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 9, 2024
I was traveling on a local street around 35mph and braking for a red light. The braking felt funny in that it didn't slow the car down like normal, but it felt like the car's accelerator was still engaged. I managed to come to a stop, but the car seemed to want to move forward and I had to really stomp on the brake to keep it from moving forward. I put the car into park and the engine started r... Read more
Incident date: Sep 7, 2024
The contact owns a 2019 Honda Accord. The contact stated while driving approximately 55 MPH, the accelerator pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle stalled. The contact waited several minutes for the vehicle to return to normal operation. The failure had occurred on several occasions. The brake warning light was intermittently illuminated. The vehicle was taken back to the residence. The local ... Read more
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2013) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Nov 12, 2024
Incident date: Nov 12, 2024
Unknown My car wasn’t getting any gas stuck in traffic. Have complained to the dealership about the recall and the problem I was having I was given the run around about replacing the fuel pump
Incident date: Jun 15, 2023
The contact owns a 2022 Hyundai Elantra N. The contact stated while driving 40–50 MPH, the vehicle failed to accelerate as needed. The vehicle went into LIMP Mode while driving. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V528000 (Fuel System, Gasoline). The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, who was unable to determine the caus... Read more
Incident date: Oct 13, 2024
THE SUPER CRUISE RANDOMLY KICKS OUT SOMETIMES IN THE MIDDLE OF A LANE CHANGE AND HAS EVEN KICKED OUT GOING OVER A HILL AND SENT THE CAR INTO THE OTHER LANE OF ON COMING TRAFFIC ITS HAS BEEN TO THE DEALER 3 TIMES IN THE FIRST 3 MONTHS OF OWNERSHIP FOR A TOTAL OF 18 DAYS IN THE SHOP GM SAYS THERE IS NO FIX AT THIS TIME. THIS HAS HAPPENED NUMEROUS TIMES
CHRYSLER
PACIFICA PLUG-IN HYBRID
(2018) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Nov 12, 2024
Incident date: Jul 18, 2024
I was driving down the highway at approximately 60 mph with approximately 40% charge to the high voltage battery. While moving the car suddenly stopped accelerating and switched to neutral automatically. The instrument panel provided no audible alerts of a problem and in relatively small text stated "check electrical system" The brakes and the rest of the car's electronics worked such as turn ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 2, 2024
While driving into school parking lot, vehicle very suddenly just STOPPED driving. Engine was on, but accelerator/gas pedal did NOTHING- totally unresponsive. Was in the middle of traffic coming in and out of school and vehicle would not move an inch. Turned on and off, and still nothing. After 10 minutes of turning on and off, it finally went again, and I pulled into a parking spot. Vehicle i... Read more
Incident date: Aug 17, 2019
Brakes stopped functioning. Jeep started accelerating. Very unsafe speeds approaching a school zone. Eventually brakes reengaged and then engine shut down.
Incident date: Nov 7, 2024
Forward collision sensor comes on and deactivates the cruise control and all safety features, sometimes breaking and quickly deceleration the car in traffic, dealer and Nissan refuse to address the issue telling me it's working as intended, feels like the car intends to kill me when this occurs in traffic.
Incident date: Nov 7, 2024
As I was driving yesterday car jump down to 5 mph. Message came on engine malfunction power reduced service now. Thank god no cars was behind me. I pulled over turned the car off then put it back on. It did run but engine was loud. Today on my way to work car engine is loud and car feels heavy.
