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.

2,245,377 Total Complaints

140,173 Reported Crashes

56,794 Reported Fires

8,580 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 2,245,377 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

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 33,654 complaints for MERCEDES-BENZ

Incident date: Oct 12, 2023

Vehicle stopped three times on highway. There is an issue with fuel injection. I am repairing the same thing every year and it is stopping every year on highway. They keep on repairing/replacing the module and I still get the problem. I missed a big rear collision because of this. This model has so many issues. Suspension broke. So many issues with gas pump. being it a first generation hybrid, it... Read more

Incident date: Oct 12, 2023

Incident date: Oct 11, 2023

Once you get to 70mph it starts shaking like if a the wheels will fall off.

Incident date: Oct 11, 2023

It acting like it doesn’t want to hold air. I have to air up my wheels every morning. It’s only the back wheels.

Incident date: Sep 18, 2023

I started to get engine knocking noises about 6 months after the purchase of the used car. This knocking noise began to increase in frequency as I pressed my foot on the accelerator and the car would not accelerate when I pressed my foot on the gas pedal. Then the car would shut down in the middle of traffic. After waiting about 30 -45 mins, I would try to start the car again and would start a... Read more

Incident date: Oct 10, 2023

The contact owns a 2011 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost power steering functionality and the steering wheel became difficult to steer. The contact was able to pull to the shoulder of the roadway. There were no warning lights illuminated. There was no further information provided. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by the deal... Read more

Incident date: Oct 10, 2023

I had my engine replaced in match 2023 due to stalled vehicle. After several trips to hyundai. Now just 6 months later and as off present my check engine light is back on . I took my car in to get the immobilizer installed from another recall. The dealership is giving me run around. I am confused why if they replaced my engine with a new one why do I have the check engine on again just some time ... Read more

Incident date: Oct 4, 2023

After driving for approximately 10 min from cold start, attempted to pass another car at WOT (wide open throttle) at approx 40-50 mph. The car began to accelerate normally, then abruptly stopped accelerating while the engine revved up to the rev limiter and bounced off it for 3-4 seconds. It seemed as though the CVT had been shifted into neutral (though it was still in drive), and almost caused an... Read more

Incident date: Oct 4, 2023

The contact owns a 2016 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while his wife was driving at an undisclosed speed, the low oil pressure warning light was illuminated. The contact’s wife then drove back to the residence, and the contact added oil to the vehicle. The vehicle was then towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the engine needed to be replaced. Additionally, the dealer info... Read more

Incident date: Oct 1, 2023

While driving car constantly cuts off and it's vary dangerous.

Incident date: Jul 3, 2023

I believe that airbags/ airbag sensors have failed or malfunctioned and they are available for inspection. My safety as well as the safety of others was put at risk because the airbags should have deployed and they didn’t putting us further at risk. The problem hasn’t been confirmed or reproduced by anyone professional. The vehicle has not been inspected as of yet. There were no warning signs ... Read more

Crash 1 injured

Incident date: Sep 20, 2022

- my spare tire, lane assist, and/or emergency breaking, which none went into effect during the incident. - I was forced off the road where I collided with a parked car on the side of the street, which led me to being taken by ambulance to the local hospital. - Not yet, my vehicle is currently at a body shop being repaired. - I asked my Insurance to investigate when they went for the appraisal, bu... Read more

Crash

Incident date: Sep 1, 2023

driving on the highway in the left lane with driver assist engaged. crashed into car driving in the right lane when the kia driver assist turned off without warning.

Crash 1 injured

Incident date: May 9, 2022

The contact owns a 2017 Honda Accord. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the service brakes and ABS warning lights had remained illuminated. The vehicle was examined by a service mechanic who diagnosed that the ABS module was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer and local dealer were not notified of the failure. The failure mileage ... Read more

Incident date: Sep 10, 2023

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Edge. The contact stated that the engine would shake upon the start of the vehicle as the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact called Bert Ogden Ford(13752 Lupine Rd, Lyford, TX 78569) where she was informed that a callback would be received however had not heard back. The contact also stated that while the vehicle was idle in a parking lot, the temperat... Read more

Incident date: Oct 15, 2021

2017 Jeep Compass has been having an issue with either the start-stop mechanism or the brakes. I was at a single lane red light. The engine went through the start-stop sequence, but when the light turned green and I released the brake, the car struggled to come to life at all and began to stall out. I had to wiggle the steering wheel and shift the gears to multiple places before returning it to ... Read more

Incident date: Oct 15, 2021

Incident date: Oct 6, 2023

It's difficult to maintain lane and the steering wheel doesn't turn. sticky steering.

