Consumer Safety Complaints

Search 2,215,138 safety complaints filed by vehicle owners with NHTSA — including 138,663 crashes, 56,255 fires, and 8,561 deaths.

2,215,138 Total Complaints

138,663 Reported Crashes

56,255 Reported Fires

8,561 Reported 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 2,215,138 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

How to Read NHTSA Consumer Complaints › How NHTSA Investigations Work › Used Car: 7 Recall Checks to Run First › The Takata Airbag Recall: Full Story › OBD-II Codes Explained › All Articles ›

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Showing 33,200 complaints for MERCEDES-BENZ

Incident date: Jul 30, 2023

Steering wheel stuck in straight position, unable to turn. Also, A/C line supermanifold defect present, needed to be replaced. Steering rack and harness both needed to be replaced. Tesla model 3, only had 40 miles before needing to be towed.

Incident date: Aug 3, 2023

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that when starting the vehicle, it would vibrate and shake. The starter would fail to successfully start the vehicle intermittently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that coolant leaking into the engine causing the engine to fail. The engine needed replacement. The failure was related to Service Bulletin NHTSA ID Number: 1021... Read more

Incident date: Jul 4, 2023

Steering suspension has been failing over and over for months. Several severe incidents while driving 70+ mph down the road. Complete loss of control of the vehicle, uncontrollable death wobbles. One incident put me in a ditch, while the others were near collisions. First incident - was no longer able to drive above 30mph without sever death wobble. After “repairs”, recreated the issue at 75... Read more

Crash

Incident date: Jul 4, 2023

Crash

Incident date: Aug 2, 2023

The Airbag light keeps coming on and saying it’s not activated, the wiring also keeps blowing out brand new headlights due to faulty wiring.

Incident date: Jan 8, 2022

While driving uphill at 40 mph the car would not accelerate and the mph began slipping down to 30. There were no warning lights during or before this and no other changes while driving. A clicking/rattling noise became louder as I drove on. I made it up the hill and to the next stop light. When trying to accelerate, the vehicle would not go past 20mph and the clicking/rattling noise was very loud.... Read more

Incident date: Jun 9, 2023

The 2023 GLC300 would not start. The internal alarms kept going off, the push-start/stop would not respond. The vehicle was acting like it was being stolen, this lasted for 75 to 80 minutes. The display said 12V On-Board Electrical System Service Required and Blind Spot Assist Inoperative - over and over again. Couldn't get the key to make car lock or unlock. The car would not turn on, it would no... Read more

Incident date: Jun 9, 2023

The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen ID.4. The contact stated that the air bag warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the control board needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken back to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the steering wheel needed to be replaced. The vehicl... Read more

Incident date: Jun 9, 2023

Incident date: Jul 23, 2022

Camera is not working and was recalled. Cannot be fixed or repaired. I requested to trade my vehicle for another one at a Ford Dealership or for the pay off and was told I couldn't do anything due to the recall. I am essentially stuck with a vehicle that is unsafe and I don't feel comfortable driving. The camera turns blue in the middle of backing up and I could hit any object or person in the mi... Read more

Incident date: Jul 27, 2023

Starting in early 2023 my engine started consuming oil. My car only has 60,000 miles on it. It's ridiculous to do an engine consumption test because this is a known issue with a class action lawsuit having already been filed. There are numerous complaints out there about this issue and yet an engine recall has not been done. Hyundai needs forced to replace these engine NOW before someone is killed... Read more

Incident date: Jul 27, 2023

Driving vehicle home from work a 7 mile commute driver front rotor and passenger rear rotors caught fire. Called fire department to ensure preventive measure of entire car catching fire. It appears both corners have fused pads to rotors creating high friction. No check engine lights or ABS light notifications on dash to warn of issue. Brakes and rotors replaced approximately 2 years ago and 25k ... Read more

Fire

Incident date: Jul 14, 2023

Front windshield camera, controls adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, lane departure mitigation, front collision mitigation, auto high beam, all the lights came on and all the features stopped working. We were 1500 miles from home when this happened had it repaired at a dealership $1300. I called Honda corporate and after 2 days a customer service representative called me back. He told me t... Read more

Incident date: Jul 14, 2023

Incident date: Jul 24, 2023

On 7/21/2023, I received an alert saying “steering assist reduced”. I could not turn the steering wheel. Luckily I was parked and trying to back out of my spot. The steering assist came back after getting in and out of the vehicle. Contacted Tesla about this and they told me to monitor the situation. I took delivery of my vehicle 7/20/2023 around 3pm EST. So I had the car less than 24hrs.

