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: Oct 15, 2024
The contact owns a 2019 Honda Odyssey. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the contact heard a ticking sound coming from the engine compartment. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the rod bearings had failed, and the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of... Read more
Incident date: Apr 29, 2025
My 2015 Ford Fusion with the 1.5L EcoBoost engine experienced a complete engine failure due to a coolant intrusion in cylinder 3, which is consistent with Ford TSB 20-2100. In December 2023, I brought the car to the dealership due to rough starting and a non-start issue. No coolant related codes were detected at the time. In May 2025, the vehicle began running roughly and showed codes PO316 and PO... Read more
Incident date: Apr 29, 2025
The contact owns a 2023 Ford F-150. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V509000 (Parking Brake); 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 and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufacturer wa... Read more
Incident date: Apr 25, 2025
After receiving a CMBS error message I tried to drive home and the vehicle automatically engaged brakes while merging with no other vehicle near by and I was almost rear ended.
2 injured
Incident date: Jan 15, 2023
I recently took my vehicle to the dealership because all the hazard lights on the dash came on. They diagnosed it as an issue with the inverter water pump and suggested that the engine was overheating, which was causing the hazard light to appear on the dashboard. So I had them replace that part and everything was fine. A week later, I went to drive to work and my entire dashboard was out. My rad... Read more
Incident date: Jan 15, 2023
I recently took my vehicle to the dealership because all the hazard lights on the dash came on. They diagnosed it as an issue with the inverter water pump and suggested that the engine was overheating, which was causing the hazard light to appear on the dashboard. So I had them replace that part and everything was fine. A week later, I went to drive to work and my entire dashboard was out. My rad... Read more
Incident date: Jun 5, 2025
I was driving in completely clear weather on [XXX] . No cars were within at least 100 ft in front of my vehicle. Suddenly the emergency braking system alarm flared and the brake engaged. This could have caused someone tor rear end my car but luckily no one was behind me. The brake also fairly quickly disengaged. I took it to Pearson Hyundai where I had bought the car ([XXX]). They had the car for... Read more
Incident date: May 28, 2025
The contact owns a 2022 Jeep Gladiator. The contact stated that while an independent mechanic was driving 60 MPH, the vehicle drove over a pothole, and the steering wheel and the front end of the vehicle shuddered violently. The contact stated that the vehicle experienced the "Death Wobble". The mechanic diagnosed that the steering column and other unknown parts needed to be replaced. The vehicle ... Read more
Incident date: May 28, 2025
The contact owns a 2022 Jeep Gladiator. The contact stated that while an independent mechanic was driving 60 MPH, the vehicle drove over a pothole, and the steering wheel and the front end of the vehicle shuddered violently. The contact stated that the vehicle experienced the "Death Wobble". The mechanic diagnosed that the steering column and other unknown parts needed to be replaced. The vehicle ... Read more
Incident date: May 4, 2025
Backup camera either shows black screen, or a warming box appears stating to see dealership. Will work intermittently.
Incident date: May 31, 2025
The contact owns a 2008 Dodge Ram 1500. The contact stated that while driving at highway speeds, the vehicle was severely shaking and vibrating. The contact replaced the struts and tie rods; however, the failure persisted. The contact also stated that while driving at undisclosed speeds, the steering wheel felt extremely loose, and the vehicle was pulling to one side. The contact also experienced ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 13, 2024
Had to replace the Power Take Off Unit (PTU) (internal failure) 1/25/21 Had to replace the Rear Differential Unit (RDU) (internal failure) 5/27/25
Incident date: Aug 13, 2024
While driving my Honda civic 2017, a loud static noise suddenly started coming from the vehicle’s audio system or speakers. The noise is persistent and does not stop unless I turn off the vehicle completely. This creates a significant distraction and could interfere with hearing emergency vehicles or other road sounds. This issue occurs randomly and is a serious safety concern.
Incident date: Jun 2, 2025
Since purchasing this vehicle we have had catalytic converter issues that have persisted even after having the dealer "fix" the issue.we have also had ABS/Traction control module issues.this is the 2nd identical vehicle owned with the exact same problems.
Incident date: Jun 2, 2025
Odometer Fraud. The contact purchased a 2018 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that while attempting to register the vehicle, it was discovered that there was a mileage discrepancy. The vehicle was a dealer sale. At the time of purchase, the vehicle mileage was 57,000, and at the time of registration, it was discovered that the mileage was 175,152.
Incident date: May 13, 2025
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Explorer. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V031000 (STRUCTURE); 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 stated that while ... Read more
Incident date: May 14, 2025
The contact owns a 2021 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving approximately 60-65 MPH, there was fluid leaking from the vehicle, and the engine was overheating. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact checked the Ford Pass App and became aware that the transmission had been serviced four times. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed o... Read more
Incident date: May 30, 2025
The contact owns a 2019 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while the transmission was downshifting, there was a loud bang coming from the transmission, with a popping sound coming from the rear suspension. The contact stated that the sound was most apparent when the brake pedal was depressed. The contact stated that the message that the driver’s side rear door was open, causing the light to rem... Read more
Incident date: May 31, 2025
[XXX] once again while diving down the road 45mph Terrain once again goes in to park ,I was lucky the lady behind me wasn't to close .Also I contacted onstar when I was able to get vehicle moving at the store ..I told her what happen she ran diagnostics while parked at store said there was no codes I let onstar know this has happened several times..I had no warning, no indication, no lights came o... Read more
Incident date: Feb 3, 2022
Engine seized on me, lurched forward, then engine light starting flashing and I could barely accelerate anymore. Had to go very slowly to make it home. My local autoshop says this is very common with Hyundai's and there was a recall for bad engines for this.
