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: May 1, 2025
This is happening a couple of times a week now. With the audio system locking up while driving making for the audio volume to not be able to be adjusted. They audio system is locking up and there is no way to reset the system while driving. There is not always a place to stop and shut the car off then restart -which is how I have been dealing with this issue for many years now. Sometimes, I am on ... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2025
I was coming home from school pickup, and the light said the engine power was reducing. Then the screen said that I couldn't go past 25 miles per hour. The skid sign came on also. The car started slowing down on its own. The car then stopped. I had to put on emergency lights quickly. I had my daughter and grandaughter in the car. Thank God we didn't get rear ended. I turned off the car and waite... Read more
Incident date: May 26, 2025
Blower Fan had been cutting off. Only running intermittent on High. Took to Toyota dealer June 2025. Was told it was a Cabin Air Filter Clogged. Paid for replacement and clean out of system. Continued to not work. Called a mechanic and asked for a diagnostic. Was told it was a “known issue” with Toyota Tacomas. Had been a recall in later years. I ordered the blower motor resistor and wir... Read more
Incident date: Apr 25, 2025
In January my husband was driving the Kia and it broke down. We took it to the mechanic and they said it was completely out of oil. Spent $5,000 on getting it fixed in a couple weeks later find out there's a recall. Took the Kia to the dealership in Ocala. They and told us there was nothing wrong with it and that they fixed it. It also makes noises when you turn the car on. to this day we still h... Read more
Incident date: Apr 25, 2025
The passenger dashboard airbag keeps generating error codes and the airbag light continually flashes. There have been 2 costly repair attempts by a Nissan dealership, but the problem persists. The dealership stated the passenger airbag was not functioning properly. They want to try a 3rd repair attempt which is the most expensive yet. I have been in contact with Nissan customer service and they ha... Read more
Incident date: Apr 25, 2025
I JUST PURCHASED THIS 2019 GMC YUKON DENALI. ABOUT 3 WEEKS AFTER; THE MESSAGE "SERVICE TRAILER BRAKE SYSTEM" STARTED BEEPING...DIDN'T REALLY PAY BOTHER ME AT 1ST SINCE I WEREN'T PLANNING TO PULL ANYTHING. THEN IT STARTED DOING IT MORE FREQUENTLY. NOW IT IS CONSTANTLY DOING IT EVERY FEW DAYS. CAN'T SEEM TO GET IT TO STOP. VERY ANNOYING... ANY SUGGESTIONS?
Incident date: Jul 1, 2025
Telematics module drained my battery mid drive. Car shut off on highway. Module malfunctioned and caused safety features to malfunction. After communication with Dealership, OnStar, ultimately GM refuses to issue a recall on the module. This is a NATIONWIDE issue with GM Telematics Module. Warranty will not cover the module on any of these vehicles. Someone is going to sustain serious bodily injur... Read more
Incident date: Jul 23, 2025
Safety Recall P43/NHTSA 14V-480 involves the 2015 Chrysler 200 with Driver One-Touch Power Windows built. Driver windows panel does not operate correctly and driver and passenger windows are inoperative due drivers front door wiring harness. The odometer also flashes while driving.
Incident date: May 26, 2025
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving 55 MPH on the highway, the engine overheated and the vehicle stopped unintentionally. The contact was able to pull over safely. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the residence. The vehicle was previously taken to an undisclosed local dealer, who was unable to determine the cause of the failu... Read more
Incident date: May 26, 2025
We were driving on the expressway in our 2016 Ford Escape in the far left lane (4 lanes) and when my husband pushed on the gas, it revved up. Then it seemed like we started to lose power. A red exclamation point error came up on the dashboard, but I couldn't tell what it said. My husband was somehow able to get us across the highway (in busy traffic) to the right lane, where we wer able to get off... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2025
The engine experienced catastrophic failure. A piston punctured the engine block, likely due to failure of the connecting rods, an issue known to be associated with the recalled Theta II engine. The engine is still in the vehicle and available for inspection upon request. We were scared and felt seriously endangered during the incident. The engine failed suddenly while we were driving on a busy h... Read more
Incident date: Jun 19, 2025
While driving systems start to fualt, pre-collision not available, pre-collition fault, cruise control stops working, hill descent control fault, hill start assist warning. Started happening soon after purchase and happens ramdomly while driving almost every time. Resets after vihicle is turned off and back on. Had dealer inspect promblem and was told there was no fix for it.
