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 1,850 complaints for FISKER
Incident date: Jul 10, 2024
Coolant bypass failed at 55,000 miles. This car has barely been used. This car is almost in mint condition and the coolant bypass has failed resulting the car not being able to be driven at all until fixed. The dealer is charging over $600 to repair. This is an ongoing issue with hundreds of Toyota RAV4 owners.
Incident date: Jun 25, 2024
I purchased this vehicle 3 months ago and it had a terrible smell and still does. When I got the car home I started cleaning and seen mold under the weather mats. 1 month after purchase the sun roof and sun shade stopped working. The smell got worse and I noticed every time it rains the floor is soaking wet. Massive amounts of water is draining into the car from the rear seats causing black mold. ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 25, 2024
I purchased this vehicle 3 months ago and it had a terrible smell and still does. When I got the car home I started cleaning and seen mold under the weather mats. 1 month after purchase the sun roof and sun shade stopped working. The smell got worse and I noticed every time it rains the floor is soaking wet. Massive amounts of water is draining into the car from the rear seats causing black mold. ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 25, 2024
Right when the summer started to reach 100 degree weather, the air conditioner went out on my car. It jas stopped reading the outside air temperature. Nissan I have gotten two different opinions that vary greatly in price and time. After doing some research, I have noticed this is an ongoing problem with 2021 Nissan Rogues. With Nissan being difficult to work with. Nissan states the whole compre... Read more
Incident date: Jul 9, 2024
Was parked on a slight incline with the car completely off and keys out of ignition. My daughter, her cousin and I exited the car and were walking in front of it. As we got in front of it my car made a sound like it was about to start. The headlights came on and the entire vehicle jerked forward a bit. It almost hit us.
Incident date: Jul 1, 2024
Dear NHTSA: I recently bought a HYUNDAI SONATA 2013 I got the NC vehicle inspection PASSED the same day. The car has been working perfectly. But, my granddaughter, XXXX, who I share the car with got a terrible experience last Thursday [XXX], she was driving to her job around 2:30 PM when suddenly the car just died, without any light showing on the screen. She was in panic in the middle of a big r... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2024
Despite following the manufacturer’s recommended maintenance schedule and having the car serviced at authorized BMW dealerships, I am facing an engine failure that BMW has quoted $44,000 to repair. BMW is only offering $4,000 towards this repair, leaving us with an overwhelming out-of-pocket expense. My insurance provider has informed me that they will not cover the cost of these repairs, placin... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2024
The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Sentra. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V581000 (Steering) 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 manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms par... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2024
The dashboard on this has turned a very bright LIME GREEN. It is very hard to drive this at night because it is severely blinding to see the road. I have contacted Freightliner and Winnebago and I keep getting the run around. This happened when this was still under warrantee and I have been trying to get someone to help me.
Incident date: May 15, 2024
Driving vehicle and lost power. Vehicle will crank, but won’t start
Incident date: May 15, 2024
My 2016 Colorado is experiencing power steering loss at random occurrences while driving. The date that I lost below was the last time this happened, but it has happened over 10 times in the 5 months I have owned this truck. I'm aware there was a recall on the 2015 with the same issue. I also have seen that there have been over 200 complaints about this problem happening. This is a major problem t... Read more
Incident date: May 15, 2024
VSA module has gone bad. I’ve come to find out it is a common thing in certain Honda vehicles. I feel the braking and stability in my vehicle is compromised.
Incident date: Jul 2, 2024
Today, we experienced, for the FOURTH time, a complete stall while driving. Accelerator would not work at all. Van died while driving approx 25 mph. We just had the entire fuel pump & fuel pump relay completely replaced. We have replaced both of these twice now, in less than 3 years. Same problem keeps happening. Mechanic agrees, that the core problem lies within a failure of the TIPM system. It's... Read more
Incident date: Jul 2, 2024
Today, we experienced, for the FOURTH time, a complete stall while driving. Accelerator would not work at all. Van died while driving approx 25 mph. We just had the entire fuel pump & fuel pump relay completely replaced. We have replaced both of these twice now, in less than 3 years. Same problem keeps happening. Mechanic agrees, that the core problem lies within a failure of the TIPM system. It's... Read more
Incident date: Jun 30, 2024
The transmission is completely out but the vehicle is fairly new. I saw that there is a recall on the transmission on some vehicles but I’m not sure if mine is on that list.
