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: Apr 1, 2024
1. The vehicle has steering issues and is no longer drive able. Steering difficulty began in mid to late August 2023. The steering is now impossible to use and vehicle to l is rendered inoperable. 2. Since purchasing the vehicle I have noticed the transmission is having issues shifting gears. The rpm will be high at speeds of 40-60mph, and the vehicle will only shift to a different gear if I tak... Read more
Incident date: Apr 9, 2024
I brought my car to dealership three times in two month period time. The first time was because car wasn’t starting and I need to replace spark plugs , second time was because camshaft position sensor and now the engine has failed
Incident date: Mar 1, 2024
I was driving the vehicle on the left lane of the freeway and the acceleration suddenly gave out. The car began to slow even when I pushed on the gas. Heat gage was fine and no lights went on. I quickly got over 4 lanes of traffic to the next exit and was able to pull over to the side of the road. White smoke began to billow out of the hood on the offramp and all the emergency light indicators c... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Apr 6, 2024
The display screen went black. Without it there is no back up camera ( and many other features). This is a king cab long bed. Very dangerous to drive without these important safety features working properly. The dealer says it is a “common problem”. It is a $1500 repair if it were not still under warranty.
Incident date: Mar 8, 2024
As I was driving with my wife on our way back home, my vehicle flashed every warning light, and my dashboard went dark. I was going about 40–45 mph, the engine was still running, and we made it home, which was only less than 2 miles from my house. As I was driving on my way home, the media console had this message: "vehicle network communication error," but once home, I could not get the SUV to ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2024
Left broken spot weld on Driver's side door. Without accident, the driver's side window stopped working and the driver's door no longer has any traction once opened. This happened spontaneously without any warning or other symptoms. This first appeared [XXX]. Once the door is opened, it flies open nearly hitting other cars or people that are nearby if I'm not holding on firmly, and the window ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 4, 2023
The airbag sensor light is flashing whether a passenger is in the seat or not. Infiniti has refused to investigate the issue and is stating that it is my responsibility to pay for the diagnostics despite the fact that this is an airbag related issue and is possibly related to the 2016 Nissan recall.
Incident date: Mar 17, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that upon the start of the vehicle, a heavy, blueish-colored smoke would emit from the exhaust pipe as the check engine light would intermittently appear on the instrument panel. In addition, the contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle would hesitate upon the depression of the accelerator pedal. The vehicle was taken ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 31, 2024
Freeway driving - normal conditions. Vehicle suddenly loses most power and all the warning lights appear. After powering off for a couple minutes then it will act normal with check engine light on. This happens multiple times in a couple hundred mile drive.
Incident date: Feb 29, 2024
On multiple occasions when filling the car with gas the entire vehicle begins to shake and shuts off. There is no light or warning that comes on prior to this happening. During the malfunction a light on the left side of the control panel says to push the break for full power. However despite pressing on break it takes several attempts ( 5-10 ) to restart the vehicle. It stutter starts several tim... Read more
Incident date: Jan 4, 2024
I am experiencing an issue where the O-rings in the engine are not preventing oil from entering the engine stated by a repair shop that took a look into issues where my engine would cut out while driving, lurching when downshifting. I believe this to be related to a current recall that is happening with 2019-22 model elantras. This poses a significant safety hazard to me and other drivers due to t... Read more
Incident date: Feb 22, 2024
The transmission on this year/make/model has a bad track record as shown by numerous Technical Service Bulletins. Car will repeatedly not shift throughout 9 speed transmission TSB: PIP5546C 17-NA-317 PIP5621D 04-07-30-013E 20-NA-138 06-00-89-031 21-NA-201 PIP5697E 18-NA-298
Incident date: May 13, 2023
The contact's wife owns a 2014 Kia Sorento. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V652000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulics) 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 r... Read more
Incident date: Mar 5, 2024
SRS failure Passenger airbag default to off
Incident date: Mar 28, 2024
I have had a recurring issue where the vehicle lunges forward when going over a speed bump, pothole or any rough spots on the roadway even when pressing on the brake pedal. It appears that the regenerative braking temporarily fails as does the standard brake in this occurrence, making the vehicle feel out of control and unsafe. Fisker announced that this was addressed with software version 1.10 bu... Read more
Incident date: Mar 13, 2024
UNKNOWN....I just know it has a fire risk.
Incident date: Mar 27, 2024
The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V334000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not exp... Read more
Incident date: Mar 27, 2024
Weld spots on inside of driver's door are broken.
