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: Jan 1, 2025
The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Rav4. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V865000 (AIR BAGS); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The local dealer was contacted, and it was confirmed that the part was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made a... Read more
Incident date: May 6, 2025
The active recall for the trim only includes the front two trim pillars. There are trim pillars down each window on this vehicle, making that a total of 8 pieces of trim for the windows. Driving down the highway my drivers side window trim pillar (which includes a lock panel with wiring) blew off and almost hit another vehicle that was passing me, while with my children, causing me to have to pull... Read more
Incident date: May 6, 2025
Vehicle has 19299 miles and engine started rattling on deceleration and making clicking and knocking noises. Engine simply stopped working on the highway on the way to Chevy Maintenance. Couldn’t even shift to neutral to get it on the tow truck. It had to be dragged up the ramp. The the clicking and knocking to engine failure happened in one day. Now my truck is sitting in Chevrolet waiting on ... Read more
Incident date: May 7, 2023
Cruise control stopped working while driving interstate speed. Would not work and all lights on dashboard came on . Proceeded to Nearest dealership and was informed that I needed a brake switch. Did not fix the problem. Have been informed that I need a wiring harness! About to spend a total of 400.00
KIA
OPTIMA PHEV
(2017) - POWER TRAIN
May 7, 2025
Incident date: Jan 1, 2021
On [XXX], my husband and I were driving on [XXX] (Highway) in the slow lane, when the engine shutoff without any Service engine light warning. It was frightening because an tractor trailer was directly behind the car as we lost power. There was no sounds of engine parts knocking or pinging when the problem occurred. The only thing was observed was (two) 2 puffs of smoke seen from the tailpipe, wit... Read more
Incident date: May 7, 2025
Shortly after owning we started noticing sporadic jerks between 24-29 mph that felt like a hard up shift. We immediately brought to our local Honda dealership where they performed a software update. We were told that the vehicle struggles to shift while under load. Recently our van was making a whining noise and seemed hard/delay to accelerate in drive as well as reverse. Almost felt like I was in... Read more
Incident date: May 7, 2025
Shortly after owning we started noticing sporadic jerks between 24-29 mph that felt like a hard up shift. We immediately brought to our local Honda dealership where they performed a software update. We were told that the vehicle struggles to shift while under load. Recently our van was making a whining noise and seemed hard/delay to accelerate in drive as well as reverse. Almost felt like I was in... Read more
Incident date: May 7, 2025
Sudden limp mode check engine, engine power reduced only first gear working no reverse , dealership determined that the valve actuator on the transmission went out.
Incident date: May 4, 2025
AS I WAS DRIVING, AN ERROR CAME ON MY DASHBOARD STATING, "REDUCED ENGINE POWER". THE FASTEST I COULD DRIVE WAS 25 MPH, THEN YOU COULDN'T DRIVE AT ALL. I TOOK THE VECHILE TO THE MECHANIC AND HE STATED THE PROBLEM WAS A FAULTY OIL PUMP AND MOTOR.
