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 384,293 complaints for FORD
Incident date: Aug 10, 2026
I am submitting this complaint regarding a safety-related braking system issue with my 2013 Lincoln Navigator (VIN: [XXX]), which has fewer than 90,000 miles. The vehicle's brake control module, which is associated with critical safety functions including the anti-lock braking system (ABS) and traction/stability control system, required replacement. After a nationwide backorder and obtaining the ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 5, 2026
Moonroof had a seal leak. Ford replaced entire moonroof assembly. 3 weeks later the moonroof spontaneously shattered while driving down 40 MPH road, no trees, no rocks, etc. Fortunately, the inner cloth canopy was closed or shattered glass would have fallen down and hit driver and passengers.
Incident date: Aug 5, 2026
The steering wheel has developed resistance to turning left and right. It is most noticeable when driving on highways where small steering inputs are needed to keep the vehicle within a lane. The steering wheel with stick in place requiring more effort than normal to turn in either direction. When the steering wheel does turn, there is an audible click sound. The additional force needed to rotate... Read more
Incident date: Aug 8, 2026
The contact owns a 2021 Hyundai Palisade. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V607000 (SEAT BELTS); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The local dealer was contacted and confirmed that the part 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 aw... Read more
Incident date: Jul 29, 2026
*VIN:* [XXX] *Make/Model/Year:* 2023 RAM 1500 LARAM DT *Mileage at failure:* 53,883 *Recall:* 75B - ABS Module Configuration Mismatch (launched 09/12/2024) + 67D Rear Seat Belt Buckle Anchor Bolt (08/06/2026) + A1B Turn Signal Lever Latch (10/08/2024) *Dealer:* Falvey's Motors Inc DBA Falvey's Premium, 300 Broadway, Norwich, CT 06360 — RO [XXX] / Control [XXX] — Service Advisor Caitlin Violett... Read more
Incident date: Aug 7, 2026
The car was driving fine and then all of the dashboard lights came on. The car wouldn’t drive faster than 20 MPH. The dealership said it was a head gasket and injector problem. They quoted me $6000
Fire
Incident date: Aug 9, 2026
Failed engine due to class action recall
Incident date: Aug 10, 2026
On 6/12/2024, my right engine mounts collapsed and needed immediate repair to keep the engine secure. On 7/6/2026, I took my car for service and was informed via video that the right engine mounts had collapsed again and required replacement. I repeatedly explained to the dealership that the mount installed on 6/12/2024 only lasted about 27,000 miles. The service center then had a team leader take... Read more
Incident date: Sep 15, 2025
waterpump is leaking- known issue that is currently being investigated for class action lawsuit. My car is now out of warranty.
Incident date: Aug 10, 2026
I am reporting a safety-related transmission problem I experienced with my 2018 Ford F-150 XLT equipped with the 10R80 automatic transmission. While driving normally, the transmission suddenly lost power and failed to engage into gear causing hesitation in the middle of driving. This occurred while in stop and go traffic, creating a potentially dangerous situation because the truck did not respon... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2020
Twice in the past year, the vehicle stalled after coming to a stop at a red light. The morning after the most recent incident, the car would not start. I had it towed to the dealership. That was Luther Brookdale Dodge, Jeep and Ram in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. Two weeks ago, I began to intermittently see the message '4WD Unavailable - Service Required'. I brought it yesterday, and was told ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 15, 2026
Cylinder head gaskets failure with coolant migrating into the cylinders, available for inspection upon request; Dahl Honda Sheboygan took videos of inspection and liquid in the cylinders. Upon starting the car, the engine sounded strange and sluggish. As I started to drive, engine sounded like it was misfiring. I was able to drive only 10-25 mph (safety issue) from residence to the Dahl dealership... Read more
Incident date: Jun 10, 2026
I was driving to the dealership and stopped at a light and the start stop button turned off completely. Brake locked and wouldn’t start back.
Incident date: Jul 28, 2026
I was driving to the dealership and stopped at a light and the start stop button turned off completely. Brake locked and wouldn’t start back.
