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: Mar 1, 2025
Had gas leak on lower part of engine leaking gas from the high pressure fuel line took it to a dealer ro so the repairs Jan 29th 2025 and my jeep is still not right ..it had no mechanical problems at all except the leak and now they have had to replace the reservoir for coolant due to broken damaged line and the vehicle has no power at all since the dealership has had possession of my vehicle ...... Read more
Incident date: Feb 28, 2025
The contact owns a 2019 Honda CR-V. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle became difficult to maneuver. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the steering rack needed to be replaced. The contact researched and was made aware of an unknown NHTSA recall; however, the VIN was not included. The vehicle was not ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 28, 2025
Shifter malfunction not allowing transmission to shift to park without multiple attempts. Car lurches at times while attempting to resolve problem.
Incident date: Apr 17, 2025
The contact owns a 2018 Ford F-150. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked, the radio and the rearview camera was inoperative. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer to be diagnosed. The diagnostic result was unavailable. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the fai... Read more
Incident date: Apr 17, 2025
The contact owns a 2018 Ford F-150. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked, the radio and the rearview camera was inoperative. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer to be diagnosed. The diagnostic result was unavailable. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the fai... Read more
Incident date: Apr 19, 2025
Upon normal driving the vehicle suddenly lost power and would only go around 20 to 30 mph. This has happened twice in the past week. Very slow acceleration from a stop and had to actually pull off the road into a parking lot to let traffic pass. Took it to dealer and they said there were no active codes or anything visually presenting and they could do nothing to remedy the problem. My wife uses t... Read more
Incident date: Apr 24, 2025
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Edge. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the heater was activated but failed to operate as needed. The message "Engine Coolant Overtemperature" was displayed. The contact added coolant to the coolant reservoir, but the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed that there was coolant intrusion in cylinder #3 and that th... Read more
Incident date: Apr 24, 2025
On April 14, 2025, I experienced my fourth windshield break- others- 2 that were 3 months apart in 2023 and another in 2024. I do not know how this most recent crack occurred as I noticed it when I went to drive my car, which was parked inside my garage. I had driven 2 places earlier in the day with no signs of a crack and there were no noted strikes to the windshield during that time. I did ride ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 22, 2025
Transmission randomly shifts from 10th gear to 1st. This puts my life and other peoples life’s at risk. This also will destroy the engine and transmission over time
Incident date: Apr 23, 2025
Brought vehicle into Dealer for Service due to Check Engine Light being on and Notification of a Malfunction of the I-Stop System. Service Tech indicates that this is a known issue with the Hybrid Battery in these vehicles that could cause the vehicle to unexpectedly stall. This safety issue is significant enough that they would not let us take our car home while we wait for them to obtain a bat... Read more
Incident date: Feb 3, 2025
The vehicle has experienced repeated transmission-related issues, including erratic shifting, delayed response, slippage, and sudden loss of power while driving. These symptoms significantly impact drivability and pose a safety risk, especially when accelerating or merging in traffic. The issue was previously addressed by the dealership under a recall repair. However, the same transmission behavi... Read more
Incident date: Feb 3, 2025
I started hearing a grinding noise coming from the front driver-side wheel well for about a week. Then one day, while backing out of my driveway, the car suddenly lost power. I was stuck on a slight incline and no matter if I put it in reverse or drive, the car wouldn't move—it just wouldn’t respond like it normally does. A few days after that, I was sitting at a red light with my foot on the... Read more
Incident date: Apr 20, 2025
I have owned this new vehicle for only approximately 2 months and have had at least 4 instances where the vehicle does not respond immediately to my foot on the accelerator when attempting to restart from a stop. Three times I was at a stop light and when I attempted to go as the light turned green there was no acceleration response from the gas pedal for a couple of seconds, and in two of the in... Read more
Incident date: Sep 24, 2024
We received a letter from Jaguar on 3/5/25 that our car has a fatal battery flaw that cannot be repaired which will necessitate a repurchase of the car. The flaw could result in a fire started by the battery. 7 weeks later and we have not been contacted by anyone from the third party group to start the process of the buyback of our recalled car. We proactively called the third party who confirmed... Read more
Incident date: Apr 19, 2025
The contact owns a 2022 Chevrolet Suburban. The contact stated while driving at approximately 55 MPH, the accelerator pedal was depressed and there was an abnormal banging sound coming from the rear of the vehicle and the vehicle lost motive power. The contact depressed the accelerator pedal; however, the vehicle lost motive power and stalled. The contact stated there was no warning light illumina... Read more
Incident date: Apr 4, 2025
Was turning right onto the road when the steering locked up and every safety warning light came on. My car literally stopped moving in the middle of the road. I wasn't literally right down the road from my house so thankfully I was able to get the car back to my house. The steering felt worse than not having power steering. I called and the dealership Matt Blac KIA of Toms River, and they had my c... Read more
Incident date: Apr 4, 2025
Reverse image is freezing, even after the truck’s recall was addressed by a local Ford dealership. This is a safety issue and could potentially cost a life if someone is backing up and the reverse image freezes.