Incident date: Nov 9, 2024
I was approaching an intersection at a light that had turned red. I slowed down to stop but accidentally bumped into the car in front, 2 mph (approximately), no damage, not even a scratch. I put the vehicle in reverse and gently tapped the accelerator but it instantly raced backwards at full as though the accelerator pedal had been depressed to the floor. I tried to brake but it would not stop and... Read more
Crash
VOLKSWAGEN
ID.4
(2023) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Nov 10, 2024
Incident date: Mar 6, 2024
The active distance assist inoperative appears when using the cruise control. This comes on when no traffic in front of the vehicle for 1 hour or less. Also Active Brake Assist functions limited - see operators Manual To reset: follow another vehicle for 5 minutes. This is Very Very Very frustrating and UNSAFE. This function should not automatically shut off. I paid a lot of money to try an... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
Cruise control suddenly turns off. Clock spring issue with steering wheel. Buttons on steering wheel occasionally don’t work
Incident date: Nov 7, 2024
Our Audiu Q8 has had a host of safety issues since purchased in December 2023 and we have been denied or delayed on a buyback twice. The vehicle has been unable to be moved 3 times due to battery (12V and relay) issues that left my wife and [XXX] stranded at home. On one occasion the vehicle could not be moved by the tow service whatsoever. The charging system cable (known to cause fire hazard by... Read more
Fire
NISSAN
PATHFINDER
(2016) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Nov 9, 2024
Incident date: Nov 7, 2024
Odometer flickers on and off and at times does not even turn on when car is started and moving. When the odometer flicks on it does not register mileage or fuel levels. This is a major safety issue don’t being able to see this vital information.
Incident date: Mar 18, 2024
Two week old 2024 RAV4 hybrid with less than 300 miles. In my driveway I put car in drive and it suddenly and aggressively accelerated. It would not stop or slow despite my attempts to brake, trying to avoid collision all I could do was steer to avoid impact. Finally grazed a tree trunk, car then rolled onto passenger side and came to rest against the bush by my front door. Spouse and I requir... Read more
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Nov 8, 2024
my traction control, cruise control unavailable, and warning light to service abs electrical system. Dealership said the hydraulic control unit has to be replaced.
Incident date: Nov 1, 2024
I was on the recall list and got my OSS sensor reprogrammed at a Ford dealership in August of 2024. November 6, 2024 I was driving down the FRWY at 65 miles an hour. There was a jolt and RPMS dropped to zero, speedometer dropped to zero yet truck was still traveling at a high rate of speed. My info area just gave blank dashes. It was like the things on my dashboard just stopped registering, an... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2024
I left my office at about [XXX] on [XXX] Thursday for home, traffic was moderate, approaching the long weekend. I reached home at 5:29 pm, opened the garage and started parking the vehicle inside the car. All of a sudden, the car just took off and randomly accelerated and the next thing I found was that the vehicle landed and stopped right inside the house on the small island by the garage entranc... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Nov 8, 2024
Lost acceleration, check engine light and warning light came on ‘Service Electronic Throttle Control’ Diagnostic code P0336 Crankshaft Position Sensor A Circuit Truck has issues starting, once running, it idles rough and is in limp mode Appears to correspond with Safety Recall W68 / NHTSA 20V-475
TESLA
CYBERTRUCK
(2024) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Nov 8, 2024
Incident date: Nov 7, 2024
On [XXX] I was driving this recently purchased Grand marquis . On [XXX] here in San Antonio around ten at night I hit the brakes and something under the hood compartment blew up and it cocked the car . I was trapped inside and when I finally was able to get my seatbelt released I had to break the window with my head . The previous week I reached out to ford and they told me they would address the ... Read more
Fire
1 injured
Incident date: Nov 4, 2024
While driving on the freeway at 70 MPH with 39 miles of range left, the vehicle abruptly slowed down to 20 MPH...cars behind us almost hit us due to the car slowing down despite me accelerating. We pulled to the right shoulder, rest the car and then was only able to go up to 20MPH...range still said 39 miles. Shortly after the car stopped, there was a warning displayed, and the car turned off and ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 17, 2024
the car lost power in the middle of the freeway -and decelerated; in a highway with speed limit of 65mph while driving in I-680, all of a sudden the car slowed down from 65mph all the way to less than 20mph - displaying "power reduced - 0% battery" ; even it was recently fully charged - I was able to drive the car - back at 20mph speed - went straight to the Nissan dealer/service - where I left ... Read more
CHEVROLET
TRAILBLAZER
(2021) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Nov 7, 2024
Incident date: Oct 30, 2024
I purchased my car 10/12/24. On 11/2/24, one of the first times I had used cruise control, I was traveling between 40-45mph in a residential area and turned on my cruise control. The car immediately set the CC speed to exactly 110 mph and would not respond to the down arrow to adjust speed down. I paused CC and resumed and the setting remained at 110mph. I am not sure what caused the setting to fi... Read more
Incident date: Sep 24, 2024
HCU/ABS modules have failed for the second time in 50K miles. While using Cruise Control at highways speed (70mph) in heavy traffic the warning lines and chime came on. At the same instance the truck started slowing down dramatically. Almost causing us to get rear ended. It was like slamming on the brakes, but without brake lights to warn cars behind me. I finally figured out it caused the Crui... Read more
Incident date: Nov 6, 2024
I was driving the truck and the dashboard said fuel filter at 0 % entering low power mode. The truck did not accelerate at all and stopped running within 5 minutes . The repair cost almost 9000.00 for a 100.00 fuel filter.
