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 21,483 complaints for CADILLAC
Incident date: Jun 10, 2023
While vehicle was being driven into the garage the vehicle suddenly accelerated on it own without driver pushing on gas pedal. Vehicles automatic emergency braking did not engage. Vehicle then struck steel shelving and wooden cupboards causing considerable damage to vehicle. The body shop where the vehicle was taken for repair experienced the same surging phenomena when they moved the vehicle. T... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Mar 1, 2023
Was traveling 75 mph on a busy highway and lost power, the message center lit up yellow with a wrench in the middle, vehicle went to idle/coast, had no power to move thru lanes as cars were buzzing by me. very scary somehow got to the side of road safely but close calls many times. had it taken to Ford dealer - pulled the code P2112 THROTTLE CONTROL SYSTEM STUCK CLOSED/THROTTLE ACTUATOR CONTROL... Read more
Incident date: Nov 21, 2018
The contact owns a 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport. The contact stated while driving approximately 70 MPH, the contact observed a gasoline odor. The ABS warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the residence and inspected. The contact's husband observed gas around the fuel pump and condensation underneath the engine compartment. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed... Read more
Incident date: Apr 10, 2018
I have a 2010 mercury milan premier thats power steering went out I found out the part has been recalled on the 2011 model but not the 2010 model and it's the same exact part so now the 2011 has been recalled but not the 2010 and I'm out over 600 dollars + to fix it
Incident date: Nov 18, 2023
Car keeps malfunctioning the airbag light won’t cut off it keeps picking up speed after i use cruise control it’s jerking .
Incident date: Nov 16, 2023
The spot welds on the interior door assembly for the check arm broke off. Causing damage to my power window motor. And many other components. Car is at 50,000 miles. Not high wear. The welds are poorly done and ford is making me buy a new door as a result of their error.
Incident date: Nov 16, 2023
The spot welds on the interior door assembly for the check arm broke off. Causing damage to my power window motor. And many other components. Car is at 50,000 miles. Not high wear. The welds are poorly done and ford is making me buy a new door as a result of their error.
Incident date: Jan 1, 2021
My trunk pops open by itself, without being activated. So far, if I keep my car locked, it will stay shut, but it has popped open while the vehicle was in motion. This is a safety hazard! It has been happening every day for the last several months.
Incident date: Nov 16, 2023
Shift to park issue is getting worse. I couldn’t turn my car off for hours today. The recall is still pending for this and GMC is doing nothing after thousands of class action lawsuits and complaints. Keeping my car running for hours on end while in park because it won’t turn off is causing electrical issues and using tons of gas. I have to get with an attorney at this point because I can’t ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 16, 2023
The steering wheel when driving gets difficult to turn, then abruptly gets easy to turn as if it is getting caught, or sticking. For example when driving straight, the wheel will not turn until you apply well over the normal force to turn the wheel. After applying this medium to heavy force to turn, the wheel ‘un-sticks’ and jerks abruptly, going back to normal force to turn. This unsettles th... Read more
Incident date: Nov 16, 2023
There is a short circuit of some type in the dash gauge that houses the odometer and gas gauge. It slowly started several years ago, mainly when the weather is cold/humid. The gauge will sometimes flash garbage codes Or sometimes not work at all. This can interfere with knowing how much fuel is in the car or mileage for annual inspections. My personal mechanic is aware of this problem but hasn’t... Read more
Incident date: Nov 16, 2023
Seat heater burn through passenger seat, burning passenger
1 injured
Incident date: Nov 14, 2023
Anti-Lock Braking system and Electronic Braking system, service system warning come on and off randomly all the time. Seems to happen when bumpy roads are encountered.
Incident date: Oct 3, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle would shake uncontrollably, and the vehicle was hesitant to accelerate when the accelerator pedal was depressed. The contact also became aware that the clutch was slipping. Additionally, the vehicle occasionally failed to start with a clicking sound coming from the engine compartment. An unknow... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2019 Lincoln MKC. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V378000 (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 not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconne... Read more
Incident date: Nov 11, 2023
Couldn't find little horn button in an emergency. Horn should be activated by center push on steering wheel, not some random little button that is hard to find in an emergency when the wheel is not straight.
