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 393 complaints for KENWORTH
Incident date: Jun 14, 2000
KENWORTH HAS A REPUTATION OF PUTTING A CUSTUMER OFF UNTILL WARRANTY IS OUT. ALL OF THESE PROBLEMS WHERE TO BE ADDRESSED. AND THERE ARE MORE. HARD TO EXPLAIN IN SHORT WORDS. I DO HAVE DOCUMENTATION IN THE FORM OF MAINT. FILES WITH DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNTS OF ALL PROBLEMS , NONE OF WHICH HAVE BEEN ACCURATLY REPAIRED. I'V BEEN INTO VARIOUS SHOPS CONCERNING RR SUSPENSION, RIDE HEIGHT PRB. HAS ALWAYS BEEN... Read more
Incident date: Jun 14, 2000
KENWORTH HAS A REPUTATION OF PUTTING A CUSTUMER OFF UNTILL WARRANTY IS OUT. ALL OF THESE PROBLEMS WHERE TO BE ADDRESSED. AND THERE ARE MORE. HARD TO EXPLAIN IN SHORT WORDS. I DO HAVE DOCUMENTATION IN THE FORM OF MAINT. FILES WITH DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNTS OF ALL PROBLEMS , NONE OF WHICH HAVE BEEN ACCURATLY REPAIRED. I'V BEEN INTO VARIOUS SHOPS CONCERNING RR SUSPENSION, RIDE HEIGHT PRB. HAS ALWAYS BEEN... Read more
Incident date: Jun 14, 2000
KENWORTH HAS A REPUTATION OF PUTTING A CUSTUMER OFF UNTILL WARRANTY IS OUT. ALL OF THESE PROBLEMS WHERE TO BE ADDRESSED. AND THERE ARE MORE. HARD TO EXPLAIN IN SHORT WORDS. I DO HAVE DOCUMENTATION IN THE FORM OF MAINT. FILES WITH DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNTS OF ALL PROBLEMS , NONE OF WHICH HAVE BEEN ACCURATLY REPAIRED. I'V BEEN INTO VARIOUS SHOPS CONCERNING RR SUSPENSION, RIDE HEIGHT PRB. HAS ALWAYS BEEN... Read more
Incident date: Jun 14, 2000
KENWORTH HAS A REPUTATION OF PUTTING A CUSTUMER OFF UNTILL WARRANTY IS OUT. ALL OF THESE PROBLEMS WHERE TO BE ADDRESSED. AND THERE ARE MORE. HARD TO EXPLAIN IN SHORT WORDS. I DO HAVE DOCUMENTATION IN THE FORM OF MAINT. FILES WITH DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNTS OF ALL PROBLEMS , NONE OF WHICH HAVE BEEN ACCURATLY REPAIRED. I'V BEEN INTO VARIOUS SHOPS CONCERNING RR SUSPENSION, RIDE HEIGHT PRB. HAS ALWAYS BEEN... Read more
Incident date: Jun 14, 2000
KENWORTH HAS A REPUTATION OF PUTTING A CUSTUMER OFF UNTILL WARRANTY IS OUT. ALL OF THESE PROBLEMS WHERE TO BE ADDRESSED. AND THERE ARE MORE. HARD TO EXPLAIN IN SHORT WORDS. I DO HAVE DOCUMENTATION IN THE FORM OF MAINT. FILES WITH DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNTS OF ALL PROBLEMS , NONE OF WHICH HAVE BEEN ACCURATLY REPAIRED. I'V BEEN INTO VARIOUS SHOPS CONCERNING RR SUSPENSION, RIDE HEIGHT PRB. HAS ALWAYS BEEN... Read more
Incident date: Oct 10, 2001
CONSUMER STATES THAT THE ENGINE WOULD STALLS WHILE DRIVING 55-60 MPH. VEHICLE HAS BEEN TO THE DEALER AND THE PROBLEM REOCCURRING. FEEL FREE TO PROVIDE ANY FURTHER INFORMATION. NLM
Incident date: Jul 1, 2002
NO SUMMARY LISTED FOR ABOVE VEHICLE. *AK
KENWORTH
CONVENTIONAL
(1999) - WHEELS
Aug 28, 2002
Incident date: May 9, 2002
WHILE IN MOTION THE RIGHT FRONT TIRE AND THE RIM CAME OFF THE VEHICLE, OHIO TRAFFIC CRASH REPORT. *JG