Incident date: Mar 27, 2024
1. Received notification in February 2024 of open Takata inflator passenger airbag recall for inspection/replacement. 2. Contacted twice by online scheduler and twice by VM messages to service dept. of only listed Mazda service dealer on the Eastside of Hawaii Island in February 2024. Dealer refused to even respond. 3. Have made 5 phone contacts/contact communications on Mazda's recall website ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 25, 2024
Safety Recall, LD LX Sabic Inflator
Incident date: Jan 8, 2024
Front Passenger OCS errors - Tesla work quote (via Tesla Service Bulletin, not Recall) is to replace the OCS system & front airbag - totaling $1,200 for the repair. This is extremely common error code for Tesla's "Front Passenger Safety Restraint System Fault".
Incident date: Mar 10, 2024
unknown cause for internal malfunction of the catalytic converter. Hyundai did have prior issues in 2019 with the publication of a technical service bulletin
Incident date: Feb 29, 2024
My car has done 4 false automatic emergency braking incidents while I was on the freeway (all times). There was no vehicle in front of me or the sides and my car started applying emergency brakes with a message pop up on the digital dashboard. Looks like the system is falsely detecting there is a car in close proximity. When this happened, I noticed the back car hit the brakes and immediately swit... Read more
Incident date: Feb 29, 2024
Currently own a 2017 Honda Accord Sport just over 100k miles, regularly maintained and serviced. All of a sudden my vehicle takes longer to start and the most shocking issue is that I was driving to work as normal and when I went to accelerate onto the interstate my vehicle suddenly started jerking and it seemed as though my vehicle was not getting fuel even though I was pressing the accelerator. ... Read more
LEXUS
RX
(2024) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION:ANTI-THEFT:IMMOBILIZER/PROXIMITY:KEY/SENDER
Mar 22, 2024
Incident date: Mar 1, 2024
KEY FOB WILL NOT FUNCTION. NO ACESS TO INSIDE VEHICLE.
Incident date: Mar 1, 2024
I rented a 2020 Ford Mustang on 01/16/2024. I drove it home and didn't use it until 01/28/2024 for short trip to the grocery store. I waited in the car and kept it running while my daughter shopped. The car shut itself off twice, but there were no red warning lights. So I restarted with the push button, and after the trip drove the car home and parked in my drive. Two days later, on 02/01/202... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Nov 19, 2022
My 2020 Toyota Corolla had a warning light turn on, on 3/20/2024. The warning read "Engine Maintenance Required". I looked up this issue and read that many people were having similar issues with the coolant bypass valve. I took my car to my local Toyota dealership and they confirmed it was the coolant bypass valve. The risks included in this failure can be overheating and engine damage.
Incident date: Mar 12, 2024
The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Murano SL. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the vehicle lost power. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local mechanic who would not perform the work due to recalls on the transmission. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but has not been repaired. The contact stated the vehicle was repaired under a previous manuf... Read more
Incident date: Dec 14, 2023
I intermittently lose trailer brakes when towing my trailers on my 2023 Ford F350. I have two trailers and both trailers give me intermittent faults saying "trailer disconnected' or "trailer turn signal lights not working", but the trailer is connected and the lights are working - but the brakes do not. I know this is a truck issue because both trailers have no issues with my 2017 Toyota Tundra. I... Read more
Incident date: Oct 30, 2023
Since April 2022 we reached out to Nissan of Vacaville, Ca about the head light recall. Numerous times they've told us that the headlights were not in stock. Now in 2024 they're saying that they are no longer honoring the recall. They report that it has expired. I drive the car mostly at night and the lights do not work properly. It impairs my vision and thereby can cause a wreck that could result... Read more
Incident date: Mar 15, 2024
On March 9, 2024, I was driving when suddenly a warning light sounded from the dashboard that the engine "overheated" and there's a loss of power. I was very scared driving for the first time in my life. Before I pulled over to a safe place, a driver nearest to my car pulled his window down and shouted that my car was smoking. I was terrified. This incident triggered my husband's mental health co... Read more
Incident date: Mar 2, 2024
THE REAR DOOR LOCK IS NOT CLOSING THE DOOR
Incident date: Mar 15, 2024
I was driving 45 miles per hour on a 2 lane highway, when the car suddenly started beeping, lurched, and dropped to 25 miles per hour (low power mode). After pulling over at a gas station, I was able to run the car in this low power mode for a short time, and then the 12V battery completely died. The main battery in the car was at 78%. There was no warning light that this would happen before ma... Read more
Incident date: Sep 20, 2021
Loud, oscillating static through speakers when starting vehicle. Measured at 106db. Audio controls non-responsive. Shutting off vehicle and opening door eventually caused it to stop. Resumed again when restarting vehicle. Eventually stopped after letting it sit 30 minutes. This is extremely dangerous. Not only is this a level that can lead to hearing damage, but if this happened while driving, i... Read more
Incident date: Sep 20, 2021
Loud, oscillating static through speakers when starting vehicle. Measured at 106db. Audio controls non-responsive. Shutting off vehicle and opening door eventually caused it to stop. Resumed again when restarting vehicle. Eventually stopped after letting it sit 30 minutes. This is extremely dangerous. Not only is this a level that can lead to hearing damage, but if this happened while driving, i... Read more
Incident date: Sep 20, 2021
I just had a similar experience about four hours ago during normal conditions (dry and daylight). I was approaching a red light that controlled an on/off ramp intersection where a rural road intersects a state Highway. I was on the rural road. As I started braking, the pedal almost immediately felt soft. I kept pressing (never pumped) the brake pedal steadily lexpecting to feel more normal res... Read more
Incident date: Jan 10, 2024
See attached document for complaint
Incident date: Mar 4, 2024
Brake fluid leaking into cab from brake pedal making floorboard, brake pedal and gas pedal slippery.
