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 25, 2024
The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that on several occasions while attempting to park the vehicle, the gear shifter was shifted to park(P); however, the vehicle did not recognize the gear selected. The contact stated that the "Shift to Park" message was displayed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 4, 2024
Full Self Driving prominently suggests the user enable “automatic set speed offset”. When enabled it tries to guess the speed it should be going, and goes that speed. On city streets and rural highways the driver is unable to lower the speed with the normal cruise control speed dial. it is disabled. It recognizes when the speed limit lowers on the road, but does not adjust to that new limit.... Read more
Incident date: Jun 15, 2024
Front Camera Fault causing Adaptive Cruise Control not to work therefore forfeiting any added measure of safety at highway speeds. The issue was investigated and was fixed at the local Ford dealer by installing a new camera, camera control module, and wiring. Warning message came on every time the truck was started and warning light came on saying that adaptive cruise control could. not be eng... Read more
Incident date: Sep 29, 2024
Left rear door lock will not Release when exterior or interior latch handle Is pulled to open door
Incident date: Sep 29, 2024
The EGR Valve, Diesel Particulate Filter, and Intake Manifold failed at 88k miles. The EGR was replaced at 49k miles on October 4, 2021. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for MIL. The estimated repair cost is $11k. All components are filled with carbon deposits. The emissions system should provide a longer life than 88k miles. Is there a possible design defect with the emission ?
Incident date: Aug 30, 2022
Screen began to slowly go black. It started with 1/4 of it black and is now at 3/4 black. Touch still works, but I am blindly touching without being able to see what I’m selecting. This affects the back up camera as well. Soon it will be completely blacked out and I will not have access to system options, back up camera, and other settings I can only access through the screen! This is a safety ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 30, 2022
I have a 2019 jeep wrangler with under 50,000 miles. The steering damper is defective. I was experiencing what is known as the death wobble. I searched my vin for a recall. No recall is associated with my vin number, although there is a recall for 2019 jeep wranglers. I took my jeep into the dealer to have them inspect. They told me that the steering damper is bad and needs to be replaced. They su... Read more
Incident date: Aug 30, 2022
The sensor in the seat has been intermittently working for years and finally quit. It costs close to $2000 to fix and there is no way to switch the air bag to stay on. It seems this is an issue with other 2018 Subaru foresters and for some reason the recall did not apply to my VIN.
Incident date: Jun 20, 2024
I have a fault in the ABS Control Module. I have been waiting on a replacement part since September of 2023. The current part number for repair has been discontinued and it sounds like the ABS Control Module is under engineering review. When the fault is thrown it turns of traction control and does not allow the use of 4 wheel drive. I have serious safety concerns when driving my vehicle when the ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
Our display/cluster, indicators, sensors, emergency lights stopped working in the middle of the ride. Major safety hazard on highway. Have to turn off the car and wait 30-60 mins for things to start working again. I know this has happened with others and to us before but in that case display stopped working the moment you turn on the car. Can't see the car speed, or any other things on display.
Incident date: Sep 24, 2024
Air bag light comes on is also intermitt some times stays on and someimes on only for a minute or two
Incident date: Sep 29, 2024
On 3 separate occasions, when pulling out into traffic, the car wrongly senses oncoming traffic as being too close and slams on the brakes once you're out in a lane, preventing acceleration and leaving you stuck and at risk of being hit from oncoming traffic.
Incident date: Sep 13, 2024
Complete loss of electric power steering.
Incident date: Sep 27, 2024
Vehicle transmission is shaking, shuddering, bumping.
Incident date: Sep 27, 2024
Many vehicles have the exhaust manifolds Crack. Yes it is available for inspection. This could be leaking CO in the cabin of the vehicle. I have talked to the dealership and they confirmed they have many vehicles coming in for exhaust manifold replacements due to them cracking. The vehicle has not actually been inspected by the dealership but exhaust can be smelt from the front of the vehicle. No... Read more
Incident date: Sep 26, 2024
Purchased the vehicle with only 59K miles in May 2024. Transmission immediately started acting up, hesitating, jumping RPMs, and delayed acceleration and loss of power. Service Transmission light came on once but after restarting the light turned off, but still has the issues. Have had the fluid and gasket replaced but did not remedy the problem. This is very dangerous to drive, especially when cr... Read more
Incident date: Sep 26, 2024
See attached document for complaint.
Incident date: Sep 24, 2024
WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLE LOSES POWER STEERING AND BECOMES UNSTEERABLE. THE SAME AS NHTSA RECALL# 21V213. SINCE GM WOULDN'T EVEN HAVE KNOWN OF THIS PROBLEM WHEN 2016'S WERE BEING BUILT I THINK I'LL BE FIXING THE EXACT PROBLEM AND PARTTHAT GM FIXED IN THE RECALL ON THE 2015'S. THEY SHOULD AT LEAST NOTIFY 2016 OWNERS THAT THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE OF THIS HAPPENING.
