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: Mar 10, 2023
on a recent 800 mile road trip, there were no less than 7 incidents of the vehicle suddenly braking on its own while on cruise control with no vehicles in front of us. one incident occurred with a semi truck behind us that almost caused an accident. the car went from 80 mph to 45 mph before I had time to react and press the gas pedal.
Incident date: Jul 17, 2023
in May 2023 the visors of the vehicle hinge melted causing the visors to hang down to eye level and would not hold up causing visibly issues for driver and passenger. dealer said it is a common issue in heat but it blocks forward visibility and won't hold up and if there were and accident, forward movement of passenger or driver can cause the head to hit the visor causing injury.
Incident date: Jul 17, 2023
in May 2023 the visors of the vehicle hinge melted causing the visors to hang down to eye level and would not hold up causing visibly issues for driver and passenger. dealer said it is a common issue in heat but it blocks forward visibility and won't hold up and if there were and accident, forward movement of passenger or driver can cause the head to hit the visor causing injury.
Incident date: May 8, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, there was an abnormal sound coming from the engine. The contact stated that the vehicle stalled, and the gear shifter became inoperable. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed with transmission failure. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced.... Read more
Incident date: May 8, 2023
******* DELETE VOQ ******* THIS COMPLAINT IS BEING MARKED FOR DELETION BECAUSE IT IS REQUESTED BY THE CONSUMER THAT THEY WISH TO HAVE IT REMOVED*DJR ******* DELETE VOQ *******
Incident date: Jan 31, 2022
This situation has now happened twice in the past three months. In the first incident, I was driving around midnight (had only been in the car for about twenty minutes) and my car showed an "engine overheating" warning on my dash and immediately went into limp mode for approximately 5 seconds. After those few seconds, it resumed driving normally and the warning went away. I made it about 1000 feet... Read more
Incident date: Jul 20, 2023
[XXX]. My 2015 silverado with the 5.3 randomly just shuts off. When slowing down and at 10 to 20 mph, the Instrument panel goes dark, the engine shuts off, no power steering or brakes and almost crashed into someone. I turn the key it starts back up, but have to reset time and date and lose radio channels. Once a message about stabilitrac flashed after starting back up. Truck can be for Inspecti... Read more
Incident date: Jul 20, 2023
[XXX]. My 2015 silverado with the 5.3 randomly just shuts off. When slowing down and at 10 to 20 mph, the Instrument panel goes dark, the engine shuts off, no power steering or brakes and almost crashed into someone. I turn the key it starts back up, but have to reset time and date and lose radio channels. Once a message about stabilitrac flashed after starting back up. Truck can be for Inspecti... Read more
Incident date: Jul 20, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 Lincoln Navigator. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V648000 (Visibility, Electrical System) 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 made aware of the issue. The con... Read more
Incident date: Jul 14, 2023
Subject: Safety Concerns with Subaru Solterra - Urgent Attention Required I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to express my serious concerns regarding the safety issues I am experiencing with my newly purchased Subaru Solterra 2023 Touring. Despite my enthusiasm for the vehicle, the problems outlined below have caused me considerable distress and are posing significant risks to both ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 18, 2023
I was driving and slowing down to 45 mph going through Corrigan, TX on 59. The truck all the sudden accelerated pulling to the left, then all of a sudden slammed to the right and went over a curb. I had no steering control and my foot was all the way down on the brakes to try and stop. I'm lucky it didn't happen 20 min before when 75mph was speed limit. The a frame broke, Ball joints, broke rack a... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jul 18, 2023
I was driving and slowing down to 45 mph going through Corrigan, TX on 59. The truck all the sudden accelerated pulling to the left, then all of a sudden slammed to the right and went over a curb. I had no steering control and my foot was all the way down on the brakes to try and stop. I'm lucky it didn't happen 20 min before when 75mph was speed limit. The a frame broke, Ball joints, broke rack a... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jul 18, 2023
Driving at 25 mph and the vehicle alerted "shift to neutral" and came to a complete stop and stalled. Had no warning, couldn't even pull to side of road. Could not start again and had to be towed.
Incident date: Jul 18, 2023
Over the course of approximately four months, my 2018 F-150 transmission progressively shifted more and more abruptly resulting in enough physical damage to warrant the replacement of the entire transmission. It began as a rough shift from 1st to 3rd gear and got worse, eventually becoming a shift from 1st to 3rd, losing power, dropping back to 1st, and then violently slamming into 4th gear. This ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 19, 2023
I turned right into my driveway at a slow speed. As I went onto the driveway, the car surged forward. To avoid driving into the garage door, I turned to the left to drive along the side of my house thinking I would be able to stop it. I kept hitting the break but the car kept going. When the vehicle did not stop, I steered to the right because I thought it could be possible that my neighbor'... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jul 19, 2023
Rear brake lights fail due to an issue known by GMC - MULTIPLE GMC YUKON and YUKON XL have this issue. All within the same year. The metal connector in the Brake housing fails and requires it to be soldered or a complete replacement costing consumers $800+ for replacement. A severe safety issue as the Brake Lights quit working!!
