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: Jun 22, 2025
The bolt that connects the control arm to the vehicle chassis fell out of the care (and was recovered) and the mechanic noted the other bolt was also very loose.
Incident date: Apr 4, 2024
The Smart Cruise Control (SCC) on my 2025 Hyundai Tucson Limited HEV cuts off whenever I wear prescription sunglasses. The Driver Attention Warning comes on within seconds when the in-cabin camera mounted on the steering wheel is unable to see my eyes, the SCC cuts off, and the vehicle suddenly starts breaking. This puts me and anyone behind me at risk. Both the dealership and Hyundai Motor Comp... Read more
Incident date: May 20, 2025
While traveling at speed there was a severe malfunction of the vehicle's stereo system. While driving the stereo was initially silent but later began to produce extremely loud noise/static. The volume of the noise was so extreme I had to take my hands off the steering wheel to cover my ears. The stereo did not respond to any power or volume input to stop the sound and I was forced to quickly pull ... Read more
Incident date: May 20, 2025
While traveling at speed there was a severe malfunction of the vehicle's stereo system. While driving the stereo was initially silent but later began to produce extremely loud noise/static. The volume of the noise was so extreme I had to take my hands off the steering wheel to cover my ears. The stereo did not respond to any power or volume input to stop the sound and I was forced to quickly pull ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 23, 2025
To Whom It May Concern, I am filing a complaint against Volvo Car USA for unresolved defects in my 2023 Volvo XC90 T8 Recharge, purchased in Indiana. The vehicle’s control systems—infotainment, climate control, navigation, backup camera, and reverse braking—are defective, impairing its use, value, and safety, despite maintenance and updates. Study and searches on owner forums and social med... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2025
I owned the vehicle less than a month, using full supervised drive, FSD. Today 6/22/2025 1:45 PM almost had an accident. The vehicle was in the right made a left turn crossing a yellow line, then made a turn in a white line, in front of the vehicle behind me. I took control of the vehicle to proceed in the correct lane. On another occasion it made a right turn, corrected itself to the left lane as... Read more
Incident date: Jan 24, 2025
One month Insurance policy lapse and license plate surrender license suspension when I was in hospital emergency room bed time .
Incident date: May 12, 2025
unknowingly what the actual issue is in This 2016 gmc has major safety risk in Electrical major different problems it has caused me safety issue with little one in the car and my family not knowing the issue with not understating it is a safety risk it has shut off 20 times restarting the radio for no reasoning also it sounds like the powertrain is going to stop working unless u put in L shif... Read more
Incident date: May 12, 2025
unknowingly what the actual issue is in This 2016 gmc has major safety risk in Electrical major different problems it has caused me safety issue with little one in the car and my family not knowing the issue with not understating it is a safety risk it has shut off 20 times restarting the radio for no reasoning also it sounds like the powertrain is going to stop working unless u put in L shif... Read more
Incident date: May 12, 2025
Driver door popping and not closing. Brought car in and check is broken inside of door.
Incident date: Jun 22, 2025
This vehicle has a recall. It notes the engine can fail and cause a crash but the dealership says they have no issued a remedy and therefore will not inspect the vehicle. This vehicle is used for our 3 children and I do not understand what we do to remedy it.
Incident date: Jun 19, 2025
There was cam phaser situation that i was never informed of when this car was purchased. I just hit 80 k and i am now having issues. It appears there is a lawsuit for this. What is ford doing to fix.
Incident date: Jun 2, 2025
Paint has been chipping on this SNOW white pearl has gotten progressively worse. Cannot wash the vehicle without more paint chipping.
Incident date: Jun 22, 2025
While I was driving the car turned off and the steering wheel got really hard, making it harder to get out of the road to keep my children safe since we were in the highway. Second time it happened the stabilitrack service message came up, and also the steering assist is reduced please drive with care. The ebrake. ABS and stabilitrack light on the dash turned on. This started happening on may 14 u... Read more
Incident date: Jun 22, 2025
Car is burning oil and check engine light came on. It shakes and stalls when coming to a stop.
Incident date: Jun 22, 2025
I owned the vehicle less than a month, using full supervised drive, FSD. Today 6/22/2025 1:45 PM almost had an accident. The vehicle was in the right made a left turn crossing a yellow line, then made a turn in a white line, in front of the vehicle behind me. I took control of the vehicle to proceed in the correct lane. On another occasion it made a right turn, corrected itself to the left lane as... Read more
Incident date: May 15, 2025
We were just driving on the road when the passenger head rest deployed forward. We were not hit or parked anywhere, just normal driving through town. This sent a slight tingling sensation around back of neck and spine, now just sore later in the day.
1 injured
Incident date: Nov 1, 2023
When I either: i) start the car and drive more than 20 ft OR ii) am at a stop light then accelerate..the car begins to jerk backward. Have changed the gasket and the throttle body and this issue still keeps happening. It started around the 90k Mile mark.
