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: Oct 4, 2024
The coolant bypass valve is needing to be replaced. The vehicle only has 52k miles and just happened after warranty.
Incident date: Oct 2, 2024
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving approximately 20 MPH and making a left turn, the vehicle suddenly lost power steering functionality. The traction control and the electronic stability control warning light were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, where the contact was informed that the failure might be related to the power stee... Read more
Incident date: Oct 4, 2024
Upon purchase of the Jeep, within 8K miles, the fuel pump went out and left me stranded. Now, at 27k miles, the car has been undriveable for 4 months. The engine will not accelerate, causing near collisions on highways. Over 13k in repairs are currently in place and there is still no resolution.
Incident date: Jul 9, 2024
For the second time in a week, the instrument panel went completely blank. This meant it was not possible to see speed, etc. The multimedia display panel in the center of the dash continued to work fine. The first time this happened last week, the problem resolved itself after the vehicle was turned off for 2 hours. Many others have reported this problem over the past month here: [XXX] I have ha... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2024
Hi, In my car VSC light is always on, I got it scan as well but it doesn't show any code for VSC and ABS systems. Toyota dealership also don't give any information about the codes. It's kind of very dangerous to drive with all the lights on the cluster. Thank You
Incident date: Aug 14, 2024
The contact owns a 2013 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the check engine warning light remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who discovered that the oil level was low even though the oil had recently been changed. The contact was informed of a possible oil consumption failure. The vehicle was not repaired. Additionally, while drivin... Read more
Incident date: Sep 16, 2024
My 2017 Ford engine had a catastophic failure and required replacement. Sequence of events: January 8 2024, Check Engine light came on and at 99350, the spark plugs were replaced to correct . March 12 2024, Check Engine light came on again at 100900, the coils were replaced to correct. March 19 2024, Catastropic Engine light came while driving on interstate 75, the engine block cracked and was re... Read more
Incident date: Sep 16, 2024
My 2017 Ford engine had a catastophic failure and required replacement. Sequence of events: January 8 2024, Check Engine light came on and at 99350, the spark plugs were replaced to correct . March 12 2024, Check Engine light came on again at 100900, the coils were replaced to correct. March 19 2024, Catastropic Engine light came while driving on interstate 75, the engine block cracked and was re... Read more
Incident date: Sep 16, 2024
Vehicle went into reduced propulsion mode and then shut-off while driving down the highway. Same issue as recall 18V397000 that was not applied to my VIN number as part of that recall. Please apply recall 18V39000 to my vehicle VIN. Chevy Volt owners also need the NHTSA to issue an edict to GM/ that the reset codes for the ECM/HPCM2 being given to the OBD2 bi-directional scanner companies so own... Read more
Incident date: Sep 16, 2024
See attached document for complaint.
Incident date: Sep 1, 2024
The vehicle will not turn over and start. Unable to drive to work, water accumulated in the back spare tire area. No warning or alerts appeared on the dash the vehicle would not turn over.
Incident date: Aug 9, 2024
Under braking conditions and hitting a bump on a paved road, the vehicle will have a 1 to 3 second momentary loss of braking. At the same time, a grinding noise, similar to (if not the same as) the ABS system is heard, and the VSC light flashes. The occurrence of this problem is unpredictable, the severity is inconsistent. It happens across various ranges of brake pressure/deceleration rates and s... Read more
Incident date: Sep 21, 2024
Driving at highway speed, went to accelerate and pass another vehicle on a four-lane highway with my vehicle ending up in the far left lane attempting to pass. Truck lost all power, began to shake violently like it was misfiring, got an illuminated wrench on my dashboard, and at that point began to coast with no power being supplied by the engine. Miraculously I was able to coast across three lan... Read more
Incident date: Sep 21, 2024
Driving at highway speed, went to accelerate and pass another vehicle on a four-lane highway with my vehicle ending up in the far left lane attempting to pass. Truck lost all power, began to shake violently like it was misfiring, got an illuminated wrench on my dashboard, and at that point began to coast with no power being supplied by the engine. Miraculously I was able to coast across three lan... Read more
Incident date: Aug 29, 2024
Ignition not acting like it’s in the right spot like not starting when turning key it moves like it’s loose and turned off while driving. Thankfully was driving very slow and coasted to the side of road when it died at first acted like it was going to start again but it did just drive back home. Just bought suv from mother in law and already replaced alternator last week
Incident date: Sep 24, 2024
Collision Mitigation System proble
Incident date: Sep 26, 2024
The Vehicle stops abrutly while moving and engages emergency parking break and powers down and activating needing to be shifted into park. Vehicle then will be shifted into park and shifted back into drive but will not move until vehicle is turned off and turned back on.
