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: Apr 27, 2026
At 70 mph the adaptive cruise control system applied the brakes hard enough to engage the abs system even though my lane of travel was clear. There was a car on the exit ramp to the right applying their brakes not in my path that I believe my vehicle picked up. There were several vehicles behind me and it almost caused an accident. There needs to be a way to disable the adaptive cruse on this vehi... Read more
Incident date: Apr 18, 2026
I picked up my vehicle from the dealership after it being there for almost 2 weeks for multiple DTC codes, a dash cam component replacement, and recall updates. On the way home, my check engine light flashed on and off multiple times while driving at highway speeds (although no codes were recorded in my Hyundai app diagnostics). When I exited the highway, I came to a stop sign on the off ramp and ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 27, 2026
My wife was driving our 2016 Mazda CX-5, and was getting ready to pull into our daughters' driveway. My wife slowed down to a stop before entering the driveway. She gave the vehicle some gas to move forward. She stated that there was a pause, then the vehicle accelerated forward slamming into the garage door and the corner of the garage/house. There was also a Tesla parked inside the garage that w... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Apr 26, 2026
I was driving my car and suddenly the traction , hand brake and ABS sign started showing up. I usually apply only 10% of force on brake pedal but after this I have to apply almost 60% of force to even slow down the car. Almost 90% force to stop the car It has threatened safety of my family. When diagnosed at autozone they told cannot determine error code. When reading in internet this seems to ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 8, 2026
On 12/4/25, I visited Corley's Lincoln and reported several issues. One issue was that the vehicle would accelerate or decelerate while using cruise control. There were several other issues, but the following two issues are safety issues. I visited again on 3/5/26 with several of the same issues, although the speed issue was not listed on the work order. They could not find any issues, but I encou... Read more
DODGE
CHALLENGER
(2016) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 27, 2026
Incident date: Apr 21, 2026
The contact owns a 2017 Acura RDX. While the contact's wife was driving at an undisclosed speed, the brake pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to stop as intended. The contact's wife enabled the parking brake. The contact stated that at a later while, the vehicle independently accelerated. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the failure wa... Read more
BRIDGESTONE
DESERT DUELER
(9999) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 27, 2026
Incident date: Mar 27, 2026
Date of Accident: April 13, 2026 I drove into our church parking lot and then parked next to my husband’s car and was totally stopped and in the parking space. I thought I had my foot on the brake. After a split second, it accelerated and jumped the curb of the parking space at a very fast speed. I had no control of the car. I sheared off a heavy metal sidewalk railing and was headed for the br... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Apr 27, 2025
While driving on interstate at highway speeds (70mph), the transmission experienced sudden downshift, which increased the engine RPMs to redline and rapidly decelerated the vehicle. Occupant safety was put at risk while other drivers were forced to quickly avoid collision due to our much slower speed. Transmission would not select proper gear which made it difficult to proceed to a safe pull-off p... Read more
Incident date: Mar 15, 2026
ADAS camera malfunction causing all driver assist functions to not work
Incident date: Feb 20, 2026
### Summary: Sudden Unintended Acceleration (SUA) from a stationary position. ### Vehicle Configuration: 2023 Tesla Model Y Long Range AWD. Battery Type: NMC. ### Incident Details: On April 19, 2026, at approximately 10:00 a.m., the vehicle was stationary on a flat surface at 6722 Vista Del Mar Ave, San Diego. I was in the driver's seat with the vehicle "On" but stopped, conversing with two w... Read more
Incident date: Apr 25, 2026
First Incident- volume kept rising on its own. Would turn it down, it would go right back up. Would turn the radio off, it would turn on by itself and would keep rising until full blast. Vehicle was parked, came back from work, turned vehicle on and the volume was fine on it. Second Incident- (this has happened twice) about a month after the volume incident. This time the vehicle would accelerate... Read more
Incident date: Mar 15, 2026
WHILE DRIVING ON I-81 UP A STEEP GRADE, TRUCK SUFFERED A SUDDEN POWER LOSS, WITH SPEED DROPPING TO 35 MPH FROM 65 MPH. ATTEMPTS TO REGAIN SPEED FAILED AND IT FELT LIKE TRUCK DOWNSHIFTED TO A LOWER GEAR. 35 MPH CONTINUED UNTIL I DECIDED TO USE TRUCK CRUISE CONTROL TO ATTEMPT TO GAIN SPEED. I WAS WORRIED ABOUT TRACTOR TRAILERS HITTING ME DUE TO LOW SPEED. FINALLY GOT VEHICLE TO 65 MPH BUT WOULD N... Read more
Incident date: Apr 17, 2026
