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 125,830 complaints for HONDA
Incident date: Dec 22, 2025
My car failed to connect/stay connected to a charger. When a successful charge started, within 5 minutes , my dash lit up with warning messages to stop moving the car. Place car in park. Battery needs to be replaced. My car was in park at the time. Then the charging session ended and wouldn't reconnect. My car wouldn't start either. Leaving me stranded at the charging station . I called for tow... Read more
Incident date: Dec 22, 2025
My car failed to connect/stay connected to a charger. When a successful charge started, within 5 minutes , my dash lit up with warning messages to stop moving the car. Place car in park. Battery needs to be replaced. My car was in park at the time. Then the charging session ended and wouldn't reconnect. My car wouldn't start either. Leaving me stranded at the charging station . I called for tow... Read more
Incident date: Dec 22, 2025
My car failed to connect/stay connected to a charger. When a successful charge started, within 5 minutes , my dash lit up with warning messages to stop moving the car. Place car in park. Battery needs to be replaced. My car was in park at the time. Then the charging session ended and wouldn't reconnect. My car wouldn't start either. Leaving me stranded at the charging station . I called for tow... Read more
Incident date: Mar 21, 2026
My vehicle constantly receives an error message while driving stating, "SERVICE HIGH VOLTAGE SYSTEM" and "REDUCED ACCELERATION DRIVE WITH CARE." Error symbols appear on the dashboard that show an orange turtle, a red battery with a big exclamation point through it and and a red car outline with a big exclamation point going through the middle of it. When this happens, the vehicle acceleration is... Read more
Incident date: Mar 21, 2026
My vehicle constantly receives an error message while driving stating, "SERVICE HIGH VOLTAGE SYSTEM" and "REDUCED ACCELERATION DRIVE WITH CARE." Error symbols appear on the dashboard that show an orange turtle, a red battery with a big exclamation point through it and and a red car outline with a big exclamation point going through the middle of it. When this happens, the vehicle acceleration is... Read more
Incident date: Dec 17, 2025
My Mercedes Benz GLE450e Hybrid SUV has had a persistent but sporadic safety issue that suddenly causes the vehicle to go into "turtle mode" with a "performance extremely limited" warning when trying to accelerate quickly or sometimes when breaking quickly. In turtle mode, the car quickly loses acceleration, drops in speed and is then unable to accelerate properly. The sudden drop in speed and in... Read more
Incident date: Dec 17, 2025
I have been waiting for KIA to repair this recall for over 4 weeks. The local dealership states that the part is on backorder and hasn't arrived yet.
Incident date: Dec 17, 2025
On Saturday, March 14, 2026 we received a text message from Hyundai indicating there was a recall for the car. The message contained info stating to use caution when using the power seats. There were no instructions regarding what to do and no info regarding the need to contact the dealer. “Use caution” was the message given. A second message was received on March 16 at 8:56 PM with the sam... Read more
Incident date: Feb 3, 2026
The contact owns a 2004 Dodge Ram 3500. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 13V528000 (Steering), 16V352000 (Air Bags), 15V313000 (Air Bags), and 05V462000 (Power Train); however, the parts to do the recall repairs were not yet available while the vehicle was in for service. The local dealer was made aware of the issue, and an appointment was scheduled to repair the vehic... Read more
Incident date: Mar 16, 2026
The contact owns a 2024 Ford F-150. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V512000 (POWER TRAIN); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. 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... Read more
Incident date: Mar 20, 2026
The contact owns a 2016 Lincoln MKX. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V544000 (SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. 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 ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 10, 2026
When the F-150 would be turned off after driving for a while, the truck would not Start for a few hours until it cooled down. I had it checked out at Gator Ford and they saif they could not determine the proble. I drove it to [XXX] and had it check out at Two Rivers Ford in [XXX] and they said the truck clearly had a problem and that they "Believed it eas the 10 gear trsnission getting hot and t... Read more
Incident date: Mar 10, 2026
When the F-150 would be turned off after driving for a while, the truck would not Start for a few hours until it cooled down. I had it checked out at Gator Ford and they saif they could not determine the proble. I drove it to [XXX] and had it check out at Two Rivers Ford in [XXX] and they said the truck clearly had a problem and that they "Believed it eas the 10 gear trsnission getting hot and t... Read more
