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 28,115 complaints for BUICK
Incident date: Aug 26, 2024
The backup camera is useless at night. When backing up at night the camera is so dark you cannot see more than a foot or two behind you. If someone or something is behind you you will never see them before it’s too late. The camera is supposed to be a safety feature! I talked to the dealer service department about this and they said it’s a design flaw with GMC and nothing they could do. I Also... Read more
Incident date: Aug 26, 2024
The contact owns a 2019 Ford Edge. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle downshifted without a warning light illuminated. The contact was able to restart the vehicle; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the vehicle was diagnosed, and it was determined that the transmission had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not... Read more
Incident date: Aug 23, 2024
The contact owns a 2018 Honda Civic. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V858000 (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 not made aware of the issue. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 MPH,... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2024
Exterior trim of car is coming off and warping.
Incident date: Jan 12, 2022
Brakes shutter in reverse. Sometimes don’t work when backing out. Almost as if brakes go limp or no connection
Incident date: Aug 8, 2024
See attached document for complaint.
Incident date: Aug 20, 2024
The water pump failed vehicle only has around 105,225 miles on it. This has been a known issue with the 3.5L Twin turbo ecoboost. The water and coolant continuously coming out happens to be on the alternator which has caused it to short out and no longer be working properly. There has not been any kind of malfunction or warning lights for any of the issues and because of the way ford designed the ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 20, 2024
The water pump failed vehicle only has around 105,225 miles on it. This has been a known issue with the 3.5L Twin turbo ecoboost. The water and coolant continuously coming out happens to be on the alternator which has caused it to short out and no longer be working properly. There has not been any kind of malfunction or warning lights for any of the issues and because of the way ford designed the ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 21, 2024
Instrument cluster fuel gauge become garbled or blank (lower right side). Happens more often when the outside temperature drops. This has been happening for years now but corrects itself when the engine has warmed. There are multiple complaints on the Honda forums and complaints issued with NHTSA also for this issue.
Incident date: Aug 6, 2024
The contact owns a 2023 Ford Transit. The contact stated that while making tight left or right turns, the driver’s side rear wheel seized as if the brake pedal was depressed. The contact stated that the failure also occurred while driving approximately 75 MPH. The contact also heard an abnormal sound coming from the rear of the vehicle with an abnormal vibration in the steering wheel. The contac... Read more
Incident date: Aug 6, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Ford F-150. The contact stated that there was a significant oil leak underneath the vehicle. The contact stated that there was an abnormal amount of white smoke coming from the exhaust pipe while the vehicle was started and running. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was determined that the oil pan was leaking and needed to be replaced. The oil pan was replaced; h... Read more
Incident date: Jul 20, 2024
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the A-pillar trim on the passenger’s side windshield started to detach. 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, and the dealer stated that parts were not yet avai... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 70, the vehicle lost motive power. The contact pulled over to the side of the road and the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was not able to be restarted. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the high-pressure fuel pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repair... Read more
Incident date: Aug 20, 2024
When pulling trailer trailer brakes keep disconnecting
Incident date: Jul 11, 2024
2020 Honda CR-V Hybrid servo brake electrical malfunction has led to braking inconsistencies, unprompted emergency brake application, and numerous dashboard errors. Electric servo brake component needed to be replaced entirely for the vehicle, roughly $2,200 for parts and labor.
Incident date: Aug 6, 2024
Transmission does a hard downshift from gear 7 to gear 6. There is a TSB bulletin for it but no recall. Car is under 100k miles but out of warranty and estimated to cost $3500 to repair. Also, the screen and backup camera frequently freeze or go black
Incident date: Aug 6, 2024
Transmission does a hard downshift from gear 7 to gear 6. There is a TSB bulletin for it but no recall. Car is under 100k miles but out of warranty and estimated to cost $3500 to repair. Also, the screen and backup camera frequently freeze or go black
Incident date: Aug 6, 2024
Transmission whirring, vehicle is skipping while driving, gear/rpm not downshifting after acceleration
Incident date: Jan 1, 2022
Codes read cylinder misfire. People say they cannot fix it.
