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 29, 2016
I have three potential safety hazards to report. Tesla has advised that there is no recall for any of these. 1) The car issued an alert that says "Front Passenger Safety System Fault." This seems like the most serious. 2) The horn malfunctions and does not work at safe level 3) The driver's side mirror does not consistently extend out preventing the driver from adequately using the mirror for d... Read more
Incident date: Jul 29, 2016
I have three potential safety hazards to report. Tesla has advised that there is no recall for any of these. 1) The car issued an alert that says "Front Passenger Safety System Fault." This seems like the most serious. 2) The horn malfunctions and does not work at safe level 3) The driver's side mirror does not consistently extend out preventing the driver from adequately using the mirror for d... Read more
Incident date: Jan 11, 2024
Brake master cylinder/accumulator failure occurred and multiple lights (ABS/TCS/(!)/BRAKE) appeared on the instrument cluster. Brake pedal response drastically decreased resulting in potentially extremely dangerous situation occurring while the vehicle is in motion
Incident date: Jan 21, 2024
On the 2019 BMW X3, we’ve experienced the tailgate opening while the vehicle is in traffic, and the transmission is in ‘D’ drive. The safety hazard I’m suggesting be investigated is that the buttons on the remote key fob to the vehicle, including lock, unlock, tailgate, and panic, ALL work even if the vehicle is turned on and driving. This poses a serious safety risk to not only occupa... Read more
Incident date: Aug 21, 2023
While driving car cut off and smoke filled inside car. This could have caused a major accident and harm to myself and others. Had to have car towed to dealership for repair that should have not have happened for this age of car. I just had to pay out for a previous repair a few months before this.
Incident date: Dec 30, 2023
This model has an acceleration problem like its older counterparts. While on the interstate and in traffic it chooses to decelerate and almost cut off. No prior warning given.
Incident date: Jan 23, 2024
On [XXX], I was traveling from Georgia to California in a 2024 Ford Maverick XLT 2.5L Hybrid with approximately 219 miles on the odometer, using cruise control set at 73 mph and in the ECO mode. I'd stopped for gas and upon returning to the highway [XXX]) the vehicle, still using cruise and in ECO mode, experienced an extreme reduction in power and the check engine light illuminated. I pulled o... Read more
Incident date: Dec 3, 2023
2.4 motor burns excessive amount of oil, has a serious loss of power. The dealer informed me the only way to get a new motor or get it fixed is for motor to blow. The dealer informed me that this is a common problem with 2016 kia 2.4 motors. Currently burning 5 qts of oil every 2-3 weeks. Fouling spark plugs every 4-6 months. Car hesitate to take off even with accelerator to floor
Incident date: Jan 30, 2023
The contact owns a 2013 Dodge Journey. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds and driving through slush or snow on the ground, the traction control failed to operate as designed. The message to check all-wheel drive was displayed. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V675000 (Electronic Stability Control, Service Brakes, Hydraulic) however, the VIN was not i... Read more
Incident date: Jan 22, 2024
My digital dash would get wavy and flickery with lines through it almost like the LEDs in the screen we're going bad. They made lines going across which made it hard to read the speedometer. Since I brought this up it's been two or three times that I've tried to have them look at it and they finally saw what was going on and they decided that they were going to replace the instrument cluster in th... Read more
Incident date: Jan 11, 2019
While driving 70mph on the highway my oil pressure light came on and I loss all power to my engine. I tried pressing the brakes and nothing happened. I lost ability to accelerate and then the brakes got hard and locked up so therefore lost ability to stop. I was able to coast off of an exit off the highway and had to try to not cause an accident until my car finally coasted to a stop. I had it tow... Read more
Incident date: Oct 25, 2019
when getting into the car the ignition switch failed to start 8 times. This happens every time I enter the vehicle where I live which is a cold climate. The recall is suspected only to affect the car in hotter climates but my car has been affected in the cold. It stalled while I was driving as well and I was able to turn the car back on. On the screen, it said failed transmission. This recall has ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 22, 2024
The contact owns a 2018 Acura MDX. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 23V858000 (Fuel System, Gasoline) and 23V751000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the parts to do the recall repairs were not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repairs. The manufacturer was ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 22, 2024
The contact owns a 2010 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 35 MPH, the instrument cluster went blank and became inoperable. The vehicle was steered to the side of the road. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The vehicle was towed to the residence. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 50,000.
Incident date: Jan 22, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Ram 1500. The contact stated after pulling to the side of the roadway to allow a Fire truck to go by, the vehicle experienced rough idling. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure had been recurring while the vehicle was idling. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, to be diagnosed. The dealer determined that the engine needed to be replac... Read more
Incident date: Jan 22, 2024
There was a tire recall for my van for incorrect tire load which causes exceeding wear and dangerous tire conditions. I keep getting my tires changed every year cause they wear down so fast. Mercedes and the dealership won’t reimburse me because it is still in a pending status which has been ongoing now for 2 years!!!
