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: Sep 23, 2025
During a trip out of town, the vehicle suffered a complete engine and mechanical breakdown on a busy highway, becoming inoperable and posing a serious safety hazard. The vehicle had been routinely serviced and received an oil change two days prior to the incident. On the same day, another service company reviewed the oil system and confirmed the concern. The vehicle has been in the possession of ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 10, 2025
It sways left to right really bad.. but when it rains or even even the car detected that it's going to rain.. as soon as the car senses it is going to rain u can't even drive it.. it like hydro plains even before it starts to officially rain.. very dangerous plus I had to replace the two back tires because they seemed like they were being forced and drug that all u seen was wires coming out of the... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2025) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Nov 11, 2025
Incident date: Sep 10, 2025
While driving at low speeds in downtown traffic with the automatic stop/start system active, I stopped at a red light. The system engaged and shut off the engine as expected. However, when I attempted to accelerate, the truck stalled. The gear shift unexpectedly moved from Drive to Park, and the parking brake activated. I applied the brake and restarted the engine, but had to manually disengage th... Read more
FORD
BRONCO SPORT
(2022) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Nov 10, 2025
Incident date: Nov 7, 2025
Subject: Serious Safety and Electrical Problems – Request for Buyback or Replacement Dear [Manufacturer Name or Dealer Name], I leased my vehicle in January 2025, and since the very beginning I have experienced multiple serious problems. Right after taking the car from the dealership, it had an electrical failure — it completely shut down and had to be towed by a tow truck. After that incid... Read more
WESTERN STAR
4700
(2020) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Nov 10, 2025
Incident date: Sep 26, 2025
The head gasket leaked and a piston warped. The symptom was feeling a piston misfire and then the car wouldn't go over 10 miles per hour. Our safety was compromised because we were on a busy (45mph) road and couldn't turn off quickly nor go fast to keep up with traffic. The problem has been reproduced at an independent service center. The vehicle has only been inspected by the mechanic. The pr... Read more
Incident date: Jan 16, 2025
I was making a road trip in my 2024 F150 Lightning Lariat. I pulled up to a Tesla supercharger. I turned the car off and attempted to plug in but the cable was about three inches too short. So I got back in the truck, turned it back on and put it in gear for the last three inches of travel. The truck accelerated dramatically. It clipped two charging stations, hopped a curb and went into a field, h... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Oct 15, 2025
My Subaru has an auto start/stop. I was at a complete stop, making a left-hand turn, and my car completely shuts off with the following message: For safety, auto restart disabled; eyesight with a \ through the words, put car in park and restart vehicle. In the time it took me to put the car in park and restart, I was almost T-bone. This was terrifying. This had happened on previous occasion in st... Read more
Incident date: Nov 8, 2025
The contact owns a 2006 Acura TL. The contact stated that while driving 35 MPH uphill, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended while depressing the accelerator pedal. There was an abnormal sputtering sound coming from the vehicle. The "VSA" (Vehicle Stability Assist) and air bag warning lights illuminated, and an unknown message was displayed on the instrument panel. The contact pulled over t... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2025
By dong my own research, I found out it was the AWD Module. It's not grounded correctly. There are multiple, long detailed forum posts on this. Here is one: [XXX] I verified my AWD drive module was indeed not getting enough power do to the grounding issue, which sends a cascade of other faults including the anti lock breaks, collision detection, driving modes, cruise control, auto hold, hill pa... Read more
Incident date: May 9, 2025
When I accelerate my rpm goes up but car dosent move as speed says and takes for me to let off the gas to speed up , and my steering when I turn it pulls away n it keep popping up service traction and going off
Incident date: Jun 15, 2025
While driving in the rain, car reported "Check Forward Safety System". Error has not gone away multiple weeks later. Hyundai dealer's first reaction was "Oh yes, this happens all the time" (!!) but then refused warranty repair because car is in other than pristine condition, despite being only two years old, still under warranty, with pristine front bumper. Without this sensor, adaptive cruise c... Read more
Incident date: Oct 11, 2025
Started noticing issues within first week of purchase. Cruise control will not increase nor decrease speed when set. Steering wheel controls will not advance or decrease speed. Intermittent problem. First service dealer could not replicate. Second service dealer contacted VW assist and was advised to replace steering wheel buttons. Did not fix problem. Third service VW assist advised to replace cl... Read more
Incident date: Nov 7, 2025
While driving my 2019 Porsche Cayenne S on the freeway, the check-engine light came on, followed by a message on the dashboard that read “Engine Control fault – Driving permitted – Visit workshop.” Moments later, the vehicle suddenly lost power and decelerated from about ~75 mph to around 55 mph, even though my foot was still on the accelerator. I am [XXX] pregnant and had our [XXX] chi... Read more
Incident date: Nov 8, 2025
While driving on the freeway accelerating the truck made a huge clunking noise and dropped speed instantly and I was unable to accelerate. The tow truck driver said it was a transmission problem.truck had to be towed and is at the mechanic awaiting an official diagnosis
Incident date: Dec 13, 2021
Good evening. I notice this car went driving if I want speed more 40Miles make a stop shake and slowdown the speed by it self. Also The Dashboard display on and off a gas cap loose but is tide. also went the gas cap ligth is on the engine ligth goes off and viceversa.
