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: May 26, 2023
245/45R17 CONTINENTAL EXTREME TIRE WORN NEAR THE SIDE WALL TO THE PLY WITH THE CENTER TREAD BEING OK ON BOTH FRONT TIRES.
Incident date: Aug 8, 2023
My driver door hinge has come apart from door due to welding, which has impacted my window from going down and although i lock the doors they are still able to come unlock by pulling door handle which leaves my car vunerable to vandelism or theft. i made an appointment and got the first date available. My vehicle is a lease and out of warranty although I paid for extra miles and after showing them... Read more
Incident date: Aug 7, 2023
The contact owns a 2013 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 60 MPH, the vehicle decelerated and shifted into LIMP Mode. The service required a warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the speedometer fluctuated erratically. Additionally, the contact stated that he used a code reader to diagnose the vehicle and retrieved DTC code: P0720. The vehicle was ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 31, 2023
Rear brakes rotors and pads are wearing out quickly. Vehicle has 14,000 miles and rear brakes need to be replaced. Front brakes and rotors are wearing as normal
Incident date: Aug 15, 2022
After work on my way home (clear weather), I was driving my 2020 F150 on the highway with Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) engaged. Suddenly, I noticed that the ACC system was not responding properly to the traffic ahead, and it was not maintaining a safe distance as it usually does. I attempted to disengage the system, but it failed to respond, leaving me unable to control the vehicle's speed manual... Read more
Incident date: Aug 6, 2023
NHTSA Recall # 23V-431. MOST cable needs to be replaced for the backup camera. Received recall notification on August 5, contacted dealer on August 7 to schedule repair. I was given November 28 as the date for the recall repair. That date is 113 days from my scheduled date. This time frame is unacceptable and more than the 60 days noted in the recall letter.
Incident date: Aug 6, 2023
After 3 months, vehicle started showing intermittent warnings at startup related to multiple collision warning systems-- forward collision, blindspot sensors, rear cross traffic. Over a few weeks, it was no longer intermittent and occurred every time. Multiple ACD systems wouldn't function due to blind spot sensor failures. Multiple repair attempts and issue occurred again and dealer has been u... Read more
Incident date: Aug 6, 2023
After 3 months, vehicle started showing intermittent warnings at startup related to multiple collision warning systems-- forward collision, blindspot sensors, rear cross traffic. Over a few weeks, it was no longer intermittent and occurred every time. Multiple ACD systems wouldn't function due to blind spot sensor failures. Multiple repair attempts and issue occurred again and dealer has been u... Read more
Incident date: Aug 6, 2023
-There is a loud clicking sound from the rear wheel that could be caused by the rear wheel bearing/final drive. As a result, I am very worried about riding it because a failure could be catastrophic. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. -It is my concern that the Information System has been designed in a way that BMW Motorrad to show that Recall obligations have been fulfilled tho... Read more
Incident date: Aug 4, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, there was an abnormal rattling sound detected. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where a software update was completed, and it was determined that the cam phasers needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and referred t... Read more
Incident date: Jul 31, 2023
Took the vehicle out of the garage, drove 3 miles to the highway, got on the highway, traveling 65MPH, within 15 minutes of leaving home and no more than 5-10 minutes on the highway, the passenger rear tire blew out without warning, I did not hit any debris in the road. The vehicle veered with the sudden loss of pressure, no accident but occurred during rush hour. There were OEM on a 23.5yr Land ... Read more
MAZDA
CX-90 PLUG-IN HYBRID
(2024) - POWER TRAIN
Aug 3, 2023
Incident date: Jul 30, 2023
The contact called on behalf of her husband who owns a 2013 Ford F-150. The contact stated while her husband was driving 40-50 MPH, the vehicle downshifted unexpectedly to 1st gear. The power train warning light was illuminated. The contact's husband shifted into neutral (N), veered to the side of the road and turned off the vehicle. The contact stated that upon restarting the vehicle and shifting... Read more
MAZDA
CX-90 PLUG-IN HYBRID
(2024) - STEERING
Aug 3, 2023
Incident date: Jul 30, 2023
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while driving at 65 MPH, the steering wheel seized and became inoperable. The contact shifted into neutral (N) and veered to the shoulder of the road. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the steering column had failed and needed to be replaced; however, the vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the fa... Read more
MAZDA
CX-90 PLUG-IN HYBRID
(2024) - ENGINE
Aug 3, 2023
Incident date: Jul 30, 2023
Total engine failure while driving ~70 MPH, on a 4-5 lane highway, during rush hour traffic. No CEL activated, other vehicles had to swerve around my truck while I maneuvered the lanes with no engine power. Myself and my 5 year old son are lucky to be alive. 66k miles on truck when engine failed, issues started at 41K miles. Have taken vehicle to multiple Ford dealerships, 13 times in the last 2 y... Read more
Incident date: Aug 3, 2023
Driver was parking the car in a parking lot at a very slow speed. The car suddenly shot forward at a very high rate of speed, requiring evasive steering from trees and a fence, until the car crashed head-on into another vehicle. The driver is very certain the brakes only were applied during the entire time the car shot forward. Airbags were not deployed. Bystanders were within six feet of the c... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jul 31, 2023
Can’t the start the truck, it shows “stop safety”
Incident date: Jul 11, 2023
The rear drivers side slider door has locked shut and no amount of tries to release the lock will work. This is a major safety concern being that we cannot open the door manually or otherwise in case of emergency
Incident date: Apr 1, 2023
According to a ford representative my vehicle should have been included in the 21N03 recall but was not. Because of this the cam phasers are failing and I have to repair them. Fords warranty expired 1 January 2023 but my millage is low for the vehicle. Mu vehicle no longer qualified for the repairs. Even tho the defective parts did fail under 65k miles.