Incident date: Mar 24, 2026
I was driving normal and almost lost control when electric power sterring rack and pinion went out. And after doing some research looks like this is a huge issue with all these trucks. Amd dodge refuses to recall the vehicle. Someone can die from this
Incident date: Mar 24, 2026
The contact owns a 2017 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 contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact stated that w... Read more
Incident date: Mar 20, 2026
I've been trying for 6 months to get my recalled seatbelts replaced as I complained about issues with the latching mechanism for years before the recall. The dealership does not have parts to repair the seatbelts and will not provide a reasonable time frame or loaner vehicle in the meantime. Please help. I am concerned for my kids' safety as they're coming unbuckled spontaneously as we drive down ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 6, 2025
The contact owned a 2016 Dodge Ram 1500. The contact’s husband stated that while driving at approximately 30 mph, the steering wheel became inoperable and the vehicle unexpectedly veered to the left with no warning lights illuminated. Due to the failure, the contact’s husband collided with a car carrier vehicle. The contact’s husband suffered multiple injuries and was transported to a local ... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Oct 6, 2025
I bought this car a couple of years ago. I didnt think much of it because I never owned a Toyota. I noticed that the transmission was doing some weird hesitation when going from 1st to 2nd gear. There is an intermittent lag on when the transmission kicks in. You can actually feel the car stutter into the 1st and 2nd gear. Also, while driving on the highway at a steady pace, the transmission ha... Read more
Incident date: Oct 6, 2025
The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Ascent. The contact stated that while his wife was driving at approximately 75 MPH, a deer ran across the highway and hit the left driver's side of the vehicle. The air bags did not deploy upon impact. A grayish smoke began to emit from the vehicle as the contact's wife immediately pulled off to the side of the road. Due to the damaged cause by the impact of the deer... Read more
Crash
Fire
1 injured
Incident date: Mar 9, 2026
Notice the windshield was cracked after leaving a restaurant!
Incident date: Mar 17, 2026
The contact owns a 2015 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the ABS warning light illuminated, and the vehicle went into LIMP Mode. The vehicle unintendedly decelerated to 5 MPH and started jerking abnormally. The contact referenced NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 21V331000 (SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC) and 20V519000 (SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC); however, the VIN was no... Read more
Incident date: Mar 9, 2026
The vehicle unexpectedly shifts into Park while driving. Each time this occurs, I have to turn off the car, use the “Push to Start” feature to restart it, and then shift back into Drive. This issue has happened multiple times, creating a safety concern while on the road.
Incident date: Dec 20, 2025
Note: The vehicle is totaled, and GEICO Insurance is in possession. A month ago, we received Brake warnings. We brought the vehicle to a mechanic to get checked and it passed. We did not get the warning again. 2 weeks ago, while turning into our driveway, as we were almost stopped, but still in the turn, the vehicle made a noise similar to the Auto Stop/Start feature. The power brakes and ste... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Dec 20, 2025
Note: The vehicle is totaled, and GEICO Insurance is in possession. A month ago, we received Brake warnings. We brought the vehicle to a mechanic to get checked and it passed. We did not get the warning again. 2 weeks ago, while turning into our driveway, as we were almost stopped, but still in the turn, the vehicle made a noise similar to the Auto Stop/Start feature. The power brakes and ste... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Mar 20, 2026
Rear camera can’t see behind me very well the dealership I but the car changed the camera and the screen in the car and the problem is still here it work when it cold outside but when got warm it stop working again
Incident date: Mar 20, 2026
Water began accumulating in the front footwell area of the vehicle, resulting in a soaked carpet and persistent musty odor. The condition developed during normal operation of the air conditioning system, without any external water intrusion (no flooding or open windows). The issue appears to be caused by a failure of the A/C condensate drain system, which is not properly draining water outside th... Read more
