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: Nov 8, 2025
"STEERING ASSIST IS REDUCED" This message appears on the instrument panel once in a while, and I have to get a mechanic to reset it. Many other people who drive the 2018 GMC Acadia, are reporting the same problem. This occurs so frequently on this model, that it obviously was a manufacturing design flaw.
Incident date: Nov 8, 2025
This vehicle passed the piston oil ring recall in September 2025, by November 2025 the vehicle was burning through a quart of oil a week. Two different dealerships advised that this wouldn't be covered under the recall, stating the recall was for engine noise. The recall states that the issue in question can cause increased oil consumption that will then lead to noise. The vehicle was 5,000 miles ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 7, 2025
Recall was issued for crankshaft bearing failure and recall was performed and completed. Kawasaki performed the inspection and repair, however kawasaki had failed to adequately fix the issue causing prolonged headaches and paying for something that is unsafe to opperate. All kawasaki is telling people is dont ride but not providing an adequate fix to make the bike safe again or theyre also refusin... Read more
Incident date: Oct 7, 2025
The engine in my vehicle has failed twice while driving at highway speed. Both times, the engine suddenly stalled without warning, causing an immediate loss of propulsion, lighting, and steering assist. Each failure occurred at night, and I had to coast to the shoulder in the dark with limited control while other vehicles traveled at high speed. During the second incident, two children were in the... Read more
Incident date: Nov 13, 2025
P0301 code Cylinder 1 Misfire Detected.
Incident date: Nov 14, 2025
THIS HYBRID VEHICLE IS EQUIPPED WITH A BATTERY THAT CAN COMBUST AND CATCH ON FIRE. A REMEDY IS UNAVAILABLE - THE CAR IS A SAFETY PROBLEM TO MY FAMILY SINCE IT CAN NOT BE CHARGED OR HOUSED IN MY GARAGE. THIS CAR WAS LEASED FOR ITS HYBRID OPTIONS FOR MY TRAVEL TO WORK - BASICALLY I AM PAYING FOR A FEATURE I CAN NOT USE. I ALSO WORRY ABOUT MY FAMILY DRIVING IN IT AS WELL. I WAS NEVER INFORMED BY A... Read more
Incident date: Nov 14, 2025
While driving, the vehicle suddenly developed a loud knocking noise from the engine. Within one block the vehicle began smoking heavily from under the hood. I pulled over, opened the hood, and flames were visible. This is a 2016 Kia Optima with the 2.4L Theta II engine. Approximately one year ago the original engine seized and was replaced by a Kia dealer under the Theta II engine recall (SC172/SC... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Nov 14, 2025
While driving, the vehicle suddenly developed a loud knocking noise from the engine. Within one block the vehicle began smoking heavily from under the hood. I pulled over, opened the hood, and flames were visible. This is a 2016 Kia Optima with the 2.4L Theta II engine. Approximately one year ago the original engine seized and was replaced by a Kia dealer under the Theta II engine recall (SC172/SC... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Oct 6, 2025
Malfunction of the Steering Column Control Module causing a disconnect with all associated components such as causing wipers to run continuously on max, and all listed functions stopped working including; SOS, Jeep Assist, blind spot, high & low beams, brake lights, turn signals, lane assist, horn, rear wiper, windshield washer fluid, airbag deployment, infotainment system, etc. Vehicle is current... Read more
Incident date: Oct 6, 2025
I am getting a code that indicates an issue with the catalytic converter. P0420 to be specific. The engine is continually misfiring and check engine light comes on and off randomly. Car broke down completely at one point in October and had to replace the battery but check engine light was still on when I got it to start. The car shakes uncontrollably every time I drive it and gets even worse when ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 18, 2025
My Honda is having strange, intermittent issues with a plethora of things. I have taken it to a diagnostic specialist who worked with a phone mechanic and noone can tell me what is going on. My car will fully shut off at stop lights randomly, so I have to turn off the auto-idle feature every time I drive. Sometimes my power steering cuts out and my wheel locks and unlocks and my computer screen... Read more
Incident date: Nov 17, 2025
The contact owns a 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that the Service Shifter warning light illuminated when the gear shifter was shifted to park(P). The failure had become more persistent. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed that the shifter had failed and the shifter, module, knob, gear shifter, and transmission needed to be replaced. The contact related the failure to... Read more
Incident date: Apr 15, 2025
The RV currently is sitting at MB of Modesto where it can be inspected. The issue, when we attempted to rotate the rotatable front passenger seat, and an Airbag error was displayed on the dash and the vehicle was disabled, would not start. When we rotated the seat back we assumed it took pressure off of the wiring harness and the error disappeared and the vehicle started. We tried to rotate the... Read more
Incident date: Oct 15, 2025
When I am at a stop, and the traffic opens for me to go, or the light turns green, I press on the accelerator and nothing happens. The car just rolls forward under no power or it just stays still. About 5 seconds after I'm slamming the gas pedal to get me out the lane of oncoming traffic, or holding up a light the car wakes up again and starts going no problem. This has happened multiple times in ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 19, 2025
On Thursday November 13th, 2025, I drove to work like I do every day. When I got to work and parked, the REAR windshield cracked all on its own. It was not freezing, nor were there any large temperature swings to cause this. Today (Wed Nov 19th, 2025) the Safelite repair man came to replace it. He stated that he sees this quite often with the Nissan Rogue. I called Nissan and they said that they n... Read more
Incident date: Nov 3, 2025
See attached document for complaint.