Incident date: Jan 21, 2024
The panoramic instrument cluster would not display any information. Since the entire instrument cluster is electronic, no information on vehicle speed, rpms, gas, battery, etc. could be shown. Vehicle would still start fine and drive fine, but vital driving information could not be displayed
Incident date: Jan 22, 2024
The contact owns a 2021 Jeep Wrangler. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V787000 (Electrical System) 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. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and confirmed th... Read more
Incident date: Jan 22, 2024
CVT transmission has gone out and it is a road Hazzard. The vehicle doesn't accelerate, jolts, and sputters. There was no warning or reason for a well maintained car under 97k mileage to be having this issue. Upon further investigation it is a common problem with Nissan but nothing is being done to get these cars fixed and off the road before there are bigger problems.
Incident date: Dec 23, 2023
The vehicle continues to leak water into the floor carpet even after a recall was supposed to fix the windshield leak problem for this car. This can cause mold.
Incident date: Jan 21, 2024
Initial Symptoms: Auto-start/stop failed/tripped, plus excessive white exhaust smoke continuously exits (will not stop). Stopped driving vehicle ~26Nov2023. Problem 1: P0303 Solution 1: Ignition coil and spark plug replacements @ $905.17 (15Dec2023) Not Fixed: Error code is gone but white smoke persists. Problem 2: Chrysler tech found low coolant, traced to EGR cooler. Solution 2: Replaced EGR ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 21, 2024
I am experiencing delays in transmission shifting when the vehicle is cold. This behavior has recently started at about 85k miles. I have taken to dealer and had the transmission oil changed and Ford recommended cleaning the solenoids (at my cost). The dealer also resets the controller to relearn as well. I experienced the issues while driving away after the work, but I have been asked to drive... Read more
Incident date: Oct 30, 2023
Front glass shattered with NO IMPACT: High Temps (104) outside & cooling inside. The entire glass shattered-Not laminated glass- Safety Glass: The result was shards of glass in the cabin sleeping area. We were outside at the time so no injury.
Incident date: Jan 21, 2024
Went to start my vehicle 10min prior to me taking off. Five min into my drive I felt my Tahoe start to lose power stop shifting. Once i was able to pull over to a safe location put the car into park and put the car back into drive and the car will not move.
Incident date: Jan 17, 2024
Windshield has cracked from cold to hot transition upon vehicle startup without previous cracks or chips affecting said crack line. Available for inspection. Fear of possible windshield failure/full breakage at any given point. Continued cracking during vehicle start up/cold to hot transition happened 4 more times in last 30 days. No dealer, independent service center, manufacturer, police, insura... Read more
Incident date: Jan 19, 2024
The latch to the fuel door does not unlatch/open. I could not access the fuel cap to refuel despite multiple attempts at unlatching. When i called Lexus support they advised me to pry the door open “using my fingernails” while someone else pressed the button to unlatch the fuel door. After multiple attempts I was able to open the fuel door. I was at risk of running out of fuel and be stranded ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2024
Traction control warning lights, VSC warning lights. These lights have been on for 2 years, resulting in check engine light on. I have replaced every sensor possible, fuses, gas cap, and reset the system multiple times but can not get these lights to stay off. Since lights have been on, when driving on a muddy, wet, icy or slippery road way, my steering locks up, the brakes stop working and there... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2018
While turning on my Rear defrost to defrost my windshield I heard a explosion then my rear windshield started crackling and shattering all over. I then turned the rear defrost off. Got out to see my whole windshield has shattered from each edge corner spreading from top to bottom. But I don't smell anything burning it sounded like something had blown out but it was extremely loud.
Incident date: Jan 17, 2024
My car will not turn on, there was no warning light or maintenance required message. Also the two passenger seats recline back but will not go back to forward position.
Incident date: Jan 17, 2024
My car will not turn on, there was no warning light or maintenance required message. Also the two passenger seats recline back but will not go back to forward position.
Incident date: Aug 9, 2023
Seatbelts lock up and do not move. Seatbelts are front driver and passenger side. Seatbelts can't be worn because they do not work
Incident date: Nov 1, 2023
The problem has occurred 3 times in the last 3 weeks while driving in "Snow Mode". The accelerator doesn't respond to me pushing on it which has left me in the middle of an intersection and needing to quick change to a different driving mode to get the car to move again. All 3 times it occurred after coming to a complete stop. It allowed me to go forward for about 2-3 seconds but then the acceler... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2023
On 1/16/2024 I opened my drivers side door, got into the car, shut the door then heard a load explosive sound, looked in my rearview mirror and saw the back glass shatter and a huge hole in the center thereof. Nothing hit the window it just exploded when I shut my drivers side from door.
Incident date: Jan 17, 2024
Cadillac Cue Radio spider web cracked. After doing further research I have found that GM has been aware of the issues and has still yet to do a recall or work with people on replacing them at no cost as the radio screen is something out of the consumer hands. The whole touch screen will go out as I’ve read and not be able to use any radio function or control anything else the radio screen does.
