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 41,082 complaints for BMW
Incident date: Oct 18, 2024
While driving on [XXX] I was in traffic, Car ahead of me was 2 Car lengths ahead, emergency Brake slammed on! I had put my foot lightly on brake to slow down to keep safe distance! We were violently thrown forward( unexpected stoppage) . Car in back had to slam on its brakes and swerve off Road to keep from hitting us! This has happened about 4 times. I have taken Car to dealer and they keep sayi... Read more
2 injured
Incident date: Oct 18, 2024
I have a 2022 Wrangler 4xe. This weekend I rear ended a car in stop and go traffic. When I used the brake it actually felt like the car jumped forward a bit. I had to stomp on the brake pedal again as if my first attempt had no grab. More details...I was in hybrid mode with <1% battery status and max regen was on. I was going less than 10 miles an hour. Jeep has a max regeneration function th... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Oct 18, 2024
I have a 2022 Wrangler 4xe. This weekend I rear ended a car in stop and go traffic. When I used the brake it actually felt like the car jumped forward a bit. I had to stomp on the brake pedal again as if my first attempt had no grab. More details...I was in hybrid mode with <1% battery status and max regen was on. I was going less than 10 miles an hour. Jeep has a max regeneration function th... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Oct 18, 2024
The vehicle gears slipped into neutral but back to drive without assistance on my part. Once at a stop sign when I resumed driving. Once turning a corner. Once getting ready to back up. / I took it to have the transmission fluid level checked and it checked out ok. There have been no transmission recalls reported on the 2012 Jeep Liberty. The pan and filter had had a leak and was replaced a couple... Read more
Incident date: Feb 12, 2024
The wiring harness bundle leading to the trunk failed between the trunk & upper drivers side of the car. Upper brake lights stopped working, then rear defroster, then trunk wouldn’t open & I got a license plate light warning on the dash. Mechanic tried to replace switch, still didn’t work, the tried to replace handle (with license plate light). Mechanic broke more wires in bundle, back brake l... Read more
Incident date: Feb 12, 2024
On 10/28/2024 I was driving on a highway at 60 mph with light traffic. All of a sudden the radio display panel went blank and all the warning lights on dashboard lit up. The car started to slow down and did not gain speed even when gas pedal is pressed. Car speed went down to 40 mph. I put on hazard lights and looking for safe spot to park the car. I drove for 2 to 3 minutes and then dashboard... Read more
Incident date: Oct 21, 2024
I recieved a letter stating that the integrated brakes are not working functioning properly and there is no remedy . This has been going on for a while I am scare to drive the car
Incident date: Oct 21, 2024
I recieved a letter stating that the integrated brakes are not working functioning properly and there is no remedy . This has been going on for a while I am scare to drive the car
Incident date: Aug 3, 2024
On [XXX] my 2014 Kia Soul caught on fire while I was at a gas station. There had been no warning lights, however when I first started it that day it acted like it didn't want to start. A man ran in the gas station and got their fire extinguisher and put the engine fire out. I called 911 , and when the fire department inspected it they said the fire was completely out. They filed a report and I h... Read more
Fire
1 injured
Incident date: Aug 3, 2024
As I was driving I received a call while my phone was plugged in to the USB charging port and as I answered the call all the gauges on my dash, as well as the radio and all my warning lights shut off and turned back on and calibrated as if I first started the vehicle and reset. Then the radio and things wouldn't work. I had to pull over shut off the truck and restart it. This has happened 2 times ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 3, 2024
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled, and the steering wheel seized. In addition, the contact stated that several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed with power steering rack assembly failure. The contact was informed that the power steering rac... Read more
Incident date: Jun 22, 2024
Several times the braking system has engaged thinking there was something in the path of the car when there was not. My daughter & I were almost rear ended. It has happened on numerous occasions. Has not been taken in for service for this issue. There was no warning prior to each occurance
Incident date: Jun 22, 2024
Several times the braking system has engaged thinking there was something in the path of the car when there was not. My daughter & I were almost rear ended. It has happened on numerous occasions. Has not been taken in for service for this issue. There was no warning prior to each occurance
Incident date: Oct 17, 2024
Vehicle stated “check lane keep system”, and proceeded to lock the steering wheel whilst I was doing 65-70 mph on Interstate-5’s Grapevine section. I immediately had to apply brakes, turn on my hazard lights, and then nurse the car to the exit.
