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 19,021 complaints for LINCOLN
Incident date: Jul 11, 2024
I was driving in heavy traffic and the car turned off. The dash went black the parking brake set the seats and the mirrors adjusted the steering wheel moved up as if I was getting out of the car . I tried to continue driving when realized the car was not on. I pressed start button car came on in drive ready mode Display rest to factory setting erased all my personal settings display on drivers si... Read more
Incident date: Jul 22, 2024
The rear brakes and rotors have prematurely worn out at only 28k miles, while the front brakes are like new. There is no way for me or any local repair shop to put it into brake service mode. The official Ford procedure does not work. NHTSA issued SSM 51217 acknowledging the issue, but the only solution is only to take it to a Ford dealer to do a simple procedure such as changing rear brake pads. ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 25, 2024
The brakes are hard to push to come to a stop. I brought it to a mechanic and he said it was my vacuum pump. The air bag light comes on when you hit a hard bump in the road.
Incident date: Jun 25, 2024
The brakes are hard to push to come to a stop. I brought it to a mechanic and he said it was my vacuum pump. The air bag light comes on when you hit a hard bump in the road.
Incident date: Jun 25, 2024
I pulled to the side of the road, with my foot on the brake, i placed the Motorhome in park, and set the emergency brake. When i went to start to turn back on the road, the gear shift lever, would move freely, but not change from park to drive, or any other gear. I limped to my destination by shifting the transmission manually at the transmission linkage lever. Found out that the linkage cable ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 11, 2024
Vehicle suffers from unintended and sudden acceleration when the "resume' capacitive touch button is accidentally brushed against. The vehicle is subject to injure or kill the vehicles occupants or others struck by the vehicle. Vehicle advised there is "no issue" with the vehicle but they did acknowledge the problem with the design of the steering wheel. The issue is intermittent and has occur... Read more
Incident date: Jul 11, 2024
Truck downshifts when trying to increase speed. Truck will not shift into all gears, the check engine light comes on, the speed odometer goes to zero and the miles per gallon screen goes blank. All these items happen at the same time while driving. Today the truck wouldn’t take off. I had to shift gears manually to drive it with the console gear shift +/- buttons
Incident date: Jun 4, 2024
On highway for 2 hours, pulling 5th wheel trailer. Diesel Particulate Filter Cleaning alert went on. Immediately truck lost power, a few other alerts flashed on the screen that couldn't read in time then alert that truck was being put in Neutral which it did. Smoke coming out of engine compartment. Barely coasted to stop on side of freeway. Quickly turned from white smoke to brown. Barely enough t... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Jul 23, 2024
Less than 74,000 miles and coolant hoses split. According to service department they have had an increase in hoses rupturing indicating a fault in the hoses.
Incident date: Jul 17, 2024
About 3 years ago we started getting the red triangle of death with 2 amber lights on display the vsc and the round circle with the exclamation point in the center. This could happen in 500 miles or it could happen tomorrow. When this happens I loose all exceleration and air conditioning and a orange car emblem with an exclamation point in it on the display screen. Once safely off road press power... Read more
Incident date: Jul 19, 2024
Both rear doors will intermittently not open when unlocked from both the inside or the outside. I am unsure if this is electrical or related to the door components itself. This is a hazard because passengers have been locked in the back of the car, and needed to climb out from the front or needed me to open the door from the outside if it will open—which could be a deadly amount of extra time in... Read more
Incident date: Apr 30, 2024
The contact owns a 2013 BMW R 1200 GS Motorcycle. The contact stated while riding at 70 MPH, there was an abnormal clanking sound coming from the motorcycle. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact immediately pulled over to inspect the motorcycle but could not determine the cause of the failure. The contact started to slowly exit the highway, the drive shaft, rear drive, and swing arm... Read more
Incident date: Jun 14, 2024
The contact owns a 1957 Ford Country equipped with Vercelli Tires, Tire Line: Classic, Tire Size: 205/75/R14, DOT Number: 1YCKKOPCR4523. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, the contact noticed very large blisters in the tread bead of the passenger's side rear tire. The contact replaced the damaged tire with another similar tire however, the failure reoccurred. The contact also pu... Read more
Incident date: Jun 17, 2024
I can't drive the vehicle safe with the entire gauge cluster indicators are all on. Cluster making loud beeps and noises not being able to shut or clear the code indicators. The acura dealership is saying the camera is overheating and not safe to drive.
Incident date: Jul 16, 2024
Starting off from a stop or at low speeds the vehicle loses all power. Engine stumbles and does not respond, when it happens it almost feels like the engine may stall. Pressing the accelerator and the vehicle will not move, then suddenly will start to go seconds later. This has almost resulted in a crash since the vehicle loses all propulsion unexpectedly. No warning lights. Took to the dealer... Read more
Incident date: Jul 17, 2024
2018 Kia Forte, purchased certified used June 2022, will randomly go into ECO or Sport mode on startup or while the vehicle is in motion. Vehicle is not equipped with Drive Mode control buttons, indicating that ECO/Sport modes are not supposed to be active feature. While I vaguely remember the mode change occurring during previous two years of my ownership, the first noticeable incident in 2024 w... Read more
Incident date: May 13, 2024
Brake actuator failure on the freeway warning lights started beeping had trouble coming to a stop no brake pressure had to swerve to emergency lane. From my understanding there’s a brake actuator recall took it into Toyota my claim was denied .
