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: Mar 4, 2026
Low oil engine warning. Oil level is okay. Car has 80 miles on it, total.
Incident date: Feb 23, 2026
The contact owns a 2024 GMC Sierra 3500HD. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, there would be a diesel odor coming into the cabin of the vehicle. The failure had become more persistent, causing black smoke to enter the cabin of the vehicle. The failure caused the contact and other vehicle passengers to have headaches, nausea, and dizziness. While driving approximately 65 MPH, ... Read more
1 injured
Incident date: Jan 20, 2026
I own a 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee that is experiencing unintended automatic braking while driving. The crash detection/forward collision warning system shows a constant warning light on the dashboard. While driving under normal conditions with no obstacles present, the vehicle will suddenly brake on its own. This has occurred multiple times and now happens almost daily. The problem first occurred o... Read more
Incident date: Feb 27, 2026
2023 ALFA ROMEO STELVIO ESTREMA - INFORMANT SYSTEM, WHICH INCLUDES THE BACK UP CAMERA VIEW HAS FULLY MALFUNCTIONED AND BLANK CAUSING A BACK UP ASSISTANCE HAZARD. THERE IS NOT AN ALFA ROMEO DEALERSHIP IN OKLAHOMA AND THE NEAREST ALFA ROMEO DEALERSHIP IS LOCATED IN PLANO, TX. MANUFACTURER WILL NOT ALLOW DAVID STANLEY, CHRYSLER, JEEP, DODGE, RAM TO PERFORM THE SERVICE, EVENTHOUGH THEY ARE OWNED BY ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 3, 2026
Just out of warranty passenger headlight is making a humming noise. Many other owners are having same malfunctions. Cost to replace at dealership is around $2,000.00. LED headlight has a cooling fan that is failing. Many have been replaced under warranty. Mine started just outside of the warranty mileage. It’s a known issue that should have a recall issued.
Incident date: Mar 3, 2026
The contact owns a 2021 Mazda CX-5. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the low oil warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact was advised by the dealer to continue adding oil to the engine as needed. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 46,4... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2025
I was driving to work when suddenly my steering wheel gets supper heavy as I was making a turn shook the life out of me my eps went out if you could please do a good will repair or see if there’s any extended warranty please check for a TSPs
Incident date: Jan 24, 2026
The contact owns a 2020 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel failed to turn in the intended direction. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed with an electronic power steering module failure. The contact was advised to take the vehicle to the dealer. The contact was infor... Read more
Incident date: Feb 24, 2026
Powertrain/engine performance (acceleration control): vehicle struggles to accelerate when pressing the gas. Transmission / drivetrain (gear engagement / shift control): vehicle drops from Reverse into Neutral without driver input (unintended gear disengagement). Water intrusion: ongoing water intrusion, power tailgate was already replaced due to water erosion, when it rains or snows water gets in... Read more
Incident date: Aug 18, 2025
I purchased a 2014 Land Rover Range Rover Sport (VIN: [XXX] ) from AutoNation USA Wesley Chapel on May 17, 2025. Shortly after purchase, the driver-side door latch recall issue manifested when the door unexpectedly opened while the vehicle was traveling at highway speed. The incident was documented at the time it occurred. The vehicle was later serviced by AutoNation on August 26, 2025, where the... Read more
Incident date: Jan 3, 2025
The contact owns a 2023 Ford Transit. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V860000 (POWER TRAIN). The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the gear shifter independently shifted from drive(D) to reverse(R). The contact stated that before the failure occurred, the message "Hill Assist" was displayed on the screen. The contact clicked "OK," and shortly ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2026
The output voltage to the Trailer Braking system is low, only 7.5 volts. Other owners have the same problem. From what I understand there is an issue with the computer that keeps the Original Equipment trailer brake controller from delivering full power at speeds below 30 MPH. This is a safety hazard in stop and go driving. There are many complaints about this same problem in the Ram Forumz. Ram s... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2026
The contact owns a 2020 Jeep Gladiator. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the infotainment screen failed to function as intended. The screen turned black and remained black. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer and was pending a diagnostic test. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hot... Read more
Incident date: Feb 6, 2026
The contact owns a 2017 GMC Sierra 1500. The contact stated that while attempting to start the vehicle, the defrost was turned on, but the defrost failed to function as intended. There was a loud pop, and there was brown and yellow smoke in the rear of the vehicle. The contact turned off the defroster. The vehicle was driven to the shoulder of the roadway. The contact exited the vehicle and inspec... Read more
Incident date: Feb 6, 2026
Filing complaint based on 6 months since 2 recalls filed for this vehicle and no resolution has been offered by Ford as of the time of this filing.