I stopped my car foot on brake put it in park and it accelerated on its own and forced me to crash into a concrete wall still not wanting to stop
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Apr 16, 2026
My car has started breaking randomly without reason. Just a few days ago it slammed on the brakes. I was driving on the interstate and went around a bend, and my car slammed on the breaks. I. Talking from 70- 5mph in seconds. I didn't have time to do anything. Nothing in front of me, nothing on the side. The car behind me had to swerve into the median to avoid hitting me. My car almost caused ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 24, 2026
2019 Escalade. During summer temperatures, unable to control pedal position adjustment and vehicle automatically moves the pedals all the way forward. When the pedal position button is pushed, the pedals make clicking noise but do not adjust. No warning lights. Issue is intermittent. It becomes very difficult to drive the vehicle with both the accelerator and brake pedals in the fully forward posi... Read more
Incident date: Apr 15, 2026
I was driving at 60mph. I heard a sudden pop that felt like it came from behind me / under the car. While I glanced to see if I ran over something (I did not), the car suddenly felt like it was about to stall. It was slowing down quickly and dramatically. My safety was in danger as I quickly dropped speeds in heavy traffic on a freeway without warning. I was able to maintain control, and I turned... Read more
Incident date: Feb 18, 2026
2024 Ford F-150 Lightning Complete instrument cluster blackout while driving. Screen goes entirely black intermittently, lasting up to 30 minutes. Occurs while vehicle is in motion. Issue persists even after stopping and restarting vehicle. Loss of speedometer, battery state of charge, warning lights, and all driver information. This creates unsafe driving conditions with no way to monitor speed o... Read more
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2018) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 24, 2026
Incident date: Apr 1, 2026
The gas pedal failed to work on three separate occasions. The car essentially went into “limp” mode where the whole car stop driving out of nowhere. These models of Honda are known for the head gasket prematurely going out which has caused me car to have multiple misfires, warning lights, loss of power. The problem has been confirmed by the dealership and an independent mechanic.
Incident date: Apr 10, 2026
The complaint was filed on behalf of the contact's employer. The contact drives a 2023 Toyota Sienna Hybrid. The contact stated that while driving at 5 MPH, the vehicle independently accelerated. The contact stated that the acceleration occurred while the contact was making a right turn. The contact stated that the vehicle shifted from hybrid to high speed within a second. The brake pedal was depr... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Apr 24, 2026
My 2025 Ford Ranger Lariat FX4 has experienced sudden and complete loss of accelerator pedal response while driving at low speed on at least 4 to 6 separate occasions. The engine continues to run normally, but pressing the accelerator produces no power and no vehicle response. The condition has consistently occurred while pulling into my subdivision, which has an inclined entrance. The truck also ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 18, 2026
I am writing to report a critical safety failure regarding my vehicle’s display systems. While driving, the left side of the infotainment system (the digital instrument cluster) went completely dark. I lost all visibility of my speedometer, odometer, and critical vehicle warnings. I immediately pulled over and attempted to power-cycle the vehicle, but the display remained unresponsive. Shortly a... Read more
FORD
F-150 HYBRID
(2025) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 23, 2026
Incident date: Apr 22, 2026
Okay, I can press the gas and try to go one speed.And my car will go either way, too slow for that gear or way too fast.For that gear , I have almost been several wrecks , because it's either going too slow , went when i'm supposed to be going to certain speed or it's going to fast one supposed to be going to certain speed
Incident date: Apr 23, 2026
The vehicle has 57000 miles and i am reporting a commonly known issue with the transmission. Despite multiple service appointments with Ford explaining the issue, I was informed there was nothing wrong. Now, 10 months post extended warranty, Ford is telling me it needs a full transmission replacement. Thoroughout, the vehicle shifted eradically up and down, including on the interstate, quickly dro... Read more
Incident date: Apr 23, 2026
For approximately 3 years, this vehicle has experienced repeated unintended transmission downshifts at freeway speeds without warning or driver input. The vehicle can suddenly and violently downshift at highway speed, creating a serious risk of loss of control, skidding, rear impact, or crash. This defect appears substantially similar to Ford recall 26S28 / NHTSA campaign 26V237, which covers cer... Read more
Incident date: Apr 23, 2026
