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: Feb 4, 2023
This is the second time I am reporting this issues. This time I got a video of it. On Feb 2, I was, again, at a red light and a buzzing alarm started going off with the error showing as “Engine Stopped. Steering Power Low.” Then it would flicker to show “Engine Stopped. Press brake firmly to restart.” At the top it said “Ignition On”. When it does this I can’t drive the vehicle. I ha... Read more
Incident date: Feb 4, 2023
This is the second time I am reporting this issues. This time I got a video of it. On Feb 2, I was, again, at a red light and a buzzing alarm started going off with the error showing as “Engine Stopped. Steering Power Low.” Then it would flicker to show “Engine Stopped. Press brake firmly to restart.” At the top it said “Ignition On”. When it does this I can’t drive the vehicle. I ha... Read more
Incident date: Jan 23, 2023
The vehicle locked up and would't move at 10,000 miles. We were lucky that the car was in someone's driveway instead of on the road. The vehicle was new at the time of purchase. I have a relative who is an auto technician and he said that he has experienced this problem with Ford transmissions many times.
Incident date: Jan 23, 2023
Received a yellow "electrical failure" warning while driving, instructing me to call Audi for service. Audi indicated that the car remained safe to drive, and offered a service appointment greater than one month later. Driving the car the next day, the electrical failure icon converted to red and a message said to pull over immediately. The car was able to make it to a local repair shop, with e... Read more
Incident date: Feb 5, 2023
The breaks have to be pushed too far down in order for truck to stop. I have had the breaks professionally bled and still… in order to come to a complete stop I have to put quite a bit of pressure for my truck to remain stopped at a red light. I hit a bicyclist crossing the road because my truck moved forward. There have been a few times I almost rolled into an intersection to oncoming traffic b... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Feb 5, 2023
While driving the vehicle within the city the engine turned off in the middle of the intersection causing near miss in the middle of the intersection as other vehicle were trying to pass me because my vehicle stalled. After having to towed the vehicle it was found that the engine has seized which is why the vehicle stopped.
Incident date: Feb 4, 2023
Both door locks freeze up in temps below 20 F. I cannot enter the vehicle and am stuck with no transportation.
Incident date: Feb 3, 2023
was going to work on rt 80 east had cruise control on and was getting off exit 45 in new jersey to get bus into manhattan at approx 430 amwhile getting off highway stepped on brakes pedal went to floor tried pumping nothing happened nor did criuise control disengage or collision warning come on a total collapse of system had this car for approx 1 month purchased used at paramus mercedes benz took... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Nov 17, 2022
I drive on the freeway, and I lost any power with the car, I'm lucky my baby was not in my car on that day. It happened two times and I go to the Mopar service center, they tell me they don't have the part for that, and I ask them what's should I do with that situation, and they said that's a good question, I have no idea, but you can wait for the part and I don't know when the part comes in maybe... Read more
Incident date: Nov 17, 2022
I drive on the freeway, and I lost any power with the car, I'm lucky my baby was not in my car on that day. It happened two times and I go to the Mopar service center, they tell me they don't have the part for that, and I ask them what's should I do with that situation, and they said that's a good question, I have no idea, but you can wait for the part and I don't know when the part comes in maybe... Read more
Incident date: Jan 25, 2023
The headlamp assembly lenses have become warped and frosted due to excessive heat from the bulb and defective heat dissipation from the headlamp assembly . Poor visibility at night, as light output is significantly diminished creating a safety hazard..
Incident date: Jan 26, 2023
The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle experienced a loss of power steering assist with the power steering assist fault message displayed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The dealer informed the contact that there was no recall associated with the VIN. The manufacturer ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 26, 2023
Rear wiper will not turn off
Incident date: Feb 2, 2023
ABS SERVICE LIGHT CAME ON FOR THE SECOND TIME. I TOOK IT IN TO THE DEALER THEY REPLACED A PART AND NOW ITS BACK ON AND OFF.