Incident date: Apr 4, 2025
The contact owns a 2016 BMW 428I. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V608000 (Engine and Engine Cooling, Electrical System) 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 manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failu... Read more
Incident date: Apr 3, 2025
[XXX] about [XXX] our 2024 Kia EV6 WIND RWD AUTO VIN: [XXX] already serviced in both NHTSA Campaign #: 24V867000 and Campaign #: 24V200000 had a sudden loss of drive power and nearly all control while driving in rush hour traffic at 65MPH on [XXX] between Atwater and Livingston. The confirmed failed ICCU component can be inspected at Modesto Ca Kia. The sudden loss of drive power and control in ... Read more
1 injured
Incident date: Apr 3, 2025
While driving on the highway the engine shimmered and shut down. I lost all steering and braking power. After 20 minutes I was able to restart and drive off the highway at a reduced speed. upon exiting the engine died again. The following day I took it to sunrise Chevy in Glendale Hights IL as this was just down the road from where it sat all night. Service rep called and said I need a new engine... Read more
Incident date: Apr 3, 2025
The AC system on my vehicle stopped working with less than 55,000 miles on it. When replacing the compressor, condenser, all AC switches, and lines (the entire AC system besides the ECM), the AC is still not working. The compressor is not kicking on. I have an ECM on order, but myself, and all mechanics (including Hyundai certified mechanics) are all unsure why this would have happened on such a l... Read more
Incident date: Apr 18, 2025
Unknown, my car has been burning through oil every 1000 miles and is starting to seize as I’m driving which is super dangerous! I have kept up with my car on oil changes and everything else that is recommended.
Incident date: Apr 18, 2025
Unknown, my car has been burning through oil every 1000 miles and is starting to seize as I’m driving which is super dangerous! I have kept up with my car on oil changes and everything else that is recommended.
Incident date: Apr 23, 2025
Their door locks lock you in so you cannot get out which is to me a very dangerous situation I had it replaced and the one they put on it which is new is worse
Incident date: Jul 31, 2024
Purchased vehicle at the end of 2018 and this is the third time I have had to replace the horn. It's not a fuse, it's not wiring, it is the actual horn that either shorts or dies with no notice.
Incident date: Jul 31, 2024
Vehicle stopped responding to all inputs while cruising on the highway. Vehicle was charged and running fine up until that point, for about 40 minutes of continuous driving. Accelerator pedal, regen paddle shifters, cruise control buttons all would not work and display was unresponsive. Vehicle slowly lost speed as if it was shifted into neutral, forcing us to pull over to the side of the road. Tu... Read more
Incident date: Apr 3, 2025
The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Colorado. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the transmission converter clutch was shuddering. The contact stated that the failure persisted. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed that the torque converter and a fluid change were needed. The vehicle was not repaired. The ma... Read more
Incident date: Feb 23, 2025
The contact owns a 2019 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that while coming to a stop, there was an abnormal grinding sound while depressing the brake pedal. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V838000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufactur... Read more
Incident date: Apr 11, 2025
The contact owns a 2018 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds and depressing the brake pedal, the brake pedal went to the floorboard. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where the vehicle was diagnosed, and it was confirmed that brake fluid was leaking from the vehicle and further diagnostic test was needed to determine how ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 11, 2025
To Whom It May Concern, I am writing to formally file a complaint regarding my 2015 Chevrolet Equinox, which I purchased used approximately one year ago. Since acquiring the vehicle, I have experienced severe and excessive oil consumption as well as ongoing fuel injector problems. Specifically, the vehicle requires additional oil every 100 to 200 miles, which is far beyond what is considered nor... Read more
Incident date: Sep 15, 2024
Rear back up camera has stopped working
Incident date: Sep 15, 2024
My 2018 GMC Acadia is experiencing an issue with the "Shift to Park" feature. When the vehicle comes to a stop and is put into park an alert comes up on the dashboard says "Shift to Park" even though the car is fully parked. This keeps the vehicle from being able to be turned off. Often times this issue is not fixed by turning the car on and re-shifting to park and i have to drive the vehicle and ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 6, 2025
Unknown, my car has been burning through oil every 1000 miles and is starting to seize as I’m driving which is super dangerous! I have kept up with my car on oil changes and everything else that is recommended.
