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: Jul 3, 2024
Attempted theft with injury Kia's reputation has caused this vehicle to be at risk for theft. Many resulting in injury. Kia had vehicle in 2023 and completed "upgrade" and placed stickers on the windows. Vehicle was still targeted. Insurance rates are insane for this as a result.
1 injured
Incident date: Jun 8, 2023
The contact owns a 2002 Toyota Tacoma. The contact stated that while driving approximately 50 MPH, the front passenger’s side wheel separated from the vehicle, causing the driver to lose control of the steering and drove into the opposite lane. The vehicle was later towed to the local dealer who diagnosed that the front suspension ball joint had failed and needed to be replaced. The contact was ... Read more
Incident date: May 5, 2024
Turbo failure resulted in loss of engine power. I was driving down the road and the engine light came on and I got a notification that the engine was in reduced power mode. The vehicle became very sluggish and lost speed. While I was fortunate that I was not on a busy road, had the incident happened on the highway it could have been dangerous given my loss of speed. What's of greater concern, ... Read more
Incident date: May 5, 2024
Transmission jerks when decelerating to a stop. It’s as if it drops to the wrong gear and then tries to correct. Does this every time. Causes the truck to lurch and jerk.
Incident date: Jul 2, 2024
Emergency braking system activated without anything in front of the vehicle. EBS lighting on the dash came on and vehicle made a weird sound to stop. Has happened several times in the past month, most recent was today.
Incident date: Jul 29, 2023
I have a serious safety issue with my 2014 Acura RLX. While driving, the rear wheel intermittently kicks out, causing the entire vehicle to swerve unpredictably. This poses a significant safety risk to myself, passengers, and other road users. The rear wheel kicks out, leading to sudden swerving of the vehicle. I believe this is related the the Rear Toe Actuators and PAW-S system. I first notice... Read more
Incident date: Jul 29, 2023
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Expedition. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH, the vehicle started jerking and downshifted unintendedly. The contact stated there were two unknown warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the output speed sensor had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 29, 2023
Transmission and shifting problems under 70,000 miles. Also the ac compressor and blower has gone out.
Incident date: Jun 27, 2024
Shudder torque converter problems
Incident date: Jun 27, 2024
Car goes into reverse, electrical issues
Incident date: May 1, 2024
My airbag light comes on intermittently and will show a passenger is not in my front seat when they are. I took my car to the dealer and they got a current and past code B0074 for the passenger presence module. There was a recall (18208) for this on certain 2016 Malibus but my vin was not included.
Incident date: Sep 3, 2023
My engine on my 2016 Kia soul went out while I was driving in my neighborhood at 30 mph.
Incident date: Mar 28, 2021
The dashboard has a crack around the edge of the passenger airbag. I am trying to find out if this is a safety issue for airbag deployment.
Incident date: Jun 28, 2024
I am fully aware of of GM’s Hydra-Matic 8L90 transmission or Hydra-Matic 8L45 transmission on the 2015-2019 models. My wife was driving with our kids on the highway yesterday and the trucks immediate shaking, increased high RPMs, slow acceleration and violent downshifting. Scared them very much on the highway while going at the normal speeds of 65mph trying weave through traffic and make it back... Read more
Incident date: Jun 7, 2024
The contact's husband owns a 2020 Acura TLX. The contact stated while her husband was driving 10-15 MPH, the vehicle made an abnormally loud revving sound. The contact stated that the failure had been recurring while driving. Additionally, the contact stated that the LKAS and other unknown safety features were inoperable while driving. Several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle w... Read more
Incident date: Jun 7, 2024
2014 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport 3rd owner with 54,098 miles, all maintenance records. Engine seized without warning on 6/18/2024. Hyundai states VIN is not part of published open recall for similar reason. Prior to Engine failure, Dealership updated the computer after vehicle went into limp home mode (November 2022) and a second auto repair facility replaced the anti-knock sensor under an extended... Read more
Incident date: Jun 7, 2024
Back up camera display does not always immediately come on when placing car in reverse. It can sometimes be 10 -15 seconds before an image appears. I wait in the garage, driveway, or parking spot before backing but this potentially puts pedestrians behind the vehicle at risk. Per FMVSS 111 guidelines. S5.5.3 regarding response time: The rearview image "shall be displayed within 2.0 seconds of ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2024
The contact owns a 2014 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid. The contact stated while driving 60 MPH, there was a knocking sound coming from the engine compartment, after which the vehicle lost motive power. The contact was able to pull to the shoulder of the roadway, where the vehicle stalled and failed to restart. Several unknow warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic... Read more
Incident date: Jun 27, 2024
The vehicle would not accelerate and caused my to bump into a wall. The vehicle is spluttering and the interior filled with chemical smoke caused by a coolant leak and it burning by the motor. the 1.5L vehicles are under an extended warrenty because of the EGR cooler malfunctioning. There was zero coolant in the car. The car illuminated malfunction indicator said powertrain malfunction. My car has... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jan 12, 2024