Incident date: Aug 20, 2023
Tesla met with an head on collision with another Toyota. Tesla’s airbags didn’t deploy and i had my 6 year old in car as well. The other car which was 2007 toyota, its airbag still worked.
Crash
Incident date: Jul 9, 2024
A SABIC inflator rupture may result in compressed gas rapidly escaping from the inflator and material potentially being propelled into the vehicle.
Incident date: Jul 9, 2024
Hello, this has happened multiple times within a year & a half of having the vehicle (bought in Jan 2023) where the Front Collision Warning will randomly go off during anytime of the day, even at night. I have also had all the side collision warnings just stay yellow in the screen while driving. Just recently when I was driving in the mountains of GA, I had everything go off & the "Forward Drivin... Read more
Incident date: Jul 11, 2024
My car burns so much oil, we have to add oil to it every time we go on a hour or longer trip. Doing research and according to my mechanic the 2012-2017 equinox has an engine defect that causes it to burn excessive oil. This issue needs to be recalled. It makes the vehicle unsafe to drive because you can not predict how much oil it will use!
Incident date: Jun 12, 2024
Over 40mph attempts to make subtle adjustments to maintain lane following, the steering seems to bind slightly. Extra pressure overcomes the resistance but overcorrects leading to weaving in and sometimes out of the lane. It seems more pronounced the longer the trip as if perhaps heat exacerbates the problem. This is dangerous and I am afraid of worsening.
Incident date: Jul 8, 2024
Electrical problem causing the passenger side low beam to keep burning out. Fourth time in one year. Vehicle is available for inspection upon request. This issue causes a safety concern because you can be driving down the highway at night and all of a sudden you have no headlight.
Incident date: Jul 6, 2024
The contact owns a 2020 Ford Edge. The contact stated while driving 20-35 MPH, the vehicle shuddered and jerked while shifting into gear. There was no warning light illuminated. Additionally, the contact stated while driving 70 MPH, the vehicle hesitated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was test-driven, and the failure was replicated. The contact was referred to another ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 6, 2024
Recently, I had a flat tire. Our 2024 CR-V Hybrid does not have a spare. The tire inflator/sealant did not repair the flat. We were two hours away from home on a Saturday afternoon, and no tire repair shops were open. We had the car towed to the nearest tire repair shop and left for the rest of the weekend since no repair places were open Sunday. Monday we drove two hours to get the car. The... Read more
Incident date: Jul 6, 2024
The contact owns a 2020 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that on several occasions while driving at various speeds, the "Engine Maintenance Required" message was displayed. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the coolant bypass control value needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage... Read more
Incident date: Jul 6, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated while driving 50 MPH, the vehicle jerked while accelerating and while braking. The contact stated that the failure recurred several times while driving. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the transmission had failed and needed to be rebuilt. The ve... Read more
Incident date: Jul 6, 2024
The contact owns a 2020 Honda Ridgeline. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 24V321000 (Back Over Prevention) and 24V064000 (Air Bags) however, the parts to do the recall repairs were 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 awa... Read more
Incident date: Jun 17, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Buick Enclave. The contact was notified of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V334000 (Air Bags). The local dealer was made aware of the issue and three separate appointments were scheduled to have the recall repair performed. The contact arrived for the appointments and was informed that parts were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable... Read more
Incident date: May 10, 2024
The engine light keeps going on and off and I reported to their dealer a couple times during the warranty but when they checked the car the light got off and they asked me to keep driving it until out of warranty and they ask me to pay for fix the same problem
Incident date: May 10, 2024
The engine light keeps going on and off and I reported to their dealer a couple times during the warranty but when they checked the car the light got off and they asked me to keep driving it until out of warranty and they ask me to pay for fix the same problem
Incident date: Feb 3, 2024
The rear passenger window exploded while driving. It shattered all over the passenger seat and middle seat. Luckily, there was no one in the back seat when it occurred.
