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 20, 2025
The contact's former employer owns a 2016 Ford F-250. The contact stated that while exiting the freeway at 45-50 MPH around a bend, the steering wheel failed to move and crashed into a tree. The contact linked the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V337000 (Air Bags). The air bags did not deploy. The contact stated that he sustained injuries to his hand, and medical attention was provided the ne... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Dec 20, 2025
The contact's former employer owns a 2016 Ford F-250. The contact stated that while exiting the freeway at 45-50 MPH around a bend, the steering wheel failed to move and crashed into a tree. The contact linked the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V337000 (Air Bags). The air bags did not deploy. The contact stated that he sustained injuries to his hand, and medical attention was provided the ne... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Dec 20, 2025
I’ve had nothing but problems with this car since about a year after getting it in 2021. Constant noises with the engine engine check light coming on all the time I would bring it in and no one would be able to figure out what was going on. And then it started to get worse and I had my catalytic converter replaced and not even a couple months later I had to have had another catalytic converter p... Read more
Incident date: Dec 22, 2025
The contact owns a 2024 Dodge Durango. The contact stated that the front navigational screen and the back over prevention camera blacked out intermittently. The sensors failed to inform the driver when an object or person was close to the rear of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer several times. The dealer determined that the radio telemetric gateway module and the electrical system ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2026
Rear toe links have a lot of slack resulting in rear drifting on uneven/slippery ground. This results in poor handling and fishtailing making it significantly harder to maintain control of the vehicle. Extreme caution required during slippery road conditions as the car will start to fishtail on it's own and requires constant corrective steering.
Incident date: Jan 26, 2026
Merging onto I4, doing the speed limit of 70mph, no other cars around and my passenger side front window imploded into my car.
Incident date: Jan 26, 2026
The contact owns a 2016 Ram 1500. The contact stated that the strap to the fuel tank had detached, causing the fuel tank to be slightly detached, due to rust on the sub frame of the vehicle. The contact found information regarding NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V160000 (Fuel System, Gasoline) online; however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer to be diagnosed... Read more
Incident date: Jan 26, 2026
Sub-freezing temperatures caused car not be able to start. The battery in this vehicle is less than 3 years old as it was purchased in October of 2023. It displayed a "Check ESC" message, flashed all the lights and I could not hear the engine crank / turn over at all.
Incident date: Jan 26, 2026
While traveling 60 mph on a divided highway went to pass another vehicle. Had no throttle response the engine had completely turned off, locked up seized up. I’m not sure what caused the engine to just lose all power. Had to go back to the lane and luckily there was a turnoff where I was able to turn off the highway.
Incident date: Jan 26, 2026
While traveling 60 mph on a divided highway went to pass another vehicle. Had no throttle response the engine had completely turned off, locked up seized up. I’m not sure what caused the engine to just lose all power. Had to go back to the lane and luckily there was a turnoff where I was able to turn off the highway.
Incident date: Jan 26, 2026
All safety and most computer related features in the vehicle have failed. Cruise control, backup cameras, all other cameras, the navigation (assuming this is also impacting the projection of remaining battery life as my car always thinks it is at my home), warning signals for approaching obstacles/dangers, cruise control of any kind does now work, lane departure warning has failed, and automatic w... Read more
Incident date: Jan 25, 2026
The ABS violently stops at random times in parking lots or reversing from my garage going FWD or backwards, screen has turned black, software updates won’t go through, charging issues/wont charge, premature inner tire wear notably in the right rear passenger side, doors, especially passenger doors, won’t open, the heat is nonexistent in the rear & barely works in the front, most recently a cod... Read more
Incident date: Nov 23, 2025
The ABS violently stops at random times in parking lots or reversing from my garage going FWD or backwards, screen has turned black, software updates won’t go through, charging issues/wont charge, premature inner tire wear notably in the right rear passenger side, doors, especially passenger doors, won’t open, the heat is nonexistent in the rear & barely works in the front, most recently a cod... Read more
Incident date: Jan 23, 2026
My car had a head gasket failure. I lost power and control of the vehicle. Mistlin Honda in Modesto confirmed it was a head gasket failure. No, all warning lamps came on at the sametime.