Incident date: Apr 15, 2025
The contact owns a 2021 Ford Bronco Sport. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle was driving rough and failed to properly accelerate while depressing the accelerator pedal. The following day while driving to the local dealer, the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer who diagnosed that the transmission fluid pump had failed and there were metal s... Read more
Incident date: Mar 31, 2025
The contact owns a 2019 Acura TLX. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 23V858000 (Fuel System, Gasoline) and 23V751000 (Engine and Engine Cooling); however, the parts to do the recall repairs were not yet available. The contact stated that the dealer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repairs. The dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 31, 2025
My 2016 GMC Terrain exhibited the excessive oil consumption outlined in both of the following Special Coverage Adjustment bulletins. In addition to the excessive oil consumption, the oil light and oil pressure warnings never gave any indication that there was an issue or that the oil was low. This ended in the engine shaking the whole car, jerking it forward when stopped, and causing the engine to... Read more
Incident date: Apr 2, 2025
While driving on a highway in April 2025, my 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport suddenly lost all power after approximately 10 minutes of normal driving. All dashboard warning lights illuminated, and both the accelerator and brake pedals became unresponsive. I was forced to stop the vehicle using the handbrake in the middle of a 65 mph highway, creating an extremely dangerous situation for myself and oth... Read more
Incident date: May 6, 2025
The contact owns a 2019 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact stated that occasionally while shifting to park(P), the vehicle failed to recognize that that the transmission was in park(P). During the failure the contact was unable to turn off the vehicle. The contact stated that the "Shift to Park" message was displayed; however, there was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local d... Read more
Incident date: May 6, 2025
The Multi Media Interface (MMI) in my 2020 Audi A4 spontaneously reboots while driving. This problem is intermittent but can happen numerous times during a single trip in the car, even trips of less than 10 miles. When the reboots happen, the screen goes black and key systems such as the backup camera, rear obstacle detection, and navigation become unavailable until the reboot completes and the sy... Read more
Incident date: Apr 3, 2025
Honda has put us in a very difficult and dangerous situation that we have tried to get fixed with two local Honda dealerships and have not been able to get this fixed This relates to "Warranty Extension: 2017–19 Multi-Model 6AT Torque Converter - DTC P0741 Stored." We own a 2017 Honda Pilot that we are still making payments on. We believe in Honda vehicles because our 2007 Honda Odyssey has ov... Read more
Incident date: Apr 3, 2025
LED Headlight burned out and is not possible to change or remove, dealer indicated it is not something that normally goes out, and wants to charge $2,000
Incident date: Mar 15, 2025
The contact owns a 2025 Ram 1500. The contact stated that the air pressure was set at 55 PSI and the air pressure levels caused the vehicle to bounce too high while driving over bumps or uneven roads. The contact lowered the pressure to 45 PSI, which caused the vehicle to run smoother however, the tire pressure light remained illuminated. The contact stated that while looking online, the contact b... Read more
Incident date: Apr 20, 2025
Had an oil leak suddenly appear on the vehicle with only 55400 miles. Found there are technical service bulletins for this motor that the head cracks causing leaks. It is on many forums. Reached out to Mazda and got zero help
Incident date: Jan 26, 2025
Monday 4/28, as i was driving at approx. 35-38 mph the vehicle came to an abrupt and hard stop, like someone just pounded on the brakes, the engine ceased running. A large red wrench looking icon and something about the battery flashed very quickly on the screen. After a matter of time (please note this was very frightening,, and am unsure of the elapsed time) the car restarted and I continued ver... Read more
Incident date: May 5, 2025
My Car's Driver side air bag sign is on and took it to the Nissan dealer for diagnostic and was told the car seatback needs to be replaced as the airbag is not working. the technician was surprised that this part of the car needed replacement. this car has clean title no accidents and one owner. contacted nissan consumer affairs but they would not help in this issue. the component was never inspec... Read more
Incident date: Apr 27, 2025
Backing out of the garage then stopping for a minute and putting it in park then in drive afterwards I forgot there was a car behind me in my driveway. After looking in my side mirrors i saw nothing. I hit the vehicle behind me. With the radio on and playing music at no time did the radio lower in sound and the avoidance system sound off. If the avoidance system sounded off the music was louder. I... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Apr 28, 2025
The steering rack has failed due to a manufacturing defect. This is also an issue with the newer civics as Honda has admitted. This problem was confirmed by an independent service center. It can be dangerous at higher speeds, the steering wheel is difficult to turn and I have to jerk it to regain control of the vehicle. Going around bends is also difficult to maintain control since it is very diff... Read more
Incident date: Apr 28, 2025
Engine thermostat defective, which causes the computer to speed up radiator fans, and causes temperature gauge to read zero. Dealer replaced under warranty at 68,000 miles and same problem reoccurred at 90,000 miles. Common problem on Cadillac XT5’s (all years)
Incident date: May 5, 2025
Poor workmanship - soft top broken after single use
Incident date: Apr 28, 2025
The contact's husband owns a 2013 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while her husband was driving at highway speeds, the vehicle unexpectedly downshifted and the instrument panel went blank. The contact's husband restarted the vehicle and resumed normal operation; however, the failure returned the next day. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where it was acknowledged that the vehicle had ex... Read more
Incident date: Feb 17, 2025
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact stated that an unknown error message related to the coolant was displayed on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to a local service center, where it was diagnosed with a blown head gasket due to coolant intrusion into the cylinders. The loca... Read more
Incident date: May 5, 2025
I noticed in the fall of 2024 that my transmission stared shifting hard between 30-40 mph during acceleration. I had the local Ford dealership check out the issue and they stated I needed a new transmission and included an estimate. I decided to seek information from 2 independent transmission shops and they could not confirm that I needed the transmission replaced at that time. The vehicle has be... Read more
Incident date: Apr 5, 2025
Emergency brake locking when vehicle is in drive mode. Also unable to drive from a stopped position except very slowly which can cause a rear end collision.