Incident date: Mar 20, 2026
Water began accumulating in the front footwell area of the vehicle, resulting in a soaked carpet and persistent musty odor. The condition developed during normal operation of the air conditioning system, without any external water intrusion (no flooding or open windows). The issue appears to be caused by a failure of the A/C condensate drain system, which is not properly draining water outside th... Read more
Incident date: Mar 21, 2026
I was driving on the highway during heavy rain and there was a huge leak coming through the window in the backseat started dripping all over the seat and all over the seatbelts spreading above head into the front. I immediately pulled over because it scared me. I was scared it was going to continual leaking into the front steering and airbags
Incident date: Mar 21, 2026
I was driving on the highway during heavy rain and there was a huge leak coming through the window in the backseat started dripping all over the seat and all over the seatbelts spreading above head into the front. I immediately pulled over because it scared me. I was scared it was going to continual leaking into the front steering and airbags
Incident date: Jan 19, 2026
Driving on the highway, my dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree. Car started having white smoke at tail pipe. Check engine lit blink 5 times. Had 4 kids under 14 years old in car. Almost got hit trying to merge over. Turns out misfire cylinder 4. Head gasket. Only 81,000 miles. I have owed 5 months. Car currently at Honda, they want almost 4,400 to repair. But apparently, Honda is aware of these... Read more
Incident date: Jan 19, 2026
Component that malfunctioned - "Keep you eye on the road" On a 300 mile trip the alarm went off numerous times even though my eyes were on the road and at times it would disengage the Cruise Control. At highway speed when a car is following closely the disengage of the cruise control and a rapid reduction in speed could cause an accident. The dealer indicated that this system is controlled by so... Read more
Incident date: Mar 22, 2026
Restraints indicator lamp warning. Air bag warning is on due to a problem with the front passenger side airbag. The front passenger airbag may not function.
Incident date: Mar 22, 2026
Restraints indicator lamp warning. Air bag warning is on due to a problem with the front passenger side airbag. The front passenger airbag may not function.
Incident date: Jan 4, 2026
I purchased a 2016 Chevrolet Tahoe on March 8, 2026, in [XXX] . After the sale, I discovered that the vehicle has serious undisclosed safety defects, including evidence that the airbag (Supplemental Restraint System) had previously deployed and was not properly repaired or restored to working condition, and were actually cut and removed from the vehicle and glued and covered up. This defect was no... Read more
Incident date: Mar 1, 2023
While driving between [XXX] and [XXX] , the vehicle suddenly lost fuel. The estimated miles to empty started to drop rapidly from 70 miles to 50 miles within minutes. At a safe point, I pulled over, there was no pooling of fuel under the vehicle, no other warning lights were issued. I turned around to return to [XXX] , the engine stalled and ran out of gas at mile marker 18 just north of [XXX]... Read more
Incident date: Mar 21, 2026
The frame of the back window is cracking allowing water to come in through the back glass. This is causing the headliner and other components such as air bags and other electrical components to get wet and damaged. This could cause risk of fire or failure of safety components within the vehicle such as air bags, cameras and other sensors. With water intrusion comes the high risk for mold to devel... Read more
Incident date: Mar 21, 2026
The 2011 to 2019 Ford Explorers have a huge issue with them. The internal water pump on my 2017 Ford Explorer 3.5L engine failed. The failure caused coolant to leak into the engine crankcase, where it mixed with the engine oil. This contaminated the oil and led to catastrophic engine failure and seizure. The vehicle has already been brought to a dealership for service and is available for inspecti... Read more
Incident date: Mar 21, 2026
Driving down the road and had Stabiltrak disable and power steering go out, causing great difficulty to maintain control of steering the vehicle. My teenage son’s first vehicle and he was driving with myself and younger son as passengers. This could have been a very horrible situation. Apparently this is a pretty widely discussed and common issue with this vehicle make (a quick google search ... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2023
2023 GMC Yukon XL 6.2L V8 experienced progressive engine defects starting in first year. At 7,445 mi (Jan 2023), first dealer visit for engine issues. At 10,315 mi (Apr 2023), Cyl 2 fuel injector failed (internally open), vehicle TOWED to dealer, replaced under warranty. At 14,982 mi (Aug 2023), identical Cyl 7 injector failure (internally open), replaced under warranty. Two identical failures on ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 21, 2026