Incident date: Nov 17, 2025
The contact owns a 2025 Honda Prologue. The contact stated that upon entering a parking lot at 5 MPH, the contact was attempting to park into a charging station. As the contact depressed the brake pedal, the vehicle failed to stop without warning. The contact repeatedly depressed the brake pedal as the vehicle accelerated and hit a tree. The air bags did not deploy upon impact as the contact's gla... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Apr 9, 2025
Vehicle was trying to go forward while my foot was on the brake. It would not go in park gear. Eventually shut down completely at a busy intersection. I was unable to use my hazards and could have been in a bad accident. I had to keep on the emergency brake until I was able to get it towed.
Incident date: Nov 18, 2025
The contact owns a 2019 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while driving approximately 55 MPH, a message to stop the vehicle flashed on the instrument cluster. The contact pulled over, stopped the vehicle, and turned off the vehicle. The contact was able to restart the vehicle. The contact had taken the vehicle to an independent mechanic. The vehicle was diagnosed, and it was determined that the... Read more
Incident date: Nov 18, 2025
WAS DRIVING ALL OF A SUDDEN, THE CAR STARTED KNOCKING MAKING NOISE, THE OIL LIGHT CAME ON, THE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND WHITE SMOKE WAS COMING FROM MY TAIL PIPE. I HAD AN OIL CHANGE, BUT THAT DIDN'T DO THE TRICK, THE ENGINE LIGHT STILL COMES ON, MY CAR DRIVES VERY SLOW NOW. I'M AFRAID TO TAKE IT OUT ON THE ROAD
Incident date: Nov 18, 2025
WAS DRIVING ALL OF A SUDDEN, THE CAR STARTED KNOCKING MAKING NOISE, THE OIL LIGHT CAME ON, THE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND WHITE SMOKE WAS COMING FROM MY TAIL PIPE. I HAD AN OIL CHANGE, BUT THAT DIDN'T DO THE TRICK, THE ENGINE LIGHT STILL COMES ON, MY CAR DRIVES VERY SLOW NOW. I'M AFRAID TO TAKE IT OUT ON THE ROAD
Incident date: Oct 29, 2025
See attached document for complaint.
