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 1,278 complaints for GENESIS
Incident date: Aug 25, 2023
The contact owned a 2019 Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed at night, all lights, including the headlights. As a result, the vehicle veered off the roadway into a ditch, coming to a complete stop after colliding with a sign. The air bags did deploy. No warning lights were illuminated. A police report was filed, and injuries were reported. The contac... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Aug 19, 2023
After driving the vehicle I will arrive at my destination. I will stop, continue pressing the vehicle break while moving the shifter from drive to park. Then, I turn the key to the off position in an attempt to remove my key from the Ignition. About 40-50% of the time, the key can not be removed. In order remove the key I will have to do one of the following: Option 1. Let my foot of of the break,... Read more
Incident date: Aug 19, 2023
After driving the vehicle I will arrive at my destination. I will stop, continue pressing the vehicle break while moving the shifter from drive to park. Then, I turn the key to the off position in an attempt to remove my key from the Ignition. About 40-50% of the time, the key can not be removed. In order remove the key I will have to do one of the following: Option 1. Let my foot of of the break,... Read more
Incident date: Aug 20, 2023
Sudden engine coolant temperature high warning comes on. Temperature jumps from normal to maximum on gage. Needle hunts from normal to high. Sometimes needle stays at high. Outside air temperature was 97 degrees Fahrenheit. Similar incident happened on 7/5/2023 when temperature was in the 90s.. Toyota dealer could find nothing wrong with the vehicle. This time I took a picture of the panel with th... Read more
Incident date: Aug 18, 2023
This happened twice before I took the car back to the dealer for service. Both times I was driving the vehicle and it suddenly stops accelerating. The car suddenly comes to a stop. I continued pressing the accelerator and the car continued to quickly slow down to a stop. Both times I was in traffic and could have been rear ended or certainly could have caused an accident. The car is currently... Read more
Incident date: Aug 18, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ram 1500. The contact stated while driving 60 MPH, the steering wheel was firm. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was diagnosed by an independent mechanic and the dealer; however, the cause of the failure was not found. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.
Incident date: Aug 18, 2023
The air conditioning system is also the battery management system for keeping the car at optimal operating temperatures. If this system fails then the car will shut down to protect the integrity of the batteries. I have had my car air conditioning system serviced four times and the front louvers that direct air flow continually fail. The service center has decided there is nothing they can do beca... Read more
Incident date: Aug 4, 2023
Between 2020-2023, my car has completely shut off while driving down the road. I lose all power steering and the ability to use the gas and brake pedals. When this happens there is no warning light at all. Every time I’ve taken it to the dealership they can’t figure out the problem and it keeps happening. In total it has probably shut off on me 20-30 times. It doesn’t matter the situation or... Read more
Incident date: Jun 3, 2023
Reported tire loses pressure. Possible danger. Checked regularly. Tire checked by Goodyear dealer, no leak found. Tire DOES lose pressure. Other 3 tires appear uneffected.
Incident date: Aug 20, 2023
Purchased the hybrid fusion to save on gas . Received a recall with no time as to when they will have a fix. The car is now only able to be used as a gas car because we Were advised you cannot charge the vehicle as it may go on fire. I now have to fill up every week as opposed to every 4-6 weeks. Gas is very high now and the car is not what I wanted without the hybrid mode . Car is lackluster in g... Read more
Incident date: Aug 20, 2023
I have a 2016 Kia Soul with 1.6L engine. I am the 2nd owner. The previous owner got the knock sensor update but the catalytic converter still failed after the update. Now I have a flashing engine light and P1326 code along with the P40 code for faulty catalytic converter. There is a recall for 2016 Kia Soul engines but when I go to the Kia site and type in my VIN there is no recall showing for my... Read more
Incident date: Aug 22, 2023
I was driving down the interstate at 70 mph when my gas pedal stopped responding and the car was slowing down. Suddenly the car started beeping at me saying the engine was shut off and I needed to put it into park or neutral immediately. This happened a week prior on a 45 mph road and I was able to restart the car with no issues. This time, my car restarted when I got off the highway but immediate... Read more
Incident date: Aug 22, 2023
I was stopped at a stop light with my auto-idle system engaged. When the light turned to green the auto-idle would not disengage leaving me stalled in traffic. When I pressed on the gas I got an error message about the 'anti-collision system' being offline. I had to restart the car to resolve the issue. The dealer/service center states no known issues.
Incident date: Aug 22, 2023
I was stopped at a stop light with my auto-idle system engaged. When the light turned to green the auto-idle would not disengage leaving me stalled in traffic. When I pressed on the gas I got an error message about the 'anti-collision system' being offline. I had to restart the car to resolve the issue. The dealer/service center states no known issues.
