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: May 18, 2023
Car has been not able to roll up driver side window for a year randomly. Suddenly 3 years old and battery is draining and RAB and Eyesight and engine light on. Took in and saying can’t replicate window after they DID replicate it 3 months ago and did not solve issue. Did battery parasitic draw and numerous parts of car are draining battery. Cannot find source.
Incident date: May 14, 2023
My rear passenger side rusted right out completely and the strut mount is not attached to any part of the body. It caused my vehicle to swirve off the road almost hitting another vehicle when it was raining out also in the snow this occurred several times where my rear end jerked sideways pulling my truck into a complete circle.
Incident date: May 14, 2023
Passenger taillight goes out. Replaced it twice now and now I have to do it again a 3rd time. They know of this issue but have done nothing to fix it or offer anything to help cover cost
Incident date: May 14, 2023
On 6/14/22 and 3/29/23, my 2019 Honda Accord EX Hybrid had engine misfirings which lead to total loss of power on Rt 15 in NY and CT: 6/14/22: Upon entering highway, car bucked during acceleration and lost all propulsion coasting to a stop. Check again light was on and blinking. After reseating gas cap car driven directly to dealer for diagnostic. Car computer did NOT retain any error codes ev... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2014
hello, on the truck, a review was opened, they took the truck to the dealership, they didn’t even give us anything in return, since they were in california themselves from new york for another 2 weeks, they waited in line, they said to replace the transmission and something light to do, more than a month has passed, the costs will grow hotel trailer work we don’t know what to do, they don’t ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 27, 2023
Prior to this incident below I started my vehicle up and it started up fine. Suddenly I couldn’t move my vehicle out of the parking spot. I tried to turn the vehicle off and it wouldn’t turn off at all. So I was just sitting trying to figure out what to do. I suddenly click the stop start button without pressing the breaks and it turned my vehicle off. The next day I took my vehicle to a Jeep ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 27, 2023
I have been having problems with my vehicle since 2020 (when it was still under warranty). My engine is burning oil and there has always been carbon build up on the engine parts. I followed their recommendation and did the combustible engine clean and was never given a pass or fail result. Since 2021, I have replaced cylinder 4 spark plug 7 times. My warranty was up in December 2021 and now the pr... Read more
Incident date: Apr 27, 2023
VW Atlas has been at VW Service Repair center since 5/2/23 to fix air bag light and ABS warning signal. Last status (5/5/23) software errors were reported by service team, preventing car from being useable/driveable.
Incident date: Apr 28, 2023
My Prius 2010 has thrown the ABS, Traction, and Brake HUD lights all together. I took it to an Autozone and scanned the code to get the C1391: Abnormal Leak of ACC PRESS error. Many Prius 2010 have this issue, I'm sure I'll need to replace the actuator and/or accumulator and I know that will cost a good bit, i hope Toyota could help us fix it.
Incident date: Apr 24, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Jeep Wrangler. The contact stated that while driving 75 MPH, the accelerator pedal was depressed, and the engine continued to rev up quickly, immediately followed by an abnormally loud sound coming from the engine compartment. Additionally, the contact stated that metal shards were seen coming from the vehicle onto the roadway. The contact was veered to the side of the road... Read more
LEXUS
IS 250
(2015) - SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:ANTILOCK/TRACTION CONTROL/ELECTRONIC LIMITED SLIP:ABS WARNING LIGHT
May 1, 2023
Incident date: Apr 24, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ram 2500. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH, the ABS warning light, HCU warning light, traction control, and cruise control warning light illuminated. Additionally, the service warning light was illuminated, and the speedometer went blank. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed the vehicle with code C0020-01 (HCU Motor Failure). The vehicle wa... Read more
Incident date: Apr 7, 2023
I was traveling on a multi lane road at a speed of approximately 45 mph. There were cars directly behind me. Multiple pedestrian crossings were in front of me but the pedestrians had already crossed the road and were safely on the sidewalk. However, the caution lights from the crosswalk were still illuminated from the pedestrians that had previously crossed. As I reached the pedestrian crossing, t... Read more
Incident date: Feb 7, 2023
The contact owns a 2023 GMC Sierra 2500. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the contact smelled an abnormal odor. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, no failure was found. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the contact heard an abnormal sound and smelled an abnormal odor. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, who diagnosed the v... Read more
Incident date: Apr 25, 2023
The door lock actuators are failing, causing the doors to lock or unlock almost every time I speed up from a stop. The passenger door defaults to lock almost at all times, when unlocked it will relock within 3 seconds.