VEHICLE IS EXPERIENCING PROBLEMS WITH THE HEATING VENTILATION AIR CONDITIONER, NOT BEING ABLE TO EFFECTIVELY DEFROST THE WINDSHIELD WHILE DRIVING, CONSUMER STATES THERE IS A RECALL FOR THIS PROBLEM, HOWEVER THE MODEL OR YEAR DOES NOT APPLY TO HIS VEHICLE.*JB
CONSUMER STATES VEHICLE IS EXPERIENCING BRAKE PROBLEMS, THREE OF THE FOUR AIR BRAKE CAM SUPPORTS ARE BROKEN AND THE BRAKE BRACKET WELDS ARE BROKEN.*JB
CONSUMER STATES THE VEHICLES ENGINE DROPPED A VALVE. *YH
Incident date: Jun 14, 2002
WHILE DRIVING AT LOW SPEED OF 20 MPH OR LESS RIGHT FRONT TIE ROD END BROKE, AND CAUSED LOSS OF STEERING. DEALER CONTACTED. FEEL FREE TO PROVIDE ANY FURTHER INFROMATION.*AK
Incident date: Aug 25, 2001
WHILE DRIVING THE LEFT REAR TANDEM BRAKE LOCKED UP AND CAUGHT FIRE (OHIO TRAFFIC CRASH REPORT). NLM
Fire
KENWORTH
CONVENTIONAL
(1996) - WHEELS:LUGS/NUTS/BOLTS/STUDS
May 14, 2002
Incident date: Nov 20, 2001
VEHICLE LOST THE RIGHT FRONT DUAL TIRE ASSEMBLY DUE TO THE WHEEL LUGS BREAKING OFF.(OHIO TRAFFIC CRASH REPORT #564299) *JG
Incident date: Dec 16, 2001
VEHICLE EXPERIENCED FIRE DAMAGE TO THE REAR INSIDE DRIVE TIRE WHILE DRIVING ON THE TURNPIKE .(OHIO TRAFFIC ACCIDENT REPORT.) *JG
Fire
Incident date: Jun 9, 2001
BOTH FRAME RAIL EXTENTION WERE CRACKED
Incident date: Dec 16, 2001
VEHICLE EXPERIENCED FIRE DAMAGE TO THE REAR INSIDE DRIVE TIRE WHILE DRIVING ON THE TURNPIKE .(OHIO TRAFFIC ACCIDENT REPORT.) *JG
Fire
Incident date: Jan 24, 2002
NO SUMMARY LISTED FOR ABOVE VEHICLE. *AK
Crash
KENWORTH
CONVENTIONAL
(1996) - WHEELS:LUGS/NUTS/BOLTS/STUDS
Mar 7, 2002
Incident date: Nov 20, 2001
VEHICLE LOST THE RIGHT FRONT DUAL TIRE ASSEMBLY DUE TO THE WHEEL LUGS BREAKING OFF.(OHIO TRAFFIC CRASH REPORT #564299) *JG
Incident date: Jan 31, 2002
THIS WAS A STEER TIRE ON A BIG RIG THE POTENTIAL FOR LOSS OF LIFE AND PROPERTY COULD HAVE BEEN CATSTROPHIC.*AK (DOT NUMBER: MJ4K39AW16 TIRESIZE: GY285-75-2)
Incident date: Jan 29, 2002
CONSUMER STATED THE FUEL TANK BRACKET IS NOT STRONG ENOUGH TO KEEP TANK FROM TWISTING, THE STRAPS APPARENTLY ARE TOO BIG AND LOOSEN FROM WEAR, CAUSING FUEL TANK TO TWIST AND LEAK TO FUEL, DEALER AND MANUFACTURER WERE NOTIFIED.*AK *YH
FRAME RAIL UNDER HOOD FLEXES TOO MUCH. WHEN DRIVING VEHICLE HOOD COMES UP. WHEN DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD VEHICLE FEELS AS THOUGH ITS GOING TURN OVER WHEN CHANGING LANES. CONTACTED DEALER, AND DEALER WAS NOT DOING ANYTHING ABOUT PROBLEM.*AK CONSUMER STATED THAT NEW HOOD CRACKED AT THE SAME PLACE AND IS NOW FLEXING MORE, ALSO STRESS CRACKS IN RIGHT WINDSHIELD, CONSUMER STATES CONCERN WITH MOTOR MOUNT... Read more
FRAME RAIL UNDER HOOD FLEXES TOO MUCH. WHEN DRIVING VEHICLE HOOD COMES UP. WHEN DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD VEHICLE FEELS AS THOUGH ITS GOING TURN OVER WHEN CHANGING LANES. CONTACTED DEALER, AND DEALER WAS NOT DOING ANYTHING ABOUT PROBLEM.*AK CONSUMER STATED THAT NEW HOOD CRACKED AT THE SAME PLACE AND IS NOW FLEXING MORE, ALSO STRESS CRACKS IN RIGHT WINDSHIELD, CONSUMER STATES CONCERN WITH MOTOR MOUNT... Read more
