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: Nov 30, 2023
Brake were dragging I came to a stop .Checked the parking brake. Then after releasing the parking brake. The car wouldn't move until I pushed the traction control button. Drove 1/2 mile stopped and again the brakes were locked up. Call [XXX] Thanx INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Incident date: Nov 1, 2023
The 2019 Hyundai Tucson was being driven home when all of a sudden acceleration was reduced to 25-30 mph. The Engine light went on while this happened. Got the car home, thankfully was off the highway and had it towed to the Dealership. Dealership informed me that it was an engine problem- a cylinder was blown and new engine would be needed on a car that had just reached the 40,000 mile mark. 40 o... Read more
Incident date: Mar 4, 2024
I keep getting a check engine light that reads as cylinder 5 misfire. I have replaced the spark plug and coil pack and it still will read as a cylinder 5 misfire. Often times when we start the van, it acts as if it has engine problems. I know this is very common in 2017-2018 Pacifica's and seems very unsafe. Something is wrong with the engines in those years of Pacifica's. I have had this che... Read more
Incident date: Mar 4, 2024
When I am braking at low speed my brakes start locking up and eventually do not work. This has happened on multiple occasions. I have almost wrecked multiple times I rarely drive my truck now cause it is unsafe. There is a recall on the brake booster 2014 to 2018 gmc seria but my truck vin is not included on that recall and it’s doing the exact same thing. GM recalls 3.4 million pickups and ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 11, 2024
The contact owns a 2011 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while his grandson was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle shuddered. The check engine warning light intermittently illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with a faulty water pump causing coolant intrusion into the engine. The dealer replaced the engine; however, the failure recurred. The vehicl... Read more
Incident date: Mar 9, 2024
Just want to document/share an issue I've had recently. 8k miles 2023 Honda Civic Hatchback Sport Sedan. The steering wheel sticks at times. Driving straight and in turns. It's a slight stick, but increasingly more noticeable. While driving straight it happens if I don't touch the wheel for a few seconds. Then I'll need to make a minor correction and it's stuck. I have to put some decent pressur... Read more
Incident date: Jan 11, 2024
have read lot of complaints from the I Hyundai form and this is happening to my 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe that the Shifter system malfunction! Service Immediately light came on and it would not let the car park, reverse, go into neutral had to turn the car off. then car had to be restarted in order for it to go into park. the car only has 7388miles.The car is being worked on today 3/112023
Incident date: Jan 11, 2024
The contact owns a 2021 GMC Savana. The contact stated while driving at undisclosed speeds, the steering wheel was stiff. The power steering fluid was leaking. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the PCM, power steering, and sensors had to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and ref... Read more
Incident date: Mar 11, 2024
Back on 5/27/21, I purchased a new transmission from Murfreesboro Nissan for my 2014 Nissan Pathfinder at 128k miles. Everything seemed fine at first, but a few months later, on 2/18/22, I got the CVT flush at 146k miles as advised. I mentioned that my Pathfinder was jerking, similar to when a transmission issue occurs. I was reassured that it was normal. Concerned about the ongoing transmission ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 4, 2024
You will just be driving down the road and then get the check engine light, engine power reduced, traction control off, and service stabilitrak warning on the dash board. You can be going 60 and it will just shut down with no warning. It's been to the shop 3 times and the issue is still unresolved. This is highly dangerous and could cause an accident
Incident date: Mar 8, 2024
This incident has happened several times. As I back out of my garage, the brakes are violently slammed on and the truck bounces on the springs. It's stops so fast, it alarms me and my passangers. When it brakes, it also makes a loud long screeching noise. There is a TSB out for this issue: 08-076-18. As I back out of the garage, there is no obstacles in the path, I do hear the normal beeping... Read more
Incident date: Jan 21, 2024
Having the exact same issue as was outlined and allegedly repaired in the prior service bulletin 06-001/20. Obviously this bulletin only applies to vehicles up to model year 2020. I have checked the model number on the steering motor to determine that it is the "updated" design. Obviously, the issue has not been addressed properly by Mazda.
Incident date: Mar 8, 2024
Engine loss power when driving, specially when going up on bridges way. If I’m driving 30mph then get to 20 mph even less. Since that, it’s been bad
Incident date: Mar 1, 2024
Left front head light will turn off while turning left, more than 10deg. This is part of the Steering Responsive System where the headlights will move with the steering. This is a sealed unit and not a user replaceable component such as a head lamp. Replacement costs are excessive for this manufacture failure. This left front headlight turning off while turning left is a common problem found o... Read more
Incident date: Mar 8, 2024
After two days of ownership and 148 miles, the car threw a check engine light w/ the following message: "SLOW DOWN. The vehicle will reduce speed. Propulsion system failure." followed by, "Propulsion system service required.". This consequently causes the car to go into 'limp mode' unexpectedly while driving, drastically reducing speed. We are then instructed to take it to a shop. [XXX] INFOR... Read more
Incident date: Feb 8, 2024
All of my fuse are lose, also the dealership installed a new high pressure fuel pump under recall and now it’s whining and now my pcm is over charging my batteries!!!
