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 15,319 complaints for LEXUS
Incident date: Sep 15, 2025
I started my vehicle, everything seemed fine, but once I reached my destination, the vehicles auto start/off activated which was normal. I was in a school line to pick up my child, once picked up my child and the auto start reactivated, that's when the problems be can. Once I exceeded 40 mph the car began to jerk violently, and as I tried to move over to the side of the road I couldn't fast enough... Read more
Incident date: Sep 12, 2025
The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Murano. The contact stated that the driver's side sun visor had detached and was hanging down, blocking the visibility of the roadway. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or the dealer. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 103,000.
Incident date: Aug 15, 2025
The contact owns a 2011 Mini Cooper Countryman. The contact stated that the vehicle was parked in the driveway while both the contact and his wife were in another vehicle parked in the garage. The contact noticed white smoke coming from the vehicle. The contact stated that upon opening the hood of the vehicle, the contact noticed an electrical burning smell and fire. The contact was able to extin... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Aug 28, 2025
At approx 110K miles, I noticed the CVT transmission whining during acceleration - w/ the whining noise increasing/decreasing as I accelerated/decelerated. As the whining increased over the ensuing miles, during my 120K service, I asked the dealer to evaluate its cause - and was advised that my transmission is failing and that I need a new one. Estimated cost: $12K. Yes, trans is available for... Read more
Incident date: Sep 10, 2025
Driving on a country road with no vehicle in front of me - a loud explosion occurred and realized the front panel of the sunroof had exploded. Luckily, the screen was closed at the time and no large glass fragments fell into the occupants of the vehicle - there were five of us at the time. Arrived at a friend’s house to vacuum out the small slivers of glass pieces that fell through the screen. ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 10, 2025
When you put vehicle in reverse the back up camera has a blank screen
Incident date: Sep 10, 2025
When you put vehicle in reverse the back up camera has a blank screen
Incident date: Sep 10, 2025
Rear back-up camera fails repeatedly. The image portrayed on the dash is garbled and I am unable to determine vehicles, obstacles or persons behind me when backing. Problem is very reproducible although the dealer has not diagnosed the problem. The car is out of warranty. The only message displayed on the screen is something like "Park Pilot error".
Incident date: Sep 9, 2025
The emergency brake malfunctioned transmission in park malfunctioned yes its available for inspection i was almost ran over by the truck or pinned between truck door and hand rail. I have not had vehicle inspection done yet dealer had been notified and awaiting there response. When i re entered the vehicle dash displayed warning emergency brake disengaged placed vehicle into drive to move forward ... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Sep 7, 2025
This is the third complaint I have filed. Now the steering is stiff and makes noise. A mechanic advised that the issue is the ABS module. Dealers still say the ABS module is still unavailable. NHTSA needs to order a recall based on uncertain dependability of steering. Owners are presuming that trucks with faulty modules are safe to operate until NHTSB orders a recall.
Incident date: Oct 31, 2020
Transmission has erratic behavior. Several times it would not downshift or would hunt for a proper gear with the 10 speed automatic transmission at intersections and when making turns with oncoming traffic. Very dangerous. I have decided to park it. Dealer said it needs transmission replacement.
Incident date: Aug 29, 2025
Drivers side head rest popped open after getting out of vehicle at a store I stopped at after a hike. No warning lights no accident prior to this happening. It literally just popped open passenger in vehicle thought it was a cool feature until we researched this was a potential safety flaw that some how this vehicle is not showing eligible for.
Incident date: Mar 23, 2025
The car horn malfunctioned. I was not able to warn other drivers I was approaching and they were about to hit me. The component was inspected and replaced over a year ago in May 2024 under the vehicle warranty. No warning lights appeared when it happened.
