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: Oct 6, 2024
All of a sudden, the accelerator pedal stopped working --- all I really know is that the car wouldn't accelerate, regardless of how much I pressed on the pedal, and the car had to roll to a stop. A bunch of warning lights came on about the brakes malfunctioning, but I don't remember if the brakes actually stopped working (I was more focused on the fact that I couldn't accelerate --- this happened ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 21, 2024
Hi, one time the car wheel turned extra and the gas went extra fast. I also had several devices on my car through blue tooth that were not mine and mirror link kept checking and AUX. This is conjunction with 3 years of hacking (that I think is technically-assisted abuse) with smart home hub, surveillance, spyware on phone and hacked emails. Tried filling out IC3.gov form to no avail. Took car ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 25, 2004
The contact owns a 2022 Kia Sorento. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH, the forward camera was obstructed. The steering over corrected while turned off. The vehicle was accelerating and decelerating independently. The Forward Collision Avoidance system engaged without an object being nearby. Additionally, the driver’s side seat belt randomly unlatched. There were no warning lights illumina... Read more
Incident date: Oct 25, 2024
Many Dodge vehicle models experience failure of illumination for instrument clusters. This creates an unsafe condition for the driver since information presented at the instrument cluster, cannot be determined during night time driving conditions. Dodge makes no provision to customers for replacement or repair parts and does not provide any documentation through Dodge dealers on how to address th... Read more
Incident date: Oct 12, 2024
My Tesla was operating in Full-Self-Driving Beta when it experienced a sudden uncontrolled accelration event. I was driving on [XXX] at approximatley [XXX] this morning. The road speed limit was 40 mph. The car display was correctly showing that the road speed limit was 40mph. The speed offset in the cars setting was limited to 5 mph max above the speed limit. While the car was driving it suddenl... Read more
Incident date: Feb 28, 2023
The transmission cooling line in my 2019 Toyota Tacoma was never installed by an authorized repair shop following an accident. This critical component failure led to the transmission failing just 1.5 hours after I retrieved the vehicle from the shop. My safety was compromised, as the failure occurred while driving at highway speeds, without any warning lights or messages indicating an issue. The ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 24, 2024
My cars backup cameras have never worked properly and the dealer keeps changing me $485.00 to run a complete diagnostic every time I take it in. My car will erratically pulled to the right for no reason and caused the right front tire to blow forcing me to have it towed to the dealer and they had to replace both front tires which cost me $900.00 to replace. The car locked up the brakes and turned... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Oct 4, 2024
I was pulling into a parking space going 3-5 mph when the car suddenly accelerated, jumped the curb and wouldn't stop. Yes, available for inspection 2. Car wouldn't stop- heading into a storefront with people outside 3. Not yet 4. Yes, dealer and pending with insurance rep 5. None
Crash
Incident date: Jan 8, 2024
A recall was issued for an intermittent failure of the transmission speed sensor (OSS), campaign 16S19. I took the truck to a Ford Dealership, Mike Reichenbach Ford, in Florence SC. The technician reprogrammed the PCM. This did not resolve the issue and the truck continues to downshift or not shift at all. I spoke with the dealership and with the Ford Motor Company. I believe this truck was t... Read more
Incident date: Oct 22, 2024
My gauges stopped displaying any information outside of the gear selection. I had no Speedometer, or acess to any of my safety features. This has happened twice and gauges will turn on again on the next drive if sufficient time has passed.
Incident date: Oct 23, 2024
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Soul. The contact stated while driving at undisclosed speeds, the vehicle stalled. The vehicle failed to accelerate to highway speeds. The vehicle continuously went into LIMP Mode. The message for rod bearing failure was displayed on the display screen. The contact used a code reader and reset the system. While driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning l... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
As I was driving, the infotainment screen went black and Apple CarPlay stopped playing. As this happened, the driver’s information screen still worked but changed to grey scale colors. After about 4 minutes of the infotainment screen being black, the driver’s info screen also went black. This continued for about one more minute when both screens rebooted on their own.