Incident date: Aug 10, 2026
Took car in May to hemborg ford they replaced my brake bumper it was on recall. Took car back on August 3 of 2026 brake lights staying on. Had them recheck the recall again thought it might be that. I was told it was not the issue. I needed to change out brake switch and had to pay diagnostic fee so a total of just under 300. My brake lights stay on while driving my car and when we park the car. t... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2026
The ABS module is designed to fail after an extended period of time, leaving the owner to drive in dangerous conditions unless they pay thousands of dollars for the necessary repairs. This is essentially extortion, and the owners need to be held accountable. Our society runs the risk of being ran by parasitic, profit-driven, morally bankrupt individuals unless the issue is resolved appropriately. ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 3, 2026
While driving straight ahead in my lane on a wet freeway in an active construction zone, the vehicle abruptly and without warning lost traction and spun out of control. I was traveling in a normal, controlled manner with the flow of traffic and was not turning, braking hard, or making any abrupt maneuver when the loss of control occurred. It was so sudden that I initially believed another vehicle ... Read more
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Aug 3, 2026
While driving straight ahead in my lane on a wet freeway in an active construction zone, the vehicle abruptly and without warning lost traction and spun out of control. I was traveling in a normal, controlled manner with the flow of traffic and was not turning, braking hard, or making any abrupt maneuver when the loss of control occurred. It was so sudden that I initially believed another vehicle ... Read more
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Jul 25, 2026
My driver side seat belt will not stay latched. The screen on my dashboard will freeze up and not turn on or off
Incident date: Aug 10, 2026
CONTEMPORANEOUS NOTE 2024 ACURA ZDX – AWD - NHTSA Recall No. 26V306000 Date: XXX Time: 12:25 PM On XXX at approximately 12:25 PM, I contacted Miami Acura Service at [XXX] to schedule the recently issued rear-view camera safety recall 26V306000 for my 2024 Acura ZDX. I was advised by the dealership representative that no appointments were being scheduled for the recall at this time because the re... Read more
Incident date: Jul 18, 2026
When I accelerate from a complete stop. It makes a roaring noise that dies down once the car is in full swing. Toyota dealership is saying that it is a common problem for Toyota CHR and needs to be replaced. Replacement cost from my pocket is $12k
Incident date: Jul 25, 2026
I purchased and paid for two NEW front tires for my RV from Mac’s Tire & Complete Auto in Tucson, Arizona. After the tires were installed, I drove the RV approximately 2,000 miles. During this trip, the front tires began deteriorating and coming apart on the inside. Because the damage was on the inner side of the tires, it was difficult to see during normal visual inspection. I stopped at a Fi... Read more
Incident date: May 14, 2026
Turn signal audio not present (lights working. No audio from radio, phone , collision warnings rear cross traffic warnings, door ajar audio warnings. Resetting the display fixes the problem. However, the issue returns the next day.
FORD
BRONCO SPORT
(2022) - STEERING
Aug 10, 2026
Incident date: Aug 1, 2026
Our Jeep has a death wobble that has almost caused me to have three wrecks where it is taking me out of my lane of travel and put me in Lanes where other people are had to get to the side of the road and try to get it to stop wobbling it. Every time I hit a pothole or a bump it throws me into a death wobble. I'm worried that this might cause me to get into an accident or cause me to die this happe... Read more
Incident date: Jun 18, 2026
This recall has been going on for over a year. I don't know how long these usually take, but this recall - Manufacturer Recall Number25S75 NHTSA Recall Number25V455 Recall StatusRecall Incomplete, remedy not yet available My truck runs rough at times which I believe is a direct result from the fuel pump on this recall, and it doesn't give me much confidence on my daily driver truck, especially ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 10, 2026
The contact owns a 2020 Volkswagen Tiguan. The contact stated that while driving 70 MPH with two toddlers inside the vehicle, the ceiling of the vehicle detached and caused a bump on the head. A dealer was contacted, and the contact was informed that it was a known issue with similar vehicles. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact was informed t... Read more
Incident date: Jun 8, 2026
My 2024 Volvo XC90 has experienced complete battery and electrical failure three times in approximately ten months. The failure pattern is identical each time. The battery discharges fully with no prior warning. A jump start restores power briefly, but the vehicle does not hold a charge and shuts down again, so it must be towed. The battery has been replaced three separate times by authorized Volv... Read more