Incident date: Nov 23, 2022
My bmw x5 40e is having issues accelerating from a dead stop. My safety was put at risk because I was stuck in the intersection going very slowly even after put the accelerating pedal to the floor. It did not properly engage until I got to the other side of the intersection and the stoplight went back to red. It has happened several times after. BMW North America stated that they could not duplica... Read more
Incident date: Nov 23, 2022
While driving the car it failed to accelerate while pressing gas. It has happened 3 times. In each case it happened within approximately 5 min of driving, twice after idling for 10-15 min. The 'Hybrid System Warning-Safely Stop and Do Not Drive' light came on but not immediately. The engine display in the car seemed to show that the engine was not sending any charge to the battery which was ra... Read more
Incident date: Nov 23, 2022
While driving the car it failed to accelerate while pressing gas. It has happened 3 times. In each case it happened within approximately 5 min of driving, twice after idling for 10-15 min. The 'Hybrid System Warning-Safely Stop and Do Not Drive' light came on but not immediately. The engine display in the car seemed to show that the engine was not sending any charge to the battery which was ra... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2023
Driving uphill when the car suddenly jolted, lost power, and all warning lights became illuminated. All safety features were disabled as well. The sudden stop almost resulted in being rear ended and the car was barely drivable afterwards. Diagnostic trouble codes: P26A6, P2004, P2005, P060B, P0191, P24B9, P2200, P2400.
Incident date: Feb 1, 2023
Vehicle window trim, (Front right) detached and flew off vehicle when traveling between 50-60mph. I was unaware that this wasn't an isolated incident until the news reported a potential investigation.
Incident date: Jan 27, 2023
Reporting very dangerous sudden unintended acceleration of 2015 BMW 328i: When about to back out of a parking space in a parking garage, I pressed the brakes and turned on the ignition switch. After looking around to ensure no cars or people were near the car, I put the gear shift in reverse, turned my whole head entirely over my right shoulder to look through the back windshield and, seeing nothi... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Jan 27, 2023
This vehicle has a stop/start function to shut off when the vehicle stops and then cut back on when you press the gas. Approximately 2 weeks ago my vehicle started stalling out whenever it stops and you have to put it in park and restart the car. Sometimes it starts back up, sometimes it takes a few minutes. This is EVERY time it stops—- red lights, stop signs, intersections and poses a haz... Read more
Incident date: Jan 27, 2023
Had the Service Electronic Braking System Light warning activate at around 30k miles. Cycles off and on continuously rendering cruise control inoperative. The dealer diagnosed and replaced a faulty HCU. At 44K miles the problem appeared again with the same indications. Diagnosed as the same cause. Waited a few weeks for parts, now awaiting a service appointment to have issue fixed. Over 3 mont... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2023
This car has randomly slammed on the breaks too many times to count and has been reported far too many times. Today while in the left lane on 95 southbound this car randomly slammed on the breaks so violently the speed was reduced 20 mph with seconds. This is incredibly dangerous, HOW LONG WILL YOU ALL THIS
Incident date: Jan 31, 2023
While driving 60mph on the highway my windshield molding on the passenger side flew off.
Incident date: Dec 9, 2022
Bought a truck and drove around 420 miles home, within 24 hours of purchase warning lights and sounds went on and off over and over while driving. Took it to 3 mechanic shops, and all 3 said it was the same thing. All shops said it's been a problem for that truck, but there are no recalls on it yet. The warning lights are for the very important ABS brake system and traction control system. Having ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2023
ABS/STABILITY fault happens constantly.
