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.

2,245,377 Total Complaints

140,173 Reported Crashes

56,794 Reported Fires

8,580 Reported 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

How to Read NHTSA Consumer Complaints › How NHTSA Investigations Work › Used Car: 7 Recall Checks to Run First › The Takata Airbag Recall: Full Story › OBD-II Codes Explained › All Articles ›

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Showing 73,546 complaints - component: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

Incident date: Aug 13, 2026

I was driving my 2026 Mazda CX-30 in a parking lot and was pulling into a parking space at a very low speed. I lightly pressed the accelerator to move the car forward, but the car suddenly surged forward much faster than I intended or expected based on how lightly I had pressed the pedal. The sudden acceleration resulted in a collision and property damage. There were no warning lights, warning me... Read more

Crash

Incident date: May 1, 2026

Vehicle suddenly stalls and reduces speed at different times with no warning. At first it would show that message after car washes or rainy days but now randomly it’ll reduce speed in unexpected moments causing safety concerns. It reduces speed, stalls, drives forcefully, and shows a “reduced acceleration drive with care”. Sudden stalls have become a danger to my family and myself as we depe... Read more

Incident date: Aug 13, 2026

2026 Nissan Kicks SV intermittently fails to accelerate despite accelerator pedal application. Vehicle may remain at approximately 20 mph. Dealer has been unable to duplicate the failure despite extended testing. Owner considers the vehicle unsafe because sudden loss of acceleration could result in collision.

Incident date: Aug 15, 2026

Everything on the dash flickered and during that the vehicle started losing light meaning headlights and emergency lights, shortly after it completely stopped without any power. We were on the side of the interstate and it was very scary. There were no warning message be fore any of this occurred. There also wasn't any problems before then. We are waiting on the next business day to have it inspec... Read more

Incident date: Aug 14, 2026

Pre-Collision System warning activated unexpectedly. The vehicle then accelerated by itself unexpectedly and the accelerator/throttle was engaged by itself. Breaks were then hard to push and vertically impossible to slow down. At the time, there was no vehicle or obstruction immediately around the vehicle other than a possible box, or small obstruction in the road. Yes the vehicle is available for... Read more

Crash

Incident date: Aug 1, 2025

My vehicle has experienced a complete failure of the ABS Control Module. A dealer diagnosis confirmed internal module failure. The symptoms are: - All ABS system warning lights illuminated (ABS, traction control, brake, sway bar) - Odometer and speedometer stop working while driving - All brake lights remain on continuously - Vehicle exhibits erratic shifting / rough braking This is a documented ... Read more

Incident date: Jul 26, 2026

COMPONENT/SYSTEM THAT FAILED: The service brakes failed to stop the vehicle. While reverse-parking at low (parking) speed, I applied the brake pedal and the vehicle did not stop as expected, resulting in contact with an object and vehicle damage. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request; it has been preserved and driven only minimally since the event. HOW SAFETY WAS PUT AT RISK: The b... Read more

Crash

Incident date: Aug 15, 2026

When using cruise control (Blue Cruise fully automated driving or just regular cruise control), The truck changes the speed setting to 90MPH without any driver input and begins sudden acceleration. This has happened multiple times in speed limit areas from 70-75 on the interstate. The truck clearly displays the correct speed limit on the dash. The driver set speed of 70-77 is suddenly changed... Read more

Incident date: Jul 9, 2026

The car was being parked in a shopping lot. As the drive was pulling into the parking spot, the car lurched forward on its own and hit the wall. The gas pedal was not pressed. No collision sensors were triggered either. Unclear if related but the car was taken in for maintenance and recall updates the week prior to this accident.

Crash

Incident date: Jul 31, 2026

This complaint covers a 13-month continuous chain of severe electrical system failures stemming from a deficient federal safety recall remedy on my vehicle's Media Control Unit (MCU) architecture. Tesla's corporate policy has been to replace only the isolated center screen explicitly tracked by the recall while leaving connected legacy components intact on mismatched architecture. This creates an ... Read more

Incident date: Jun 1, 2025

Failure of ABS control module. Illuminated Brake, ABS, Traction control system lights are on the dash. The cruise control is inoperative as well. Code reader shows C2200-49 and C2200-47.

