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 29,895 complaints for MAZDA
Incident date: Dec 22, 2023
There is a recall on my vehicle, took it to the chevy dealership I purchased, I've been waiting since 2022 for them to notify me if/when they receive such part, here it's two years later and still no recall fixture.
Incident date: Dec 22, 2023
The contact owns a 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5. The contact stated that while driving at 50–60 MPH, the Forward Collision Avoidance and Lane Assist warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where the instrument cluster went blank. The dealer was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The manufacturer was contacted and opened a case. The manufacturer sent a techn... Read more
Incident date: Aug 23, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Edge. The contact stated that while his daughter was driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated on the instrument panel. The contact's daughter was able to reach her destination, but afterwards, the vehicle failed to start. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, who determined that coolant intrusion into the cylinders had damaged the engi... Read more
Incident date: Jul 14, 2023
vsa modulator in the honda accords go bad, SPECIALLY the 2013-2017 Model Years. There are so many bulltins etc on the internet if you look it up youd see ,millions of people are having the same issue. This affets braking & traction. Traction control is no longer useable and the ABS System does not work since this is all apart of the ABS system. search honda accord vsa modulator recall 2016 honda a... Read more
Incident date: Nov 20, 2023
There is a toyota service bulletin for known transmission issues with this vehicle. I had noticed that my gears weren't shifting properly. The dealer checked vehicle and said transmission was bad, and that toyota would replace it, for free. However, the part would take one month to arrive. This all occurred on 1/9/2024. I was told by the dealer that Toyota would not cover a rental car while t... Read more
Incident date: Nov 20, 2023
I am reporting a problem with the 2016 Honda Pilot audio system. It sounds identical to the reported problems that have lead to a recall for the 2018-2022 models. The system works fine initially, but after 30 minutes of driving, the system becomes filled with static noise. The static noise starts out low, but quickly gets to the point where nothing else can be heard. This is across all input chann... Read more
Incident date: Jan 9, 2024
The rear seat doesn’t detect kids under 50lbs. Putting the seat in car seat mode only disables the seatbelt alert and doesn’t keep the rear fans on. You can turn them on manually, but the car forgets that they should stay on if you precondition the cabin from the mobile app. Meaning that my child cooks in the back seat due to lack of rear cabin conditioning unless I remember to turn it back on... Read more
Incident date: Jan 8, 2024
When I start the engine, I hear pronounced knocking sounds in the engine for approximately 1-2 seconds, and they are quite loud. As the engine warms up, the knocking persists, albeit at a lower volume. The ongoing knocks are not as loud, resembling a consistent noise similar to that of a diesel engine, although it is not a diesel-powered vehicle
Incident date: Dec 10, 2016
Overly sensitive automatic emergency braking/pedestrian warning. System would alert with lights and audible warning for no reason driving at ~55mph. While turning around in a Michigan left turn, system went off and brakes applied abruptly until I was at complete stop. No vehicles or persons were in front of me. There was a car following closely behind which almost hit me. Fast forward a few w... Read more
Incident date: Sep 8, 2023
The power steering on the vehicle had failed on December 10th, 2023. The sign was displayed on the dashboard for the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to Sunrise Chevy and stayed with them for a month for repair and they have been unable to repair the issue. They said the rack and pinion had gone bad on this brand new car. This is very dangerous as the safety of myself as well as others on the road a... Read more
Incident date: Jan 7, 2024
The vehicle experiences a sudden and dramatic steering wheel shacking with intense vibration and loss of steering control. Seems to mostly happen at speeds above 40 miles per hour when making a turn or after hitting a road imperfection. The dealership has informed that his is related to the “Customer Satisfaction Notification V41 Steering Damper” [XXX] ) and that it should be brought in for... Read more
Incident date: Jan 19, 2021
In tighter corners the car coasts/brakes unnecessarily while cruise is on. Seems like a safety feature possibly or a malfunction as I haven't had that on any other cruise controls on other vehicles. Then after the corner it accelerates. I find very annoying. If this is considered a safety feature then ok but it is way to sensitive currently and needs an update.
Incident date: Jan 19, 2021
There is a service recall campaign for my model car but dealer/mercedes usa doesn't have the recall linking my car to it from my VIN. Campaign number is P-RC-2021070010. It is to replace the front stationary sunroof panel because it may not have been bonded correctly and could fly off and hit someone. My vehicle did have this same part rattle in 2017 during a cross-country trip.
Incident date: Jan 8, 2024
There is a service recall campaign for my model car but dealer/mercedes usa doesn't have the recall linking my car to it from my VIN. Campaign number is P-RC-2021070010. It is to replace the front stationary sunroof panel because it may not have been bonded correctly and could fly off and hit someone. My vehicle did have this same part rattle in 2017 during a cross-country trip.
