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 9,875 complaints for INFINITI
VEHICLE EXPERIENCED AN INVOLUNTARY ACCELERATION, VEHICLE ACCELERATES AT HIGH SPEED ON ITS OWN.*AK. CONSUMER STATED WHILE AT A COMPLETE STOP, THE VEHICLE SURGED AND LUNGED FOWARD, THE RPMS WENT UP AND CONSUMER STATED THE VEHICLE WENT UNDER A DUMP TRUCK, THE VEHICLE WAS THEN DRAGGED A FEW FEET, AND THEN THE VEHICLE DETACHED FROM THE DUMP TRUCK.*JB
Incident date: Jul 1, 2001
SOMETIMES SHIFT LEVER WILL COME OUT OF PARK WITHOUT PRESSING BRAKE. TOOK TO DEALER ,AND DEALER STATED THERE WAS A FORIEGN SUBSTANCE INSIDE SHIFTER. PLEASE PROVIDE ANY FURTHER INFORMATION.*AK
Incident date: Oct 19, 2001
WHILE BACKING OUT OF DRIVEWAY AND WHEN APPLYING ACCELERATOR TO GO FORWARD PEDAL WENT TO FLOOR AND STUCK, CAUSING CONSUMER TO LOSE CONTROL OF VEHICLE. CONTACTED DEALER, AND AN INVESTIGATOR WAS SENT OUT AND STATED NOTHING WAS WRONG.*AK
Crash
Incident date: Sep 1, 2001
BRAKE SYSTEM FAILS TO ADEQUATELY STOP VEHICLE. LSO, VEHICLE WILL INTERMITTENTLY SURGE WHILE BRAKES ARE BEING APPLIED. DEALERSHIP HAS EXAMINED VEHICLE, BUT CANNOT FIND A REMEDY FOR THE PROBLEM. *AK CONSUMER FEELS THIS COULD BE RELATED TO BRAKE BOOSTER FAILURE. *JB
Incident date: Sep 1, 2001
BRAKE SYSTEM FAILS TO ADEQUATELY STOP VEHICLE. LSO, VEHICLE WILL INTERMITTENTLY SURGE WHILE BRAKES ARE BEING APPLIED. DEALERSHIP HAS EXAMINED VEHICLE, BUT CANNOT FIND A REMEDY FOR THE PROBLEM. *AK CONSUMER FEELS THIS COULD BE RELATED TO BRAKE BOOSTER FAILURE. *JB
VEHICLE EXPERIENCING PROBLEMS WITH THE TRANSMISSION AND FRONT DRIVELINE. *YD
Incident date: Apr 1, 2001
PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT BEGINNING IN EARLY 2001, WE ENCOUNTERED A PROBLEM WITH OUR INFINITY Q45T. IT HAS CONTINUED TO DEGENERATE SINCE THEN. THE GAS PEDAL DOES NOT ENGAGE READILY. WHEN AT A STOPPED POSITION AND WE PUSH ON THE PEDAL, IT ACTS AS IF IT IS CAUGHT OR BEING HELD BY SOMETHING. WITH MORE FORCE APPLIED, IT SUDDENLY RELEASES, CAUSING THE CAR TO LURCH FORWARD. ON 10/29/01 I SPOKE TO A STEVE... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 1998
CONSUMER REPLACED REAR SPEAKERS OF SOUND SYSTEM WITH AFTER MARKET PRODUCTS IN JUNE OF 1998 DUE TO A FIRE. RECEIVED NOTIFICATION THAT VEHICLE WAS AFFECTED BY RECALL 98V284000 CONCERNING REAR SPEAKER FIRE. MANUFACTURER WAS REFUSING SERVICE OR COMPENSATION BECAUSE PRODUCT WAS REPLACED WITH AFTER MARKET PARTS EVEN THOUGH HE HAD THE ORIGINAL COMPONENTS. *AK *SLC
Fire
Incident date: Oct 5, 2001
