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: Mar 27, 2023
2022 JEEP COMPASS. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARD TO VEHICLE HAVING NO SPARE TIRE.
Incident date: Apr 13, 2023
Water in center section of factory brake lamp assembly. This causes less to burn out and are not replaceable bulbs. Only fox is to replace the light completely.
Incident date: Apr 13, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle unintentionally downshifted. The failure persisted with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where he was informed that the leadframe in the transmission was defective and needed to be replaced. The contact was referred to the manufacturer who offered ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 14, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that the front driver's and passenger's side doors intermittently failed to open as needed. Additionally, the front driver's and passenger's side seat belt sensors failed to chime when the seat belts were not securely fastened. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made awar... Read more
Incident date: Mar 3, 2023
The contact owns a 2023 Honda Ridgeline. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH, the tonneau cover detached from the bed of the truck. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the dealer stated that the brackets used to hold the cover were defective. The tonneau cover was not replaced. The manufacturer was contacted, and the manufacturer offered to replace the tonneau cover. The failure mileage wa... Read more
Incident date: Apr 12, 2023
The contact's daughter owns a 2013 Ford Taurus. The contact stated while driving approximately 55 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was not able to be restarted and veered to the side of the road. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where the contact was informed that the engine and valves needed to be replaced. The contact stated that the cause of the failure was due to the water... Read more
Incident date: Jan 28, 2023
The contact owns a 2020 Jeep Gladiator. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V116000 (Power Train) 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 experien... Read more
Incident date: Apr 10, 2023
Instrument cluster on driver's steering wheel overheats. The heat is enough to cause a burn.
1 injured
Incident date: Apr 11, 2023
FRAME RUSTED -OUT ALLOWING RIGHT FRONT WHEEL A -FRAME TO COME LOOSE. ALLOWING WHEEL TO MOVE REARWARD INTO WHEELWELL STOPING ROTATION. IF I HAD BEEN ON THE INTERSTATE ??? MAYBE YOU WOULDNOT BE READING THIS??? [XXX] USCG retired INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
Incident date: Apr 11, 2023
I came to a stop in traffic. It was raining and my windshield wipers were on. The auto-stop feature engaged. When I took my foot off the brake, the vehicle vehicle failed to auto-start and prompted to put it in park and press the start button.
Incident date: Apr 8, 2023
At low rate of speed, while parking vehicle accelerated without warning and damaged 3 cars . This happened previously with separate family drivers without damage. This is a serious defect and could potentially cause serious injury or death. This was not driver error. the car lurched forward with absolutely no gas pedal involvement. The previous times it happened at a stoplight with enough room ... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Apr 8, 2023
Power conversion system failure. Only charges 32/48 amps at destination chargers. Unsure how long this has been a problem because I just upgraded my power panel to be able to charge at 48 amps. Being told $1800 to get car to charge at expected amp limit. 90k miles on car.
Incident date: Apr 8, 2023
THE TRUCK HAS BEEN HAVING PROBLEMS SINCE A MONTH AFTER WE GOT IT TOOK IT TO THE DEALERS THEY ALWAYS SAID NOTHING WRONG WITH TIME IT HAS GOTTEN WORSE IT FEELS LIKE SOMEONE IS PUSHING IT AND THEN STOPS FOR A BIT AND IT MAKES A LOUD SOUND FEELS LIKE TRAMSMITTION
Incident date: Apr 9, 2023
The transmission slips fro D to P making the vehicle inoperable. I have check all doors to make sure they were closed. restarted the vehicle yet still in able to drive! It is Not the first time it happened .
Incident date: Apr 10, 2023
The contact's daughter owns a 2003 Subaru Legacy. The contact stated that while his daughter was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle made squeaking sounds. Upon inspection, the contact noticed that the rear lateral link had detached from the rear subframe, and that the rear strut was leaning against the rear driver's side tire. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who determi... Read more
Incident date: Mar 26, 2023
While driving on interstate 10 near New Orleans, the computer software system malfunction resulting in loss of power steering and 90% loss of braking action requiring a great distant to stop.Vehicle was towed into shop and was found to have 184 codes violated. No parts were replaced. only an update. if this would have happened in traffic , I would not have been able to stop for 1,000 feet.
Incident date: Mar 26, 2023
The contact owned a 2005 Ford Ranger. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH during rain weather conditions, the contact lost control of the vehicle while going around a curve, causing the vehicle to crash into a ditch. No air bags deployed. The contact suffered a head injury and several other unknown injuries due to the seat belt. The paramedic had to cut the seat belt to release the contact fro... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Mar 26, 2023
i am an owner of Mercedes 2022 EQS, living in Westchester, New York. There are a number of flaws in the auto drive software system that the company refuses to acknowledge. 1) the sensors on the passenger side of the car do not register a car immediately adjacent to you. Thus, while the auto steering feature still keeps the car within the lane, if the car to the right lane of my vehicle is adjac... Read more
Incident date: Mar 2, 2022
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V162000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic) 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 contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the brake pedal was depressed an... Read more
Incident date: Mar 16, 2023
Vehicle was involved in a collision with right/ passenger front and side of vehicle. whole bumper knocked off. left front tire broke off during collision. Passenger side curtain air bag deployed. Stirring air bag did not deploy nor did the curtain airbag on driver side. Passenger injured with broken nose and face injury during collision.