While driving, the vehicle experienced a sudden catastrophic failure involving the engine and turbocharger, resulting in an immediate loss of power and the vehicle becoming disabled in an active roadway. The failure occurred without warning and required a response from the San Diego Police Department due to the vehicle being immobilized in traffic. This created a hazardous situation for the drive... Read more
Incident date: Mar 20, 2026
Component/System: Fuel System – Fuel Filler / Left-Side Radiator and Cooling Fan Assembly (subject to NHTSA Recall 25V536). What happened: On June 15, 2024, I was refueling my 2023 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 at a BP gas station in Phillipsburg, New Jersey. As I removed the fuel pump nozzle from the vehicle, a violent explosion occurred. I was immediately engulfed in a fireball. My clothing caught fi... Read more
Fire
1 injured
Incident date: Mar 4, 2026
I've had two 2018 civics (first one was totaled) and the A/C issues are a serious hazard. The condenser and seal thankfully has been addressed with a recall, but after having had the condenser and seals replaced twice now (once on each car), my car is now experiencing evaporator failure :,) which makes my car stink :,) and I can't afford the repair at nearly twice my monthly rent :,) This of cour... Read more
1 injured
Incident date: Jan 5, 2026
The contact owns a 2022 Ford Bronco. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V455000 (Fuel System, Gasoline) and 25V721000 (Seats); however, the parts to do the recall repairs were not yet available. The dealer was contacted, and the contact was informed that parts were not yet available. The manufacturer was contacted, and the contact was informed that parts were not yet av... Read more
Incident date: Mar 23, 2026
On March 14, 2026 I discovered that my rear passenger tire had a large bubble. Pirelli P Zero All season 235/45/18. I contacted Dyer Kia about replacement and they told me that they could not get me in until Monday, this was Saturday. I was due to be somewhere on Sunday and told them I didn’t want to drive on the doughnut or on the tire with the bubble. They said there’s nothing we can do abou... Read more
Incident date: Dec 15, 2025
2023 Ram 1500 V6 eTorque, 40,000 miles. Two stalling incidents have occurred under different conditions. Incident 1: While towing approximately 4,000 lbs, the 12V battery began slowly draining while the vehicle was in motion. Battery voltage gradually dropped below 10 volts until the engine shut off completely while driving. No warning lights appeared prior to shutdown. Jump start restored normal... Read more
Incident date: Dec 15, 2025
2023 Ram 1500 V6 eTorque, 40,000 miles. Two stalling incidents have occurred under different conditions. Incident 1: While towing approximately 4,000 lbs, the 12V battery began slowly draining while the vehicle was in motion. Battery voltage gradually dropped below 10 volts until the engine shut off completely while driving. No warning lights appeared prior to shutdown. Jump start restored normal... Read more
Incident date: Nov 2, 2025
Vehicle: 2024 Nissan Pathfinder Rock Creek 4WD VIN: [XXX] Mileage at failure: approximately 26,000 miles Component: Service brakes Description: Rear brake pads completely worn at 26,000 miles. Front brake pads remain in good condition with normal wear. Vehicle is driven under normal conditions — no towing, no off-road use, no aggressive driving. Rear brake pad part number D4060-6TA5B is the sam... Read more
Incident date: Feb 23, 2026
I am reporting a serious and unresolved safety defect involving a 2024 Jeep Wagoneer Series II 4x4 (VIN: [XXX] ) with approximately 34,000 miles. The vehicle has experienced repeated power steering warnings and functionality issues, and on multiple occasions (approximately three incidents) has unexpectedly shifted itself into park while actively driving. These incidents have occurred since Fall 2... Read more
Incident date: Mar 7, 2026
Vehicle Has Experienced all Dash waring lights & noises going on and off while driving Threw multiple codes saying the PCM was not connecting with the ODB2 reader , Vehicle would not crank or start 2 times did a Hard reset and it started, the end result is all Dash Lights luminated when Key is on , No crank & No communication with the PCM, No Code visible any more I replaced the PCM same issue No... Read more
Incident date: Mar 7, 2026
Vehicle Has Experienced all Dash waring lights & noises going on and off while driving Threw multiple codes saying the PCM was not connecting with the ODB2 reader , Vehicle would not crank or start 2 times did a Hard reset and it started, the end result is all Dash Lights luminated when Key is on , No crank & No communication with the PCM, No Code visible any more I replaced the PCM same issue No... Read more