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 62,191 complaints for KIA
Incident date: Jul 17, 2025
The 3rd brake light is known to leak on Chevy cars, which I found out when searching up the issues, which allows water inside trunk without your knowledge and does water damage to the battery and other electrical components that are located in the trunk that controls the dashboard, a/c, radio, power steering and probably even more. Safety risk: makes your dashboard stop working along with the powe... Read more
KIA
CARNIVAL HYBRID
(2025) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Aug 9, 2025
Incident date: Jul 15, 2025
We have been having problems with the speed control not functioning. Sometimes we couldn't set the speed or slow it down. Now it doesn't function at all! When it was working the cancel switch would also not work and we had to use the brake pedal to shut it off. Later on while driving through town with the cruise control still on, I stopped at a traffic light and the engine began to race at a high ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 6, 2023
After parking next to a gas pump to refuel, I twice pulled the hood-release handle on the left-side kick panel to check under-hood fluids. The gas pump did not accept my payment, so I drove to a second pump which also did not accept my payment. At this point I drove to a second gas station. As I approached 35 mph moving air suddenly caught the unlatched hood, then lifted and flipped it until it... Read more
Incident date: Feb 6, 2023
On random occasions (usually in damp or humid weather) the odometer and fuel gauge will black out. This has happened several times. It will revert to normal operation later
Incident date: Aug 8, 2024
VIN: [XXX] Recall data refreshed on Aug 09,2025 0 Unrepaired Recalls associated with this VIN Please BROADCAST 2025 Transit Safety Recalls* High voltage battery hvb side rail inspection Recall incomplete Rear camera screen software update Recall incomplete Connecting rod inspection Recall incomplete INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Incident date: Aug 8, 2024
VIN: [XXX] Recall data refreshed on Aug 09,2025 0 Unrepaired Recalls associated with this VIN Please BROADCAST 2025 Transit Safety Recalls* High voltage battery hvb side rail inspection Recall incomplete Rear camera screen software update Recall incomplete Connecting rod inspection Recall incomplete INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Incident date: Aug 8, 2024
Parked at gas station, after fueling attempted to start with key and engine started but electrical systems did not register that vehicle had started. Turned engine off but engine continued running. Additional attempts to start vehicle made no difference -- engine continued running but vehicle could not be shifted out of Park. Called dealer and was advised to pull fuel pump fuse to stop engine. Tow... Read more
Incident date: Aug 9, 2025
After starting the vehicle and driving it for a short distance, I forgot to disable the engine start/stop function. When the engine shut down, I pressed the button to disable it as I loathe this feature. The button would not respond, resulting in the engine repeatedly shutting down during coasting events and limiting the functionality of my AC. I tried multiple times during my 45-minute drive t... Read more
Incident date: Aug 9, 2025
I received a recall notice for my 2018 Ram 2500 in November of 2024. It's now August of 2025 and the manufacturer still has not provided a remedy for the recall. I am unable to drive the vehicle because of this recall. I am getting warning lights and tones associated with the brake system. How long will a solution to the recall take? It's already been 9 months!
Incident date: Aug 9, 2025
My engine has been burning through oil very fast, it is only 6 years old. I have to put oil in it approx 3 times before another oil change is due. My mechanic suggested I see if there were any recalls but there are none. I have no lights on or any other issues.
Incident date: Aug 8, 2025
Engine has lower end knocking noise,internal failure
Incident date: Aug 8, 2025
When initially finding out about the recall I attempted to schedule an appointment to have it fixed. Unfortunately, I was told by someone at Kia of North Austin that the recall was no longer open and was unaware until now that there is in fact an open recall for my vehicle.