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Mar 16, 2023
2/14/23 Dash Flashes “Put Car in Park”; battery symbol illuminates, gear shift ‘D’ lit up. Coasted to the shoulder, put car in park, engine was not running. I hit the “Start” button. The engine starts up, I put it into Drive, and pull onto the road. This repeats 2 more times. 2/20/23 Car serviced at Chrysler dealership - Service report said Updated PCM 181906EL Module. ECU from old pa... Read more
Incident date: Apr 7, 2023
2/14/23 Dash Flashes “Put Car in Park”; battery symbol illuminates, gear shift ‘D’ lit up. Coasted to the shoulder, put car in park, engine was not running. I hit the “Start” button. The engine starts up, I put it into Drive, and pull onto the road. This repeats 2 more times. 2/20/23 Car serviced at Chrysler dealership - Service report said Updated PCM 181906EL Module. ECU from old pa... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2023
To whom it may concern. I’ve purchased a second hand vehicle from New Jersey I live in California. It is 2002 Subaru outback H-6 3.0 with 52,000 miles. Upon delivery I took it to orange coast Subaru for general inspection when it was brought to my attention that there’s an open recall from 2004 stating excessive corrosion in the rear sub frame. It applies on vehicles in cold wet states wher... Read more
Incident date: Apr 3, 2023
Auto shutoff feature regularly fails when attempting to restart the engine. It may delay the restart or put the car in park and not allow it to restart for over 30 seconds. I was stuck in stop and go rush hour traffic. The engine would not restart, leaving the car stranded in the center lane for over a minute while attempting to get the car to start and in drive.
Incident date: Apr 7, 2023
car parked automatically while in drive. won't allow car to shift to drive or reverse due to "driving conditions not met". hybrid system light also randomly comes on.
Incident date: Mar 22, 2023
On 3/11/23, around noon time, I drove on I-280 N bound, just past Edgewood Road. It was nice weather, no wind, nothing extra loaded in the car, smooth clean road surface. All of a sudden I saw black pieces flying at my left side of the car through the window, I heard some noise and the car started unbalanced. I pulled the car slowly to the shoulder ... It was a left rear tire blowout! This car wa... Read more
Incident date: Mar 22, 2023
The tempered glass panel between the windshield and panaormic sunroof spontaneously shattered. We saw and heard nothing hit the vehicle when driving. We came out one morning, and the glass piece was shattered with missing glass. There are several complaints online of Kia sunroofs and this particular glass panel spontaneously shattering. If nothing is done, we believe someone could get injured.
Incident date: Apr 6, 2023
I came to a stop in traffic. It was raining and my windshield wipers were on. The auto-stop feature engaged. When I took my foot off the brake, the vehicle vehicle failed to auto-start and prompted to put it in park and press the start button.
Incident date: Mar 30, 2023
I bought my truck August 17, 2016 brand new from Crown Dodge - Chrysler with 7 miles on the odometer. When I bought my truck it had Good Year tires on the truck. At about 35k to 40k miles I replaced those tires with Michelin Defender LTX M/S that I purchased from Delta World Tire shop located 1629 Popps Ferry Road, Biloxi, MS 39532. Initially Delta World Tire shop could not correctly balance the ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 28, 2023
The accident took place on February 13 at approximately 7:40 a.m. My wife (the primary driver of the vehicle) had just dropped my son off at school and was pulling the vehicle into our garage as she has done at least four times a day since we purchased it in February 2022 for use as our primary family vehicle. She pulled into the garage, came to a complete stop, pressed the “Park” button and c... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Dec 19, 2018
The contact owns a 2015 Itasca Sunstar 36Y built on a 2014 Ford F-59 chassis. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the driver’s side window exploded, and the shattered pieces were propelled inside the vehicle. There were no injuries sustained. The contact replaced the window himself. The contact stated that the RV was jerking while driving at various speeds. The power train... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2022
After driving approximately 2.5 hours at 70 miles per hour, I took an exit off of the interstate and stopped at the stoplight at the bottom of the exit ramp. After about 1 minute the light turned green and I accelerated sharply and turned left. The Check Engine Light started to flash and the vehicle experienced a significant loss of power. I was unable to accelerate to match the speed of the tr... Read more
Incident date: Feb 26, 2023
As I was stopped at red light it stalled as I drove thru. So I pulled over. Got out to open hood. It was smoking.struggled to open hood. Ran around to get towel to smother the fire. But it was too far gone. Man told me just leave it. It was total loss.
