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.

2,245,377 Total Complaints

140,173 Reported Crashes

56,794 Reported Fires

8,580 Reported 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

How to Read NHTSA Consumer Complaints › How NHTSA Investigations Work › Used Car: 7 Recall Checks to Run First › The Takata Airbag Recall: Full Story › OBD-II Codes Explained › All Articles ›

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Showing 4,224 complaints for HARLEY-DAVIDSON

Incident date: May 14, 2001

AS FO THE FIRST DAY I PICKED UP MY MOTORCYCLE IT HAS HAD SOME PROBLEMS WITH THE ENGINE. IKNOW BECAUSE I JUST TRADED IN A 1997 H-D ROADKING FOR THIS NEW BIKE WITH THE SO CALLED NEW IMPROVED ENGINE. IT HAS BROUGHT MY WIFE AND I NOTHING BUT HEADACHES. WE HAVE RECEIVED AN EXTENDED WARRANTY FROM HARLEY DAVIDSON THAT IF THE PART FAILS IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS THEY WILL REPLACE IT. EXCEPT YOU DON'T KNOW W... Read more

Crash

THIS MODEL HAS TWO DISC BRAKES ON A NARROW FRONT WHEEL. THIS UNUSUAL CONFIGURATION RESULTS IN EXCESSIVE BRAKING POWER ON THE NARROW FRONT WHEEL AND CAUSES THE NARROW FRONT WHEEL TO LOCK UP TOO EASILY DURING MODERATE APPLICATION OF THE BRAKE, CAUSING LOSS OF CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE. ADDITIONALLY, THE FRONT SUSPENSION "DIVES" EXCESSIVELY DURING MODERATE APPLICATION OF THE FRONT BRAKE, WHICH CONTRIBU... Read more

Crash 1 injured

Incident date: Apr 29, 2001

WAS DRIVING MOTORCYCLE WHEN CAM BEARINGS BLEW OUT AND SCATTERED METAL PIECES THROUGHOUT ENGINE, CAUSING IT TO STALL OUT. *AK

Incident date: Apr 21, 2001

THIS CAM BEARING ISSUE IS WELL-KNOWN AMONG HD TWIN-CAM OWNERS. MY BEARING BEGIN TO CAUSE THE ENGINE TO VIBRATE EXCESSIVELY SO THAT I TOOK IT TO THE DEALERSHIP WHERE I HAVE IT SERVICED TO GET THEM TO RIDE IT. THE TECHNICIAN DECLARED THAT IT WAS INDEED THE CAM BEARING AT FAULT. HARLEY-DAVIDSON REPAIRED THE ENGINE WITH NO EXPENSE TO ME. MY REASON FOR REPORTING THIS INCIDENT IS TO ADD TO THE NUMBE... Read more

Incident date: Dec 1, 1999

REAR CAM BEARING FAILED CREATING LOD GRINDING NOISE. SHUT DOWN ENGINE AND GAVE TO DEALER.CAM BEARING REPLACED WITH SAME TYPE OF ROLLER BEARING NOT UPDATED VERSION .NOW AT 14500 MILES ENGINE IS BEGINING TO MAKE SAME NOISE AGAIN.NOTIFIED HARLEY DEALER I WAS TOLD THAT A EXTENDED WARRANTY ON MOTOR HAS BEEN ISSUED .BUT THE BEARING WILL ONLY BE REPLACED WITH THE UPDATED NEEDLE BEARING AFTER TOTAL FAIL... Read more

Incident date: Sep 13, 2000

NO SUMMARY LISTED FOR ABOVE MENTIONED MOTORCYCLE. *AK

I RECEIVED A NOTICE FROM THE HD COMPANY THAT THE REAR CAM BEARING COULD FAILED ON MY BIKE.HOW SAFE AM I RIDING THIS BIKE? WILL THE REAR WHEEL LOCK UP WHILE I'M RIDING WITH MY WIFE GOING 70MPH IN THE PASSING LANE ON THE INTERSTATE? DOESN'T SOUND LIKE A THING I WOULD WANT TO EXPERIENCE. I WOULD FEEL A LOT MORE COMFORTABLE IF THERE WAS A RECALL ON THE SUSPECTED BIKES.

