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 16,985 complaints for ACURA
Incident date: Feb 7, 2026
vehicle started making a nasty whining noise. Talked to Toyota, they stated it was normal. ive kept up on the transmission service as noted, and performed all said services before they were due, vehicle just rolled over to 108k and the whining noise got louder, and now the transmission is bad, called a friend at a different Toyota dealer and he stated that they have a lot of camrys with bad transm... Read more
Incident date: Feb 6, 2026
The vehicle has consumed the oil and no light came on. I drove and i checked when the running engine start doing a dry noise and loose the power. The stick was completely dry, i filled with 2 litters and now the stick show in the half. My vehicle has 60k miles and tomorrow will check on the servis. It is unacceptable first how the vehicle consumed the oil and the second the system didn't notify r... Read more
Incident date: Feb 6, 2026
While driving at highway speed, the vehicle suddenly lost the ability to accelerate. Immediately prior to this, the vehicle was making an abnormal engine noise, which continued until the failure. "Drive" light turned off and the "Neutral" turned on its own. I tried to get it to shift back to "Drive" and it wouldn't. I pulled off to the side of the highway. The engine stalled and the vehicle would ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 8, 2026
Electric car stopped working with home, (level 2 or AC charging), only level three or DC fast chargers. Took car to local dealership who confirmed the cars ICCU had gone bad, which is a known issue with this vehicle, and needed to be replaced. Since I had all the software recalls done to mitigate this matter Kia replaced it under warranty. There were no indication that anything was wrong with the ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 13, 2026
ICCU failed. Level 2 charges didn’t work.
Incident date: Jan 30, 2026
The contact owns a 2022 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving approximately 55 MPH, the cruise control feature became inoperable. The failure of the cruise control caused the vehicle to accelerate to 74 MPH unintendedly. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that the dealer failed to duplicate... Read more
Incident date: Feb 2, 2026
I was driving straight in the left most lane on an expressway, about to make a left turn on a green left turn arrow. The vehicle in front of me was making a U-turn. My Hyundai Tucson abruptly braked quite hard. I'm not sure what caused it but I'm guessing the vehicle making U-turn slowed down a bit before the U-turn and might have triggered a forward collision avoidance braking but I didn't feel l... Read more
Incident date: Jan 17, 2026
The contact owns a 2018 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the transmission unexpectedly downshifted before slamming into gear. The vehicle returned to normal functionality, but the failure became a regular occurrence. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that on a separate occasion, while driving at an undisclosed speed, there was an... Read more
Incident date: Sep 5, 2022
Engine had complete loss of power and loud knocking noise.
Incident date: Feb 3, 2026
While driving on the highway, without warning the tire tread separated from the rim causing danger to myself. Luckily I was able to pull to the side of the highway to await assistance. State police was called and the car was eventually towed to the dealership. The entire tire literally separated from the rim. Tire size: 235 /60 R 18.
Incident date: Jan 31, 2026
Wednesday [XXX]/Phantom Braking Proceeding northbound on [XXX] at estimated speed of 35 mph. Road was clear with no oncoming traffic. Suddenly the brakes locked up and a collision notice appeared on dash. Brakes released and continued northbound with no further issues. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Incident date: Feb 4, 2026
Power steering hose ruptured after a few days of snow and ice. I went to drive to the store but was unable to turn out of the driveway due to no power steering. I done some research to where I found out there was a recall for this same issue but evidently my VIN # isn't included in this recall as while as many others I have read about online. I think this needs to be looked into.
Incident date: Feb 4, 2026
Auto Idle Stop/Auto Start-Stop Issue- On multiple occasions, occurring randomly, the vehicle will not start at stoplights after auto-idle stop is engaged. Sometimes this happens after the vehicle has been running for over an hour. Currently, the vehicle must be completely powered down and then restarted to revive engine.
Incident date: Nov 12, 2025
Was driving my truck to work and all of a sudden it down shifted from gear 6 to gear 4. Then through up the wrench icon on dash. Would not come out of 4th gear. Code was p0720. Output shaft speed sensor. Once code was cleared, it was ok again for about 20 miles then did it again.
Incident date: Jan 30, 2026
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign: 21V316000 (Structure); however, parts for the recall repair were not yet available. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer for several other recall repairs. The vehicle was not yet repaired under NHTSA Campaign: 21V316000 (Structure); because parts were not available. The manufacturer was made aware of t... Read more
Incident date: Dec 11, 2025
The contact owns a 2025 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to start up as needed. The vehicle was towed to the dealer; however, the cause of the failure was not yet determined. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 2,600.