Incident date: Aug 4, 2023
On numerous occasions, when traveling at speeds 50mph and over, the vehicle failed to further accelerate when the gas pedal was engaged. This caused the rpm's to rev up to 7 and the vehicle to slow down. Our safety was at risk because the vehicle was unresponsive to acceleration for at least 20-30 seconds making it impossible to avoid or get away from something dangerous. On one occasion, the vehi... Read more
Incident date: Aug 4, 2023
With 22,000 miles my front rotor brakes need replacing and I don’t have a heavy foot! This is my 5th Outback and so my history vouches that I’m not a driver that wears down brakes or tires. When I did some online searching, there are a number of people posting with the same experience. Subaru knows there is a problem because they are quick to replace under warranty. But this is dangerous. In m... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2022
Van was taken to Mooresville Ford for routine maintenance. When picking up the van the service mng informed me that some of the lug nuts are "swollen" and the tire iron supplied with the vehicle will no longer fit on the lug nut. I will not be able to change a flat tire until they are are replaced. I have both a premium extended warranty and platinum service contract but the dealer would not cove... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2022
My 2017 Ram 2500 Cummins pick-up truck started displaying symptoms of a bad HCU module several months ago, "Service Electronic Braking System" warning message, ABS dash light indicating loss of ABS, and Traction Control Light indicating loss of traction control, as well as kicking the vehicle out of Cruise Control when this set of condition lights are, albeit intermittently illuminated. There are ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 20, 2023
I was driving and the power steering stopped functioning. The car had just over 1000 miles and both the lane departure avoidance and steering assistance cut out. Restarting the start would bring it back on temporarily but it would cut out again after a minute or two.
Incident date: Aug 18, 2023
while driving truck suddenly decides to go into neutral. this happens twice within an hour. truck is at ford dealership in granada ms. i’m waiting on what they find out
Incident date: Jun 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2010 Honda CR-V. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V228000 (Structure) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted, and the contact was informed that the part for the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experie... Read more
Incident date: Jun 29, 2022
Generator leaking by house connection, looks like bad clamps. Mechnic Service representatives manager stated bad clamps by manafacture and it is a safety issue due to the amount of fuel leaking from the lines to include no shutoff valve by the generator to shut it off. Bad design for customers safety. It can cause a fire while driving. Please address this safety concerns.
Incident date: Sep 7, 2022
The contact's finance owns a 2016 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that the brake pedal would hardened when depressed without warning. While driving at 15 MPH, the contact crashed into another vehicle due to the hardened brake pedal. The driver side air bag failed to deploy as needed; the air bag slightly popped out of place but did not deploy. A police report was filed; no injuries were repor... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Aug 12, 2023
Driving at night on an unlit rural road with the high beam lights engaged, a car was coming in the opposite direction, at which point the headlights were switched to low-beams to not impact the visibility of that driver. The headlights and lighting of the cluster turned completely off for a few moments before the low-beam headlights re-engaged and remained on for the remainder of the trip. The hea... Read more
Incident date: Aug 4, 2023
I purchased my 2005 Corvette C6 from a used car dealership on 4/30/2023. The car was fine for the first week. The second week I began getting a lot of error codes specifically: Service Active Handling System Service Traction Control Service ABS Shocks Inoperative Service Fuel System. At times it would go into limp mode. I would find a safe place to pull off. I would shut the car off and it would ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 27, 2023
I noticed a small puddle of fluid by the right rear wheel and immediately brought the vehicle over to Premier Subaru of Fremont, CA for an inspection. Premier Subaru diagnosed the problem as the right rear hard brake line failure and leak due to excessive corrosion. Premier Subaru provided a repair estimate of $3,997.17; stating that this issue needs immediate attention. Back in 2014, there was... Read more
Incident date: Aug 11, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Ram 1500. The contact stated while driving from a complete stop and while making turns, the accelerator pedal was depressed, but the vehicle hesitated to respond. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure had been recurring while driving. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V406000 (Fuel System, Diesel) however, th... Read more
Incident date: Aug 11, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle failed to properly accelerate. The contact stated that the vehicle was shuddering and vibrating. The contact stated that the engine was consuming an excessive amount of coolant. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer who diagnosed that there was coolant in cylinder #2, causing the engine block to ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 9, 2023
Having issue with steering getting stuck and not allowing to rotate. Happened 2 times today and I am ending up powering off and starting the car. I am worried about getting stuck while driving. This is a safety concern for me.
Incident date: Jul 3, 2023
While driving at 60 mph around a curve with an incoming semi, the car suddenly lost power and the steering locked up. By the grace of God, we were able to avoid the semi and get it off the road. Had it towed to mechanic who said the engine was blown. Regular maintenance always kept. Just had oil changed two weeks ago. This could have been deadly!!!
Incident date: Aug 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to the local dealer for a recall repair and the vehicle was driven to the residence. The contact stated that the next morning when the vehicle was started, several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering column became inoperable. The cont... Read more
Incident date: Aug 2, 2023
I purchased the Ridgeline in 2017 and am the sole owner. I have never towed anything with the truck. The mileage is high currently at 129,000. in the beginning of July the transmission failed and needed to be replaced. The way it failed caused a dramatic shifting and of gears and the inability for the transmission to change gears without jerking or banging of the gears. The transmission fluid... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jun 21, 2023
My car acted like it haD a dead battery. This happened once before and after about 10 minutes when I tried starting it it started with no problems. this happened a couple of months the ago. This time, as I was sitting in the car the seat belt light came on but I couldn't wait for the issue to resolve.