Incident date: Jul 27, 2024
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the transmission failed to upshift or downshift as intended. Additionally, the RPM was rising independently. The transmission warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local independent mechanic where it was determined that the transmission needed to be replaced. The local dealer was contac... Read more
Incident date: Jul 27, 2024
Same situation occurred twice. I was in the car at a red light. Car had been stopped for about a minute. Was on a slight decline, engine brake was engaged to hold car in position. Car was stationary completely. Suddenly tons of warning lights flash on the dash board 'One pedal driving unavailable', 'Service ESC', 'Service trailer brake system', 'Service active steering system', '4wd unavailab... Read more
Incident date: Jul 27, 2024
Same situation occurred twice. I was in the car at a red light. Car had been stopped for about a minute. Was on a slight decline, engine brake was engaged to hold car in position. Car was stationary completely. Suddenly tons of warning lights flash on the dash board 'One pedal driving unavailable', 'Service ESC', 'Service trailer brake system', 'Service active steering system', '4wd unavailab... Read more
Incident date: Jan 29, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Explorer. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V031000 (STRUCTURE); 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 experience... Read more
Incident date: Jan 29, 2024
On October 18, 2024 I got a check engine light after starting my vehicle when leaving the grocery store. I stopped at a mechanic shop near by and was told the code they pulled stated that there was an “Air Flap Control Malfunction.” I’ experienced this same issue a year earlier on December 15, 2024 when I got an engine warning light that stayed on and it gave this same error message. Before ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 28, 2024
Back up Camera. When reversing cannot see out back window do to incline of glass making hard to reverse. The problem has not been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center. The vehicle or component has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others. There was not any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the f... Read more
Incident date: Sep 28, 2024
Back up Camera. When reversing cannot see out back window do to incline of glass making hard to reverse. The problem has not been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center. The vehicle or component has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others. There was not any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the f... Read more
Incident date: Sep 28, 2024
Back up Camera. When reversing cannot see out back window do to incline of glass making hard to reverse. The problem has not been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center. The vehicle or component has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others. There was not any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the f... Read more
Incident date: Oct 22, 2024
The contact owns a 2024 BMW i5. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V104000 (Electronic Stability Control (ESC), Service Brakes, Hydraulic). The contact stated that when the vehicle was started, the "Driver Restraint System Malfunction" message was displayed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 9,000. The VIN tool confirms that... Read more
Incident date: Oct 22, 2024
All lights including dash lights turned off while driving at night on the interstate at 82mph. Not sure if my knees hit the light switch or not but not sure why even dash lights went out. Brought vehicle to local Chevy garage, there was no code and they couldn’t duplicate the incident.
Incident date: Oct 22, 2024
The contact owns a 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 6. The contact stated that while driving 30-40 MPH on a sunny day, the vehicle abruptly stopped while passing a shadow. There were no warning lights illuminated. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 800. The VIN was not available.
Incident date: Oct 22, 2024
The contact owns a 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 6. The contact stated that while driving 30-40 MPH on a sunny day, the vehicle abruptly stopped while passing a shadow. There were no warning lights illuminated. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 800. The VIN was not available.
Incident date: Aug 2, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Nissan Sentra. The contact stated that while pressing the START/STOP button, the brake pedal seized, and the vehicle failed to start as needed. The contact continuously pressed the START/STOP button while depressing the brake pedal, and the vehicle eventually started. The contact stated that the stop lamp switch had previously been replaced; however, the failure persisted. ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 13, 2024
The contact owns a 2012 Dodge Avenger. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the air bag warning light intermittently illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an auto repair shop where it was diagnosed that there was an open circuit in the front driver’s side air bag squib. The contact was informed that the air bag squib needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The m... Read more
Incident date: Aug 13, 2024
The contact owned a 2024 BMW i4 eDrive40. The contact stated that while slowing for a traffic signal, as he slowed down to approximately 10 MPH and was coming to a full stop, the vehicle failed to stop. The contact stated that he was still depressing the brake pedal when the vehicle independently accelerated and crashed into the rear end of the vehicle in front and stopped at the traffic signal. N... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Aug 13, 2024
The contact owned a 2024 BMW i4 eDrive40. The contact stated that while slowing for a traffic signal, as he slowed down to approximately 10 MPH and was coming to a full stop, the vehicle failed to stop. The contact stated that he was still depressing the brake pedal when the vehicle independently accelerated and crashed into the rear end of the vehicle in front and stopped at the traffic signal. N... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Feb 22, 2024
The car had a recall, and they worked on it. A few years later the power steering went out while driving and almost had an accident. They did not replace the steering gear they only worked on the steering module. If they had replaced the steering gear, it may have solved the whole problem. They know there was a problem and did not do their best to solve it. There may be thousands of vehicles waiti... Read more
Incident date: Oct 21, 2024
The transfer case module failed after a software update. The response from the bcm is no forward collision warning , emergency braking. It turned it off?? Aren't they required to have these features? I bought the vehicle for those features that are no longer available?