I HAVE RECEIVED A LETTER FROM THE HARLEY-DAVIDSON COMPANY OF THE POSSIBLE FAILURE OF MY REAR CAM BEARING. I DO NOT FEEL SAFE RIDING THE BIKE. WHEN THE BEARING FAILS DOES THE MOTOR SIEZE CAUSING THE REAR TIRE TO LOCK UP?IS THERE ANY WARNING BEFOREHAND OF THE BEARING FAILING OR IS THIS A SUDDEN FAILURE ISSUE? HOPE I'M NOT RIDING THE BIKE ,WITH MY CHILD ,IN THE PASSING LANE ON THE INTERSTATE AT 70 MP... Read more

Incident date: Jul 1, 2000

CAM BEARING FAILURE CAN CAUSE THE ENGINE TO LOCK UP AND CAUSE THE TIRE TO SKID, RESULTING IN AN ACCIDENT. *AK

Incident date: Jul 1, 1999

ENGINE CAMSHAFT HAD TO BE REPLACED ON TWO OCCASIONS, ONCE PER YEAR. DEALER WAS NOTIFIED ,AND MADE REPAIRS AT NO COST. HOWEVER, ASKING NHTSA TO LOOK INTO THIS MATTER FOR DEFECTIVE PARTS. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO PROVIDE US WITH ANY FURTHER INFORMATION ON THIS MATTER. *AK

Incident date: Feb 1, 2001

FRONT BRAKES STARTED SQUELLING AT THE FIRST DAY OF OWNERSHIP. HAS BEEN REPORTED WITH NO RESPONSE. RETURNED TO DEALER TWO TIMES. REFUSED TO REPAIR SAID THEY HAVE TRIED TO REPAIR IN PAST WITH NO SUCCESS.

Incident date: May 1, 2001

FRONT BRAKES STARTED SQUELING AT THE FIRST DAY OF OWNERSHIP. HAS BEEN REPORTED WITH NO RESPONSE.*AK

Incident date: Jun 1, 1999

NO SUMMARY LISTED FOR ABOV EVEHICLE. *AK

HARLEY DAVIDSON HAS NOT YET ISSUED A RECALL FOR THE IMPENDING FAILURE OF THE CAM BEARING THAT IS OCCURING IN THE 1999 TWIN CAM ENGINES. THEY HAVE SENT OUT LETTERS STATING THAT THEY WILL FIX THE DAMAGE AFTER FAILURE, NOT BEFORE. AS REPORTED IN MOTORCYCLECONSUMER NEWS CURRENT ISSUE AND PAST ISSUE, THIS FAILURE CAN BE VERY DANGEROUS FOR ITS POTENTIAL OF BODILY HARM AND VEHICLE(S) DAMAGE. CAN YOU GE... Read more

Incident date: May 30, 2001

CONSUMER'S 2000 MOTORCYCLE HAS A TICKING NOISE, AND WON'T START. ON HIGHWAY ENGINE LOCKED UP. *AK WHILE ON HIGHWAY ENGINE STARTED MAKING A NOISE , ALL OF A SUDDEN THE ENGINE STOPPED AND THE BACK WHEEL SKIDDED, CONSUMER IMMEDIATELY PULLED THE CLUTCH WHICH FREED THE BACK WHEEL FROM SKIDDING AND PULLED INTO THE BREAK DOWN LANE, CONSUMER RECEIVED A LETTER ABOUT DEFECRIVE CAM BEARING, BUT THEY... Read more

Incident date: Aug 13, 2000

REAR CAMSHAFT BEARING ASSEMBLY DISINTEGRATED, SENDING METAL PARTICLES THROUGH THE LUBRICATION SYSTEM INTO THE OIL PUMP, NECESSITATING REPLACEMENT OF MANY ENGINE COMPONENENTS.