Incident date: Jan 30, 2023
I am part of a large number of individuals ~200+ documented experiencing scraping noises in our 7 speed manual transmissions. Most of us can't get service done due to part supply issues and labor shortages. The bigger concern is FORD is replacing same parts that are being damaged which doesn't address the root cause of the issue and its not solving problem because it comes back shortly after servi... Read more
Incident date: Jan 30, 2023
I am part of a large number of individuals ~200+ documented experiencing scraping noises in our 7 speed manual transmissions. Most of us can't get service done due to part supply issues and labor shortages. The bigger concern is FORD is replacing same parts that are being damaged which doesn't address the root cause of the issue and its not solving problem because it comes back shortly after servi... Read more
Incident date: Jul 1, 2022
The Kia lacks engine immobilizers. The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard states that vehicles must be equipped with a starting system that prevents the activation of the engine and either steering, forward mobility, or both, whenever a car's key is removed. The purpose of the law is to decrease the likelihood that a vehicle will be stolen or accidently set in motion, and the statute applies... Read more
Incident date: Jul 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2021 Mercedes-Benz GLC43 equipped with Continental Tires, Tire Line: Sport Contact, Tire Size: 255/40/ZR21, DOT Number: AFHDD76M. The contact stated that on several occasions while driving at approximately 30 MPH and at low speeds on wet pavement, the vehicle started to shake, and a loud abnormal noise was heard in all four tires. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle wa... Read more
Incident date: Jan 26, 2023
I purchased the vehicle in Feb 2022. I received a call from my dealer about the recall last week, they said they would perform the repair on 01/26/23. I picked the vehicle up the next day without them having performed the repair because the VIN still shows "remedy not available". The dealer did not even assess the safety issue when the car was brought in. I do not know if the car is safe to driv... Read more
Incident date: Jan 26, 2023
Cruise control disengages then slows down very quickly, then will not reengage. You have to keep pulling over and restarting the car for the system to come back on line. It's random and keeps happening.
Incident date: Jan 26, 2023
Cruise control disengages then slows down very quickly, then will not reengage. You have to keep pulling over and restarting the car for the system to come back on line. It's random and keeps happening.
Incident date: Nov 30, 2021
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle, the transmission experienced rough shifting while the vehicle jumped, and the engine revved loudly. The transmission fault message was displayed. Additionally, the fuel gauge level was inaccurate. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the transmission control unit (TCU) needed to be r... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2022
2020 LEXUS RX350. CONSUMER WRITES SEEKING REIMBURSEMENT FOR REPAIRS MADE TO VEHICLE. THE CONSUMER STATED THERE IS WATER INTRUSION INTO THE FLOOR PASSENGER FLOOR AREA OF THE VEHICLE.THE DEALERSHIP INDICATED REPAIR WORK REQUIRED WAS DUE TO AN EXTERNAL INFLUENCE AND INSECT(SPIDER) FORMING A NEST IN THE AIR CONDITIONING CONDENSATION DRAIN LINE.
Incident date: Aug 20, 2019
In 2009, we bought this 2006 BMW 750Li as pre-owned and certified warranty from BMW of Tenafly, New Jersey. We have registration address maintained in New Jersey, and have not updated, even though we moved to Chicago, Illinois in summer of 2011. BMW issued 6 recalls for 7-series manufactured between 2005 and 2008. The recalls on manufacturer defects on electric and transmission in 2012 and 2013, a... Read more
Incident date: Aug 20, 2019
The lane departure keep system has a major firmware bug. When the car is moving along a sweeping right hand turn from the farthest left lane, the vehicle senses that the car is going to cross the lane line to the right and jerks the steering wheel back towards dead center. This throws the vehicle towards the left hand curb. The driver must react quickly to jerk the wheel back to the proper positi... Read more
Incident date: Aug 20, 2019
As I was driving, I began to park. I put my foot on the brake and proceeded to put car in reverse. The back up camera began to flash. Once it stopped flashing, the image on the screen was upside down. It’s is available for inspection. This is a safety hazard. The purpose of the camera is so that people can see what’s behind them. If the Camry isn’t functioning properly it’s can cause acci... Read more
