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: Jun 10, 2024
Turn signal, the turn signal just goes out and does not work. This is a know issue with kia. I have almost bin hit several times do to this. I have 2 exact cars and they have both the same issue. You cannot just have the bulb replaced, the whole headlight asembly has to be replaced, the front bumper has to be removed to replace the headlight asembly, very costly, this is not so much the cost ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 10, 2024
Within 2 weeks after purchasing this vehicle the front stationary roof panel flew off the car. I noticed it when I parked at work in the parking lot. I do not know where the panel is. I retraced my route and did not see it anywhere. I work less than 2 miles from work with no turns. I am very concerned that the panel may cause water damage/leaking and even be a danger / damage to another drivers sa... Read more
Incident date: Dec 22, 2024
Transmission seal failure caused fluid to leak, transfer case had metal present and had to be flushed, multiple electrical issues where there was no sound and buttons on back left of steering wheel wouldn't function, vehicle put itself in neutral when passing and gave a conditions not favorable for shift change when I tried to put it in park. Eventually put itself in park and I was able to get hom... Read more
Incident date: Jan 26, 2025
My santa fe stalled on me while I was driving had it brought to a garage. I was told that there was metal shavings in my oil and that the crank shaft was bad and I needed to get a new engine. I was told that there was a recall for this and I called the manufacturer and was told that it was not covered under the recall.
Incident date: Aug 13, 2024
The contact owns a 2023 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that his wife was driving the vehicle and as she was entering into a parking spot and depressing the brake pedal, the vehicle experienced sudden unintended acceleration. The contact's wife reported that the vehicle had made an abnormal revving sound as if she had applied the accelerator. The front end of the vehicle jumped the parking bump... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Aug 13, 2024
The contact's son owns a 2021 GMC Sierra 3500 Commercial Vehicle. The contact stated while her son was driving at an undisclosed speed uphill, the vehicle failed to shift to a gear higher than 5th gear. Additionally, the rear wheels locked up, causing the vehicle to come to a stop. The driver attempted to resume driving, but the vehicle failed to exceed 10 MPH. The contact was unsure whether a war... Read more
Incident date: Jan 22, 2025
I was driving normally down the road and all of a sudden I lost control and couldn’t turn my vehicle apparently the control arm rusted from the subframe, causing me to swerve hit a curb and cause more damage to the front end. Thank God I was on a not so busy street! I could have killed myself or someone else all because this company’s metal rusted out.
Crash
Incident date: Jan 22, 2025
I was driving normally down the road and all of a sudden I lost control and couldn’t turn my vehicle apparently the control arm rusted from the subframe, causing me to swerve hit a curb and cause more damage to the front end. Thank God I was on a not so busy street! I could have killed myself or someone else all because this company’s metal rusted out.
Crash
Incident date: Jan 27, 2025
The DPF got so hot in a matter of a few miles (8 minutes driving) it blew a hole in it, and melted all the wiring under the truck, caused the engine to stop, automatically locking all the doors (thank God my child and husband had stopped and were out) before this happened.
Fire
Incident date: Jan 27, 2025
The DPF got so hot in a matter of a few miles (8 minutes driving) it blew a hole in it, and melted all the wiring under the truck, caused the engine to stop, automatically locking all the doors (thank God my child and husband had stopped and were out) before this happened.
Fire
Incident date: Jan 27, 2025
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact received notification of a recall related to the A-pillar trim; however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the driver’s side A-pillar trim had detached and almost struck another vehicle. The contact was able to retrieve the A-pillar trims and had her husband temporarily repair the vehicle. The local ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 27, 2025
In August of 2023, Stivers Hyundai located in Columbia, SC replaced the rear shock absorbers on my 2020 Hyundai Palisade Limited due to a rattling and knocking noise in the rear of the vehicle. The noise never completely went away, but was somewhat better. In July of 2024 the noise was back to the same noise as we were hearing in 2023. We took the vehicle to the dealership in August of 2024 compla... Read more
Incident date: Jan 27, 2025
The security system is locked on my Kia forte 2014. This is the second time it's happened. Now can't get it to unlock the system.
Incident date: Jan 27, 2025
I’m still waiting for the current recall to be corrected. The suspension is worn out. Replaced rear shocks, front struts, lower control arm. This is the worse automobile I’ve ever owned. If possible, I will never buy another ford. The car’s rear back up camera has been replaced and has stopped working again.
Incident date: Jan 27, 2025
in normal drive mode the transmission downs shifts thru the gears and skips from 3 to 1. becuase of that skip it feels like you got rear ended by another car. if your not prepared for it you could let off the brakes which could cuase you to hit the person in front. in sport mode it downshifts thru all the 10 gears properly.
Incident date: Nov 14, 2024
When the Automatic Emergency Braking system is enabled, it will suddenly brake when in reverse even though there is no obstacle at the back. The braking is so sudden that it is painful. I reported it to the dealership but they never got back to me about a solution. I have disabled the AEB for now.