On multiples locations on a vehicle there's some seal, between the base of the engine and the oil pan as an example. The seal prevent leaks. Those seal, are submitted to a heat cycle, they are cold and then get hot. That cycle is causing the seal to dry, shrink and or break. The results? Liquid dripping on the pavement. Usually oil. What does oil on pavement do? Lost of traction. There's a li... Read more
Incident date: Feb 7, 2024
The contact owns a 2014 Ford F-150. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V444000 (Power Train) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated while driving 55 MPH, the rear wheels seized. Additionally, the vehicle independently decel... Read more
Incident date: Feb 7, 2024
This Engine Recall has me concerned for the safety and security of my family. The fact that my engine can stall and fail at anytime is unacceptable especially for how much I spent on this vehicle. Toyota should be buying these trucks back from us and issuing new ones that don't have this issue. We customers are stuck with vehicles we can't sell or trade in and it is very upsetting to spend 60k on ... Read more
Incident date: May 6, 2023
There are two outstanding recalls on my vehicle and my local acura is in not able to repair them until January despite the safety compromise listed under each recall increasing risk for collision or fire
Incident date: May 6, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Acura ILX. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V858000 (Fuel System, Gasoline); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufact... Read more
Incident date: May 6, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 BMW X1. The contact stated upon attempting to turn off the vehicle, the vehicle failed to turn off. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where unknown fuses were disconnected, and the vehicle turned off. The mechanic determined that the failure was due to the ECU overheating. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact rela... Read more
Incident date: Jun 26, 2024
1. Vehicle has oil leaking out of valve covers so bad it starts smoking from under the hood. 2. Transmission will stick into low gear and I have to put the vehicle into neutral to get it to start shifting correctly again. Vehicle will also pulsate speed with transmission growling. 3. Turbo chargers not operating correctly causing Vehicle to buck and hesitate under acceleration.
Incident date: May 29, 2024
The contact's husband owns a 2015 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated while her husband was driving 40 MPH, the engine made an abnormal knocking sound and the vehicle stalled. The contact's husband was unable to veer to the side of the road. The vehicle failed to restart and was towed to the residence. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed o... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2023
[XXX] THERMOSTAT ERROR REPORT P0128 REPLACED THERMOSTAT AND FLUSHED COOLANT ON 5.28.24 NOTES ON THIS CODE ARE FOR ELANTRA'S " P0128 : Coolant Thermostat (Coolant Thermostat below thermostat regulating temperature) This condition may be cause by the rubber valve inside the thermostat not closing properly. This bulletin provides the procedure to replace the thermostat assembly to correct this condi... Read more
Incident date: Jun 24, 2024
I just got this car in September and it is now throwing all kinds of different codes to the point where I can’t drive it sh-awd /check charging station / emission light etc
Incident date: Jun 24, 2024
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle started shuddering while accelerating. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where it was diagnosed with transmission failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline f... Read more
Incident date: Jun 24, 2024
Eight months ago while returning home from a road trip my steering began acting strange. Seemed sticky. Not smooth. I disengaged the cruise control but the problem was still there. After returning home it was not as noticeable unless I drove a minimum of 10-15 minutes. . Then I began hearing a clicking sound coming from the steering wheel and when driving on an interstate for about 20 minutes the... Read more
Incident date: Jun 24, 2024
upon turning right, the car lost power, degraded acceleration as if someone is holding and pulling the car to move forward. The traffic behind me expected me to cathup with the speed on the road but due to loss of power and engine hesitation i got honked and was luck to avoid a crash from behind on a busy road. Acura dealership in Dallas dont have parts since a very long time. They have pleant of ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 24, 2024
I am writing to bring to your attention a serious safety issue that occurred with my vehicle. While driving on the expressway, the engine oil burned and the oil warning light illuminated on the dashboard, posing a significant risk to my safety and the safety of others on the road. Specifically, the engine oil system malfunctioned, causing a sudden and complete loss of engine lubrication. This inci... Read more
Incident date: Jun 24, 2024
Intermittent and random loss of electric power steering. Fuse coming off of positive battery terminal for power steering is good, and when power steering is working it functions without issue. Without sign or warning service power steering icon will flash on the dash, resulting in complete loss of power steering. This has been happening for 3 days now, and the power steering system has come back a... Read more
Incident date: Jun 15, 2024
I have a constant AEB warning light on the dashboard.
