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: Dec 15, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Escape. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, the instrument panel was blank. Over several days, the instrument panel screen returned; however, the panel intermittently went blank while driving without warning. Upon investigation, the contact discovered NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V406000 (Electrical System) which was linked to the failure. The manufacturer w... Read more
Incident date: Jan 9, 2024
1. The car rolling back immediately after foot is off of brakes pedal with even a minor steepness in the road or parking space, that could be very dangerous upon stopping behind a red lights, or any other situations that another car is right behind this car such as getting in or out of tight parking spots. 2. The car brakes are not reliable. They feel spongy and you can not adjust how hard and ho... Read more
Incident date: Oct 29, 2023
The contact owns a 2020 Tesla Model Y. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number 23V838000 (Electrical System) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact was driving at an undisclosed mph up a driveway with autopilot on, the contact engaged autosteer by veering to the left before the vehicle crashed into the mailbox. There were no injuries and no... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Sep 28, 2023
My 2016 Chevy Silverado hit 100,000 and the transmission started to get clunky and finally went out a couple of days later. When the transmission went out we were stranded, had to call toe service. We had it toed to the closest service center and they said "this isn't the first one of these that they have seen, the transmissions should last way longer than 100k". Had them put a new transmission... Read more
Incident date: Sep 28, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 GMC Acadia. 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 a f... Read more
Incident date: Dec 16, 2023
My airbag light has been illuminated for the past few months. It does not illuminate while someone is in the seat. Once reset, it stays off for a while. When checked, the mechanic informed me that the sensor in my passenger seat needs to be replaced. Due to this malfunction, the vehicle may improperly deploy airbags. This has not happened but I’m concerned that it could possibly happen.
Incident date: Dec 16, 2023
My airbag light has been illuminated for the past few months. It does not illuminate while someone is in the seat. Once reset, it stays off for a while. When checked, the mechanic informed me that the sensor in my passenger seat needs to be replaced. Due to this malfunction, the vehicle may improperly deploy airbags. This has not happened but I’m concerned that it could possibly happen.
Incident date: Dec 16, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Transit Connect. The contact stated that while attempting to close the driver's side door, the door failed to latch securely. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V502000 (Latches/L... Read more
Incident date: Jan 12, 2024
Continually receiving "see manual" message while driving, will intermittently appear and disappear. At times, the plug-in battery will completely stop working while still charged (more frequent in colder weather). It always resets/removes the "see manual" warning upon next vehicle start. Engine shutters and pings when turning the car off and is rather intense and seems potentially damaging. When d... Read more
Incident date: Jan 2, 2024
The problem is with the Firestone Tempa Spare T115/70 R14 spare tire. This tire came with the car when new, and has never been used. Tire date of manufacture is 42 2000. I periodically check its air pressure, but it has never been out of the spare tire well. I checked the pressure 1 week ago, and found a large bulge in the tread, along with broken cords, both steel, and polyester (see photos). The... Read more
Incident date: Jan 11, 2024
I was driving my daughter to school on the freeway when we heard a loud bang toward the back of the vehicle and the vehicle alarms started going off. It said the car was powering down and would not restart. The car immediately reduced speed from 65 to 35 mph and I had to maneuver across 4 lanes of rush hour traffic to safely park on the side of the freeway. Thankfully this did not cause a collisio... Read more
Incident date: Jan 7, 2024
Driving from church with grandchildren in back seat and drivers side rear door came open on its own. Took several attempts to get it to latch back. Now door will not open.
Incident date: Jan 7, 2024
My rear shield window shattered after I used the defroster. It was a normal cold morning in Germantown, NY. I turned on the defroster for 2 min. and a little bit later the rear window shattered everywhere.
Incident date: Sep 4, 2023
My horn isn't working as designed but when I push on steering wheel feels like it's cracking or breaking behind it. My front axels from factory were out of balance causing a vehicle vibration from 80+km/hr. Dealer thought it was tires not driveline. Different dealer diagnosed it as both axels in front. Issue was repaired once parts were available. Vibration still is evident but think its tir... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Sep 1, 2023
Submitted complaint of unsafe fumes /gas smells emitting from engine and into cabin of car to site on 10/23/2023 for my vin the complaint I see is under Tires This should be under engine I said nothing about tires it's a 2012 Hyundai Genesis BH 4 door sedan battery wasn't holding charge engine idles high and low poor gas mileage and sluggish brake light always on even after repair
Incident date: Jan 14, 2024
Model X has relocated the location of the horn to NOT be the center middle of the steering wheel, it has been relocated to the right of the center and turned into a "button". In multiple driving instances in which I've needed to for safety reasons alert another driver of an impending collision, my past 20 years of driving history has alerted me in fight/flight mode to go "muscle memory" and hit th... Read more
Incident date: Jan 13, 2024
Fuel smell coming from gas cap area replaced the gas cap twice. Continue to have strong fuel smells in garage where car is kept. Started about one month ago.