Incident date: Jun 21, 2023
The right back and front windows on this car does not work. There are times when all 4 windows do not work and all 4 doors will lock up and cannot be open from inside nor outside. This is a huge safety hazard. I took the car back to the dealer a total of 6 times. They worked on the car 4 of those six times trying to fix the issue which still exist. They finally told me there is nothing more they... Read more
Incident date: Aug 2, 2023
2013 C300 subframe rusted and cracking.
Incident date: Jul 28, 2023
When I was pulling into my driveway, approx. 5-10mph with my foot barely on the accelerator, the car started accelerating on its own, almost hitting the fence. I was able to slam on the brake pedal and it stopped. It was such a hard stop, left a tire mark on the asphalt and took out some patches of my grass.
Incident date: Nov 4, 2022
Problem: unintended acceleration On 05/30/23, the Tesla Model Y was parked in a parking spot, southbound facing a building. The car suddenly began to drive forward on its own and struck the curb, an AC unit, and a business office wall. No injuries, but the driver and people in the building (a dental clinic) panicked.
Crash
Incident date: Jul 28, 2023
Vehicle lost power while normal driving. This happened multiple times. All dashboard lights turn on, then vehicle shut down/shut off. Had to safely pull over to shift gear into PARK, then restart vehicle. Vehicle acceleration is very poor, the more it does this. Vehicle feels like it’s not being provided fuel. On my app, vehicle show “ALL SYSTEMS NORMAL”. Purchased brand new, only 850... Read more
Incident date: Jul 28, 2023
7/19/23 - Dash warning to pull over because car was going to turn off (from recall software update). (Image attached) Unclear how long I had and upcoming road was more dangerous, so I pulled over in an area with highway speed traffic and only half a shoulder. Car did not reset on first attempt to restart and stuck in "turtle mode" (<10 mph). When I called the dealership, they originally offered me... Read more
Incident date: Jul 28, 2023
7/19/23 - Dash warning to pull over because car was going to turn off (from recall software update). (Image attached) Unclear how long I had and upcoming road was more dangerous, so I pulled over in an area with highway speed traffic and only half a shoulder. Car did not reset on first attempt to restart and stuck in "turtle mode" (<10 mph). When I called the dealership, they originally offered me... Read more
Incident date: Jul 19, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Audi Q7. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the passenger’s side air bag warning light remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local service center who diagnosed that the passenger’s side seat cushion needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer and local dealer were notified of the failure, but no assistanc... Read more
Incident date: Jun 16, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the oil pressure warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle was recently taken to an undisclosed dealer for a routine oil change; however, the oil pressure warning light illuminated. The vehicle was then taken to the undisclosed dealer where it was diagnosed that the oil level was l... Read more
Incident date: Jul 25, 2023
My wife was driving her 2019 Subaru Forester (purchased new) and the Eyesight disabled and the check engine light came on. The car was still running, but not as it normally would. It had less power but would still maintain the speed limit. At home the car idled differently, like it was running too rich or too lean. The exhaust also smelled funny.
Incident date: Jul 23, 2023
Car engine stalled multiple times after a stop. Once car did that right after light turned green and I tried to accelerate. Almost causing accident by getting hit by behind. Also did it in parking lot, what happens the gages stop showing information and only the miles driven on the bottom left. Twice had to turn car on and off, once it was able to start back up on its own after pressing accelera... Read more
Incident date: Jul 23, 2023
Horn stopped working. Can not honk or alert others around. Problem confirmed at dealer currently for repair. No warning lamps or messages
Incident date: Jul 23, 2023
Horn stopped working. Can not honk or alert others around. Problem confirmed at dealer currently for repair. No warning lamps or messages
Incident date: Jul 23, 2023
We are having an issue with our vehicle leaking fuel on left side fuel tank. The vehicle is constant smell of gas on that left side. It has been a safety concern for us and the dealer wants us to pay at least $1200 just for diagnostic alone. There was a Special Coverage Adjustment for this issue but we were never notified. The notice is Special Coverage Adjustment 15682. I spoke with GM/Chevrole... Read more
Incident date: Jul 23, 2023
Small rock flipped up by car in front of me, hitting the windshield. Windshield immediately cracked about 21". Have owned many cars with rock chipped windshields, but none have ever cracked immediately, or as badly, as this car! This pebble should have left maybe a small chip. Looked online, and other Venza owners are reporting the same thing. Glass or design is a problem.
Incident date: Jul 22, 2023
Coolant Bypass Value Replacement required on my 2020 Rav 4. I have 33,000 miles & purchased in 2019, so it is not covered under warranty. The dealer is charging me over $850 to replace. I have been told by the Dealer that this is a "KNOWN" problem with this and other Toyota models. Why is there not a recall or extended warranty on this repair if so many owners are paying hundreds of dollars on ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 17, 2023
The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH, the vehicle stopped suddenly without warning. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 5,000.