Incident date: Jul 5, 2024
The contact owns a 2012 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while attempting to accelerate from and stationary position, the transmission malfunctioned, and the vehicle hesitated while accelerating. The vehicle was taken to the local mechanic who diagnosed that the transmission was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer and local dealer were notified o... Read more
Incident date: Apr 2, 2024
Vehicle was on clear two lane road, no vehicles in sight to front, nor opposing lane, or even in Rear view. Speed between 45 and 50 mph. Vehicle was headed approximately south, and the road was shaded by trees to the west. Miles on odometer 1961.8 . Red warning appeared on dash, indicating to prepare for collision. We note that this is not the first time in the young life of this vehicle this ... Read more
Incident date: May 31, 2024
Paint started chipping away from hood and roof 2 months after purchase I am the 2nd owner so warranty is voided
Incident date: Jul 3, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at undisclosed speeds, the vehicle unexpectedly shifted into gear without driver input. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, who informed the contact that the vehicle was not under recall. The contact stated that a diagnostic test determined that the failure was due to a ... Read more
Incident date: Dec 20, 2023
The contact owns a 2013 Hyundai Tucson. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the contact became aware of a failure with the transmission. The contact stated that the vehicle stalled and shuddered while attempting to change gear. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact restarted the vehicle; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where i... Read more
Incident date: Jul 1, 2024
The panel next the windows on both sides are cracking. The dealer said they need to be replaced on my dime. After doing a search for this problem, it appears that this is a common problem. It appears to be an issue with the seal and hot/cold weather creating the issue.
Incident date: Jun 25, 2024
The sliding drivers side door is locked shut and will not open. I have seen a notice for this vehicle model but for some reason this VIN does not show it.
LINCOLN
CONTINENTAL
(2017) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Jun 29, 2024
Incident date: Mar 1, 2023
The electrical system: truck will make clicking noises after I turn it off and the keys are out of ignition. Radio won’t go off when it’s supposed to. I have fan on in my truck for the heat/ac and it blows out of the wrong vent or if I have dial on high there is nothing coming out. When I’m walking away from the truck it will start making noises. Head lights are dim inside lights are dim. I... Read more
LINCOLN
CONTINENTAL
(2017) - EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Jun 29, 2024
Incident date: Jan 15, 2024
The electrical system: truck will make clicking noises after I turn it off and the keys are out of ignition. Radio won’t go off when it’s supposed to. I have fan on in my truck for the heat/ac and it blows out of the wrong vent or if I have dial on high there is nothing coming out. When I’m walking away from the truck it will start making noises. Head lights are dim inside lights are dim. I... Read more
LINCOLN
CONTINENTAL
(2017) - ENGINE
Jun 29, 2024
Incident date: Jun 17, 2024
The electrical system: truck will make clicking noises after I turn it off and the keys are out of ignition. Radio won’t go off when it’s supposed to. I have fan on in my truck for the heat/ac and it blows out of the wrong vent or if I have dial on high there is nothing coming out. When I’m walking away from the truck it will start making noises. Head lights are dim inside lights are dim. I... Read more
Incident date: May 16, 2024
Excessive oil consumption, loss of power, knocking, oil pressure light on, but has oil. vehicle has 72,000 miles. Available for inspection. Possible engine lockup if oil pressure drops during driving. may cause accident. It has not been confirmed, but i have read many problems associated with this problem on the internet. I will be taking the vehicle for Kia to inspect. problem started about 4 mon... Read more
Incident date: May 16, 2024
HCU and ABS module brake failure causing the ABS and traction control warning lights and audible tone to intermittently go off. This also results in the cruise control failing to work. This is the second time of such occurrence. First at 3 years old and 30k miles and second at 6 years old and 50.5k miles.
Incident date: Jun 28, 2024
Vehicle's AC continuously goes from coldest temperature to high heat on its own and cannot be turned off. You can hit the Max AC button and numbers will read 60 and work it's way up to "HIGH" heat within just a few seconds. This happens at any given moment and will not stop until it wants to. Cruise control turns off while driving and collision warning sensor comes on. Once this happens, you can... Read more
Incident date: Jun 28, 2024
Vehicle's AC continuously goes from coldest temperature to high heat on its own and cannot be turned off. You can hit the Max AC button and numbers will read 60 and work it's way up to "HIGH" heat within just a few seconds. This happens at any given moment and will not stop until it wants to. Cruise control turns off while driving and collision warning sensor comes on. Once this happens, you can... Read more
Incident date: Jun 28, 2024
The contact owns a 2014 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the engine overheated with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was able to be restarted but the failure persisted. The vehicle was towed to the dealer; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed, but it was stated by the dealer that the engine was repaired. The vehicle was repaired but ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 28, 2024
The contact owns a 2014 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the engine overheated with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was able to be restarted but the failure persisted. The vehicle was towed to the dealer; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed, but it was stated by the dealer that the engine was repaired. The vehicle was repaired but ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 28, 2024
My Q5 requires an additional quart of oil approximately every 500-1000 miles since purchased in early August . Services included two oil changes, replacement of pan gasket and fill tube O-ring. No drips on the ground, just a minimum level reading every 30 days. That definitely should not be happening without some plausible explanation other than "That's what German cars do. I have a BMW and the ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 27, 2024
On my truck my ABS and traction control light came on as well as a message that say to service ABS system. The parts are on back order for a year now. This problem has surfaced on many Ram 2500's. I contacted the dealer and they don't have parts to fix if. When driving in wet conditions especially while towing a trailer the wheels lock up while breaking. I've been towing going down hill and have... Read more