Incident date: Jan 8, 2024
- Fuel injectors all need to be replaced - Cylinder misfire on a very new vehicle that should be relied upon - Dealer confirmed fuel injectors need to be replaced. Stated that this is a very common issue "I've seen a million of these". I asked why it would fail so early in the car's life and the dealer stated "problem with the milling process ... small needle like pieces break off and clog" - No -... Read more
Incident date: Jan 8, 2024
The contact owns a 2023 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the instrument panel and display screen went blank at every one and a half miles. The Parking Brake and Front Camera Malfunction, Clear Screen messages were displayed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the instrument panel needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repa... Read more
Incident date: Jan 3, 2024
The contact owns a 2023 Honda CR-V. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel failed to function as intended. The contact stated that the steering wheel was sticking. The vehicle was taken to the dealer however, the failure could not be duplicated. The failure reoccurred. The vehicle was scheduled to be serviced at the dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed o... Read more
Incident date: Jan 3, 2024
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle shuddered and hesitated to respond. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with transmission clutch shudder. The dealer determined that the transmission clutch needed to be replaced. The dealer informed the contac... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2019
A recall was issued for this vehicle about 17 months ago and a remedy is still unavailable. We find this to be unacceptable especially considering it is a safety hazard.
Incident date: Jan 1, 2019
I noticed my brakes started squeaking when I would push the braking pedal. One day, I was pulling up to a bank, drive-through, applying pressure to the brakes, and I had stopped. I let off the break to pull up a little farther, but when reapplying the break, the pedal went all the way to the floor and there was a warning light saying something about servicing the brakes. I immediately picked up my... Read more
Incident date: Jan 5, 2024
I have yet to experience a safety problem due to the recall associated with my vehicle. However, the recall relates to brake fluid leaking and catching fire when the car is either parked or in drive. Because Hyundai has yet to find a remedy for this dangerous recall in a timely manner, it has brought great anxiety and fear as a young driver.
Incident date: May 2, 2021
The front trunk flew open without any warning and smashed the front windshield. We could not see. We never received any info on recalls.
Incident date: Jan 6, 2024
Collision around 45 to 50 mph. Airbags frontal and side airbags didnt deployed Two vehicles invaded my lane and I ran into the second vehicle .
Crash
Incident date: Jan 6, 2024
Abs system is failing light comes on then brakes don’t catch, airbags message keeps coming on . Pulling in to store when it done it end up hitting the metal pipe in from of store to stop
Crash
Incident date: Dec 7, 2023
The car caught fire on the highway. Per firemen there was a problem with the engine and fuel and it caught fire in under 3 minutes...
Fire
Incident date: Dec 18, 2023
Front suspension components need to be replaced due to loud creaking noise, vehicle is out of warranty and has only 42687 miles. There are several bulletins on related suspension issues, [XXX] Testa did replace the controls arms in this car on 09/09/2021 but it seems like the same defective parts were used. They replaced defective parts under warranty with the same type of defective parts but ar... Read more
Incident date: Dec 4, 2023
Was in a frontal collision air bags failed to deploy and forward collision system did not work. Received error messages from both systems that they failed
Crash
Incident date: Nov 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ram 3500. The contact stated while driving 60 MPH, the vehicle unintendedly steered to the right. There was no warning light illuminated. The contacted turned the steering wheel between the 10 and 11 0’clock positions to keep the vehicle aligned. The contact stated that the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and was then towed to a local mechanic howev... Read more
Incident date: Jan 3, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 GMC Yukon. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 45 MPH, the brake pedal was depressed; however, the brake pedal remained on the floorboard. The contact stated that the vehicle was driven until the vehicle eventually slowed down. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed and determined that the rotors and brake pads needed to b... Read more
Incident date: Jan 3, 2023
Acura Integra MY2023, 6MT. Steering sticks when make normal minor steering corrections, requiring additional force on the part of the driver to get the wheel to respond. This is especially noticeable at highway speeds. The sticky steering creates the risk of overcorrection and potential for an accident when in traffic on a multi-lane highway. I am unable to safely drive the car while this steering... Read more
Incident date: Jan 3, 2023
Rear windshield exploded while the vehicle was parked in the garage. The glass formed a dome outwards in the center of the windshield approximately 1.5 inches.