Incident date: Jan 11, 2024
My vehicle on several occasions stalled and/or lost power. Stepped on the gas and no power. Both while using cruise control. One incident was not using cruise control.
Incident date: Aug 20, 2023
The contact owns a 2024 Kia Telluride. The contact stated while driving approximately 40 MPH in snow mode, the vehicle failed to accelerate as needed. The vehicle was started but was unable to drive as needed for approximately 30 minutes. The contact stated that after turning off and restarting the vehicle, the vehicle returned to normal operation. The contact pulled over to the side of the road a... Read more
Incident date: Dec 26, 2023
Started to notice the high beams where not working. The dash light shows the high beams were on but the lights never changed. I purchased 2 new low/high beams bulbs. That did not fix the issue. My telluride has over 60k miles on it. Doing teacher everyone who has a 2020 kia telluride has this issue just after vehicle hits just over 60k miles. Never noticed before as we never drove at night time be... Read more
Incident date: Jan 15, 2024
When drivig the car for approximately 5 miles at 55 miles per hour the car lost all power and would not accelerate coasted to the side of the road and had to have car towed.
Incident date: Jan 16, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Acura MDX. The contact stated while attempting to make a left turn from a complete stop, the vehicle shut off inadvertently. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact was able to restart the vehicle and continue driving. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where an unknown software update was performed under an unknown recall. Additionally, the contact stated tha... Read more
Incident date: Jan 16, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Ford F-350. The contact stated while attaching a Graco Safety First with the latch system, the contact became aware that the vehicle was not equipped with the lower latch for the latch system. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer and was advised that the latching system was not part of the vehicle design and was not offered on any similar model vehicles. The ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 16, 2023
The contact owns a 2005 Mazda MPV. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH and depressing the brake pedal, the brake pedal was depressed to the floorboard and the vehicle failed to come to a complete stop. As a result of the failure, the contact crashed into a tree on the passenger side of the vehicle. The driver's side air bag deployed; however, the passenger’s side air bag did not deploy. No w... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jun 20, 2023
I have a concerning noise from my car's engine that I’ve already brought in for diagnosis. Knocking/ticking/rattling noise on stand-still acceleration at relatively low speeds/under light load. Does not duplicate when revving in park, only under light load. Sound present with HVAC on or off. Does not make noise when cold or after long trips. Honda seems to be aware of this issue and has remed... Read more
Incident date: Jan 14, 2024
Hi - The Crankcase Ventilation Valve Extended Warranty [XXX] covers only ten years or 120k miles. My car has close to 160k miles. According to NHTSA or Audi, “Audi has determined that, in some vehicles, it is possible for the crankcase ventilation valve to malfunction, causing a whistling noise in the engine compartment and the MIL to illuminate due to the presence of specific fault codes caused... Read more
Incident date: Jan 15, 2024
As I was driving yesterday afternoon, I heard a noise and normally we don't hear any type of noise or air coming into the car. I decided to open the sunroof to see if there was something wrong with it like if it was stuck open or if something was stuck in it, and the whole sunroof almost flew off the car. I had to pull over as fast as I could into the break down lane and it took me a while to clos... Read more
Incident date: Jan 14, 2024
While driving the car started to loose momentum and began stuttering until finally stopping abruptly and applying the electronic braking system. All warning alarms were illuminated on the dash. I was not even able to pull over completely off the road either putting me and my family in danger from not being off the road. Acura dealership service center informed me it was a bad high pressure fuel... Read more
Incident date: Jan 14, 2024
Forward collision alert came on and brakes initiated while I was behind a car that was turning into a driveway. The car in front of me was almost all the way into the driveway. After that I drove approximately 200 feet and the collision alert warning came on, no vehicles were around me. The next day, as I was driving, a car was waiting to exit an apartment driveway, the collision alert came on. N... Read more
Incident date: Jan 14, 2024
In August my 2017 Honda CRV started losing acceleration and felt like it was stalling. Every light on the dashboard came on. I brought it to herb chambers in Westborough and they fixed the turbo charger, the vehicle was still under warranty so I expected to get the issue fixed. In early December the newly 'fixed' honda CR-V started losing acceleration, similar to the previous time. I got the car ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 13, 2024
While traveling [XXX] from Houston to Memphis on [XXX] a loud warning noise along with dashboard warning engine oil pressure message. My vehicle has been in Texarkana, Tx ever since. First with a private garage helped and with a Ford dealer for over 2 weeks now. Was relieved to hear about the recall as the cost in rentals and to pay for repairs when care is ready have broken me financially - I liv... Read more
Incident date: Jan 13, 2024
The manufacturer has not developed a remedy for this important safety recall and I would like to request a repurchase of the vehicle.
Incident date: Jan 3, 2024
After my shift at work. I got in my 2019 ACURA RDX and closed the door. Right when the door closed the rear tailgate glass shattered. Leaving a big hole in the glass on my drive home. While it kept breaking into thousands of smaller pieces while driving home. Mind you I live in Chicago and the temperature was 20 degrees Fahrenheit outside. Called my insurance company to file a claim. Had the re... Read more