Fire
Incident date: Mar 3, 2024
All MB GLA and CLA 2015 cars have a common issue "CRANKCASE VENTILATION VALVE" which should be replaced a few times for the cars. Each service will cost at least $2000.00. Please ask MB to recall their cars and fix this issue.
Incident date: Feb 25, 2024
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while his son was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle jerked and shuddered, after which the vehicle lost motive power. The driver was able to pull to the shoulder of the roadway, where the vehicle failed to restart. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with t... Read more
Incident date: Feb 25, 2024
Driving down the road no cars close in front of or behind me. All sensors on Jeep were clean and not obstructed. Radio started making weird noises and the emergency brakes completely locked up. Vehicle behind me was a truck pulling a trailer and nearly crashed into my car. I had to turn the car on off a couple times before I could move again.
Incident date: Mar 4, 2024
The vehicle began to go up and down in revolutions per minute (RPM) while at a traffic light or stop sign.
Incident date: Jan 1, 2022
All the windows have just randomly failed down. The last one was my passenger back window on my way to work with it pouring down rain this morning. The first incident was about a year and a half ago, the driver's side window fell, and the window shattered. Took to glass shop and they said regulator needed to be replaced and they put in when they installed new glass. I went to Texarkana Kia dea... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2024
On [XXX], on our 2023 Rogue with only 9100 miles on it suffered complete engine failure while driving the highway. The car had been operating for about 10 minutes, and we had just onboarded the freeway entrance and after about a mile at normal highway speeds, with no warning, the engine started making loud knocking sounds and there was a immediate loss of motive power. This occurred during heavy t... Read more
Incident date: Mar 7, 2024
Transmission shifted out of gear into neutral driving down the highway with no available gear options no warning lights nothing.
Incident date: Dec 16, 2023
This unit experienced frame flex or frame failure. This frame was constructed by Lippert and has failed causing broken welds, the body to shift and move causing visible stress cracks in the exterior of the body. The interior incident happened in December of 2022 and repairs were attempted in March 2023 only to happen again. This has resulted in the trailer being unsafe to tow and could cause bodil... Read more
Incident date: Mar 6, 2024
Leaking transmission oil cooler, due to clamp installation by factory. Known issue which dodge created service bulletin for but does not correct sending bill to consumer, for manufacturer defect
Incident date: Mar 6, 2024
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Edge. The contact stated that since owning the vehicle, the oil pan had been replaced a total of 4 times due to a leak in the oil pan. The contact stated that no warning light was illuminated prior to the discovery of the oil leak. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The vehicle was not repaired aft... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2023
My car’s lights were on. I went to Acura to get a diagnostic and they said to replace the fuel pump. I replaced it, and the lights came back on. I got another diagnostic and I was told the fuel pump has a leak. I have an 2017 Acura TLX that was not apart of the recent recall which I believe it should have been because my car is slow to steer which may cause an accident.
Incident date: Nov 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2020 Kia Niro. The contact stated that after an extensive amount of driving, the front driver’s and front passenger’s seat were inclining towards the middle console, both the driver and front passenger occupants would experience leg pain due to the seats. No warning light was illuminated. The local dealer was contacted, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manu... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Mercedes-Benz C300W. The contact stated that when the vehicle was started, the power steering warning light illuminated and the power steering seized. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
Incident date: Jan 25, 2024
Started out as intermittent Air Bag/Seat Belt Pretensioner system warning light about 3 months ago. Over the last 2 weeks, the warning stayed on per the manual and required replacement. I had this service performed on 3/6/2024 at a cost of $811.43 by Sumter Tire and Auto using Preordered Mazda parts invoiced on 3/1/2024.
Incident date: Mar 6, 2024
1. POWER STEERING: STEERING WHEEL WENT OUT ON A FREEWAY ALMOST CAUSING MASSIVE COLLISION (this has happened twice) 2. Car Jerkiness: reported this to MBZ of San Rafael for 2 years (went into shop 10+ times for same issue and not resolved. It lunges forward while driving. This also is a safety issue almost causing me to hit a pedestrian 3. Vehicle Not opening 4. Vehicle Overheating 5. Faulty W... Read more
Incident date: Feb 13, 2024
Driving 40 mph all dash electronics went off as going to turn into parking lot medium traffic steering very very hard to turn, made into lot pulled immediately into first open space engine stalled. Put into park attempted to restart, click-click-click like dead battery opened hood alternator belt ok. Walked into nearby restaurant for lunch ( could not close windows) came out (45minutes) car starte... Read more
Incident date: Mar 5, 2024
4 years ago I would get a shift to park error. This meant my vehicle did not recognize that it was in park. This meant that my vehicle would not lock, turn off the radio or headlights. My husband tried to fix it, but it turned out to be a part that only a dealership could obtain. So $500 later my vehicle was fixed. This was a KNOWN problem affecting multiple vehicles/years. Fast forward to the thi... Read more
Incident date: Mar 5, 2024
The contact owns a 2018 Ram 2500. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed with cruise control activated, the vehicle experienced a loss of traction control and brake performance. The cruise control then inadvertently deactivated. The Service Electronic Brake System message was displayed, and several unknown warning lights were illuminated. Additionally, the speedometer and tachome... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2024
The rear windshield 'exploded'/ completely broke when the defroster was turned on for roughly 10 minutes.