Incident date: Jan 13, 2024
Frame of truck rotted. Went to change shocks and it fell right off. Removed the bottom bolt on the shock and the 15 lbs shock fell to the ground with the top bolt still attached to the frame.2 years ago had to replace the the hitch due to rusted out Glad I was not pulling my 6000 lbs camper down the highway. The frame is so badly rotted it is unsafe to drive down the road. Not surface rust holes t... Read more
Incident date: Sep 8, 2022
Had front half shafts replaced under warranty at 12k miles. Currently at 22k miles and experiencing the same vibration/shudder at about 50mph. Vehicle is available for inspection upon request. Failure of a half shaft could leave the vehicle stranded or could cause loss of control. Problem was already confirmed by dealership and half shafts were replaced. Problem is presenting itself again 10k mi... Read more
Incident date: Dec 18, 2023
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: Jan 9, 2024
The contact owned a 2012 Nissan Rogue. The contact stated that while driving at 35-75 MPH, the transmission failed to shift gear as needed. In addition, the RPMs decreased. The contact also stated that the vehicle accelerated independently. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact stated the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed and determined that the tr... Read more
Incident date: Oct 16, 2023
Power steering has been locking up at higher speeds above 40 mph. When slowing down to 30 mph the power steering operates again. You can feel the steering tighten up while driving and makes very difficult to change lanes, much less do a full turn. When the power steering kicks back in causes you to overcompensate steering. Almost had a head on collision on street. Also almost drove off of fre... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2023 Honda HR-V. The contact stated while driving 30 MPH, the rear defogger was activated and within 3 minutes, the rear windshield exploded. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to Safelite Auto Glass and repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 14,000.
Incident date: Dec 1, 2023
I was recently driving home from work in rush hour traffic. At a stop light I began to accelerate and my car jerked extremely hard. Once I got to the next stoplight my Ford Edge began to shake violently. I was startled and didn’t know what to do. I was in the middle of traffic and it the shaking was incredibly scary. I got the car onto the mechanic only to be told that it’s the Torque Converte... Read more
Incident date: Jan 9, 2024
Defective Head Gasket. Causing lack of power while on freeway. Car slowed in speed greatly. Independent service has confirmed water in cylinder #1. CEL did come on.
Incident date: Jan 9, 2024
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the engine misfired. Additionally, the contact noticed a burning odor on the interior of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The contact was informed that the failure was related to TSB Number: 22-2134. The contact was then informed that the vehicle could not be repaired under TSB Number: 2... Read more
Incident date: Jan 10, 2024
The contact owns a 2014 Kia Sorento. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V652000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the check engine, the MIL, and the ABS warning lights were illuminated. The local dealer was contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that the m... Read more
Incident date: Jan 10, 2024
The contact owns a 2014 Kia Sorento. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V652000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the check engine, the MIL, and the ABS warning lights were illuminated. The local dealer was contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that the m... Read more
Incident date: Jan 10, 2024
When Lane departure is turned on it tries steer, vehicle off-road. Also noticing jerking motion or sticky steering at mainly highway speeds where car is difficult to steer around curves, and then straight lines
Incident date: Nov 8, 2021
Headrest on drivers and passenger seats came apart when seat was layed forward to clean the floors.
Incident date: Mar 1, 2023
The whole engine needs replaced without warning. I have been driving it with oil spraying, a hole in engine and not sound or engine light or anything as a warning. Very unsafe and many others in the same boat.
Incident date: Dec 22, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 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 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 that p... Read more
Incident date: Jan 10, 2024
Adaptive Cruise control and Forward Collision warning has failed. The cruise control will not engage. The Electronic braking system has malfunctioned and this has somehow disabled the cruise control on the vehicle. The car will still brake. I understand that this has been known issue with Nissan but they are not willing to repair it.