Incident date: Apr 15, 2025
Constantly Randomly Getting (Service Shifter) Notification and all the lights on the shifter light up on the shifter ... It Resets when i put it in Park and Stop Engine - When i ask the Jeep Dealer about it they say it must be doing it when i bring it in before the can trouble shoot the problem.... they say they cant check the computer code list and see when its happened and why ..... I believe... Read more
Incident date: Apr 15, 2025
Constantly Randomly Getting (Service Shifter) Notification and all the lights on the shifter light up on the shifter ... It Resets when i put it in Park and Stop Engine - When i ask the Jeep Dealer about it they say it must be doing it when i bring it in before the can trouble shoot the problem.... they say they cant check the computer code list and see when its happened and why ..... I believe... Read more
Incident date: Apr 15, 2025
A light came on for steering loss, stop safely and lock down my car. We are unable to drive it. The issue is the same to the recall number 19526 and possibly number 18508. Which my car is listed. The steering becsme difficult to turn and then eventually the light came on for steering loss and the car has been disabled. I looked up our Vin number [XXX] , and it was not included on this recall. Howe... Read more
Incident date: Mar 7, 2025
The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that while the liftgate door was opened, the door had erroneously closed and failed to remain opened. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the rear hatch door struts were faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact was informed that the VIN was included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 08V244... Read more
Incident date: Aug 2, 2024
I am reaching out regarding a structural issue I’ve experienced with my 2019 Toyota RAV4, specifically with the rear power liftgate. Recently, I noticed that the liftgate hinges are beginning to crack and pull away from the body of the vehicle. The alignment of the trunk has shifted slightly, and there is visible damage around the hinge area. This appears to be worsening over time and is beginn... Read more
Incident date: Sep 6, 2022
The hybrid battery had the potential to catch fire and it was recalled for a software update, the 95b update. After this software update was completed, the vehicle would completely shut down, regardless of being parked or while driving. The dealership deemed the vehicle "unsafe to drive" and has provided a loaner until they can correct the problem. In addition to this, the front suspension has bee... Read more
Incident date: Aug 8, 2025
The contact owns a 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle the odor of gasoline was present inside the cabin of the vehicle. While driving approximately 25 MPH, flames were present coming from under the hood of the vehicle. The vehicle was parked and quickly became engulfed in flames. The fire department was called to the scene and extinguished the fire. Du... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
Sunroof shade has failed and blocks view of rear of car including rear view mirror.
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
On 7/18/25 I picked up F-150 from being repaired (failed Belt Drive Generator/Starter Tensioner). About 3 hours later I was driving up a long grade at about 5,000 feet when I stopped to check on my cargo (a bicycle). At this point I noticed the cooling fans were running increasingly fast, much faster then they had ever run before. I checked the digital temperature gauge and it showed a normal tem... Read more
Incident date: Jan 31, 2024
While driving my 2022 Toyota Highlander (VIN: [XXX] , 29,427 miles), I have experienced multiple recurring safety defects that Toyota has been unable or unwilling to repair under warranty. •Front collision sensors frequently trigger without any object present, creating a risk of unexpected emergency braking at freeway speeds. •Transmission hesitates and surges unpredictably, sometimes propelli... Read more
Incident date: Jan 31, 2024
While driving my 2022 Toyota Highlander (VIN: [XXX] , 29,427 miles), I have experienced multiple recurring safety defects that Toyota has been unable or unwilling to repair under warranty. •Front collision sensors frequently trigger without any object present, creating a risk of unexpected emergency braking at freeway speeds. •Transmission hesitates and surges unpredictably, sometimes propelli... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2024
On 7/18/25 I picked up F-150 from being repaired (failed Belt Drive Generator/Starter Tensioner). About 3 hours later I was driving up a long grade at about 5,000 feet when I stopped to check on my cargo (a bicycle). At this point I noticed the cooling fans were running increasingly fast, much faster then they had ever run before. I checked the digital temperature gauge and it showed a normal tem... Read more
Incident date: Apr 15, 2025
The contact owns a 2022 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that while at a stoplight with vehicles in the front and rear, the vehicle suddenly accelerated, lunged forward, and crashed into a Chevrolet pickup truck. The brake pedal was applied but failed to respond. There were no warning lights illuminated. There were reported injuries, a police report, airbag deployment, or a fire. The vehicle w... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jun 12, 2025