Incident date: Jun 8, 2026
Hello, I have a concern with my trucks transmission. I haven't had it diagnosed by Ford but am an independent tech myself. I believe the cdf drum is failing. Here are the problems I had. The biggest is the safety. I was pulling out on busy street and I accelerated. Truck moved and the transmission delayed in shifting causing truck to slow down and then slamming into gear. Oncoming traffic got very... Read more
Incident date: Jun 8, 2026
I was told by oxmoor dealership I had to talk to toyota corporate before I could get my car touched and that I did not need to talk to a lawyer. I called. Prior to the accident, the vehicle had been exhibiting multiple symptoms: an intermittent airbag warning light had illuminated briefly on the dashboard on a few occasions, and the vehicle had begun requiring noticeably longer physical distance... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Dec 23, 2022
I was told by oxmoor dealership I had to talk to toyota corporate before I could get my car touched and that I did not need to talk to a lawyer. I called. Prior to the accident, the vehicle had been exhibiting multiple symptoms: an intermittent airbag warning light had illuminated briefly on the dashboard on a few occasions, and the vehicle had begun requiring noticeably longer physical distance... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Dec 23, 2022
I am submitting this complaint to report what I believe is a potential safety defect involving the Tesla Autopark feature on my 2026 Tesla Model Y Premium All-Wheel Drive. On 7/21/26 at approximately 7:40 a.m., I activated Autopark to park my vehicle in my driveway. A transit van was already parked nearby and remained stationary throughout the parking maneuver. While Autopark was controlling the... Read more
Incident date: Jul 1, 2025
I rented this car from Drivo on July 17th. On the 21st we noticed the tire light. When we went to the garage to get this checked the two rear tires were bald, with the wires showing through the tires. We have photos of this, and a statement from the garage that the tires were in an illegal/unroadworthy condition. Despite raising this in many emails with the company, Drivo/Ace, nobody has made any... Read more
Incident date: Jul 7, 2026
While stopped at red light, waiting for the green light, the vehicle suddenly gave the park signal, once in park the vehicle shut down. It had to be restarted. My child was in the back seat.This occurred today 10 August 2026
Incident date: Aug 10, 2026
My vehicle was stopped at a busy intersection, idling in the automatic stop mode. When my husband moved his foot from the brake to the accelerator, the car stalled, orange alarm alerts went off, and the car was completely dead and stalled without power. The car needed to be restarted, and it took a few attempts to accomplish that task. I have had the same problem before with this car and have had... Read more
Incident date: Jul 5, 2026
My vehicle was stopped at a busy intersection, idling in the automatic stop mode. When my husband moved his foot from the brake to the accelerator, the car stalled, orange alarm alerts went off, and the car was completely dead and stalled without power. The car needed to be restarted, and it took a few attempts to accomplish that task. I have had the same problem before with this car and have had... Read more
Incident date: Aug 8, 2026
I am reporting a potential safety defect involving the rear windshield glass on my Acura MDX. The rear windshield unexpectedly shattered while the vehicle was stationary, with no known impact or contact with an outside object. I was present when the glass shattered and immediately took multiple photographs and videos before the vehicle was moved. Based on what I observed, the glass appeared to br... Read more
Incident date: Aug 8, 2026
I am reporting a potential safety defect involving the rear windshield glass on my Acura MDX. The rear windshield unexpectedly shattered while the vehicle was stationary, with no known impact or contact with an outside object. I was present when the glass shattered and immediately took multiple photographs and videos before the vehicle was moved. Based on what I observed, the glass appeared to br... Read more
FORD
MAVERICK HYBRID
(2025) - UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Aug 10, 2026
Incident date: Jul 24, 2026
My Tesla Model S has a touch-sensitive horn button on the right side of the steering wheel. In urgent situations, I've often had difficulty quickly locating it to get another driver's attention. Tesla quoted me $1800 to replace the steering wheel with a model that has the horn in the center, like most other cars. This is a safety concern because owners shouldn't have to pay to move the horn for sa... Read more
Incident date: May 23, 2018