FRAME RAIL UNDER HOOD FLEXES TOO MUCH. WHEN DRIVING VEHICLE HOOD COMES UP. WHEN DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD VEHICLE FEELS AS THOUGH ITS GOING TURN OVER WHEN CHANGING LANES. CONTACTED DEALER, AND DEALER WAS NOT DOING ANYTHING ABOUT PROBLEM.*AK CONSUMER STATED THAT NEW HOOD CRACKED AT THE SAME PLACE AND IS NOW FLEXING MORE, ALSO STRESS CRACKS IN RIGHT WINDSHIELD, CONSUMER STATES CONCERN WITH MOTOR MOUNT... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2001
FRONT END SHIMMIES AT 45 MPH. VEHICLE HAS BEEN TAKEN TO DEALER 10 TIMES. DEALER HAS NOT BEEN ABLE TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM. MANUFACTURER HAS BEEN CONTACTED.*AK *JB
Incident date: Apr 1, 2001
FRONT END SHIMMIES AT 45 MPH. VEHICLE HAS BEEN TAKEN TO DEALER 10 TIMES. DEALER HAS NOT BEEN ABLE TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM. *AK CONSUMER FEELS THE DEALER IS IGNORING THE PROBLEM. *JB
WHEEL BEARINGS KEEP FAILING, STEERING TIRES KEEP GETTING EATEN UP, WHICH CAUSES VEHICLE TO PULL TO RIGHT, WHEN THIS HAPPENS BRAKES WOULD CHATTER DUE TO A LACK OF WHEEL BEARINGS. DRUM DROPPED ON BRAKE PADS AND SHOES. BRAKE SHOES WOULD BREAK OFF.*AK *YD
Incident date: Jun 27, 2001
TRACTOR NAN FULLY LOADED BELLY DUMP TRAILER WERE DESCENDING AN APPROX. 11% GRADE ON GRAVEL HAUL ROAD WHEN ENGINE QUIT. WITHOUT POWER STEERING OR ENGINE BRAKES, TRUCK LEFT THE ROAD AND DROPPED DOWN A 50+ FT. EMBANKMENT, ENDING UP ON THE DRIVER'S SIDE OF THE CAB, INVERTED, IN AN ICY STREAM. THE CAB BEGAN FILLING WITH SMOKE. INJURED DRIVER ABLE TO PUSH OUT CORNER OF WINDSHIELD AND ESCAPE BEFORE CAB C... Read more
Crash
Fire
1 injured
Incident date: Aug 25, 2001
WHILE DRIVING THE LEFT REAR TANDEM BRAKE LOCKED UP AND CAUGHT FIRE (OHIO TRAFFIC CRASH REPORT). NLM
Fire
Incident date: May 4, 2001
WHILE ATTEMPTING TO MAKE A U-TURN THE CLUTCH ROD FROZE AND WOULD NOT MOVE AND WHEN IT DID IT WENT TO THE FLOOR AND THE DRIVER COULD NOT GET THE TRUCK OUT OF GEAR, AS A RESULT THE DUMP TRUCK DROVE OFF THE ROADWAY DOWN INTO A DITCH AND FLIPPED ONTO ITS RIGHT SIDE SPLIILING ITS LOAD(OHIO TRAFFIC CRASH REPORT). NLM
1 injured
Incident date: Dec 1, 1998
FRAME EXTENSION FOR VEHICLE BROKE SIX TIMES IN FOUR YEARS WHERE STEERING BOX WAS ATTACHED TO FRAME. DEALERSHIP HAS REPAIRED THIS ON EACH INCIDENT, FAILING TO EFFECTIVELY REMEDY THE PROBLEM. PLEASE PROVIDE ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION / ATTACHMENTS. *CONSUMER IS AWARE OF OTHER VEHICLES OF SAME MAKE / MODEL / YEAR EXPERIENCING SAME PROBLEM.*AK
Incident date: Dec 1, 1998
FRAME EXTENSION FOR VEHICLE BROKE SIX TIMES IN FOUR YEARS WHERE STEERING BOX WAS ATTACHED TO FRAME. DEALERSHIP HAS REPAIRED THIS ON EACH INCIDENT, FAILING TO EFFECTIVELY REMEDY THE PROBLEM. PLEASE PROVIDE ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION / ATTACHMENTS. *CONSUMER IS AWARE OF OTHER VEHICLES OF SAME MAKE / MODEL / YEAR EXPERIENCING SAME PROBLEM.*AK
Incident date: Nov 30, 1999
AIR LEAK UNDER DASH, CAUSED BY POWER DIVIDER SWITCH. *SLC
Incident date: Nov 29, 1999