Incident date: Oct 8, 2024
My steering jerks hard left and corrects it self it also excels been braking, cranking the wheel turns freely and the car is very unsafe to drive i can lose control of the vehicle. All emergency lights are on steering wheel light exclamation point tps light among other things.i was told the EPS systems isn't working the steering control module, steering rack and all sensors replaced honda dealer... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
C300
(2017) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Oct 24, 2024
Incident date: Oct 23, 2024
When driving on the highway going any speed. The car feels like it goes into neutral and the rpm goes up while I’m going to the speed limit but the car just cruises and it won’t pick up speed. Then it feels like it communicates again and it starts to work
CHEVROLET
EQUINOX EV
(2024) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Oct 23, 2024
Incident date: Oct 23, 2024
The contact owns a 2018 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the accelerator pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended. In addition, the contact stated that while driving at speeds above 30 MPH, the vehicle shook and vibrated abnormally. In addition, the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was driven ... Read more
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2018) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Oct 23, 2024
Incident date: Oct 23, 2024
Was driving home from work on the highway at highway speeds and suddenly lost the ability to accelerate with a "Check Hybrid System" warning. At the time of loss of power, I was crossing a bridge and got stuck in the middle of the bridge. I also notice the oil indicator light come on. The engine remained on as far as I can tell but it wouldn't go with the accelerator pedal pressed. I placed the ca... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
C300
(2011) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Oct 23, 2024
Incident date: Oct 22, 2024
The contact owns a 2010 Cadillac SRX. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, there was an abnormal grinding sound coming from the front of the vehicle. Additionally, while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle failed to accelerate above 40 MPH. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were not notified of the failure. The failure mileag... Read more
Incident date: Oct 23, 2024
1.What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? The fuel system failure is a highly critical safety concern, and my life is at risk. It causes malfunctions with the vehicle, for example, the OBD-based emissions test has flagged a lot of (codes P219A, P0300, P0304, P0410, P0305, P0303, P0171, P0301) 5 of the cylinder misfire codes with the check ... Read more
HYUNDAI
SONATA HYBRID
(2017) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Oct 23, 2024
Incident date: Oct 22, 2024
#Issue Description I experienced an issue with Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) system when a trailer hitch was attached to my vehicle. From what I observed, the FSD system appeared to detect the trailer hitch as an object in close proximity to the vehicle. This caused the vehicle to accelerate rapidly to the FSD maximum speed of 85 MPH, regardless of the road conditions or posted speed limits.... Read more
Incident date: May 10, 2024
1. At [XXX] on [XXX], I was pulling into my gym's parking lot, when I stepped on the break to park my car, instead of stopping, the car accelerates rapidly and crashed through the other side of the sidewalk where there were light pole and cement walls, throwing me forward and backward with seat belt on, I was in total shock! 2. My insurance sent a field inspector to the body shop 2X in hope to re... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
Major engine problems. The engine has loud knocking noise. While driving the car it shakes badly. When the hood is open you can see the engine jumping and it’s not properly secured. The engine can fall out causing a safety hazard and accident. Vehicle is not safe to drive. When driving the car loses speed immediately going over 55 mph.
Incident date: Oct 16, 2024
Car was diagnosed at a Toyota dealership with a brake booster issue reading code 20TE07 after my vehicles brakes suddenly would not work and the car continued to jolt forward. The brakes wouldn’t stop the car. According to Toyota, my vehicle is three months outside of the warranty period but under the covered mileage so we are left to repair this defect ourselves. This was a very dangerous si... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2017) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Oct 22, 2024
Incident date: Aug 14, 2024
The abs and traction control lights flash on and off. They also have remained off and the back on for while. Happens a lot during summer and when driving for a while. While on cruise control and the lights comes sudden loss of power and agrressive engine slow down causing the vehicle to shake. Has happen multiple times.
Incident date: Jun 14, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 2500. The contact stated that the vehicle hesitated while depressing the accelerator pedal. The contact stated that while driving 70 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power. The contact pulled over to the shoulder of the highway. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, who was unable to determine the cause... Read more
Incident date: Oct 10, 2024
Same situation occurred twice. I was in the car at a red light. Car had been stopped for about a minute. Was on a slight decline, engine brake was engaged to hold car in position. Car was stationary completely. Suddenly tons of warning lights flash on the dash board 'One pedal driving unavailable', 'Service ESC', 'Service trailer brake system', 'Service active steering system', '4wd unavailab... Read more
Incident date: Jun 22, 2024
On 10/28/2024 I was driving on a highway at 60 mph with light traffic. All of a sudden the radio display panel went blank and all the warning lights on dashboard lit up. The car started to slow down and did not gain speed even when gas pedal is pressed. Car speed went down to 40 mph. I put on hazard lights and looking for safe spot to park the car. I drove for 2 to 3 minutes and then dashboard... Read more
CHEVROLET
TRAILBLAZER
(2021) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Oct 21, 2024
Incident date: Oct 17, 2024
Cluster behind the steering wheel was blank, has happen twice within the last 30 days. This is an issue since I had no speedometer and had to use WAZE to guess how fast I was going. It resolved itself after turning off the EV9 for about 45 - 60 mins. First time it happen on Sept 27, 2024, and then it happen again today Oct 21, 2024.