Incident date: Nov 8, 2025
This van is a 2018 modified with a handicap accessible rear ramp. We purchased this van in 2021 and since it has spent 6 months the first time at the shop then it was at our facility totally not running for another 6 months we paid 400 dollars to tow it to a dealership they replaced the transmission it ran for 2 months and now doesn’t start it’s in limp mode and when it does start and run when... Read more
Incident date: Oct 27, 2025
The vehicle shakes at low speeds with a jolt and vibration when turning. When I pressed the accelerator from a standstill, the gas pedal broke off from its floor mounted bracket.
Incident date: Nov 4, 2025
While I was driving 55 mph, on the throttle, the transmission acted as it was in Neutral but all indicators verified it was in Drive. The RPMs were fluctuating during this & my car wouldn't accelerate. I was in the middle of a busy highway, the car came to a stop, I shifted it into Park, then tried to engage back into Drive with no success. In the middle of oncoming & ongoing HWY traffic, I turned... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Nov 7, 2025
While driving at 70–75 mph on an interstate, my vehicle suddenly displayed a “Brake Failure” warning and limited speed to 62 mph. Power steering failed completely, and braking became ineffective despite hard pedal pressure. Multiple warnings followed: ABS, engine, and others. I was in heavy traffic with vehicles at full speed. Loss of braking and steering control forced me to coast across la... Read more
Incident date: Nov 7, 2025
While driving at 70–75 mph on an interstate, my vehicle suddenly displayed a “Brake Failure” warning and limited speed to 62 mph. Power steering failed completely, and braking became ineffective despite hard pedal pressure. Multiple warnings followed: ABS, engine, and others. I was in heavy traffic with vehicles at full speed. Loss of braking and steering control forced me to coast across la... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
JETTA
(2017) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Nov 7, 2025
Incident date: May 15, 2025
I've noticed an issue since I picked up my vehicle from its last service where the RPMs stay around 1,000 when I let off the gas and should be coasting. The vehicle will continue to accelerate at 11 to 13 mph, and I really have to mash the brake pedal to stop. There is an update notice that popped up starting yesterday, but it will not install. Looks like the update is for the issue I am having. T... Read more
Incident date: Nov 5, 2025
There is an interment issue where the vehicle fails to accelerate from a stop when accelerator is applied. This issue is present in my current vehicle and my previous 2023 tundra. I have brought up concerns to the dealer and manufacturer and am told every time that the concern cannot be duplicated, but I feel that it is going to lead to a crash not only for me but other owners
Incident date: Sep 1, 2025
I was driving on the highway at a speed of approximately 70 miles per hour when the Bronco driver screen gave multiple warning notices and at the same time, the accelerator would not react. Steering power was fine. I was in the second from far left lane on a six lane highway and losing speed quickly. I was able to move to the right and drift to the side of the road without incident. Once stopp... Read more
Incident date: Nov 7, 2025
Concern: DAW Driver Monitoring System False alerts shuts down cruise control. Safety issue when passing on interstate and suddenly the cruise shuts off and has to be reset. This warning sometimes goes off randomly and not due to driver attentiveness. If my arm is in top of steering wheel it blocks camera and wearing certain types of sunglasses. This system is asking the driver to not put his arm o... Read more
Incident date: Nov 7, 2025
this vehicle has locked my wife inside the car, it has been unable to be shut off on multiple occasions, the warning lights are constantly on, the vehicle slows down and turns off, and most recently it accelerated on its own when my wife was applying the brakes and almost crashed while trying to remain in control of the vehicle. We leased this vehicle brand new 7 months ago. This make and model is... Read more
Incident date: Oct 3, 2025
ALL SAFETY FEATURE WARNING ALERTS (3) OF THEM, SINCE IT WILL NOT ALLOW ME TO CHECK ALL THAT APPLY THEY ARE THE FOLLOWING ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL NOT WORKING, BLIND SPOT WARNING NOT WORKING, FORWARD COLLISON DETECTION NOT WORKING, LANE DEPARTURE WARNING NOT WORKING, LANE KEEPING ASSISTANCE NOT WORKING, PARKING COLLISION WARNING NOT WORKING REAR CROSS TRAFFIC WARNING NOT WORKING.