Incident date: Jan 23, 2026
Transmission failed catastrophically at 133,000 miles while vehicle was in operation at a busy intersection. Vehicle became immobilized and unable to move. Unable to safely exit vehicle due to traffic. Stranded for 60-90 minutes with multiple vehicles nearly striking the disabled vehicle, creating a serious safety hazard. Police were called but failed to show up. Prior to failure: Vehicle exhibit... Read more
Incident date: Jan 23, 2026
The Gas Door did not open in order to pump gasoline. There is no mechanical device for the driver, passenger, owner of the vehicle to manually open the gas door from the inside. There was no electronic warning within the Mercedes Benz to alert driver about malfunction of gas door not working. Driver took vehicle to local Firestone mechanic who said the "gas door actuator" needed to be replaced. Ac... Read more
Incident date: Feb 11, 2025
The vehicle experienced a malfunction of the 8-speed automatic transmission(UB80E). The transmission began slipping unpredictably, jerking when accelerating from a stop, and shifting extremely harshly between first and second gear. These symptoms occurred randomly and worsened over a short period of time. The vehicle would hesitate or surge when attempting to move from a stop, creating a loss of c... Read more
Incident date: Jan 23, 2026
Steering rack started failing: did not return to center out of slow corners. Basically I could do hands-free circles in a parking lot. Dealer confirmed the steering rack was bad and replaced it under warranty. Out of sweeping corners this can be a safety issue as it only got worse over time. No warning lights nor other indication of the problem.
Incident date: Jan 23, 2026
Air Bags did not deploy Impact directly to drivers side of vehicle the other car was going 55 MPH caused me the driver to hit my head on the window hard. I was informed the air bags should have deployed by officer on site.
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Dec 4, 2025
Excessive engine oil lead from the back seal. Also, slow coolant leak. The car has a low mileage of 46k.
Incident date: May 29, 2025
Electric Power Steering system issue after battery died and had to be jump started.
Incident date: May 29, 2025
The paint is bubbling and falling off in spots. This is ruining our trade-in value. The dealer says it always happens to white vehicles.
Incident date: Nov 24, 2002
Problem Description The core issue stems from a production fault in the battery cells that can cause increased self-discharge. In a high-voltage battery pack, which operates like a chain of interconnected modules, a single faulty module with elevated self-discharge becomes the “weakest link.” This leads to: • Degradation of the overall usable capacity. • Reduced driving range and power l... Read more
Incident date: Dec 1, 2025
Vehicle stalled on highway during extremely low outside temperatures and snow covered roadway. Engine malfuction, reduced power error code briefly appeared followed by a complete engine stall. Vechicle had no power and immediately needed to be steered to safety. Near whiteout conditions lead to an extremely dangerous situation, nearly causing a nearly collision. Prior to this incident, the veh... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2022
I purchased this vehicle, November 2023 and by August 2024 the vehicle went into Griffin Hubs to get the engine replaced. They had the vehicle for over a month and a half when I received it back after the engine I had it for a day and a half and had to take it back because it was making a loud grinding noise coming from the engine which then they had to replace a second time because the engine was... Read more
Incident date: Jan 23, 2026
The rear gas tank has started to rust and creates a safety issue since the metal shield is a different material it creates a galvazing effect on the metals due to them being seperate materials
Incident date: Jan 23, 2026
The rear gas tank has started to rust and creates a safety issue since the metal shield is a different material it creates a galvazing effect on the metals due to them being seperate materials
Incident date: Dec 1, 2025
I purchased a 2020 Newmar Dutchstar RV on [XXX] and first noticed the Tire Pressure Monitoring Sytem (TPMS) start to malfunction shortly after. The first indication of the malfunction were nuisance warnings stating tire overheat conditions, followed by constant communication warnings and multiple tires not indicating anything at all. The current state of the TPMS as of today [XXX] is it does not f... Read more
Incident date: Dec 1, 2025
The CHIME SPEAKER in the failed with less than vehicle 11,000 miles on the odometer. This extremely low mileage indicates that the failure is due to a manufacturing defect rather than standard wear and tear. I am particularly concerned because this is not merely a convenience issue; it is a significant safety concern. The chime speaker is the primary method of delivering audible alerts for: - Turn... Read more
Incident date: Dec 1, 2025
Warning lights for ABS, Traction Control, and Forward Collision-Avoidance (FCA) appear simultaneously. The FCA system may fail to engage or display warnings. Causes: The issues are frequently tied to a faulty ABS module, malfunctioning wheel speed sensors (often the rear), or corroded connectors. Unsafe to drive. Also paint is just peeling off the car in huge chunks all the way down to the metal f... Read more
Incident date: Jan 20, 2026
The Electronic Park Brake (EPB) fails to release when the car is shifted into gear. The park brake dashboard light remains on, and the brake does not release. The problem is intermittent but has occurred multiple times in the first 2 months and 2,000 miles of owning the newly purchased vehicle. The vehicle was purchased in Nov 2025, and in Jan 2026 it was taken to the authorized Toyota service ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 28, 2025
The vehicle is over reporting it's speed by 5% this is a large discrepancy which effects safety by causing people drivers around you to change lanes because you are traveling under the speed limit. Tesla is unable to calibrate the speedometers are the service center. They have documented the failure. It also adds miles to the odometer prematurely. This problem started after Tesla upgraded the car ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 17, 2026
Car has been serviced at same dealership I purchased from. All service up to date, Gas type shell gas brand used 95% of the time. (Noticed November 2025)issue a month after recommended transmission flush and an engine oil change. Rough idling (especially when temp below 60⁰) and almost like a miss fire when driving. No check engine light, and dealership had vehicle for two days but claimed unabl... Read more
Incident date: Oct 15, 2025
My Jeep Wrangler when driving 65mph or higher starts to wooble making it very hard to control. Usually it happens when there is small bumps roughness in the road. This issue started since it got to the 22K miles.