Incident date: Feb 6, 2026
Very soon after purchase vehicle developed a front end shake and continued to get worse. This happens when pulling out or in stop and go traffic this varies from in intensity and sometimes it can be quite violent shaking the whole vehicle. The car has been to a GM dealership for this problem 3 times now. The first time 9/8/2025 replaced rear axle, the second time 10/20/25 both front axles were rep... Read more
Incident date: Feb 20, 2026
Moisture in the air has corroded the wiring harness and connections to the Rack and Pinion causing the power steering to freak out and jerk the sheen all over the place and then cut out while driving.
Incident date: Mar 2, 2026
The contact owns a 2024 Ford Escape. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 26V091000 (Electrical System); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manu... Read more
Incident date: Feb 20, 2026
My 2026 Honda Prologue makes clicking sounds when executing turns. The problem was confirmed in a diagnostic assessment at the Honda dealer at about 7,500 miles (2/4/26). The service rep. said Honda was looking into the problem (CV joints/bearings), but there was no current solution, and they would contact me when a solution became available. The rep. said Honda did not consider this a safety issu... Read more
Incident date: Mar 3, 2026
Unmodified 2022 Chevrolet Suburban with 53K mi, driving 25 mph on paved county road. Without warning the upper ball joint on the right front side sheared off. There were no sounds, no bumps or grinding, truck is routinely maintained, cleaned and inspected - this was out of the blue. If we had been going faster it could have been a disaster. The dealer confirmed it is the upper ball joint. Signific... Read more
Incident date: Dec 19, 2025
I have had this vehicle for 5 years and even replaced the engine in this vehicle for it to end up with the same issue. I take very good care of it and get its maintenance done. But the car is slow to get up to speed and misfires really bad. I replaced the spark plugs in it and they were coated in oil. The airbag sensor will come on indicating it’s not operating properly. Overall a very unreliabl... Read more
Incident date: Feb 16, 2026
The engine will shut off at random times without warning causing the vehicle to stop suddenly
Incident date: Mar 2, 2026
I have brought my car into my dealership 3 times now for the same problem (a creaking noise in the suspension system) The first time they replaced the parts that I suppose they couldn’t replicate easily see needed replacing, the suspension boot, mounting, and nuts and bolts. For a week I thought the suspension system was fixed then it started creaking (only over speedbumps, and mostly when the w... Read more
Incident date: Mar 2, 2026
Transmission failure at 125,000 miles. Vehicle has been used minimally for towing. Mainly highway driving. Looking at a $10,000 repair bill.
Incident date: Mar 2, 2026
The contact owns a 2024 Jeep Wrangler 4XE. The contact stated that there was an abnormal rattling sound coming from the vehicle while driving at slow speeds. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The engine warning light was blinking, and the driver restarted the vehicle, and the engine warning light remained illuminated. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V766... Read more
Incident date: Feb 23, 2026
On Friday my car wouldn’t start. I put in a request for AAA to come out and do a battery test. The technician comes out and hooks up my battery to the portable box and it still didn’t have the power to crank the car. The car turned on and was clicking it didn’t have enough power to actually start the car. My dad came and gave me a jump saturday morning, and said he thinks I needed a new batt... Read more
Incident date: Feb 23, 2026
Car turning off while driving and can't turn the wheel to get out of the road. We had the car battery, fob battery and alternator replaced and still the same issue. We heard this has happened to another owner of the same vehicle that lives in or town. This is not safe and could cause an accident.