Incident date: Sep 7, 2023

2012 hyundai sonta The car brakes out of no where.comes to a stop .

Incident date: Oct 7, 2023

We were informed about the recall in May and GM has yet to provide a solution! We need answers!

Incident date: Oct 9, 2023

Air bag light is on dashboard and my driver seat won’t recline back up to a normal driving position. Brought it to the mechanic to have it checked and was told I am in need of a new driver seat do to a faulty airbag. The car is not even 10 years old yet and I can’t use the seat properly to drive safely.

Incident date: Oct 9, 2023

While at red lights, coasting or waiting in drive-thru the car starts jerking and shaking. Will stall and fail to accelerate, sometimes coming a complete stop. Turning on and off the vehicle only works some of the time. This started in 2020 and went on for months while Hyundai kept "fixing" the car. Coils were replaced in 2020. Now again in 2023, exact same issue. On 9/29/23 car starting jerking... Read more

Incident date: Sep 4, 2023

Rear axel bolt broke, splines on axel stripped off. Truck lost ability to drive while on the highway , creating a dangerous situation. Now truck is at the dealer waiting on parts keeping me from doing my job and causing further financial hardship. For a known issue Ford should have a recall.

Incident date: Oct 5, 2023

we installed this seat rear facing for our 1yr old, after using for a month or so we realized the seat did not lock into position while rear facing. the seat would slide and be in an un safe recline position for the size of our child and the seat in our suv. we took the seat out to inspect and noticed it does not lock into place underneath where it is supposed to. we decided to turn it forward fac... Read more

Incident date: Oct 5, 2023

The vehicle electrical system malfunctions. The vehicle stalls when the turn signal lever is shifted. When the steering wheel is turn to the right or left the vehicle stalls. Upon acceleration, particularly on the highway, and when the turn signal lever is shifted, the vehicle's gauges go haywire. The engine light comes on, the gauges move rapidly back and forth, a "Stabalink" error appears, the ... Read more

Incident date: Aug 1, 2023

Piston blew with regular maintenance under a 100K.

Fire

Incident date: Aug 1, 2023

There was the strong smell of gasoline so the vehicle was then parked outside of our garage. We had a scheduled appointment with our independent mechanic to have this looked at. Prior to the appointment, the Check Engine Light came on and was also flashing. The car was performing very poorly at this time. When the gas pedal was applied to accelerate the car sputtered and severely hesitated. ... Read more

Incident date: Jul 31, 2023

Exceedingly jarring transmission shifts at both low and higher speeds that are startling to the driver and could cause an accident. This has been a chronic issue that happens frequently but not in every use of the vehicle. Below is a date in which this recently occured.

Incident date: Aug 10, 2023

Abs module. Antilock brake system failure. Known issue by manufacturer.

Incident date: Sep 27, 2023

Honda Service has reported I need a VSA Modulator Assembly replaced and they want me to order this part now which is on backorder for at least 2-3 months. Car had 87,000 miles at time of inspection. I have tried to source this assembly from various Honda dealers and parts distributors to no avail. Cost will be $2,800 to replace. There are many other Honda owners experiencing this same probl... Read more

Incident date: Sep 27, 2023

Incident date: Oct 5, 2023

The contact owns a 2021 Honda Pilot. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V431000 (Back Over Prevention) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufacturer had been notified of the recall. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount... Read more

Incident date: Sep 3, 2021

Car stopped without warning in middle of road. Would not start. NO Warning lights on dash. Answer: Low oil level, car just turned engine off. NO dash warning for low oil. Happened multiple times. Now: After filling with gas, stopped at light, warning messages "Put Car in park" then drive. When put in Drive, rough and huge thunk. Almost got hit, but was able to pulled over. Called AAA., waited 45,... Read more

Incident date: Sep 16, 2023

Main display that shows mileage, gas levels, maintenance needs, etc malfunctions - sometimes it goes wonky, sometimes it disappears altogether. It is obviously not safe to not see your maintenance lights or mileage to know when to predict the maintenance. The dealer I take the car to said unless they could replicate the issue, they couldn't do anything. The issue occurs intermittently, often i... Read more

Incident date: Oct 1, 2023

The steering has begun binding and after turning, the steering wheel does not smoothly return to center like it used to. Steering randomly sticks. I worry the steering rack will fail completely, potentially causing loss of control of the vehicle.