Incident date: Aug 14, 2026

I am reporting a safety-related electrical defect on my 2019 Tiguan that has been intermittently occurring since March 2026. This typically has happened during the hotter parts of the day when the tempreature in in the 90's. While driving, I get two different warnings that displays; "Check starter system" followed by "ignition-system-shut down". Within a few minutes, the engine continues runnin... Read more

Incident date: Aug 14, 2026

known issue with " anti click washer on Bolt EV " and resulting damage to related components can cause loss of control acceleration, stopping and major damage and cost, no warning lights or TSB other than for previous gen but same design and same defect, inspected by dealer shows broken anti click washer and damage to other components https://gmauthority.com/blog/2022/07/heres-why-your-chevy-bolt... Read more

Incident date: Jul 15, 2026

It was in the shop 9/19/24 for the screen going blank while driving causing a safety concern as was unable to tell how fast was going, screen slowly came back on and they found had internal fault and replaced telematics control module. All was fine until July 2026. Picked up from Glen Polk GM in Gainesville Texas 7/15/26 they state reprogramed radio, and USB file. The screen went out 7/19, 7/21... Read more

Incident date: Aug 14, 2026

Following the completion of the 68C recall update on 4/17/26 my 2024 Jeep 4xE experiences a severe loss of acceleration and throttle lag at highway speeds (over 50 mph) when in electric mode. When attempting to pass vehicles (and sometimes when in the oncoming traffic lane), or when just trying to maintain speed in traffic, the drivetrain abruptly throttles power; causing the vehicle to bog down ... Read more

Incident date: Jul 20, 2026

Regarding NHTSA Recall Number 05V017000; * Component: Speed control deactivation switch. Available for inspection. * Safety Risk: Spontaneous fire occurred on 07/20/2026 at apx 1am destroying the vehicle, damaging two other vehicles, and nearly burning down our home. *Problem Reproduced: Unknown * Component Inspected: Yes, by HOI claims adjuster. * Any warning lamps/ messages?: I had been dealing ... Read more

Fire

Incident date: Feb 23, 2026

While driving southbound on the [XXX] in a rented 2023 Kia EV6 from The Hertz Corporation, picked up in [XXX] on XXX, the vehicle entered "Power Limited" mode without warning. The vehicle lost normal propulsion and decelerated from highway speed to a crawl, forcing 4-5 emergency stops onto the highway shoulder over several miles while semi-trucks passed at 70+ mph in live traffic, with two minor c... Read more

Incident date: Aug 13, 2026

While driving, my 2020 Toyota C-HR suddenly lost acceleration in the middle of the road, with the vehicle failing to respond to throttle input. This has now happened twice. There was no warning noise (no whining or grinding) beforehand, and the loss of power occurred without warning while the vehicle was in motion, creating a dangerous driving condition due to inability to maintain speed or safely... Read more

Incident date: Aug 11, 2026

I was driving my 2025 Mercedes EQB home after work August 11, 2026 and reached the end of my cul de sac, slowly turning left into my carport. As the front tires reached the sidewalk the car suddenly accelerated at extremely shocking high speed heading straight towards another car parked in there and the front wall. I slammed on the brakes and was fortunately able to stop the car right before it ... Read more

Incident date: Aug 2, 2026

I have had this happen twice in the last few months, most recently in the last three weeks. I was driving on a 45 mph highway with the cruise control set at 49 or 50 miles per hour. On the most recent time, I was coming to a red traffic light and applied the break to slow down. However, the van kept going forward even though I was pressing the break pedal totally down. The van slowed somewhat, ... Read more

Incident date: Aug 7, 2026

Vehicle began running sluggish, gas smell noticed. Vehicle was due for oil change, took car in for oil change to AAA and mentioned gas smell. AAA identified gas leaking from fuel pump posing immediate safety issue that needed to be resolved.

Incident date: Aug 13, 2026

I was operating my Tesla using Full Self-Driving (Supervised) when the vehicle approached an active school zone with flashing warning lights and a posted school-zone speed limit of 35 mph. FSD did not appropriately respond to the active school zone or reduce the vehicle's speed to the posted 35 mph limit, requiring me to disengage FSD and manually slow the vehicle. The incident was captured on th... Read more

Incident date: Jun 13, 2026

I was using the Tesla FSD in stop and go traffic. At the moment I was moving with traffic at about 30 mph and then traffic started slowing down. The vehicle in front of me came to a complete stop. The FSD on my car started slowing down, but not fast enough. It rear-ended the vehicle at about 18 mph.