Incident date: Jun 14, 2025
I am having problems with my ECU malfunctioning which is causing my catalytic converter my exhaust manifold and my O2 sensors to malfunction. I'm having all the same issues as the recall campaign reference number NTB 12-040 d
Incident date: Jun 14, 2025
Lug studs repeatedly snap at wheel no matter how installed.
Incident date: Jun 14, 2025
Lug studs repeatedly snap at wheel no matter how installed.
Incident date: Jun 20, 2025
I am having a lead frame issue as many of these models had but it never affected me until now. I can be doing highway speeds, upwards of 70mph and the vehicle will just down shift to first gear, locking the tires and causing a hazard for other drivers which could be a very dangerous situation
Incident date: Jun 20, 2025
Rear coil spring failed under normal driving conditions. Previous recall on select 2019 Atlas models however my car was not included in the recall.
Incident date: Jun 20, 2025
Pacifica has been at Hillsborough Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram for recall repair since April 28, 2025. We have called an emailed Chrylser/Stellantis and the Dealership repeatedly and have only been told they are working on it. This is long past a "reasonable" time for this repair.
Incident date: Jun 20, 2025
The low-beam reflector itself oxidizes, is not reflective at all, and no amount of brighter bulbs or clean outside lenses will help with a reflector that doesn’t reflect. (It’s also not related to the cloudy inner-lens. It’s the reflector.) Replacing the entire headlight assembly is the only solution which is about 1,000.00 many people are complaing of this. This should be a recall from Acu... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2025
The contact owns a 2017 Ford F-150. The contact stated that upon cold start-ups, there was a loud rattling sound coming from the engine. During the failure, the rattling noise was present for approximately 20 seconds before self-correcting; however, the vehicle failed to properly accelerate. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the cam phasers were faulty and needed to be r... Read more
Incident date: Jun 12, 2025
This is our 2nd time reporting this back 4 years ago our vehicle downshifted suddenly. Causing our vehicle to drop speed tremendously. We called the dealership to let them know what happened and they said they have had several complaints at the time of these trucks doing this. It caused the rear tires to lock and slide. We ended up loosing control and running of the road and wrecking the truck and... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jun 12, 2025
B pillar trim behind passenger door (vertical pillar) is peeling from the top. May fly off and cause a safety issue on roadway if unaddressed. Similar to existing recall of A pillar trim for same year and model as well as an existing recall for 2011-2017 B pillar trim (same issue as mine, but adjacent model years).
Incident date: Jun 20, 2025
I was driving one day and my radio shut off, screen black and no sound. Came back on like it rebooted. Worked fine. The next day it did the same thing but only the screen went out but for longer this time. I work at a collision center and used our scanner to see what the problem might have been. It was giving a bunch of codes for radio and onstar. The next day it was perfectly fine. So I scanned i... Read more
Incident date: Jun 20, 2025
My 2025 BMW X5e was repaired under recall 24V‑104 for the integrated brake system. Before this recall, the vehicle did NOT have any braking hesitation or drag issues. After the recall repair was done (replacement and reprogramming), the vehicle now shows hesitation to move forward after releasing the brake pedal from a complete stop, as if the brakes are still dragging. This creates a safety con... Read more
Incident date: Jun 20, 2025
My 2025 BMW X5e was repaired under recall 24V‑104 for the integrated brake system. Before this recall, the vehicle did NOT have any braking hesitation or drag issues. After the recall repair was done (replacement and reprogramming), the vehicle now shows hesitation to move forward after releasing the brake pedal from a complete stop, as if the brakes are still dragging. This creates a safety con... Read more
Incident date: Jun 19, 2025
Within the first 3,000 miles of purchasing the vehicle, it would randomly go into neutral (although) it indicated drive. No warning signals were activated. This happened 5 times. The dealership tried to re-train the transmission which appeared to work for a bit, however the car now shuts down completely with no warning. It will engage the emergency brake as well. This has happened 4 times no... Read more
Incident date: Jun 20, 2025
Yesterday 6/19/25 I was driving out the driveway when the vehicle accelerated on its own, and not slowly, but like it had been punched. I was actually coasting at the time since I didn't want to stir up dust. My foot was not on the gas pedal. And it was not the floor mat. It happened on its own, the first time in 87,000 miles. It probably cannot easily be replicated as it was completely rando... Read more
Incident date: Jun 20, 2025
The right turn signal light will not cancel when setting the turn signal back to neutral. The left turn will not light up the left signal. Setting the turn signal to the left signal has become the only way to cancel the right turn signal light.
Incident date: May 31, 2025
All ADAS systems have failed including the ABS. The safety camera has failed.