CADILLAC
ESCALADE NA
(2021) - SERVICE BRAKES
Nov 8, 2023
Incident date: Oct 30, 2023
When driving front right brake caliper locked up and would not release, after replacing brake pads, rotors and calipers on both front right brakes. I drove my car about a week and car brakes locked up again…I then had to have my car towed to the mechanics. Where they discovered that the ABS module was bad, this is the same part that is causing fires in many others Hyundai vehicles but somehow m... Read more
Incident date: Nov 8, 2023
November 7, 2023: While driving across the California desert at 70 miles an hour, temperature was 71°, and freeway traffic was light, without any other outside influences, the sun roof spontaneously exploded, blowing outward, as though someone had put an explosive between the glass and interior of the vehicle. it sounded like a shotgun blast. I pulled over and examined the vehicle; the remaining... Read more
Incident date: Mar 1, 2020
My vehicles rear back up camara, and others i checked at dealership is quite blurry not clear at all and much more so at night, causing me not to see my neighbors son and almost running him over as i backed out of driveway , dealership stated thats how resoltion is, changing camara wont help, and no known fixes and said they all are like that
Incident date: Oct 23, 2023
The tcm in my 5 cobalt is not working properly I've tested and replaced everything els and had the tcm reprogrammed still getting problems aiming back to the tcm it wasn't looked at by a business
Incident date: Nov 6, 2023
The Uconnect control panel randomly changes settings for the radio, climate, phone. rear view camera and other systems controlled by the Uconnect system. It even attempted to place an SOS call for emergency help. This causes a significant distraction for the driver and systems are randomly and continuously turned on, off and have settings changed. The cause of this malfunction is a delaminatio... Read more
Incident date: Nov 6, 2023
After having a warranty repair for a valve cover gasket' at CENTEREACHHYUNDAI, I picked up my car. Only 8 minutes into my drive home the engine light went on and engine error code appeared. At that piont smoke was coming from the hood when I heard a pop and flames appeared at my passenger side window. I turned the car off removed my phone and exited the vehicle. No one else was in the car but with... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Nov 4, 2023
Safety of my wife and 5 children are at risk every time they get in our family vehicle.
Incident date: Jun 14, 2023
The vehicle transmission failed very unexpectedly at very low mileage (62,000 miles). We had just finished a 500-mile highway trip and heard a loud whining noise from the front of the car. Our mechanic checked it the next day and said the transmission had to be replaced. There were no warning lights or notifications of any kind from the vehicle, only the noise, which was not noticeable at highway ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 21, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle shuddered briefly before returning to normal functionality. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the dual-clutch. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure reoccurred. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but referre... Read more
Incident date: Sep 25, 2023
My steering wheel started to twitch on November 2, 2023. My car has a little over 9,000 miles on it. The LKAS system is not activated when the twitch occurs. I toggled between the different driving modes (Individual, Sport, Normal). I experience the twitch in every mode. I have found it difficult to move the steering wheel from the center position. I have to fight resistance to make steering corr... Read more
Incident date: Sep 25, 2023
The rear tail light(race track light) has lost its seal and water has protruded the sealed of the LED tail light causing disruption in the light functioning properly. I have taken my vehicle to the dealership, it does have an extended warranty from Mopar on the vehicle, but the dealership will not cover. The replacement cost of repairing the rear tail light. The dealership informed me that this wa... Read more
Incident date: Aug 2, 2022
While driving in atleast in awd and I think it happened in 2wd. My abs light comes on with stabilitrack and trailer break. Once that happens driving feels weird like breaks are closing in. Turning is extremely difficult cause it feels like all this are breaking. Then once I stop the car it kicks forward after the car is off
Incident date: Oct 25, 2023
Recently purchased a 2024 Chevrolet Silverado Hd3500 and use it to haul a 40' 5th wheel toyhauler. Several instances when I connected the RV electrical cord to the truck I would see a "check trailer wiring" message. Along with this message I noticed there was no current going to the RV brakes. I had several technicians look into matter, but could not find a resolution. Later my brother sent me ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 5, 2023
We have a 2019 Toyota Highlander. VIN: [XXX] . There are two issues with this vehicle... 1) Our bumper fell down after an uneventful car wash. We didn't hit anything. Reported it to the car wash place (Ollie's Car Wash in Walker, LA) after we noticed it fell. We had to tie-strap it back up because the clips no longer worked right. This happened August 12, 2023. We have pictures of the dama... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that the Auto START/STOP feature failed to operate as needed. The contact stated that several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated while pressing the START/STOP button, the vehicle failed to start immediately. The contact stated that the vehicle eventually started after several attempts. The vehicle was taken to an... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2023
Toyota issues the airbag recall in july for 2023 tacomas and said a remedy would be available in august. Ive call once a week since the start of august to schedule my drive side airbag recall repair and they keep saying toyota doesnt have a remedy yet and it could be upwards of a year. FOR A DRIVE SIDE AIR BAG DEFECT. This should be blatantly illegal as it puts fear into driving my vehicle as i ma... Read more
Incident date: Oct 17, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Kia Soul. The contact stated that the vehicle was consuming an excessive amount of engine oil. The service engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer for an oil consumption test and oil change. The contact stated that the engine needed to be rebuilt. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage wa... Read more
Incident date: Oct 11, 2023
While driving down a straight road going approximately 20 mph my truck pulled me hard to the left and I was unable to control it. The assembly for my front left wheel completely came apart, and my truck was stranded in the middle of the road, without me being able to move it forward or backwards. The dealer stated that the ball joints to the upper and lower control arms both popped out at the same... Read more
Incident date: Oct 11, 2023
While driving down a straight road going approximately 20 mph my truck pulled me hard to the left and I was unable to control it. The assembly for my front left wheel completely came apart, and my truck was stranded in the middle of the road, without me being able to move it forward or backwards. The dealer stated that the ball joints to the upper and lower control arms both popped out at the same... Read more
Incident date: Oct 20, 2023
Two days after purchasing the light warning alert system started coming on. CHECK SYSTEMS HEADLIGHTS WARNING comes on EVERY MONTH THEN THE HEADLIGHTS WILL GO OUT first the left them the right…Ford can’t fix the problem because they don’t know what and why this keeps happening. The lights have been replaced 4-5 times and reprogrammed. I have took it Ford dealership 7 times, and the last t... Read more
Incident date: Oct 18, 2023
Failure in active grill shutter. National issue.
