Consumer Safety Complaints
Search 2,215,138 safety complaints filed by vehicle owners with NHTSA — including 138,663 crashes, 56,255 fires, and 8,561 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 2,215,138 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 40,555 complaints for BMW
Incident date: Aug 12, 2023
I started up and was backing out of my driveway. When I tried to slow the brakes felt weird shuddered a lot and then I had difficulty stopping. Service brake assist popped up on my screen. I slowly pulled into the driveway and when I tried to stop the truck shuddered and had a hard time stopping.
Incident date: Aug 5, 2023
My cruise control works some times and then it doesn't. I was driving 80 mph with my cruise control on and couldn't shut it off. Finally stepping on the brake door work to shut it off. I can't see the mileage driven more than half the time, as well.
Incident date: Jun 19, 2023
The rear sensor system design on the X6 does not work as described and the complaint was acknowledged by our BMW dealer “with nothing they can do”. When backing up out of a parking space, it does not alert for persons walking or driving by behind you unless they are only inches away. This has caused personal conflicts with persons walking who thought we should have stopped. And, we nearly had ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 19, 2023
Passenger door not closing completely , upon inspection I noticed a latch on the door is simply not locking into place all of a sudden. There was no warning prior the problem occurred all of a sudden not sure how or why.
Incident date: Jun 19, 2023
On August 11th, 2023, at approximately 12:50 pm, I drove my 2015 Jeep Cherokee into my houses’ garage and parked. I went inside my house to meet an air conditioning repairman. No sooner than a minute or two had passed that I immediately heard noises coming from my garage.The noises sounded like mechanical in nature. It almost sounded like a washing machine agitating. I opened my side door of... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Aug 12, 2023
Steering wheel locked up while driving under normal conditions at 45 MPH. I was exiting the highway at this time and was luckily able to come to a complete stop. The car had to be towed to the Tesla service center. This is a brand new 2023 Tesla Y purchased a month ago. The steering wheel has been locking up from time to time; and the steering of the vehicle sometimes feels unwieldy, uncontrol... Read more
Incident date: Aug 12, 2023
Drove the car this morning at 540am. Came back to my house and went out to leave a few hours later. Got into the car and the back windshield just imploded and shattered into pieces and left a huge hold in the left side. Contacted the dealership, they stated that they have had other people with the same issue but no actual recall on this so I would need to fix it.
Incident date: Jul 31, 2023
4XE electric mode, while driving on the freeway, the vehicle said Electric Mode Temporarily Not available. The car loss power as I was going 70 MPH and it loss power and slowed to 8mph. The diesel traveling behind us slammed on his brakes to avoid hitting us and he tailspinned and caused a huge accident, all cars behind him had to come to a halt. I had my 2 year old granddaughter in her carseat in... Read more
Incident date: Jul 31, 2023
4XE electric mode, while driving on the freeway, the vehicle said Electric Mode Temporarily Not available. The car loss power as I was going 70 MPH and it loss power and slowed to 8mph. The diesel traveling behind us slammed on his brakes to avoid hitting us and he tailspinned and caused a huge accident, all cars behind him had to come to a halt. I had my 2 year old granddaughter in her carseat in... Read more
Incident date: Jul 27, 2023
The main center screen that has all the cameras and settings stopped working. It was just a blank screen. Car would start and drive with with just a black screen.
Incident date: Jul 27, 2023
The contact owns a 2004 Dodge Ram 1500 used to haul a 2018 Keystone Passport Ultra Lite Grand Touring. The contact stated that the thermostat in the RV failed to operate as needed. The RV was taken to the dealer, where the thermostat was replaced; however, the failure recurred. The RV was taken back to the dealer, where the thermostat was replaced a second time. Additionally, the contact stated th... Read more
Incident date: Jul 27, 2023
The contact owns a 2004 Dodge Ram 1500 used to haul a 2018 Keystone Passport Ultra Lite Grand Touring. The contact stated that the thermostat in the RV failed to operate as needed. The RV was taken to the dealer, where the thermostat was replaced; however, the failure recurred. The RV was taken back to the dealer, where the thermostat was replaced a second time. Additionally, the contact stated th... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2023
The AC system on the 2019 Honda Civic Sport Hatchback Touring stopped blowing cold air out of all the vents (driver and passenger) After turning off the car, only the passenger and right center vent blew a little colder air but the driver vent blew hot air. We took it into the dealership for inspection and their finding was Compressor and Condenser are dry along with evaporator core needing replac... Read more
Incident date: Aug 5, 2023
I was driving down the street from my home and I slowed down turned right and my car was out of control I steered to the curb. I got out and saw that the tire had blown-up and a large piece of the tire which was cut in half was on the ground. I couldn’t drive the car I called a tow truck driver who was there within 30 min he towed my car to BMW. It hasn’t been fully inspected I am waiting for... Read more
Incident date: Aug 5, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 MPH, the vehicle started to run rough. The contact stated that the vehicle was vibrating with smoke coming from the engine compartment. The contact stated that the "low coolant" and check engine warning lights were illuminated. The contact stopped and had the vehicle towed to a local dealer. The dealer diagnosed... Read more
Incident date: Aug 5, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 Ford F-150. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle hesitated upon depression of the accelerator pedal. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact called the dealer; however, the vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and a diagnostic test was performed. The contact was info... Read more
Incident date: Jul 11, 2023
My car was acting like it didn’t want to go. I felt the car trying to change gears but it was unable to. Almost caused an accident and I had my two children in the car. No check engine light came on until 2 days later after it began causing problems. I have researched this issue and it is a recurrent problem with Chevrolet Tahoes 2016. My husband had the same problem with his 2016 GMC sierra and... Read more
Incident date: Aug 11, 2023
Steering failed while moving slowly, reset procedure failed, will have to tow for repairs unsafe to drive, mileage 60,000, highly maintained
Incident date: Aug 11, 2023
Steering failed while moving slowly, reset procedure failed, will have to tow for repairs unsafe to drive, mileage 60,000, highly maintained
Incident date: Aug 1, 2023
Unknown- Check TPMS System, Check Parking Brake System, Check Brake System, Park light, all came on and stays on. While driving car shut off multiple times, speed will reduce, car will hesitate and jerk when trying to pull off from stop light.