Crash
BMW
C650 GT MAXI-SCOOTER
(2016) - SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:PEDALS AND LINKAGES
Jan 30, 2023
Incident date: Jan 30, 2023
The contact owns a 2022 Jeep Gladiator. The contact stated while approaching a stop sign and attempting to place his foot on the brake pedal, the contact’s foot became caught between the brake pedal and the accelerator pedal. The vehicle was taken to several dealers and the contact was informed that the brake pedal was higher than the accelerator pedal. The vehicle was not repaired because the d... Read more
Incident date: Jul 1, 2022
When pulling into a parking spot and with my foot on the break, the car suddenly accelerated. The car did not react to my breaking. The car kept moving forward over a sidewalk, over the curb on the street, into the back end of a pickup parked on the road I was facing, and started heading across the street toward another parked truck. Luckily there was no one on the sidewalk, no one was hurt. Thi... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jan 28, 2023
The backup camera on the car works intermittently switching between blue screens and component not available. This causes a safety risk as I back up. A specific scenario that occured where I had to back out of my garage during Halloween with kids running about the neighborhood. The backup camera screen turned blue requiring me to backup using only the side mirrors hoping someone was not behind th... Read more
Incident date: Jan 28, 2023
My rear view camera has been broken for about 2 years, it just completely stopped working. I took my car to the dealership and they confirmed my camera was defective and said that my extended warranty would cover it, I still haven’t taken it in to be fixed yet but I just wanted to report this issue.
Incident date: Jan 28, 2023
I drove .01 miles and stopped at the entrance gate. My windows were dirty, so I used my wiper lever to spray washer fluid on the windows. I pulled out onto traffic after cleaning the window. Due to the space between the wiper control and the manual paddle shift lever ( I think) The lever was hit by my hand ( I think)? or it was a malfunction? so when I pulled out into traffic I was not in any... Read more
Incident date: Jan 13, 2023
The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Sentra. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle suddenly lost motive power and stalled. During the failure, the check engine and air bags warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer who diagnosed that the transmission was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer wa... Read more
Incident date: Dec 27, 2022
When you hit a bump at road speeds (45 mph+), the steering wheel shakes wildly and you have to slow down immediately to avoid losing control. First happened about 12 months ago. Was not a common issue until more recently. Now it seems to be nearly every time I drive it. Ongoing issue now.
Incident date: Jul 1, 2022
Mechanic stated engine cylinder head oil hole leak. Seems to be manufacturer defects
Incident date: Dec 25, 2022
Dear. NHTSA Good morning, Yesterday I filed a complaint regarding 2022 Kia Sorento Car Problems regarding recall issues. This morning, I received a response from NHTSA saying that NHTSA cannot help with this matter. My complaint is about serious car issues which concernts 2 recall issues. Kia America took my car for repair on 12/20/22 and today is 01/27/23 Until today, Kia American is not resp... Read more
Incident date: Jan 27, 2023
I own a Kia Soul. The catylitic converters went out. The car won't accelerate and the car got extremely hot. When I looked up Kia Soul recalls it showed that there was a recall on the converters also that some Kia Souls had gotten hot an caught on fire. I called Parkway Family Kia. They told me that it wasn't an active recall and that they couldn't do anything. I then called Demontrond Kia a... Read more
Incident date: Jan 27, 2023
I own a Kia Soul. The catylitic converters went out. The car won't accelerate and the car got extremely hot. When I looked up Kia Soul recalls it showed that there was a recall on the converters also that some Kia Souls had gotten hot an caught on fire. I called Parkway Family Kia. They told me that it wasn't an active recall and that they couldn't do anything. I then called Demontrond Kia a... Read more
Incident date: Jan 26, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Ford F-450. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the vehicle was shaking uncontrollably from side to side; almost causing the vehicle to crash into another vehicle. The contact was able to pull over on the side of the road and waited for the vehicle to stop shaking. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 55... Read more