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
The driver seat manual height adjustment. When you raise the drivers seat to the maximum height, within 30 minutes of driving, the seat slowly lowers on its own. I would have to give it 2-3 cranks to raise the seat. Overnight, the next morning, without anyone in the seat, it needs 2-3 cranks to raise the seat back to its maximum height. I’m afraid it may get worse in time and might just lower a... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
The contact owns a 2024 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport. The contact stated that after pressing the engine Start/Stop button to start the vehicle in the driveway, she exited the vehicle and sat in the front passenger's seat. After 4-5 minutes, the vehicle inadvertently rolled backward while the transmission was in park (P). No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle rolled over her daughter's lef... Read more
1 injured
Incident date: Jan 20, 2024
Brought car in for a noise 12k miles ago and dealer said all was well. I then brought the car back and they heard the sound, wanted to explore and take apart the engine and found I have a collapsed lifter on the exhaust cam which if a defect, should be completely covered by the manufacturer not just a portion of the repair. Also, this could cause further issues and damage with the car which is con... Read more
Incident date: Jan 20, 2024
Brought car in for a noise 12k miles ago and dealer said all was well. I then brought the car back and they heard the sound, wanted to explore and take apart the engine and found I have a collapsed lifter on the exhaust cam which if a defect, should be completely covered by the manufacturer not just a portion of the repair. Also, this could cause further issues and damage with the car which is con... Read more
Incident date: Jan 20, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at various speeds and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle failed to respond while the RPMS had risen significantly high. The contact stated that upon releasing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle responded as needed. Additionally, the contact stated that the vehicle was experiencing excessive coolant consumption. The ch... Read more
Incident date: Aug 14, 2024
On Thursday October 9th I drove to work at 11pm and parked my car. I backed up into my space using my back-up camera as I had always did since I had purchased my car in 2019. The next morning when I got home and put my car in reverse to back into my space, I noticed that the back-up camera did not come on. The radio continued to play on the screen, but in never switched over to the camera so that ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 21, 2024
While driving normally on the highway, the sunroof glass exploded with no warning or previous signs of wear. After reviewing dash cam footage, determined that it was not caused by foreign object.
Incident date: Oct 21, 2024
The contact owns a 2020 Honda CR-V. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V064000 (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 a ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 3, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, there was a loud noise coming from under the hood. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. In addition, the contact thought that the vehicle was going to explode. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with engine failure due to coolant intrusion. The c... Read more
Incident date: Oct 21, 2024
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated. The local dealer was contacted, and the vehicle was diagnosed, and the spark plugs, and ignition coils were replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The vehicle was recently diagnosed with coolant intrusion into the engine. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approxima... Read more
Incident date: Oct 21, 2024
My cam phasers are starting to go out vehicle has 97,000 miles. Also, the screen display for stereo goes black frequently.
Incident date: Jul 1, 2024
Car loss power turned off on turnpike while driving 45k miles per hour and HYBRID battery system lights alarms turned on at 94k had car towed to dealership. I was told that it was the HYBRID battery and that it was changed. I am now having same problem again after taking car in for recall updated. Attempted to pick car up twice couldn't get a mile away from the dealership both times the car was j... Read more
Incident date: Jul 1, 2024
The rear camera system becomes inoperable when car is first started and put in reverse, then all cameras remain interoperable while driving until sometime later after the car is turned off. This problem occurs intermittently. The symptoms match those described in Mercedes recall campaign 22S20, NHTSA Campaign 22V232. The recall names Mercedes Benz GLC300 but my vehicle’s VIN number does not appe... Read more
Incident date: Oct 21, 2024
Oil line separates causing massive oil leak causing engine to fail
Incident date: Oct 21, 2024
Vehicle makes load screeching and moaning sounds whenever the car is in reverse -noticed the day after purchase 9/12/2024 and continues to do so- ford states it is a known recall that they have yet to have fix for?
Incident date: Oct 16, 2024
This morning before my drive to work, a service vehicle soon message popped up on the screen. During my drive to work the vehicle began to respond sluggishly and lose power and acceleration on the highway. My safety and the safety of others was put at risk and the vehicle was unable to maintain highway speeds. I was able to make it to work driving at reduced speeds, and after parking the vehicle r... Read more
Incident date: Oct 16, 2024
The contact owns a 2020 Mercedes-Benz GLA250. The contact stated that while driving 35-40 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated. There was an abnormally loud rumbling sound heard. The contact pulled over and restarted the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the fuel injectors needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stat... Read more
Incident date: Oct 16, 2024
The contact owns a 2020 Mercedes-Benz GLA250. The contact stated that while driving 35-40 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated. There was an abnormally loud rumbling sound heard. The contact pulled over and restarted the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the fuel injectors needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stat... Read more