Incident date: Mar 4, 2024
2 Spontaneous damaged windshields.
Incident date: Feb 10, 2024
On 2-10-2024 I was driving the 2021 RDX SH-AWD on I-40W in TN with my daughter in the passenger's seat. It was raining. After about 2 hours of driving, at about 3:00 pm, I took a break at a Rest Area near Buffalo Valley. After ~20-min rest, I restarted the car and tried to merge back onto I-40W. I was accelerating towards the speed limit of 70 m/h, but suddenly, at about 65m/h, I felt the car lo... Read more
Incident date: Feb 10, 2024
My engine RPM would randomly lock to 4000 rpms while driving, i could rev the car or apply the brakes but it will sit their until it decides to respond. This has happened a few times and mostly down hill and flats. Difficult to replicate. Cooling system has been a plague at around 80k miles i've had to replace a clamp at the back near the water outlet flange which i was quoted $2000 for just the ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 10, 2024
My engine RPM would randomly lock to 4000 rpms while driving, i could rev the car or apply the brakes but it will sit their until it decides to respond. This has happened a few times and mostly down hill and flats. Difficult to replicate. Cooling system has been a plague at around 80k miles i've had to replace a clamp at the back near the water outlet flange which i was quoted $2000 for just the ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 14, 2022
The contact owns a 2018 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated while driving at approximately 45 MPH, and later at various speeds, the Forward Collision Avoidance failed to operate properly. The contact was unable to turn off the system. The contact stated that under certain driving conditions, while driving and following a curve in the roadway, the system would activate and start braking the vehic... Read more
Incident date: Aug 25, 2023
Drivers side door was creaking and now the window will not go down. Reading other complaints seems like a weld issue on the door catch. I do not want this to open while I am driving. I have 41k miles so my basic warranty is not in play. Please let me know if there are other warranties that will cover this.
Incident date: Feb 14, 2024
On [XXX], I was driving from Victorville, CA to Las Vegas, NV on [XXX] northbound. Between [XXX] two incidents occurred. Both incidents involve phantom braking. My vehicle was in autopilot mode, which is essentially traffic aware cruise control. I was traveling at 70MPH and passed a semi-truck. I changed lanes back into the right lane after passing the truck. About 30 seconds later, the car slamme... Read more
Incident date: Feb 14, 2024
On [XXX], I was driving from Victorville, CA to Las Vegas, NV on [XXX] northbound. Between [XXX] two incidents occurred. Both incidents involve phantom braking. My vehicle was in autopilot mode, which is essentially traffic aware cruise control. I was traveling at 70MPH and passed a semi-truck. I changed lanes back into the right lane after passing the truck. About 30 seconds later, the car slamme... Read more
Incident date: Mar 1, 2024
goes into 4th gear and will not shift up or down DTC P1DD2 gas leaking from sending unit area and fan wont kick on untilk 230F also has electrical problems
Incident date: Feb 14, 2024
The contact owns a 2018 Infiniti QX30. The contact stated while driving approximately 50 MPH, the vehicle erroneously shifted into neutral(N) and stalled inadvertently. The contact was able to pull to the side of the road. The vehicle failed to restart. The message "Service Required - Do Not Shift Gears - Visit Dealer" was displayed temporarily. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer and it was... Read more
Incident date: Feb 16, 2024
INCIDENT 1: Cruise Control would not turn on or off. INCIDENT 2: TRUCK STALLED WHILE DRIVING ON HIGHWAY
Incident date: Nov 15, 2023
The chassis battery keeps dying after a few days. There was a recall for awning to correct issue because it would open on its own. We did recall now there is another one for seatbelt. But no one is addressing the battery that keeps draining. We replaced battery already once. Dodge said it will go dead after a week no matter what. Ours don’t even make it 4 days. This is a safety issue because of ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 28, 2024
Over the last month I noticed that my brakes would feel funny sometimes, like they were going to just grab suddenly vs stopping slowly. Then yesterday, 2/27/24, I received a warning that my ESC and ABS systems needed service and that I no longer had AWD capability. The message would stay on for several minutes, then shut off for several minutes, then come back on again.
Incident date: Nov 14, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford EcoSport. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the engine seized. The contact stated that the failure had become persistent. The contact stated that during the failure, all electrical functions were turned off and the vehicle was restarted. The contact stated that the vehicle had been taken to the dealer three times however, the failure could ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 5, 2024
IT IS REGARDING THE RECALL- THIS PART ACTUALLY CAME OFF A LITTLE OVER A YEAR AGO AND I HAD TO PAY OUT OF POCKET TO HAVE IT FIXED. SINCE THE REPAIR SHOP STATED THAT THEY COULD NOT REPLACE THE TRIM ALONE AS IT WOULD COMPROMISE HOW THE WINSHIELDS WAS HELD IN THE WHOLE THING NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. I HAVE THE BILL FROM THAT AS WELL AS PICTURES FROM THE TRIM BEING GONE SO IS THERE ANYAY TO GET REIMBURSE... Read more