Consumer Safety Complaints
Search 2,215,138 safety complaints filed by vehicle owners with NHTSA — including 138,663 crashes, 56,255 fires, and 8,561 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 2,215,138 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 60,583 complaints for KIA
Incident date: Sep 2, 2025
The car emergency brake component was faculty and kicked in at an inappropriate time. When the emergency brake occurs you are unable to move the car at all. Being unable to move put myself and my passenger seater at risk for bring hit to which we were. The vehicle was not inspected due to Kia Corporate office not answering the phone.
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Sep 12, 2025
The car emergency brake component was faculty and kicked in at an inappropriate time. When the emergency brake occurs you are unable to move the car at all. Being unable to move put myself and my passenger seater at risk for bring hit to which we were. The vehicle was not inspected due to Kia Corporate office not answering the phone.
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Sep 12, 2025
The car emergency brake component was faculty and kicked in at an inappropriate time. When the emergency brake occurs you are unable to move the car at all. Being unable to move put myself and my passenger seater at risk for bring hit to which we were. The vehicle was not inspected due to Kia Corporate office not answering the phone.
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Sep 12, 2025
The lane assist malfunction and periodically jerks. Very unsafe I no longer use this feature . To keep control of the vehicle. I never got it inspected. As the lane assist was in use and it would jerk it would alert me of a lane departure . I mention this to include every known problem I have experienced with the vehicle. The problem That brought me here. Is my engine light came on today. Leading... Read more
Incident date: Sep 2, 2025
My son was turning out of a parking lot and the car suddenly stopped moving and went into park. He couldn’t shift out of park and was stuck in the middle of a very busy street with cars slamming on their brakes to avoid hitting him. The car had to be towed away.
Incident date: Sep 12, 2025
The contact owns a 2019 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that while attempting to reverse, the rearview camera malfunctioned and became inoperable. The contact reported that the camera brightness was excessively high, which distorted the image and impaired visibility, preventing the contact from seeing properly through the mirror. The dealer was contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or r... Read more
Incident date: Sep 8, 2025
The contact owns a 2013 Ram 1500. The contact stated that while attempting to turn to the right, the steering wheel seized. The contact used excessive force to maneuver the vehicle. An unknown warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired and remained at the residence. The contact called and notified the manufacturer of the failure. Upon further investigation, the contac... Read more
Incident date: Sep 12, 2025
While driving car stuttered check engine light and check hybrid system flashed. Check engine lights stayed on until getting home. Next day. I scanned and code p0b68 was set.
Incident date: Sep 12, 2025
My 2008 Toyota Highlander Hybrid is having severe issues with the ABS system. Toyota is reporting that it needs an ABS actuator and ABS pump replacements. These were a part of Toyota's previous Customer Support Program, but the program expired before I owned the vehicle. That is EXTREMELY dangerous and the issue with the ABS system should be considered a Safety Recall that is ALWAYS available to T... Read more
Incident date: Sep 6, 2025
Hi, For example, Audio would cut completely throughout the vehicle not allowing me to access any sources such as the On star board system in the event of a crash, music sources etc. In addition, when this happens all my safety features turn off on the car along with the screen going blank etc. This continued to happen on multiple occasions including with my kids and family in car on a 1 hour... Read more
Incident date: Sep 6, 2025
Hi, For example, Audio would cut completely throughout the vehicle not allowing me to access any sources such as the On star board system in the event of a crash, music sources etc. In addition, when this happens all my safety features turn off on the car along with the screen going blank etc. This continued to happen on multiple occasions including with my kids and family in car on a 1 hour... Read more
Incident date: Aug 14, 2025
The glass on the driver's side mirror fluctuates when driving at speeds above approximately 35 MPH. It gets more intense the faster the vehicle travels. It's very distracting and also causes the mirror to go out of adjustment. I have had the mirror assembly changed 2 times by the dealer I'm still having the same issue. I filed a complaint with GM. After I filed a complaint the dealer installed ba... Read more
Incident date: Sep 16, 2024
The contact owns a 2015 Jeep Patriot. The contact stated that the check engine warning light had illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed that the fuel and the oxygen were not mixing correctly. The dealer confirmed that the throttle body box sensor failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure reoccurred. The vehicle was returned to the dea... Read more
Incident date: Sep 16, 2024
The contact owns a 2020 Ford Escape. The contact had received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V467000 (Fuel System, Gasoline). The contact called a local dealer and was informed that parts were not yet available. 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 lack of parts. The contact had... Read more
Incident date: Sep 16, 2024
Every time this issue happens, ALL the safety warnings are going off on my dashboard, telling me to check each safety feature and that it's currently NOT working. 1 - Check AWD/4WD 2 - Check Blind Spot Safety System 3 - Check Tire Pressure Monitoring System 4 - Check Smart Crusie Control System 5 - Check Forward Side Safety System 6 - Check Rear Cross Traffic Safety System 7 - Check Lane Followin... Read more
Incident date: Sep 5, 2025
The same issue with the backup camera as the other vehicles in current recall. The 2016 Ford Fusion should be on that list as well.