Incident date: Jul 31, 2023

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while reversing, the back-over prevention camera went blank. The contact shifted into the drive and the screen started rebooting independently. The contact stated that after turning off and restarting the vehicle, the instrument panel started flashing with the radio inoperable message displayed. The vehicle was diagnosed, and the contact was ... Read more

Incident date: Jun 1, 2023

While driving on an 80 MPH speed limit, 2-lane interstate in a rural area, the vehicle's "traffic aware" cruise control was enabled. The driver attempted to pass a semi-truck on left while the road was curving to the left. The vehicle's emergency lane keep assist appeared to engage causing the vehicle to swerve toward the semi-truck. The driver corrected back to the left, when doing so the powe... Read more

Incident date: Sep 1, 2020

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: Jul 31, 2023

Vehicle is terrible. Truck is in the shop every 2-3 months due to engine or electrical issues and constantly causing me hundreds if not thousands of dollars every time. I will never buy a Nissan product ever again.

Incident date: Jul 31, 2023

Abs/ traction control light comes on and off lose all cruise control. Get code c0020-1.

Incident date: Jun 6, 2022

Took vehicle to a machine shop to have frame undercoated. The machinist found that the frame had holes in it due to rust. He found that the tab gusset bracelet was cracked ( the part of the frame that holds the A-Arm in place). He said that the vehicle was not safe to drive and needs a new frame. The vehicle has 109,000 miles on it. Toyota should have a recall on all Toyota FJ.I contacted Toyota ... Read more

Incident date: Jul 29, 2023

The battery range is showing on the computer and tesla website as 272 miles but real driving range is 150-160 miles. The car is in service right now for that issue. Service probably will say it depends on driving conditions, there is no problem with the batteries but it does not explain 50% lose of usage. This is the biggest scam of human history. I am very disappointed due to 50% lower range the... Read more

Incident date: Jul 29, 2023

Brand new car, picked up July 19 2023, 1st issue) July 22, 2023: 3 Days after i picked up my car, went for a long drive to Phoenix AZ from Tucson AZ. Parked in a corner mall for an hour, drove out from parking lot and we smelled strong gas odor. Checked A/C recirculation and it is set to RECIRCULATION. Drove for a couple miles and it was gone. 2nd issue) July 25, 2023. Going to work, already dri... Read more

Incident date: Jul 21, 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 21, 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 29, 2023

Car stalled on major roadway. Could not restart of shift to neutral. Car blocked traffic for 3 hours until tow. Faulty fuel control module was the cause. Car was almost hit numerous times by passing traffic.

Incident date: Jul 28, 2023

Air bags failed to deploy and vehicle is not available for inspection. Vehicle was a total loss and is in the proces of becoming proprty of Copart.com for auction (I assume). I hit my head very hard from the T-bone type of collision and my side airbags did not deploy. I have a severe concussion and internal brain bleed. ICU stay was required. Problem was confirmed by the police report, etc. No... Read more

Crash 1 injured

Incident date: Jul 25, 2023

Vehicle suddenly break hard without any reason at any speed when you activate the cruise control. Can cause a serious accident. I can experience this any time numerous times during my daily driving.

Incident date: Jul 12, 2023

Every single dash warning light is showing up on my car and I've had it looked at and claimed to be fixed but it has popped back up and I'm unaware of the problem and it's been this way since I've bought my car and I've read online a few others have had this problem

Incident date: Jun 14, 2023

The inside silver trim pieces blind the driver and passenger when the sun reflects off them. The trim piece on the driver side reflects into the side view mirror, blinds the driver and does not allow you to see blind spots.

Incident date: Jul 27, 2023

First the abs module failed then the abs hydraulic control unit failed. It has been over a year and no part is available.

Incident date: Jul 1, 2023

My car started smoking out of nowhere, smoke was coming out of the tail pipe. My cars check engine light begin to blink. The whole entire car begin to shake. It was making a rattling sound, the car begin to slow down on its own, even though I was pressing the gas. It wouldn’t go any faster than 65 miles an hour as the car begin to shake and make a loud rattling noise. My AC went out all of a sud... Read more

Incident date: Jul 25, 2023

The contact owns a 2007 Honda Accord. The contact stated that after shifting into drive(D) with the brake pedal depressed to the floorboard, the vehicle suddenly accelerated and crashed into nearby vehicles and structures. The contact was able to use the parking brake to stop the vehicle. The contact stated that she had smelled gasoline inside the cabin of the vehicle prior to the failure; however... Read more

Crash

Incident date: Jul 25, 2023

ABS and Traction control lights on. ABS Code C0020-01 ABS pump motor general electrical failure. See you recently posted some information regarding 2017-18 Ram 2500 -3500 trucks. Lots of complaints on Ram Truck forums. Lots of problems with HCU and ABS Contollers. SHOULD BE A RECALL. No braking problems...(yet)

Incident date: Jul 27, 2023

Received a recall letter

Incident date: Jul 26, 2023

Twice within two weeks the car was shifted into reverse and the brake became unresponsive. The car started moving backward, but the brake was not depressible. On one occasion, the car was shifted into drive, which then allowed the brake to be fully depressed. On the other occasion, the brake was pushed repeatedly until the car finally allowed it to be fully depressed after a few seconds of rolling... Read more

Incident date: Jul 26, 2023

While making a right turn from a stop, I lost all steering almost running into the car adjacent.

