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: Dec 6, 2024
Urgent Safety Recall Complaint – Lack of Updates & Service Access Dear NHTSA, I am writing to express my serious concerns about the ongoing safety recall process for my vehicle, including NHTSA Recall Campaign Numbers 24V865000 and 24V623000. There are currently six active recalls, and I have not received the 2.2 OTA update to address braking system failures, persistent ADAS warnings, and the ... Read more
Incident date: Dec 6, 2024
Urgent Safety Recall Complaint – Lack of Updates & Service Access Dear NHTSA, I am writing to express my serious concerns about the ongoing safety recall process for my vehicle, including NHTSA Recall Campaign Numbers 24V865000 and 24V623000. There are currently six active recalls, and I have not received the 2.2 OTA update to address braking system failures, persistent ADAS warnings, and the ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 31, 2025
I am submitting this complaint because my 2023 Fisker Ocean One has not received any of the six NHTSA-mandated recalls, and with Fisker Inc. now bankrupt and unreachable, there is no clear path to getting these critical safety repairs completed. My wife drives this vehicle daily for work, covering approximately 100–150 miles per day, and the ongoing safety concerns pose a serious risk to her and... Read more
Incident date: Feb 12, 2025
1. I received letter about safety recall campaign TSB10062408 - Breaking improvement software update in September 2024. Later Fisker released software version 2.2 for the recall. However It is Feb. 2025 now, I still have not received software update (via their OTA system). 2. Unreliable Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) - warning message, such as lane keep assistance feature, blind spot w... Read more
Incident date: Feb 12, 2025
1. I received letter about safety recall campaign TSB10062408 - Breaking improvement software update in September 2024. Later Fisker released software version 2.2 for the recall. However It is Feb. 2025 now, I still have not received software update (via their OTA system). 2. Unreliable Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) - warning message, such as lane keep assistance feature, blind spot w... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated while driving 25 MPH, the transmission shifted to neutral(N) while the gear shifter was in drive(D), and the vehicle stalled. The contact was able to pull over to the side of the road. The contact stated upon shifting to park(P), the vehicle failed to respond as needed and rolled forward. The contact engaged the electric parking brake, and ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2024 Honda CR-V. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V744000 (Steering); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. 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 issue. The contact had not experience... Read more
Incident date: Feb 9, 2025
The contact owns a 2024 GMC Sierra 1500. The contact stated while driving 74 MPH, the vehicle inadvertently lost motive power, after which the vehicle was unable to accelerate above 25 MPH. The contact was able to pull over to the shoulder of the roadway and turned off the vehicle. After restarting the vehicle, the vehicle returned to normal functionality, but the failure became a regular occurren... Read more
Incident date: Feb 9, 2025
The power tail gate stopped working on 1/28/2025. After diagnosis the power tail gate and it's controls on passenger side rear control panel it is observed that there is water on the controls module. Part 74970-THR-A12Control Module for tailgate has been taken out and found that the water coming though it's sockets. The $200 new control module will temporarily fix the issue but the defective re... Read more
Incident date: Feb 11, 2025
The contact owns a 2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee L. The contact stated that while the daytime running lights were activated, the high-beam headlights were inoperable. The contact had to turn off the daytime running lights for the high-beam headlights to engage. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 11, 2025
While slowly backing out of the driveway and without contacting anything at all, the rear window completely shattered. The window has never been hit by anything and had no defects yet it completely shattered so clearly reflects a manufacturing defect of some sort that is incredibly dangerous to passengers or other vehicles, since it happens without warning and without the necessity of an impact of... Read more
Incident date: Apr 13, 2020
The contact owns a 2016 BMW 228I. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V608000 (ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM); 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 dealer was made aware of the issue. The manufacturer was not made aware of... Read more
Incident date: Feb 11, 2025
My coolant/water housing had an issue and caused a leak by the thermostat and it caused my engine to overheat while I was driving. I had my 10yr old son in the vehicle with me and had I not had the opportunity to pull over into a Walmart parking lot almost immediately in order to get some coolant into my truck, it would have been disastrous. The warning for high engine temperature was the only war... Read more
Incident date: Feb 18, 2021
I’m having the exact same issues as the current recall on 2019 Kia fortes. Which is why I’m not sure why my car isn’t on the recall list. I have gone to the dealership for these exact issues with my car. Headlights not incorrectly going out as soon as they are replaced. going to the dealership several times because of my left tire not knowing what the actual reason is. Looks like it could be... Read more
Incident date: Feb 18, 2021
I turned my truck on after grocery shopping and a notice to "Service Power Steering" popped up on my dashboard. I took it to a mechanic shop where they ran diagnostics. They discovered a TSB # 21-NA-149 and error code U0131. They believe there is an intermittent fault within the wiring causing the power steering to go out. My biggest fear is that this happens while I am negotiating a curve and los... Read more
Incident date: Feb 18, 2021
I turned my truck on after grocery shopping and a notice to "Service Power Steering" popped up on my dashboard. I took it to a mechanic shop where they ran diagnostics. They discovered a TSB # 21-NA-149 and error code U0131. They believe there is an intermittent fault within the wiring causing the power steering to go out. My biggest fear is that this happens while I am negotiating a curve and los... Read more
Incident date: Feb 7, 2025
The contact owns a 2023 Ford Escape. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked, the contact attempted to close the front driver’s side door; however, the door failed to close securely. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken back to the residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximate... Read more
Incident date: Feb 7, 2025
My car shuts off when I go over little bumps and light comes on saying press break and shift into park. Then it doesnt start right away but eventually starts again. Also when I go over little bumps my interior lights turn on.