Incident date: Jul 4, 2024
Bought vehicle from Carvana, immediately noticed transmission shudder issues when driving near 50 mph. Brought vehicle in to multiple repair facilities. It had warped brakes, bad calipers, needed a new torque converter at least and the repair shop recommended a total transmission replacement. The whole vehicle shakes when driving near that speed or braking.
Incident date: Jun 13, 2024
The contact owns a 2021 Buick Encore GX. The contact stated that while shifting to park(P) and attempting to turn off the vehicle, the message to shift to park(P) was displayed on the instrument panel. The contact removed the key from the vehicle, but the vehicle failed to turn off. The battery had to be disconnected to turn off the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed; how... Read more
Incident date: Sep 17, 2024
When starting the engine there is a loud rattle for a few seconds. After research there seems to be other Ford recalls related to the cam phasers that were recalled in other models but I believe the series or production line when mine was produced should be added as well. I have talked to Ford service already and spoke with a customer advocate. My case number is [XXX] Thank you [XXX] C [XXX]... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Toyota Camry. The contact stated while driving 20 MPH and accelerating, while depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle shuddered and was shaking abnormally. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed by the dealer or the independent mechanic. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 165,000.
Incident date: Mar 1, 2021
There is white smoke coming out of the tailpipe. The car is running in distress. We changed the spark plugs because there was oil on the original spark plugs. We took the car to Auto Zone for engine diagnosis. Their tests report Ignition coil failure in the power train system.. They report cylinder 2 misfire detected. They also diagnosed that the left rear vehicle speed sensor failed in the anti-... Read more
Incident date: Sep 19, 2024
Coolant bleeder hose started leaking at y-connection. Appears to be same problem that lead to recall R29936 in earlier MY16 vehicles.
Incident date: Sep 20, 2024
I purchased this car 1 year ago with 121,460 miles, within the first week I had to buy new tires and replace the wipers,now I have to replace the alternator all of this is within a year. I just got the estimate for the alternator which is over 700.00 which I don't have.
Incident date: Sep 20, 2024
I purchased this car 1 year ago with 121,460 miles, within the first week I had to buy new tires and replace the wipers,now I have to replace the alternator all of this is within a year. I just got the estimate for the alternator which is over 700.00 which I don't have.
Incident date: Sep 14, 2024
Brembo aluminum calipers were used with steel bolts causing the breaks to get himot & seize the steel bolt in the calipers. 1 out of 2 brake jobs end up costing thousands & hours of work to get the seized bolts out, I have had a caliper fall off going 65 & got caught in between my tire & rear wheel arc.
Incident date: Sep 12, 2024
Transmission jerks,surges ahead,clunks when downshifting and is completely unpredictable.
Incident date: Jul 19, 2024
The anti break having issues. Sterling controls having issues Supsention having issues
Incident date: Feb 18, 2024
The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model3. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V554000 (Latches/Locks/Linkages, 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 but saw no recall information related to the VIN. The manu... Read more
Incident date: Sep 13, 2024
When my truck hit about 60,000 - 65,000 miles it started to jump into gear sometimes. It didn't feel right. It was at a low RPMs when starting to accelerate. I was planning on taking it to the dealership to have a look at it, but several months had gone by before I had an opportunity to do so. I then noticed a clanking upon a cold start. It sounded like a loose muffler. So I planned a trip to... Read more
Incident date: Sep 13, 2024
When my truck hit about 60,000 - 65,000 miles it started to jump into gear sometimes. It didn't feel right. It was at a low RPMs when starting to accelerate. I was planning on taking it to the dealership to have a look at it, but several months had gone by before I had an opportunity to do so. I then noticed a clanking upon a cold start. It sounded like a loose muffler. So I planned a trip to... Read more
Incident date: Sep 10, 2024
The window regular failed is to weak don't last long Have replaced all 4 and replacing the back one again
Incident date: Sep 6, 2024
This complaint is concerning the recall 22C22 for the 2022 Ford F150 park lamps flickering, I took my vehicle in for service to get this recall performed because the recall was open, when I picked up my vehicle I was told that the recall had just been put on hold by Ford, this was around August 15, 2024. I was also told that I would be contacted by them, the dealership/service advisor when the rec... Read more
Incident date: Sep 8, 2024
The contact owns a 2023 Jeep Gladiator. The contact stated that after parking the vehicle and turning the engine off, approximately two hours later the contact discovered smoke and flames coming from the engine compartment of the vehicle. The fire department was called to the scene and extinguished the flames. During the fire, the garage was destroyed and the exterior of the home was partially dam... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Jul 22, 2024
Hello, Noticed the fuel gauge was reading full after retrieving boat after a day of fishing. Before launching the boat the gauge read 1/2. Filled up at the gas station with the needle on full and it took approximately 16 gallons. The Toyota dealer said they could find no problems and reset the gauge. Running out of gas could be a serious problem towing a boat. Thank you
Incident date: Jul 22, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Traverse. 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 experi... Read more
Incident date: Jul 11, 2024
I took the car into the dealership to diagnose the reason that I was getting a Seat Belt light and they said that the guide suggested to do a zero point reset on the seat. When they attempted this they said that it failed and now the system has an airbag light on. There is no more seat belt light on now for the passanger side, but there is a hard error code for the airbag system on the passenger... Read more
Incident date: Aug 19, 2024
The steering wheel is locking up and unable to turn key/ignition while parked. This has happened multiple times. I jiggle the steering wheel while trying to turn key. It takes much effort and time until it finally unlocks. The first incident happened perhaps 2 years ago. This week it has occured 3 times within the past 3 days. I do not see any warning lights on my dashboard.
