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 19, 2022
Experienced loss of power steering, loss of brakes
Incident date: May 27, 2025
See attached document for complaint.
KIA
SPORTAGE HYBRID
(2025) - ENGINE
May 29, 2025
Incident date: May 3, 2025
Friday, May23,2025, 5:00 pm Driving on interstate at 65mph, entering work zone as 3 lanes merged into 2. The vehicle slowing down to allow traffic to merge. Dash display said push start button again, no engine rpms, Pushed start button, nothing happened. The vehicle came to a complete stop. pushed button several times, attempted to shift vehicle into park and or neutral, Did not no what gear I was... Read more
Incident date: May 29, 2025
TRANSMISSION SHURTTING, JERKS, AND VIBRATION, BAD TORQUE CONVERTER BUBBLE AND PELLING PAINT. IT FEEL LIKES ENGINE IS LOSSING POWER
Incident date: May 29, 2025
TRANSMISSION SHURTTING, JERKS, AND VIBRATION, BAD TORQUE CONVERTER BUBBLE AND PELLING PAINT. IT FEEL LIKES ENGINE IS LOSSING POWER
Incident date: May 29, 2025
The EGR valve and EGR cooler went out and it caused the MAP sensor to melt and also caused the intake manifold to melt and if I didn’t shut the truck off it was going to catch on fire. And this truck has had this problem in the past due to a recall and it was repaired and it happened again on may 4th 2025
Incident date: Apr 24, 2025
While in reverse gear, during operation rear view camera stopped working and shows error that back up Camera is not available. Screen shows blue screen. It is very dangerous as it can cause an accident.
Incident date: May 11, 2025
DUE TO EXTREME FRAME FLEX, THE WELDS IN THE FRONT OF MY COACH BROKE AWAY FROM THE METAL. MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT THE ONLY THING HOLDING MY 44' TOY HAULER ON MY TRUCK WAS THE INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR SKIN OF THE COACH. I WAS HORRIFIED TO FIND THAT I WAS DRIVING MY COACH UNDER THESE DANGEROUS CONDITIONS CAUSING EXTREME RISK TO MY FAMILY AND THOSE ON THE ROAD. TO BE CLEAR, THIS FAILURE ONLY SHOWED IT... Read more
Incident date: May 11, 2025
The contact owns a 2020 Honda Civic. The contact stated that the front driver’s side door failed to open as needed. The contact stated that several attempts were needed to open the door. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to the steel beams inside the door. The contact stated that the failure occurred frequently. The contact had suffered rotator cuff injuries on bot... Read more
Incident date: Aug 31, 2024
My electronic brake booster failed at just under 215000 miles, causing a brake line to snap. I now have to get the car towed 40 miles at my expense for a costly replacement of this major component, which Toyota already conceded was faulty by virtue of extending the warranty to 2023.
Incident date: May 3, 2025
I am writing to report a serious mechanical issue with my 2018 Honda Accord 2.0T that I believe may constitute a design or manufacturing defect with potential safety implications. At approximately 112,000 miles, the engine in my vehicle suffered a blown head gasket, which my mechanic determined was caused by a stretched timing chain. This failure followed roughly nine months of unexplained coolan... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2025
Yes, if the NHTSA communicates with me that they need to look at my transmission, and I am either provided another equal mode of transportation or paid for my lack of ability to use my vehicle during inspection/possession/out of service by the NHTSA. 10R80 10 speed transmission was finally replaced under warranty by FORD in January. The new transmission has been problematic and getting worse since... Read more
Incident date: May 23, 2025
Well i drove off lot and dealer didnt put Gas in the Car so half mile at stop light slowing down and when coming to full stop .Then seemed rpm went up a little then just Died.Put in park and restarted. So turning right to get in gas station the Kick Panel Falls on my feet and leg !! WTF . They already said back up camera was not working and told they would fix ,No problem i thought .But i new i ha... Read more
Incident date: Feb 17, 2025
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. Additionally, the contact stated that while driving or reversing from a complete stop, the vehicle was shuddering and there was an abnormal waterflow sound coming from the dashboard. The vehicle was taken to Advance Auto, where it was diagnosed and determined that the spark plugs needed to ... Read more
Incident date: Dec 28, 2023
The vehicle will randomly show service shifter then it will loose power steering, gears won’t change. It happened while driving on a winding road. Scary. The instrument cluster will show random erratic readings like mileage will be off. Temperature goes to zero fuel gauge misread vehicle get stuck into a higher gear and won’t downshift doing research online I found a recall bulletin for 24V652... Read more
Incident date: May 28, 2025
Told by Ford to create this incident to have my 2023 F150 Lariat added to the Ford FSA list for missing Heated steering -- Heated Steering Wheel Performance Upgrade 22G06. The vehicle matches all of the Affected Vehicles information but was not included on the for FSA list.