Incident date: May 1, 2001

SPEEDOMETER HAS BEEN REPLACED TWICE DUE TO FAILURE. THE TURN SIGNAL SYSTEM FAILED WITH THE LAST FAILURE OF THE SPEEDOMETER. TURN SIGNALS SELF CANCEL AND WORK THRU THE SPEEDOMETER. WARRANTY WORK. *AK

Incident date: May 1, 2001

SPEEDOMETER HAS BEEN REPLACED TWICE DUE TO FAILURE. THE TURN SIGNAL SYSTEM FAILED WITH THE LAST FAILURE OF THE SPEEDOMETER. TURN SIGNALS SELF CANCEL AND WORK THRU THE SPEEDOMETER. WARRANTY WORK. *AK

Incident date: May 1, 2001

THE SPEEDOMETER ON THIS CYCLE HAS BEEN REPLACED TWICE DUE TO FAILURE. THE TURN SIGNAL SYSTEM FAILED TO WORK PROPERLY THE LAST FAILURE OF THE SPEEDOMETER. ADVISED THAT THE TURN SIGNAL AND SPEEDOMETER WORK TOGETHER. SELF CANCELING TURN SIGNALS. ALL WARRANTY WORK.

Incident date: May 1, 2001

Incident date: Apr 27, 2001

CLUTCH CABLE BROKE AT CLUTCH LEVER CONNECTION. (CLEVIS). *AK

Incident date: Oct 1, 1997

SINCE PURCHASING THE MOTORCYCLE IN SEPTEMBER OF 1997 I HAVE EXPERIENCED REPEATED FAILURES WHEN SHIFTING INTO FORTH GEAR, IT WILL ACT AS IF IT GOES INTO A FALSE NEUTRAL. I'VE HAD MOTORCYCLE TO THE DEALERSHIP AT LEAST SEVEN TIMES FOR THE SAME PROBLEM SINCE IT'S ORIGINAL PURCHASE, AND IN ALL CASES EVEN WITH A HARLEY REPRESENTATIVE CHECKING THE TRANSMISSION WERE UNABLE TO CORECT THE PROBLEM. THE DEAL... Read more

ON JANUARY 22,2001 HARLEY-DAVIDSON SENT A LETTER TO CUSTOMERS ALERTING THEM OF A ENGINE CAM BEARING FAILURE PROBLEM. WHEN THIS BEARING GOES BAD IT WILL CAUSE THE ENGINE TO LOCK UP ALSO CAUSING THE REAR WHEEL TO LOCK UP. THUS CAUSING A POTENTIAL ACCIDENT OR EVEN DEATH. HARLEY DAVIDSON WILL NOT CORRECT THIS PROBLEM UNTIL IT HAPPENS. THAN IT'S TO LATE. *AK

Incident date: Apr 5, 2001

CAM BEARING FAILURE. NOT AT SPEED

Incident date: Apr 15, 2001

99 V 003 000/ ENGINE CAM BOLT: REPORTING A POSSIBLE CAM BEARING FAILURE. DEALER NOTIFIED, AND INFORMED CONSUMER THAT REPAIRS WOULD ONLY BE DONE AFTER IT FAILED. AK THE CONSUMER STATES THAT THE MANUFACTURER SHOULD HAVE A RECALL ON THE AFFECTED MODELS AND REPAIR THE DEFECT. *YH

Incident date: May 18, 2001

WHILE TRAVELING AT APPROXIMATELY 65 MPH IN RUSH HOUR ENGINE STALLED. CONSUMER HAD PREVIOUSLY RECALL WORK DONE FOR 'BANK ANGLE SENSOR' THAT CAUSED VEHICLE TO STALL. RECALL REMEDY FAILED TO RECTIFY DEFECT. *AK CONSUMER RECEIVED NOTIFICATION THAT RELATES TO A FUEL TANK VENT.*JB

Incident date: May 18, 2001

Incident date: Apr 1, 2001

CONSUMER WAS TRAVELING ABOUT 40MPH ON HIGHWAY AND MOTORCYCLE SHUTDOWN WITHOUT PRIOR WARNING, AND LOST POWER. DEALERSHIP WAS AWARE OF PROBLEM.*AK

Incident date: May 7, 2001

EXHAUST MANIFOLD REACHES TEMPERATURES SO HIGH THAT IT HAS AN ORANGE GLOW. MANUFACTURER KNOWS OF PROBLEM, AND THERE ISN'T A SOLUTION. CONSUMER WILL ADD ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.*AK

