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 16,369 complaints for AUDI
Incident date: Sep 2, 2024
The contact owns a 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V720000 (Electrical System); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was not contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The cont... Read more
Incident date: Sep 23, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the message "Service Engine Soon" was displayed. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, where it was diagnosed with coolant intrusion in cylinder #3. The dealer determined that the long block needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to TSB Number: 19-2208. The manufacturer was notified of the failu... Read more
Incident date: Oct 20, 2024
My daughter was stopped at a stoplight and the auto-stop engaged. The light turned green and she began to accelerate when all of the error lights on the dash lit up, then the dash info system and infotainment system went out followed by the engine turning off and not restarting. While all of this happened, the vehicle behind me struck my daughter’s car. Luckily it was at a low rate of speed and ... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Oct 13, 2024
The contact owns a 2020 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated while driving at various speeds and depressing the brake pedal, there was an abnormal scraping and crunching sound heard. Additionally, the contact stated that the failure recurred while driving on a bumpy road surface and over a pothole. The vehicle was taken to several independent mechanics, where the brake calipers, the brake rotors, and... Read more
Incident date: Jun 12, 2024
The contact owns a 2011 Ford Edge. The contact stated that while the vehicle was unoccupied and parked inside the residential garage, there was a fuel odor entering the house. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where it was diagnosed with a roll-over valve failure. The contact was informed that the roll-over valve needed to be replaced along with other unknow... Read more
Incident date: Jun 12, 2024
No warning lights have come on and the car is braking on its own. I try to push the gas and it doesn't want to go. The car has around 42k miles on it. I took it to tom bush mini last week, the said the front axle was leaking some fluid, they ordererd the axle, changed all brake pads, changed the brake fluid and said it was good to go, cost about $2300. Got the car back, doing the same thing. ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 12, 2024
on multiple occasions now this vehicle has applied automatic braking for no apparant reason. the vehicle has applied an extreme braking scenario. And applied the full brakes causing the vehicle to skid and extremely jar the interior passengers. this automatic braking was almost like driving the vehicle into a wall as it was immediately stopped. in the latest instance the vehicle behind me was b... Read more
Incident date: Oct 9, 2024
I have a 2020 Nissan Pathfinder SL with under 70k miles. I had an awful squeal start, upon stopping. I had a private shop say I needed brakes, pads and rotors. And this began the issue. This was in 22-23. It is currently Oct 24, and I have had 3 sets of brakes pads and rotors. When this began the dealership told me my brakes were wearing and near needing replacement. So I had been alerted by the... Read more
Incident date: Oct 9, 2024
I have a 2020 Nissan Pathfinder SL with under 70k miles. I had an awful squeal start, upon stopping. I had a private shop say I needed brakes, pads and rotors. And this began the issue. This was in 22-23. It is currently Oct 24, and I have had 3 sets of brakes pads and rotors. When this began the dealership told me my brakes were wearing and near needing replacement. So I had been alerted by the... Read more
Incident date: Oct 9, 2024
I have a 2020 Nissan Pathfinder SL with under 70k miles. I had an awful squeal start, upon stopping. I had a private shop say I needed brakes, pads and rotors. And this began the issue. This was in 22-23. It is currently Oct 24, and I have had 3 sets of brakes pads and rotors. When this began the dealership told me my brakes were wearing and near needing replacement. So I had been alerted by the... Read more
Incident date: Feb 8, 2024
I have experienced the engine surging while driving 2 times in the last 3 months. 10/18/2024. The RPMs slowly increase regardless of taking my foot off the gas pedal, slowing, or coming to a stop. The engine remains to rev. It causes me to have an extremely hard time keeping a maintained speed and gets difficult to slow down or slow to a stop. The truck was not on Cruise control, it was in 2-wheel... Read more