THERE WAS AN APPARENT ELECTRICAL SHORT WITHIN THE INTERIOR FRAME NEXT TO THE PASSENGER WINDOW. I'M NOT SURE EXACTLY WHEN THE SHORT OCCURRED BUT THE INTERIOR LINING ON THE PANEL HAS THREE BURN MARKS ABOUT TWO INCHES IN DIAMETER. THE INTERIOR LIGHTS HAVE NOT WORKED SINCE THIS INCIDENT. I TOOK MY CAR TO THE DEALER WHOM I PURCHASED THE CAR AND THEIR SERVICE ADVISOR, DALE GUNTER STATED THEY WOULD N... Read more
Fire
THE BOTTOM OF THE CAR IS RUBBING THE PAVEMENT WHILE DRIVING WITH MORE THE 400LB IN THE BACK SEAT, ALSO HAVE TO PRESS THE BRAKE PEDAL EXCESSIVELY TO DIS ENGAGE CRUISE CONTROL
THE BOTTOM OF THE CAR IS RUBBING THE PAVEMENT WHILE DRIVING WITH MORE THE 400LB IN THE BACK SEAT, ALSO HAVE TO PRESS THE BRAKE PEDAL EXCESSIVELY TO DIS ENGAGE CRUISE CONTROL
Incident date: Sep 14, 2001
STEERING LOCKED UP - GEARBOX OR STEERING COLUMN FAILURE. *AK
Crash
Incident date: Oct 29, 2001
AIR BAG LIGHT COMES ON AND STAYS ON, CONTACTED DEALER, AND THE DEALER WAS NOT WILLING TO DO ANYTHING.*AK BATTERY EXPLODED AND VEHICLE HAD ELECTRICAL CONTROL PROBLEMS. *YH
Incident date: Oct 29, 2001
AIR BAG LIGHT COMES ON AND STAYS ON, CONTACTED DEALER, AND THE DEALER WAS NOT WILLING TO DO ANYTHING.*AK BATTERY EXPLODED AND VEHICLE HAD ELECTRICAL CONTROL PROBLEMS. *YH
Incident date: Oct 29, 2001
AIR BAG LIGHT COMES ON AND STAYS ON, CONTACTED DEALER, AND THE DEALER WAS NOT WILLING TO DO ANYTHING.*AK BATTERY EXPLODED AND VEHICLE HAD ELECTRICAL CONTROL PROBLEMS. *YH
THE ANTI-THEFT SYSTEM DID NOT PREVENT THE CONSUMERS VEHICLE FROM BEING STOLEN, IF SOMEONE BREAKS THE WINDOWS AND ENTERS THE CAR WITHOUT OPENING THE DOOR THE ALARM DOES NOT ACTIVATE. NLM NLM
Incident date: Aug 24, 2001
WHEN APPLYING THE BRAKE A SNAPPING SOUND WAS HEARD AND THE VEHICLE EXPERIENCED SUDDEN LOSS OF BRAKING WITH THE PEDAL EXTENDED TO THE FLOOR, THE DEALER FOUND THAT THE BRAKE BOOSTER MOUNTING BOLTS SHEARD OFF CAUSING THE SUDDEN LOSS. NLM
WHEN DRIVING, IF YOU ACCIDENTALLY PRESS THE REAR TAILGATE BUTTON, (WHICH IS LOCATED BESIDE THE CRUISE CONTROL BUTTON), THE WINDOW GOES UP! PETS OR KIDS COULD GET OUT AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. YOU HAVE TO PULL OFF ROAD IN ORDER TO CLOSE REAR WINDOW HATCH. SUGGESTION: TO HAVE SAFETY IN PLACE SO BUTTON CANT BE ENGAGED WHEN VEHICLE IS IN DRIVE. ( THIS IS THE CASE IN CHEVY BLAZERS-MY FORMER VEHICLE)*AK
Incident date: Sep 15, 1999
STEERING WHEEL SHOOK. VEHICLE HAS BEEN AT DEALER 9 TIMES FOR THIS PROBLEM, COULD NOT SOLVE PROBLEM. DEALER HAS DONE WHEEL ALIGNMENT/REPLACED TIRES AND RACK AND PINION. BUT, THIS DID NOT IMPROVE CONDITION. FACTORY REPRESENTATIVE STATED ONCE RACK AND PINION WAS REPLACED AND MOST CONSUMERS WERE SATISFIED.*AK*TT