Crash

Incident date: Aug 11, 2026

My 2016 Jeep Patriot is cutting off while I’m driving on the highway at 65 mph. The lights on the dashboard are on and for no apparent reason. Now my radio system is cutting on and off sporadically.Rendering my satellite radio and hands free use of my phone useless. I’ve been told that my car has no recalls. Although this recall "S89 / NHTSA 16V-907, seems like the exact problems I’m experie... Read more

Incident date: Aug 12, 2026

Vehicle flashes Auto Start Stop icon on the dashboard, which is not commonplace. When this occurs, the vehicle can not accelerate when the accelerator is actuated. The vehicle can not accelerate past 40mph and the RPM is sporadic. This happens randomly and can not be diagnosed by the dealership. Multiple dealerships have tried and none can duplicate this issue. This is a severe safety concern and ... Read more

Incident date: Jul 6, 2026

This 2025 Hyundai Palisade Calligraphy is a “Top of the Line” model loaded with automatic gadgetry that is NOT ready for Prime Time or any roadway. It is unsafe for the following reasons: Problems appear to be software up-date related; the software updates way too often via overnight web connection. These updates not only change existing status of mundane systems (hatch or doors unlocking open... Read more

Incident date: Nov 21, 2025

The systems affected appear to be engine, powertrain, and vehicle speed control. My 2014 Kia Forte, VIN [XXX] has approximately 118,000 miles. Since purchase in November2025 from Wondries Toyota, the vehicle has had repeated high RPM, poor acceleration, and loss of power when entering freeway on-ramps and driving uphill. It struggles to accelerate while merging into faster traffic, creating a saf... Read more

Incident date: Aug 5, 2026

On [XXX] about [XXX], I was driving my 2024 Audi Q8 e-tron Premium Plus (VIN [XXX]) in a private parking garage while on the clock for work. I had just left a work meeting and was traveling back to my office. I was backing out of a parking space next to a concrete column when my passenger-side mirror contacted the column. The vehicle’s proximity sensors beeped, which appeared normal. I then pull... Read more

Crash 1 injured

Incident date: Aug 12, 2026

The contact owns a 2010 Toyota Corolla. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle unexpectedly lunged forward. The brake pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle kept rolling forward, and the contact was forced to use the parking brake to stop the vehicle. The contact associated the failure with NHTSA Campaign Number: 10V017000 (Vehicle Speed Control); however, th... Read more

Incident date: Aug 11, 2026

While driving my 2026 Toyota Camry LE Hybrid at approximately 10 mph in a parking lot, the vehicle accelerated on its own without any input from me. I applied hard braking to bring the vehicle under control. No collision occurred. The specific component or system that failed is UNKNOWN — I suspect the speed control, powertrain, or electrical throttle system, but this has not yet been diagnosed. ... Read more

Incident date: May 14, 2026

On [XXX] approx [XXX] PM, my 2023 BMW 740i (VIN [XXX], 46,093 mi, software 03/2026.30) suddenly accelerated on its own with no accelerator input from me. I was driving under 30 mph in Odessa, TX, shortly after making a left turn from [XXX] onto [XXX]. Once I felt the acceleration, I gradually braked while checking the HUD, which confirmed cruise control was NOT engaged. I also confirmed the accele... Read more

Incident date: Jul 8, 2026

vehicle shifting erratically and shows fuel mileage low and loss of speedometer

Incident date: Jul 8, 2026

vehicle shifting erratically and shows fuel mileage low and loss of speedometer

Incident date: Aug 8, 2026

Push on accelerator truck barely would go, shifted hard, codes check engine lights flashing, engine sounded bad

Incident date: Aug 6, 2026

I was at my granddaughters and I went to leave and it was like dead except the wrench came up in the dash panel , I waited before calling my husband and I went back to try and start it again and it started no wrench in the display or anything , this was in February 2026. In March of 2026 I was in the middle turn lane on [XXX] by Tuttle, Ok. And it stalled as I was trying to turn and would not move... Read more

Incident date: Jul 24, 2026

Ford Motor Company put out a recall on the PCM. I had the recall performed and it has caused more damage to my truck. It now has eratic shifting, stuck gears, and going into limpmode. Ford Forums show that this is an ongoing issue after the reset is performed creating an unsafe vehicle to drive. The check engine light is now on and was not prior to this recall reset.