Incident date: Oct 5, 2024
The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the "Reduced Power Engine" message displayed and the vehicle inadvertently decelerated. The brake pedal was firm while depressed and the vehicle failed to stop immediately. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that the vacuum pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle wa... Read more
AUDI
RS E-TRON GT
(2022) - ENGINE
Oct 18, 2024
Incident date: Oct 17, 2024
The Freightliner chassis under this motorhome uses a Power Distribution Module (PDM) that is a fuse panel "block" that powers several coach items, from taillights, brake lights, engine cooling, air conditioning and several other components. The PDM intermittently fails as it can't support the amount of power it must distribute without overheating and shutting off several components as you drive. E... Read more
AUDI
RS E-TRON GT
(2022) - AIR BAGS
Oct 18, 2024
Incident date: Oct 17, 2024
On [XXX], my wife and I were stopped in traffic in Baton Rouge, Louisiana at approximately 7:35pm. Another vehicle failed to stop due to being distracted on his phone and rear ended my 2022 Cadillac Escalade. My wife and I were both injured. None of our airbags deployed and the On-Star system never came on and never detected the crash. By the airbags never deploying, this caused my wife to hit her... Read more
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Oct 16, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH, there was an abnormal odor coming from the engine compartment. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that there was a leak in the fuel rail and the fuel rail needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failur... Read more
Incident date: Jul 3, 2024
When driving in heavy the front wipers do not move fast enough to clear the rain. The passenger side wiper also pushes a ‘puddle’ of water right into the driver’s view. I couldn’t see anything for that second. I could get video if I have a passenger when it happens again.
Incident date: Oct 16, 2024
Vehicle surges and stays at 1700 rpm in low range four wheel drive when accelerator pedal is touched Dangerous situation if someone or something is in its path. Dealer is aware of the problem but is unable to repair, says it is inherent on those vehicles for the last couple of model years. (i can't safely hook up a trailer in low range 4X4)
Incident date: Oct 16, 2024
The engine failed. Transmission wouldn’t switch. No prior warning but oil lamp. Was on Freeway when it happened. Problem has been confirmed but not with my vin. Lamp didn’t come on until It started to fail
Incident date: Oct 16, 2024
The engine failed. Transmission wouldn’t switch. No prior warning but oil lamp. Was on Freeway when it happened. Problem has been confirmed but not with my vin. Lamp didn’t come on until It started to fail
Incident date: Aug 2, 2024
“Since April, I’ve had an issue with the caliper in my car, and as of today, October 16, Victory Mitsubishi still hasn’t resolved it. I went back on July 4, and they told me they ordered the parts, but they’ve been on backorder since then. I’m still waiting, and my car’s brakes feel rough, plus the noise is really annoying.”
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 GMC Sierra 1500. The contact stated while driving at 70 MPH, the vehicle lost power steering functionality. The message "Power Steering Failure" was displayed. The contact continued driving until he could safely pull over to the side of the road. The contact stated that he was able to pull to the side of the road by using physical force to steer the steering wheel. The cont... Read more
Incident date: Sep 14, 2024
Since May 2024, I had taken my car in for repairs at 3 different shops for same exact issue diagnosed as leak from air intake system. It has been repaired 7 times since it first occurred in May 2024, and unfortunately it is still not resolved. This is a potential danger to the driver because all of a sudden there will be loud noise from the engine, car will start misfiring and slow down the speed.... Read more
Incident date: Oct 14, 2024
The horn button on the steering wheel is not mechanical and is located outside of the center steering wheel location. This poses a serious risk to driving as the horn button is very difficult to reach when turning the steering wheel.