Incident date: Sep 24, 2024
My car has the known shift to park error. Any time the car is put into park, it isn't registering as in park and won't shut down.
Incident date: Sep 24, 2024
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while adding coolant, the coolant was leaking out. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle failed to accelerate properly. The vehicle was turned off and restarted and there was smoke detected. The contact opened the hood and noticed that the coolant level was low. The check engine warning light was illu... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2023
The rear windshield wiper hose is known to leak in these due to a poor design choice. The entire contents of the windshield washer fluid reservoir empties into the passenger compartment (typically into the rear passenger floorboard). Not only is the fluid being near the passengers a concern, but the reservoir drains completely in a matter of hours. In a snowy environment, you are now unable to cl... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2023
While driving I noticed that the navigation went out for a second and then the brakes would not work. I was about to hit the car in front of me, but the auto braking stopped the vehicle.
Incident date: Sep 9, 2024
Engine light was coming on in the car. Engine was shuttering and ticking/knocking on start up and then would stop after running for about a minute. Had it put on the scanner and the code said misfire on cylinder one/ignition coil. Had ignition coil on cylinder one replaced twice. 1st time replaced was the beginning of Sept and then the 2nd time on 9/18/24. Car would run fine for a week and then th... Read more
Incident date: Mar 1, 2024
I was slowing to a stop at a stoplight in traffic when the brake pedal dropped to the floor and the truck was no longer slowing. The ABS, Anti collision, and check brake system lights all illuminated. I was able to slow the truck and place in park to stop. Vehicle was taken to dealership where it was found to be in perfect condition according to the mechanic. I have been told that I should have no... Read more
Incident date: Jul 3, 2024
I turned on the car and the main gauge cluster screen was black - I was not able to see speed, use turn signals, use advance driver systems, etc. Completely unsafe to drive.
Incident date: Jul 3, 2024
I turned on the car and the main gauge cluster screen was black - I was not able to see speed, use turn signals, use advance driver systems, etc. Completely unsafe to drive.
Incident date: Sep 19, 2024
While driving all the warning lights for every vehicle system came on. I was just pulling onto a highway when this occured and was not sure to pull to the side for fear vehicle was going to have a problem, especially when the alerts for break system failure came on.
Incident date: Sep 17, 2024
The UCONNECT touch screen began de-laminating several years ago and was reported to the local dealership that services my vehicle, but they discarded due to warranty status. However now it is randomly detecting a 'touch' on the screen. While this is somewhat just an annoyance when using the radio, nav or apple car play, this is also used to control the vehicle settings including many of the safe... Read more
Incident date: Aug 17, 2024
ABS Module/HCU replaced 3 times defective yet again. This is a safety issue because Anti-lock brakes, traction control, and cruise control do not work
Incident date: Sep 12, 2024
I was driving in the highway with both of my kids in the car. We were driving from Ohio to Alabama. While on the highway, the vehicle shut down into a disabled mode and displayed the message “stop safely, vehicle will shut off soon”. It did this a total of 5 times on our trip down to Alabama.
Incident date: Sep 16, 2024
I purchased a used 2016 Kia Sorento during the used vehicle rise in pricing back in 2021. I owned a 2012 Hyundai sonata (which also required an engine replacement), but I my grandmother's car died, and I needed a better vehicle for a new job. June 16th I was driving with my daughter at around 9am and suddenly the vehicle started to shake and loss of power with the radio system beeping all dash lig... Read more
Incident date: Sep 16, 2024
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle inadvertently lost motive power. The contact was able to pull to the shoulder of the roadway, where the vehicle was restarted. However, after traveling a short distance, the vehicle lost motive power and failed to restart. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an indepe... Read more
Incident date: Sep 16, 2024
I have had this car for a few years and the evaporator core has failed, the car will blow air but it is very VERY hot air. The faulty evaporator core is a direct result of GM using cheaply made parts not inspected to the standard prior to installation into the vehicle. having previously owned this car in Hawaii and still owning it in a hot climate, the interior temperature exceeds well over 150 de... Read more
Incident date: Sep 13, 2024
I want to report the incident occurred on July 30, 2024 when I turned on the ignition. I pressed the brake to shift the transmission to the drive/reverse mode from Park mode. The shift stick was stuck at one position Park and did not move. I searched on line and found that I could manually shift the car and get the car moving at least by removing the cap next to the shift stick and insert a screw... Read more
Incident date: Apr 9, 2024
Rearview Camera. When I changed the gear into reverse, sometimes my rearview Camera does not turn on, the screen only goes black. It happens multiple times in a month and it's a risk for the driver as well as other outside the car. I heard there's a recall exactly like this for my same model, same car and there's no recall for my particular model.