OIL LEAK. *SLC
Incident date: Dec 1, 1999
TELESCOPIC TILT WHEEL WOULD NOT STAY LOCKED IN, HAS BEEN REPAIRED HOWEVER STILL HAS A SQUEAKING NOISE. *SLC
Incident date: Nov 30, 1999
LEAK IN AIR SEAT. *SLC
SUSPENSION PROBLEMS IN DESIGN OF VEHICLE CAUSED WEAR OF TIRES, DEALER REPLACED FLOATS, REPLACED FRONT AND REAR TANDEMS, BOLT BROKE ON THE CROSS MEMBER TWICE, RIGHT SIDE OF CROSS MEMBER RUNS AT AN ANGLE, AND RUBBER INSERTS ON TORQUE BARS WERE NOT TWISTED. *SLC
TOP AND BOTTOM FRAME RAILS SHOULD HAVE SAME THICKNESS, HOWEVER THIS DID NOT, THERE IS A SAG IN TOP OF FRAME RAIL, RIGHT SIDE OF VEHICLE HAS SWAY, INNER FRAME RAIL ON RIGHT SIDE IS THINNER BETWEEN TOP AND BOTTOM. *SLC
Incident date: Feb 15, 2001
DURING NORMAL OPERATION OF VEHICLE, THERE IS A NOISE BEING EMITTED FROM REAR DUE TO GEARS IN REAR HAVE BECOME STRIPPED. MANUFACTURER HAS INFORMED CONSUMER THAT THIS DEFECT WAS DUE TO "SHOCK LOAD" (DRIVER ABUSE). *AK *SLC
Incident date: Feb 15, 2001
DURING NORMAL OPERATION OF VEHICLE, THERE IS A NOISE BEING EMITTED FROM REAR DUE TO GEARS IN REAR HAVE BECOME STRIPPED. MANUFACTURER HAS INFORMED CONSUMER THAT THIS DEFECT WAS DUE TO "SHOCK LOAD" (DRIVER ABUSE). *AK *SLC
Incident date: Apr 2, 2001
CONSUMER RECEIVED RECALL 01V051000. SHE MADE AN APPOINTMENT WITH DEALERSHIP REGARDING THIS RECALL, AND DEALERSHIP INFORMED HER THEY HAD NO INFORMATION REGARDING RECALL. PLEASE PROVIDE ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION/ATTACHMENTS.*AK
KENWORTH
CONVENTIONAL
(1994) - TIRES
Apr 6, 2001
Incident date: Jan 29, 2001
WHILE DRIVING THE TRAILER LOST A SET OF DUAL TIRES FROM IT'S THIRD RIGHT AXLE, CAUSED DAMAGE TO THE VEHICLE. (OHIO TRAFFIC CRASH REPORT) NLM
Incident date: Jul 1, 1998
ABS LIGHT COMES ON INTERMITTENTLY, ABS CAPABILITY INTERMITTENTLY. *AK
Incident date: Aug 10, 2000
WHILE DRIVING THE LEFT REAR TIRE AND AXLE CAUGHT ON FIRE ON THE TRAILER UNIT, POSSIBLE AXLE FAILURE WAS THE CAUSE. (OHIO TRAFFIC CRASH REPORT) (TRAILER MAKE/MODEL NOT PROVIDED). *MJS
Incident date: Oct 18, 2000
TIRES ARE WEARING OUT FAST, CONSUMER HAS PUT THREE SETS OF TIRES ON VEHICLE WITHIN THE LAST YEAR.*AK
Incident date: May 1, 2000
BRAKES SQUEAL, ,SHOES DAMAGED,DRUMS SEEM TO BE OUT OF ROUND,DEALER WON'T REPAIR. *AK
Incident date: Sep 14, 2000
CONSUMER SAID THAT HE WAS IN A REST AREA, AND THE NEXT DAY NOTICED OIL/ MELTED HUB CAP, AND LEFT STEERING AXLE. HE CONTACTED THE DEALERSHIP, AND THEY SEND HIM TO THE NEAR DEALERSHIP TO HAVE IT FIXED.*AK THE WORN SPINDLE CAUSED THE BEARINGS ON THE LEFT FRONT AND RIGHT FRONT STEERING TO BECOME LOOSE AND LEAK OIL, WHICH SPREAD ALL OVER THE WHEEL RESULTING IN THE HUB CUP MELTING. *YH
ABOUT A FOOT OF THE OUTER EDGE OF MY COMMERCIAL FRONT STEERING (OR DIRECTIONAL) TIRE HAS STARTED TO PEEL OFF AND DISAPPEAR FROM THE TIRE. *AK( DOT NUMBER: TIRE SIZE: 285/75R245 )
THE TRUCK HAS A VIBRATION, WHICH SHAKES BOLTS LOOSE AND THE SLEEPER DOORS LEAKS. *ET
Incident date: Jun 8, 2000
1ST DAY AFTER PURCHASE WIRING HARNESS CAUGHT FIRE ON NEW VEHICLE. *AK
Fire