Incident date: Oct 14, 2024
Loud grinding noise coming from engine compartment accompanied by a loud shrill alert. When attempting to pull over to a safe place, I put my foot on the brake pedal, but immediately became distressed because it felt like I had no brakes at all. After applying extreme pressure to the brake pedal, the car did begin to slow down, albeit very slowly. I had 2 passengers in the car (ages [XXX] and [XX... Read more
Incident date: Mar 17, 2024
The contact owns a 2019 Ford Motorhome Chassis. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 55 MPH, the vehicle experienced with a loss of automotive power. The failure would occasionally occur. The check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where it was diagnosed with a misfire. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the engine warnin... Read more
Incident date: Mar 17, 2024
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving in reverse, she became aware that the electronic power steering was not functioning properly, requiring increased effort to maneuver the vehicle. After which, a warning message displayed reading "Service advanced track." After restarting the vehicle, the vehicle returned to normal functionality, but the failure became a r... Read more
Incident date: Aug 25, 2024
In 2021 while hauling the camper on [XXX] from TN to AR we bent the back axle and had to have it replaced along with several tires, and the wiring harness, that axle was a lippert, we had it replaced with a Dexter. We had a tire blow out in 2023 on front axle, in spring of 2024 the brake drew up and had to cut wires and back adjustment. We had the camper serviced brake assembly and bearing at a... Read more
Incident date: Oct 11, 2024
On Oct. 11, 2024, I was pulling into a parking spot when my vehicle suddenly accelerated. My foot was not on the accelerator. I braked but not in time to stop the car before it hit the side of a building. I was not injured, but do not want to use drive the vehicle until I understand what happened and whether this sudden unintended acceleration defect can be fixed.
Crash
Incident date: Oct 13, 2023
wiring caught fire spark plug cables ignited and melted
Fire
Incident date: Oct 10, 2024
Transmission down shifted into first gear. The tires locked up and the truck began sliding down the highway. I managed to steer the vehicle to the side of the road.I was driving about 60mph down a fairly busy highway. After the vehicle came to a stop it had to be towed to a dealership.
AUDI
A6 ALLROAD
(2022) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Oct 13, 2024
Incident date: Oct 7, 2024
Vehicle powered on, while DRIVING, instrument cluster is blank. Cannot see speedometer- huge safety issue
AUDI
A6 ALLROAD
(2022) - FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Oct 13, 2024
Incident date: Oct 7, 2024
In a 90 mile drive I experience phantom breaking 4 different times. No car was in front of me, in fact nothing at all was in front of me when my car slammed on the brakes 4 separate times. One time there was a car somewhat close behind me. I also twice experienced audible warnings and flashing alarms to take control immediately of the car when my hands were on the wheel and I was already in con... Read more
Incident date: Oct 8, 2024
In a 90 mile drive I experience phantom breaking 4 different times. No car was in front of me, in fact nothing at all was in front of me when my car slammed on the brakes 4 separate times. One time there was a car somewhat close behind me. I also twice experienced audible warnings and flashing alarms to take control immediately of the car when my hands were on the wheel and I was already in con... Read more
Incident date: Oct 11, 2024
My wife turned on the car after it had been parked for a few hours and the primary instrument cluster display (that contains critical information such as speed) was blank. There was nothing she could do to reenable it. This seems to be the same issue found by many other EV9 owners here: [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Incident date: Oct 9, 2024
Q1: Yes, it is available for inspection upon request. The instrument cluster showed some messages* randomly appearing/beeping on and off but there were other issues present: • Acceleration not possible in drive • At one point transmission would not shift from gear 3 • *Speedometer would go up and down randomly until it eventually stayed at 0 physically and digitally as I was going 55-60 MPH... Read more
Incident date: Oct 11, 2024
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Transit Connect. The contact stated while driving 45-55 MPH, the engine overheated. The message “Pullover - Engine Temperature High” was displayed. The contact pulled over and noticed that the coolant level was low. The contact added coolant to the reservoir. The contact stated that the failure was related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 17V209000 (Engine and Engine Cool... Read more
Incident date: Sep 22, 2024
originally coding a cylinder 2 misfire, I had spark plugs and coil packs replaced but the engine light continues to stay on. Have done multiple compression tests and it looks like the cylinder needs to be replaced and maybe the engine rebuilt. It wont pass inspection with the light on and the light is permanently on. already paid almost 1,000 to get spark plugs and coil packs replaced and diagnost... Read more
Incident date: Oct 10, 2024
Ford issued NHTSA recall 22V142 for my 2021 F-150 truck. The windshield wiper motors were known to fail. I was told by the Ford customer service representative on CAS-51684816 that Ford has not replaced this part with a new one, and the faulty motors are still being installed. My wiper motor was "replaced" under warranty on 5/18/2023 with 39,836 miles. The "new" motor then failed on 9/24/2024 at ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 10, 2024
The contact owns a 2023 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the odor of gasoline was present inside and outside of the vehicle. The contact indicated that the failure had occurred intermittently after refueling the vehicle on extremely hot days. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who was unable to duplicate the failure and the cause of the failure was not... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
Drivers side door mirror vibrates while driving. Causes issues when looking at it when checking for traffic etc. This has been reported and verified by dealer. This is a known issue by Honda and has been reported by other Honda owners. Dealer told me that Hona is aware but mirrors are back ordered and no time table for repair. This is a safety item.