Incident date: Jan 3, 2023
After noticing my engine light come on, I had my vehicle checked out, the dealer informed (after spending $250.00) that the problem is the crankcase ventilation and it's a common problem. It seems the oh so familiar crankcase ventilation system is not working. This is a common problem with the GLC300 and Mercedes Benz needs to correct it. The engine is not being ventilated properly and the ove... Read more
Incident date: Jan 3, 2024
Noticed rust bubble in the inner and outer paint of the driver front door pillar December 2021. Noticed it was getting substantially worse and reported it to Subaru July 2022. They said there was no pinhole in the rust and would not be covered. Showed it to Subaru again in 2023, and said it is not covered under their 5 year rust plan. It is now January 2024, and the paint as well as base metal i... Read more
Incident date: Dec 22, 2023
I recently filed a safety problem concerning my brakes activating for no reason. It had happened 3 times before I filed. It want to report that it happened a 4th time. On New Year's Eve, at approximately 6:20PM, I was driving on a 4 lane road about 35-40 MPH when my brakes slammed down hard. There was a long beeping sound only while the car was breaking but no other indicators. It was raining and ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 2, 2024
The contact owns a 1991 Jeep Wrangler. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 02V041000 (Parking Brake), 94V106000 (Fuel System, Gasoline) however, the part to do the recall repair was not available at the contacts local dealer. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2024
The contact owns a 2014 Ram Promaster equipped with Michelin Tires, Tire Line: Agilis CrossClimate C-Metric, Tire Size: 225/75/R16, DOT Number: (N/A). The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23T002000 (Tires) 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 ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 2, 2024
I went on a road trip to see family which needed 5 hours of travel. After returning and parking the car, I noticed a knocking noise coming from the engine bay when it was started and was idling. After doing what I could to rule out possible problems I concluded the Flexplate might be the culprit due to Recall 22N12 with Ford. A short time later, my car started to stall if I did not keep my RPM's h... Read more
Incident date: Jan 2, 2024
The contact owns a 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan. The contact stated that while driving from a complete stop, the accelerator pedal was depressed, but the vehicle responded sluggishly and the transmission was stuck in first gear, nearly causing a crash. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact veered to the side of the road. The contact checked the dipstick and verified that there wa... Read more
Incident date: Dec 10, 2022
Driving on the freeway 70mph on cruise control. Not auto pilot. No one around us and no warning. Suddenly car applied brakes on its own and dramatically slowed. Good thing there was no one behind us or else there would have been an accident and we would have been badly injured. Monday Jan 1 2024 1:35pm
Incident date: Dec 1, 2023
When I am idling at a stop sign or sitting in traffic and I have come to a full stop, the car's engine shuts down as a gas-saving feature. This is not the problem! The problem is that sometimes when this feature engages, when I lift my foot off the brake to start driving again, a shrill constant ringing sound starts and the engine won't power back on. There is an error message that comes on that s... Read more
Incident date: Dec 1, 2023
When I am idling at a stop sign or sitting in traffic and I have come to a full stop, the car's engine shuts down as a gas-saving feature. This is not the problem! The problem is that sometimes when this feature engages, when I lift my foot off the brake to start driving again, a shrill constant ringing sound starts and the engine won't power back on. There is an error message that comes on that s... Read more
Incident date: Dec 1, 2023
When I am idling at a stop sign or sitting in traffic and I have come to a full stop, the car's engine shuts down as a gas-saving feature. This is not the problem! The problem is that sometimes when this feature engages, when I lift my foot off the brake to start driving again, a shrill constant ringing sound starts and the engine won't power back on. There is an error message that comes on that s... Read more
Incident date: Dec 30, 2023
The oil light kept coming on over the course of a couple weeks. We changed the oil, and it seem to be running better for a few hours. Then the car started beeping at the driver, the acceleration was effected . It was making clicking noises and lots of warning signs. The car would barely move forward and the driver had to pull off into a neighborhood. We then have the car towed to the Ford dealersh... Read more
Incident date: Dec 30, 2023
Same issue as 400 other people the steering sticks when Turing and I have to apply force to get it it go back to center, can’t drive straight down the road past 50 it’s like I’m a drunk driver anytime I’m on the freeway I’ve had the alignment checked and it’s in spec manager at Honda approved rack replacement but no eta it has been 2 months now and I’ve already almost crashed the car... Read more
Incident date: Nov 29, 2023
Transmission failed after 106k miles, incurring $7k of repair costs. The failure caused the vehicle to seriously hesitate and could have resulted in an unexpected slow down while driving. There was no warning ahead of time outside slight hesitation on accelerating which my auto repair shop determined was spark plug related. Then suddenly when driving my son home from a friends house the check e... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2023
Driving around corners and steering will not return back to center……will stay in turning position and must force the steering wheel back to center …..as to unstick it. The Sticky steering can be felt and even heard when reversing and turning to maneuver in place to park. The problem was confirmed by Honda dealer of Port Charlotte , Florida where a steering rack has been ordered. BACKORDERED... Read more
Incident date: Dec 13, 2023
Horn stopped working right after I bought this truck from a dealer. I did some research on why it stopped. I was told and also read that it was the air bag clock spring. This controls the air bags and horn and other components. What it is the clock spring was installed by Toyota that had a bad spot on it. This causes the wiring harness to start rubbing and cutting into the wires. Would cause the h... Read more
Incident date: Dec 13, 2023
Horn stopped working right after I bought this truck from a dealer. I did some research on why it stopped. I was told and also read that it was the air bag clock spring. This controls the air bags and horn and other components. What it is the clock spring was installed by Toyota that had a bad spot on it. This causes the wiring harness to start rubbing and cutting into the wires. Would cause the h... Read more
Incident date: Dec 13, 2023
Horn stopped working right after I bought this truck from a dealer. I did some research on why it stopped. I was told and also read that it was the air bag clock spring. This controls the air bags and horn and other components. What it is the clock spring was installed by Toyota that had a bad spot on it. This causes the wiring harness to start rubbing and cutting into the wires. Would cause the h... Read more