Incident date: Aug 25, 2025
On August 25th around 7:00 PM, the vehicle suddenly caught fire while parked after a short test drive. The car had just been purchased a few days prior and was taken to a mechanic for a precautionary inspection. During the test drive, the mechanic parked the vehicle in a residential driveway. After backing in, smoke was observed coming from the engine bay. When the hood was lifted, the engine area... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Aug 25, 2025
My 2017 Ford Escape is leaking water from the radiator and it is probably going to the engine. From what I've researched, this is a chronic problem with Ford Escapes that causes engine failure, which is very expensive to repair.
Incident date: Aug 25, 2025
The vehicle was purchased on 10/26/22 and the first occurrence of the issue and was reported to Autonation Ford Littleton and was dropped off by 11/02/22. The issue reported was that the engine to the vehicle would shut off and we were unable to turn it back on for a few minutes. This occurred while at a stop light in the middle of traffic. We dropped it off and they were unable to duplicate the i... Read more
Incident date: May 30, 2025
The contact owns a 2022 Mercedes-Benz GLC300. The contact stated that while driving 60 MPH, the accelerator pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended. The contact stated that there were several unknown warning lights illuminated before the engine seized. The vehicle was restarted; however, while driving at an undisclosed speed, the failure reoccurred. The contact s... Read more
Incident date: Aug 25, 2025
There was a recall on my car like 2 years ago. The air bag is not working. However, they didn’t fix my car and didn’t give me an estimation on this. It is not safe to drive a car without air bag.
KIA
SPORTAGE HYBRID
(2025) — STEERING
Aug 25, 2025
Incident date: Aug 24, 2025
The electronic steering wheel lock went out causing the car to not start. Upon checking the Internet to see if anyone else was having this problem I found that it was a problem many Mercedes Benz owners have had and it's an expensive one. It's not just with my particular model and it's not limited to older models of the brand either.
Incident date: Aug 20, 2025
The contact owns a 2015 Honda CR-V. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle hesitated to respond while depressing the accelerator pedal. The contact stated that while making a turn from a complete stop, the vehicle temporarily stalled. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact attempted to contact the local dealer several times, but the dealer was unreachable... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2025
I now believe I've had a lemon. Since I purchased my car in 2016 they have been trying to diagnose a smell from the exhaust and started replacing parts, this was in Miami. Then for a few years in Vegas the car spent months at the dealership trying to fix a burning oil issue which I've been told there is a known problem with the turbo still isn't fixed. From the first year I had paint peeling on my... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2025
GM is recalling the Fuel Injector Flow Rate system but is unwilling to fix damaged parts from the Flow rate being off. My Engine has Misfiring, pitted Cam, camshaft lobe wear, valves and needs a new head stemming from the Fuel Injector Flow Rate being off. GM is refusing to support their product. This is a known issue GM is having with these engines.
Incident date: Aug 1, 2025
GM is recalling the Fuel Injector Flow Rate system but is unwilling to fix damaged parts from the Flow rate being off. My Engine has Misfiring, pitted Cam, camshaft lobe wear, valves and needs a new head stemming from the Fuel Injector Flow Rate being off. GM is refusing to support their product. This is a known issue GM is having with these engines.