I am writing to formally request your assistance regarding my 2023 Jeep Wagoneer— [XXX] — which has experienced extensive and repeated mechanical failures that have placed my safety—and the safety of my young children—in serious jeopardy. This was purchased new. In December, I went through arbitration regarding these issues. Unfortunately, I was unsuccessful, largely because I did not hav... Read more
Incident date: Apr 18, 2025
Blower motor failure, available for inspection upon request. The failure occurred while driving in muggy conditions, resulting in rapid fogging of the windshield and front side windows. With no functioning airflow, the vehicle’s defrost/defog system was inoperable, and visibility through the windshield became significantly impaired. This required me to reduce speed and open windows in inclement ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 5, 2025
UNKNOWN Front fender dislodged from body Maybe result of car accident from previous owner Oil tire misuse
Incident date: Aug 5, 2025
The contact owned a 2019 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while the contact’s wife was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle independently accelerated. The contact stated that the brake pedal was depressed to the floorboard; however, the vehicle failed to stop as intended. The contact stated that the vehicle's speed was about 30 MPH. The contact stated the vehicle drove across the gras... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jun 4, 2025
When moving very slow in my gravel driveway, slightly rutted with grass growing in the center, the emergency braking activated hard enough to whiplash my neck locking the front left wheel. My speed was probably less the 5 MPH.
1 injured
Incident date: Aug 8, 2025
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V031000 (Structure). The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, one of the A-pillar trims partially detached and struck the windshield. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was determined that parts for the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the m... Read more
Incident date: Aug 8, 2025
Shift to Park message, and chime remain on after car shift handle is already placed in Park. Car rolls. Ongoing problem/defect well documented/reported among other similar units.
Incident date: Aug 8, 2025
The contact owns a 2022 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that while at a stoplight with vehicles in the front and rear, the vehicle suddenly accelerated, lunged forward, and crashed into a Chevrolet pickup truck. The brake pedal was applied but failed to respond. There were no warning lights illuminated. There were reported injuries, a police report, airbag deployment, or a fire. The vehicle w... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Aug 8, 2025
While traveling northwest at 37 mph, the automatic brake system engaged jolting the driver. The camera shows no objects in front of but there were two vehicles traveling southeast in the opposite lane prior to the brakes applying. There were shadows from trees. If there was a vehicle behind, and the driver did not react fast enough, this would have been a rearend collision. This is the third time ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 29, 2023
This is related to a repeat failure of recalls 121/197 of the 2011 Hyundai Veracruz. Oil leaks down from the top valve gasket onto the alternator causing a random and erratic electrical disturbance and failure that can happen at any time causing serious risk of safety. With the alternator being damaged in this form also put other potential electrical systems at risk of damage. This is either the 3... Read more
Incident date: Aug 7, 2025
2019 Ram limited 4x4 . Leather dash has bubble and shrinking exposing air bags . 5th gen trucks are having issues with this that Stelantis [ Ram] knows of. They know of this issue and wont fix. They seem to have fixed this issue in 2023.
Incident date: Aug 7, 2025
This unresolved issue has created serious safety risks. On two separate occasions, my vehicle lost power while crossing the Leo Frigo Bridge in Green Bay—an extremely dangerous scenario for both my family and other drivers. Most recently, within just ~40 miles of picking up the vehicle from service, the issue recurred. The service department reported finding oil on the ignition coils—symptoms ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 11, 2025
THE SVC 4WD LIGHT CAME ON, IT CODED TO THE PTU. THERE IS A RECALL ON 2017 JEEPS BUT BEING TOLD MINE IS NOT AFFECTED WHICH I DON'T BELIEVE IS CORRECT.
Incident date: Sep 1, 2024
I noticed when I am driving the van would lose power and or the the transmission would shift very hard and stall the car engine would then take off very fast or slow. I reported the car to the dealership that I purchased the car from and to the customer service at the Chrysler Pacifica Corporation no one will help me I told them that the car was very dangerous while driving.