Incident date: May 1, 2001

REAR CAM WAS FAILING AND CAUSING METAL CHIPS TO GO INTO ENGINE. DEALER SAID IT WAS NORMAL WAIT UNTIL HEARING A NOISE, BUT CONSUMER COULDN'T HEAR ANYTHING WITH A HELMET ON. *AK

WHEN THE REAR BRAKE PEDAL WAS APPLIED, THE EXHAUST PIPE CAME INTO CONTACT WITH THE REAR BRAKE ROD CAUSING THE ROD TO NOT DISENGAGE FROM THE MASTER CYLINDER WHICH IN TURN CAUSING THE REAR BRAKE TO REMAIN APPLIED CAUSING THE MOTORCYCLE TO SKID AND RESULT IN AN ACCIDENT, UPON FURTHER INSPECTION THE MECHANIC FOUND CORROSION ON THE BRAKE ROD, THE REAR BRAKE PADS WERE FALLING APART AT THE EDGES DUE TO O... Read more

THE REAR CAM BEARINGS, CAM SUPPORT PLATES, AND OIL PUMP FAILED CAUSING ENGINE FAILURE, THE MANUFACTURER KNOWS OF THE MALFUNCTION BUT FEELS ITS TOO COSTLY TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM UNTIL IT FAILS. NLM

Incident date: Mar 15, 2001

WHEN CONSUMER WENT TO TAKE MOTORCYCLE OUT OF HIS GARAGE, HE NOTICED THAT THERE WAS FUEL LEAKING FROM CARBURETOR. DEALERSHIP WAS IN POSSESSION OF MOTORCYCLE, AND INFORMED CONSUMER THAT DEFECT WAS A RESULT OF BAD GAS. THE CONSUMER HAD THE MOTORCYCLE SERVICED LAST SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER - THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH MOTORCYCLE. PLEASE PROVIDE ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION/ATTACHMENTS.*AK

MOTORCYCLE WAS LIGHTLY TIED DOWN BY HANDLE BARS WHEN CONSUMER NOTICED IT WAS LOOSE, AND SAW THAT HANDLE BARS WERE PULLED DOWN INTO GAS TANK. TRIPLE CLAMP THAT HELD HANDLES TO FRONT FORKS WERE LOOSE.*AK

Incident date: Apr 8, 2001

A SPRING IN TRANSMISSION BROKE AND MAY CAUSE A LOCK UP IN TRANSMISSION WHILE DRIVING. MANUFACTURER WERE NOTIFIED BY MAIL AND STILL WAITING FOR A RESPONSE. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO PROVIDE ANY FURTHER DETAILS ON THIS MATTER. *AK

Incident date: Jan 1, 2000

WHEN TRAVELING ABOUT 60MPH ON HIGHWAY VEHICLE WILL SHUTDOWN WITHOUT PRIOR WARNING, AND THERE WILL BE NO POWER TO START VEHICLE. DEALERSHIP IS AWARE OF PROBLEM.*AK

HARLEY HAS HAD FAILURE ON THIS THEY ARE EXTENDING THE WARRANTY ON THIS FOR 5 YEARS OR 50,000 THOUSAND MILES AND THEY HAVE MADE A CHANGE IN THE 2000 MODEL YEAR . I WOULD LIKE THIS CHECKED OUT I BELIEVE THEY ARE DOING THIS SO THAT THEY DON'T HAVE TO MAKE A RECALL BUT I BELIEVE THAT THERE ARE MORE FAILURES THAN THEY WILL ADMIT AND DON'T WANT TO SPEND THE MONEY FIXING ALL OF THERE 1999 BIKES. THE PRO... Read more

THE DRIVE BELT WAS LOOSE CAUSING ENGINE NOISE, AFTER THE DRIVE BELT WAS REPLACED THE NOISE PERSISTED, THE CONSUMER REPLACED THE REAR BEARING AND THERE HAS BEEN NO MORE PROBLEMS. NLM