Incident date: Sep 1, 2023
The Factory Driver's Side Floor Mat does not stay snapped in. This causes the Floor Mat to slide forward towards the pedals. This causes the Floor Mat to lodge underneath the accelerator pedal, which can cause an inability to accelerate. The Fllor Mat could also lodge undermeath the brake pedal, not allowing the full use of the brakes.
Incident date: Nov 6, 2025
I was turning out of my neighborhood and as I accelerated to merge with traffic my car started jerking. My dashboard “D” symbol only started flashing on and off and then my transmission service required light came on, (just had it done 8/25 and it is 11/25) and the BSW service required light came on as well. As I continued down the street everytime I pressed on the gas pedal the car kept jerki... Read more
Incident date: Jul 16, 2025
I had the dealership, Jay Hatfield Motorsports of Wichita, Kansas take care of the recall not long after I bought my motorcycle, in 2023. Two years later I took the motorcycle back to the dealership because the problem persisted. The dealership is still wanting to charge me for the Parts and labor on the recall issue. I do not think this is a fair business practice as it is in their best interest ... Read more
GMC
SIERRA 2500
(2022) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Nov 6, 2025
Incident date: Nov 6, 2025
Throttle stuck while in reverse pulling out of a parking spot and accelerated resulting in backing into the building
Crash
1 injured
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2021) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Nov 6, 2025
Incident date: Nov 6, 2025
The contact owns a 2025 Kia Carnival Hybrid. The contact stated that while driving at undisclosed speeds, the vehicle hesitated before accelerating while depressing the accelerator pedal. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who was able to duplicate the failure; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed, and the cause of the failure was not yet determined. T... Read more
Incident date: Nov 6, 2025
Upon starting the vehicle around 7p on Friday, 10/31/25, the following errors flooded the screen: Hill start assist not available Service advancetrac 4WD Malfunction service required Pre-collision assist not available Rear sense breaking not available Additionally, cruise control could not be turned on and utilized. There was no incident to trigger these. The car had been sitting parked and off f... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2025
On October 21st I had a recall performed at Evansville D- Patrick for a 37M2 shift lever micro switch. Today Nov 5th I was leaving work, pulling out of the drive onto highway and once I got on the road the car lost motion and just rolled. Barely made it across the highway. I got across the street into another lot. Turned car off and back on. You can hear the throttle but tires would not move. It ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 5, 2025
during a regular drive the check stabiltrack system message popped up on the dash in the middle circle and then the little car with the squiggly lines behind it popped up and the check engine light came on and started blinking. Immediately I noticed lack of steering control, the car's speed was accelerating and decelerating on its own, jerking and stalling also was observed. As of now the car sits... Read more
Crash
MERCEDES-BENZ
EQB 300 4MATIC
(2023) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Nov 5, 2025
Incident date: Oct 20, 2025
1. Component/System: One-pedal driving / regenerative braking (i-Pedal mode). Vehicle is available for inspecti On three separate occasions since leasing the vehicle in April, 2025, the vehicle failed to decelerate when i-Pedal mode was active and I fully released the accelerator pedal. Instead of slowing immediately as expected, the car continued maintaining speed for a few seconds before eventu... Read more
Incident date: Sep 28, 2025
the ABS and traction control / lights flashing and now makes it feel unsafe
Incident date: Nov 4, 2025
Chrysler sold me a unsafe rusted frame the car is dangerous and unsafe I'm scared of the car and it needs to be pick up
Incident date: Oct 29, 2025
The auto start/stop activate at lights when lift off the brake van cuts off and quickly restarts and turn off the lane departure light and sometimes doesn't restart and is hard to restart. Van sometimes cuts off on the middle of intersection and hard to restart.
