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 153,608 complaints for DODGE
Incident date: Nov 17, 2023
Engine coolant is usually water–based, and may also be oil. A three–valve–per–cylinder was originally slated for the LS7, and was abandoned imputable to design complexities. E85 ethanol should is an understatement to the ‘war on fossil fuels.’ The L98 is a modified version of the L76, with increased power and reduced redundant hardware. A Vee engine is common configurations of in... Read more
2 injured
2 deaths
Incident date: Nov 2, 2023
Visor screen covering sunroof. The driver side of screen is partially ripped from track.
DODGE
CHALLENGER
(2020) - AIR BAGS
Nov 17, 2023
Incident date: Nov 17, 2023
In June 2023, I was notified of recall N232404980. The reason for recall is, a driver’s-side front airbag inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants, resulting in serious injury or death. It has been 5 months and the manufacturer has no current plan in place to replace the driver’s airbag module. After speaking with a GMC Customer Assistance ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 4, 2023
While backing up in a driveway at approximately 3-4 miles per hour, the vehicle lost all power and stalled. Both screens went completely black. Seconds later (10-15 maybe) the system re-initialized as if it was rebooted. If this happened at higher speed, it might result in accidents.
Incident date: Sep 15, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle shut off without warning. The vehicle was taken to a dealer and the contact was informed that the vehicle was consuming an excessive amount of engine oil and the engine was replaced. The contact stated that several years later while driving 35 MPH, the vehicle shut off without warning. The c... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2023
I bought this vehicle from a used car lot in February 2023, not 2022, and drove it under 3k miles; when I took it, it had 86k miles, and the check engine light came on. I took it to FRANK HYUNDAI, where, to this day, have not been able to help me; all this time, I, the consumer, had to chase down the repair guy assigned to my car and, only to be vaguely told it was sludge and metal shedding. It mi... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2023
I bought this vehicle from a used car lot in February 2023, not 2022, and drove it under 3k miles; when I took it, it had 86k miles, and the check engine light came on. I took it to FRANK HYUNDAI, where, to this day, have not been able to help me; all this time, I, the consumer, had to chase down the repair guy assigned to my car and, only to be vaguely told it was sludge and metal shedding. It mi... Read more
Incident date: Nov 15, 2023
The stabilizer/traction control keeps going off and it will stay off.i can turn,hit a bump or start it up and the traction control/stabilizer system is off.i almost had a accident on the freeway in the rain because it turned off out of nowhere and I almost lost control
Incident date: Nov 8, 2019
The car is not running right I can feel shaking, but no one else can
Incident date: Nov 8, 2019
The car is not running right I can feel shaking, but no one else can
Incident date: Nov 14, 2023
The collision avoidance system has been going off randomly when there are no cars around, and also in the middle of traffic when I am more than two car lengths away from other cars; when I am on the highway driving fast and when I am on side streets driving slow, and even in my driveway. Additionally, some of the times that the warning system flashes and sounds off the car brakes and stops in the ... Read more
DODGE
CHALLENGER
(2014) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Nov 15, 2023
Incident date: Nov 11, 2023
My two back doors wont lock or unlock. Very frustrating
Incident date: Nov 14, 2023
Smoke coming out from hood, upon looking at it we found oil leak, took to nearest service shop and found cracks in engine head. Brought car to the dealer ship for further inspection and repairs.
Incident date: Nov 14, 2023
Anti-Lock Braking system and Electronic Braking system, service system warning come on and off randomly all the time. When this happens, cruise control does not work. Had it replaced at the dealership once and It started doing the same thing. Took it back and they said they didn’t know what was wrong with it And that they didn’t want me thinking they didn’t want to do warranty work. The warn... Read more
Incident date: Oct 31, 2023
The contact owns a 2008 Mini Cooper S. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the air bag warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The contact used an OBD scanner and retrieved a DTC regarding the passenger seat occupant detection sensor. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related t... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 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 contacted and stated that parts were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aw... Read more
Incident date: Nov 2, 2022
My car is breaking on its own. I have a malfuction warning on the dash. I took the car to the dealership and they reprogrammed it the first time in December of 2021. The second time, they wanted me to pay $1800 to fix in October 2022. This is a major issue that keeps reoccurring and I am scared I will get rear ended one day. This has happened again today.
Incident date: Nov 12, 2023
"Death Wobble"- At a speed of run 50 miles per hour. Going around the curve my steering will begin to shake violently. Also a handful of other times it shook in the same way after hitting a bump in the road. Once I slowed down it corrected itself.