Incident date: Feb 17, 2025
My backup camera will show a blank and or distorted image or the camera will be inverted so when I back up, everything is upside down. There is a recall already for this, but it is for the 2014 and 2019 Ford flex not the 2015.
Incident date: Jan 14, 2022
2020 Audi A4 went in for service on 2/27. After servicing, car's electrical MMI system started rebooting randomly while driving. When this random reboot occurs, the backup camera, parking collision warning no longer function. On some trips, this occurs as often as 5-6 times while others occur just once. The problem is increasing in frequency. I took it back to the dealer on 4/16 where the only... Read more
Incident date: Jan 14, 2022
2020 Audi A4 went in for service on 2/27. After servicing, car's electrical MMI system started rebooting randomly while driving. When this random reboot occurs, the backup camera, parking collision warning no longer function. On some trips, this occurs as often as 5-6 times while others occur just once. The problem is increasing in frequency. I took it back to the dealer on 4/16 where the only... Read more
Incident date: Jan 14, 2022
Driving with cruise control engaged, on dry road, no significant weather or wind gust, cruise control disengaged. Tried to reengage but took numerous tries. Once engaged, Tried to CNCL the cruise control and it would not disengage. Had to jump on the brakes. Seconds matter.
Incident date: May 2, 2025
AC or Heating stopped working on Passenger side and Rear after not using it for a couple of weeks. I checked online and a lot of RX350 owners have this issue.
Incident date: Apr 20, 2025
Knock sensor code P1326 has set my car into limp mode twice from getting wet after a car wash once and the other driving on a rainy day. Both times the dealership has replaced the knock sensor. The car suddenly loosing power on the highway going 65pmh and stock at only able 2k rpm is not safe. It's a known issues that yet to receive a recall or at least permanent fix.
Incident date: Mar 27, 2025
Using software version 2025.14.1 with FSD (Full Self Driving) version 12.6.4. About 50% of the time the vehicle attempts and fails to change lanes when using FSD. It will: 1. Turn on signal and not change lanes, confusing cars around me. Or more often 2. Swerve between lanes indefinitely. See example at [XXX] It drives like a drunk driver. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORM... Read more
Incident date: Apr 12, 2025
Check engine light came on and car would produce shaking and bumping feeling up on startup Took vehicle to AAA tire and auto Sylvania, Ohio. Service shop performed diagnostic. Used scope to visualize coolant in the third cylinder of the engine. Tech said that the cylinder was almost completely full of coolant and engine would fail soon and would need replaced. A few days later the car is now produ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 13, 2025
Engine began making a ticking noise and quickly began misfiring and displaying error messages. Dealership diagnosed issue as a camshaft failure, and which is a very common issue on the 3.6L V6. Issue happened on a rural road at night, but could've been a serious safety issue if it had happened in a different setting.