Incident date: Aug 1, 2023
Unknown- Check TPMS System, Check Parking Brake System, Check Brake System, Park light, all came on and stays on. While driving car shut off multiple times, speed will reduce, car will hesitate and jerk when trying to pull off from stop light.
Incident date: Aug 7, 2023
The contact owns a 2020 Ford Escape. The contact stated while opening the driver's side door, he heard an abnormal popping sound. The contact stated that the popping sound was intermittent at first but had become a recurring failure. Additionally, the driver's side window failed to open and close normally. The contact observed four missing spot welds on the door hinge. The contact also stated that... Read more
Incident date: Jul 10, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Mustang. The contact stated that while reversing, the rearview camera failed to activate or operate as needed. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V082000 (Back Over Prevention) and the vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the decklid wiring harness was replaced; however, the failure persisted. The dea... Read more
Incident date: Jul 10, 2023
On June 16, 2023 When I got in my van and turned on, about 8 different system failure lights started singing and light up across my dashboard. I proceeded to drive it and it drove fine most of the time but then it would misfire or loose power. I took to a mechanic who plugged unit to read all the codes it was displaying. The ones that showed were P0300-P0306 and P219B. The mechanic pulled up and s... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Edge. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the brake pedal was depressed, and the vehicle made an abnormal sound. Additionally, the contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who informed the contact that the brake booster needed to be replaced. The contact related the failur... Read more
Incident date: Aug 8, 2023
On four separate occasions, the forward collision assist turned on when a car in front of my car has moved over into a turning lane and they slow down. The car aggressively brakes, and on two occasions has come to a complete stop in the middle of the road, not allowing me to move the car until the warning goes away. I was nearly rear ended on two occasions because of the cars sudden aggressive bra... Read more
Incident date: Jul 24, 2023
I bought my 2017 Civic 2.0L brand new. A few years later my A/C stops working in the middle of summer. Due to the cost of what it was going to cost me to have this fixed I had to delay getting my car fixed and having to drive a car with no A/C with my infant and toddler in the back. Eventually I was able to get this fixed and had to pay over $700. For this being a brand new vehicle when purchased ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 29, 2023
On June 29th, 2023 at approximately 8:45 AM we were pulling into a parking space slowly tapping the brakes to slow and stop the vehicle. About 2/3 of the way into the parking stall around 3 or 4 feet from the curb, the vehicle actually accelerated while pressing the brake jumping the curb. We pressed on the brakes again and the car accelerated even faster crossing the sidewalk crashing into a bu... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jun 29, 2023
2017 CR-V has 55,000 miles on it. ALL of the dashboard warning lights are coming on randomly, causing panic and making it impossible to tell if something is really wrong. Very Dangerous. Honda dealer diagnosis is to replace all 4 fuel injectors at cost of $1,726. There are literally thousands of reports about this online, people being given the same repair fix, often without permanent success, and... Read more
Incident date: Jun 29, 2023
2017 CR-V has 55,000 miles on it. ALL of the dashboard warning lights are coming on randomly, causing panic and making it impossible to tell if something is really wrong. Very Dangerous. Honda dealer diagnosis is to replace all 4 fuel injectors at cost of $1,726. There are literally thousands of reports about this online, people being given the same repair fix, often without permanent success, and... Read more
Incident date: Mar 29, 2023
While traveling at highway speeds from Colorado to Texas and from Texas back to Colorado my car continuously slammed on the brakes without warning while the autopilot(cruise control) was engaged. There was no visible evidence or object in common for each event. What made this dangerous is any untied objects in the car would shift forward and the vehicles behind me would have to slam on their bra... Read more
Incident date: Jul 15, 2023
Loss of power/misfire on cylinder 6 Diagnosis is cam/lifters. 8/4/2023 120k miles. Shift to park warning at 60,000 miles. continues. Max speed held to 65mph due to abs system???? for 10 minutes at approximately 90k miles. Park assist failure (complete) at approximately 80k miles.
