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 17,413 complaints for ACURA
Incident date: Jan 8, 2025
Complaint Regarding Unresolved Recall #24V-763 and Persistent Defects – 2024 Honda Accord Hybrid Dear NHTSA I am filing a formal complaint regarding an unresolved recall (#24V-763) and persistent defects with my 2024 Honda Accord Hybrid EX-L. Since purchasing this vehicle in December 2023, it has exhibited numerous defects and abnormal behavior Recall pertains to a defect in the high-pressure fu... Read more
Incident date: Jan 8, 2025
I drive 2.5miles to work, Tuesday [XXX], I was turning into the parking lot and my car just cut off. I couldn't use flashers, restart it, put it in park or anything else. I called my husband to come help. I thought maybe the battery cable might have come loose. It was dead. I couldn't get out, if I let my foot off the brake it would roll backwards, going into the road and I didn't want it to ... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Jan 8, 2025
This vehicle has a severe transmission shift issue that will likely cause an accident at some point. This vehicle has an Allison 10 speed transmission and began shifting extremely hard or violently from 7th to 8th gear in November of 2023. This problem began when pulling a travel trailer that is weight rated well below the capacity of this truck. This hard shift causes vehicle occupants to lunge d... Read more
Incident date: Nov 29, 2023
On 12-26-24 the transmission on my vehicle failed suddenly going down the highway. Driving down the road a jerking motion and then all of a sudden the vehicle would not shift gears. Luckily the road wasn’t crowed because all of a sudden the vehicle slowed and would not accelerate. If someone had been following me there was no break light indicating I was slowing down. When I returned home I disc... Read more
Incident date: Jan 8, 2025
I first encountered the “death wobble” at 18,000 miles. It happened to both me and my husband within a hundred miles of each incident. I took my car in for an oil change and talked to the technician and he said that he could try the fix that Jeep put forth to attempt to fix it, but it never really fixed the issue. Well, it was not that bad and happened infrequently and life moves on. Fast forw... Read more
Incident date: Sep 30, 2024
I was pulling out of a gas station onto the main road and the truck started shaking and died, parking brake came on and the battery right came on….1st incident Second incident I was baking out of a parking space and the same thing happened, truck started shaking and died, parking brake came on and the battery light lit up on the dash…. Dealership told me they couldn’t do anything about it b... Read more
Incident date: Sep 30, 2024
I was pulling out of a gas station onto the main road and the truck started shaking and died, parking brake came on and the battery right came on….1st incident Second incident I was baking out of a parking space and the same thing happened, truck started shaking and died, parking brake came on and the battery light lit up on the dash…. Dealership told me they couldn’t do anything about it b... Read more
Incident date: Sep 30, 2024
I was pulling out of a gas station onto the main road and the truck started shaking and died, parking brake came on and the battery right came on….1st incident Second incident I was baking out of a parking space and the same thing happened, truck started shaking and died, parking brake came on and the battery light lit up on the dash…. Dealership told me they couldn’t do anything about it b... Read more
Incident date: Dec 29, 2024
It happened to my wife with our three kiddos in the car, she was on the freeway doing speed limit 65 when the car just shut off going around a corner at night all of everything shut off including head lights, power steering, and moter it almost through her and kids off the road in the dark ,the wipers shut off whenever they want and the healights off and on without warning, the horn blows unpred... Read more
Incident date: Dec 1, 2024
I have been waiting 12 months for Ford to provide my local dealer with the parts required to fix the window pillars that can come loose, as referenced in the open recall (24V031000). Several months ago, one of the recalled pillars flew off on the freeway, causing the car behind me to swerve at 70mph. Fortunately, nobody got hurt. My local dealer has tried & tried to get the parts from Ford Moto... Read more
Incident date: Jan 2, 2025
The contact owns a 2023 Honda Accord Hybrid. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V763000 (FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN too... Read more
Incident date: Dec 28, 2024
Purchased Dec 4, 2019; followed maintenance requirements through BO Beukcman Quality Ford. Oil changes made IAW Ford guidelines every 5000 miles. Oil change was made Nov 23, 2023 at 49,504 miles. Just before next oil change noticed engine knocking on acceleration/deceleration with intermittent check engine light on. Oil changed at 54,226 miles (Aug 22, 2024). Condition mentioned to dealer. De... Read more
Incident date: Mar 4, 2024
Around the end of November, my 2024 Tesla Model Y's cameras stopped functioning. The sensors for blind spots and possible collision prevention stopped working. The GPS was also not working, the car believes it's been in the same spot for over a month. The lights of the car also do not work as promised, as now I have to manually turn them on on my dashboard and it goes on and off. I have been try... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2024
Rattling sound when the car is started - this is happening every time. MPG dropped from 42 to 30..