Incident date: Jun 3, 2025
FRAME FAILURE AND STRUCTURE. CARGO DOOR OPENED WHILE TRAVELING. (SAFETY ISSUE) FURNITURE SEPARATING FROM STRUCTURE. BROKEN OVERHEAD CABINETS OVER BED (SAFETY ISSUE) WALL SEPARATING FROM FLOOR IN CARGO AREA WOOD DUSTING FROM CEILING IN BEDROOM AND GARAGE AREA.
Incident date: Aug 13, 2024
The contact owns a 2025 Toyota Grand Highlander. The contact stated while reversing, the back over prevention system failed to function as intended. The contact stated that the image was visible; however, there was no tone alert. Additionally, there was a message indicating that the Adaptive Cruise Control was unavailable and to see the dealer. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the fai... Read more
Incident date: Aug 13, 2024
The contact owns a 2025 Toyota Grand Highlander. The contact stated while reversing, the back over prevention system failed to function as intended. The contact stated that the image was visible; however, there was no tone alert. Additionally, there was a message indicating that the Adaptive Cruise Control was unavailable and to see the dealer. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the fai... Read more
Incident date: Jan 15, 2020
The engine suddenly failed mid-driving, began sputtering and became very weak. It would stutter at intersections or when trying to accelerate and became quite scary to drive. I was on a major freeway heading home when this happened. Upon taking it to a dealership for analysis, they reported a well known TSB-22-2229 had been out for this issue for a few years, but that since none of the "warning si... Read more
Incident date: Jun 3, 2025
There is still no remedy for current recall on my jeep. This is my only vehicle and I have a young child. How am I supposed to feel safe driving to even just the grocery store for basic needs when there is an ongoing safety recall. I'm just at a loss of what to do.
Incident date: Mar 3, 2025
The contact owns a 2025 BMW X3. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V202000 (Electrical System); 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 experienc... Read more
Incident date: Mar 3, 2025
Toyota Hybrid Brake Problems 2015 Toyota Prius I took to my dealership Jim Ellis Toyota in McDonough GA. I was told that my brake master cylinder & brake booster pumps vehicle has failed. I experienced my brakes locking up, causing the vehicle to unexpectedly lunge forward or failing to engage when the brake pedal is depressed. On [XXX] my ABS, Brake, Traction lights came on out of nowhere. I trie... Read more
Incident date: Jun 2, 2025
At highway speeds, under moderate acceleration, the vehicle downshifts unexpectedly. It causes sudden loss of torque. Has happened when trying to overtake and caused sudden vehicle deceleration in the passing lane, which is dangerous.
Incident date: Jun 2, 2025
After about 27000 miles, I was driving down I476 at approximately 55-65 mph. It was on a stretch of road with occasional ridges and on hitting one of them, the steering began to vibrate more and more. It eventually resolved itself as I slowed down to around 40 mph. This happened on a number of occasions under much the same conditions and I took the vehicle into Videon, a local Jeep dealer. They im... Read more
Incident date: Jun 2, 2025
Hello my name is [XXX] and I am (was) the owner of a 2013 BMW 528i VIN [XXX] . It was a secondary vehicle for me for until I sustained an injury and it being my primary vehicle. I took it through emissions, updated the registration, and I noticed smoke coming from under the hood. I had driven it without a problem then in Juneit did not run at all. At that time there was a recall on the computer s... Read more
Incident date: May 22, 2023
The shade on the moonroof dislodged making it difficult to see out of my rear window.
Incident date: May 15, 2025
Yes my 2019 kona started sounding funny was having loss of power took it to have codes read it comes up as code p0011 which is timing issues bank 1 the next day went to start it and it would not even start have to have it towed to shop to find out there was absolutely no engine compression and will need a new engine I have had this car less than a year and still owe a balance of 12,000 and now stu... Read more
Incident date: Nov 2, 2019
The main screen of the vehicle, which is called the MMI from what I understand, repeatedly shuts down and restarts while driving, up to 5 times or more per hour while driving. Sometimes this process can take 3 or more minutes. There appear to be hundreds of Audi customers that this affects according to my research. The dealership (Audi of Nashua) charged for a possible software update repair that ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2025
Sometimes, the breaks will not go all the way down to the floor and act like theyre not working. it's very odd and only does it once in a while. i have constant issues with the technology in the car. it changes my music, the buttons get stuck and my it acts up. my aunt has the same model and is running into the same issues. i never received a letter in the mail about the last recall and have had i... Read more
Incident date: May 23, 2025
Sometimes, the breaks will not go all the way down to the floor and act like theyre not working. it's very odd and only does it once in a while. i have constant issues with the technology in the car. it changes my music, the buttons get stuck and my it acts up. my aunt has the same model and is running into the same issues. i never received a letter in the mail about the last recall and have had i... Read more
Incident date: Dec 18, 2024
During my experience with the 2024 Honda Prologue, I have encountered several significant issues related to the vehicle's starter system. Notably, while reversing, the car intermittently engages the brakes as if it detects an obstacle behind it. Additionally, while driving, the vehicle occasionally applies the brakes unexpectedly, presuming that a collision is imminent. Furthermore, I observed a ... Read more
Incident date: May 31, 2025
Battery cell issue not resolved due to charger recall. Vehicle now unable to drive. Door handle recall still outstanding and predicted completion unknown due to parts issue. This in it self is dangerous as doors can open randomly while driving.
