Consumer Safety Complaints
Search 2,215,138 safety complaints filed by vehicle owners with NHTSA — including 138,663 crashes, 56,255 fires, and 8,561 deaths.
What is a NHTSA consumer complaint?
A consumer complaint is a free-form report filed by a vehicle owner directly to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) describing a safety concern about their vehicle. NHTSA collects these reports through its Vehicle Owner Defect Report (VOQ) system and publishes them publicly. Each complaint includes the affected component, the date and circumstances of the incident, whether the failure caused a crash or fire, and any reported injuries or deaths. The owner's full narrative description is included verbatim — NHTSA does not edit or moderate the descriptions.
The database below contains over 2,215,138 individual complaints. NHTSA's investigators monitor it for clusters of similar reports — when enough owners describe the same failure mode on the same vehicle, NHTSA may open a Preliminary Evaluation that can lead to a recall. Many of the largest recalls in U.S. history, including the Takata airbag recall and the Hyundai/Kia engine fire recalls, started as patterns visible in this complaint database years before they became formal recalls.
How to interpret what you read
A few principles for reading consumer complaints usefully:
- One complaint is anecdote; a hundred similar complaints is data. NHTSA does not investigate the truthfulness of any individual report — that's the job of the Office of Defects Investigation, which looks at the full pattern. When evaluating a vehicle, look for whether multiple owners describe the same chain of events.
- Crash, fire, injury, and death flags are owner-set. They are not verified by NHTSA. They are still useful as a filter, because owners who tick those boxes are typically reporting more serious incidents than those who don't.
- Component categories are NHTSA-assigned, not owner-assigned. NHTSA standardizes the component field so that complaints can be aggregated. The owner narrative often goes into more detail than the component category captures.
- Complaint volume scales with sales volume. A best-selling model will accumulate more raw complaints than a niche model even at the same defect rate. To compare across vehicles, look at complaints per 100,000 units sold, not raw counts.
If you've experienced a defect
File a complaint. NHTSA's investigators rely on this database to detect emerging defects, and useful complaints — specific, concrete, with dates and mileage and clear descriptions of what happened — feed directly into the agency's pattern detection. The form takes about 10 minutes and is at nhtsa.gov/recalls under "Report a Safety Problem." Your complaint becomes part of the same public record that this page is built from. Owners filing detailed VOQs are how recalls get triggered.
Read more from our blog
Showing 72,878 complaints — component: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Incident date: May 7, 2025
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Flex. While the contact's husband was driving at an undisclosed speed, the brake pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to stop as needed. The contact stated that the vehicle independently accelerated instead of stopping. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the cause of the failure was not yet determined. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by... Read more
Incident date: May 19, 2025
The contact owned a 2025 Chevrolet Trax. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH with cruise control mode disengaged, and approaching the red traffic light, the brake pedal was depressed. The contact stated that the vehicle responded temporarily, and then the vehicle accelerated unintendedly. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that he shifted to park(P) in the hope that th... Read more
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: May 20, 2025
After starting up the vehicle several dash lights turned on including check engine and power system indicator. The accelerator pedal would not provide throttle to the engine and vehicle was in limp mode. after reading codes P2138(Throttle/Pedal Position Sensor) and P0653(Sensor Reference Voltage B Circuit High) After Dealer diagnostic it was determined that the accelerator pedal sensor was fau... Read more
TOYOTA