Incident date: Sep 5, 2025
Date of Incident: [XXX] Vehicle Information: 2018 Honda Accord VIN: [XXX] Incident Location: North Charleston, SC Estimated Vehicle Mileage at Incident: 78,000 miles On [XXX], while starting and driving my vehicle less than one mile, the engine would not accelerate above 10 MPH. Following this, multiple service alerts illuminated on the dashboard. The vehicle was inoperable and had to be towed t... Read more
Incident date: May 27, 2025
Back up camera stops working randomly, displays blank screen. Was supposedly fixed by dealer in recall repair. Problem still occurs.
Incident date: Sep 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while reversing, the rearview camera image was blurred, black, green, or blue. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the rearview camera had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. Additionally, the contact stated that the failure was initially occurring intermittently but had become per... Read more
Incident date: Feb 12, 2024
After 4 years of ownership, the HV battery has failed. This has put the car at risk it stopped charging and without charging the car was no longer drivable. The battery was overheating the car was very hot the AC stopped working. This put the car at risk when drive the battery dropped significantly while driving. Yes we got it inspected they said that the battery is failing and needs to be replac... Read more
Incident date: Sep 5, 2025
The contact owns a 2024 BMW X1. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V104000 (Electronic Stability Control (ESC), Service Brakes, Hydraulic); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was contacted and confirmed that there was no part availab... Read more
Incident date: Sep 11, 2025
The contact owns a 2020 Ford Edge. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the Pre-Collision control activation notification failed to display for approximately 2 minutes after starting to drive. The Pre-Collision notification flashed a warning sign with a red wrench informing the driver to See Owner’s Manual. While driving at various speeds, the Forward Collision Avoidance system ac... Read more
Incident date: Jun 30, 2025
When you put vehicle in reverse the back up camera has a blank screen
Incident date: Jun 30, 2025
My car decelerated on the highway from a speed of approximately 65 mph to 9 mph in a matter of seconds without any reason. I drove in the breakdown lane with flashers on to get to the next exit and upon entering the off-ramp my CRV suddenly accelerated back to normal. I took my vehicle to my Honda dealership and they told me they couldn't find anything wrong with it. It was showing no codes. The w... Read more
Incident date: Sep 10, 2025
Reduced engine power message pops up while driving Check engine light stays on Codes that came up for Cadillac converter And transmission failure
Incident date: Aug 7, 2025
The van's LKAS camera has malfunctioned. This has disabled not only LKAS but cruise control, forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, blind spot warning, lane departure warning, and rear cross traffic. There is also a brake system failure light active on the digital dashboard. The failure of the LKAS camera has affected numerous Honda vehicles, not only the Odyssey, and across many ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 7, 2025
The van's LKAS camera has malfunctioned. This has disabled not only LKAS but cruise control, forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, blind spot warning, lane departure warning, and rear cross traffic. There is also a brake system failure light active on the digital dashboard. The failure of the LKAS camera has affected numerous Honda vehicles, not only the Odyssey, and across many ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 31, 2025
The contact owns a 2024 Volkswagen Tiguan. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the low oil warning light illuminated, though the vehicle had previously been serviced within 1,600 miles. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who informed the contact that the engine had consumed four quarts of oil within 1,600 miles. The contact was advised to take the vehicle ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 10, 2025
The contact owns a 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the low engine oil warning light illuminated, prompting the contact to inspect the dipstick. After a visual inspection, the contact observed that the oil was abnormally low, though the vehicle had been serviced less than a month prior. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who performed an... Read more
Incident date: Jul 8, 2025
The contact owns a 2015 BMW 535I. The contact stated that while driving at 30 MPH, the engine overheated. The engine temperature gauge was between 250 and 300 degrees. The contact linked the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V608000 (Engine and Engine Cooling, Electrical System). The vehicle was taken to the local dealer and was diagnosed with a water pump connector failure. The vehicle was repa... Read more
Incident date: Jul 8, 2025
The contact owns a 2015 BMW 535I. The contact stated that while driving at 30 MPH, the engine overheated. The engine temperature gauge was between 250 and 300 degrees. The contact linked the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V608000 (Engine and Engine Cooling, Electrical System). The vehicle was taken to the local dealer and was diagnosed with a water pump connector failure. The vehicle was repa... Read more
Incident date: May 10, 2025
The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Blazer. The contact stated that while parking the vehicle and shifting to park(P), the message "Shift to Park” was displayed. The contact turned off and restarted the vehicle several times and shifted from drive(D) to park(P) several times before the message disappeared. The contact stated that the vehicle was also showing electrical failures. The contact stated... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2025
I had to do laundry loaded truck jumped in took off got on the highway doing 75 MPH peep peep low brake fluid! Low brake fluid, my peddle was not to the floor but was slow to stop.. no store to fill up brake fluid but an Ace hardware was at my laundry mate which I got 32 oz to fill it was empty. No fluid on ground!?! Did laundry drove 4 miles to walmart almost did not stop! Low brake fluid and it ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 5, 2025
The contact owns a 2020 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds and attempting to make a left or right turn, the steering wheel was sticking and failed to return to center. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed, and the contact was informed that the failure was not duplicated, and there was no faul... Read more
Incident date: Aug 27, 2025
The truck has 66,500 miles. One of our employees was driving and had the harmonic balancer bolt back out and harmonic balancer fell off. Truck has been sent to Midway Ford in Roseville, MN for repair.