Incident date: Jun 1, 2024
The contact owns a 2016 Hyundai Tucson. The contact stated that there was a knocking sound coming from the engine compartment. The contact stated that the low oil and check engine warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle had been taken to an independent mechanic and the contact was informed that the engine oil had been totally consumed. The contact was made aware of coolant intrusion into the ... Read more
Incident date: May 29, 2024
See attached document for complaint
Incident date: May 30, 2023
Abs and electronic control system lights intermittently come on and off constantly and have been for 25,000 miles. When it started happening Chrysler knew what the problem was hcu and abs module is malfunctioning but unfortunately no parts were available and couldn’t tell me when they would be available. I’m just now putting in the complaint due to just learning about this site.
Incident date: Aug 2, 2024
The electronic power steering failed at random and almost caused me to wreck. I had to pay to tow my car home and now am looking at a $3000 repair on something that’s a known problem with these systems
Incident date: Aug 17, 2024
While towing our travel trailer we experienced a tire blowout on the left side rear. The blow out tore up the black water valve and sewage cap dumping sewage on the side of the highway. The lack of protection to the valve is not present and the valve is directly behind the tire. With trailer tire blowouts prevalent this is bound to happen again.
Incident date: Aug 16, 2024
The contact owns a 2016 Hyundai Tucson. The contact stated while driving approximately 40 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power. The contact depressed the accelerator pedal and the vehicle lunged forward. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. Additionally, the contact stated that when the vehicle was stopped, after depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle hesitated and then lunged... Read more
Incident date: Aug 16, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power with a misfire in the engine. The message of cylinder #2 misfire was displayed. The contact stated that there was smoke coming from the engine compartment. The vehicle was restarted; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the vehicle wa... Read more
Incident date: Aug 16, 2024
Power steering issue. Mechanic said the rack and pinion needs to be replaced. FORD apparently had a recall or a customer service satisfactory advisory placed, 15N01, regarding the power steering issue. However, we were never notified of the issue until this happened 2 days ago. I’ve been searching for part prices or way to fix it when I stumbled on countless webpages explaining the recall and al... Read more
Incident date: May 10, 2023
Vehicle receives warning message that front camera and pre collision asst is unavailable after driving it for about an hour. Vehicle was serviced following the ford directive to ensure that the service to the vehicle following the warning was followed correctly. This didnt suffice the warning and the warning continues to show up daily on the vehicle. This is a safety feature that is causing error... Read more
Incident date: Jul 12, 2024
Dear NHTSA, I am writing to express a serious safety concern regarding the dashboard of my 2016 Porsche Cayenne S. The leather on the dash has begun to shrink and is no longer fitted properly. This misalignment is causing me significant worry about the potential impact on airbag deployment in the event of an accident. Given the crucial role that the dashboard and its covering play in the proper ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 28, 2024
Chevy Trax has chrome in the interior that reflects the sun and causes blinding effects making the car difficult to control during sunny days. Causes driver to look away creating safety hazard.
Incident date: Jul 28, 2024
We were driving on [XXX] at the posted speed limit of 65 mph. The adaptive cruise control was activated and the predictive control turned on. We drove past a [XXX] sign and the car abruptly decreased speed down to the twenties. Had another car been following us, we could have been rear-ended. We soon encountered a speed sign posting a 65 mph limit and the car quickly accelerated to that spee... Read more
Incident date: Jul 28, 2024
We have two problems what we would call safety issues. First, all the sound in the vehicle was lost which included safety belt warning alarm, turn signal bells, door open alarms, etc. We were told by the dealership that it was a faulty amplifier. Secondly, the sunroof opened by itself, and is locked in the open position which makes the vehicle undrivable due to weather conditions and makes it an e... Read more
Incident date: Aug 14, 2024
While braking at lower speed over non smooth road, my brakes jam up and I can not brake. My car drifted right into an intersection and grateful no cars were coming. Has happened multiple times.
Incident date: Mar 17, 2024
I HAVE A 2016 CHEVROLET CRUZE AND THE TURBOCHARGER INTERCOOLER HOSE BASICALLY BROKE FROM WHERE THE END OF THE HOSE STARTS AND A LITTLE BIT DOWN IN THE MIDDLE AREA OF THE END PART OF THE HOSE. AND THIS CAUSED MY ENGINE'S POWER TO BE REDUCED INMENSLY. TO THE POINT THAT I HAD MY FOOT PRESSING ALL THE WAY DOWN ON THE ACCELERATOR AND IT COULD NOT GO ANY FURTHER DOWN, AND MY CAR WAS MOVING SLOWER THAN A... Read more
Incident date: Aug 9, 2024
Vehicle stalling, AWD light suddenly appears goes off after driving a few miles reappeared and then engine light comes on.