Incident date: Oct 4, 2021
Hesitate to change gears properly. Engine stalling. RPM will rive up. Sounds like the transmission wants to slip.
Incident date: Sep 2, 2025
I bought a used 2015 subaru forester with 117,000 miles from an auto shop/used car dealer in March of 2024. In September of 2025, 11,000 miles of driving later, a bunch of lights came on my dash. Check engine, traction control, ABS, at oil temp, and incline assist. I took it to Autozone to get the codes read and the part it suggested was the transmission oil pressure sensor. I then took it to a t... Read more
Incident date: Jan 17, 2026
The check engine light goes on continously and it goes to limp mode. The truck cannot be driven daily and most of the time is in the dealer fixing the updates or computer. It is not an equipment problem but a computer problem.
Incident date: Jan 17, 2026
The check engine light goes on continously and it goes to limp mode. The truck cannot be driven daily and most of the time is in the dealer fixing the updates or computer. It is not an equipment problem but a computer problem.
Incident date: Jan 17, 2026
The check engine light goes on continously and it goes to limp mode. The truck cannot be driven daily and most of the time is in the dealer fixing the updates or computer. It is not an equipment problem but a computer problem.
Incident date: Jan 21, 2026
Car check engine light came on, I came home parked the car, in about 5 minutes the cars embarked in flames, the car burned down to the ground. The safety of my entire home (flames caught onto house) and neighbors home was at risk. The burning car was inspected by Fire Chief of Christiana Fire Company
Fire
Incident date: Nov 5, 2025
Car check engine light came on, I came home parked the car, in about 5 minutes the cars embarked in flames, the car burned down to the ground. The safety of my entire home (flames caught onto house) and neighbors home was at risk. The burning car was inspected by Fire Chief of Christiana Fire Company
Fire
Incident date: Nov 5, 2025
Car check engine light came on, I came home parked the car, in about 5 minutes the cars embarked in flames, the car burned down to the ground. The safety of my entire home (flames caught onto house) and neighbors home was at risk. The burning car was inspected by Fire Chief of Christiana Fire Company
Fire
Incident date: Nov 5, 2025
The drivers side seatbelt will not catch or retract. I went to an independent shop who contacted Jeep to order the part. They were told the part is on “extreme backorder” and it could be months before I could get my car repaired. My Jeep is not driveable. Based on the lack of availability of the part I feel this should be classified as a safety recall.
Incident date: Jan 23, 2026
Recall 68C has NOT been remedied on my 2021 Jeep Wrangler 4xe (VIN [XXX] ). Details are as follows: Recall: Battery / high-voltage system (Recall 68C) Status: Failed battery test, vehicle held at dealer Delay: Quoted 4–8 weeks waiting for replacement battery Impact: Vehicle unusable / safety-related immobilization Mileage: 34,000 Dropped off: [XXX] CJDR on January 8, 2026 INFORMATION REDACTED P... Read more
Incident date: Jan 23, 2026
No incident yet, but the frame is rotted.
Incident date: Jan 23, 2026
Windshield stress crack. From driver side A pillar across the windshield. Widely known factory defect issue. Causing many windshield replacements. No impact, no chips. This was due to improper bonding of the windshield during manufacturing, and body flex of the vehicle.
Incident date: Jan 23, 2026
Widely circulated and well known ICCU issue leading to 12v failure. There is a recall on this, but people are being stranded and offered only part replacement. Kia should be responsible for corresponding costs associated with their defective units. I’ve had 2 bad ICCUs and the second one left me stranded. Unacceptable.
Incident date: Feb 2, 2025
We have been hearing whining coming from the front of the vehicle for months. Over the life of our time with this car, we have reported to Toyota multiple times about the sound, and about how sometimes the engine seems slow to shift. The whining increases as you press the gas pedal. Toyota is aware of this issue with Highlanders, but has told us they aren't going to fix it, as there is no recal... Read more
Incident date: Feb 2, 2025
Driver side LED DRL light has failed. This is a common problem occuring with many people with 2021+ year models of the Ford F-150. Truck is barely outside of warranty and with 51,000 miles and should not have a failing LED DRL. Additionally, Ford has made this part unrepairable and according to the dealership closest to me will require a full headlight assembly replacement.
Incident date: Jan 15, 2026
Vehicle has an open safety recall with no repair available. I have been waiting over two years for parts with no ETA from the manufacturer or dealership. During this time, the vehicle has experienced loss of power while driving, creating a safety risk. The dealership has acknowledged the recall but cannot complete the repair due to parts unavailability. The vehicle remains unsafe to operate, and t... Read more