Incident date: Oct 18, 2023
Engine began having issues with stalling out around 70k Miles. Car was taken to the dealer and Tessa on for issue couldn’t be diagnosed. Car then began again at 83k miles took it to a repair shop and the issue could not be pin pointed once again. I was informed that the engine would have to completely fail for the issue to be properly diagnosed. Engine completely failed at 100k miles from barri... Read more
Incident date: Oct 18, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Expedition. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 60 - 65 MPH, another vehicle struck the contact's front driver's side, causing the contact's vehicle to spin. The vehicle then crashed into the side embankment wall. The air bags did not deploy. The impact caused the contact's chest to hit the steering wheel. The contact suffered a fractured sternum as ... Read more
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Oct 18, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V334000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufac... Read more
Incident date: Jun 15, 2023
The contact owned a 2017 Toyota RAV4. The contact stated that upon arriving at her destination and returning to the vehicle a short time later, she found it engulfed in flames. A witness had already notified local emergency services, who were able to extinguish the fire. The fire marshal was unable to determine the origin of the fire but concluded that the cause was a non-suspicious mechanical fai... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Oct 16, 2023
Power steering assist popped up on dashboard with no warning. The safety of me and my children were put at jeopardy because what if we were driving on road and the steering wheel locked up on us?
Incident date: Sep 15, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed during a heavy rain storm, the vehicle lost significant motive power and was unable to accelerate above 40 MPH. The contact also stated that a message displayed, "Side detection system disabled," and the lane departure assist system activated, briefly steering the vehicle into oncoming traffic b... Read more
Incident date: Oct 11, 2023
This was a T-Bone accident. My front airbags did not deploy as the hit happened at 40 mph.
Crash
Incident date: Sep 15, 2023
360 camera recall issue still persists incredibly frequently. Pretty much every drive. Backup camera when it does work, is severely lagging and delaying which could result in a collision if using. Front camera was replaced which was providing a grey image, now it is displaying the blue image. LINCOLN states remedy is still not available.
Incident date: May 16, 2022
The contact owns a 2015 Lincoln MKZ. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V162000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic). The contact stated that while driving at approximately 20 - 25 MPH, the brake pedal was depressed and went to the floorboard. The brakes failed to stop the vehicle immediately. The vehicle coasted to the curb of the contact's mother's residence. At the mother's re... Read more
Incident date: Oct 10, 2023
The involved individual was found with altered mental status on a highway on 8/13/2023. The vehicle he had been driving was found in the highway median a few hundred feet away. He was admitted to a local hospital, diagnosed with blunt force injuries of the head, and pronounced brain dead on 8/14/2023. Autopsy examination revealed fractures of the skull, subdural and subarachnoid hemorrhage, and ce... Read more
Crash
1 deaths
CADILLAC
ESCALADE ESV
(2013) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Oct 11, 2023
Incident date: Sep 11, 2022
Our Traverse shows a message “shift to park”. This happens after we have already shifted in park. This causes a continuous ding until we are able to trick the vehicle into park. The after concern is we leave the vehicle because we can’t get it to shift to park and it rolls damaging property or another person. This problem has left us stranded because we can not shift it.
CADILLAC
ESCALADE ESV
(2013) - SERVICE BRAKES
Oct 11, 2023
Incident date: Sep 11, 2022
Our Traverse shows a message “shift to park”. This happens after we have already shifted in park. This causes a continuous ding until we are able to trick the vehicle into park. The after concern is we leave the vehicle because we can’t get it to shift to park and it rolls damaging property or another person. This problem has left us stranded because we can not shift it.
Incident date: Apr 1, 2023
The car stinks like gas, check engine light has been on. Independent service center advised me that the fuel tank has a leak. Check engine code is also detecting a fuel leak. We have bad headaches due to gas smells inside the car. Even my kids compliant of having headaches due to the gas smell. Puddle of gas above the fuel pump. Thank Can catch on fire due to the leak and strong gas smell. The s... Read more