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
The contact owns a 2018 Toyota Rav4. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V734000 (Electrical System); 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 dealer was contacted. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 20, 2024
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Soul. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the contact was informed that the engine was consuming an excessive amount of engine oil. The dealer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle was not included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 1... Read more
Incident date: Sep 20, 2024
The contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet Cruze. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer to be diagnosed. However, the vehicle was not yet diagnosed or repaired. The vehicle was taken to an auto repair shop where it was diagnosed that the vehicle was leaking oil, along with several other undisclosed failures. The vehicl... Read more
Incident date: Sep 12, 2024
Concern: I See the error message on my screen like restraint system fault require service. when I contacted Tesla for Sevice Repair I got an estimate which includes following fixes for a charge of 1,804.02. They are not covering for this saying the car is out of warranty. Seems like Tesla is aware of this issue and impacting many other Tesla's for 1) FIRST ROW SEAT HARNESS ASSEMBLY - RIGHT HAND(14... Read more
Incident date: Aug 15, 2024
22V-406 high pressure fuel pump ("HPFP") safty recall not completed as of Oct 7th 2024 vehicle had unexpected loss of motive power 20V-475 loss of crankshaft position I have loss of crankshaft position resulted in engine stall, as well as loss of the ability to restart the engine 19V-757 Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) i have Coolant loss, coolant color Turing brown/black, major build up of ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 15, 2024
22V-406 high pressure fuel pump ("HPFP") safty recall not completed as of Oct 7th 2024 vehicle had unexpected loss of motive power 20V-475 loss of crankshaft position I have loss of crankshaft position resulted in engine stall, as well as loss of the ability to restart the engine 19V-757 Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) i have Coolant loss, coolant color Turing brown/black, major build up of ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 15, 2024
Transmission fluid was serviced at Bill page Toyota, Falls Church, VA 22042 (102,468 miles on 11/2/2023) Transmission failed to operate at 104,771 miles. Car failed to go reverse, noise from transmission gear. Car was inspected at Toyota Ourishman, Fairfax, VA and concluded transmission problem failed.
Incident date: Oct 6, 2024
The contact owns a 2007 Nissan Murano. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the contact heard an abnormal rumbling sound coming from the rear end of the vehicle. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who observed excessive corrosion on the rear subframe of the vehicle. The contact was informed that the vehicle was not safe to dri... Read more
Incident date: Sep 28, 2024
My 2013 Durango with 124,000 miles has a check engine light on, that indicates cylinder 4 miss fire. The Airpark Dodge service department where I purchased the vehicle has done a diagnostic evaluation and determined that the left cylinder head needs replacing. That falls within the X56 engine left cylinder head extended warranty for some VIN # vehicles, but not mine. The estimated repair is over $... Read more
Incident date: Oct 5, 2024
My vehicle made 3 ringing sounds and began to decelerate from 67mph to 0 in less than 2 minutes. I had to pull over quickly to avoid getting rear ended. This incident happened twice already. I took it in to the dealer and they were not able to recreate what happened. This occurrence happened 2weeks ago.