REDUNDANT SIENNA
(2022) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 20, 2025
Incident date: May 18, 2025
On May 18, 2025, 4:00pm, my wife was applying brakes to stop for a stop sign at a T-intersection. Suddenly, the car lurched forward and accelerated uncontrollably. Despite her attempts to stop, her vehicle crossed four traffic lanes, vaulted over curb, nosedived into turf, and then crashed through brick wall into a fire station. My wife was unable to brake and stop the forward progression of th... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Mar 3, 2025
While backing into a parking spot there was a crunching sound in the steering column. Following this noise the air bag light came on and all steering wheel control buttons nonfunctional including the horn. I reached out to a Volkswagen dealer as I had seen recalls for the clockspring, I was told my vehicle was not included in the recall. This is a 2017 Passat and had approximately 130,000 miles wh... Read more
Incident date: May 9, 2025
Unintended acceleration is happening. After about 15-30 minutes of driving, accelerating from a stopped position becomes very difficult in the sense that the vehicle does NOT accelerate when gas pedal is pressed. This can be extremely dangerous as you do not know when the vehicle will no longer accelerate and could get hit when crossing an intersection or turning onto any road at all. ESC warning ... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2024) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 20, 2025
Incident date: Aug 21, 2024
The contact owns a 2019 Jeep Wrangler. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH, the air bag and brake warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that the steering wheel became inoperable, and the brake pedal was firm. The contact used the parking brake to slow the vehicle. The contact stated that the vehicle was sputtering and rattling abnormally. The vehicle was shifted into park. The contact... Read more
HYUNDAI
TUCSON HYBRID
(2025) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 20, 2025
Incident date: May 6, 2025
Unintended acceleration in forward and reverse: the vehicle experiences unintended acceleration both in forward and reverse. While driving in heavy traffic, the vehicle continues to maintain throttle position for approximately two seconds after releasing the throttle, creating a dangerous situation where the vehicle continues to accelerate towards other cars. This defect requires emergency braki... Read more
Incident date: May 19, 2025
The Driver Attention Warning is a dangerous feature that can't be turned off. It is constantly going off requiring that I take my eyes off the road to see why it chimed. I am a Disabled Veteran with an eye condition that requires me to wear very dark glasses in bright sunlight. The car is not drivable with my glasses on as the camera can't see my eyes. I was almost involved in a serious accident o... Read more
Incident date: May 19, 2025
Wrench light popped on downshift to first gear, speedometer goes to zero. My son and I driving down highway and it suddenly drops to first gear. Dealer said it sounds like transmission molded lead frame. Code reader says it's speed sensor which is in lead frame harness.
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2021) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 19, 2025
Incident date: Mar 19, 2025
The contact owns a 2024 Cadillac Escalade. The contact accidentally spilled coffee on the center console and the cupholder. The service transmission and shift message were displayed. The lights illuminated on the gear shifter. The display was flashing on and off. The contact stated that while driving, the message to slow-down to shift gear was displayed. The contact tested the vehicle in reverse(R... Read more
Incident date: Jan 4, 2024
The contact owns a 1993 Ford F-150. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 05V017000 (Vehicle Speed Control); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the local dealer could not find any recalls associated with the VIN. The contact called the manufacturer, and it was confirmed that there was no ope... Read more
Incident date: May 17, 2025
The power steering stopped working and the car became hard to turn because of it. The power steering light (red color with steering wheel and exclamation point to the right of it) came on also.