Incident date: Jan 6, 2025
The contact owns a 2018 Ram 2500. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V896000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle made abnormally loud sounds... Read more
Incident date: Jan 6, 2025
Had to replace headlight then it went back out shortly after. The following week the other side went out. I looked it up and it showed that there were recalls for this problem. But am being told there is no recall on my vehicle for this.
Incident date: Apr 2, 2025
My car dies and needs jumped everytime I shut it off. There's an odd clicking sound coming from the front floor of the trunk behind the drivers side back seat. This has been happening for 2 days now. I think I can smell something burning, but I've only had that smell once today.
Incident date: Apr 2, 2025
The contact owns a 2016 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the transmission unexpectedly downshifted. The failure caused the RPM to become elevated, and the exhaust fan activated without the engine overheating. The contact pulled over to the side of the road and turned off and restart the vehicle to reset the system. The “WRENCH” and the message to “See Owne... Read more
Incident date: Oct 15, 2024
Can inside motor caused damage to high pressure fuel pump on top of the motor. This caused metal to get into my motor and now requires a motor replacment
Incident date: Apr 11, 2025
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while the vehicle was stationary, the vehicle needed to be jumpstarted. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact had taken the vehicle to an independent mechanic who diagnosed the vehicle with a failure with the head gasket, which caused a misfire in cylinder #2, and stated that the engine needed to be replaced. The in... Read more
Incident date: Mar 8, 2025
The contact owns a 2011 Honda Fit. The contact stated while driving uphill at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled. The maintenance warning light was illuminated. Additionally, the vehicle was consuming an excessive amount of engine oil and fuel. The contact stated that after refueling the vehicle fully, the fuel gauge displayed a half tank. The vehicle was taken to several independent mechan... Read more
Incident date: Apr 23, 2025
The contact owns a 2011 Porsche Cayenne S. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the headlights failed to illuminate properly. The contact stated that there was water intrusion in the headlight housings. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who determined that the headlamps needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. Upon investigation, the contact di... Read more
Incident date: Apr 23, 2025
The contact owns a 2013 Ford F-150. The contact stated while driving 30 MPH, the “WRENCH” symbol became displayed, and the vehicle came to a sudden stop. The accelerator pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle was slow to respond. The vehicle was restarted and then worked as designed. After exiting the ramp and driving on the highway at 70 MPH, the vehicle suddenly stopped. The “WRENCH” ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 27, 2024
On October 27th my 5 year old daughter and I were driving home just after leaving Tiresplus getting four brand new tires and an oil change. On the way home out of no where my vehicle caught fire. Driving down the highway, once noticing the car was on fire, no warning no nothing- until I hit the breaks which did not work cause they were completely burnt. Within moments of thinking how I am going to... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Oct 27, 2024
Often the brake pedal becomes very hard to push and braking is extremely hindered. There is a recall for this issue that has been done but the vehicle is experiencing the exact same problem again. Dealership says that the vehicle time has expired for anything to be done again. Recall was performed only 5 years ago.
Incident date: Oct 27, 2024
I am the owner of a 2017 Land Rover Range Rover (VIN: [XXX] ). I recently discovered a crack in the front steering knuckle of my vehicle, which I believe poses a significant safety risk. This type of failure could result in a sudden loss of control, especially at higher speeds or during turns, potentially leading to a serious accident. I am aware that Land Rover issued a recall (NHTSA Campaign Nu... Read more
Incident date: Apr 9, 2025
While driving on the highway multiple vehicle dash lights began flashing, including brake system, tire pressure, check engine; and the vehicle suddenly and completely lost the ability to accelerate. The car was clearly still on and in drive, but pressing the gas pedal had no effect. After turning off the car and restarting after a few minutes, the brake system alert persists. Car was towed to deal... Read more
Incident date: Jul 22, 2022
The white paint on my car (Snow White Pearl) has been chipping and peeling off near the windshield and rails on the side as well the hood. This is a known problem for KIA's with this particular white colored paint and KIA should really address is. Touching up just the locations it's happening in is not a fix ... The car needs to be properly repainted to fix the issue. KIA has not addressed this fo... Read more
Incident date: Apr 21, 2025
-The Integrated Charging Control Unit (ICCU) component failed. The vehicle experienced multiple electrical system warnings before losing functionality. The component should be available for inspection upon request. -The vehicle lost power while I was driving. The "Stop Vehicle" alert appeared, requiring me to immediately find a safe location. Had this happened in high-speed traffic or an unsafe en... Read more