The contact owns a 2023 Kia Niro. The contact stated that while driving at 25 MPH, the vehicle independently accelerated. The contact constantly depressed the brake pedal to stop the vehicle. The contact was able to coast the vehicle to the residence while depressing the brake pedal to prevent the unintended acceleration. Neither a dealer nor an independent mechanic was contacted. The vehicle was... Read more
Incident date: Feb 3, 2026
8/2025 Car stalled on freeway. Went to dealer. They said nothing wrong. Then on a trip north, car stalled again on freeway. Went to the nearest dealer. They too said nothing wrong. This time same thing. There is a recall for the exact symptoms of the exact car yet they say the repair was done. Why does my vin not qualify for the exact symptoms that generated a recall? This was super dangerous at f... Read more
Incident date: Apr 23, 2026
On April 17 2026 while driving my 2022 Acura MDX at very low speed in a parking lot, the vehicle suddenly accelerated forward without warning and surged into bushes before I could stop it. I did not mistake the gas for the brake pedal. This felt like a sudden unintended acceleration event. I was preparing to park in a stall and the vehicle lunged forward unexpectedly. I applied the brake, but t... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Apr 22, 2026
I was mailed a letter about a recall for engine bearings. When i called the dealership, they told me they did not have the parts and that Nissan would reach out. Then i received another letter so i called back and scheduled an appt. Before the appointment, the car started exhibiting stalling behavior which included causing me hit a pot hole. Then critical engine warning lights came on, so Nissan t... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2025
The contact owns a 2019 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while the vehicle was stopped at a residential gate, the vehicle unexpectedly accelerated. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to a private residence. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 80,000.
FORD
EXPEDITION
(2022) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 23, 2026
Incident date: May 20, 2025
While taking off in my 2020 Toyota C-HR on the highway, the CVT transmission suddenly failed, resulting in an immediate and significant loss of propulsion power. The vehicle did not fully shut off but lost the ability to maintain normal highway speed, requiring me to rapidly reduce speed and carefully maneuver the vehicle to safety in active traffic conditions. This created a serious safety risk ... Read more
1 injured
Incident date: Feb 10, 2026
Turbocharger is defective. Reduced engine power. Engine Power reduced shows up on my dashboard. I bought the car brand new at Lindsey Buick in Ohio. This car is too young for this problem. Lindsey Buick and GM need to stand up to accountability and transparency when it comes to delivering top quality products. My vehicle almost caused a horrific accident by not accelerating fast enough. I a... Read more
Incident date: Feb 21, 2026
Sudden and severe downshifts occurred at roadway and highway speeds resulting in sudden speed decrease. Also revving and loss of power occurred. Problem codes P0706 & P0707 were logged which point directly to the Transmission Range Sensor (TRS), which is integrated into the molded lead frame. This sudden and uncontrolled loss of speed caused significant danger to vehicles, ocupants, and other vehi... Read more
Incident date: Feb 11, 2026
I was driving 70-75 mph on interstate XXX going south from [XXX] to [XXX] after picking up my friends. I had e-save mode on to save the battery for later and out of nowhere the car lost all power and would not accelerate. Some writing flashed across the screen telling me to pull over in the emergency lane and stop and then restart the Jeep in hybrid mode. I had to throw on my hazards and pray... Read more
Incident date: Apr 18, 2026
Occasionally, the car's RPMs fluctuate wildly, and the engine stalls; the surges in RPM lead to sudden, abrupt acceleration, which poses a safety risk to me and my family. The dealership has been unable to resolve the problem.
Incident date: Jan 2, 2026
I purchased this car new on December 31, 2024. I have owned it for less than 16 months, and in that time, we have had an issue occur at least 5 times where we get an alert on the screen that says, "Stop Safely Vehicle Will Shut Off Soon". Less than 20 seconds later, the car completely dies. On each of the 5 instances, we were lucky to be going relatively slow and were in a safe place with a shou... Read more
Incident date: Sep 12, 2025
I own a Hyundai Elantra with approximately 103,000 miles. The vehicle has developed an intermittent issue where the engine will suddenly stall while driving. This most often occurs when I am decelerating and turning, such as when entering or navigating roundabouts. At the time of the stall, multiple warning indicators appear simultaneously, including the check engine light, battery warning light,... Read more
Incident date: Sep 18, 2025
Turn Signals stop working Cruise Control stopped working Vehicle Control Stopped working All Buttons on Steering column stopped working Windshield Wiper controls stopped working 4WD Controls stopped working Radio Controls stopped working Lawsuits have been filed and won by people against Ford yet No Recall has been opened !