Incident date: Apr 1, 2023
While towing the trailer loaded with a boat the right hand side single leaf spring snapped in half causing the axle to break free and shift backwards and the tire to begin rubbing against the fender/trailer frame. Luckily this happened at low speed at a boat launch and did not happen on the highway. Previously there were no signs of trouble, but examining the fracture of the leaf spring reveale t... Read more
Incident date: Oct 30, 2021
The contact owns a 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid. The contact stated that the vehicle was repaired on July 28, 2023, under NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V010000 (Electrical System, Hybrid Propulsion System). The contact stated that after the service visit at the dealer, the vehicle was driven to the residence and parked in a closed garage. The contact stated that on July 29, 2023, he entered the garage... Read more
Incident date: May 2, 2023
exhaust manifold bolts broke allowing exhaust gases into truck.
Incident date: Jul 30, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V215000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was made aware of the issue. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had n... Read more
Incident date: Jul 11, 2023
The steering rack and intermediate shaft in the steering wheel Go bad and what happens is it makes having an alignment impossible Not only that but the vehicle clunks with every turn [XXX] Being a Pontiac it was a joint venture between Toyota And GM Thus Affecting many Toyota Corolla Prius and matrix As Toyota got a recall Pontiac did not INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM O... Read more
Incident date: Jul 30, 2023
My engine is making noise, I have to add oil everyday and there are no leaks under my car. The engine gets hot, i feel like it can catch fire.
Incident date: Jul 27, 2023
Excessive oil consumption NM, replaced catalytic converter twice. Losing power again. 122450 miles. Trans mission slipping, not shifting into higher gear. Gas mpg down to 19mpg. Unsafe on highway, loses speed and revs too high
Incident date: Apr 26, 2023
Takata recall. The contact owns a 2016 Volkswagen Beetle. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V945000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The manufacturer was contacted, and it was confirmed that the part was not yet available. The local dealer was not contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of... Read more
Incident date: Jul 26, 2023
On three separate occasions, after stopping at a traffic light or in a parking lot, I was unable to move my car. The first time, the transmission dropped into neutral and I was unable to get it to any other gear . I had to turn off and restart the car multiple times to get it into gear. I was on a heavily trafficked road with multiple cars behind me at the light. Turned my flashers on and pra... Read more
Incident date: Jun 30, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated while driving approximately 45 MPH, several unknown warning lights illuminated, and the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was restarted on the third attempt. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the oil pump needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mil... Read more
Incident date: Jul 9, 2023
Both exhaust manifolds cracked creating an exhaust allowing exhaust gases/fumes into the vehicles cabin causing an obvious safety issue. No warnings lights of any sort, the components were inspected by the dealership and confirmed that they were cracked. This is a recurring problem as a quick search about ram exhaust manifolds will provide a never ending list of stories and the dealer themselves s... Read more
Incident date: Jul 10, 2023
Car steering wheel became “sticky” and “jerky” and felt like lane keeping assistance was on preventing car from turning properly. Clicking noise and scraping started. Took to dealership and was told new tires required. Aware of multiple service bulletins and March 2023 class action regarding steering. Took to different dealership who is charging $3800 to replace steering rack. Allegedly no... Read more
Incident date: Jul 10, 2023
Car steering wheel became “sticky” and “jerky” and felt like lane keeping assistance was on preventing car from turning properly. Clicking noise and scraping started. Took to dealership and was told new tires required. Aware of multiple service bulletins and March 2023 class action regarding steering. Took to different dealership who is charging $3800 to replace steering rack. Allegedly no... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2021
I change my oil religiously on my 2020 Grand Cherokee, which has 67,000 miles on it. I went in today to change it at Bettenhausen Dodge (Bettenhausen Motor Sales Inc - Jeep, 8355 W 159th St, Tinley Park, IL 60477; [XXX] ; Phone: [XXX] ), and [XXX] , the service manager manager, told me I had no oil left in my car. He said something went wrong with a pump or something, and as a result I have no eng... Read more
Incident date: Jul 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 BMW X5. The contact stated while having the vehicle washed, the technician became aware that the floor carpeting on the front driver’s side was wet and had mold and mildew. The vehicle was taken to the dealer that stated that the vehicle was experiencing the failure listed in TSB: SIB 64 04 21; however, the vehicle was not covered under the service bulletin and advised to... Read more
Incident date: Jul 23, 2023
The power steering failed while driving. The problem has been confirmed by the dealer service shop. The dealership has said that there is over 400 vehicles with the same issue. The dealership confirmed that it's a steering box issue.