Incident date: Jul 25, 2023

REPORT NUMBER: CAL-03-07 NEW CAR ASSESSMENT PROGRAM (NCAP) FRONTAL BARRIER IMPACT TEST

Incident date: Jul 25, 2023

1.) Both driver and passenger airbag replacement replacements. 2.) If I get into a reck then me and my passenger have a chance of death due to the recall on the airbags. 3.) Yes. 4.) No. 5.) Unknown. Every time I schedule to get the recall fixed either the shops don’t have the parts or they don’t have the time to do it.

Incident date: Jul 25, 2023

The vehicle is a hybrid and so with no warning present on the dash the vehicle was being back out of garage and when the hybrid battery Failed which led to loss of power including steering and brake and hit brick gate and after impact the vehicle is unable to drive has all warning lights on and displays "check hybrid system" and low voltage park immediately, and the hybrid battery is constantly on... Read more

Crash 1 injured

Incident date: Feb 1, 2023

The contact owns a 2011 Ram 1500. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH at nighttime, the headlight turned off independently. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact also stated that the taillight turned off intermittently and the rear driver’s and the front passenger’s turn signal light was flashing quickly. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer, where it... Read more

Incident date: Jul 24, 2023

The ABS, brake, and traction control lights come on when the slightest bump in the road is hit. I am being told by the Honda dealership technician that the issue is a $2000.00 sensor that must be replaced but however is on back order. I am told that this very sensor controls the steering, traction, and brakes. I am told that the brakes can disengage or not engage at any time.

Incident date: Jun 15, 2023

I reported multiple times to Mercedes USA that the vehicle was experiencing electrical issues as I was periodically loosing power and/or control over the vehicle. The vehicle was returned twice to the dealership but the problem always came back pretty much immediately. On the day of the accident, I was driving the vehicle on a straight road. The road was a little bit humid as it has been raining f... Read more

Crash 2 injured

Incident date: Jun 15, 2023

I was traveling approximately 50 mph on a highway when we were rear-ended. The car spun around and we were both thrown forward due to the malfunctioning of both the driver and passenger seat belts. Further inspection found the rear seatbelts as well did not function properly. Both the driver and front passenger seats reclined and broke during the impact of the accident. The passenger sustained hea... Read more

Crash 2 injured

Incident date: Jun 15, 2023

Crash 2 injured

Incident date: Jul 20, 2023

In numerous incidents, I have attempted to signal other drivers using my horn in an emergency situation. In one such incident, I was in the left lane, traveling at approx. 40 miles per hour when a driver who was stopped in the right lane began switching into my lane. I went to honk to indicate my presence, but the capacitive touch button on the upper right of the wheel was difficult to locate in... Read more

Incident date: Jul 20, 2023

Starting on July 12th, 2023, my audio control module stopped working, so there was no sound in my car. I took it into my primary dealership (Bob Maxey Ford of Howell) on July 19th, 2023, they deemed that it was the ACM and order a new one. My navigation and my adaptive cruise control acted funny as well, with my navigation not lining up with my actual location. Fast forward to the weekend just a c... Read more

Incident date: Jun 15, 2023

After several warning lights appeared, the power steering stopped working while I was driving the car on the highway.

Incident date: Jul 19, 2020

The first day the car was picked up by us, we turned back and complained about the steering wheel and drivers' seat vibration. They checked it and we were told they cannot find anything. We were told to drive the car for awhile and return it if this complaint persists. We returned it to Okemos Mercedes with the same complaint. They said it is the tires and they replaced the right front tire. ... Read more

Incident date: Jul 19, 2020

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Edge. The contact stated that the vehicle was shaking and vibrating abnormally while being started. Additionally, while driving at various speeds, the vehicle suddenly started to shake and vibrate and while accelerating from a stop. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that that the failure was due to a cracked flex plate a... Read more

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Consumer Safety Complaints

What is a NHTSA consumer complaint?

How to interpret what you read

If you've experienced a defect

Read more from our blog