Incident date: May 19, 2025
All vehicles screens including the speedometer turned off multiple times while driving. When screen came back online a large number of warning lights popped up including that there was a shift system fault. The light showing that the vehicle was in drive was no longer lit up. Immediately stopped vehicle. The electrical system on the vehicle has failed at least 5 times previously with several docum... Read more
NISSAN
PATHFINDER
(2024) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 19, 2025
Incident date: Dec 9, 2024
i purchased 2024 pathfinder within days the car stopped while driving i had to pull over to restart VERY FRIGHTING!!! I called the dealer service department they said i had hit the gear shifter and told me be careful?? INSULTING!!! The car goes into first gear by itself and it is showing its in DRIVE??This must be investigated if i blow the engine cause it will not get out of 1st gear who is respo... Read more
Incident date: Apr 2, 2025
Chrysler 300 2021 Vehicle keeps stalling, turning off while driving or if stopped at light or stop sign to loan just shuts random times and not Al way but enough to be dangerous when it stalls on freeway or in traffic Seat belt Driver seat belt just broke, split in half- safety issue. They replaced it but the metal seems to cut the seat belt and it probably will happen again Safety recall on Ta... Read more
Incident date: May 17, 2025
The faulty output shaft speed sensor (OSS) causes a signal loss between the sensor and the powertrain control module (PCM), leading to a sudden downshift into first gear, regardless of the vehicle's speed. This sudden downshift can cause the rear tires to slide, potentially leading to a loss of control and an increased risk of a crasH. There is already a recall for the 2014 Models and my 2013 is h... Read more
Incident date: Feb 6, 2025
Traveling on highway in Washington DC, cruise control shut off and powered down car, electrical warning for rear doors not closed, seat belt and airbag warnings. Engine lights came on by the time we got into NY, gas fumes in cabin, and oil was down 2 quarts. Car would not go over 40 at times. Car has been at dealership for over 65 days with work done to turbo, cvt transmission, bearings, leaks in ... Read more
Incident date: May 13, 2025
About 8 months to a year ago my car started losing power and started using a lot of oil without an oil leak. Now it has a loud knocking noise in the engine. I have taken it to a mechanic and they said they some vehicles have recalls.
Incident date: May 11, 2025
I have called nissan usa and the nissan in newburgh to schedule an appointment for lamp switch recall and have not recieved any calls or communication back. At this point im scared that the lamp switch is affecting my transmission and I'm just getting the runaround from nissan so they don't have to take care of it. My car has episodes where is now doesn't start and I need to get a jump. My car als... Read more
Incident date: May 5, 2025
While driving, my car began to glitch out. The screens started turning on and off, the doors began locking and unlocking, and I lost my ability to steer, brake, and accelerate. It caused me to run a red light and I almost got into a severe accident. This issue has occurred several times, and during more recent occasions the car has turned off completely while driving. There were no warning lights ... Read more
Incident date: May 3, 2025
When you start engine, and it's below normal temp, the engine maintains a high idle rpm and upon shifting to fwd or reverse the truck overpowers the brakes and accelerates rapidly. In reverse it's startling. It's unsafe in parking lots and on street parking.
FORD
BRONCO SPORT
(2021) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 16, 2025
Incident date: Jun 30, 2023
The car has very bad cam phasers that are a manufacturing issue from ford. This is causing a lot of damage to the engine and also it has put me in very dangerous situations because of the huge decrease in power when I am exiting into a highway or changing lanes. I have spoke to ford and they did not want to help me especially when they have had multiple recalls for this in the past and even extend... Read more
Incident date: Dec 20, 2024
On [XXX], I was slowly pulling into my driveway, took my foot off the accelerator and turned the steering wheel slightly to the right as the driveway is L shaped. Suddenly, the car sped up towards the garage door. I looked down quickly to see if I’d somehow pressed the accelerator by accident but I had not. I slammed on the brakes as hard as I could but the car kept going and smashed into the ga... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Apr 15, 2025
While driving at about 50 MPH truck suddenly down shifted to 1st gear locked up rear wheels and sent engine into a roar. Instrument panel not showing speed or any information. Had transmission shop trouble shoot and determined frame rail failure. replaced frame rail and serviced.
Incident date: May 14, 2025
To whom it may concern: I am writing to notify you that I own a 2011 Chevy Equinox and take very good care of my vehicles. But I wanted to let you know that I have had three incidents in which the gas pedal sticks, and the vehicle goes up to 95 miles an hour. I have contacted the dealership and GM to let them know of this. They cannot explain why this is happening. GM just said trade it in. Well,... Read more
Incident date: May 31, 2024
The car accelerated uncontrollably for no apparent reason. I was pulling into a parking slot, preparing to put the car in park and stop the car. All of a sudden the car accelerated and slammed into a building.
Crash
CADILLAC
ESCALADE ESV
(2022) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 15, 2025
Incident date: May 15, 2025
Vehicle is burning oil with low engine oil light flashing months before the oil change is required. Vehicle does not always have full power and may slingshot forward at time of acceleration as opposed to a smooth acceleration.