Incident date: Aug 1, 2024
While driving with the cruise control set to 55 mph, the car began an uncommanded acceleration. When I looked down on the dashboard display I noticed that the cruise control target speed was set to 95 mph. I switched of the cruise control and resumed manual control of the speed. When I switch the cruise control back on I observed the target speed rapidly increase from the intended 55 mph to 95 ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 3, 2024
I have received recall notices in July of this year (Campaign Number: 24V405) and in September of this year (Campaign Number: 24V623) promising to fix everything from braking to warning lights. NOTHING has been fixed yet! How can the NHTSA be placated by a car company that sends out official recall notices and does nothing to fix the problems! Please hold Fisker accountable!!!!
Incident date: Sep 8, 2024
Purchased TRUCK at Gus Machado of Kendal Mia Fl. Informed dealership of downshifting transmission issues, I was told "there's No recall on my vehicle ", its normal that new truck has as breaking in period. AT 10,000 miles- Drove to Gus dealership for TRANSMISSION ISSUES, NO RESOLVE -AT 70,679 miles - 01/11/17 Drove AGAIN to Gus dealership, for severe engine and transmission issues. Dealersh... Read more
Incident date: Oct 12, 2024
My son was driving our 2023 Toyota Tundra (non-hybrid) at approximately 25-30 miles an hour when the engine shut down. He had difficulty steering but was able to safely brake to a stop in the middle of the road. Cars were forced to pass him on the shoulder. He was unable to restart the engine for what he estimates was approximately one minute. He was finally able to restart the engine and driv... Read more
Incident date: Oct 10, 2024
Car engine light came on and the vehicle automatically slowed itself down to 20 mph as I was in a 45 mph zone, with multiple traffic behind me. No warning!! A hazard sign lit and the MIL lit up, saying there is an emissions control system malfunction and to immediately take the car to a repair station. NissanConnect also sent me a text at 5:12 Saturday night, all repair stations closed. This was v... Read more
Incident date: Oct 21, 2024
This new 2025 Cadillac CT5 displays incorrect posted speed limits on Rte. 114 Flanders Rd, Gulf Rd, Bear hill Rd , .Ryan Rd, in Henniker NH. speed of 55mph which is incorrect to legal posted speed limits being much slower. This vehicle also shows roads that have no posted speed limit sign of 55 mph, which should be for safety reason(--) Can we have these roads updated to display the correct poste... Read more
Incident date: Mar 29, 2024
Experienced severe phantom breaking on [XXX] in route to Las Vegas at 70mph September 2024. In heavy rain, while windshield wipers set to auto...........wipers have stopped momentarily blinding the driver, a problem Tesla hasn't fixed on my neighbors 2019 Model 3. The stalkless design prevents safe use of turn signals, horn and gear shifts. Wife who only drives an ICE car can not safely operate ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 20, 2024
Car started to shutter, doing 55 mph and stop pulling..all lights were flashing then shut down, was able to coast into some business parking lot. Had to get towed to shop where was told needed alternator, replaced that and replaced battery…car would start but put in gear and same thing happened shut down and didn’t get but a couple of miles from shop..still no fix. Contacted a Nissan dealershi... Read more
Incident date: Oct 19, 2024
This is something I've noticed a few times, it's concerning, and I'm trying to hash out what's actually happening. After reversing at slow speed (from a parking spot for example) and then shifting into drive, I've felt what appeared to be uncommanded throttle response. The cruise control engages as if it had been set to 15mph and trying to accelerate to that speed. Being in a parking space and sh... Read more
Incident date: Oct 19, 2024
While using Traffic Aware Cruise Control the vehicle would rapidly decelerate with no warnings of potential collision and with no actual emergency situation existing on the road. In a single trip that spanned both day and night there were three rapid declaration events occurring both when light or dark outside. Vehicle display wouldn't show any messages as to the reason for declaration.
