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: May 14, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 BMW X3. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the low oil pressure and drive train warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and the contact was informed that the timing chain guide failed which and caused a catastrophic engine failure. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was... Read more
Incident date: Apr 17, 2023
The shutter in the front of the car is defective. This part not working causes the car to overheat. There are so many issues with this exact same problem on this exact car that there is literally a back order and I cannot get the part so now I can’t use my car. My mechanic place said he’s seen 4 of these cars in the past week with the same problem and can’t get the parts because of back orde... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2023
The speed sensor on car seems to have failed unexpectedly while driving over a bridge. The car would barely move and could have become a dangerous situation for multiple people had it been typical traffic. The issue seems to be that although the sensors are corrupted, the entire valve body or transmission must be replaced to solve the issue leaving the car inoperable. The car is currently at a re... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2023
The speed sensor on car seems to have failed unexpectedly while driving over a bridge. The car would barely move and could have become a dangerous situation for multiple people had it been typical traffic. The issue seems to be that although the sensors are corrupted, the entire valve body or transmission must be replaced to solve the issue leaving the car inoperable. The car is currently at a re... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2023
On March 22, 2023 at approximately 10:15 am CDT, while heading south on Interstate 310 in Kenner, Louisiana, the passenger side windshield molding flew off the car while traveling just over 60 mph. I was coming out of a curve from exiting I-10W onto I-310. Not sure if it hit another vehicle as there were other vehicles in general area at the time, but did not see exactly where part landed. The ... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2018
The new model y froze in the middle of an interstate Highway indicating it was shutting itself down and not driveable. It took only 30seconds from 60 miles per hour to completely inoperable and stopped itself in traffic. Currently the mileage of this car is only 12 miles and I drove only 7 miles about 20 minutes after the we picked up the car. Tesla service told me it was a rear motor inverter i... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2018
The new model y froze in the middle of an interstate Highway indicating it was shutting itself down and not driveable. It took only 30seconds from 60 miles per hour to completely inoperable and stopped itself in traffic. Currently the mileage of this car is only 12 miles and I drove only 7 miles about 20 minutes after the we picked up the car. Tesla service told me it was a rear motor inverter i... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2018
The new model y froze in the middle of an interstate Highway indicating it was shutting itself down and not driveable. It took only 30seconds from 60 miles per hour to completely inoperable and stopped itself in traffic. Currently the mileage of this car is only 12 miles and I drove only 7 miles about 20 minutes after the we picked up the car. Tesla service told me it was a rear motor inverter i... Read more
Incident date: May 15, 2023
Braking system sometimes is activated by a sign on the side of the road, by a tree if we are turning, or nothing at all. Nearly in 2 rear end collisions when the system activated incorrectly. We cannot drive into our garage with the system activated...brakes keep slamming on. The only safe way to operate this subaru is to manually turn it off every time we start the car. Subaru dealership states i... Read more
Incident date: Apr 30, 2023
My engine suffered the coolant intrusion issue that many ford eco boost engines are experiencing. I reached out to ford because its a part of their ford TSB (which I have copies of and sent Ford). I was quoted 12,249$ By the ford dealership to fix my engine, when this is an on going issue with ford ecoboost engines. There were no warnings other than my car overheated once and kept losing coolant i... Read more
Incident date: Apr 30, 2023
The USB charging plug inside the middle console burned my charger causing smoke inside the cabin. Tesla has rescheduled the appt once already and doesn't seem to be a concern to them. This is a huge safety concern as it could have caused a fire if items were near this USB plug.
Fire
Incident date: Apr 30, 2023
When starting from a stopped position, there is a squeal when letting out the clutch. I took it back to the dealership 3x and they couldn't duplicate it. Apparently it is a known issue as there are bulletins on it. It happens almost every time, especially on a slight incline.
Incident date: Apr 30, 2023
The bluetooth Microphone screeches for the people on the other end of the call. I cannot hear it. It was replaced once under warranty, however my car is no long under warranty and it is doing it again. there are bulletins about this issue, but no recalls as it's not a safety issue. just a money issue.
Incident date: Apr 7, 2021
This Is a volvo semi tractor 2021 the original sunvisor was removed from tractor. And an off brand replacement was installed which is substantially smaller by 4 inches on each side of visor + it's mounted in wrong direction making morning and evening's very difficult due too extremely bright glares from sun even head lights Led signage. It's a danger I don't like ! Bike lanes,people crossing the... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2023
While driving with my family the truck gave several error messages and a check engine light. I pulled over immediately because the truck lost power and the stability control started shaking violently. I was able to safely maneuver out of traffic, but I cannot imagine what would have happened if I was on a busy highway instead of a small side street. Apparently this is an issue that has been fairly... Read more
Incident date: May 11, 2023
I was turning left at an intersection on 5/5/23 and the brakes locked up for no reason. As I entered the intersection the vehicle flashed the automatic emergency braking lights and locked up the brakes as I turned left. The lane in front of me was perfectly clear and the sudden stop fortunately didn't cause the vehicle behind me to rear end me. My wife and I were totally shocked and confused why t... Read more
Incident date: May 11, 2023
The air conditioning system has failed. Safety is at risk due to elevated temperatures. Thousands of people have complained about these issues. HSB 19-091 does not go far enough, Honda needs to recall the entire a/c system and repair these manufacturer defects.