Incident date: Oct 29, 2025
The contact owns a 2024 Kia Carnival. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, an abnormal gas odor would emit through the vehicle's ventilation system. The contact notified a local dealer, and an appointment was made to have the vehicle serviced. The vehicle was inspected, and the contact was informed that there was likely bacteria growing inside the vehicle, which caused the odor... Read more
1 injured
Incident date: Oct 19, 2025
While driving my truck I noticed my mpg gauge was showing 0 mpg. Then I realized my "miles to go" gauge was reading "low" even though I had plenty of fuel in the tank and my fuel gauge was showing 3/4 full. Even though I use my truck as a commercial vehicle, and drive coast to coast, I was luckily only a couple hours from home, so I kept driving to try to make it home. I did make it home, but duri... Read more
Incident date: Oct 19, 2025
My 2022 Kia EV6 developed a serious electrical/MCU malfunction on 10/19/2025 at approximately 64,300 miles. While driving, the vehicle began to stutter during acceleration, all driver-assistance and safety systems disabled (LKAS, collision avoidance, lane keeping), and the vehicle could not accelerate normally (topping out around ~60 mph when fully pressing the pedal). The Kia Connect app displaye... Read more
Incident date: Oct 19, 2025
My 2022 Kia EV6 developed a serious electrical/MCU malfunction on 10/19/2025 at approximately 64,300 miles. While driving, the vehicle began to stutter during acceleration, all driver-assistance and safety systems disabled (LKAS, collision avoidance, lane keeping), and the vehicle could not accelerate normally (topping out around ~60 mph when fully pressing the pedal). The Kia Connect app displaye... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2025
Routine oil change by professional local mechanic. Upon completion we were told that the vehicle would not turnover. The mechanic diagnosed and found that were 2 recalls for our vehicle - one for the fuel pump module and one for the engine. We had our vehicle towed to the local GM dealership. They then replaced the fuel control module. GM tried to manually crank over but engine seized once again.... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2025
On 11/01/2025, while traveling on the highway traveling at a speed of 80mph, my vehicle suddenly would not accelerate beyond 60 mph. I managed to exit safely, but this created a dangerous situation for both me, my daughter and other motorists . The next day, Firestone inspected the vehicle and informed me the engine contained zero oil—yet no oil light, check-engine light, temperature warning, o... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2025
On 11/01/2025, while traveling on the highway traveling at a speed of 80mph, my vehicle suddenly would not accelerate beyond 60 mph. I managed to exit safely, but this created a dangerous situation for both me, my daughter and other motorists . The next day, Firestone inspected the vehicle and informed me the engine contained zero oil—yet no oil light, check-engine light, temperature warning, o... Read more
Incident date: Nov 18, 2025
we own a Mercedes-Benz GLE 350 model 2021. Our vehicles engine has stopped running on two different occasions, resulting in a very scary near miss accident situation. The first time this happened was it 22,000 miles, the engine shut off as a result of a failure in the engine cylinder head valve that burned up, causing the car to shut off in the middle of an intersection. The second incident hap... Read more
Incident date: Oct 22, 2025
We were getting in to the vehicle, the vehicle was parked, and when we were getting in, the side aire bag exploded, hitting my daughter on the face, the car never was in a accident, it wasn’t hit by nothing, the car wasn’t moving, when they exploded, smoke was coming from there
Incident date: Nov 16, 2025
On random occasions all of the above warning lights come on. They will stay on for weeks at a time despite replacing the battery and following all reset protocol. It seems when weather is cooler, everything functions as it should and cam work fine for days and out of the blue will throw all the alerts again making lane assist, cruise control, and all departure assists not function. Because the ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 23, 2025
The engine seized back in August 2025. The engine stopped working while I was driving on a Main Street and almost caused an accident. Unfortunately I put other drivers at risk when this happened. The engine issue was confirmed and inspected by the victorville Hyundai dealership in California. There was not any warning lamps prior to this.
Incident date: Jul 23, 2025
Initially in May 25, my Sportage started accelerating on its own, unprompted, up to 4500 RPMs many times and also hesitated. In 6/25 the info screen, (whole dash) went black 4-5 x’s for about 3minutes while driving 60 mph on bypass. Beginning of July, Siri didn’t work and said it was inaccessible, and also the navigation said it was not updated however, when I pulled into the dealer, all of a ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 23, 2025
Initially in May 25, my Sportage started accelerating on its own, unprompted, up to 4500 RPMs many times and also hesitated. In 6/25 the info screen, (whole dash) went black 4-5 x’s for about 3minutes while driving 60 mph on bypass. Beginning of July, Siri didn’t work and said it was inaccessible, and also the navigation said it was not updated however, when I pulled into the dealer, all of a ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 12, 2025
The contact owns a 2017 Land Rover Range Rover. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V514000 (Steering); 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 contact stated that the steering wheel was shaking abnormally while driving at various speeds and whil... Read more
Incident date: Nov 12, 2025
I have 2 problems with my 2017 Kia Forte sedan: 1) They have put an "environmentally friendly" coating on the wire harnesses under the front hood of the engine which emits a vanilla scent when warm and attracts rats that eat the wire harness when the vehicle is parked. They need to revert back to the original jacket material on the wire harnesses that don't attract rodents. I've spent hundreds o... Read more
Incident date: Nov 18, 2025
In addition to the recall for the C-pillar appliques and window division bars (NHTSA ID Number: 25V407000), the chrome trim piece directly below the window also suffers from insufficient adhesive bonding. See the photo below. It came lose while driving at high speeds.