Incident date: Jan 30, 2026
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V695000 (Back Over Prevention); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The dealer confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a rea... Read more
Incident date: Feb 2, 2026
The contact owns a 2020 Mercedes-Benz GLC300. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the panoramic roof unexpectedly shattered. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was determined that the panoramic sunroof and the sunroof protector needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the fa... Read more
Incident date: Jan 15, 2026
I turned on my brand new 2026 Volvo XC 90 and none of the cameras worked. I hard reset it three times and it still didn’t work. The message on the screen said “Camera view is temporarily unavailable. Press home button to close.” This is the second issue with the vehicle. First was apple car play, now, it’s the camera system.
Incident date: Feb 2, 2026
While driving down the street between 0 and 35 mph, with no load in the truck and no trailer attached, the trailer brake controller quite working completely and a service message appeared. The dealership ended up replacing the trailer brake gain adjustment switch. Had I been towing a trailer at the time, I would have had zero trailer brakes. I've had this message reappear several times since then... Read more
Incident date: Dec 22, 2025
Shift to Park" Error.. even after turning the car back on.. slowly going through each gear and back down to park I'm still getting this error
Incident date: Jan 26, 2026
Car was parked on a driveway, decent grade, with 50 miles left to empty (no low fuel light on). Facing downward. Car did not turn over. Had to use manual override to put vehicle into neutral and coast to a more level area and start it up. Seen this issue posted on the Explorer ST Facebook group multiple times, so I was lucky I knew what the issue is. Most other people would be stranded. T... Read more
Incident date: Jan 21, 2026
CB4 Recall Some (2017-2018 MY Ram xxx) vehicles may have been built with a brake hydraulic control unit ("HCU") that is susceptible to failure or malfunction which may result in a reduction or change of Anti-Lock Brake System ("ABS")/Electronic Stability Control ("ESC") /Traction Control performance. A failing HCU will initially result in the intermittent loss of ABS/Traction control progressing ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 16, 2026
Vehicle involved in a head on collision resulting in a total loss. Frontal airbags did not deploy. Occupant (driver) sustained bilateral wrist injuries requiring surgery.
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Jan 16, 2026
To Whom It May Concern, I am submitting a vehicle safety defect complaint regarding my 2020 Acura RDX. The rear window of my vehicle suddenly shattered without any impact, collision, road debris, or external force. At the time of the incident, the vehicle was stationary. There was no warning or visible damage prior to failure. The glass shattered unexpectedly, creating a dangerous condition and ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 26, 2026
Recall on my 2019 Jeep for Two-Speed PTU failure has not been remedied yet it has been a year now. Would like to know when this can be fixed before I have other issues.
Incident date: Jan 31, 2026
I was on my way home from work this morning and all warning lights (electric power steering, ABS, collision control warning, brake system sensors, etc.) randomly came on and the steering became very still. When parking, I wasn’t able to turn the car off without pressing the “push to start” button multiple times.
Incident date: Jan 31, 2026
I was on my way home from work this morning and all warning lights (electric power steering, ABS, collision control warning, brake system sensors, etc.) randomly came on and the steering became very still. When parking, I wasn’t able to turn the car off without pressing the “push to start” button multiple times.
Incident date: Jan 31, 2026
The door locks on the front 2 doors do not lock when the car key lock button is pressed. You have to manually lock those doors everything you get in and out. You also have to manually unlock them each time to open them
Incident date: Dec 23, 2025
Steering wheel is sticking to left, I thought it was lane assist but I turned it off and it stay In position having to over correct the steering wheel. I have a video since it happened multiple times now, I was able to record it during a roundabout.
Incident date: Jan 22, 2026
The contact owns a 2020 Ford EcoSport. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V905000 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended while depressing the accelerator pedal. In addition, while the vehicle was stopped at a traffic signal, it stalled. After several attempts, the vehicle re... Read more
Incident date: Jan 22, 2026
Description of Safety Defect: While starting car up, the digital instrument cluster (speedometer and all primary driver instrumentation) goes completely black with no warning. The infotainment system continues to operate normally. After driving a short distance (sometimes only a few miles), the vehicle then experiences a complete loss of power steering, making the car extremely difficult or impos... Read more
Incident date: Jan 27, 2026
The contact owns a 2023 Kia K5. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 5 MPH and approaching a stop sign exiting a parking lot, as the contact depressed the brake pedal to stop for a commercial truck stopped at the exit, the "collision warning" illuminated. The contact stated that the brake pedal went soft and depressed to the floorboard. The contact stated that he crashed into the... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Sep 27, 2025
I bought my vehicle almost 2 years ago with 30K miles on it. In December 2025, the car started stalling and wouldn’t run properly. I took it into the dealership and they stated that the engine was burning oil. This was at 90K miles. Hyundai refuses to fix the motor issue because I’m not the original owner. This issue would have started even before the 90K miles because the vehicle had almost u... Read more
Incident date: Sep 27, 2025
The front camera that operates the cruise control, lane assist, automatic braking, automatic high beam has stopped working. After further research it seems to be a popular problem with this car in a short amount of time. This car is a 2020 with 61,000 miles. The camera costs approximately $2000 to fix and should have a longer life span.