Incident date: May 1, 2023
Tesla purposely disabled sensors to warn when close to objects (curb, other vehicles, garage door opening & wall). I wasn’t informed that there will be no parking assist feature indefinitely when I spoke to sakes dept.Tesla says it is still developing cameras to replace sensors. I had a 2015 tesla, which had these warnings. Before that I had a2002 Jaguar with park sensors. It is not new. Because... Read more
Incident date: May 11, 2023
Anda manejando cuando empezó a salir mucho humo por el tablero y la troca ya no respodia no podia ya aselerar y el volante se puso duro me sali de la carretera marqué al sitio de emergencia por ayuda pero la tahoe se quemo muy rápido
Fire
Incident date: May 1, 2023
On my way to work one day the check engine light,ABS light and traction control light came on and I thought something under the hood had came loose thought nothing about it and went into work when I came back out and got into the truck the lights where gone no big deal just sorta let it go and since I work out of state this is the truck I drive when I go back to my home state so I drove it 4 hours... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2023
On my way to work one day the check engine light,ABS light and traction control light came on and I thought something under the hood had came loose thought nothing about it and went into work when I came back out and got into the truck the lights where gone no big deal just sorta let it go and since I work out of state this is the truck I drive when I go back to my home state so I drove it 4 hours... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2023
On my way to work one day the check engine light,ABS light and traction control light came on and I thought something under the hood had came loose thought nothing about it and went into work when I came back out and got into the truck the lights where gone no big deal just sorta let it go and since I work out of state this is the truck I drive when I go back to my home state so I drove it 4 hours... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2023
I had 2 accidents in the same week. First one was Monday 2-20-2023. Leaving work heading home, I was at a red light. The light turned green and the car in front proceeded to go. As I hit the accelerator, my car ran into the back of a car full speed. Every attempt to stop car and was unsuccessful. I called to make appt at dealership to have car inspected. Before I could get to said appt at dealersh... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: May 1, 2023
My truck was a gmc 2500 2022 brand new I got this truck 0 miles And somebody hit me very bad my truck was total damage and you can imagine and airbags never deployed so even the va states police was saying why the airbags no deployed
Crash
3 injured
Incident date: May 1, 2023
After my 2019 Subaru Legacy 2.5i Limited sat outside on a level blacktop parking lot for one week (05-03-23 to 05-10-23) without moving, both passenger side tires were discovered completely deflated. The tires were Goodyear Eagle LS-2 size 225/50R18 95H (front passenger DOT M678 JR2R 1819 and rear passenger DOT M678 JR2R 1719). The tires were original to the car when purchased new by myself at Jen... Read more
Incident date: Apr 13, 2023
Driver side headlight allows moisture to enter, contine to get headlight error. Turn signals and hazard signals stopped working. Dealer indicates that entire headlight assembly must be replaced at a cost of $2000.00. No sign of exterior damage.
Incident date: May 12, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford F-350. The contact stated while driving 80 MPH, the vehicle started shaking and the driveshaft detached and fell off the vehicle. The contact veered to the side of the roadway. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V644000 (Back Over Prevention) and 22V880000 (Power Train) however, the parts to do the r... Read more
Incident date: Apr 29, 2023
I was driving north on 95 in Massachusetts going about 75 mph and the forward collision avoidance went off (flashing break waring in the dashboard) slowing my car down to under 50 mph. There were NO vehicles or obstacles in front of me. This keeps happening and it's only a matter of time until I get rear-ended. I reported this to Honda and they said it's just the safety features.... I had one pers... Read more
Incident date: Mar 27, 2023
Abs module melted causing the wiring harness to melt. Now the module and harness needs to be replaced and module reprogrammed
Incident date: Mar 27, 2023
There is a ticking noise from the 6.4L Hemi that is in this truck. I took it into the dealer and I was told that it was normal. Recently The ticking got so loud that it sounds like the lifters or a rod that will shoot through the engine compartment and injure or kill someone.