Incident date: Jun 26, 2024
Seat, mirror, steering column pre-set driver adjustments do not come into proper driving configuration on a regular basis when starting vehicle. This is a dangerous situation when a malfunction does occur. Seat has tendency to squeeze driver torso into steering column and knees into dash. LH mirror inadvertently and unexpectedly tilts down toward the ground and ofter unnoticed. This makes for a d... Read more
Incident date: Jun 26, 2024
Seat, mirror, steering column pre-set driver adjustments do not come into proper driving configuration on a regular basis when starting vehicle. This is a dangerous situation when a malfunction does occur. Seat has tendency to squeeze driver torso into steering column and knees into dash. LH mirror inadvertently and unexpectedly tilts down toward the ground and ofter unnoticed. This makes for a d... Read more
Incident date: Jul 2, 2024
Turbo failure resulted in loss of engine power. I was driving down the road and the engine light came on and I got a notification that the engine was in reduced power mode. The vehicle became very sluggish and lost speed. While I was fortunate that I was not on a busy road, had the incident happened on the highway it could have been dangerous given my loss of speed. What's of greater concern, ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 2, 2024
Transmission jerks when decelerating to a stop. It’s as if it drops to the wrong gear and then tries to correct. Does this every time. Causes the truck to lurch and jerk.
Incident date: Mar 29, 2024
The contact owns a 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated while her husband was making a right turn from a complete stop at approximately 10 MPH, the vehicle lost power steering functionality. The message "Trailer Brake" and another message indicating a power steering failure were displayed. The contact stated that her husband pulled to the side of the road, turned off and restarted the... Read more
Incident date: Mar 29, 2024
The contact owns a 2014 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 not contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact had not experienced a failure. The manufacturer was not made a... Read more
Incident date: Mar 29, 2024
My car is not starting properly due to the recall. I reached out to my dealership and they basically told me there is nothing they can do due to the part being on recall. I am a single mother to a [XXX] daughter and with this being my only form of transportation I cannot afford to get a new vehicle or miss work due to not having a vehicle. I am worried my car will stall in the middle of the road ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 16, 2024
Emergency breaking for no reason. Car shuts down and stalls. Flashing Emission system problem, brake systems problem, brake hold systems problem, Power steering systems problem, vehicle stability assist problem, Hill start assist problem, adaptive cruise control problem, Collision mitigation System problem, Road departure mitigation system, problem. This is continuing to happen after the recall w... Read more
Incident date: Dec 15, 2023
Ford Dealership determined the TCM is the culprit for my transmission issues. The check engine light is illuminated. Car revs up but goes no where. There is an active extension warranty issued by Ford but for some reason my VIN is not included.
Incident date: Jul 1, 2024
The 2023 jeep wrangler 4ex shutdown on highway at speed 75 mile/h!!!!! And cannot restart, gear only in P position. Only towing
Incident date: May 2, 2024
Car had known recall and dealership was notified prior to this happening and I was advised that I was fine. Few months later, oil pump failed and seized engine while merging onto I40 with my 2 children in the backseat. Crash had almost happened but I was able to safely stop the vehicle and remove my kids from the smoking car. Small grass fire started under the car as the oil flooded from underneat... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Apr 16, 2024
The backup camera fails to show an image from behind the car over 75% of the time. The display in the car is black upon putting the car in reverse, within about 2 seconds a message displays “rear view camera is unavailable. Please contact your dealership.” The collision sensors (rear cross traffic) also does not work when the camera is not working. Looking at multiple online sites, as well as ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 16, 2024
I have a coolant leak that I have not been able to locate. Despite replacing the radiator, the leak persists. When I contacted the dealer to inquire about estimates for changing the water pump and timing chain, they advised that it would be more cost-effective to replace the entire engine, which would require removing the existing engine at a starting cost of $5,000, with a new engine costing appr... Read more
Incident date: Apr 16, 2024
I have a coolant leak that I have not been able to locate. Despite replacing the radiator, the leak persists. When I contacted the dealer to inquire about estimates for changing the water pump and timing chain, they advised that it would be more cost-effective to replace the entire engine, which would require removing the existing engine at a starting cost of $5,000, with a new engine costing appr... Read more
Incident date: Apr 19, 2024
The first time this happened I was in Maryland, while reversing out of a parking spot onto [XXX] , the Jeep just shut off, just before that every light on the panel went off and the ABS, Powertrain just to name a few failed. I was stuck 3/4 out of the spot when the shutdown occurred, the steering wheel locked, gear shift wouldn’t move and when I tried to press the brake it wouldn’t go down. ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 23, 2024
The engine seized suddenly and put my family in danger. There are recalls on other kia engines and it is clearly an issue but KIA is not taking responsibility for it and has told us we must pay 13K for a new engine or they will give us $500 to "take it off our hands" --- this is wrong. We have kept the vehicle well-maintained and have all the records to prove this. It has just over 100,000 miles o... Read more
Incident date: Jun 23, 2024
The contact owns a 2018 Ram 5500. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the ABS and Traction Control Service warning lights illuminated. Additionally, the contact stated that the cruise control failed to operate once the warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed with a defective ABS module. The contact was informed t... Read more