Incident date: Apr 25, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Cadillac Escalade ESV. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle was jerking. Additionally, while coming to a stop, the vehicle jerked and shook abnormally. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the motor mounts were replaced; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, who replaced the fuel injectors howeve... Read more
Incident date: Nov 12, 2022
The contact owns a 1994 Chevrolet Suburban equipped with two Lionhart Tires, Tire Line: LHS, Tire Size: 305/30/ZR26, DOT Number: TB2ACY50. The contact stated that he had installed two Lionhart tires on the front of the vehicle. The contact stated that the vehicle was a secondary vehicle that was not driven often. The contact stated that he observed a bulge on the tire, and the tire sidewall was se... Read more
Incident date: Apr 10, 2023
Unknown other than I requested Vernon Chevrolet in CT repair my recall on January 2, 2023 but have yet to hear back
Incident date: Apr 17, 2023
Vehicle has been serviced twice for “drive train software updates,” and is yet again having engine issues with shifting gears and acceleration.
Incident date: Mar 9, 2023
Parent had a counterfeit car seat at time of discharge with newborn. Car seat did not have chest clip and not approved labeling. Parent reports purchasing from Avionnti Website (https://avionnti.com/products/3-in-1-baby-stroller-with-car-seat-travel-system-set). Provided parent with a Evenflo car seat for discharge. Encouraged parents to return car seat to Avionnti for refund.
Incident date: Apr 18, 2023
I purchased a 2015 Volkswagen Jetta from North Coast Auto Mall on March 19, 2023 and the following day several issues went wrong with the vehicle like: The car reeked of gasoline, oil and engine lights came on, driver side head light blew out. Also, I was told that the car had an inspection, come to find out they didn't do an inspection by North Coast Service manager, so they lied. Also, the reaso... Read more
Incident date: Apr 18, 2023
2014 CHEVROLET SONIC. CONSUMER IS SEEKING REIMBRSEMENT FOR REPAIRS MADE TO VEHICLE. THE CONSUMER STATED AN ADDITIONAL $1,468.61 IN EXTRA REPAIRS (REPLACING FRONT STRUTS, SHOCKS, SWAY LINK BAR AND PIA EVAPORATOR PURGE VALVE). THESE REPAIRS WERE DONE BEFORE 90,000MILES. THE FOLLOWING YEAR THE CONSUMER SPENT $1,930.75 ON EXTRA REPAIRS WHICH INCLUDED REPLACING THE WATER OUTLET, THERMOSTAT HOUSING, A/C... Read more
Incident date: Apr 13, 2023
I am writing to express my disappointment and frustration with my 2022 Jeep Compass. In November 2022, both the center digital cluster screen and radio screen went dim and have not returned to full brightness since. I have already taken the car to the dealer twice, but they have not been able to resolve the issue, and have advised me to wait for a recall. I am extremely dissatisfied with this res... Read more
Incident date: Feb 17, 2023
I received a Safety recall notice in February 2023. I immediately called to schedule an appointment to have the work done. Upon driving to the dealership, I was told that they needed to order the part from Ford Co. and it would take a month to receive the part. I again called the dealership after 5 weeks had passed, and again they told me that Ford is not making the part available, when the Recall... Read more
Incident date: Feb 17, 2023
My abs, traction control, and my AWD service light all have been on making my car jump before I can accelerate and it then drives fine but today it would not allow me to go over 15MPH and all I could hear was grinding noises! This was the first time that has happened, I’ve replaced the wheel sensors, bearings, and all new tires it turned off for a couple months but now is back on! This is a huge... Read more
Incident date: May 26, 2016
Bike stalls while downshifting. Triumph covered the fix of the map sensor under warranty. A couple months later the bike has redeveloped the same issue. It stalls while downshifting. This is a potentially severe scenario for me as the driver in traffic, and potentially for others if an accident causes follow-on crashes.