Incident date: May 12, 2020
UNKNOWN
1 injured
1 deaths
Incident date: Dec 24, 2022
I just bought this vehicle this Sunday. I drove about 400 miles and Wednesday, I got warning ⚠️ electric drive unit ⚠️. Yesterday I took my car to dealership and got call from them that auxiliary transmission issue and they will replace it. Car is still at the dealership, now we are afraid to drive that car and what if it jeopardizes our safety. We drive a lot for work as a home health pro... Read more
Incident date: Apr 25, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Nissan Maxima. The contact stated while approaching a stop light, the vehicle started jerking. The contact pulled over and the vehicle lost motive power and stalled. The contact was unable to restart the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic and the crank shaft was replaced. On another occasion while at a stop light, the contact became aware of smoke com... Read more
Incident date: Feb 15, 2023
Stereo has extremely loud pop and static noise. Almost blew my water drums, including wife and kids. This is a known issue and Ford is not doing anything about it. Happened 3 times now / easily cause an accident when driving not mention blowing ear drums. I had to go to doctor to get checked out. Ears still ringing and having hard time hearing.
1 injured
Incident date: Apr 14, 2023
Driving normal and then sudden down shift while driving on the freeway Had the software update and it’s still doing the same thing. Was told the lead frame needs replacement. Ford has so many issues with the parts they are back ordered and I am now moving past the extended 10 year / 150,000 mile warranty. I can’t drive and have no idea when or if parts will be available.
Incident date: Apr 14, 2023
Driving normal and then sudden down shift while driving on the freeway Had the software update and it’s still doing the same thing. Was told the lead frame needs replacement. Ford has so many issues with the parts they are back ordered and I am now moving past the extended 10 year / 150,000 mile warranty. I can’t drive and have no idea when or if parts will be available.
Incident date: Apr 14, 2023
This incident, which is a false forward collision warning, took place on May 10, 2023 at 8:56am ET on Route 50 at Arlington, VA: 1. I was travelling on Rt. 50 at the left lane 2. Due to morning traffic jam, I, and all the other cars, were moving way below the maximum speed limit 3. On my right, there was another car traveling below the speed line with left signal on 4. Other car didn't make make a... Read more
Incident date: May 10, 2023
Engine burning too much oil, about 1/2 quart per month. Dealership said that there was a recall for the engine to be replaced but I must wait until my engine dies. I understand that we may be stranded if we take a long trip. Being the 2nd owner of this car, we never received the letter/notice of the recall. My husband is trying to talk to the Hyundai customer service rep in California to try to... Read more
Incident date: May 8, 2023
I’m not sure exactly when everything started but it’s been a 2ish years. The lights on my steering wheel started blinking randomly. Then the cruise control stopped working. Then the lights went out entirely. Now the horn only works occasionally. It slowly got worse over time.
Incident date: Mar 30, 2023
Rear steel bumper totally corroded rendering bumper protection deficient. Significant rusting on rear bumper beam.
Incident date: Mar 30, 2023
The contact owns a 2022 Ford Escape. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V859000 (Fuel System, Gasoline) 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 manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distributi... Read more
Incident date: Nov 27, 2022
Lights come on & off for airbags and or seat belts - randomly - unknown as to why - or if they are working - sometimes stay on - for 2 weeks - then go off and not on for quite awhile (weeks) brought up as to -why? with no resolution except may need repair? Does not seem to make sense - no accidents or even close to an accident ever occurring- local driving - car maintained.
Incident date: May 5, 2023
While backing up in my parking space, my car completly shut off. The steering was locked and the car would not start back up. I had to disconnect the battery to get it to restart
Incident date: May 5, 2023
While backing up in my parking space, my car completly shut off. The steering was locked and the car would not start back up. I had to disconnect the battery to get it to restart
Incident date: May 7, 2023
BMW just issued a Do Not Drive order for BMW 5 series cars from 2000 to 2006. Our car is a 1999 BMW 528I. According to your safety records, this car also has Takata air bags, but I see no indication these have been recalled. Since they are actually older than the 2000-2006 cars, shouldn't these 1999 Takata air bags be just as dangerous? What should I do about this? Thank you.
Incident date: May 7, 2023
I was driving in stop-and-go traffic on 5/3/23 and when I released my foot from the brake to gentle accelerate when traffic ahead of me moved, many error messages flashed on the dashboard and the vehicle did not move. The various errors included "travel assist not available", "forward collision warning not available", "vehicle should NOT be towed", "all wheel drive function is currently limited" ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 22, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Toyota Avalon equipped with Cooper Tires, Tire Line: CS5 Ultra Touring, Tire Size: 215/55/R17, DOT Number: U93R1CU1820. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the front end of the vehicle was shaking abnormally without warning. The contact took the vehicle to a tire shop and was informed that the tread on the driver’s and passenger’s side tires were se... Read more
Incident date: Dec 1, 2021
The contact owns a 2021 Ram 1500. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V767000 (Fuel System, Gasoline, Engine); 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 manufacturer was unable to confirm when the part would become available. The contact had not ex... Read more
Incident date: Dec 1, 2021
The contact owns a 2021 Ram 1500. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V767000 (Fuel System, Gasoline, Engine); 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 manufacturer was unable to confirm when the part would become available. The contact had not ex... Read more