Incident date: Jul 19, 2023
The hood flutters and bounces up and down the entire time I'm driving making me too anxious to drive the car at all. I just bought the car used with 21,000 miles yesterday and noticed it after leaving the dealership to drive home. I have an appt for weatherstripping on 7/24.
Incident date: Jul 12, 2023
The vehicle was not starting and after 3 attempts it started, but a strong smell like gasoline came inside the car, and as I checked, fuel was running all the way to the ground. Major hazard! The vehicle was taken to the dealership and diagnosed with a leak in the High-Pressure Fuel Pump. According to the service advisor NOT COVERED under powerterain warranty. The part just went bad, and ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 4, 2023
I was driving my 2011 Lexus RX 350 on July 7, 2023, to a swimming pool. I was pulling into a parking spot just rolling to a stop with my foot on the brake. The car suddenly accelerated with grate speed and ran on the curb of the sidewalk forward to a small rock wall, I immediately turned the vehicle to the right and pressed down on the brakes, but the vehicle kept moving about 45 feet and came to ... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Jul 4, 2023
My car is braking hard while I'm on the highway. It's happened on this trip 7 times already. In one of braking, My wife almost got rear ended
Incident date: Jun 1, 2023
car began to pull like out of align but upon inspection by tire repair shop it was discovered that the tread was separating on all 4 tires. had 2 replaced at the time. After a few hundred miles the other 2 tires failed in the rear causing the car to shake violently. My kids were on thier way home to Columbus,Ga from Beaufort,S.C. had to leave car there Statesboro, Ga.
Incident date: Jul 1, 2017
Vehicle inspection catalytic converter fumes coming inside vents causing fire an frame issues
Fire
Incident date: Apr 24, 2023
Major safety issue - PHANTOM BRAKING. On 2 separate occasions the vehicle engaged emergency braking while there was no apparent hazard. This phantom braking was very dangerous. This car has adaptive cruise control. It occurred in the exact same spot on Interstate-84 and NE 21st Avenue in Portland, Oregon while traveling east bound. The cruise control was on and engaged in incident 1. Cruise contro... Read more
Incident date: Apr 24, 2023
Major safety issue - PHANTOM BRAKING. On 2 separate occasions the vehicle engaged emergency braking while there was no apparent hazard. This phantom braking was very dangerous. This car has adaptive cruise control. It occurred in the exact same spot on Interstate-84 and NE 21st Avenue in Portland, Oregon while traveling east bound. The cruise control was on and engaged in incident 1. Cruise contro... Read more
Incident date: Jul 12, 2023
I had an oil change at the Feldman Ford Dealership on or around 3/7/2023. On 4/14/2023 at or at round 5-6 pm; I was traveling southbound on I-75 when my 2020 Explorer suddenly slowed down from 70 miles per hour to around 40 miles per hour while I’m in the farthest lane and it wouldn’t go pass 45 miles per hour almost causing the vehicle behind to rear end me. The dash displayed a reading stat... Read more
Incident date: Apr 5, 2023
Transmission jerks continually when accelerating from a stopped position until 20+ mph is reached.
Incident date: Jan 25, 2023
When l park my car it keeps saying it’s not parked
Incident date: Jul 15, 2023
LDrivi at 40 mph on a 45 mph street a car suddenly braked ahead of me I bumped my ignition key fob unintentionally when I went to react quick and went to brake and suddenly the car went off I went to swerve as quickly as I could to not rear end the person upfront but the wheel locked and it was so hard to turn that I even hurt my shouldn’t from trying to avoid the car in front but t ended with m... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jul 11, 2023
While traveling on I70 from Columbia, Missouri to Grand Junction, Colorado and back, we experienced at least 30 incidents of sudden braking while in adaptive cruise control. Some of the incidents were rapid, causing the car to lose 20 to 30 mph within a second. For the most part these occurrences of sudden braking happened on open highway with no other vehicle within 1/2 mile in front of us. W... Read more
Incident date: Jul 11, 2023
All dash lights come on. Fcw system failure. Abs/vsa module failed is what me and a lot of other people with the same car, have the same issues. Abs brake module to replace is $1100 and on backorder and alot of people can't drive there cars, some have had issues that almost caused accidents, mine seems to run fine for now, just started happening. Honda needs to do something about this, way to many... Read more
Incident date: May 14, 2023
My elentra is BLUE....the courage of the hood has faded. Wish you could see it. It has gradually faded. I purchased ii 2019
Incident date: Jul 13, 2023
This vehicle (2018 Honda Odyssey) hesitates when acceleration is attempted after braking. This makes left turns in front of oncoming traffic particularly dangerous. The problem has been widely discussed on Honda/Odyssey online forums. Honda apparently has not acknowledged the problem or warned owners about it. I just missed getting hit with a car full of kids due to acceleration hesitation.