Incident date: Sep 27, 2025
The front camera that operates the cruise control, lane assist, automatic braking, automatic high beam has stopped working. After further research it seems to be a popular problem with this car in a short amount of time. This car is a 2020 with 61,000 miles. The camera costs approximately $2000 to fix and should have a longer life span.
Incident date: Feb 1, 2025
The contact owns a 2024 Chevrolet Suburban. While driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle hesitated while accelerating. The vehicle was previously repaired under NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V274000 (ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING); however, the failure persisted. The local dealer was contacted; however, the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacture was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage... Read more
Incident date: Jan 29, 2026
2021 Subaru Ascent (VIN#***). Water found dripping down both second row seatbelts on multiple occasions during or following heavy rain, accumulated into mold growth on the carpet in front of second row seats to the front of the 3rd row seats (cargo area dry, front footwells dry). Authorized Subaru dealer technician report (dated 10/29/25 and 12/3/25 copy pasted into email) explicitly documents 'co... Read more
Incident date: Jan 29, 2026
The front lower lateral links or control arm that is used to steer the wheels has bolts that dropped on the ground causing loss of steering to the car. This happened when parking the car at home and luckily not on the highway or street during faster speeds.
Incident date: Jan 29, 2026
Traveling at 70MPH the engine failed. There were no warning lights or alerts prior to the engine failing. No power at all after failure. Was able to coast to the shoulder of the busy highway without getting into an accident but was then left stranded as the engine would not restart. Upon inspection at GMC dealer I was informed there was a "catastrophic engine failure" and the entire engine wou... Read more
Incident date: Jan 19, 2025
ICCU Failure caused car to lose all motive power. Car held at dealer for 18 days until replacement part could be procured. ICCU reprogramming recall had been completed on the vehicle. Part failed anyway.
Incident date: Oct 8, 2025
The tailgate randomly opens and closes during driving causing contents to fall out of the tailgate and creating a hazard for other motorists and damaging personal property. The tailgate now will not open and there is no manual override to open the tailgate. Certainly a design flaw and now not allowing access to the tailgate. I've contacted 5 local gm/chevrolet dealer service departments and they c... Read more
Incident date: Oct 8, 2025
Two issues: 1. The paint on my rooftop in front of the sunroof began peeling off three months ago. I’ve read and MANY owners of the same model within a two year timeframe have had the exact same issue and we realized it’s a manufacturer’s problem. The manufacturer however, is saying it’s out of warranty and that’s absurd because now we all have to pay $2000+ to have our entire roof repai... Read more
Incident date: Jan 27, 2026
Upon driving the vehicle in the intended fashion for a Ford Bronco Raptor, the vehicle has an issue where when Advanced Track is set as disabled, and the vehicle is shifted in and out of park, the vehicle will then turn Advanced Track back on while still showing it as off on the dashboard. This makes it so when you're driving it in off-road situations, the system will come in making the vehicle po... Read more
Incident date: Jan 26, 2026
At 9,000 miles the check engine light came on. We took the van to the dealership and there was metal in the engine and the engine needs to be replaced.
Incident date: Jan 26, 2026
Car was assessed for recall related to service bulletin 23-032. Recall was performed, but the mechanic who performed the recall says the car is not repaired because the rear frame corrosion, as described in bulletin 23-032, is so severe that a large piece is missing from the rear frame. The mechanic says the repair as described in the bulletin is not enough to fix the car. The service bulletin rem... Read more
Incident date: Jan 22, 2026
The vehicle accelerated on its own unable to control or stop the vehicle
Crash
Incident date: Jan 27, 2026
The contact owns a 2014 Kia Forte. The contact stated that while depressing the brake pedal, the vehicle failed to respond. The brake pedal was depressed to the floorboard to stop the vehicle. An independent mechanic was contacted. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed, and the contact was informed that the vehicle was operating as intended. The vehicle was not repaired.... Read more
Incident date: Jan 27, 2026
The contact owns a 2018 Alfa Romeo Giulia. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V586000 (FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle was hesitating and then lost motive power. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceede... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2024
While driving my 2023 Ioniq5 I got a warning on the dashboard about losing power and immedately the car slowed itself down to about 15 MPH, once I was able to get to a safe spot to pull over I stopped the car and it would not start again. I had it towed to the dealer and it has been a week and the ICCU is still on backorder. No idea when I will have the car back.