Incident date: May 9, 2024
The warning on the dash kept going off to shift my car to park. Had to restart my car over 7 times and shift the gear multiple times before I could get the warning to go away so I could lock my vehicle.
Incident date: May 9, 2024
Front Right Side marker light defective appears on my dash. No light out, But noticed it turned off and on.
Incident date: Jun 21, 2024
On Thursday, [XXX], I was driving on the highway at around 35-40 mph when the car suddenly turned off. The dashboard screen went black, and I had no control of the steering wheel. Thankfully, I was able to control the brakes and traffic was slowing down but I still was suddenly in the middle lane of a highway without any control of the car. I tried to turn on the car several times and by the 5th o... Read more
Incident date: Jun 21, 2024
There is NO "rubber" pedal on the gas pedal. Foot easily slips off "metal" pedal whether shoe is dry, wet, muddy snow encased, etc. Unable to maintain positive pressure on gas pedal as shoe/foot easily slips off. First vehicle I have driven with no "rubber" pad on the Gass pedal. With no "rubber" pad, may not be able to accelerate due to foot slipping OSS, may cause unnecessary REAR END COLLISIO... Read more
Incident date: Jun 8, 2024
Two incidents related to the powertrain. 1) In December, 2023, the EV battery was drained and the car would not start based on the gas motor. The dealer fixed it in our recollection. 2) On [XXX], I was driving the car out of a Detroit Convention Center parking lot, going up the ramp when the car, with no warning, completely lost power and stopped. The message on the display said "Powertrain loss"... Read more
Incident date: Dec 10, 2023
Driver's seat active headrest deployed while vehicle was in motion with cruise control set at 35 MPH. Loud bang accompanied by the headrest hitting the driver in the back of the head causing the driver to jerk the steering wheel.
Incident date: Jun 18, 2024
The contact owns an Evenflo car seat, Model Number: 39312398, Model Type: Every Kid Every fit 4-In-1, Manufactured Date: June 19, 2024. The contact stated while removing the cover from the car seat to wash the seat cover, she became aware that the headrest foam was completely destroyed. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The car seat was not repaired or replaced.
Incident date: Jun 18, 2024
While driving my steering wheel will lock up and I’ll get an error message for lane keep assist on the dash. I never use lane keep assist so even when it’s off it does this. I have to keep turning my car off and back on for my steering wheel to unlock and the error will disappear.
Incident date: Jun 18, 2024
-Baggage compartment doors, when latched securely and locked with key, would open during travel down the highway at random. Luckily no cargo was lost (I take turns very slowly and noticed flapping baggage doors in my side view mirrors pretty quickly). This has happened on multiple occasions, and continued to happen after multiple dealership service visits that supposedly rectified the issue. This ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 16, 2024
Horn button on steering wheel in the 2023 Model X is difficult to access when trying to warn another vehicle of an unsafe manuver such as a lane change without noticing my vehicle next to it. In my specific incident, a driver on my left tried to change lanes and nearly collided with me as I had to visually locate the small button (1 of four buttons on the right top of the steering wheel) then pre... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2024
At certain times, when coming to a stop, and then attempting to proceed, the throttle with delay or lag from a stop. This has happened since the start of ownership in Feb 2022 up until today. Toyota has issued on previous Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) - T-SB-0111-22 - that Toyota states should resolve an issue with "Hesitation From Stop and Surge Concerns". The TCM -Transmission Control Module ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2024
Steering Fault Service Now" with no symptoms. Then, a minute later the steering locked up and ran myself and my two little kids off the road. Then when I turned my car off. I started it back up and then the steering was fine. Then 3 days later it locked up again driving down the highway. Thank God I was in the right lane and not the middle. It threw me off the road again. I'm scared to death of my... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2024
Since the day we purchased our new 2024 Mazda CX-5, two issues have become apparent. Firstly, there is a clicking noise emanating from the rear passenger seats behind the driver whenever the vehicle is in motion. Secondly, there is a noticeable rumbling in the drivetrain during idle or stop-and-go traffic. I have visited the Mazda showroom twice regarding the seat back noise. Together with a Mazd... Read more
Incident date: Jun 18, 2024
Driving 70 mph, warning lights and alarms "Hybrid System Failure" "Vehicle shutting down" and then it does. No lights, no hazards, no power. Push button battery restart starts it again with no visible issues. Driving 30 mph, warning lights and alarms "Hybrid System Failure" "Vehicle shutting down" and then it does. No lights, no hazards, no power. Push button battery restart starts it again with ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 15, 2023
Keyless Start System Problem message has recently started appearing on the screen when I start the vehicle. The key fobs do not appear to work to their proper capability either. The locking feature when walking away does not work. Vehicle has continued to drive properly for now but other reports show the vehicle may shut off while driving. Some research shows a recall but local Honda dealership do... Read more