Incident date: May 31, 2025
Battery cell issue not resolved due to charger recall. Vehicle now unable to drive. Door handle recall still outstanding and predicted completion unknown due to parts issue. This in it self is dangerous as doors can open randomly while driving.
Incident date: May 31, 2025
What happened: While driving, steering system malfunction warning appeared, power steering felt normal. Within 5 sec the HVAC blower quit, A/C shut off, and “Transmission not in Park” flashed although shifter was untouched (in Drive). All cluster gauges began sweeping randomly; iDrive screen flickered. Within 10 seconds, I heard a loud pop from passenger-side engine bay; voltage warnings co... Read more
Fire
Incident date: May 30, 2025
Hi I owned this car I had low miles on it 108404 I registered it start driving when I drive it start shuddering and vibration on car when I reach speet 30-40 I talk with Toyota they told me they had recall in past it was expired on 2021 they can not repair it if I want to repair it I have to pay from my pocket that was not our fault I talk with them no help lot of people had same issue with tran... Read more
BMW
C650 GT MAXI-SCOOTER
(2013) — UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Jun 1, 2025
Incident date: May 31, 2025
Water pump completely failed and no longer working. I had to pull off of road on a busy interstate. Firestone confirmed water pump no longer working. Vehicle is at BMW service center. No warning until vehicle overheated and warning came on.
Incident date: May 30, 2025
The contact owns a 2012 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving on the highway at various speeds, the transmission occasionally struggled to get out of gear or was slipping. The contact stated that the “Service Vehicle Soon” warning light remained illuminated, and the miles to empty was blank on the instrument panel; however, and the RPM gauge remained illuminated. The local dealer w... Read more
Incident date: May 30, 2025
The contact owns a 2023 Toyota Crown. The contact stated that while driving at 50 MPH, the driver’s side window was vibrating abnormally. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 14,850.
Incident date: Sep 1, 2024
On 3 separate occasions, the emergency collision avoidance system applies the brakes and is causing major problems. One time at highway speed, we approached a bridge overpass and the system slammed on the brakes as we approached the overpass at 65 mph. On a separate occasion we were atyempting to turn left to enter the highway and there were concrete barriers close. The system slammed on the b... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2024
On 3 separate occasions, the emergency collision avoidance system applies the brakes and is causing major problems. One time at highway speed, we approached a bridge overpass and the system slammed on the brakes as we approached the overpass at 65 mph. On a separate occasion we were atyempting to turn left to enter the highway and there were concrete barriers close. The system slammed on the b... Read more
Incident date: Mar 1, 2025
While driving my 2016 Mercedes-Benz C300 on Route 12 in Utica, NY around 8:10 PM on May 29, 2025, the panoramic sunroof spontaneously exploded while in the tilted vent position. It sounded like a gunshot and sent glass raining into the cabin, causing multiple cuts to my hand, ear, arm, and lower back while I was driving. The shock nearly caused me to lose control of the vehicle. Conditions were cl... Read more
1 injured
Incident date: Mar 1, 2025
Sudden loss of rear brakes, no pedal at all. No light on . no ABS warning light or loss of brake pressure light , this is scary and dangerous. After replacing the rear master cylinder for loss of pressure, the repair has not fixed the issue, and remains to do the same thing. The bike has been in the shop to have the ABS and Unified brake system serviced and bled, the issue still remains. after bl... Read more
Incident date: Mar 19, 2025
On or around May 28, 2024. My husband and, I were going to a recital. He was already in the truck.I told him. Pick me up at the mailbox.( I had mail to go in box).I started walking down the driveway(paved). The next thing, I was on the cement screaming. I had been hit, with the truck. My husband ran to help. He said, he didn’t see me. And, the beepers ( sensors)didn’t go off.Rescue was called,... Read more
1 injured
Incident date: May 8, 2025
the car has abruptly applied braking while driving. I took the car to get checked after that and i was told that there was nothing wrong except that the pads will need to be change sooner than later. I mechanic did tell me that it could be a safety issue because it was an uncontrollable. I than took the car to the Hyundai dealer for them to diagnose the car. They proposed that i change everyt... Read more
Incident date: Feb 25, 2025
The contact owns a 2019 Ford Fiesta. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V951000 (BACK OVER PREVENTION); 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 not made aware of the issue. The contact state... Read more