Incident date: Jul 23, 2023
The is corrosion on frame and crossbars my jeep is rotting away, as 2nd owner with 85 thousand miles this shouldn’t be rusting away, dealer and jeep will do nothing as saying corrosion warranty and extended coverage x69 front rear crossmembers expired.
Incident date: Jul 24, 2023
225 / 55R18 Bought new 2023 Honda HRV Tires need replaced at 31,000 miles tread is gone. All Honda required tire rotation completed at dealership
Incident date: Sep 22, 2021
Separation between belts near the sidewall Cooper cs5 grand touring 205/65 r16. I have had 4 tires that this has happened to. Replaced both front tires twice. This seems to be a recurring problem with these tires.
Incident date: Sep 22, 2021
Separation between belts near the sidewall Cooper cs5 grand touring 205/65 r16. I have had 4 tires that this has happened to. Replaced both front tires twice. This seems to be a recurring problem with these tires.
Incident date: Sep 22, 2021
Rear passenger doors will not open from inside or outside. Only will open occasionally after repeatedly pulling aggressively. Or getting into back seat to push on the cable within door handle. It is a safety hazard to get my kids out of the back seat.
Incident date: Jun 29, 2023
“Engine maintenance required - see dealer” message around 60k miles and subsequent coolant bypass valve issue should be a RECALL for 2019 RAV4s. Toyota either deliberately enabled this message to pop up to require vehicle owners to spend over $600 at Toyota dealerships, installed faulty coolant bypass valves, and/or failed to properly code messages in the vehicles. The message will not go away... Read more
Incident date: Jul 21, 2023
Brand new 2023 Mazda CX-5 with 150 miles on it experienced unintended acceleration while braking. Pulled into a parking spot with my foot on the brakes but the car didn't stop & even accelerated over a sidewalk and into a building. I experienced a bruise from the seatbelt. Airbags did not deploy. Someone could have been killed if they had been on the sidewalk. Car is currently at an auto body shop... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Jul 21, 2023
Brand new 2023 Mazda CX-5 with 150 miles on it experienced unintended acceleration while braking. Pulled into a parking spot with my foot on the brakes but the car didn't stop & even accelerated over a sidewalk and into a building. I experienced a bruise from the seatbelt. Airbags did not deploy. Someone could have been killed if they had been on the sidewalk. Car is currently at an auto body shop... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Jul 21, 2023
No incident yet. Have LED projection lights which are supposed to prevent glare to oncoming drivers. Live in rural area where there is little lighting. Even on dim, lights apparently are too bright & other drivers flash their brights as if I have them on bright. Don't understand how this helps safety. The projection prevents me from seeing the top 2/3 of screen at night the dark cut off line allow... Read more
Incident date: Jul 14, 2023
Today my wife was driving our 2013 Chrysler Town and Country. I took some pictures of the headrest popped open. I watched some YouTube videos about it to find out that it is a safety feature if the vehicle is in a rear end collision. This van however was not in an accident. Since it is Saturday, my dealer's service department is not open. I will have to call them on Monday.
Incident date: Jul 14, 2023
I recently replaced the battery but noticed the car was still missing. I had similar issue in February and catalytic converter was replaced. Three days ago I noticed the car was misfiring and EPC light as well as check engine light came on. I had OBD code checked and my car is misfiring on pistons 2 and 3.
Incident date: Jul 14, 2023
The vehicle has a brake light over the hatch but no bottom brake lights. Replaced bulbs and fuses and brake light switch and still no brake lights. Took it to a shop and they don't know what's wrong. After getting gas I crunk car, put it in drive and car started going in reverse and front air wouldn't work either but back air did. It seems to be an electrical issue. Just got vehicle in June of 202... Read more
Incident date: Sep 9, 2021
After yhe vehicle warning flashed for no reason, (big orange BRAKE light on dash), The vehicle stopped with absolutely nothing in fron of it.
Incident date: Jul 21, 2023
My spare tire hoist cable broke causing the spare tire to fall away from vehicle into traffic.
Incident date: Jul 4, 2023
Like to report due to lack of fix a recall as fuel starvation - which have a High pressure Fuel pump defective I ended paid the cost of Filter diesel plus other other damage parts. Now seems to be that I eat the cost of recall. Out the blue now the part is on order. I am very sure the High Pressure Fuel Pump is defectives has damage other components.