Incident date: Sep 15, 1999
STEERING WHEEL SHOOK. VEHICLE HAS BEEN AT DEALER 9 TIMES FOR THIS PROBLEM, COULD NOT SOLVE PROBLEM. DEALER HAS DONE WHEEL ALIGNMENT/REPLACED TIRES AND RACK AND PINION. BUT, THIS DID NOT IMPROVE CONDITION. FACTORY REPRESENTATIVE STATED ONCE RACK AND PINION WAS REPLACED AND MOST CONSUMERS WERE SATISFIED.*AK*TT
Incident date: Sep 15, 1999
STEERING WHEEL SHOOK. VEHICLE HAS BEEN AT DEALER 9 TIMES FOR THIS PROBLEM, COULD NOT SOLVE PROBLEM. DEALER HAS DONE WHEEL ALIGNMENT/REPLACED TIRES AND RACK AND PINION. BUT, THIS DID NOT IMPROVE CONDITION. FACTORY REPRESENTATIVE STATED ONCE RACK AND PINION WAS REPLACED AND MOST CONSUMERS WERE SATISFIED.*AK*TT
Incident date: Aug 1, 2001
CRUISE CONTROL IS DIFFICULT TO RELEASE WHEN BRAKE PEDAL IS BEING DEPRESSED. ALSO WHEN TWO OR MORE PASSENGERS ARE RIDING IN REAR OF THE VEHICLE REAR SUSPENSION BOTTOMS OUT. DEALER HAS YET TO BE CONTACTED. PLEASE PROVIDE FURTHER DETAILS.*AK
Incident date: Aug 1, 2001
CRUISE CONTROL IS DIFFICULT TO RELEASE WHEN BRAKE PEDAL IS BEING DEPRESSED. ALSO WHEN TWO OR MORE PASSENGERS ARE RIDING IN REAR OF THE VEHICLE REAR SUSPENSION BOTTOMS OUT. DEALER HAS YET TO BE CONTACTED. PLEASE PROVIDE FURTHER DETAILS.*AK
CONSUMER STATES THERE IS AN ODOR THAT CAN BE STRONGLY DETECTED FROM BOTH INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE VEHICLE, THE SMELL IS APPARENT WHENEVER THE AIR CONDITIONER OR HEATING UNIT IS ON, DEALER MADE SOME REPAIRS WHICH SEEMED TO WORK FOR SOME TIME, HOWEVER CONSUMER STATES ODOR HAS GOTTEN WORSE AND SHE IS EXPERIENCING HEADACHES AND FATIGUE WHILE DRIVING. *SLC
PE00 020 ; CONSUMER WAS TRAVELING ABOUT 65MPH ON HIGHWAY AND FELT VIBRATION THOUGHOUT VEHICLE. BOTH REAR PASSENGER'S TIRES HAD A BLOWOUT/ TREAD SEPARATION. VEHICLE SPINNED THREE TIMES. FIRESTONE WAS NOTIFIED.*AK
Incident date: Mar 15, 2001
REAR SEATBELT DOES NOT BUCKLE, FUEL TANK LEAKED GAS WHERE HOSE IS ATTACHED TO TANK, TRANSMISSION FAILED TWO TIMES, WAS TOLD FROM MECHANIC THAT PUMP HOLES ARE TOO SMALL FOR OIL TO GO THROUGH.
Incident date: Mar 15, 2001
REAR SEATBELT DOES NOT BUCKLE, FUEL TANK LEAKED GAS WHERE HOSE IS ATTACHED TO TANK, TRANSMISSION FAILED TWO TIMES, WAS TOLD FROM MECHANIC THAT PUMP HOLES ARE TOO SMALL FOR OIL TO GO THROUGH.
Incident date: Mar 15, 2001
REAR SEATBELT DOES NOT BUCKLE, FUEL TANK LEAKED GAS WHERE HOSE IS ATTACHED TO TANK, TRANSMISSION FAILED TWO TIMES, WAS TOLD FROM MECHANIC THAT PUMP HOLES ARE TOO SMALL FOR OIL TO GO THROUGH.