Incident date: Feb 27, 2026
While driving the dashboard suddenly showed a message saying Battery Charging Fault error” a few minutes later the car stopped driving while I was on a busy freeway. It had no power and it displayed several messages saying suspension system is disabled, battery issue, cameras disabled. I had try to navigate my rolling car to a side lane to call roadside assistance. It was a very dangerous incide... Read more
Incident date: Mar 3, 2026
RECALL OMISSION & SAFETY DISPUTE (Case #10683843): I am reporting two documented safety defects in my 2008 BMW 328i (N51 engine) that are identical to existing Federal Safety Recalls but have been omitted from the recall VIN list for this model year. 1. AIRBAG SYSTEM FAILURE (Recall 17V-428): The vehicle has a confirmed Fault Code 93C3 (Passenger Seat Occupancy Mat). This is the exact failure mo... Read more
Incident date: Feb 26, 2026
P0471 code before 55k miles even after repair is made
Incident date: Feb 26, 2026
P0471 code before 55k miles even after repair is made
Incident date: Feb 26, 2026
Vehicle info: 2019 Silverado 1500 6.2L engine with 66,xxx miles. On 3/1/26 While towing my small snowmobile trailer I was driving on I-90 with cruise control set at 65 mph. Very suddenly and shockingly I heard an extremely loud knocking noise from the engine. I then witnessed several driver info messages stating things like "low oil pressure" "engine power reduced" among others and a check en... Read more
Incident date: Feb 9, 2026
Our vehicle passed their inspection required test for the engine recall and then at an intersection just died with absolutely no warning and wouldn’t even start again. Warning light for low engine oil came on. We were stuck and couldn’t even put the vehicle in neutral to be towed out of the intersection. Had to call a flat bed tow truck to load it and take to dealership where it was confirmed ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 2, 2026
Vehicle WITHOUT WARNING will start to jerk then go into “limp” mode. Pressing on gas pedal makes the revving noise but with not physical movement made. This has happened on MULTIPLE occasions (13 times in 4 months) including in the snow and on the interstate while driving at 70mph where no shoulder is available to pull over. Car was taken to dealership 3 different times with no actual diagnosi... Read more
Incident date: Aug 26, 2025
1. Electronic power steering modular issue. My 2018 GMC SEIRRA 1500 CREW CAB JUST LOST ALL POWER STEERING. THEN WHEN I PARK IT. Assist notifications come on, ABS notices, BRAKE light stays on, trailer/tow notifications, trailer assist, parking brake, etc SUDDENLY A LOUD thump & feels like the whole truck just drops like 5” inches, settling. I cannot afford an inspection (ID theft in... Read more
Incident date: Jan 3, 2026
The contact owns a 2015 Ram 1500. While driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. Additionally, the “Service Electronic Throttle Control” message was displayed, and the vehicle went into LIMP Mode. While attempting to start the vehicle, the vehicle failed to start. The vehicle was towed to the residence. The contact stated that the failure had occurred while ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 21, 2025
The seatbelt retraction system on my truck has been replaced twice on the drivers side and once on the passenger side. The truck only has 40,000miles. The seatbelt retractors don't keep the shoulder strap tight when you move or get the belt first buckled. This can cause an issue if you are to get in an accident when the belt is not tight against your shoulder.
Incident date: Mar 2, 2026
There is an investigation currently, but it is when the transmission is going from higher gear and shifting to lower gears/locking the rear wheels unexpectedly. It actually shut my truck off when it happened and I had codes PO706, and PO707 displaying that I had an issues with my transmission range sensor. At the time my truck only had 108,000 miles. I had to replace the entire lead frame in order... Read more
Incident date: Jan 30, 2026
The heads up display and dashboard display go black while driving. Sometimes it flickers on and off repeatedly which is very distracting while driving. When it is off, I cannot see speed, fuel, etc. A recall was issued for this problem, however my vehicle VIN was not included in the recall, meaning the dealer will not address it. Additionally because it happens randomly it is impossible for the d... Read more
Incident date: Jan 14, 2026
Randomly received a “service power steering” message on dash. RAM dealership is saying I need a whole new rack and pinon.