Incident date: Aug 14, 2025
I have an alert that says Front Passenger Safety Restraint System Issue and Service is required. This is a major safety issue and the Tesla Service Center says I need to pay $800 to fix it. This is a manufacturer issue and the cost should not be incurred by the vehicle owner. This issue puts my family safety at risk and the light is coming up everytime I drive. I need TESLA to review it and fix ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 22, 2025
Driving around 40 miles an hour on interstate during torrential rain around 4 PM. Visibility was bad and could see about 30 feet ahead. Car automatically slammed on break (ADAS BRAKE Light came on) and came to an abrupt stop 2 or 3 times as a tried to get car moving again. Luckily all traffic was driving slow and car behind was staying a good distance back. Otherwise I probably would have been... Read more
Incident date: Aug 22, 2025
The transmission is locking up at speed causing a significant jump/ lurch in the rear end momentarily that sudden causes lane change. The dealer is telling me this is related to the transmission valve body recall however I received no warning and my truck has never gone into limp mode even though the recall remedy was supposed to provide a 10k mile warning. It would seem the determining factor is ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 30, 2025
We had had no issues at all with our 2022 Subaru Outback until June 2025. Mileage at the time of the incident was approximately 52,000. We were driving one evening in June and all of a sudden the engine stopped and we could not drive it. It only produced a knocking sound when we attempted to turn the engine on. We had the car towed to the dealership and after taking the engine apart, they reporte... Read more
Incident date: Aug 25, 2025
The vehicle was being driven southbound on I135, near McPherson, KS, at highway speeds in good weather when the rear panel of the panoramic sunroof glass exploded/shattered for no apparent reason. The interior sunscreen was closed at the time or glass would have potentially fallen on the driver, thus distracting or potentially injuring the driver while traveling at highway speeds. The vehicle has... Read more
Incident date: Jul 13, 2025
Transmission started shuddering when changing gears. Started happening at around 55,000 miles. Have done a transmission fluid replacement, and replaced the torque converter as well since mechanic said the torque converter was going bad. Slight improvement, however still being problematic.
Incident date: Jul 13, 2025
Started driving on the freeway when we heard something on the roof of the car and when I opened the moonroof cover from inside the car I could see that the entire moonroof had shattered. All the glass was flying off the car and onto the freeway.
Incident date: Jul 25, 2025
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Edge. The contact stated that while driving at 65 MPH, the vehicle stalled, with an abnormally strong odor coming from the engine compartment, with the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was able to restart. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed with coolant intrusion into the cylinders, causing engine failure. Th... Read more
Incident date: Jul 29, 2025
1. After vehicle is given gas it won’t crank. 2. Tire sensors won’t turn off. Even with brand new tires and mounts. 3. Random electrical malfunctions. (Flickering dash lights, delayed engine start after turning the key, light bouncing back and forth between gears, etc.)
Incident date: Aug 24, 2025
Subject: Request for VIN Review and Recall Inclusion – Camshaft/Vacuum Pump Failure (Recall 23R1) Dear Volkswagen Customer Care / NHTSA Representative, I am writing to formally request a manual review of my vehicle’s VIN in relation to Recall 23R1, which addresses camshaft lobe interference with the brake vacuum pump in certain 2015 Volkswagen Passat models. My vehicle, a 2015 Passat, rece... Read more
Incident date: Aug 22, 2025
I rented a motorcycle from EagleRider in the United States and discovered that the speedometer displayed only kilometers per hour (kph), with no miles per hour (mph). This is not just inconvenient — it is illegal under Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 123, which requires that motorcycles in the U.S. display speed in mph, or both mph and kph. Because the bike was non-compliant, I wa... Read more
Incident date: Jun 11, 2025
Electrical adaptive, cruise control, forward collision warning, and shifter all malfunctioned. It is available for inspection. There was failure to accelerate at an intersection which almost caused vehicle to be rear ended. The error codes have been pulled and shown by O’Reillys auto parts. The vehicle is pending inspection by an independent mechanic. The adaptive cruise control the Ford collis... Read more
Incident date: Aug 20, 2025
On March 13, 2025, while driving, my 2020 Ford EcoSport suddenly lost power and shut down. The vehicle is under Recall 23S64 (oil pump failure). I had to tow it to a shop, which confirmed low oil pressure, then to Ford, who confirmed complete engine failure and replaced the engine parts. I was without a vehicle for 34 days and Ford refused to provide a rental unless it was a Ford-brand, which was ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 14, 2025
Over Memorial Day weekend 2025, the A-pillar exterior trim on my 2017 Ford Explorer detached and flew off while I was driving. This matches the Ford recall (NHTSA Recall No. 25V347, Ford Recall No. 25S53) covering A-pillar trim detachment. Since then, I have been waiting for the replacement part. My dealership confirmed my Explorer is covered under the recall but said they do not know when repair... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2023
Issue has happened 2 times, when slowing down to a complete stop. the car began to shake violently at (approximately 5-10mph) and the car would keep creeping forward , until I kept pressing on the brakes really hard and finally it would stop creeping forward and stop . It almost caused me to hit the vehicle in front of me both times
Incident date: Aug 4, 2025
The vehicle had been parked for 10 hours while I was at work. I got in the vehicle and shut the door and the back glass shattered. I had security pull up the camera footage of the area my vehicle was parked and no one tampered with it.