Incident date: Sep 5, 2025
The contact owns a 2020 Honda HR-V. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, there were several unknown warning lights illuminated and remained illuminated. The contact stated that several features of the vehicle intermittently failed to operate as needed. Most recently, the contact stated that the panic alarm turned on independently, activated during the day and at night. The vehicle wa... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2025
Emissions system problems see dealer light came on took to autozone reading stated turbocharger but light went off. Later all warning lights came on so took to dealership they advised turbocharger as well. After for weeks no light no longer on. More recently emissions system problems light started coming on and off, but this time it will go days without being on then will turn on or it can be on w... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2025
Emissions system problems see dealer light came on took to autozone reading stated turbocharger but light went off. Later all warning lights came on so took to dealership they advised turbocharger as well. After for weeks no light no longer on. More recently emissions system problems light started coming on and off, but this time it will go days without being on then will turn on or it can be on w... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2025
The fuel filler neck for the diesel has a plastic neck extension made of cheap plastic and it broke making it a hazard to even fill the vehicle up and diesel fuel is spilled, not secured, and fumes could cause a fire hazard because the piece is faulty. GM customer service ignores me and transfers me over and over until they hang up and never actually talk to me about this
Incident date: Apr 1, 2025
I was driving on Saturday September 3 at 5 pm over the Chain Bridge entering Washington DC. Traffic was heavy and the auto brake went on when I was about 15 feet from the car in front of me. I was using one-pedal driving and when I pushed on the gas slowly we started slowly moving forward. I was traveling around 3 or 4 miles an hour and the car would not slow down when I took my foot over the peda... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Aug 26, 2025
The cruise control failed to slow down , instead it accelerated . My safety and the safety of my families was put at risk due to a sudden stop in I25 southbound cause us to slow down and when I pushed the down arrows to slow us down and pushed the brake pedal we didn’t slow down, instead we were jolted forward in accelerating speeds. Thankfully we missed the car in front of us due to us me swe... Read more
Incident date: Sep 4, 2025
Engine light comes on and now flashes. The service traction control and esc comes on. The whole vehicle shakes when idling. Certified GM dealer hooked it up and it says misfiring cylinder 6. All spark plugs replaced, new GM coil, new spark plug wires. Nothing has fixed it yet.
Incident date: Sep 3, 2025
Unknown which component exactly as it does not throw a fault. I believe it to be transmission related as the behavior seems like a clutch to me, but dealership has not been able to confirm. Vehicle rolls freely in directions other than what is selected and does not respond to throttle input. Described the issue to dealer numerous times and they claim to have seen it. I do not believe they actual... Read more
Incident date: Aug 31, 2025
Unknown which component exactly as it does not throw a fault. I believe it to be transmission related as the behavior seems like a clutch to me, but dealership has not been able to confirm. Vehicle rolls freely in directions other than what is selected and does not respond to throttle input. Described the issue to dealer numerous times and they claim to have seen it. I do not believe they actual... Read more
Incident date: Aug 31, 2025
Unknown which component exactly as it does not throw a fault. I believe it to be transmission related as the behavior seems like a clutch to me, but dealership has not been able to confirm. Vehicle rolls freely in directions other than what is selected and does not respond to throttle input. Described the issue to dealer numerous times and they claim to have seen it. I do not believe they actual... Read more
Incident date: Apr 15, 2024
When I signal a lane change, the lights flicker or turn off completely. Happens often.
Incident date: Jan 15, 2025
The rear camera suddenly has bright wonky colors making it difficult to see what is behind you.
Incident date: Aug 31, 2025
My engine began experiencing misfires at around 40,000 miles. They were on and off. The check engine light would pop up and go away for around a month. Then the vehicle began having a rough start and check engine light would not go away. I sent the vehicle back to the dealer where they determined that my engine was having misfires due to a coolant leak into cylinder one, stemming from a poor engi... Read more
Incident date: Aug 29, 2025
The contact owns a 2015 Hyundai Genesis. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, the driver's side rear door failed to open. The contact entered the vehicle and attempted to open the driver's side rear door; however the door failed to open. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the vehicle was diagnosed with a failed rear driver's side door handle. The contact was informed that ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 29, 2025
The contact owns a 2015 Hyundai Genesis. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, the driver's side rear door failed to open. The contact entered the vehicle and attempted to open the driver's side rear door; however the door failed to open. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the vehicle was diagnosed with a failed rear driver's side door handle. The contact was informed that ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 29, 2025
Navigation system shows the directional cursor moving sideways or upside down. This causes the vehicle to constantly alert loudly and with large red DO NOT ENTER Signs on my dash and heads up display. The system audibly alerts over and over for the driver to turn around “Wrong way detected check driving direction immediately!” This has been going on since I drove off the lot. The Kia service... Read more
Incident date: Apr 5, 2025
I would like to report an ongoing issue with my infotainment system. I reported to Honda, but was told there was nothing that they could do about it since I had not had the issue diagnosed in the shop. I did not want to go this route because I knew it would cost an enormous amount of money, especially after reading several reviews online of others having the same issue. I reported to the shop onc... Read more
Incident date: Aug 31, 2025
Excessive oil consumption, Full synthetic Oil last less than 2000 miles. Transmission takes some time to respond when start driving from a stop. Car shake a bit.
Incident date: Aug 19, 2025
At highway speed, in heavy traffic, and falling snow, the engine seized with sudden loss of power, including loss of brake and steering sensitivity. We were traveling downhill so, while avoiding other traffic and weather, maintained momentum to pull over to the side. We were stranded at night in snowy weather in remote Utah. It took hours to get towed to the nearest town, Fillmore, where the mecha... Read more
Incident date: Aug 30, 2025
My car started to act crazy not wanting to move when in traffic.