Incident date: Sep 1, 2024
have suddenly brake failture, w code c1391, it problem persist car do not stop by pressing brake , it is too dangerous to drive this car!!!! what you can help me w this recall or rebate option for brake repair?
Incident date: Sep 4, 2024
Upon starting up my car, the instrument panel (showing speed, mileage, warning lights, fuel level, blinkers, etc) was completely blank. The entire dashboard is displayed via illumination. This lasted about an hour. There is an open recall on this exact issue, but my VIN isn't included in the recall.
Incident date: Sep 9, 2024
Vehicle steering locked while driving at highway speed, dealer tested system and replaced a can bus switch. Upon driving home from dealership (after fixing) the steering once again failed. Luckily no one was injured. We did get a warning steering failed only after the steering locked and was immobile. This is the most critical part of a vehicle and should not fail in under 50,000 miles and fail to... Read more
Incident date: Jun 13, 2024
After the original 2.0L EcoBoost in my MKC Black Label failed from coolant intrusion around 37,500 miles in May 2023, the replacement engine my dealer installed also failed from coolant intrusion. This time, it failed in July 2024 after less than 5,000 miles. Like the first engine failure, the check engine light illuminated, but this time, the code I saw was P0300 random cylinder misfire. Like la... Read more
Incident date: Sep 7, 2024
Lower part of trailair tri flex pin box was about to fail. If lower flex part of pin box failed trailer would have separated for connection to fifth wheel hitch on truck. Two of the three pins that connect the kingpin to the rest of the assembly had failed and separated. One pin was holding king pin to assembly
Incident date: Aug 23, 2024
The sunroof came off the track on the passenger side as I was trying to open it fully.
Incident date: Aug 21, 2024
I have been experiencing a noticeable delay in throttle response when accelerating, particularly when attempting to slowly merge into traffic. For example, when I press the accelerator to make a left turn, my Tiguan hesitates for approximately 2-3 seconds before responding, creating a significant safety concern as I find myself stuck in oncoming traffic. I took the vehicle to the dealership for d... Read more
Incident date: Jun 20, 2024
Original owner, purchased July 2021. Adaptive cruise control (ACC) continues to drop off intermittently after numerous complaints to BMW service techs and BMW Customer Relations since new. Attempts to repair include dealer 'recalibration' and software updates none of which have solved the issue. When in use, ACC suddenly, without warning drops out leaving driver to actively recover previous spee... Read more
Incident date: Aug 15, 2024
The car door handles are failing to work properly. Initially (June 2024), the passenger side front door required the handle to be pumped twice before it would open. The door would open correctly from the inside only. That problem was corrected. Now (Aug 2024), the driver side rear door handle has failed and the door cannot be opened from the outside or inside. The precise nature of that issue w... Read more
Incident date: Aug 15, 2024
The contact owns a 2009 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that the vehicle was experiencing extended brake pedal travel while driving. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds and depressing the brake pedal, the brake pedal traveled down to the floorboard, causing the braking distance to be extended. There was no warning light illuminated. Additionally, the contact stated that while h... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Aug 15, 2024
I noticed a couple of months ago my brakes where acting weird one minute they were fine and then sometimes the pedal would go to the floor and one day I was behind someone who had stopped suddenly and I hit my brakes fast and they went to the floor, for me not to hit the person in front of me I had to run off the road I was doing 30 mph and nobody was hurt but if I didn't have the options to run o... Read more
Incident date: Aug 31, 2024
The issue began with 1 vent not properly working. Now, know 3 of the 4 vents' mechanical functions have stopped working and cannot be adjusted via the center console. Everytime vehicle is unlocked a loud clicking noise if heard from the vents that continues for about 20-30 seconds varying. The vents not working correctly does not help clear fogging up windows that the climate change has brought ab... Read more
Incident date: Aug 31, 2024
The issue began with 1 vent not properly working. Now, know 3 of the 4 vents' mechanical functions have stopped working and cannot be adjusted via the center console. Everytime vehicle is unlocked a loud clicking noise if heard from the vents that continues for about 20-30 seconds varying. The vents not working correctly does not help clear fogging up windows that the climate change has brought ab... Read more
Incident date: Aug 31, 2024
While driving I received numerous system malfunction warnings followed by a message to visit my dealership. While driving into the dealership the vehicle started losing power and engine went into complete failure. It is now at dealership and waiting for it to be inspected. When alerts first went off I was unable to stop because I was on a busy dangerous street.
Incident date: Mar 8, 2024
What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? transmission problems. loss power while driving vehicle How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? vehicle stopped driving while on road with traffic. Major accident could of happened Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? Yes, Joh Hall C... Read more