Incident date: Nov 12, 2023
The number 3 cylinder threw a rod through the cylinder wall. Previous to this happening the car HVAC fan wouldnt turn on unless switched to the on position and waited a while then it would suddenly turn on. It also would randomly shut down, not a stall, or the engine would lose power which happened to me the first shutdown of the engine merging onto the highway creating a huge safety problem. N... Read more
DODGE
CHALLENGER
(2019) - FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
Nov 12, 2023
Incident date: Aug 10, 2023
This vehicle is two years old, has 70,000 miles on it now. It’s worth noting that this issue started when it had 15,000 mile on it several years ago. I took it to the dealer, but they told me they wouldn’t do anything about it since the light no longer indicated an issue. Randomly, the vehicle will suddenly say “collision mitigation system problem, see dealer” and “adaptive cruise cont... Read more
DODGE
CHALLENGER
(2019) - FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
Nov 12, 2023
Incident date: Aug 10, 2023
This vehicle is two years old, has 70,000 miles on it now. It’s worth noting that this issue started when it had 15,000 mile on it several years ago. I took it to the dealer, but they told me they wouldn’t do anything about it since the light no longer indicated an issue. Randomly, the vehicle will suddenly say “collision mitigation system problem, see dealer” and “adaptive cruise cont... Read more
DODGE
CHALLENGER
(2019) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Nov 12, 2023
Incident date: Aug 10, 2023
This vehicle is two years old, has 70,000 miles on it now. It’s worth noting that this issue started when it had 15,000 mile on it several years ago. I took it to the dealer, but they told me they wouldn’t do anything about it since the light no longer indicated an issue. Randomly, the vehicle will suddenly say “collision mitigation system problem, see dealer” and “adaptive cruise cont... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2023
On November 11, 2023 @ between 10:30 and noon, the vehicle infotainment system completely failed. The screen went blank and functions for heat, radio, navigation, cameras, indicator lights in the mirror and the ability to call Volvo emergency services were all lost. A message on the screen said, "Stop the vehicle. This vehicle's infotainment system has encountered a problem. You can reboot or... Read more
Incident date: Nov 3, 2023
Anti=Lock Brake System- Hydraulic Control Unit. I bought this truck new. HCU has already been replaced once while truck was under warranty. Unit has failed again. I have been driving and trailering with a faulted ABS system since 10/22. Been to dealer for repair. No replacement units available.????? And it is constantly ding donging on/off as it faults. Can not trade it in with the fault. 70k$... Read more
Incident date: Nov 3, 2023
The first time this incident occured I was driving in a residential neighborhood and my horn started randomly honking. Over the past few months the horn will randomly start honking and will continously honk for long periods of time. The horn will blast for miles and there is nothing that I can do to make it stop. I have been pulled over because of this and it's terrible driving at night with the h... Read more
Incident date: Nov 3, 2023
The first time this incident occured I was driving in a residential neighborhood and my horn started randomly honking. Over the past few months the horn will randomly start honking and will continously honk for long periods of time. The horn will blast for miles and there is nothing that I can do to make it stop. I have been pulled over because of this and it's terrible driving at night with the h... Read more
DODGE
GRAND CARAVAN
(2017) - POWER TRAIN
Nov 9, 2023
Incident date: Nov 9, 2023
My power steering keeps going in and out while I am driving. If I turn off the car and then turn it back on it comes back on but it is happening very frequently and will go out again as soon as I start driving. I was told that there is a recall for this and want more information. It is not safe.
Incident date: Nov 8, 2023
My 2016 Chevy Malibu that does not have many miles on it is shifting into, Reduced Engine Power Mode. When this comes on I cannot accelerate up to speeds and can only go about 25 MPH. It is dangerous that my car can go from highway speeds to this slow. I have had 0 issues before this started happening and other Malibus have been recalled for this same issue.
Incident date: Aug 20, 2023
The horn had to be replaced Sept. 22, 2023 because it wasn't working. The horn had to be replaced again Nov. 9, 2023 because it was not working. This is a safety hazard since, without a horn, the driver cannot alert others in case of a problem with this car or get the attention of other drivers who are inattentive and may cause an accident. The second time the dealer replaced the horn, the service... Read more
Incident date: Aug 20, 2023
The horn had to be replaced Sept. 22, 2023 because it wasn't working. The horn had to be replaced again Nov. 9, 2023 because it was not working. This is a safety hazard since, without a horn, the driver cannot alert others in case of a problem with this car or get the attention of other drivers who are inattentive and may cause an accident. The second time the dealer replaced the horn, the service... Read more
Incident date: Sep 14, 2023
I do not know what caused this to happen. There were no warning lights or messages. Prior to this incident the transmission would rev/speed up on its own for a few seconds (I don't know if this is relevant). Salesperson told me about this and said it was nothing to worry about. The vehicle is equipped with a sensor that brakes if you come to close to an object. This sensor has definitely wor... Read more
Crash
DODGE
GRAND CARAVAN
(2020) - SERVICE BRAKES
Nov 7, 2023
Incident date: Nov 7, 2023
Abs light and traction control light comes on and off all day long. Brakes will lock up if you’re using cruise control when the abs and traction control light come on. Both lights come on at the same time. The parts needed for this issue is on back order.