Incident date: Apr 21, 2025
While driving i was coming to a stop approaching a traffic circle. I had to yield the car already in the circle as i was stopping the truck made a clunk and lunged forward while i was breaking forcing me to enter the circle before it was safe to do so. I almost collided with the approaching vehicle with a child in the car. Another instance the vehicle between shifting gears randomly lost power as ... Read more
Incident date: May 9, 2025
The contact owns a 2024 Hyundai Tucson. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the manual speed limit assist erroneously activated causing the vehicle to suddenly decelerate, and the vehicle failed to exceed 20 MPH. The cause of the failure was not yet determined, and the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer and local dealer were notified of the failure. The failure mileage wa... Read more
Incident date: Mar 15, 2025
My 2019 Kia Soul had an engine misfire, breaking down and requiring new spark plugs. My car has been consuming oil excessively for the past 8 months, causing me to change the oil myself once a week. The engine light has been on, leading me to fix both catalytic converters. The engine light came back on right after this and pulled up two codes related to the camshaft position. I asked Kia for an oi... Read more
Incident date: May 10, 2025
I am experiencing a serious and potentially dangerous issue with the transmission in my 2019 Ford F-150 Lariat equipped with the 10-speed 10R80 automatic transmission. At highway speeds (65–75 mph), the truck will occasionally downshift abruptly into a much lower gear without any input from the driver. This causes the engine RPMs to spike and creates a sudden deceleration, which could easily lea... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2024
The car is not shifting properly and will "jump" or "lunge" forward while driving. I have noticed that the RPM's will jump and bounce around, seemingly down shifting, then shift again, and then down shift again, which causes jerking motion.
Incident date: May 13, 2025
multiple times this has been an issue. I stepped on the break and the car essentially leaps forward typically when going up down or straight. In November 2024 it happened while going up a hill slowly and I bumped into the vehicle ahead of me. My vehicle had no damage, but the car in front of me had to get a new skid plate and my insurance doubled because of it. Since the incident in November 2024,... Read more
Crash
Incident date: May 14, 2025
The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Camaro. The contact stated while shifting into gears to pull out of a parking space, the vehicle failed to respond. The vehicle was taken to an unknown dealer, where the TCM was replaced. Additionally, the contact stated that while reversing out of a parking space, the vehicle accelerated unintendedly. The contact stated that the brake pedal was depressed, but fai... Read more
Crash
DODGE
GRAND CARAVAN
(2017) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 14, 2025
Incident date: Mar 1, 2025
The contact owned a 2020 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated the vehicle had been driven for three hours and parked. Moments later, the vehicle was restarted and while driving approximately 35 MPH, the vehicle suddenly experienced unintended acceleration. While pressing the brake pedal, the vehicle did not stop and continued to accelerate forward, and the speed increased. While attempting to a... Read more
Crash
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2020) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 14, 2025
Incident date: May 14, 2025
The Ford F150 has suddenly downshifted at highway speed and gone into limp mode. A maintance light shows momentarlly. I am working with local Ford dealerships to have the issue addressed. They suggest that it may be addressed under a field campaign that has expired. The sudden downshift and limp mode is a safety issue in traffic. The problem happens then goes away.