Incident date: Feb 1, 2023
Cannot put car in drive from park position. “Service Shifter” light s up along with Abs, start/stop, All lights on dash light up while driving or in park, no power steering, all displays flickering, can not move vehicle. While in park, can not engage shifter,
Incident date: Jun 19, 2023
While using cruise control on an interstate road trip, the emergency braking system repeatedly caused the vehicle to slow excessively to where I was almost rear ended. This occurred approximately 15 times over a period of 3 hours. While traveling at 75 mph, the vehicle almost came to a complete stop on the interstate and almost caused accidents. There was no object in front of me or vehicle that s... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2023 Piaggio MP3 530 Exclusive Motorcycle. The contact stated that while his feet were on the running board with the wheels locked, the motorcycle jumped to the right and he fell to the ground and sustained injuries to his elbow, muscles, and arm. The driver was taken to the hospital and was provided medical attention. There were no warning lights illuminated. While at a stop li... Read more
1 injured
Incident date: Jul 10, 2023
Air bag light came on for no reason. [XXX]
Incident date: Jun 14, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while leaving a drive thru and accelerating, the vehicle shut off with the “Transmission Not in Park” message displayed. The contact shifted the vehicle into park and was able to restart the vehicle and the vehicle then operated normally. On another occasion while reversing, the vehicle unintendedly shut off. The contact attempted to shif... Read more
Incident date: Jun 14, 2023
Oil pan leak. A lot of owners aren’t aware their oil pan is leaking cause the dealer offer a 3 years complimentary service. I only notice mine is leaking cause I changed my own oil now. Dealers won’t fix anything under warranty unless customer tell them. Hyundai mechanic on YouTube say it’s a common problem.
Incident date: Feb 28, 2023
My Honda civic sedan 2017 does not turn on all the lights on the dash turn on and I can not push my breaks to turn the vehicle on
Incident date: Feb 7, 2023
On July 06, 2023, I took my wife's Ford Escape to Dick Masheter Ford for an oil change and tire rotation. It is the dealership that we bought the car new. The car is a 2015 and has only 44000 miles on it. The technician came over to the service representative so I knew there was a problem. They informed me that the wheel lug nuts had swollen and the parts department didn't have any lug nuts in sto... Read more
Incident date: Jul 10, 2023
Transmission exploded from the inside causing catastrophic failure that could have resulted in death. Milage on vehicle was 20k. No indication of transmission issues on warning sensors in the car or through feeling the transmission slipping or hearing any noises before it occurred
Incident date: Jul 9, 2023
ABS hydraulic control unit failed. less than 25k on vehicle. dash message to service and ABS and traction lights as well. bumps and hard braking seemed to cause this to happen, but originally happened as driving as normal. vehicle was rendered uninspectable by dealership and part was ordered . called chrysler and was told this is a known problem without a recall at this time.
Incident date: Jun 25, 2023
Car suddenly accelerated and crushed into shop in parking lot
Crash
Incident date: Jul 7, 2023
When charging nightly on home AC charge (60amp breaker) the car will stop charging after one to ten minutes for no reason. It has been increasing to the point of every time, not sometimes. I have to remotely (Genesis app) restart the charge, and sometimes physically remove and re-insert the plug to keep charging. Have come out in the morning to no overnight charge after plugging in and going to sl... Read more
Incident date: Jul 7, 2023
The contact owns a 2016 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer to be diagnosed. The contact stated that the valve cover was leaking and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the vehicle was not safe to drive due to the brake booster needing to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but con... Read more
Incident date: Jul 4, 2023
This vehicle has a major defect and is unsafe to operate. The rear differential has only 1 rear bolt and is completely inadequate for the performance and duty of the car. It can break and cause gerat injury or death if it fails. It puts anyone operating and in the car at great risk of injury or death if the only remaining rear bolt breaks, dislogding the drive shaft and half shafts in catastrop... Read more
Incident date: Jul 4, 2023
I was driving my vehicle down the road and the vehicle just shut off. This was dangerous and could have cost my son and I our lives. I have spoken with many mechanics and they state that this car has issues with oil consumption This model vehicle has been reported to have a major oil consumption issues. The oil is dissolved within the engine.
Incident date: Jun 29, 2023
I was driving at 60 miles per hour when the transmission downshifted into 1st gear. It locked up the rear tires and the engine revved up while downshifting itself into 1st gear. I was in traffic when this happened, I pulled over turned the truck off and restarted truck drove normal after that, the recall was done in oct. 2019 I purchased truck in Feb. of 2020 problem seems to have returned, this ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 4, 2023
Infotainment system has begun exhibiting phenomenon described as "ghost touch" where options are selected randomly by the system due to touchscreen failure. This happens while the vehicle is moving and creates a significant distraction to the driver, creating a safety hazard for driver, passengers, and other cars on the road. This vehicle has not been inspected by a dealership but internet informa... Read more
Incident date: Jul 4, 2023
Infotainment system has begun exhibiting phenomenon described as "ghost touch" where options are selected randomly by the system due to touchscreen failure. This happens while the vehicle is moving and creates a significant distraction to the driver, creating a safety hazard for driver, passengers, and other cars on the road. This vehicle has not been inspected by a dealership but internet informa... Read more