Incident date: Jun 11, 2026

Truck failed to find gear shuddered lost speed in traffic while going up a hill. Limp mode was initiated. This is a known manufacturers defect with a tsb applied against the known issue. Issue is widespread when researched but not made known by the manufacturer of the truck. Dealership refusing repair under goodwill due to truck being out of mileage by 5000miles. Symptoms started prior to exiting ... Read more

Incident date: Aug 11, 2026

Around 68432miles my 2018 Honda CRV EXL AWD has started getting the problem of "Shutter Grill problem, power reduced" warning light. It often happens on highway speeds after about 75-100 miles of driving on long trips. Its very dangerous once I encounter it in the middle of the highway with reduced power to operate the vehicle safely. Have not encountered this issue in city driving at all. Once ... Read more

Incident date: Jul 17, 2026

I was parked in a parking lot and when I released my foot from the break, the car accelerated on its own and crashed into the car in front of me. The automatic emergency braking did not deploy. It was most recently a safety risk and put others in the parking lot, particularly the driver in front me, in danger. I have reported this issue to Volvo and they instructed me to get the body of the car re... Read more

Crash

Incident date: Feb 1, 2025

Unknown which system failed. While driving on the freeway, truck lost power for a few seconds. Dash lights turned off and back on. Our safety and the safety of others on the freeway were at risk as we had no control of the vehicle. Have not had the truck checked for the problem. Scared to drive it. No warnings appeared.

Incident date: Aug 8, 2026

This involves the paddle shift operation on the steering wheel. There are two paddles, one at 3 o'clock and 6 o'clock where the hands come into contact with the steering wheel. On four separate occasions, while driving at a relatively high rate of speed, my hands accidentally activated the gear mode by lightly touching one or both of the paddles. Very little pressure is needed to activate the gear... Read more

Incident date: Jul 15, 2026

On July 28, 2026, while traveling on vacation with my family, our vehicle experienced a catastrophic engine failure. There were warning lights displayed for 30 seconds prior to the engine failure. On July 23, 2026, one day before taking the vehicle to the dealership, the following warning indicators appeared on the dashboard and then disappeared: “Service ESC,” “Service Traction Control,” ... Read more

Incident date: Nov 25, 2019

While driving, my vehicle began shaking/rough running and the check-engine light came on. Multiple warning lights and system warnings appeared on the dashboard, including the brake system, steering, traction control, and TPMS warnings. The vehicle experienced noticeable shaking and reduced/abnormal performance. I am concerned that this may be a safety-related defect because multiple vehicle system... Read more

Incident date: Aug 7, 2026

When driving, especially from a low gear (2-5), the transmission will downshift to 1, high revving, and then slam back into 4 or 5th, depending on where it downshifted. Sometimes the rapid acceleration causes the back of the truck to start to break lose. I notice this alot when trying to get up to speed, and can usually take my foot off pedal and it will slow the vehicle and upshift.

Incident date: Sep 3, 2024

My car will randomly go into limp mode and I am unable to accelerate. The auto stop/start light will flash orange on the dashboard. I need to pull over and restart car and it seems to reset. I see there is a recall for a 2021 KIA Sorrento but I don't think it affected my vehicle even though the issue is exactly the same. Recall #22V6000. It happened once a few months ago then didn't reoccur u... Read more

Incident date: Aug 3, 2026

I encountered an accident on 6/6/2026 due to a sudden acceleration of this car. I stepped on the gas pedal slightly to move the car approximately one foot to the curve to park, when all of a sudden the car suddenly accelerated full force that it jumped over the curve and hit the wall of the restaurant. I asked Toyota to investigate the content of the black box. Toyota told me that the result and r... Read more

Crash

Incident date: Aug 10, 2026

The contact owns a 2023 Toyota Tacoma. The contact stated that the transmission failed to operate properly while driving 35 MPH and attempting to accelerate. While driving uphill or downhill, the transmission was slow to shift into the intended gear, and the vehicle was slow to accelerate. Additionally, there was an abnormal sound while turning the steering wheel. While driving in the left lane wi... Read more

Incident date: Aug 3, 2026

While driving the vehicle, the accelerator pedal was pressed but the vehicle failed to respond and did not accelerate, it simply rolled slowly as the engine continued to idle. The driver increased throttle input in an attempt to get the vehicle to accelerate. The vehicle continued to show no response to the additional throttle. After a delay, the vehicle suddenly resumed normal operation while th... Read more

Incident date: Jun 1, 2026

The contact owns a 2024 Honda Accord Hybrid. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed into a parking space, the brake pedal was depressed but the vehicle failed to stop. The vehicle unintendedly accelerated and drove over a parking space bump. The contact shifted the transmission into reverse(R) and depressed the accelerator pedal, and then the brake pedal, but the vehicle fai... Read more

Crash 1 injured

Incident date: Jul 10, 2026

The vehicle was parked stationary in the driveway with the engine running for 3-5 minutes with the A/C on. The vehicle then accelerated forward into my garage causing damage. Once I entered the vehicle, both the dash and shifter displayed park. Current TCU system internal failures have been reported from the pulling of data from Mazda.

Crash

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Consumer Safety Complaints

What is a NHTSA consumer complaint?

How to interpret what you read

If you've experienced a defect

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