When GM announced the recall involving the potential for catastrophic engine failure, I immediately contacted Bridgewater Chevrolet in NJ to schedule the required recall inspection. I was told the dealership could not perform the inspection because it had not yet received the required 'diagnostic tool' from GM. Once they received the equipment, they contacted me and on Oct 1, 2025, they completed... Read more
Incident date: May 23, 2018
When GM announced the recall involving the potential for catastrophic engine failure, I immediately contacted Bridgewater Chevrolet in NJ to schedule the required recall inspection. I was told the dealership could not perform the inspection because it had not yet received the required 'diagnostic tool' from GM. Once they received the equipment, they contacted me and on Oct 1, 2025, they completed... Read more
Incident date: Jan 13, 2025
Date and Time: XXX at approximately 3:00 p.m. Pacific Time. Location: Northbound [XXX]. Vehicle: 2024 BMW iX. Occupants: Driver and driver’s son. Weather/Road Conditions: Very hot and Sunny, in the 97-degree temperature; gusting winds at about 17-miles/hr; the vehicle was traveling at normal highway speed. Incident Description: My son and I were returning home from Wine Valley Golf Club, locate... Read more
Incident date: Jan 13, 2025
The contact owns a 2016 Land Rover Discovery Sport. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, there was an abnormal sound coming from the vehicle, and the vehicle became difficult to maneuver. The contact pulled over to the shoulder lane to avoid a crash. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed with a cracked... Read more
Incident date: Jul 22, 2026
Twice within 3 days the car drove when was in electronic park. FIRST August 1 2026 instance got in car parked in a lot. Started it (foot on brake, push start). Spent ≈ 15 min checking iPad. When car in front of me backed out of parking space, car dinged, lit up that car in front is leaving like it we were at a stop sign. Then started to move forward. I quickly braked. I may have touched the br... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Aug 10, 2026
Twice within 3 days the car drove when was in electronic park. FIRST August 1 2026 instance got in car parked in a lot. Started it (foot on brake, push start). Spent ≈ 15 min checking iPad. When car in front of me backed out of parking space, car dinged, lit up that car in front is leaving like it we were at a stop sign. Then started to move forward. I quickly braked. I may have touched the br... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Aug 10, 2026
Twice within 3 days the car drove when was in electronic park. FIRST August 1 2026 instance got in car parked in a lot. Started it (foot on brake, push start). Spent ≈ 15 min checking iPad. When car in front of me backed out of parking space, car dinged, lit up that car in front is leaving like it we were at a stop sign. Then started to move forward. I quickly braked. I may have touched the br... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Apr 16, 2026
I have a 2023 Toyota Highlander XSE with 77,015 miles on it. Last week we noticed that when pushing on the gas pedel to accelerate that the car started making a terrible whinning noise that did not go away. i scheduled a service call with dealership i purchased it from and where i take it for all of its scheduled service and they canfirmed that the transmission was failing and needed to be replace... Read more
Incident date: Aug 10, 2026
engine transmission motor mount backup camera fuel pump headlights dash cluster radio mirrors inside mirrors tailgate latch seat belt climate control engine light transmission shifter
Incident date: Aug 2, 2026
The contact owns a 2016 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at undisclosed speeds, the transmission unexpectedly downshifted into a lower gear. Additionally, the transmission became stuck in the lower gear, and the wrench icon was displayed. The contact stated that the vehicle was recently repaired under NHTSA Campaign Number: 26V237000 (POWER TRAIN); and a software update was perfor... Read more
Incident date: Aug 2, 2026
My 2013 Hyundai Sonata (VIN [XXX]) suffered a driver's airbag clock spring failure, completely disabling the primary restraint safety system. ABS light was on, the horn and all other electronics on the steering wheel were not functioning. All symptoms indicated in the recall This vehicle is explicitly covered under Hyundai Extended Warranty Campaign TXXA/TXXJ for 15 years/unlimited miles. Howeve... Read more
FORD
EXPEDITION
(2019) - AIR BAGS
Aug 10, 2026
Incident date: Aug 10, 2026
My 2013 Hyundai Sonata (VIN [XXX]) suffered a driver's airbag clock spring failure, completely disabling the primary restraint safety system. ABS light was on, the horn and all other electronics on the steering wheel were not functioning. All symptoms indicated in the recall This vehicle is explicitly covered under Hyundai Extended Warranty Campaign TXXA/TXXJ for 15 years/unlimited miles. Howeve... Read more