Incident date: Feb 18, 2023
I have a 2018 Colorado 4x4 with 51K miles. Purchased with 28k. When driving at normal highway speed, get drive train shudder when increase torque is needed (hill, ramp, etc.). Only happens in overdrive. When tow/haul is activated shudder does not occur. It feels like transmission and/or drive shaft is about to fall off. I have not attempted repair due to numerous concerns voiced on this site and c... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2023
I bought my 17 Hyundai Elantra back in august 22 and noticed sometime after buying it that it smelled like coolant burning when it ran. So I kept my eye out to see if there where any leaks no leaks. Sometime this year I took the car to central Hyundai to get it looked at cause of the burning coolant smell and because after it had been running if I opened the engine oil area on the top of the engin... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2023
Passenger sliding doors will not open. In december 2021 Dodge dealership seemingly fixed issue. It is now 2023 and the doors will not open again. This is very dangerous as I have two small children. The costs for these repairs were very expensive and unfortunately hasn't even lasted 2 years. I now have to pay out of pocket thousands for an issue that is completely mechanical and dealer issue... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2023
Passenger sliding doors will not open. In december 2021 Dodge dealership seemingly fixed issue. It is now 2023 and the doors will not open again. This is very dangerous as I have two small children. The costs for these repairs were very expensive and unfortunately hasn't even lasted 2 years. I now have to pay out of pocket thousands for an issue that is completely mechanical and dealer issue... Read more
Incident date: Mar 8, 2023
My vehicle is a 2015 C300 AWD. One day I was driving on the highway and noticed white smoke coming out of the exhaust. The check engine light came on shortly after as I pulled over. Being that I was less than a mile from my house, I decided to go park the vehicle. I noticed that it was losing power and had problems going above 45mph. Since my vehicle had 99k miles. I took it to my indy mechanic ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 30, 2023
The passagen side seat belt comes on and beeps and stays on sometimes and other times it dont Then the check engine one day started flashing on me lost of power wouldnt do no more then 60mph
Incident date: Feb 2, 2023
Service Electronic Breaking System Light came on March 25, 2023. took truck to Ram dealership March 30th and was told the ABS Pump is going out so breaks won’t work correctly if I have to stop quickly. The replacement won’t be available until August 2023. Called another Ram dealership and was told it’s an engineering problem they are working on. Either way it’s a problem having a truck I... Read more
Incident date: Feb 2, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Hyundai Tucson. The contact stated while driving approximately 45 MPH, the vehicle almost stalled. The contact heard an abnormal popping sound. The contact stated that the vehicle began to lose motive power. The accelerator pedal was depressed but the vehicle failed to respond. The contact then smelled an abnormal burning odor. The contact stated that when she attempted to ... Read more
Incident date: Dec 1, 2022
Service lights for ABS and traction control systems constantly going on and off during vehicle use, these system failures disable cruise control systems. Truck is at dealer and they have said it needs new hydraulic control unit and ABS parts totaling over $2000 in parts alone, without an idea of when the parts will be available. This seems to be a common failure as I have read many posts of other ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 10, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while starting the vehicle, the front windshield wipers activated independently. The contact removed the fuse to stop the windshield wipers. The vehicle was not diagnosed. On another occasion while starting the vehicle, the vehicle lost power steering functionality with the steering assist fault message displayed. The contact turned off and... Read more
Incident date: Feb 10, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while starting the vehicle, the front windshield wipers activated independently. The contact removed the fuse to stop the windshield wipers. The vehicle was not diagnosed. On another occasion while starting the vehicle, the vehicle lost power steering functionality with the steering assist fault message displayed. The contact turned off and... Read more
Incident date: Feb 10, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while starting the vehicle, the front windshield wipers activated independently. The contact removed the fuse to stop the windshield wipers. The vehicle was not diagnosed. On another occasion while starting the vehicle, the vehicle lost power steering functionality with the steering assist fault message displayed. The contact turned off and... Read more
Incident date: Feb 2, 2023
The contact owns a 2020 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the vehicle deaccelerated unintendedly and the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact pulled into a gas station. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the spark plug was fractured, and the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer w... Read more
Incident date: Mar 22, 2023
PLEASE DO RECALL ON THIS 2014 KIA Sedona, only 53,000 miles, for bad airbag system 2014 KIA airbag light on instr panel comes on, then off, then stays on. I took it to kia dealer and they said it was the ocs (passenger occupant sensor) in the seat, BUT when i sit in the drivers seat and with both seatbelts latched, i can press down on pass seat and the passenger airbag off light on the middle d... Read more
Incident date: Mar 22, 2023
Truck randomly turns itself completely off without warning losing all control of any power or ability to restart the truck to remove it from the road. Gives a Fuel Sending unit failure error, will not go into eco mode and will not remote start.