Incident date: Sep 4, 2025
Engine seized up while driving. I had just visited the dealership and had 5 RECALLS done.
Incident date: Sep 10, 2025
Sway bar light is flashing - Research says that it could be unsafe to drive- took it in for repair today 9/10/25 - vehicle under warranty until December. Vehicle repaired "for now" was advised to have checked on next oil change verbally. At this time the vehicle will be out of warranty. (3 years - only has 23680 mile currently) but warranty ends at this point. Why should i be responsible for an i... Read more
Incident date: Aug 29, 2025
Safety Cameras stopped working on the screen just gives black image when cars put into reverse. If cameras button is pushed screen swaps over to a black screen.
Incident date: Aug 29, 2025
Safety Cameras stopped working on the screen just gives black image when cars put into reverse. If cameras button is pushed screen swaps over to a black screen.
Incident date: Sep 8, 2025
The incident occurred while entering a limited access roadway. I was accelerating and merging into the main lane of travel. As I was accelerating, the engine cut off and several warning lights appeared. The Check Engine light came on first, followed by the Check Battery light. As a result of the loss of power, the vehicle behind me almost rear-ended my vehicle. I was able to roll to the side of t... Read more
Incident date: Sep 7, 2025
The windshield wipers quit working while driving during a down pour; some piece to the motor broke. This can cause severe injuries and even death due to the fact that it caused me to not be able to see where I was going and what was around me and could have driven off a high ramp. It hasn’t been inspected by anyone yet. There were no signs, warnings, or messages stating a failure may occur. This... Read more
Incident date: Sep 9, 2025
Steering wheel feel like it’s get stuck
Incident date: Aug 26, 2025
While using Adaptive Cruise Control at 47mph on a local highway, Automatic Emergency Braking activated almost stopping the vehicle with vehicles fairly close behind it nearly causing an accident. There were no vehicles beside our car and no vehicles or objects on the road in front that could trigger the braking. This has also happened several times at lower speeds on less crowded roads. Afte... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2025
Alternator with etorgue has gone out leaving the truck stranded and no parts are available. I order one on the 23rd of June 2025 it is now September 9th 2025. There is no update and part is still showing back ordered.
Incident date: May 18, 2025
After closing the back passenger door the whole back hatch window shattered all inside car.
Incident date: May 18, 2025
The vehicle had a recall a few years ago to install updates on the PCM computer for a stalling issue but it was never corrected. The vehicle still stalls on turns and on the highway and inside the Chrysler Dealership but the dealer was not able to identify the issue. It seems that the computer tries to correct the issue but it does not work. This is very dangerous when the vehicle stalls on th... Read more
Incident date: Jul 2, 2025
The contact owns a 2021 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle failed to accelerate as needed and then lost motive power. The engine made ticking sounds, and the vehicle was running rough. No warning light was illuminated. The contact coasted the vehicle into the driveway. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, who discovered that the timing chain, ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 20, 2020
Vehicle Caught Fire while parked and off - the business "stellantis" has been unresponsive to all calls/attempts at help/resolution
Fire
Incident date: May 11, 2025
Back up camera glitches, shows images upside down, or not at all. This has been happening for at least 6+ months. Component has not been inspected. There is a current recall on Edge and Expedition in the same years as mine but the Escape was not included in in the recall.
Incident date: Sep 1, 2025
The car had ongoing issues with a warning sensor that stated Steering Fault - Service Now. There was also a clinking noise when driving straight and then turning right. Took car to dealer repair show and they ran a diagnosis report (I assume they did). It was reported that it was an internal fault with strut bearings and installed a bracket that was suppose to remedy the issue. Since then I wou... Read more