Incident date: Feb 2, 2025
Subject: Fuel System Failure Resulting in Engine Damage – 2020 RAM 2500 Pickup VIN: [XXX] Complaint Summary: I am submitting this complaint to formally report a dangerous and costly fuel system defect in my 2020 Dodge Ram 2500 Pickup (VIN: [XXX] ) that has resulted in catastrophic engine damage. Although Chrysler has issued a recall for the high-pressure fuel pump (HPFP) in many 2020 Ram truc... Read more
Incident date: Nov 20, 2024
Car was parked overnight in my garage and in the morning it would turn over, but not start. Had to have it towed to my GMC dealer, but had great difficulty moving the car out of the garage because the transmission remains in PARK if the engine is not running. Had this happened on a highway while driving and without a place to safely get off the road ( which HAS happened to others who have made thi... Read more
Incident date: Jul 2, 2025
The contact owns a 2014 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at slower speeds, the vehicle hesitated while coming to a complete stop. In addition, the contact stated that the brake pedal was depressed to the floorboard while feeling loose before becoming stiff. The brake warning light was illuminated. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The m... Read more
Incident date: Jul 2, 2025
Car suddenly and dangerously braked on highway with no other vehicles around. Afterwards the tool and check engine lights came on. All advance trac systems failed. Dealership replaced the broken bolts and rear axle. In review it appears recall 21s04 should apply. Site shows 2021 broncos from Hermosillo plant apply. Rep stated building date range 7/22-11/24. How can this apply to a 2021 ford recall... Read more
Incident date: Jul 2, 2025
Car suddenly and dangerously braked on highway with no other vehicles around. Afterwards the tool and check engine lights came on. All advance trac systems failed. Dealership replaced the broken bolts and rear axle. In review it appears recall 21s04 should apply. Site shows 2021 broncos from Hermosillo plant apply. Rep stated building date range 7/22-11/24. How can this apply to a 2021 ford recall... Read more
Incident date: Jul 16, 2025
KEEPS FLASHING ABS. IT SOUNDS A BING NOISE THE WHOLE TIME I DRIVE IT. SINCE I DRIVE OVER 2 HOURS A DAY IT IS REALLY FRUSTRATING AND 5 HOURS ON THE WEEKEND. ALSO, THE RADIO CUTS OUT ALL THE TIME WHEN THE ABS IN FLASHING THE AIR CONDITIONING OR HEAT GOES FULL BLAST WHEN THE ABS IN FLASHING AND BINGING. HOW CAN YOU NOT HAVE A FIX FOR THIS YET! I PAID A LOT OF MONEY FOR THIS TRUCK AND IT IS THE BI... Read more
Incident date: Aug 7, 2025
Engine started missing out. After taken to dealer, cylinders 5 and 6 were filled with oil. New engine is needed, and is on nationwide back order as thousands of these are effected.
Incident date: May 11, 2025
My 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland is experiencing serious electrical malfunctions related to the Uconnect radio head unit. This component appears to control or influence multiple vehicle systems beyond just audio, including climate control, backup camera, navigation, and possibly driver assistance features. The system malfunctions frequently and erratically — settings change on their own, th... Read more
Incident date: Jul 21, 2025
Fuel pump recall. Put in an order with Honda dealer January 2024 for the pump. On February 2025 asked if they submitted the order back in January 2024? They said it was. Now it's August 2025 (20 months since) and waiting. NHTSA says if they failed to fix in a timely manner to make a report online. Is 20 months long enough? Driving with a safety recall. Second making a complaint with the 10 speed a... Read more
Incident date: Jul 24, 2025
ABS system issues: all warning lights come on - abs, traction control, parking brake (the yellow light as well as the red one. Red comes on an flashes then goes off), hill start, ect... Had codes ran that came back with several ABS related codes as well as engine codes leading back to the ABS system. Came up with right rear tone ring needs replaced. This is likely untrue as the lights come on and... Read more