Incident date: Aug 16, 2001
BIG SIDEWALL DEFECT. DISCOVERED BEFORE IT BLEW OUT.*AK (DOT NUMBER: BFRCTU51 TIRESIZE: P195/65/14)
Incident date: Jul 15, 2001
THE FIRST REPORT HAS TO DO WITH THE CLUTCH SYSTEM. AT 35,000 MILES ON ROUTINE INSPECTION MY DEALER INFORMED ME THAT CLUTCH CYLINDER NEAR THE CLUTCH PEDAL WAS SEIZING AND CAUSING AN ANNOYING SQUEAK. IT TURNS OUT THE THAT FAILURE OF THIS CYLINDER CAUSED THE PRESSURE PLATE TO NOT RELEASE FROM THE CLUTCH PLATE AS IT NORMALLY SHOULD WHEN TAKEING THE FOOT OFF THE CLUTCH PEDAL. THIS CAUSED THE CLUTCH DIS... Read more
Incident date: Jul 25, 2001
NO SUMMARY LISTED FOR ABOVE VEHICLE. *AK
Incident date: Aug 1, 2000
WHEN AUTO REACHES SPEED OF 60 MPH THRU 79 MPH THERE IS A VIBRATION THROUGHOUT CAR. *AK
Incident date: Jul 15, 2001
THE FIRST REPORT HAS TO DO WITH THE CLUTCH SYSTEM. AT 35,000 MILES ON ROUTINE INSPECTION MY DEALER INFORMED ME THAT CLUTCH CYLINDER NEAR THE CLUTCH PEDAL WAS SEIZING AND CAUSING AN ANNOYING SQUEAK. IT TURNS OUT THE THAT FAILURE OF THIS CYLINDER CAUSED THE PRESSURE PLATE TO NOT RELEASE FROM THE CLUTCH PLATE AS IT NORMALLY SHOULD WHEN TAKEING THE FOOT OFF THE CLUTCH PEDAL. THIS CAUSED THE CLUTCH DIS... Read more
Incident date: Jul 25, 2001
NO SUMMARY LISTED FOR ABOVE VEHICLE. *AK
Incident date: Aug 1, 2000
WHEN AUTO REACHES SPEED OF 60 MPH THRU 79 MPH THERE IS A VIBRATION THROUGHOUT CAR. *AK
Incident date: Feb 1, 2001
DRIVER SIDE REAR VIEW MIRROR VIBRATES AND RATTLES LOUDLY @50+MPH. *AK
Incident date: Feb 1, 2001
NO SUMMARY. *AK
Incident date: Jun 1, 2000
NO SUMMARY LISTED FOR ABOVE VEHICLE. *AK
Incident date: Jul 5, 2001
AS I WAS MERGING INTO HIGHWAY TRAFFIC THE ACCELARATOR PEDAL LOCKED UP AND THE CAR STARTED TO SPEED UP. CHECKED THE CRUISE CONTROL AND IT WAS OFF. TURNED THE CRUISE CONTROL ON/OFF HOPING IT WOULD DISCONNECT THE ACCELARATOR. NOTHING HAPPENNED. THE BREAK WOULD NOT WORK EITHER. THEN I PUT THE CAR IN NEUTRAL THE TIRES SEEM TO LOCK UP AND THE CAR CAME TO A STOP.*AK
Incident date: May 15, 2001
INFINITI SAW NO OWNER DAMAGE TO AIRBAG. AIRBAG NEVER DEPLOYED. DOES INFINITI HAVE A PROBLEM WITH 90,000+ MILEAGE VEHICLE INITIATING AIR BAG WARNING? CAR HAS BEEN MAINTAINED REGULARLY-INFINITI STATED THAT SINCE THEY DID NOT DO THE MAINTENANCE, THE AIRBAG IS FAILING! *AK
Incident date: May 9, 2001
WHEN APPLYING BRAKES THERE IS A SCREECHING SOUND. DEALER FOUND FRONT ROTORS GLAZED OVER, CLEANED AND LUBRICATED ROTORS. THEN ON 7 JUNE 2001, VEHICLE WAS TAKEN BACK TO DEALER DUE TO SCREECHING NOISE. DEALER FOUND FRONT PADS CRACKED, AND FRONT ROTORS TO BE GROOVED AND HOT SPOTTED, TURNED ROTORS. CHECKED REAR BRAKES, FOUND NO PROBLEM. SOMETIMES THERE IS SCREECHING NOISE EVEN AFTER CONSUMER TAKES FOO... Read more