Incident date: Apr 1, 2024
No warning light on dash. Issues engaging in gears. Avoided a few accidents by throwing on hazards when car wouldn't accelerate on road. When turning into oncoming traffic it wouldn't engage in gear but thankfully they braked to avoid hitting me. After that I would only drive in the neighborhood to take kids to school. When reading Ford knows this issue but still put this 10 speed transmission in ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2022
I had previously activated ACC to use on the highway with the speed set at 65mph. After getting off and driving into a parking lot I accidentally bumped the resume toggle on the steering wheel and the car started to accelerate requiring me to intervene. Luckily there were no vehicles or pedestrians in front of me at the time so I was able to regain control. The owners manual has this information. ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 16, 2024
During the daytime, you cannot see any of the graphics on the steering wheel switches. How am I supposed to know what button does what? How am I supposed to control the cruise control settings if I am pushing the wrong buttons. At night they are illuminated so I can see them better, but during the day the graphics are basically invisible. I'm thinking this is only an issue on the Calligraphy N... Read more
Incident date: Oct 24, 2022
Generally when driving a a slow speed and truing a corner the vehicle will suddenly speed up to about 15 miles per hour. Over the last 2.5 hears this has happened about 30 times. On at lease three (3) occasions a passenger has been with me and can confirm this has happened. Each time it has happened my hands have been on the steering wheel and I have not touched any of the controls. This happe... Read more
Incident date: Oct 10, 2024
Master cylinder or some part near brake pedal inside the cab is leaking oil or a oil like substance on to floor mats and floor.
Incident date: Oct 4, 2024
My 2018 Ram 3500 DRW truck for no reason started throwing dash warning lights intermittently after 60,000 miles. The warning lights activated on the dash were for ABS and Traction Control, with an annoying ding when they appeared. The center dash light stated "Service Antilock Braking System. Additionally, when this occurred the cruise control did not work. The warning lights were intermittent... Read more
Incident date: Feb 12, 2024
Abs/hcu on the braking system has failed twice in the 3 years I've owned this truck.
HONDA
ACCORD HYBRID
(2018) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Nov 6, 2024
Incident date: Nov 6, 2024
On October 27, coming back from a family trip at 10 PM at night on a major highway, the suburban all of a sudden quit. Traveling at 70 miles per hour, all of a sudden, when pressing the gas pedal, the car would not accelerate and the RPM gauge was erratically moving. The car started to slow down till it eventually just quit and it would not go anymore. We were stranded in the middle of the highway... Read more
Incident date: Mar 4, 2024
Bought 2013 suburban brand new and in 2018, on a trip to the mountains for fall break, the car quit with no warning signs, in the middle of the night. The car would not accelerate when gas pedal was pressed and RPM gauge needle “fluctuated erratically” until car came to a complete stop in the middle of the highway! It was a scary and dangerous situation because it was late at night and we were... Read more
Incident date: Jul 30, 2024
Was driving on highway about 70 mph and check engine light, red lightning bolt symbol, and traction control lights all came on wasn't able to accelerate and vehicle wouldn't go above 30 mph. It's been in and out of dealerships since May and is still not fixed with no explanation why it's doing it . I have 1000 miles until my warranty is up . Could anyone take a look at this !
Incident date: Nov 6, 2024
I’ve had intermittent issues where the one pedal driving feature would disable itself. Last night I narrowly avoided a T-bone collision as the OPD deactivated and as I approached a junction it took me a second to realize the car was not stopping and it was only by sheer luck that the other vehicle stopped abruptly so we didn’t collide.