Incident date: Jan 13, 2025
Engine began making a ticking noise and quickly began misfiring and displaying error messages. Dealership diagnosed issue as a camshaft failure, and which is a very common issue on the 3.6L V6. Issue happened on a rural road at night, but could've been a serious safety issue if it had happened in a different setting.
Incident date: Apr 27, 2025
Just purchased this vehicle, at 84000 miles had engine failure and electrical issues while traveling down interstate with my family. Lost power steering and all warning lights popped up. Safely exited busy interstate -- avoided major accident. This engine should have been included in the recent GMC recall - After a diagnostic $7000.00 plus to fix. UNSAFE ENGINE ISSUE!! Please help the consume... Read more
Incident date: May 3, 2025
I was almost killed when my Jeep did the death wobble at 70 mph on the freeway. It violently shook out of control while I was in the fast lane of the freeway without warning. I had no control over the steering wheel, and it was pulling me towards the freeway wall. Slowing the car down was very difficult because it was jerking around so violently. I got off the freeway very slowly with my hazards o... Read more
Incident date: Apr 23, 2025
Unknown. Car will not start.
Incident date: May 3, 2024
Straight to the point, I backed the vehicle up, pushed the brake peddle in and shifted into park. The engine begun to increase in RPMs and I could hear the engine load increase, maybe about 2,000 to 5,000 rpms higher than idle or first start building vacuum idle, as if I was pushing on the accelerator. I literally looked down at the peddles, as I was just doing a quick spot change in my driveway, ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 2, 2025
ABS module has failed, according to dealership. The car has been in the service department at the dealership four times now in the past month. All of the warning lights go on, the car drives sluggishly, and I am told the car is undrivable due to the potential loss of brakes. Apparently there is a huge backorder of this part, but I purchased a max care extended service warranty and I feel that the... Read more
Incident date: Sep 10, 2024
The contact owns a 2019 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving 5 MPH, the vehicle unexpectedly downshifted to 1st gear, prompting the contact to discontinue driving the vehicle. The vehicle returned to normal functionality, but the failure became a regular occurrence. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the adaptive drive... Read more
Incident date: Apr 28, 2025
TRANSMISSION UNEXPECTEDLY DOWN SHIFTED HARD. VEHICLE HAD TO BE TOWED- HIGH RPM/LOW SPEED/HIGH TRANSMISSION TEMPS. DEALER STATED THIS IS A KNOWN PROBLEM WITH THIS TRANSMISSION - CONTROL VALVE BODY. TRANSMISSION DOWN SHIFTED HARD CAUSING REAR TIRES TO CHIRP. FORCE ON DOWN SHIFT WAS INTENSE AT 25MPH. IT WAS SO INTENSE MY WIFE AND I THOUGHT OUR VEHICLE WAS REAR-ENDED. THIS IS A HUGE SAFETY ISSUE. THI... Read more
Incident date: Apr 4, 2025
The contact owns a 2001 BMW 5301. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 40 MPH, the warning light that the engine was overheating was displayed on the instrument cluster. The contact stated that the failure had occurred at various speeds, and the vehicle stalled due to the engine overheating. The contact was constantly refilling the coolant reservoir monthly. The contact had taken... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2025
Driving on slightly uphill 55 mph highway, vehicle started jumping & losing engine power. Engine light came on, I made it to the top as it was slowing down. Pulled off to the side. Put it in park for a minute. Message showing on dash read - acceleration power reduced. Drove it on home (engine light stayed on) parked it & had it towed to dealership the next morning. Got a call from dealership the s... Read more
Incident date: Feb 17, 2025
The vehicle was being used in a normal daily driving routine. I was stopped(fortunately) at a traffic light. The light turned green and I went to proceed and began to press the gas pedal and the engine made a loud pop noise and began to barely stay running. I brought the vehicle to the shop(GM dealership) for diagnosis and repair. The motor had to be rebuilt new camshaft, lifters, etc. The vehicle... Read more
Incident date: Apr 25, 2025
The contact owns a 2024 PJ Trailer LD. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V857000 (Tires); 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 and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufacturer was mad... Read more