Fire
Incident date: Mar 31, 2023
My car is have problems with wheel blance I don’t know why 1 year I have to took my car for alignment 2 or 3 times. It is something really wrong with the spring and the wheel blance.
Incident date: Mar 22, 2023
While accelerating ~6ft from a complete stop, a minor collision occurred affecting the front right headlight. The air-bags did not activate and the engine compartment was immediately on fire. Within ~1minute, the fire had spread to and completely engulfed the passenger compartment. The contents were immediately destroyed. The speed with which the fire spread through the vehicle was a significant ... Read more
Crash
Fire
Incident date: May 25, 2021
In any instance where the electronic shifter does not have power, vehicle cannot be placed into neutral manually to be pushed to safety. Vehicle shuts down, immobile, in place with no warning. I was in drive for approximately 30 minutes. I put the vehicle in park, then in reverse to back out of a parking space. The car was never turned off. When I went to put the vehicle into drive, the entire c... Read more
Incident date: May 25, 2021
Battery drains and goes dead at least once a month. Battery was replaced by dealer and still having battery drain issues.
Incident date: Apr 3, 2023
I have a 2016 Hyundai Tuscon Limited Turbo which I bought USED in August of 2018. The same week I left the lot I returned multiple times complaining that the car was hesitating and seemed like the transmission was having problems. The car would hesitate to go from a stop, several times leaving me and my infant (at the time) in the middle of intersections crossing traffic and unable to move. It alm... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Nov 1, 2021
The contact owns a 2016 Honda Civic. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH, the steering wheel became firm and jerked. Additionally, while at a complete stop, the vehicle made an abnormal sound. The contact stated that her father inspected the vehicle and stated that the steering rack assembly needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer.... Read more
Incident date: Mar 29, 2023
With about 47,000 miles of use the suspension became rough, mostly in the rear when driving. It is like you are driving with little to no shocks. The smallest bumps in the road you feel it and bounce in the seat. It used to be a very smooth driving car and very enjoyable to drive. This suspension problem is making it less than enjoyable and more difficult to drive. I spend more time looking a... Read more
Incident date: Mar 21, 2023
I was driving home from work during 5pm rush hour. I was coming up on a stop light going about 30mph and was trying to slowly come to a stop but noticed that my car wasn't slowing down so I tried to brake harder by pushing on the brake pedal but the pedal resisted my foot pressure so I pressed harder on the pedal but the car took over the braking and started to beep the collision warning. I was n... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Oct 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2017 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to CarMax where it was diagnosed; however, the cause of the failure could not be determined. The vehicle was then taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the oil needed to be changed. The vehicle was repai... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 Chevrolet Impala. The contact stated that he became aware that water was entering through the taillights into the trunk. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the seals and both taillight gaskets to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the contact became aware that the truck was corroded. The contact took the vehicle back... Read more
Incident date: Mar 31, 2021
on 30th MAR 2023, when my wife drove on to our drive way with gentle speed, car rammed into closed garage door and broke the door and rammed into living room wall with breaking room entry door . there is neither emergency breaking /stop nor collision warning . it damaged wall , garage door and more living room property damage with addition to damage to the car. i am really worried about the safe... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Apr 3, 2023
I bought Certified preowned 2018 Ford Ecosport SE Turbo Have not had any problems until 3/28/2023 when i was on my way back from the cemetery and my low oil pressure message came on along with my oil light and engine I have it serviced every time it needs oil change, new tires, etc. I don’t drive it hard at all. It has 112 k plus miles on it so it is out of warranty and i sill owe on it.I have c... Read more
Incident date: Apr 3, 2023
Traveling at low speed in driveway. When the side airbags deployed for seemingly no reason. There was no collision, did not run over anything etc.
1 injured
Incident date: Jan 20, 2023
My daughter purchased a 2014 Ford Focus in August of 2021 with roughly 35,000 miles. She was starting college as a full time student and needed a dependable vehicle.....which she DID NOT get. Zeck Ford in Itasca, Tx is where this was purchased and they KNEW of the issue regarding the TCM in this particular vehicle. This vehicle should have never been on that lot for sale. Ford recently closed thi... Read more
Incident date: Jan 20, 2023
Long Block replacement due to design flaw with 1.6L eccoboost engine. Engine failure occurred at 59,000, despite having every safety recall addressed and regular servicing by Ford. The design flaw, as I have leaned is due to a channel carved into the block between the cylinders. The resultant notch in the head gasket, reduced the gasket surface contact. This engine has a history of overheating,... Read more
Incident date: Mar 7, 2023
Bad PTU unit in Jeep part #68307403AG. Have not been able to drive jeep for half a year now due to bad ptu unit. Jeep will swerve and driver will lose control of steering. Warning stating 4wd is currently unavailable this will have approximately every 15-20 mins. PTU has been on back order for over 6 months now.
Incident date: Mar 7, 2023
Screen stuck in night mode & I have bad eyes & need sunglasses during the day. Therefore I cannot see my speed or gauges at all during the day. Already have a speeding ticket because of it