Incident date: Mar 25, 2023
I live in Roy city utah and i drive a santa fe 2001 and my trailing arm in the rear driver side snaped while i was going 45 mph. when i took it in to a shop to have it looked at they said that my trailing arm had snaped do to the rust corrision under the car. I know that there are recalls on the santa fe for the rear suspention trailing arms but only if you live in a salt belt state and utah is n... Read more
Incident date: Mar 23, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 BMW I3 Hybrid. The contact stated that after charging the vehicle overnight the next morning the vehicle climate control was activated and moments later smoke was present inside the vehicle coming from the front passenger side air vent. After exiting the vehicle flames were seen coming from the front passenger side air vent and the vehicle was quickly engulfed in flames. Th... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Mar 23, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 BMW I3 Hybrid. The contact stated that after charging the vehicle overnight the next morning the vehicle climate control was activated and moments later smoke was present inside the vehicle coming from the front passenger side air vent. After exiting the vehicle flames were seen coming from the front passenger side air vent and the vehicle was quickly engulfed in flames. Th... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Dec 20, 2022
This is a dangerous problem and I expect Honda to have a major recall some day, unfortunately not today. Symptoms were two things, 1) ACC when on would not slow down with another car in front, it just kept accelerating into the car until I put on the brakes. Crazy dangerous. 2) The collision warning light would come on and beep loudly when there was no possibility of collision. Required replacing ... Read more
Incident date: Dec 20, 2022
This is a dangerous problem and I expect Honda to have a major recall some day, unfortunately not today. Symptoms were two things, 1) ACC when on would not slow down with another car in front, it just kept accelerating into the car until I put on the brakes. Crazy dangerous. 2) The collision warning light would come on and beep loudly when there was no possibility of collision. Required replacing ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 6, 2023
The contact owns a 2003 Jeep Wrangler. The contact stated that while her daughter was attempting to park the vehicle, the brake pedal was extremely difficult to depress, and the vehicle did not immediately stop. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were not yet notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 217,000.
Incident date: Sep 27, 2019
The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Cruze. The contact stated while at a stop sign and accelerating, the vehicle hesitated. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the dealer stated that the oxygen sensor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted but offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 54,057. The contact n... Read more
Incident date: Jan 2, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Jeep Wrangler. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed over a pothole, the steering wheel shuddered and vibrated violently. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that the failure was related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V343000 (Steering). The dealer and the manufacturer were not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not r... Read more
Incident date: Mar 22, 2023
My 2016 Ford Edge Titanium had a blown brake line so I took it in for repairs which is where I discovered that there was a head gasket leak and that the coolant reservoir was empty, and the axil was leaking. There were no puddles or other obvious indicators that there was anything wrong with the head gasket. No engine lights/codes were showing up. The mechanic at the Ford Dealership quoted me $5... Read more
Incident date: Mar 14, 2023
The sunroof/moonroof glass shattered while my daughter was driving on the highway, causing glass to fall down on her while driving. She stated that it sounded like a gunshot, then glass was breaking while driving. She was upset and crying, which could easily have caused an accident if it weren't that it happened in the evening. The car scheduled to be repaired I contacted the VW dealership and t... Read more