Incident date: Jan 1, 2025
In February of 2025 I was driving on the highway and my car stopped accelerating and the “ASC system required” light turned on. The RPM stayed at 4,000-5,000 and my car dropped from 60MPH to 20MPH. I had to drive on the side of the highway 20 minutes home like this. I took the car into a shop and they said the exhaust and catalytic converter was clogged and replaced it. It ran okay after that ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 26, 2025
I have a manual transmission and can usually go up a steep hill by my house in 3rd gear. But on this occasion in 2nd gear I was unable to maintain speed even with the gas pedal all the way to the floor. It was also having trouble maintaining speed on less steep highway hills. The dealer replaced the alternator which helped, but I feel this puts my safety and others at risk because I was going much... Read more
Incident date: May 13, 2025
I’m reporting a recurring safety issue with my Infiniti Q50 involving the brake, steering, and acceleration systems. While driving, I’ve experienced the brake pedal becoming unresponsive, the gas pedal not reacting, and the steering wheel locking or feeling stiff, making it extremely difficult to control the car. The most recent incident occurred today, [XXX]. I had to stop driving immediatel... Read more
HYUNDAI
SANTA CRUZ
(2022) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 13, 2025
Incident date: Mar 1, 2024
I was driving on the freeway at 65mph and experienced a sudden loss of power. I depressed the gas pedal but the car would not accelerate past 45 mph. I had to drive all the way home with my hazard lights on. There were no lights on the dashboard to signify a problem. This happened several times. I took it into the Hyundai Service center and they could not replicate the problem. It happened again. ... Read more
Incident date: May 9, 2025
My 2022 Kia EV6 has repeatedly shut off while parked and while in motion, placing myself, my [XXX] child, and other drivers at serious risk. The vehicle’s Integrated Charging Control Unit (ICCU) failed and was replaced, but the replacement ICCU also malfunctioned. This second failure caused a near-collision involving three vehicles. A Ford F-150 had to swerve off the road to avoid hitting me. ... Read more
Incident date: May 13, 2025
The vehicle has acceleration hesitation. Sometimes when trying to go from a complete stop the vehicle is almost dead and doesn’t move then it feels as if the “clutch was popped “ in a manual but it is an automatic.
Incident date: May 13, 2025
My transmission can accelerate with the cruse control on, transmission also sputters at lower RPM. Lastly my shift to park issue kills the battery.
Incident date: Apr 21, 2025
The contact owns a 2020 Ford Expedition. The contact stated the transmission was slipping while driving at an undisclosed speed. The contact stated that on one occasion, while her daughter was driving 60 MPH, the transmission started slipping and the vehicle failed to accelerate above 60 MPH. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that the failure was related to TSB: 23-2120.... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2019) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 13, 2025
Incident date: Nov 13, 2022
My ABS and Traction Control lights keep going off, intermittently. They have been doing it for several years.It can be for hours or for days. I took a video of it happening a couple years ago, and photos, also. More recently my speedometer has started jumping. I had the ABS recall performed when it was first implemented. When I've taken my vehicle to Hyundai (twice now specifically for this) they ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 6, 2025
While parking in a parking lot of a local store I pulled into a spot and stopped about 2 feet from a bumper post. I removed my foot from the brake pedal to pull closer to the post. The car began to idle forward. When I was as close to the post as I intended I stepped on the brake. The car continued to idle forward until I hit the post causing very minor damage to the hood of my car. After hi... Read more
Crash
Incident date: May 4, 2025
Dash panel started flashing all gauges went to zero. All warning lamps lit ABS failure, power steering stopped, service antilock breaks, service electronic stability control, auto park disabled and service shift warnings started popping up. I was going 70 mph on the highway when the power steering went out. Luckily I didn’t hit anyone.
GMC
SIERRA 3500
(2023) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 12, 2025
Incident date: Apr 1, 2025
My 2015 Hyundai Sonata has demonstrated multiple instances of unintended acceleration and braking failure: April 20, 2024 – While idling in a drive-thru line, the vehicle suddenly lurched forward without any attempt to accelerate and crashed into the vehicle in front of me. I was unable to stop it. This resulted in the other car being totaled. I took it to a Hyundai dealership afterward, but t... Read more
Crash
VOLKSWAGEN
JETTA
(2013) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 12, 2025
Incident date: Apr 11, 2025
The car has turned off at idle and at low speeds, almost causing accidents and to be rear ended in busy streets and during stop and go traffic on the highway. After numerous mechanic diagnostics at both Volkswagen Dealership service departments and third party mechanic shops, no one seems to be able to give me an answer or condition to what is causing the problem. With no error codes being brought... Read more
Crash