INFINITI
J30
(1996) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:EXHAUST SYSTEM:MANIFOLD/HEADER/MUFFLER/TAIL PIPE
Jun 19, 2001
Incident date: Dec 20, 1999
THE EXHAUST MANIFOLDS CRACK FROM WHAT I BELIEVE TO BE A DESIGN FLAW. WHICH COULD LEAD TO A ENGINE COMPARTMENT FIRE. INFINITI KNOWS OF THE PROBLEM. THEY HAVE SUPERSEDED THE PART WITH A NEW PART. THE COST FOR THE NEW MANIFOLDS ARE $1200.00. NOT ONLY DID THEY MAKE FAULTY MANIFOLDS THAT HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO START A FIRE IN THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT. THEY GOUGE THEIR CUSTOMERS $1200.00 FOR REPLACEM... Read more
Incident date: Dec 20, 1999
THE EXHAUST MANIFOLDS CRACK FROM WHAT I BELIEVE TO BE A DESIGN FLAW. WHICH COULD LEAD TO A ENGINE COMPARTMENT FIRE. INFINITI KNOWS OF THE PROBLEM. THEY HAVE SUPERSEDED THE PART WITH A NEW PART. THE COST FOR THE NEW MANIFOLDS ARE $1200.00. NOT ONLY DID THEY MAKE FAULTY MANIFOLDS THAT HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO START A FIRE IN THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT. THEY GOUGE THEIR CUSTOMERS $1200.00 FOR REPLACEM... Read more
THE CONSUMER HAD PROBLEMS GETTING RECALL REPAIR 00V-410 PERFORMED, THE DEALER REFUSED TO PICK THE VEHICLE UP FROM THE CONSUMER AS PROMISED. NLM
Incident date: Apr 29, 2001
WHILE DRIVING ABOUT 65 MPH AND CRUISE CONTROL SET, CONSUMER TAPPED BRAKE TO SLOW DOWN. INSTEAD, VEHICLE MAINTAINED SPEED. CONSUMER THEN APPLIED BRAKE HARD, AND CRUISE CONTROL WOULD NOT CUT OFF. CONSUMER STEERED VEHICLE TOWARD MEDIAN, AND HIT A GUARDRAIL. VEHICLE WAS TOTALLED, CONSUMER NOT INJURED.*AK
Crash
2 injured
INFINITI
I30
(2001) - SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:ANTILOCK/TRACTION CONTROL/ELECTRONIC LIMITED SLIP
Jun 7, 2001
Incident date: Apr 29, 2001
WHILE DRIVING ABOUT 65 MPH AND CRUISE CONTROL SET, CONSUMER TAPPED BRAKE TO SLOW DOWN. INSTEAD, VEHICLE MAINTAINED SPEED. CONSUMER THEN APPLIED BRAKE HARD, AND CRUISE CONTROL WOULD NOT CUT OFF. CONSUMER STEERED VEHICLE TOWARD MEDIAN, AND HIT A GUARDRAIL. VEHICLE WAS TOTALLED, CONSUMER NOT INJURED.*AK
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Jan 31, 2000
PREMATURE WEAR OF BRAKE ROTORS DUE TO WARPING CAUSED BRAKES TO SHUTTER WHEN APPLIED. DEALER HAS REPLACED PADS AND ROTORS THREE TIMES. *AK
Incident date: May 20, 2001
WRECK ON PASS SIDE AFTER HOOD CAME UP AND IT WAS LATCH BUT CAME LOOSE. *AK
Crash
Incident date: May 21, 2001
VEHICLE WAS IDLING ROUGHLY, AND ABS BRAKING SYSTEM LIGHT CAME ON DASHBOARD. *AK