Incident date: May 27, 2025
The airbag module is not connecting to the rest of the modules. There is a recall on this module in other VINs but not mine.
Incident date: May 27, 2025
The airbag module is not connecting to the rest of the modules. There is a recall on this module in other VINs but not mine.
Incident date: May 27, 2025
I have gone 3 times to dealer because speedometer was off. They confirmed that the speedometer was off but they couldn't do anything about it. They told me that for this car, there is no VSS and the speedometer gets the speed from the navigation system. The navigation system is obviously glitching which is causing this. I am not the only person experiencing this. This has to be taken care of and t... Read more
Incident date: May 4, 2025
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle independently decelerated, and the vehicle stopped unintendedly. No warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that nearby drivers assisted with pushing the vehicle to the shoulder of the road. The vehicle was towed to the contact's boss's residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed or re... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2024
The contact owns a 2021 Kia Soul. The contact stated while driving 50 MPH, the vehicle inadvertently lost motive power. The contact was able to pull over to the shoulder of the roadway, where the vehicle was able to be restarted. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the engine. The contact was info... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2024
City and highway driving, lost power on acceleration. Engine started knocking. Had vehicle towed to dealership. Through a piston. This vehicle had all the described issues of 6.2 liter V8 2021 cadillac escalade ESV, but I have not received a recall. This vehicle has been out of service since April 2025 and no recall and no replacement parts (new engine)
Incident date: May 2, 2025
Vehicle began flashing Traction Battery Warnings along with warnings to stop driving car. I had been parking car outside for two years since notification from JLR to keep car outside and away from structures. Set up appointment for next day to have car towed to dealership, and asked them to attempt the latest software upgrade, understanding that it would not solve problem, but might make the car s... Read more
Incident date: Apr 28, 2025
The contact owns a 2021 Ford EcoSport. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V905000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) 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 failure. VIN tool c... Read more
Incident date: Mar 28, 2023
I was driving to work on [XXX] when my rear end locked up and I slid sideways down [XXX]. I was going slower than normal due to slippery road conditions. The mechanic told me it was the pinion nut that froze up and locked up the gears and snapped the drive shaft. If it had been clear roads the truck probably would have flipped over. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT ... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jan 1, 2024
AFM lifter failure and cam shaft failure
Incident date: Apr 13, 2025
The contact owns a 2018 GMC Yukon XL. The contact stated while driving 50 MPH, the check engine warning light was flashing. Additionally, there was an abnormally loud sound coming from underneath the hood, and the hood was shaking. The contact was able to drive to the residence. The vehicle was towed to Village Auto, where it was diagnosed and determined that the engine had failed and needed to be... Read more
Incident date: May 3, 2025
•Vehicle lost power while driving on the highway at speed. The vehicle would not run with gas engine power or EV charge basically died on the road in traffic. After coming to a stop safely but not without some close calls vehicle would not start even with car having fuel of two types in it. •The battery charge would not register, and the car would not start for a little while. Display showed ... Read more
Incident date: May 7, 2025
ALL dash lights came on and it showed all safety systems had faults. Took it to the dealership and was told I needed injectors. I have looked into this issue and many CR-V models have had warranty extensions for this exact issue. Lucky me mine is not one of the one's in the VIN group for this extension. So I am facing a $2,000 bill. The car is still driveable but its hard to feel safe with random ... Read more
Incident date: May 7, 2025
ALL dash lights came on and it showed all safety systems had faults. Took it to the dealership and was told I needed injectors. I have looked into this issue and many CR-V models have had warranty extensions for this exact issue. Lucky me mine is not one of the one's in the VIN group for this extension. So I am facing a $2,000 bill. The car is still driveable but its hard to feel safe with random ... Read more
Incident date: May 20, 2025
The rear backup camera works intermittently and often the screen will display a message that 'Camera is unavailable. Please contact your dealership.' At this point, the camera does not work and the screen will not display the view.
Incident date: May 24, 2025
Engine started idling rough, loss of power. Trouble codes show misfiring in Cylinder 4, believed to be from faulty fuel injectors
Incident date: May 24, 2025
When picking up speed, the steering wheel is difficult to turn. And not working line keep Assistance. U0416 code in ecu (eps). No any errors on dashboard.