Incident date: Jan 7, 2025
The front brakes prematurely failed at 5,000 miles and this is a brand new vehicle. We had 3 miles or so at purchase (purchase date: August 7, 2024). By January 4, 2025 or so, the front brakes began making grinding noises. We had a licensed, independent shop inspect this and then replace the worn brakes on January 6, 2025. We have driven the vehicle as we have driven other vehicles and we have ne... Read more
Incident date: Dec 10, 2024
my car broke down and now the car does not pick up speed and rattles when i press the gas pedal.
Incident date: Apr 15, 2024
The contact owns a 2023 Volkswagen ID.4. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V344000 (BACK OVER PREVENTION, EQUIPMENT, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware o... Read more
Incident date: Apr 15, 2024
Electric power steering rack has failed. It's very, very hard to steer the vehicle. Happened when it was cold and snowy out. I'm lucky it occurred in my driveway, and I wasn't at speed on the highway! Dealer says it's a module in the steering rack. Quoted over 3k to replace the electronic power steering rack. I can't afford that... That kind of repair was never anticipated when I purchased... Read more
Incident date: Jan 5, 2025
12,000 mile VW Taos coolent light went off. Faulty Engine coolant gasket failed. Took it into the dealership they also needed to replace the back brakes! Entertainment/radio screen randomly goes off as well. This is the second time it's been taken in because of an issue. Will not bee keeping this car.
Incident date: Jan 6, 2025
Recall is from Feb. 2024. Repeated calls starting in Feb. 2024 to Vans Honda in Green Bay, WI. Called 4 or 5 times and talked to a Service Rep. They are responded that they did not have the part needed to fix the issue and did not know when the part would be available. The ALL said that I would be contacted as soon as the part was available to set up an appointment to have the defective part repl... Read more
Incident date: Dec 30, 2024
I was driving my Lexus ct200h and the traction control, brake light, and two other lights came on the dash. I took it in to Toyota and they indicated that this was a common problem with both Prius models and ct200h models. Their exact verbage in the service ticket was: TECH FOUND CODE C1391 ACCUMULATOR ABNORMAL SLOW LEAK REC ACTUATOR AND PUMP ASSEMBLY
Incident date: Jan 4, 2025
According to Tesla the AI4 computer experienced an internal short circuit. This has rendered all cameras including backup camera, GPS, parking sensors, and automatic wipers inoperable. The visibility out of the vehicle is very poor to the rear without the backup camera. Parking without the rear camera and parking sensors is difficult. Not having physical controls for the wipers makes turning them ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 11, 2024
Tesla Full Self Driving v13.2.2 attempted to make a left turn while having a red light. The vehicle successfully came to a complete stop due the red light but once traffic cleared the intersection it attempted to proceed with the left turn while still having a red light. I immediately took over preventing the car from entering further into the intersection.
Incident date: Dec 31, 2024
This is a Forest River Sunseeker Motorhome on a 2021 Chevrolet Express chasis. On Friday, [XXX], after being in stop and go traffic for 10-15 minutes on [XXX] driving at 65 mph, a smell of burning brakes started filling up the motorhome. Then the vehicle started to wobble and the ABS light came on. Pulled over to the side and while applying brakes the vehicle shook/wobbled. Drove to a NTB tire... Read more
Incident date: Dec 31, 2024
The problem remedied by TSB 21B11-s2 did not occur in my vehicle while the TSB was in effect. It has now surfaced
Incident date: Dec 11, 2024
The Power Steering failed on a 2011 ford fusion se. The recall supposedly ended after 150k miles and I’m 150 miles over and they refused to do it which is shady. Never had a issue until I passed the certain mileage.
Incident date: Jun 1, 2024
ABS brakes randomly engage in normal braking conditions. Inspection found a broken Reluctor ring on the front drivers side axle.