Incident date: Mar 14, 2024
The ECU requires a reflash or replacement. The hybrid batteries over heat and regen braking randomly shuts off during braking or before/after due to overheating becuswe the cooling fans do not engage past level 1 or 2. The fans in fact never go full speed unless commanded by a Toyota service tech via the software during fan testing. Upon testing I noticed they not once went high enough to be audi... Read more
Incident date: Mar 7, 2024
The contact owns a 2020 Ford Escape. The contact stated that she had parked the vehicle in the driveway and went to manually open the garage door to reverse inside the garage. The contact stated that while opening the garage door, the vehicle started rolling back. The contact stated that the front driver's side door knocked her down, and the front driver's side tire rolled up her right foot. The v... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Mar 7, 2024
inspected radio and verified radio is delaminating on top off screen. Will need to replace radio
Incident date: Mar 7, 2024
My car is having serious problems regarding its touch screen. 3 times a week the screen stops working and the car audio makes an unbearable noise. It doesn't allow me to use the GPS, it doesn't allow me to take calls and it presents problems in terms of technology.
Incident date: Oct 27, 2023
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that when the vehicle was turned on, the contact heard a loud sound emanating from the engine compartment. On another occasion, while driving at various speeds, the vehicle started shaking. Additionally, when the vehicle was in the park(P) position the vehicle continued to move inadvertently. The parking brake was applied to stop the vehicle.... Read more
Incident date: Dec 7, 2022
How long in a timely manner to remedy? I am trying to sell my vehicle and this recall is hindering it's value. Manufacturer is unable to tell dealership how to fix recall.
Incident date: Feb 26, 2024
When raining the water will leak throug the sunroof or headliner not sure where it comes through but it comes from 2 places one hitting the arm rest / middle console which caused the terrain selection to go out and im worried it will cause the screen or something else to go out and catch on fire as I read it is common with these problems , when I purchased the vehicle as well they said it was jus... Read more
Incident date: Mar 5, 2024
I was driving on a freeway and my vehicle went into "Powertrain malfunction/Reduced power mode " and slowed me down from 65 -70 miles an hours to under 20 miles an hour. This almost cause a semi to slam into the back of my vehicle missing me by inches. The dealership is unable to recreate this issue but confirmed it did happen. Ford and the dealership have been giving me a run around with this sin... Read more
Incident date: Jan 5, 2024
The contact owns a 2023 Jeep Wagoneer. The contact stated while her husband was driving 55 MPH, the front end of the vehicle crashed into a guard rail; however, the air bags failed to deploy. The contact's husband did not sustain any injuries. The contact stated that the front end of the vehicle was damaged and the damage was half an inch away from impacting the engine. The vehicle was towed to an... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Feb 12, 2024
Air bag light came on the dash board Headed to dealer to see why Code B141C Cost to repair the problem was very high not covered by warranty The problem seems to me a poor design. Because of this weak design I feel this puts passengers in danger.
Incident date: Dec 15, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Ford Mustang. The contact stated that during a routine oil change, the technician observed that the coolant level was low. The coolant reservoir was filled however, the contact reported that when another oil change was made, the coolant level was again very low and was refilled. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. However, the contact stated that he noticed... Read more
Incident date: Dec 15, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Dodge Journey. The contact stated that while reversing, the rearview camera image was completely black. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure had been recurring. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where the cause of the failure could not be determined. The rearview camera was replaced; however, the failure persisted. The ... Read more