Incident date: Jun 1, 2023
UNKNOWN. Vehicle stalls and jumps when I step on the gas pedal or try to increase speed.
Incident date: Aug 10, 2024
Started the vehicle on 7/3. Multiple warning lights show on my dashboard: 1. ACC problem 2. Collision Mitigation Problem 3. LKA Problem 4. Auto High Beam Problem I took it to Purrfect Auto (as I had just had work done). They claim it is a software issue (per Honda) and did a reset of the dashboard (I was not charged for this). Problem was fixed. Later that day when I started the car, the warn... Read more
Incident date: Aug 10, 2024
The airbag warning light is blinking and has been for approximately 9 months. I live in Salida, CO which does not have a Nissan Dealership to take my vehicle into for servicing. I recently saw an article on Fox 31 News pertaining to the same airbag malfunction and would like to know what to do about my problem.
Incident date: Aug 13, 2024
I was in downtown Atlanta traffic, moving around 10 miles per hour. The truck suddenly shut off and applied the parking brake. Once restarted the battery light was displayed on the dash. This has happened approximately 10-12 times in the last year. I was lucky this one did not result in an accident. Please help in getting Ram to realize there is a problem. Thank you!
Incident date: Aug 13, 2024
While in drive at speed the car would stall and all warning lights would indicate errors such as service engine, auto stop start fault, electronic throttle control, among others. The car could not be put into neutral, and would not restart for several minutes ( 30 minutes). This problem had occured previously (three times before).
Incident date: Aug 3, 2024
I got my oil changed 98,161 March 1 2024 at mechanic shop Mechanic shop checked oil March 29 2024 at 98,867 a total of 706 miles driven since last oil change. They added 2.5 quarts of oil. So i did my own research online found out the Hyundai 2018 Santa Fe Sport Turbo 2.5 Theta engines has excessive oil consumption problems that will cause Engine to seize/lock up, catch on fire, and other mechanic... Read more
Incident date: Mar 1, 2023
Our 2021 vw id4 has serious issues. It’s still getting addressed at the dealership and has been there since Tuesday. I had to have my husband come and pick me up because the car itself had indicated it was unsafe to drive. Please contact Jacksonville Nc Vw for our carfax report. I have detailed photos of the incident. We have purchased a second car partially bc of how many times we’ve ha... Read more
Incident date: Aug 11, 2024
My 2021 Hyundai venue at or around 43,000 miles, certified pre owned, and bought January 2024 while at a gas station parking lot. Started my vehicle and put it in reverse to leave gas station began smoking, as I put it back in drive to get out of traffic was a loud noise and I immediately stopped turned off the car. Found two parts from my engine on the ground in the parking lot. Was towed to Bent... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2019
The suspension spring on the passenger side rear wheel broke.
Incident date: Apr 19, 2024
The contact owns a 2013 Jeep Patriot. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 16V668000 (Seat Belts, Air Bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact scheduled an appointment and was informed that parts were on backorder upon arrival. Th... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2019
The contact owns a 2018 Buick Encore. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power, power steering, and brake functionality. The vehicle began to shake, and the brakes and steering wheel became inoperable. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. T... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2019
The contact owns a 2014 Hyundai Elantra. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V651000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic) 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 failure. The con... Read more
Incident date: Aug 7, 2024
The seal around the sunroof on the driver front side is compromised causing air to flow aggressively through it when going above 40+ MPH. Its affecting the car's overall performance and safety, especially on highways, and the wind makes in very noisy in the vehicle. I have an appointment with MBUSA dealership on Monday, August 12th to have it further inspected. I do see that there was a simil... Read more
Incident date: Aug 3, 2024
HI, I bought this 2014 VW Jetta with 87,000 miles on it for $12,000 from Conicelli Motors in Conshohocken, PA- Nov 2021. I put $8000 down and had $4000 left to pay on it. I kept up with my oil changes and everything. By Oct 2023, I am being told the engine needs to be replaced. I have let this car sit in the parking lot, and I am still making payments on it. There is no way this car should nee... Read more
Incident date: Aug 3, 2024
The infotainment system's screen will go black and lock the radio on the last channel and volume setting and cannot be changed. When it goes black it also disables the OnStar safety system. If I were in an accident when this happens I would be unable to call for help. This happens almost every time I drive the car.