Incident date: Dec 10, 2024
The transmission has been slipping since I got the car.
Incident date: Jan 22, 2025
Headrest on center row seats (both sides) stays folded down making seat difficult to use. Interfered with use of child car seat. Attempts to correct the problem all failed.
Incident date: Feb 11, 2025
I bought the car used from a Ford Dealer in October 2024. The car had a clean CARFAX and solid maintenance history and just under 40,000 miles at time of purchase. In December 2024, there were several instances of rough idle at time of cold start that quickly cleared. In January 2025, it stopped blowing heat. My local garage found it was low on coolant but could not identify a leak. A few mor... Read more
Incident date: Dec 1, 2024
I've had to replace the 12v battery in my ID.4 due to battery failure twice since I've owned it, and according to the service department at VW, the battery was replaced on delivery too. So that's a total of three batteries since it came off the production line. I'm also having issues with my doors handles not working properly and haven't been able to have the open recall performed on my vehicle ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 16, 2025
Have had the rear door locks stop working during the cold, it would not allow the doors to shut and stay shut. I did have children in car seats in the truck at the time. After trying to get the locks to work for about 10 minutes they stared working again. Also have an oil leak that was discovered while having an oil change. I became aware of Technical Service Bulletin: 23/2083, NHTSA ID Number: 1... Read more
Incident date: Feb 9, 2025
The digital gauge cluster where speedometer and other essential gauges for the vehicle failed. It is available upon request. My safety is at risk as I’m unable to determine speed, monitor ABS, or monitor other essential features that the guage cluster provides. It also periodically blinks on startling me and putting my life and others in danger. The dealership has confirmed this problem and ... Read more
Incident date: Dec 21, 2024
I purchased this vehicle from Carvana, used, with 58000 miles. I have had all the oil changes and regular maintenance performed. However, this car has been very unreliable. One time in November 2023, all the electrical went out while I was driving down the highway going 50 mph. The power steering and all dashboard lights turned off and the car shut down. Were it not for the fact the road was str... Read more
Incident date: Dec 21, 2024
While driving a front passenger seat occupant classification system (OCS) error appeared. Made appointment February 7, 2025, Tesla replaced front row seat harness assembly as well as the front row occupancy sensor. Invoice # 3000S0012299476 states they did a retrofit service and proceeded with the required update and replaced sensor with the latest version.
Incident date: Dec 21, 2024
Traveling on highway, heard noise coming from the engine. I was close to an off ramp and got off the highway. In the process of getting on the off ramp alarms went off. Turned on the flashers, came to a stop partially on the shoulder. Turned off the vehicle, turned it back on and it started right up. Turned to head into town to get some place safe to check the issue and all the alarms went off aga... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Feb 6, 2025
On one occasion, the doors locks failed to respond to multiple unlock attempts (using the buttons on 3 of the handles and using the remote). After 5 minutes or so, the door locks finally responded to a command from the key fob to unlock.
Incident date: Feb 3, 2025
The contact owned a 2015 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at highway speeds, the vehicle jerked while depressing the accelerator pedal. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact had taken the vehicle to a dealer however, the dealer was unable to duplicate the failure. The failure persisted and the contact had repeatedly taken the vehicle back to the dealer and received ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 8, 2025
Forbthe past gew months my 2014 Jeep Cherokee Latitude had been in and out of the shop. The ebrake will set itself and not disengage. I think they have replaced everything remotely associated with the ebrake. I picked it up AGAIN yesterday afternoon, drive 3 minutes down the road, pulled into a parking space, put in park, and the ebrake came om before I even shut the vehicle off. It will not disen... Read more
Incident date: Feb 8, 2025
The contact owns a 2018 Lincoln Navigator. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power. The vehicle lunged forward. Additionally, the contact stated that the vehicle was shifting roughly. The contact stated that the vehicle would redline. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was determined tha... Read more
Incident date: Jan 17, 2025
There is already a recall for the 3.5" inch instrument cluster as seen here: [XXX] But there is definitely an issue with the 7" cluster as well. This just happened to me and you can see a bunch of other folks have complained about it with 7" [XXX] Looks like no one will warranty the 7" INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Incident date: Jan 28, 2025
afety Recall V06 / NHTSA 19V-021 Drag Link - January 25, 2019 This so called fix is abhorrent! It calls for welding an adjustable part of the steering linkage rendering it non- adjustable when having the front end aligned in the future. Not to mention the effect of welding, potentially causing a problem with the integrity of the metal. The correct fix for this SAFETY issue is to REPLACE this stee... Read more
Incident date: Dec 20, 2024
Defective Wheel Spacers Causing Vehicle Failure and Safety Hazard While driving, the front driver-side wheel spacer failed, leading to the complete detachment of the wheel from my vehicle. This unexpected and catastrophic failure left us stranded on the highway for several hours, waiting for roadside assistance. Additionally, the front end of the Jeep sustained significant damage, requiring exten... Read more
Incident date: Feb 3, 2025
Rear racetrack led lighting is failing. One segment has gone dark. You can only replace the entire assembly for over &1500. I found on line there is a class action lawsuit regarding exactly what I am seeing
Incident date: Feb 9, 2025
The contact owns a 2011 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while his daughter was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle experienced a loss of power steering assist. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who determined that the crankshaft position sensor signal experienced a loss of power, resulting in a loss of power steering assist. The contact was informed that the steering ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 9, 2025
Randomly getting Propulsion power is reduced and loss power while driving. Been force to pull over to the side on the freeway to restart the car.
