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: Oct 30, 2023
Air bags did not go off during the crash and the seats belt tensioner didn't lock up the seat belt resulting in injury to my self. Radio keeps rebooting
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Jan 21, 2024
Check engine light came on and was blinking. Had to get it towed. There is an engine recall on my vehicle. Full diagnostics test was run showing faulty engine due to the engine recall.
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
We bought a car on Halloween of '22 with 13k miles. In July of '23 our engine blew to wetbelt degrading. We replaced that engine and in August of '23 it blew again due to the same issue. Replaced that engine and in Jan of '24 it happened a third time, both times lasting less than 5k miles. We have maintenaned regular maintenance on the original, and the 2 replacements never reached the maintenance... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2024
My truck is equipped with an air suspension system. During winter weather when temperatures dropped in the low 20's and lower, the air system blows a fuse and drops the suspension to an unsafe position for driving. It has occurred several times including while driving. A warning message sometimes (but not always) a warning is flashed on the screen to have the truck serviced immediately. I have ha... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2018
i HAVE AN EMMISSIONS RECALL [XXX] ON THE CAR. i HAVE TRYING FOR 10 MONTHS TO GET THIS RECALL FIXED AND I AM UNABLE TO BECAUSE THE DEALERSHIPS ARE UNABLE TO GET THE PARTS. THIS IS NOT FAIR. i WILL NOT BE ABLE TO REGISTER MY CAR IN CALIFORNIA. I AM ON A WAITING LIST WITH CHRYSLER TRACY DEALERSHIP, MANTECA CHRYSLER AND MODESTO CHRYSLER FOR THE [XXX] AND EVERYONE IS TELLING ME AT LEAST 4 MONTHS AND TH... Read more
Incident date: Jan 17, 2024
Driving along and the power steering stops and you can’t turn then it releases and then a little bit later it’ll do it again so the power steering comes back-and-forth but I feel it’s a hazard
Incident date: Jan 17, 2024
The contact's wife owns a 2013 Hyundai Genesis Coupe. The contact stated that he had removed the fuse from the ABS system. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V651000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic) 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 ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 9, 2023
turbo charger on all small engine for chevy have been giving people a lot of headaches during the winter months. Chevy is aware thar their turbo chargers are affected by cold weather but still put the turbo into new vehicles. I have fixed my turbocharger three times on my 2017 Trax with no success.
Incident date: Nov 1, 2023
On my way home the transmission pump failed in my van which then caused the entire transmission to fail. I was at a stop sign and when I went to go the car to not move forward, it would just rev as if I was in neutral and then when it first happened, it would suddenly kick in to gear. Now the dealership tells me it will not go into gear at all, it just rev's. After some research we saw that there ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2023
Driving and the display screen kept switching uncontrollable and caused a safety issue while I was driving and was not in a familiar place, and was trying to use the screen for navigation directions. Concern as it was switching screens/adjusting the heat controls while I was driving. Research indicates my screen has become delaminated and a known issue with this car. Concern that while I drive ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 17, 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: 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
My vehicle was struck by a tractor trailer at 55-60 mph while sitting still. The impact caused my vehicle to spin and be embedded into the guardrail. None of the airbags deployed.
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Dec 26, 2023
Car windshield cracked when the defrost run after snow fall. Car was parked in the driveway.
Incident date: Jan 15, 2024
Check engine light is on at 63,000 miles. Ford dealer confirmed coolant in cylinder and immanent total engine failure, so vehicle is not safe to drive as it may stop at any time and loss of coolant. Only indication is the check engine light. Dealer quoted repairs for engine, turbo, and cat converter replacement at over $18,000. Research on the internet reveals that this is a common failure. S... 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: Jan 16, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle transmission was not shifting properly. The contact stated that the vehicle was smoking and the contact pulled over into a parking lot. The vehicle was able to restart, however, the engine was revving high and the vehicle was turned back off. The check engine warning light was illuminated... Read more
Incident date: Jan 16, 2023
The dashboard is melted. The shiny surface that this melted area has created causes a terrible glare when driving during the day to the point where it is difficult to see the road or oncoming traffic well. The surface is extremely sticky to the touch. Melting has progressively been getting worse.