Incident date: Jul 9, 2025
My 2025 Hyundai Tucson had approximately 150 miles when the forward collision warning system has started to provide false warnings. The first event happened as I was pulling out of a parking lot where there was a dip in pavement between the lot and road. The dip in the pavement was interpreted as an object about to cause impact so my car automatically applied full braking. I almost got hit from th... Read more
Incident date: Aug 21, 2025
I was driving to work and all of the lights on my dash came on and the vehicle would not go over 15 mph. I had semis passing me trying to get my car back home. I had it towed to the nearest Honda dealership where all of my Hondas are repaired, John Hinderer in Heath, OH. They received the vehicle and called me to tell me that it was the high pressure fuel pump that was not working. I inquired if... Read more
Incident date: Feb 6, 2025
My driver headlight is constantly getting moisture trapped in it. It’s been replaced twice and the seals were checked, but it keeps happening and shorting out my headlight. It’s $4000 to fix. Just had it replaced 1.5 weeks ago and it’s broken already. I took it to bmw the moment I noticed the moisture was back and they told me it was fine. This is a widespread problem and they are not fixing... Read more
Incident date: Feb 6, 2025
See attached document for complaint. text from attached document: I am writing to express my profound concern and disappointment regarding Safety Recall N759, which affects my 2015 Range Rover. I received the initial recall notification in late 2024, detailing a serious safety risk: the potential for the front suspension upper knuckle joint to crack, leading to a loss of vehicle control, increasin... Read more
Incident date: Aug 6, 2025
Had a SUDDEN loss of braking ability. While starting to drive the truck home, the brake pad went flat. Checked the brake reservoir and it was empty. Refilled with brake fluid and drove 2 miles, brakes went out when arriving in the driveway. It went empty again within 15 minutes. No noticeable leak. No breaks on the truck to drive the vehicle. The vehicle had to be towed to the nearest dealer due t... Read more
Incident date: Aug 6, 2025
Vehicle burns oil, current mileage at 169k. User manual indicates 7500-10000 miles between changes, I am original owner. Dealership service set for 5k intervals since purchase and done on time. At 99k noticed noises from engine, light rattling but couldn't replicate and couldn't pinpoint at dealership service. At 112k noticed burning oil and rattling noises when accelerating from stop. Changed to ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 15, 2025
All my lights on my dash keep lighting up for no reason. When I bought my car it did it and premier Kia said they fixed it but it keeps happening. We pay too much money for cars to act like this.
Incident date: Jan 15, 2025
Failed brake booster, pump, fluid, and actuator on my Toyota Prius 2013 with 143,972 miles on it.
Incident date: Jan 15, 2025
On 08/20, while driving to work, I experienced a serious safety failure with my vehicle. The brake pedal became completely firm and unresponsive, making it impossible to press. At the same time, the steering wheel became very difficult to turn, severely limiting control of the car. Multiple warning messages appeared, including: •Regenerative Braking Disabled •ABS Fault •Traction Control Fa... Read more
KIA
SORENTO HYBRID
(2025) — UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Aug 22, 2025
Incident date: Aug 22, 2025
The Ford Sync 3 "head unit" or whatever they call it nowadays locks up. When going in reverse the camera will either sometimes completely glitch and show "static", or sometimes a black screen and nothing. The rearview camera will also stay on when pulling away after reversing, which obviously can be very distracting. This has been glitching for almost two years, but has gotten worse and worse t... Read more
Incident date: Aug 22, 2025
While driving my 2016 Kia Soul Plus on the highway, smoke began coming from the rear of the vehicle. Within seconds, flames were visible. Other drivers flagged me down, and I was able to pull over. I evacuated three dogs from the car, but the vehicle quickly became engulfed in flames and was a total loss. The fire department responded and extinguished the fire. There were no warning lights or unu... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Aug 22, 2025
I have documented oil consumption issue since 65,000 miles. Every time I got an oil change after that, I would have very low oil. When I told Kia, they told me that the engine would have to "blow up" for anything to be done. This all occurred before my 100,000 mile powertrain was expired. On July 2, 2025, my car began shaking and jumping while I was driving and any time I had the brake on at a... Read more