Incident date: Jun 1, 2022
Mazda had previously issued a Special Service Plan (SSP) to remediate issues with their Mazda Connect Center Display (infotainment system), specifically "ghost touches" and "spider cracking" of the screen: [XXX] This Special Service Plan only applied to 2014-2016 models of the Mazda3. I own a 2018 Mazda3 which has the exact same issue described in the above service plan. Searching online, I ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 18, 2025
This vehicles airbags have been under recall for over one year!! Toyota should’ve had a remedy for this issue by now. They also stated that they would have a fix for this by the third quarter of 2024. It is 2025! This issue needs fixed now!! We have young children that ride in this car every single day! This is completely unacceptable and needs reported and fixed now! 😡😡😡
Incident date: Jan 18, 2025
Valve body failure in transmission at 13,000 miles
Incident date: Jan 10, 2025
-Airbags did not deploy. -The car is available for inspection. -The driver was put at significant risk after the vehicle accidentally slid on ice while navigating a sharp curve, causing it to veer off the road and crash into trees. The impact resulted in the car being totaled from the front bumper to the back. Despite the severity of the crash, the airbags failed to deploy, making the driver's sea... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jan 10, 2025
Transmission went out at 100,000 miles, exactly.
Incident date: Jan 10, 2025
When making a steering correction, there is a tendency for the steering to get stuck in a fixed position for a brief period. It takes an abnormal level of force to overcome this stickiness before it becomes un-stuck and allows a steering change. As a result, there is some jerkiness in the steering, which presents a significant safety issue. It is more noticeable at higher speeds and can be a bi... Read more
Incident date: Feb 6, 2025
Less than 24 hours after being purchased as a Kia factory certified pre-owned vehicle my daughter was driving. While driving headlights, wipers, and dash lights went out including infotainment/CarPlay map display on a rainy day. California requires headlights be on when wipers are used. Occurred while doing approximately 25 mph after going over a speed bump. When stopped and key was turned to ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 6, 2025
We are writing to describe an issue we had with our 2025 Hyundai Tucson PHEV this past [XXX] day We were returning from Bellingham heading south on [XXX]. The Driver Assistance Eyes on the Road notice came on often, making beeps ([XXX] has experienced this message often even though his eyes are definitely on the road). Suddenly, it came on constantly, and then the alert in the center circle on ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 6, 2025
We are writing to describe an issue we had with our 2025 Hyundai Tucson PHEV this past [XXX] day We were returning from Bellingham heading south on [XXX]. The Driver Assistance Eyes on the Road notice came on often, making beeps ([XXX] has experienced this message often even though his eyes are definitely on the road). Suddenly, it came on constantly, and then the alert in the center circle on ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 8, 2025
Sometimes when I drive it will say my forward collision is blocked so it will disable but it normally shuts off. Tonight I'm driving on the freeway a steering wheel pops up then blind spot abs traction and a few more lights come on then it say check headlights those are dimming the radio is cutting off. The wipers aren't working but the car is still accelerating then all of a sudden the car goes f... Read more
Incident date: Feb 8, 2025
Since I took delivery of the vehicle the dash goes completely blank at temperatures below 32 degrees and above 90. Ford has been unable or unwilling to fix the problem for over two years resulting in my driving for extended periods with no dashboard information of any kind.
Incident date: Feb 8, 2025
My Jeep has stalled while driving 3 times. It has been happening about once each year. The center console no long works. The screen just turned off one day and has never turned back on. Now it will not start. At first the dash turned on with all lights, would not start would not turn off break locked. Then the dash started flashing and the slowly diming until it no longer work. Then the RPM and MP... Read more
Incident date: Dec 1, 2024
Complete failure of infotainment system in cold weather. This is a safety concern because most controls are operated through the infotainment system and can de distracting to a driver who is trying to operate all features of a vehicle while driving. For instance having cold children in the rear seats and not knowing if the heat is activated in the rear of the vehicle and at what temperature or if ... Read more