Incident date: Jun 20, 2023
Vehicle was parked in driveway and popped out of park and rolled down the driveway out into the street. I park in the same spot everyday and this has never happened before. Occurred about 3 minutes after I got out of the car. The only thing unusual was I was driving in low gear before I parked instead of drive because of the snow, so I went straight from low to park which I would not normally do.... Read more
Incident date: Jan 14, 2024
Car randomly stalls in park, when reversing, when in drive but brake is being applied, or when first accelerating after putting into drive. Several times now it has stalled when I'm at stop lights. One time it stalled after just tapping the brake while approaching a stop light. That was terrifying because the car was still in motion. Also, car randomly jerks hard when shifting gears. Recently, car... Read more
Incident date: Jan 15, 2024
Coolant leaked into one of the Cylinders which is requiring major engine block repairs. It only has 80K miles on the car and is in great condition. No warnings happened before it almost overheated and threw a error code.
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 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 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
As I was driving yesterday (1/12/24) on a busy highway and my sunroof shattered suddenly. It startled me and I had no idea what occurred. I heard a very loud pop and what sounded like rocks hitting my vehicle. I inspected my car and couldn’t find the source thinking it may have been a tire etc but no lights came on. Everytime I drove I heard “pebbles” move but could not find the source. This... Read more
Incident date: Jan 13, 2024
Setting: Adaptive cruise control, 70 MPH, no nearby traffic, no nearby bridges or overpasses, no visible obstructions, straight highway, daytime, clear skies. Incidents (multiple): Unexpected, inexplicable braking. During one of the incidents, there was a splotch of some sort on the road (perhaps spilled paint). During all other incidents, there was nothing obvious which could explain a m... Read more
Incident date: Jan 3, 2024
I have a check engine light on my dash. I have several codes. I have problems with the car like the fuel pump, catalytic converter not functioning efficiently, steering, etc. I know Ford has problems with its cars.
Incident date: Jan 3, 2024
I have a check engine light on my dash. I have several codes. I have problems with the car like the fuel pump, catalytic converter not functioning efficiently, steering, etc. I know Ford has problems with its cars.
Incident date: Jan 3, 2024
Defective brake light seal went bad, brake light is filling with water and broke red LEDs right away, family is now not safe from rear colissions and Tesla wants $1000. Thank you
Incident date: Jan 1, 2024
The contact owns a 2014 Dodge Journey. The contact stated that while driving at undisclosed speeds, the ABS became disabled. The traction control, ABS, and brake warning lights were illuminated. The lights went off for twenty minutes and then became illuminated again. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the ABS pump had an internal failure. The dealer informed th... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2024
The contact owns a 2014 Dodge Journey. The contact stated that while driving at undisclosed speeds, the ABS became disabled. The traction control, ABS, and brake warning lights were illuminated. The lights went off for twenty minutes and then became illuminated again. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the ABS pump had an internal failure. The dealer informed th... Read more
Incident date: Feb 18, 2022
The contact owns a 2016 Honda Accord. The contact stated that while attempting to accelerate from a stop, the vehicle lost motive power. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the high-pressure fuel pump. The vehicle was repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to Technical Service Bulletin: 14-039. Th... Read more
Incident date: Jan 10, 2024
Driving 5 hours away. Got to my destination parked and went to check in . Came back to my car and drove to where my room was going to be. I went to try to stop and the brakes were spongy and seems like it too forever to finally stop. Due to this issue I ended up hitting a curb and damaging my car/ tires. I was very scared to drive back home like that. I looked it up and it says there is a recall f... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jan 12, 2024
Steering sticks/EPS failing. While driving, steering wheel randomly has excessive resistance & then frees up. While at hide speeds on the interstate, it causes over correction & near accidents on several occasions. NUMEROUS repost of this on various forums & recalls on other models with EXACT SAME system, but my VIN Isn’t included!!?