Incident date: Oct 7, 2024
Infotainment system malfunctions, screen freezes or goes black when trying to use back up camera. CarPlay malfunctions regularly, Bluetooth fails to connect phone. Car changes temperature to Celsius frequently even changes back after reverting to Fahrenheit. Transmission has a juddering (skipping) feel when trying to maintain speed.
Incident date: Oct 7, 2024
The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle lost motive power and failed to accelerate while depressing the accelerator pedal properly. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, who discovered metal debris inside the transmission and advised the contact that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired.... Read more
Incident date: Nov 7, 2025
The contact owns a 2021 Ram Promaster 3500. The contact stated that the screen display was black and the back-over prevention camera was inoperable. Additionally, the speedometer was blinking and causing a distraction. The radio and hands-free calling were inoperable. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V552000 (Structure). The contact called an unknown local dealer and... Read more
Incident date: Nov 14, 2025
Car slammed on brakes while on interstate, the system likes to say brake, brake, brake, when there is nothing to brake for but a few days ago it actually took action and slammed on brakes on the freeway.
Incident date: Nov 14, 2025
The brake peddle keeps jamming and sticking . The steering wheel is now very lose and a lot of play . There is a steering wheel with exclamation point flashing on the dash . When the card turns off it makes electrical noises . It is consuming oil . A pint a week . It’s been towed twice in three weeks
Incident date: Nov 14, 2025
The brake peddle keeps jamming and sticking . The steering wheel is now very lose and a lot of play . There is a steering wheel with exclamation point flashing on the dash . When the card turns off it makes electrical noises . It is consuming oil . A pint a week . It’s been towed twice in three weeks
Incident date: Nov 10, 2025
On November 10, 2025, our 2023 F150 powertrain failed for the second time in about a month. I was pulling away from a curb when the truck experienced a loss of power. The Ford service center diagnosed this as a PowerTrain Control Module failure. This is dangerous because I was driving when the failure occurred and the truck lost power. This could have been catastrophic on a highway or while travel... Read more
Incident date: Nov 10, 2025
During a drive after startup, vehicle flashed the Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) error and put the car into limp mode. Car will idle fine, but the issue is intermittent upon acceleration. Error code is p1775 Electric Oil Pump Hall IC Sensor Failure. Took it to a mechanic and they had performed a test on the sensor and pump and found no issues after stress testing and checking cabling. Issue occurre... Read more
Incident date: Nov 15, 2025
1-THE STEERING WHEEL AIRBAG FAILED TO DEPLOY DURING A COLLISIOM WHILE ALL OTHER AIRBAGS `AIRBAGS INCLUDING REAR SEAT AIRBAGS -DID DEPLOY. THIS SUGGEST A POSSIBLE MALFUNCTION IN THE AIRBAG CONTROL MODULE STEERING WHEEL AIRBAG UNIT OR SENSOR SYSTEM. **YES THE VECHCLE IS AVAILABLE FOR INSPECTION BY GENESIS, NHTSA, OR ANY AUTHORIZED PARTY. 2. AS THE DRIVER I WAS AT DIRECT RISK THE STEERING WHEEL ... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Oct 23, 2025
The contact owns a 2020 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving 70 MPH on the interstate, while depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle decelerated to 2 MPH. The messages to “Schedule Maintenance” and “Powertrain - Reduced Power” were displayed on the instrument panel and the Mobile App on the cellphone, and the vehicle went into LIMP Mode. The contact pulled over to the ri... Read more
Incident date: Oct 23, 2025
While driving my 2016 Kia Soul on the highway, the vehicle suddenly began shaking and immediately lost power. The check engine light came on and the car would not accelerate, even when pressing the gas pedal. This happened with no prior warning. I had to coast to the shoulder in moving traffic, which created a safety concern. The engine then stalled completely and would not restart. The vehicle w... Read more
Incident date: Nov 14, 2025
Hydraulic lifters keep having issues