Incident date: Mar 11, 2001

FORK STOP FELL RIGHT OFF MOTORCYCLE. *AK

MY BIKE IS EQUIPED WITH THE TC88 MOTOR AND I HAVE BEEN NOTIFED THAT THE REAR CAM BEARING COULD FAIL. THE BEARING DISIGN WAS CHANGED DURING THE 2000 MODEL YEAR. WHAT IF IT FAILS AT HIGHWAY SPEED AND THE MOTOR LOCKS UP? THIS WOULD NOT BE GOOD ON A MOTORCYCLE. I FEEL THE COMPANY SHOULD RECALL MY BIKE AND REPAIR THE PROBLEM BEFORE SOMETHING BAD HAPPENS. I HAVE CONTACTED HARLEY DAVIDSON MOTOR COMPANY ... Read more

CONSUMER RECEIVED A LETTER FROM MANUFACTURER STATING THE POSSIBILITY OF A REAR CAM BEARING FAILURE, THE FAILURE COULD CAUSE ENGINE TO GLIDE TO A STOP, CONSUMER HAS BEEN EXPERIENCING MISSES IN THE ENGINE FROM 2800 AND 3200 RPM AND STATES THIS COULD BE DUE TO A FAULTY CAM BEARING AND FEELS THIS SHOULD BE REPAIRED PRIOR TO ANY FAILURE. *SLC

Incident date: Feb 15, 2001

HARLEY DAVIDSON HAS ADMITTED THAT CERTAIN TWIN CAM ENGINES MANUFACTURED DURING A CERTAIN DATE RANGE IS SUSCEPTIBLE TO CATASTROPHIC ENGINE FAILURE. I FIND IT INCONPREHENSIBLE THAT RECALLS EXIST FOR DISTORTED LENSES, POSSIBLE HATCH FAILURES, AND A HOST OF OTHER MANUFACTURER DEFECTS GET THE ATTENTION OF THE NHTSA, BUT THE COMPLETE AND INSTANTANEOUS FAILURE OF AN ENGINE DOES NOT WARRANT YOUR ATTENTION... Read more

Crash 1 injured

THE #3 CAMSHAFT AND CAMSHAFT BUSHING FAILED CAUSING THE MOTOR TO LOCK UP AND THE REAR WHEEL TO SLIDE OUT OF CONTROL. NLM

HARLEY KNOWS THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH THE REAR CAMSHAFTS ON THE 2000 TC88.....WHY THE HELL DON'T THEY FIX THE PROBLEM....OR DO THEY WANT TO WAIT UNTIL THE MOTOR SIEZES AND SOMEONE GETS KILLED.......WARRANTY MY ASS FIX THE PROBLEM......AND YA WONDER WHY YOU PAY $15,000 FOR A BIKE THAT THEY KNEW WAS DEFICIENT AND NOW GIVE US A SONG AND DANCE ABOUT FIXING THE PROBLEM......WANTED THAT KIND OF RELIABILI... Read more

HARLEY DAVIDSON HAS INFORMED ME THAT THE REAR CAM BEARING COULD FAIL. THERE OFFER OF A EXTENDED WARRANTY ON A MAJOR ENGINE FAILURE ON A MOTORCYCLE COULD PROVE TO BE CATASTROPHIC FOR THE OPERATOR AS WELL AS ANY PASSENGER. HARLEY DAVIDSON'S POSITION IS THEY WILL NOT REPAIR THE PROBLEM UNLESS THERE IS A FAILURE!!*AK

CAM BEARING FAILURE, CAUSING ENGINE TO FAIL. *AK

KICKSTAND SPRING FELL OFF AND HIT THE GROUND, FORCING MOTORCYCLE OFF ROAD. CJ

WHILE DRIVING THE MOTORCYCLE WAS LEAKING HOT OIL WHICH COVERED THE MOTORCYCLE, DUE TO MOTOR FAILURE. CJ

CONSUMER RECEIVED A NOTIFICATION FROM THE MANUFACTURE REGARDING THE POSSIBLE DEFECT THAT MIGHT OCCUR ON THE TWIN CAM 88 ENGINE CAM BEARING FAILURE, THEY HAVE EXTENDED THE WARRANTY COVERAGE, HOWEVER THE CONSUMER BELIEVES THIS DOES NOT ADEQUATELY TAKE CARE OF THE ENGINE DEFECT. *MJS

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Consumer Safety Complaints

What is a NHTSA consumer complaint?

How to interpret what you read

If you've experienced a defect

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