Incident date: Dec 27, 2023
Shortly after parking, the vehicle in the garage there was a loud bang sounding like a gun shot. When I walked behind my car I saw that my rear hatch window exploded out. I have not contacted the dealer yet but will first thing tomorrow morning.
Incident date: Jan 10, 2024
Told by dealer that the passenger seat frame assembly has a defect but they will not repair it unless I pay approx $1500
Incident date: Nov 23, 2022
The contact owns a 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5. The contact stated that while driving at 50–60 MPH, the Forward Collision Avoidance and Lane Assist warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where the instrument cluster went blank. The dealer was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The manufacturer was contacted and opened a case. The manufacturer sent a techn... Read more
Incident date: Oct 11, 2023
Power steering, and ABS light flash on at random. The vehicle sometimes veers off and steering is frequently very very loose or very very tight. Also, there is a whining that never stops when I turn the wheel all the way to the left or right, the vehicle almost shut off and the entire dash and radio shut off and back on. When I am at a stop or cars at idle everything will dim and car. Sounds like ... Read more
Incident date: Dec 1, 2023
My 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe sport with 15,643 miles is consuming a lot of oil. I am having to add engine oil on a weekly basis.
Incident date: Dec 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2012 Hyundai Tucson. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V651000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic) 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 manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN... Read more
Incident date: Dec 1, 2023
The contact's mother owns a 2020 Nissan Rogue Sport. The contact stated that while her mother was driving at approximately 35-40 MPH, the vehicle crossed an intersection at a green light when another vehicle crashed in between her mother's front and rear passenger's side doors, causing the vehicle to spin. The air bags failed to deploy. The contact's mother was not injured, and no medical attentio... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Sep 16, 2022
The contact owns a 2018 Honda Accord Hybrid. The contact stated while operating the vehicle, the back-up warning sensor malfunctioned and failed to properly alarm as needed. Additionally, while driving at various speeds, the power steering assist malfunctioned, causing the steering wheel to become difficult to turn in either direction. The cause of the failure was not determined. The vehicle was t... Read more
Incident date: Mar 1, 2023
The vehicle's LCD screen has become delaminated which causes the control of the radio, air conditioning, navigation, and other features controlled by the "radio" portion of the car to become dysfunctional. The car will randomly beep, change air temperatures, start navigation, cause the loss of hands-free communication. This is a safety hazard as it causes the driver to be distracted in order to at... Read more
Incident date: Jan 11, 2024
Engine had a knocking noise, went to dealer and explained the problem. They mentioned there was a recall regarding this issue but when my vehicle's Vin was typed in they said it was not part of the recall. A few days later all the warning lights in the instrument panel came on and soon after the engine went bad and had to replace it. My vehicle had approximately 45k miles when this happened. I was... Read more
Incident date: Jan 11, 2024
I was driving for an hour when the truck was dinging and it told me to turn off engine no pressure with oil coolant I pulled into a customer’s driveway and all the oil in the truck was all over the customer’s blacktop called Chevy they knew nothing about problem and said no recall and was not covered with 42000 miles on truck had it towed and repaired by my local mechanic who also questioned ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 15, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 Buick Enclave. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V334000 (Air Bags) 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 of the issue. The contact had not experienced ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 20, 2023
My ABS CONTROL MODULE is faulty and must be replaced only 57,000 miles on my diesal 2500 Ram. I’m aware of the class action lawsuit regarding this very issue. This issue needs to be addressed in a recall and Dodge needs to repair at their expense. My truck is at the dealership due to the ABS/TRACTION warning and the $2,600 cost to replace the faulty module.
Incident date: Nov 20, 2023
Driver's side headlight works intermittently.
Incident date: Oct 10, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving uphill at 35–45 MPH, there was white smoke coming from the tailpipe. The vehicle went into LIMP Mode and lost motive power. The engine temperature rose to a HOT level. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact was able to veer off the roadway. The contact stated who is an independent mechanic completed a diagnostic... Read more