Incident date: Jan 1, 2023
This particular vehicle exhibits a very strong, almost dash rattling judder when moving from the 1st to 2nd gearing ratio. This is especially dangerous in traffic and intersections where the vehicle is known to be in 1st or 2nd gear ratio, as Nissan likes to ratio out their CVT in software through the TCM to produce what feels like shifting from gear-to-gear as in a normal automatic transaxle. Wha... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2024
The abs module has gave me issues and now has gone completely out causing no brakes and while it was having intermittent issues causes no cruise control and causes transmission issues which is another thing the transmission has went out again after this is the 3rd time replacing at around 10k everytime
Incident date: Oct 22, 2024
Electronic Throttle Actuator, Gas Pedal Assembly Failed. As i accelerated the gas pedal failed in the position against the firewall and could not be pulled up. The vehicle increased speed on its own and brakes did not work. The spedd continued to increase. I had the vehicle towed to Cardinal Honda 860-449-0411 in Groton Connecticut. Polise were on sight on the highway after i pulled over in Ne... Read more
Incident date: Nov 13, 2020
I am experiencing 2 issues with the vehicle. 1. I am not sure exactly which component is affected, but on several occasions I have had the car essentially stop responding WHILE I"M DRIVING. While driving on the highway, the car somehow loses response, I don't know any other way to describe it. It's almost like the car switches to Neutral, but the gear indicator still says it's in Drive. Pressing t... Read more
Incident date: Nov 4, 2024
The handle bar riser failed and snaped causing a loose handle bar which can cause serious injury. My bike is kept indoors, never left alone and never dropped. It is available for inspection. I almost took it to work and found the issue when inspecting before riding. This has put my life at risk and can easily cause me to run over or collide with other people/ objects. Problem cannot be reproduce... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2024
Engine stalling Oil pan leaks Caused the engine to shut down when slowing down or sitting in traffic on highway. No warning lights prior to incidents Only right after
Incident date: Aug 10, 2024
The warning lights for my ABS and traction control come on and off while driving normal driving conditions. Every time they flash it also has an audible ding that is very distracting. If I am using the cruise control when this happens the cruise control will turn off. The ABS system does not work when the lights come on. I am afraid I will be unable to stop. I took it to a local dealer and th... Read more
Incident date: Dec 23, 2023
The accident happened when I was using the "BRAKE HOLD SYSTEM". It is designed to use when the needs to stop briefly. When the Brake Hold button is touched while the driver's foot is on the brake pedal, the driver do not need to step on the brake even though the shift lever is in D. After I finished paying for a car wash, I touched the Brake Hold button. Then the vehicle suddenly accelerated forwa... Read more
Crash
Fire
2 injured
Incident date: Apr 25, 2024
Service Electronic Braking Service and Service ABS/TRACTION CONTROL. This is intermittent. When it happens Cruise control, 4 wheel drive and abs doesn't work. Happens when I'm towing my camper or not. Trailer brakes won't work when this happens. Hundreds, maybe thousands of complaints about this on Ram forums. This problem occurs no matter what the speed is. It even happens while sitting still.
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 3500
(2021) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Nov 4, 2024
Incident date: Nov 1, 2021
ABS light would come on when driving periodically on and off. for a few months it felt like brakes were locking up, Steering was very difficult and hard like the steering wheel was locked making it difficult to turn the steering wheel. dashboard components would periodically turn off and restart. when driving it would make a grinding noiselike the brakes were locked, this would occur with the abs... Read more
Incident date: Nov 4, 2024
in 2022 the abs and traction control lights began to come on together, leading to loss of ABS and traction control in addition to not being able to use the cruise control. Vehicle was taken to the dealer to be serviced and they stated they would replace the HCU but would not replace the ABS module as they would only address one thing at a time. The problem continues to persist with the constant a... Read more
Incident date: Oct 21, 2024
Bought this car on Monday by Wednesday the check engine light went on and had gone off the following day. The next week Friday the check engine light went on and the acceleration was not changing out of gear. Staying at one speed on the highway. Finally got the car in and the car has transmission problems. The car is brand new!!
Incident date: Feb 27, 2024
The contact owns a 2022 Lincoln Aviator. The contact stated that while her husband parked during a car wash, the contact who was seated in the front passenger seat exited the vehicle when it unintendedly accelerated and crashed into a pole. The contact confirmed that the vehicle was still in the park position when it suddenly lunched forward crashing into the pole a second time. In addition, the c... Read more
Crash