Incident date: Aug 20, 2025
Molding between 2 parts of sunroof came off knocking the sunroof cover off its track. This is caused it to fall on driver's head.
Incident date: Aug 20, 2025
Transmission valve body failed while driving which caused shifts to be limited. It could have caused an inability to shift at all, which is a safety issue. This issue has been inspected and confirmed by an independent shop. No warning signs were present before the failure. Furthermore, this issue is well known to Infiniti. It’s caused by breakdown of the transmission fluid overtime, causing a re... Read more
Incident date: Aug 20, 2025
Sliding doors don’t close. “Left sliding door problem” flashes on dash often. Have to force doors to close all the way. They try to close and then recoil.
Incident date: Mar 13, 2025
My 2021 Lincoln Aviator PHEV lift gate safety stop does not function properly. It will come closing down extremely hard. This will happen when the button is pressed on the lift gate or the hands free feature is triggered. The lift gate will not safety stop and pop back open as it should unless a significant amount of force is used; this is usually 2 or more people trying with all their strength t... Read more
2 injured
Incident date: Jun 29, 2025
My 2019 Ford Escape 2.0 Titanium has a KNOWN coolant intrusion issue where it is leaking into the engine. This began as my car shook on startup, then the check engine light would come on. Drove it a little ways, check engine turned off. Took my car into the repair shop and they looked up the stored code and it was P0301 cylinder #1 misfire detected and P0316 misfire detected on start up first 1... Read more
Incident date: Aug 26, 2025
Incident Details: • Date/Time: [XXX]. • Location: [XXX] • Event: While driving, the front left wheel partially detached without warning, causing an immediate loss of steering control. Findings (third-party technician at the scene): • The wheel/control arm/linkage had come loose/detached. • Two major suspension bolts were extremely loose or had detache... Read more
Incident date: Mar 13, 2025
My 2021 Lincoln Aviator PHEV lift gate safety stop does not function properly. It will come closing down extremely hard. This will happen when the button is pressed on the lift gate or the hands free feature is triggered. The lift gate will not safety stop and pop back open as it should unless a significant amount of force is used; this is usually 2 or more people trying with all their strength t... Read more
2 injured
Incident date: Jul 21, 2025
Coolant control valve failure. Instantly reduces power on truck. National back order on parts. No remedy.
Incident date: Jul 21, 2025
The transmission unexpectedly shifts into neutral while accelerating, particularly between 3rd and 5th gear. This is very dangerous, as the car loses power and stalls. This has led to several close calls, such as when merging into traffic or accelerating from a stoplight, which almost resulted in me being rear-ended or t-boned.
Incident date: Jul 21, 2025
Coolant control valve failure. Instantly reduces power on truck. National back order on parts. No remedy.
Incident date: Mar 17, 2025
I have been experiencing an intermittent issue where the vehicle displays a “Shift to Park” message, even though the gear shift lever is clearly in the Park position. When this happens, the vehicle will not fully shut off, and I have to repeatedly move the shifter back and forth or restart the vehicle to clear the message. This issue began around January 2024, and it has become more frequent ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 28, 2025
Reporting this because I'd like to add to the several other claims on this transmission. 80,000miles and transmission all the sudden started stalling out of first and between 3rd and 4th gear. No accidents, but nearly got rear ended several times after I pulled out in traffic and it stalled between gears. A couple of weeks later the transmission started downshifting from 9th and 10th gear all t... Read more
Incident date: Aug 28, 2025
Transmission failed after used car purchase. Called regarding fluid on driveway and was told normal after oil change. Continued fluid leak past 30 day warranty. Tried to get Nissan dealer to look at it but was told must go back to used dealer (same company) next door as they sold it. Dozens of calls later, no return calls, wrong transfers, etc. then cancelled appts, got to shop and was told b... Read more
Incident date: Aug 28, 2025
I have taken my car into Hyundai three times time. When I am driving, coming up to a stop at a light, sign or because of a hazard, there are times my brakes lock up completely and I cannot stop my car. Each time I've taken my car, I've been told "we cannot replicate the problem we are unable to fix it" It happens at least 5-10 times a week. I've almost crashed at least 7 times and I have to move o... Read more
Incident date: Dec 20, 2023
Falla en tren motriz o transmisión
Incident date: Aug 26, 2025
Abs hydraulic control unit defective dealer and manufacturer have failed to produce replacement parts it’s been over 2 years
Incident date: Dec 20, 2023
While merging onto a highway, my 2020 Hyundai Palisade abruptly lost all engine power and stalled. This immediate and complete failure occurred at a critical moment, posing an extreme safety risk. All dashboard warning lights illuminated, but provided no specific diagnosis. The vehicle was towed to a dealership, where technicians determined the engine was consuming oil at an abnormal rate, despit... Read more