Incident date: Dec 26, 2023
Tailgate door unlatches while driving making the door ajar warning light appear on dash. The door has flung open, while driving. But usually only Makes internal cabin lights turn on. Door opens. While driving. Potentially can cause things to fall out of car while driving, could cause a wreck with cars behind me. It has not been recreated on command, but has happened many times. Dealership has ins... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2024
Air bags are common problem. It can be googled. Ours stopped working. When braking the steering wheel shakes bad. Got fixed and came right back week later. Common problem. O2 sensor needed changed cause when slippery road indicator comes on car won't accelerate over 25 mph. Have to cut engine off wait for seconds and cut back on and its fine. Oil leak is where everyone online said there's is. Ther... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2024
Air bags are common problem. It can be googled. Ours stopped working. When braking the steering wheel shakes bad. Got fixed and came right back week later. Common problem. O2 sensor needed changed cause when slippery road indicator comes on car won't accelerate over 25 mph. Have to cut engine off wait for seconds and cut back on and its fine. Oil leak is where everyone online said there's is. Ther... Read more
Incident date: Dec 28, 2023
This vehicle has what's been described as "sticky steering". At highway speeds and going straight a steering wheel movement (such as repositioning in your lane) sticks on straight before driver's slight pressure on the wheel overcomes the "stickyness" and the car then responds to driver's steering command. Not sure if this defect is a safety problem but anything unusual in the steering mechanism... Read more
Incident date: Oct 14, 2020
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the battery had failed several times and was replaced approximately 5 times. The contact also stated there was exhaust coming out of the tailpipe during the initial start-up. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and was repaired under NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V162000 ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2024
We have a 2013 hyundai santa fe and it has done the same thing that is described in the engine recall for the 2012 the bearings have worn out and now our engine is blown up at 120000 miles and every one that I have talked to has said the same thing they should be held responsible for this its the same engine same problem
Incident date: Jan 1, 2024
August 29, 2023 I was coming to a stop sign and when accelerating from the stop noticed a clung sound from the engine bay of the vehicle and then the low oil pressure warning illuminated. I immediately pulled off the road and shut down the car. I checked the oil level it is good so I had the car towed to my local Ford dealer. They determined that the engine oil pump tensioner let loose and causing... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2024
August 29, 2023 I was coming to a stop sign and when accelerating from the stop noticed a clung sound from the engine bay of the vehicle and then the low oil pressure warning illuminated. I immediately pulled off the road and shut down the car. I checked the oil level it is good so I had the car towed to my local Ford dealer. They determined that the engine oil pump tensioner let loose and causing... Read more
Incident date: Dec 31, 2023
Since the beginning of the vehicle purchase, we heard fine metal rattling sound on the front driver side tire. Had it checked with the dealer and they recommended no repair. Now driven about 35K miles and started very loud metal scratching sound when wheels turned to right. Inspection showed bent brake cover that was wearing tire uneven. Dealer claims that we went over a large bump that bent t... Read more
Incident date: Jun 19, 2023
For several months, the steering wheel has been sticking (slightly left and right of center) when traveling at highway speeds. It’s almost feels like we have to push it past a break point. The car was just serviced approx two weeks ago, and no issues were reported by the dealer. They did not drive it at highway speeds, so we assume they only checked for codes. This is of concern, as the car is... Read more
Incident date: Oct 20, 2023
The contact owned a 2003 Oldsmobile Alero. The contact stated while driving approximately 5 MPH and crossing an intersection, a speeding police vehicle crashed into the driver's side of the vehicle and the front driver's side wheel was bent. The air bags failed to deploy and the contact hit her chest against the steering wheel. Additionally, the left side of the contact' body hit the driver's side... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Dec 22, 2023
My son was driving at a highway speed of 55 out of Lawrence, KS. He noticed left headlight flickering and starting to smoke. He immediately pulled over and exited the vehicle. At that point, the whole front of the car was engulfed in flames. Very dangerous. I can provide pictures but for some reason the upload information won't allow me to do it here. Fire department had to put it out and ... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Jan 3, 2024
Many complaints about the nissian cube... the battery are good and even put new batteries in the key fob.. the car isn't registering it and steering wheel is locked bc is a security feature.. many complaints online for these.. is this a recall yet?
Incident date: Jan 3, 2024
Car smells strongly of gasoline.
Incident date: Oct 28, 2023
All the warning lights come on. When they do, none of the features work including cruise control and advanced vehicle detection.
Incident date: Oct 28, 2023
All the warning lights come on. When they do, none of the features work including cruise control and advanced vehicle detection.
Incident date: Oct 28, 2023
All the warning lights come on. When they do, none of the features work including cruise control and advanced vehicle detection.