FISKER
OCEAN
(2023) - SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:ANTILOCK/TRACTION CONTROL/ELECTRONIC LIMITED SLIP:ABS WARNING LIGHT
Jun 28, 2024
Incident date: Jun 23, 2024
The contact owns a 2018 Ram 5500. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the ABS and Traction Control Service warning lights illuminated. Additionally, the contact stated that the cruise control failed to operate once the warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed with a defective ABS module. The contact was informed t... Read more
Incident date: Jun 28, 2024
When the auto stop/start feature is engaged at a stop and I am the first vehicle at the light or stop sign, the steering is unresponsive when making a turn into or through the intersection after the auto start re-engages and has posed a safety issue steering/turning because of the delay that occurs in powering the power steering pump. On repeated instances, I have entered an intersection making a... Read more
Incident date: Mar 15, 2024
I have a 2014 Pearl White Sorento SX. After washing my car recently, two area showed up that have started to delaminate. I talked with my insurance company who came out and told me there are known problems with especially the Pearl White on Kia Sorento so they wouldn't cover anything. Unfortunately those two areas are spreading and three new areas are cropping up. Based on what I've learned si... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2024
The contact owns a 2018 Ram 1500. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 22V406000 (Fuel System, Diesel) and 23V411000 (Engine and Engine Cooling); however, the parts to do the recall repairs were not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repairs. The manufacturer was ma... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2024
The contact owns a 2018 Ram 1500. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 22V406000 (Fuel System, Diesel) and 23V411000 (Engine and Engine Cooling); however, the parts to do the recall repairs were not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repairs. The manufacturer was ma... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2024
Dead pedal/no acceleration when pedal was depressed. Monday, June 24th, 7:26am zero throttle when taking off from stop light. Delay of 2-3 seconds. Wednesday, June 19th, 5:14pm. Zero throttle response when taking off from a green light. Delay of 3-4 seconds. 3:06pm June 28, zero throttle response for 2 seconds when taking off from stop light. 3:15 pm same thing happened. - Personal safet... Read more
Incident date: May 25, 2024
The contact owns a 2012 Hyundai Accent. 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 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... Read more
Incident date: May 25, 2024
The contact owns a 2016 Ford F-150. The contact stated that the front driver’s and passenger’s side doors failed to open when needed. The contact stated that several attempts were needed while using the key fob to unlock the door. Additionally, the contact stated that vehicle was not equipped with automatic lock/unlock feature and could only be locked/unlocked using the key fob. The contact st... Read more
Incident date: Jun 28, 2024
Our instrument panel went completely black. It wouldn’t display any information and wouldn’t fix itself. We took it to the dealer and it was replaced on our dime for $2300
Incident date: Jun 18, 2024
We purchased a Honda accord ( VIN and details below) , and after few weeks ( within 380 miles of driving, the car stopped in the middle of the road with a whole bunch of DTC's lighting up. the DTC's were indicating brake system malfunction, Internal temperature high, LKAS Malfunction etc. Had to tow the car to dealership
Incident date: Jun 18, 2024
We purchased a Honda accord ( VIN and details below) , and after few weeks ( within 380 miles of driving, the car stopped in the middle of the road with a whole bunch of DTC's lighting up. the DTC's were indicating brake system malfunction, Internal temperature high, LKAS Malfunction etc. Had to tow the car to dealership
Incident date: Jun 18, 2024
The contact owns a 2020 Ford F-150. The contact stated while driving 30 MPH, the contact became aware of a failure with the transmission. The contact stated that the gear shifter would remain in neutral(N). There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was restarted but the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with transmission failure. The contact wa... Read more
Incident date: May 28, 2024
I get regularly scheduled oil changes but the car is making a noise like a rod knock
Incident date: Jun 5, 2024
Engine failed due to apparent head gasket leak. Incident happened on [XXX] near Richmond, Kentucky. Failure of engine caused loss of speed and power. Fortunately, an exit was available to get the car off the road quickly. We had to tow the car home and replace the engine at a cost of $8,000. Kia has had to recall 4 cylinder engines for this year. They should be recalling the 6 cylinder engine a... Read more
Incident date: Jun 5, 2024
Overheating engine. Was driving and all of a sudden with no warning the temperature gauge went up to hot and engine was overheating. I was told by the dealer that my engine is gone and it was going to cost me $5,000 just to break the engine down and just diagnosed the problem.
Incident date: Jun 5, 2024
Overheating engine. Was driving and all of a sudden with no warning the temperature gauge went up to hot and engine was overheating. I was told by the dealer that my engine is gone and it was going to cost me $5,000 just to break the engine down and just diagnosed the problem.
Incident date: May 30, 2024
While driving west on [XXX] thru Utah at 78 mph (speed limit posted 80) the car suddenly and almost violently applied full brakes and reduced speed to 50 mph before I could override by applying added pressure to the accelerator. There were no cars in front of me for over a mile, and the following cars were well back as well. This occurred late morning on perfectly dry pavement. There were few if a... Read more
Incident date: May 29, 2024
Driving home on dark, deserted roads, my brights will not click on. When I click, nothing happens. When I hold the turner back in the mode to “flash my brights”, the bright headlights will come on. I had to drive holding this back almost an hour so I could see. I had a mechanic look and he said the switch is wired to the computer, so it is not an easy fix, but will have to go to the dealers... Read more