Incident date: Sep 12, 2025
Due to the unresolved recall I have experienced alot of issues. The most terrifying is the loss of power, my jeep has just stopped moving sometimes allowing me to het to 30 mph but no more. This has happened to me 3x all of which were on the highway. I no longer have use of my 4wd, which is extremely frustrating since it was the only reason I purchased this vehicle. It has released itself from the... Read more
Incident date: Sep 11, 2025
I was coasting into a library parking space with my foot off the accelerator. The car accelerated even with my foot on the brake, jumped a curb and was stopped with above ground tree roots. The dashboard should have been lighted up with collision warning indicators and the automatic braking should have engaged. It did none of that. The car was totaled. Nothing was ever checked to see if it wa... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Nov 2, 2025
When the vehicle starts, two error messages appear. The first one is "Pre-Collission Assist not available" and the second one is "Front camera fault - Service required". Due to these errors, I have no collission assist and cruise control does not work and cannot be enabled. I have taken it to the dealer 3 times (Since the summer) to be repaired and they have reloaded the software each time. Th... Read more
Incident date: Oct 18, 2025
Observed repeatedly while operating at highway/interstate cruising speed, with adaptive cruise engaged: any changes in road texture - concrete to blacktop, between different types of blacktop or concrete, separation joints, etc - such as when crossing a bridge, crossing state lines, entering open-road toll plazas, etc - results in a sharp lifting of the throttle and at times will also automatical... Read more
Incident date: Oct 22, 2025
Vehicle will randomly downshift on freeway risking unexpected acceleration and potentially causing a crash. Dealership is unable to rectify issue as of 11/04/2025
Incident date: Nov 3, 2025
Vehicle: 2017 Ford Edge Issue: Sudden loss of power / Transmission failure Safety Concern: Loss of acceleration at highway speeds Complaint Description: I am submitting this complaint due to a serious safety issue with my 2017 Ford Edge. While driving at various speeds, the vehicle began hesitating when I pressed the accelerator. While traveling on the highway, the car accelerated to approximatel... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2025
The head rest leans out so far at the top that my chin hits my chest. It doesn't matter if I try to lean the seat back of forth. Please evaluate the head rest as I believe it will cause serious injury as there is no back and forth adjustment. This can cause severe damage to the neck. You insisted on head rests for safety and I am very concerned about this. Also they are leaning the window so fa... Read more
Incident date: Nov 3, 2025
Recall C4B/NHTSA 24V-896 Hydraulic Control Unit ABS. Continual tripping of the ABS warning resulting in loss of ABS, Cruise Control, Traction Control. Each trip give a warning and chiming resulting in nonstop alarms, noise and loss of the above features. It has been a year since the recall, over two years since the first class action and still no remedy to this safety issue. It is time for the NHT... Read more
Incident date: Oct 22, 2024
On November 2nd, 2025 at approximately 6pm, in Houston, Texas, my 2025 Ford F‑150 with Ford BlueCruise engaged in Hands‑Free mode was traveling with traffic at about 70 mph on a major thoroughfare. Without driver input, the system rapidly reduced speed to about 50 mph after it appeared to misinterpret an unknown speed‑limit change. This sudden, uncommanded deceleration created a hazardous sp... Read more
Incident date: Oct 29, 2025
Pulled into hospital parking garage. Stopped to pull parking ticket. When the parking gate was raised, Tesla immediately took off at very high uncontrolled speed. Basically a runaway vehicle. There was no accerlation on my part. Brakes did not work. Hit parked car in the garage about 300 feet from the parking gate. I was taken to hospital with broken wrist. Car has been totaled.
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Nov 2, 2025
On [XXX] at ([XXX]]) my Tesla Model Y (VIN: [XXX] ) was **parked in Park/Hold mode** in the [XXX] The **GPS navigation was set to an address in the center of the park**. the address on the address log of the car navigation system. The **TESLA GPS navigation destination was set to a point marked in the middle of the park** (not a parking spot or road). **Without any driver input** (no accelerato... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Nov 2, 2025
The vehicle’s brakes did not work, automatic emergency brakes and collision warning both did not work. I pressed on the brake for about 5 seconds but the brakes did not work, resulting in a collision with the car in front. Everything is available for inspection if needed. Both my safety and the driver of the vehicle in front of me was at risk. The problem has not been confirmed yet. The ve... Read more
Crash