Incident date: Dec 3, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving on three occasions at various speeds, the vehicle failed to shift gear properly and the vehicle lost motive power. The contact stated that the power train warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the molded lead frame needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The... Read more
Incident date: Jan 4, 2025
Repeated shift to park message even when in park. Resulting in many hours of shutting off and on, shifting between gears to get it to recognize it is in park. Dealership where purchased is trying to convince me it's a $700 fix with no recall. It is a known GM problem. This blatant disregard for proper repairs is costing GM customers thousands in additional repair for their gross negligence as well... Read more
Incident date: Jan 27, 2025
I had trasmission replaced and am still having problems with new transmissions. Won't shift gears, especially on highway. Will go from 10 to 1 or jump around.
Incident date: Jan 27, 2025
Had new transmission for a little over a month still shifts bad. Same thing as orignal transmission.
Incident date: Nov 2, 2024
My vehicle started leaking oil from the engine from an unknown location. I took it to the dealership for them to diagnose the cause of the leak which is under warranty. The dealer refused and did not honor the warranty. Now my car is immobile
Incident date: Nov 2, 2024
Vehicle Performance Issues - Detailed Timeline [XXX] •First issue occurred: the car wouldn’t start at a store. Engine turned over, failed to start. •After sitting overnight, it would start but stall after 10 minutes of driving. •Parked the car and began using alternative transportation. •Diagnostic tests by three mechanics revealed the following codes: oP0087: Fuel Rail/System Pressure T... Read more
Incident date: Aug 23, 2024
11/16/2024: I was at a complete stop at a stoplight waiting for it turn green so I could turn left. When the light turned green, I pressed on the accelerator and made it about half way through the intersection when I noticed that the car had stopped accelerating but could hear and see the RMPs going up. I looked down to see if I had accidentally put it into neutral, but the DRIVE light button was ... Read more
Incident date: Dec 20, 2021
Was on Interstate when there was a loud bang, the transmission shifted harshly and I lost power where the vehicle would not go faster when i hit the pedal. I was basically pumping the gas for about 3-5 seconds before transmission re engaged. It was a dangerous situation in that I was at highways speeds about 65-70mph and i had no throttle control for several seconds. There was no warning when it... Read more
Incident date: Jan 10, 2025
Ford did issue a recall for several issues for my car, including but not limited to, problems when filling gas tank with evaporative purge system as well as cavitation of the fuel pump in high heat conditions, the doors not closing all the way or handles remaining open( not flush with rest of door) when door is shut, driver's side door trim/bezel around power window switch making buzzing sounds wh... Read more
Incident date: Jan 24, 2025
My vehicle has 84,000 miles and has regular maintenance done. On 1/20/24 my wife was driving the car when suddenly it started to make a terrible knocking sound, the oil light flashed for just a second and the check engine light came on. She was near an auto store and they checked the code, which said "replace engine block." I came with a trailer to tow it home and by then the check engine light is... Read more
Incident date: Sep 9, 2024
The contact owns a 2004 Nissan Titan. The contact stated that while driving 5-10 MPH, the brake pedal was depressed and pulsated. There were no warning lights illuminated. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 166,000.
Incident date: Sep 9, 2024
Brakes failed due to a known issue with the Brake Simulator. The same vehicle has been recalled in Japan for this reason. Brakes became completely non-responsive while driving. Again, this is a known issue. The brakes simply due not work and in Japan they have identified a manufacturing process defect. [XXX] Vehicle was inspected by Team Honda in Baton Rouge. Many lights on the dash are warn... Read more
Incident date: Jan 17, 2025
Recurring System Problems: My vehicle continues to exhibit intermittent system failures, causing unpredictable and potentially dangerous driving conditions. These issues have included: engine stalling, braking issues, electronic system malfunctions].
Incident date: Jan 17, 2025
Recurring System Problems: My vehicle continues to exhibit intermittent system failures, causing unpredictable and potentially dangerous driving conditions. These issues have included: engine stalling, braking issues, electronic system malfunctions].