Incident date: May 28, 2025
The contact owns a 2024 Ford Mustang. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle inadvertently lost motive power. The contact was able to pull over to the shoulder of the roadway, where the vehicle was able to restart. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The m... Read more
Incident date: Mar 3, 2025
I am filing a complaint regarding a serious design flaw in the Porsche Taycan that allows road debris and rocks to damage its radiator fans and cooling system, posing safety risks. The radiator fans are critical for thermal management in this electric vehicle, cooling the high voltage battery, power electronics, and motors to ensure safe operation, optimal performance, and battery longevity. Damag... Read more
Incident date: May 27, 2025
The contact owns a 2025 GMC Sierra 1500. The contact stated that while shifted into reverse(R) at night, the rear-view camera image was very dark, creating a hazard while reversing. The contact stated that during daylight, the image was perfect; however, at night the reverse lights failed to provide adequate illumination, causing objects on the display screen to be very dark. The contact had taken... Read more
Incident date: May 20, 2025
The contact owns a 2018 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated that while his wife was driving 60 MPH, the message “Power Reduced” was displayed. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who determined that the failure was due to the EGR valve. The contact called the local dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was app... Read more
Incident date: May 23, 2025
The car just accelerated while during into parking lot. I used brake but did work and hit on to the pole. It accelerated pretty fast. The parking lot store has a video of me coming in slow and the the car accelerated.
Crash
Incident date: Feb 25, 2025
The contact owns a 2015 Volkswagen Jetta. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the front passenger’s seat air bag warning light remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local mechanic who diagnosed that the passenger’s side occupant sensor was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer and local dealer were notified of the failure... Read more
Incident date: Jan 29, 2025
My vehicle was inspected in order to determine why my vehicle is stalling, jerking, not going into reverse and giving a warning message that the car is overheating. My spouse and I were told the transmission control module needs to be replaced. Upon reading about my car's maje and midel, I learned this is a problem with 2018 Ford cars. It stalls and almost cuts off in traffic which is very dang... Read more
Incident date: May 27, 2025
While starting and accelerating my 2018 Hyundai Tucson, I began hearing abnormal engine knocking and noticed rough performance. I took the vehicle to an authorized Hyundai dealership, where they diagnosed an internal engine defect. They confirmed the engine issue but refused to cover the repair, citing that I’m not the original owner—despite public information stating that Hyundai’s extended... Read more
Incident date: May 27, 2025
Consistent failure of A/C Evaporator and Condensor, which causes failure of entire A/C system and requires expensive replacement parts/repairs. Recall issued on Condensor but not on Evaporator, which makes no sense. Both are needed for A/C to run. The leaks from condensor and evaporator impact function of the engine by making it skip on acceleration. It also impacts the filter systems. Dangero... Read more
Incident date: Feb 22, 2025
The contact owns a 2022 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the instrument cluster intermittently failed to function properly. Due to the failure, the speedometer, fuel gauge, and MPH were inoperable. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approxim... Read more
Incident date: May 24, 2025
The reverse backup camera gives a mirror view so the left side of the car appears on the right side of the screen. Making it unsafe to backup because you turn the wrong way if you go by what the camera shows you.
Incident date: Feb 3, 2025
The contact owns a 2021 Kia Soul. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V099000 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The contact stated that on three occasions while driving at various speeds, the vehicle started shuddering mildly and then stalled. The vehicle was able to be restarted after each failure. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that t... Read more
Incident date: Jan 24, 2025
Received safety recall October 2024 stating vehicle may crash - have not received any further notice about repairs
Incident date: Jan 24, 2025
i bought a 2020 ford expedition with the 10r80 transmission last july. They have used this transmission since 2017 and continue to put it in vehicles depite having many issues with them. When i was sold this vehicle i was told it had a new transmission just put in it (by another dealership than who i was buying it from) and the carfax (that i still have) shows that the transmission had been repla... Read more
Incident date: May 24, 2025
I’m contacting NHTSA to let you know that I have an open recalls that I am trying to get performed. I would like to know how to get reimbursed for the ace recalls for my vehicle as it is crucial to get done ASAP. The issue I have with a car with only 200 miles is that the door handles don’t open properly and the air condition Vents are not opening properly and there were numerous recalls that ... Read more
Incident date: May 24, 2025
While driving at freeway speeds (70–85 mph), I experience a sudden and complete loss of acceleration when pressing the gas pedal fully. The vehicle stops responding to throttle input entirely for 1–2 seconds. To regain power, I must take my foot off the pedal for a moment and then press it again. This has happened multiple times and presents a severe safety hazard when merging, passing, or try... Read more