Incident date: Jun 30, 2023
I bought the car in July 2022 with 62,000 miles for my daughter. The car now has 65,000 miles on it as she only drives back and forth to school. Check engine light came on a month ago then 2 weeks later it overheated with coolant light coming on. It took over a month to get in to the dealership to look at the car. Today they looked at it and told me the coolant had an leaked into the engine du... Read more
Incident date: Aug 7, 2023
While I was driving drivers side headrest deployed striking me forcefully in the back of the head
Incident date: Jul 21, 2023
Severely rusted out and corroded front subframe, only noticed it on accident very recently, and my car is the last year of a generation that was recalled for this very issue within the Salt Belt- I live right at the bottom outskirts of the Salt Belt in NKY, and my car is the only year not recalled for subframe corrosion. It's bad and I'm freaked out and can't afford it unless I figure out how to ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2022
-There is a loud clicking sound from the rear wheel that could be caused by the rear wheel bearing/final drive. As a result, I am very worried about riding it because a failure could be catastrophic. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. -It is my concern that the Information System has been designed in a way that BMW Motorrad to show that Recall obligations have been fulfilled tho... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2022
The following occurred in a 2022 Ford F150 Raptor with less than 500 miles. As soon as I put the car in drive and turned out of the parking lot, there was a huge boom that sounded like an explosion. I assumed that something had burst or all of my glass was shattered and the sound of loud crackling noises could be heard coming from the speakers. After the explosion-like sound, I was unable to hea... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2022
The following occurred in a 2022 Ford F150 Raptor with less than 500 miles. As soon as I put the car in drive and turned out of the parking lot, there was a huge boom that sounded like an explosion. I assumed that something had burst or all of my glass was shattered and the sound of loud crackling noises could be heard coming from the speakers. After the explosion-like sound, I was unable to hea... Read more
Incident date: Apr 19, 2023
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving 20-30 MPH, the steering wheel became significantly difficult to steer. The contact was able to continue driving by using his physical strength to steer the steering wheel. There was no further information provided. The contact stated that as he arrived to the residence, the steering wheel locked. The vehicle was towed to the u... Read more
Incident date: Jul 27, 2023
When you put the car in park, reverse, drive it jumps forward or back.
Incident date: Jul 23, 2023
All 20 OEM 2-piece lug nuts have swollen so that the OEM supplied lug nut wrench will not fit on the nuts. Therefore, if I have a flat tire while driving, and I need to pull over and change the tire, I have no way to get the lug nuts loose to change the tire. If this happens at night and/or in a dangerous part of town, or if I am stranded on the highway miles from the closest access to service o... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2022
The contact owned a 2014 GMC Acadia. The contact stated while her daughter was driving 35 MPH, a vehicle behind her had passed her vehicle and cut in front of her vehicle, and slowed. The contact stated that the daughter was driving into the sun on the road and was unable to see that the vehicle had cut in front of her and had slowed, the daughter crashed into the passenger side of the other vehic... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Dec 15, 2022
While driving down the highway the engine started to shake violently. Barely got the vehicle pulled over before the engine locked up tight. Had we not been in the right line and close to the soft shoulder, the vehicle could have locked up and stopped in the middle of the highway with cars doing 70mph behind us. Vehicle was towed to dealer and main bearing/rod bearing material was found in the ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 5, 2023
While backing the vehicle out of my driveway the steering wheel completely froze and would not turn in either direction. The vehicle reported a fault, so I turned the vehicle off then back in and it returned to normal. There was an error reported in the app under the service section however it has now disappeared.
Incident date: Jul 5, 2023
Engine shut off after a brief warning message on the dash while highway driving. I don't remember the exact words but it was a "drivetrain" problem. After the the message came on the car sputtered 2 or 3 times and then the engine shut down without warning. The car would not re-start. The car was stuck in the middle of the highway dead in it's track, in real danger of being rear ended by oncoming t... Read more
Incident date: Jul 29, 2023
Engine shut off after a brief warning message on the dash while highway driving. I don't remember the exact words but it was a "drivetrain" problem. After the the message came on the car sputtered 2 or 3 times and then the engine shut down without warning. The car would not re-start. The car was stuck in the middle of the highway dead in it's track, in real danger of being rear ended by oncoming t... Read more
Incident date: Jul 29, 2023
The contact owns a 2020 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the front driver’s side door failed to properly close with the door ajar image displayed on the instrument panel. The contact took the vehicle to a dealer and was informed that there were no recalls on the vehicle. The contact was provided an estimate for the repair. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not... Read more
Incident date: Jul 29, 2023
UNKNOWN- intermittently - multiple times a day for the last month the car starts making clicking noises like a card in the spokes of a bicycle. Mechanic could not find the cause. UNKNOWN- two times in 2 weeks- while making a turn my car stalled in the middle of an intersection, all the lights on the dash went on, and wouldn't start up again for a couple minutes. Then car starts and runs fine besi... Read more