Incident date: Aug 19, 2024
While the car was off and in park the car started to roll down drive and would not respond to hard braking
Crash
Incident date: Aug 19, 2024
The check engine light came on 12/2023. The vehicle was taken to Pep Boys and AutoZone in MD, WalMart and O'Rilley in Bastrop, LA, O'Rilley in Midlothian, TX. They could not find any problems with the vehicle. I took the vehicle to GMC in Plano, TX. THey charged me for a new battery but the check engine light remained on after I picked up the vehicle with a newly installed battery. The dealership ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 5, 2024
Vehicle has a recall on it for the high pressure fuel pump. I have been told by the dealership this part is on back order and can take 12 months before they can fix the High Pressure Fuel Pump. I called a second dealer ship and they also told me it could take 3-12 months before they could fix it due to limited supply of the part. DMV will not give me my car tags until this recall is remedied.
Incident date: Aug 8, 2024
I noitce a werid sound the cooling fan was making and car started run different so I turn around came home park it came out few hrs later ND oil spilled on floor and all over the engine
Incident date: Apr 1, 2024
The VSA/ABS module failed and is a costly repair that causes safety concerns. I see from research that this is a common issue among the 2014 Honda accords and a small number of 2014 Honda accords were recalled for this but not mine. The fact that so many are failing this recall should be expanded to include the other accords having the same issues.
Incident date: Sep 2, 2024
Left out for work one morning as normal. Everything was ok no lights no warnings no problems. I was driving approximately 25-30 mph when my speed began to decelerate, a knocking noise, the check engine and oil light came on and my vehicle just stopped. After about 10-15 mins I could restart the car and drive to a safe parking lot off the street. When I started the car back up the knocking sound wa... Read more
Incident date: Jul 28, 2024
A warning message appeared the following day after purchasing the car. The car stopped functioning while driving on the highway 70+ mph. The car started to shake violently and a-lot of alarms went off. I barely managed to pull over on the side of the interstate. I waited for 10 minutes before I could get the car to start again. I only had the car for 3 days. This problem persisted so I exchan... Read more
Incident date: Jul 28, 2024
A warning message appeared the following day after purchasing the car. The car stopped functioning while driving on the highway 70+ mph. The car started to shake violently and a-lot of alarms went off. I barely managed to pull over on the side of the interstate. I waited for 10 minutes before I could get the car to start again. I only had the car for 3 days. This problem persisted so I exchan... Read more
Incident date: Sep 5, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Lincoln MKC. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. Additionally, the vehicle failed to start while pressing the Start button on the key fob. The contact was able to start the vehicle while pressing the Push to Start button inside the vehicle. The contact stated that the failure occurred intermittently. The vehicle was taken to an independen... Read more
Incident date: Sep 5, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Lincoln MKC. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. Additionally, the vehicle failed to start while pressing the Start button on the key fob. The contact was able to start the vehicle while pressing the Push to Start button inside the vehicle. The contact stated that the failure occurred intermittently. The vehicle was taken to an independen... Read more
Incident date: Aug 30, 2024
To whom it may concern; my son's fiancé was driving on the highway and the vehicle had a sudden loss of power. Afterward, it turned off and would not re-start. After towing the vehicle to a repair facility (out of warranty by mileage, 45K) were advised they retrieved DTC P023F and advised the fuel pump control module failed. I did some checking and found that GM is aware of the issue and has rele... Read more