Incident date: Oct 20, 2024
The cruise system malfunctioned. In multiple scenarios (at least three) when the cruise control was set, if the accelerator is pushed while the cruise control is engaged, the vehicle will continue to accelerate even if the accelerator is released. Disengaging the cruise control via brake usage or by hand on the steering wheel does not stop the unwanted acceleration. The only way to stop the accele... Read more
Incident date: Aug 12, 2024
When I tried to start the vehicle on 10/14/24, it did not start, however it started showing various messages on the electronic dashboard. The vehicle was towed to John Eagle Honda Of Dallas (Honda Dealer) on 10/14/24 around 11:15 AM. I am enclosing the diagnostic report run on the vehicle by the John Eagle Honda of Dallas on 10/15/24 which shows some of the messages I had seen on the dashboard. My... Read more
Incident date: Oct 19, 2024
I’ve been trying to get my part replaced since August and I’ve been hundreds of dollars in between that time till now WASTING MONEY! And I’ve been told by 3 different dealerships that because I wasn’t experiencing what they considered major issues that they decided to not see me for the recall based off the information provided. I spoke with someone yesterday that I spoke to weeks ago abou... Read more
Incident date: Feb 8, 2024
I have experienced the engine surging while driving 2 times in the last 3 months. 10/18/2024. The RPMs slowly increase regardless of taking my foot off the gas pedal, slowing, or coming to a stop. The engine remains to rev. It causes me to have an extremely hard time keeping a maintained speed and gets difficult to slow down or slow to a stop. The truck was not on Cruise control, it was in 2-wheel... Read more
Incident date: Oct 15, 2024
Driving on interstate highway with cruise control engaged. Experienced rapid deceleration as cruise control disengaged without driver input. Received anti-lock braking error / service electronic braking system error. Was very dangerous situation to have occur unexpectedly and could have easily resulted in rear end collision or loss of control of vehicle. Received no warning prior to this failu... Read more
Incident date: Oct 17, 2024
Electronic Throttle Body Car lost power on busy, construction road Manufacturer issued secret warranty to owners and did not send out notice Multiple certified mechanics have inspected the vehicle Check engine, ABS, service advance trac, and power train lights were on and i am uncertain when they first came on
Incident date: Apr 14, 2023
My car’s engine started to get loud one day and would run roughly as I drive. I got it check and the service center couldn’t find the issue as the car was good on all its fluids and there weren’t any leaks anywhere. Then some days passed and my vehicle started to slow down drastically on a highway (speed limit of 65) and my car would struggle to accelerate and so I was forced to switch from ... Read more
NISSAN
PATHFINDER
(2020) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Oct 19, 2024
Incident date: Sep 1, 2022
Lost control of the car while parking. It accelerated automatically and run into my garage. Car was out of control and damaged my home
Crash
Incident date: Oct 18, 2024
Engine light is on - transmission output speed sensor. Vehicle was inspect by Pep Boys # 208 My vehicle don't want to pick up speed. I don't know what caused the problem.
POLESTAR
POLESTAR 2
(2022) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Oct 18, 2024
Incident date: Oct 12, 2024
My wife owns this Toyota Venza. On October 9, 2024, I took the vehicle to the dealership for maintenance and all regular checkups passed. No sensor lights nor problem lights were on during the incident. On October 16, 2024 my wife was parking in a spot to pick up the mail in our community's mailbox. She pressed the brake and tried to park the vehicle when suddenly the motor accelerated over the ... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
I'm getting warnings all of a sudden that the Pre Collision Assist, Advance Trac and AWD are either not available or have a fault and need service. There were some other warnings which I don't recall as when driving I wanted to keep my eyes on the road as much as possible. Right now, it is not showing those. I have lost all safety features like backup sensors, forward sensors, lane wandering an... Read more
Incident date: Oct 18, 2024
The contact owns a 2023 Nissan Versa. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle failed to properly accelerate while depressing the accelerator pedal. Additionally, the check engine warning light remained illuminated. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer and manufacturer were yet contacted. The failure mileage was 11,000.