Incident date: Jan 1, 2026
I am writing to open a formal complaint regarding a serious transmission defect in my 2019 Honda Odyssey (VIN: [XXX] ). My vehicle is currently exhibiting symptoms that directly match the 'Transmission Programming Defect' documented in ongoing litigation, specifically symptoms: while accelerating produce rough and delayed shifting; sudden jerking, sudden, harsh accelerations and decelerations; an... Read more
Incident date: Apr 22, 2026
While traveling at normal highway speeds (55 MPH), the vehicle's battery capacity rapidly dropped from 80-90% down to 10% in less than 30 seconds, resulting in activation of the vehicle's "turtle mode" and power throttling, which made it impossible to maintain posted highway speed of 55 MPH. A warning appeared on the dashboard, which stated, "Warning Power Reduced". The vehicle traveled at approxi... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2023
The vehicle exhibits dangerous electronic malfunctions. A licensed technician (MV-113255) has confirmed a sporadic unintended acceleration defect where the cruise control 'decrease' button causes the vehicle to increase speed. Additionally, the vehicle repeatedly enters 'Limp Mode' in active traffic, causing a violent jerk and a total loss of acceleration while displaying a 'Smart City Brake Suppo... Read more
Incident date: Apr 17, 2026
Truck downshifted to first gear from about 35 mph with no warning, and would not shift back, until it was shut off. I was in middle of road. No warning lights came on prior to this happening. The dealer confirmed a recall for this problem but my truck is a 2013 and recall currently is for 2014 forward. I never received a recall notice on my truck and the estimate to have it fixed is about $1700... Read more
Incident date: Jan 15, 2025
I was on the Highway and had the vehicle on cruise control, the super cruise was not available the entire trip. Suddenly a warning came on saying that supper cruise was not available please take the wheel, the truck started slowing down drastically while I’m doing 70mph which is the speed limit. I put my foot on the brake to disengage the cruise control but that did not work. I had to push the c... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2022) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 22, 2026
Incident date: Apr 11, 2026
My wife was driving down the highway and out of no where there was a loud taping sound, the vehicle started running real bad (skipping), the vehicle lost power and she lost control of the steering. As a result, she ran off the road into a ditch. this is a known concern with the 6.2 liter engines and all signs are pointing to lifter failure. She could have ben seriously injured and GM is responsibl... Read more
Crash
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2021) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 21, 2026
Incident date: Apr 16, 2026
The vehicle reads the speed limit signs improperly and the adaptive cruise control will speed up the vehicle to the improper speed limit. For instance it is 45 mph on SR 70 in TN and the vehicle will read the speed limit as 70 mph and take off up to 70 mph on it's own. Very dangerous. Took it to 2 dealers and they are unable to fix the problem.
Incident date: Jan 13, 2026
approaching a round about at a slow rate of speed, prior to entering I noticed there was time to safely enter the round about ahead of a car also entering the roundabout from another direction. I pushed the accelerator pedal to about 30% at the time I choose to enter the traffic circle and attempted to enter. The truck did nothing in response except keep rolling forward due to the momentum I alrea... Read more
Incident date: Jun 7, 2023
While driving the vehicle, the vehicle suddenly shutoff and powered on again. After do some diagnostics we determined is was the ECU/ECM. The ECM has corrosion on the top which caused salty water to eat through the lid. Doing some research this vehicle make and model has recall but doesn’t show up under my vin. I’ve contacted the manufacturer which was willing to help but the dealership seems ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 29, 2026
Car would jerk and transmission was failing
Incident date: Mar 14, 2026
The issue is regarding the “Traffic Sign Assist” (Owner’s Manual page 221) feature of the Adaptive Cruise Control System. Vehicle will be made available if requested. The function of the "Traffic Sign Assist" is to monitor roadside "Speed Limit" signs and the cruise control will increase or decrease speed to stay within the permissible legal speed limit. The system worked except occasion... Read more
MITSUBISHI
OUTLANDER
(2023) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Apr 20, 2026
Incident date: Mar 28, 2026
Sudden Unintended Acceleration – 2024 Kia Sportage – Safety Hazard. Incident Date: April 18, 2026. Location: Parking lot. While pulling into a parking space at low speed, I brought the vehicle to a complete stop with my foot on the brake. Immediately after stopping, the vehicle suddenly and forcefully accelerated forward on its own without my foot on the accelerator. I was actively pressing... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Mar 12, 2026
Very commonly when the truck is “cold” after sitting overnight, the truck fails to accelerate from a stop while pushing the accelerator pedal down gradually (such as when leaving a stop sign at an intersection. This lack of acceleration makes me feel a loss of control as I cannot get the truck to accelerate. For example, driving out of my neighborhood into oncoming road traffic I feel as if th... Read more