Incident date: Jun 19, 2025
The approximately 52-inch-long chrome trim piece that runs the length of the top of the windshield came off while driving. Because this trim piece is at the top of the windshield, and out of the view of the driver, I am uncertain exactly when it came off, but I believe it came off while at freeway speed, and that is why I do not have, or know, the location of the missing trim. A trim piece of this... Read more
Incident date: Jun 19, 2025
The steering on my 2019 Honda Civic has gotten progressively "sticky" when driving at all speeds but it is worse at highway speeds (50-75 mph). I have experienced several close calls lately when the steering wheel sticks when turning into a highway curve and causes my car to veer into the oncoming traffic lane. I took my vehicle into the local Honda dealer service department and they told me they ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 19, 2025
Fuel pump failure. Resulted in car losing speed and power and car coming to a halt. Car went into park. Had to be towed from the road but the car had to be dragged onto the flatbed due to no parking selector release accessible from the side of the road. Resulting in total destruction of the front differential resulting in $10000 repair bill.
Incident date: Jun 13, 2025
Throttle position system all of a sudden went bad. My 2017 Terrain started shaking. I was holding up traffic. The sun couldn't go over 5mph. I've read online where this is happening alot in 2010'2017 GMC Terrains.
Incident date: Apr 5, 2025
I was driving my Sorento SXL on a highway, at approximately 50 mph. With no warning, the engine began to run rough. The check engine light immediately began flashing. I was able to drive the car approximately three more miles to an auto service center. The engine ran very rough the entire time, wanting to stall when slowing down. The mechanic determined that my car’s oil reservoir was 4 quarts... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2025
The ESC, ABS, and Traction Control, Yellow warning lights, BRAKE, Red Warning light. Diagnosis is ABS, module, and master brake cylinder bad 2025 GMC Acadia Denali, 1150 miles. No parts available because these are all needing work! People are having near misses and collisions due to this problem! Put a stop production order until these are fixed!
Incident date: Feb 24, 2023
We have started to experience the transmission whine at that is specified in Toyota's CSP ZJC documentation. We took our vehicle into our local Toyota Dealership Service Center and they confirmed that the whine was a transmission issue and that the only course of action to take would be to replace the transmission. Our vehicle was manufactured in the specified window (manufacture date 10/2016, ma... Read more
Incident date: Jun 16, 2025
Transmission/Torque converter is failing. The vehicle shudders at low speeds, it struggles to reach the speeds it needs making it hard to follow the flow of traffic or pull out into the road after coming to a stop. Brought the car in to a Ford dealership where they confirmed the issue, tried module reprogramming and tested again and confirmed it still was not fixed. There were no warning messages... Read more
Incident date: Jun 18, 2025
Reporting engine failure with my 2019 GMC Yukon XL. Reporting engine failure after 106,500 miles. Yukon was properly functioning and well cared for with frequent oil changes and tire rotations. On [XXX] I was driving home with my [XXX] daughter coming back from her dance recital on [XXX] at [XXX] in Minnetonka, MN when the "Forward Collison System Unavailable" warning notification came presen... Read more
Incident date: Jun 18, 2025
I had taken my car in while it was under warranty for my motor the car wouldn’t move at all or start. They said it was a cylinder so they replaced the one cylinder and didn’t check any others. Just recently in January 2025 I took it back to the dealer for the same issues and they told me I need a whole new motor. Now the car is out of warranty. They charged me close to $1000 just to diagnose t... Read more
Incident date: Jul 17, 2024
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while attempting to reverse, the contact noticed the rearview camera displayed a blank screen. The vehicle was not taken to an independent mechanic or dealer to be diagnosed. The contact stated that the failure had occurred on several occasions. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified, opened a case, and informed the contact... Read more
Incident date: Jul 17, 2024
Draw-Tite Max-Frame Trailer Hitch Receiver - Custom Fit - Class IV - 2" This item is for a jeep gladiator It removes the factory bumper frame braces with oem manufacturing In an accident there is no structural steel behind the rear bumper causing a failure in the rear bumper Safety
Incident date: Jul 17, 2024
I heard a ticking in the engine and noticed multiple warning lights in the dashboard. I called the GMC dealer and was told the next opening was several weeks away. I was also told that it would be OK to drive the vehicle which I did (~10 miles) and parked the truck in my driveway until I could get the truck in for a diagnostic evaluation. The service department at the GMC dealer where the veh... Read more
Incident date: Jun 18, 2025
Vehicle was brought to dealership Fountain Buick GMC 8701 S Orange Blossom Trail, Orlando, FL 32809 (866) 465-4364 for recall on engine. Dealership told our company that they were unable to repair or diagnose the recall this month June 2025. Vehicle has had an intermittent check engine light from time to time. I was instructed that it was safe to still drive the vehicle.
Incident date: Jun 12, 2025
The car shows the message “Engine Maintenance Required” that leads to the coolant bypass hose being bad.