Incident date: Dec 10, 2020
2018 Honda CRV with 47,000 miles bought 12/23/24. Upon driving the car that evening all warning lights on dashboard lit up, and every warning started popping up on the dash - hill start assist error, power steering problem, parking brake problem, vehicle stability assist problem, etc. Car drove without being affected but the warnings continued cycling through on the dashboard. Took it back to the ... Read more
Incident date: Dec 10, 2020
The contact owns a 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid. The contact stated while driving at approximately 65 MPH, there was an abnormal sound coming from the driver's side front tire. The contact was able to exit the highway and drove to a tire store and had the tire replaced. The contact stated that after the tire was replaced while leaving the store parking lot, the check engine and power steering assist wa... Read more
Incident date: Dec 7, 2024
When backing up my car from the driveway during rain it continuously applies phantom braking making it impossible to move the car. Turned off the rear autobraking but it still doesn’t help. It’s very dangerous. This is the same case for all the electric vehicles manufactured by GM and reddit posts exist for Equinox EV, Blazer EV, Honda Prologoue, Acura ZDX
Incident date: Dec 26, 2024
I took my Range Rover in for a coolant leak, was told there was a Recall on a battery system, the recall was a software update to prevent that battery system from going offline. The system was already offline, and Land Rover North America refuses to honor the intent of the recall, and is refusing to cover the cost to replace that battery system. It only seems logical that if a recall is to prevent... Read more
Incident date: Dec 9, 2023
The vehicle’s emergency braking system randomly applies the brakes even when the front is not obstructed. Front sensors are kept clear of any debris, dirt, or bugs. I went to Honda of El Cajon in El Cajon, Ca and they could not help me even though the service advisor admitted that another Honda CR-V driver had the same problem the same day. This is a safety concern as my car has applied he bra... Read more
Incident date: Jan 3, 2025
For context, we are the original owners of the 2018 Subaru Legacy car (leased in 2018, and then purchased outright in 2022). At the time of the incident, the car was in pristine condition. We had the oil changed in accordance with the maintenance agreement during the lease, and then every 6,000 miles or whenever the dealership called us to bring in the car. The car had 39,000 miles on it at the ti... Read more
Incident date: Dec 20, 2022
The contact owns a 2022 Peterbilt 579. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle downshifted with multiple warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was restarted; however, the failure recurred. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V190000 (Power Train); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The dealer was contacted. The ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2025
Frame broken which has caused other damage to the RV. Not safe to be on the road
Incident date: Feb 10, 2024
The contact owns a 2012 Dodge Avenger. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the front passenger's side headrest deployed inadvertently and struck the head of the front seat passenger. The contact stated that the vehicle was previously repaired under an undisclosed recall; however, the failure occurred. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer and to Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram of... Read more
Incident date: Jan 30, 2024
When driving or on neutral the vehicle shakes between 1000rpm-1500rpm. During driving or stationary you can feel the vehicle vibrating when in that rpm range. Under load the car does feel a bit hesitant and tampers acceleration. They're is a TSB 22-2377 which may be related to this issue as well.
Incident date: Mar 14, 2024
The vehicle has been inspected multiple times and had several software updates to fix the infotainment system. Unfortunately, the system still malfunctions restarting all the controls in the vehicle while driving. When this happens, the speedometer is unable to be accessed and driving becomes unsafe.
Incident date: Mar 14, 2024
The vehicle has been inspected multiple times and had several software updates to fix the infotainment system. Unfortunately, the system still malfunctions restarting all the controls in the vehicle while driving. When this happens, the speedometer is unable to be accessed and driving becomes unsafe.
Incident date: Oct 17, 2024
Rear Backup Camera malfunctioning for the second. Backup camera goes black and the following message appears: Camera is unavailable. Please contact your dealership. Rear backup camera was replaced at my expense of $513.16 on 1/3/2022 by Ford dealership. This is presenting a safety issue and I don't feel that I should be responsible for a second replacement when recalls have been issued on other... Read more
Incident date: Oct 17, 2024
-Tire Sidewalls are cracked within 2 years of use and more than half of tread is unused -Cracking sidewalls leads to blowouts as complained about by prior consumers -Went to goodyear service center for inspection as requested for warranty claim -No warning lamps
Incident date: Oct 17, 2024
-Tire Sidewalls are cracked within 2 years of use and more than half of tread is unused -Cracking sidewalls leads to blowouts as complained about by prior consumers -Went to goodyear service center for inspection as requested for warranty claim -No warning lamps
Incident date: Jan 1, 2025
Starting in March of 2024 the vehicle began to leak copious amounts of oil. This was noted once the vehicle was parked after driving. It was anywhere from the size of a half dollar to a dinner plate size of oil pooled underneath the oil filter housing on the ground. At this time the Jeep had approximately 103,000 miles. While diagnosing the issue, I had to consistently add many quarts of oil t... Read more
Incident date: Jul 10, 2024
During a U-turn, when I turned the steering wheel my vehicle suddenly accelerated unexpected. I suspect there may have been a malfunction in the vehicle's electronic control system that caused this sudden unintended acceleration. I did alert Honda North America to study the problem. On [XXX], while driving on a narrow street at a speed of less than 5 miles per hour, my vehicle suddenly acceler... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Dec 30, 2024
Driving on the highway the car entered limp mode allowing only 30 mph. Messages "stop vehicle and check power supply" with 12V battery indicator. Classic ICCU failure.
Incident date: Dec 30, 2024
At 29,314 miles, we experienced total engine failure where cylinder #2 failed and the whole engine failed and needed replaced. This car had impeccable maintenance and engine failure was not due to lack of maintenance. This was an issue with the engine itself and should not have happened.
Incident date: Dec 26, 2024
Vehicles accelerates aggressively to no limit (95+) when adaptive cruise control is set and there is no leading vehicle within following range.
Incident date: Dec 26, 2024
Vehicles accelerates aggressively to no limit (95+) when adaptive cruise control is set and there is no leading vehicle within following range.
Incident date: Dec 26, 2024
Engine shuts down unexpectable at a stop sign/light and when driving in parking lots. A message on the dashboard comes on "Manually restart the vehicle" This has happen several times (at least 4 times) in the past few days
Incident date: Dec 7, 2024
The fuel tank strap bolts became loose and fell out, causing the fuel tank to drop. The vehicle has the original fuel tank and to our understanding, it has never been removed. We purchased the vehicle new and are the only owners.