Incident date: Jan 17, 2025
While driving my vehicle, it suddenly shook, a vibration started, and then the car began misfiring. It wouldn’t accelerate, kept shaking, and several warning lights appeared on the dashboard, such as Engine, Traction, and ESC. At that time, I was with my two sons, aged [XXX] and [XXX] . We were turning onto an empty and quiet street, so our safety was not at risk. However, if this had happened ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
While driving on the interstate at 80 mph, my vehicle switched to neutral and began to decelerate. I could not shift back to drive. Thankfully I was able to maneuver through the busy interstate to pull over to the median. We almost triggered an accident due to the deceleration while in the fast lane. Once we were able to stop in the median, I had to turn off the vehicle because it would not change... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
The contact owns a 2018 Toyota Rav4. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V734000 (Electrical System); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that while attempting to start the vehicle, the engine hesitated while cranking. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer for a battery replacement. The vehicle was repaired. The contact st... Read more
Incident date: Sep 15, 2024
The contact owns a 2020 Land Rover Range Rover Evoque. The contact stated that there was unknown fluid leaking from the vehicle. There was an unknown amber warning light illuminated. The contact added water to the radiator and the warning light temporarily turned off but illuminated again. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the rear emission battery needed to be... Read more
Incident date: Sep 15, 2024
The contact owns a 2020 Land Rover Range Rover Evoque. The contact stated that there was unknown fluid leaking from the vehicle. There was an unknown amber warning light illuminated. The contact added water to the radiator and the warning light temporarily turned off but illuminated again. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the rear emission battery needed to be... Read more
Incident date: Jan 10, 2025
After driving for about a minute, there is a beep and the brake system warning light comes on. Then the dash begins cycling through multiple warning messages - LKAS/ACC/CMBS/RDM - and will not stop. Now the repair shop tells us that the front multipurpose camera ADAS needs to be removed and replaced, and the ADAS calibrated. Including the fee to diagnose the issue, total cost is $2,980. Van has ab... Read more
Incident date: Sep 28, 2024
I noticed an oil leak in the rear of the car. I went underneath and noticed the casing of the rear differential is separating at the seam. This can cause the rear to lock up, which can cause a loss of control. The warranty is expired. After doing research, there are thousands of cases with the exact same problem. My mechanic even said he has seen this on a few different jeeps of the same model. Th... Read more
Incident date: Sep 28, 2024
The contact owns a 2019 Ford EcoSport. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V905000 (Engine and Engine Cooling); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The dealer was contacted and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact was informed by... Read more
Incident date: Sep 28, 2024
The liftgate wiring harness is malfunctioning, causing my wiper blade in the rear to be working when it’s not turned off and turns off when you try to work it and my reverse lights are not working. Everything that I have looked up points to the liftgate rear wiring harness has been damaged somehow
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
Front windshield camera malfunction. Vehicle only had 61,000 miles.
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
Front windshield camera malfunction. Vehicle only had 61,000 miles.
Incident date: Jan 23, 2025
The contact owns a 2022 GMC Yukon. The contact stated while driving at approximately 45 MPH, there was an abnormal sound coming from the engine compartment. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage wa... Read more
Incident date: Jan 23, 2025
The tie rod broke while the vehicle was in motion. This caused the vehicle to lose control and crash into another vehicle, causing damage to both vehicles. There was no warning and no sign of any issues. Vehicle has been very well maintained, in fact, it has been in the shop at least once per month for the past year due to a number of mechanical issues unrelated to the tie rod.
Crash
Incident date: Jan 23, 2025
The tie rod broke while the vehicle was in motion. This caused the vehicle to lose control and crash into another vehicle, causing damage to both vehicles. There was no warning and no sign of any issues. Vehicle has been very well maintained, in fact, it has been in the shop at least once per month for the past year due to a number of mechanical issues unrelated to the tie rod.
Crash
Incident date: Jan 23, 2025
My IPC keeps flashing and going blank or black screen. I’m unable to see the information about my vehicle including fuel levels. I have not taken my car to a dealer yet since I am waiting for the new part but I saw that there was a for notifying that jeep wranglers from 2018-2020 had this specific issue yet my vin has no recalls.
Incident date: Jan 22, 2025
The contact owns a 2020 Jeep Gladiator. The contact stated while driving 50 MPH, the instrument panel went blank with the gauges including the fuel gauge displaying 0 before the lights turned off. The contact was able to continue driving the vehicle, and the vehicle was taken to a local dealer to be diagnosed. The dealer confirmed that the instrument panel was blank. The contact related the failur... Read more
Incident date: Jan 22, 2025
Rear shock failure causing bouncy uneven drive, confirmed with visibly leaked fluid. Dealership contacted, awaiting investigation
Incident date: Jan 22, 2025
What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? - Engine cylinder head was broken and caused oil leakage How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? Oil leakage resulted in a smoky smell while driving and could have led to cars on the road or my own car could have skid leading to a fatal accident Has the problem been reproduced or co... Read more
Incident date: Jan 23, 2025
At 28000 km my 2022 Chevrolet trailboss 1500 with the 6.2 started to burn oil. It was averaging 1 litre every 2000km. The dealership told me this was perfectly acceptable for consumption on this engine. From 28000 km to 45967km I had it in multiple times due to low engine oil warnings and loss of power. At 45967km I took it to another Chevrolet dealership and they inspected my truck and determined... Read more
Incident date: Jan 23, 2025
At 28000 km my 2022 Chevrolet trailboss 1500 with the 6.2 started to burn oil. It was averaging 1 litre every 2000km. The dealership told me this was perfectly acceptable for consumption on this engine. From 28000 km to 45967km I had it in multiple times due to low engine oil warnings and loss of power. At 45967km I took it to another Chevrolet dealership and they inspected my truck and determined... Read more