p5pmti/2019_jetta_shut_off_while_driving/
Incident date: Jul 22, 2022
The vehicle has stalled 3 separate times in the rain.
Incident date: Jan 1, 2016
The contact owns a 2004 Acura TSX. The contact stated while the vehicle was at a standstill, the vehicle would accelerate independently and he was unable to control the vehicle. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer but they were unable to duplicate the failure. The contact stated on 7/29/2022 while depressing the accelerator pedal, he lost control of the vehicle again. The contact knoc... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jul 25, 2022
The vehicle had a sudden acceleration problem and the driver ended up in a big crash. The driver is in the hospital with many injuries. The vehicle was taken to the dealer before, at the beginning of March, because the check engine light was on and the throttle control light on and the truck didn't shift properly and dealer said that he doesn't have a transmission mechanic for about a month. They... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Aug 1, 2022
1. The car when s parked the electronic system does not recognize this and the electronics of the car remain on. Draining the battery and sometimes taking several attempts or more at having to restart the car, shifting through gears in order to get the car to properly turn off. 2. I have been driving down the highway doing approximately 65-75 mph and the car out of no where, with no other cars ar... Read more
HYUNDAI
ELANTRA HYBRID
(2022) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Aug 1, 2022
Incident date: Jul 26, 2022
The contact owns a 2022 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated while driving approximately 25 MPH, he depressed the brake pedal to the floor and the vehicle inadvertently attempted to accelerate forward. The contact also attempted to accelerate; however, the vehicle inadvertently stopped. The contact then restarted the vehicle and the vehicle operated as intended. There were no warning lights illumin... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2022
While stopped at a red light with my foot on the brake pedal only, the power switched from the battery of this hybrid vehicle to gas and started racing, causing the vehicle to accelerate and move through the crosswalk and into the intersection.? Had there been pedestrians in the crosswalk or traffic at the intersection, the outcome could have been tragic. I applied pressure to the brake which d... Read more
1 injured
Incident date: Jul 22, 2022
Popping in steering when turning back and forth. Cruise and radio quit working.