Incident date: Jun 8, 2023
Engine cooling system failure on my second engine after it being replaced ounce already still the same thing overheating millions of recalls on 2013 kia serento with cooling system failures why am I have to buy another engine with 2 years of replacing my original with the same problem my vehicle vin need to be added with the rest of the same year make an model
Fire
Incident date: Jun 8, 2023
Engine cooling system failure on my second engine after it being replaced ounce already still the same thing overheating millions of recalls on 2013 kia serento with cooling system failures why am I have to buy another engine with 2 years of replacing my original with the same problem my vehicle vin need to be added with the rest of the same year make an model
Fire
Incident date: Jun 8, 2023
Notice Oil Leak under the Vehicle i had done further investigation with it find the Engine Oil Pan leaking oil and upper Valve gasket i believe there is existing Investigation on it too and i file Complaint with Toyota they advise me since there is no Recall they charge $250 to Diagonstic fee i told them i ready have few mechanic shop look at it. please reference this [XXX] AND [XXX] . But Mechan... Read more
Incident date: Nov 6, 2023
Contacted Ford again fourth time about saftey recall=20S30/20V331. I've been trying to get this fixed since i got the vehicle and recall letters from Ford. Multiple failed attempts because dealership's in my area stood me up, told me they dont do recalls, and said it was basically my fault for buying Ford. Ford customer service is no help, all they say is get in touch with my local dealership's to... Read more
Incident date: Nov 6, 2023
My 2007 Ford Edge lost the use of my accelerometer pedal without any warning, while driving. The pedal collapsed to the floor. The engine continued to run. A wrench image appeared on the dashboard. After towing to service station the gas pedal worked again. No codes could be determined during TWO diagnostic procedures. After the first mechanics could not determine or diagnose a problem, nor repl... Read more
Incident date: Nov 6, 2023
My 2007 Ford Edge lost the use of my accelerometer pedal without any warning, while driving. The pedal collapsed to the floor. The engine continued to run. A wrench image appeared on the dashboard. After towing to service station the gas pedal worked again. No codes could be determined during TWO diagnostic procedures. After the first mechanics could not determine or diagnose a problem, nor repl... Read more
Incident date: Jul 10, 2023
Second time dealing with misfire on #6 cylinder. Coil failed causing sparkplug to be comprised.
Incident date: Jul 10, 2023
The Dodge dart has a malfunction that might have contributed in many crashes this car has been involved in. The issue is that some darts will experience a malfunction where the lights inside the car will randomly flicker (should they be on), digital dash will also flicker and navigation screen will either restart or just shut off. The biggest problem in all of this is that the power steering will ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 10, 2023
The Dodge dart has a malfunction that might have contributed in many crashes this car has been involved in. The issue is that some darts will experience a malfunction where the lights inside the car will randomly flicker (should they be on), digital dash will also flicker and navigation screen will either restart or just shut off. The biggest problem in all of this is that the power steering will ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 6, 2023
Idle stop feature causes vehicle to auto shift to neutral at stop. There are many forums noting this issue. It happened a year ago several times, they replaced the battery and it is happening again. You are sitting at a light or stop sign, go to hit the gas, and the car is in neutral. You need to turn the car off and start again. This is a serious risk of getting rear ended with this issue. One ti... Read more
Incident date: Nov 4, 2023
2018 Grand Cherokee....As you are aware of this already, the radio screen started delaminating and now the crystals are leaking out of he bottom of the screen. This in turn causes all the systems to go off and on at random, that can be controlled by the screen. All safety functions are now disabled due to this problem. Several attempts were made to contact the dealership and jeep customer care,... Read more
DODGE
GRAND CARAVAN
(2018) - FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Nov 5, 2023
Incident date: Oct 18, 2023
While driving car will lose power and low oil pressure message appears. Car dies and then shift gear vehicle must be stopped message appears. Then press break petal to start vehicle. When I press the start button it takes a second to get power and start again.
Incident date: Mar 30, 2023
While driving car will lose power and low oil pressure message appears. Car dies and then shift gear vehicle must be stopped message appears. Then press break petal to start vehicle. When I press the start button it takes a second to get power and start again.
Incident date: Jul 5, 2023
The fuel sending unit is poorly manufactured and cracks and leaks raw fuel directly under the back seat.
Incident date: Mar 17, 2023
Stopped car at red light. Car died. Totally. Engine cut out. Brakes failed, no steering. Tried to restart multiple times. Luckily light was on a decline. Ended up putting it in N and drifting through intersection and into parking lot. Again, no steering, no brakes. Very frightening. When turning key initially after stall, lights on instrument panel lit up but no engine start. By the time I got int... Read more
Incident date: Mar 17, 2023
Stopped car at red light. Car died. Totally. Engine cut out. Brakes failed, no steering. Tried to restart multiple times. Luckily light was on a decline. Ended up putting it in N and drifting through intersection and into parking lot. Again, no steering, no brakes. Very frightening. When turning key initially after stall, lights on instrument panel lit up but no engine start. By the time I got int... Read more
Incident date: Mar 17, 2023
Car was involved in a pretty substantial accident and not a single airbag deployed!
Crash
DODGE
GRAND CARAVAN
(2013) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Nov 3, 2023
Incident date: Nov 3, 2023
On 10/21/2023 I went to turn on my car and shift it to drive when the shifter was unable to move. The shifter was stuck in park and could not move out of any other gear. Check engine light and power steering light were on. Additionally the following message showed up on the dash - "Service Electronic Stability" Several tow truckers were called and the vehicle was unable to be put into neutral... Read more