Incident date: Mar 1, 2025
Forward Facing Driver Assist cabin camera will shut off the cruise while you are driving if it cannot detect your eyes. This is NOT a safety feature but rather an extremely dangerous safety hazard!!! While you are traveling at 70+ mph and put on sunglasses and all of a sudden the car starts alarming and decelerates without warning causing the driver to become EXTREMELY distracted trying to figure ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 2, 2026
Manufacturer Name : Nissan North America, Inc. Submission Date : SEP 19, 2024 NHTSA Recall No. : 24V-700 Manufacturer Recall No. : R24B2 My Vehicle: 2019 Nissan LEAF Description of the Safety Risk: While the vehicle is Level 3 quick charging, the increased electrical resistance could result in rapid heating of the battery. If quick charging continues, a battery fire may occur increasing the ris... Read more
Incident date: Apr 24, 2025
Recent ABS module failure w C2200 code. Took to Chrysler/Jeep dealer for repair and was told replacement module part is unavailable with up to and more, a year backorder. Was advised there was nothing they could do to repair. Researched other dealers and suppliers with same results. This is certainly a safety concern as this ABS module failure appears to be a common failure in Jeeps of this and ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 24, 2025
The contact owns a 2021 Jeep Wrangler. The contact stated that while driving approximately 55 MPH, the vehicle drove over a bump in the road, and the vehicle started to wobble and shake violently. The contact slowed down and stopped the vehicle. The contact stated there was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed, and determined that the steeri... Read more
Incident date: Mar 2, 2026
Vehicle experiences engine stalling and failure to restart at intersections when the Auto Idle Stop (AIS) feature is engaged. This creates an immediate life-safety hazard as the vehicle becomes non-functional in live traffic. This has occurred 2 times. Once on surface streets and once on the highway in stop-and-go traffic. This issue persists despite Service Bulletins 23-008 and 23-009. Honda Cor... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2022
A mechanic at professional auto shop diagnosed the failed TIPM. It caused the fuel sending pump in the fuel tank to stop pumping. The truck stalled while driving on the highway leaving me stranded in 2-degree weather. I read online that there was a lawsuit for this issue but don't know how to file to recoup the $1200+ repair bill on top of the $200 cost to tow it to the auto repair shop. There was... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2022
This vehicle, since January of 2025, has a screen that flickers and shuts off entirely multiple times per day. Sometimes, it is severe enough that the entire computer system shuts down and none of the safety features are available, such as collision warning, automatic braking, etc.. You also cannot control the heat or see the backup camera because of the screen being broken. This is a persistent i... Read more
Incident date: Feb 8, 2026
On March 2nd 2026, while operating my 2025 Ford Explorer ST at highway speeds of approximately 78 MPH, the vehicle experienced a sudden, uncommanded shift from Drive into Neutral. This resulted in an immediate and total loss of motive power in live traffic, creating a life-threatening safety hazard as I was unable to maintain speed or accelerate away from surrounding vehicles. Notably, the dashboa... Read more
Incident date: Feb 17, 2026
When car is in park. Shift to park is on dashboard. Car won't fully turn off. It's been doing it for years. Was worked on at dealership. It's still doing it.
Incident date: May 3, 2022
My Honda is shifting harsh going into 5th gear and sometimes reverse is not available. I have taken the vehicle to the dealership and they are telling me I need a new transmission to the tune of $9,600. It only has 64,000 miles and the warranty recently expired. I took the car to another mechanic and he told me the same thing. There is no way that the transmission should go out at such low mil... Read more