Incident date: Oct 1, 2023

In November of 2022 I experienced engine failure by coolant getting into the cylinders. Two weeks after oil change. Finally in January 2023 it was replaced. It wasn't under warranty. FORD Assisted in paying partially for repairs. July I started having problems again. After multiple trips and misdiagnosis, the same problem. As of today its been in shop over 30 days.They are replacing the top of t... Read more

Incident date: Jul 14, 2023

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that upon shifting into drive(D), the vehicle failed to respond. The power train warning light was illuminated, and a message indicating the gear shifter failure was displayed. The contact attempted to shift into park (P), but the gear shifter remained stuck in drive(D). The contact stated that she was able to manually move the shifter cable,... Read more

Incident date: Oct 5, 2023

The contact owns a 2019 Newmar Dutch Star RV. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed and attempting to accelerate, he heard an abnormal clunking sound coming from the rear of the RV. No warning lights were illuminated. The RV was taken to an independent mechanic, who determined that the rear differential bolts had become loosened and required to be torqued back to specs. The RV w... Read more

Incident date: Oct 1, 2023

The contact owns a 2018 Ford EcoSport. The contact stated that while his son was driving approximately 75 MPH, the vehicle began to hesitate upon depression of the accelerator pedal with the oil warning light illuminated. The contact stated that an abnormal, clanking sound was coming from the vehicle. The contact’s son was able to coast the vehicle off the highway. Due to the failure, the vehicl... Read more

Incident date: Apr 20, 2023

I had all four of my window regulators to go out within two days of each other and now my windows constantly drop automatically while driving especially if I go over speed bumps, hit pot holes or any type of bump. I try to keep them up by placing paper or holders in them but they only hold up for so long and at times when I’m driving they drop down and I’m afraid the glass will break completel... Read more

Incident date: Oct 4, 2023

The contact owns a 2013 Land Rover Range Rover Evoque. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, the vehicle failed to properly accelerate while shifted into driver(D) or reverse(R), with the "Transmission Fault, Select Park Before Engine Stop" messages. The vehicle was initially taken to an independent mechanic where both the fuel tank and an unknown battery piece were replaced; however,... Read more

Incident date: Sep 24, 2023

While pulling out of a stop light, my 2022 Ram 1500 stalled, and the parking brake engaged while I was in the middle of the intersection. After getting the truck restarted and safely getting through the intersection, the battery indicator warning light came on and the voltage gage dropped dramatically. When I took the truck to the dealer I was told they could not replicate therefore it was in sa... Read more

Incident date: Aug 12, 2023

The car had a problem where it will not start because the stater grinds. Honda knows about the problem and won’t do a recall instead they charged me to have the remove the engine. Install a new torque converter and starter. They said the factory had a bad batch of torque converters. And quite a few cars were affected by this problem. Seems ridicules that a problem they k ow about with a part qua... Read more

Incident date: Aug 12, 2023

Torque convertor weld studs fail the torque convertor will not be connected to the engine flexplate and the vechile will lose the ability to move, increasing the risk for a crash.

Incident date: Sep 27, 2023

The 2017 Hyundai Tucson is unsafe to drive. Purchased the vehicle with 62000 miles and have had issues with the vehicle since shortly after purchase. Vehicle consumes oil at a rapid pace - in between 3000 mile oil changes additional oil is needing to be added within 600 miles, while driving the vehicle on the freeway at 70 miles an hour vehicle stalls and goes into limp mode - huge safety issue. V... Read more

Incident date: Sep 27, 2023

Plan road trip Had Vehicle thoroughly. Inspected only to find that the frame was cracked on goth side and all brake lines are corroded. Called several places to get help with this matter, only to have no help at all. Spoke to many people final communication was with [XXX] in Tennessee who admitted the prior owner was notified as to the issue I have owned this vehicle for 6 yrs and could not unde... Read more

Incident date: Sep 18, 2023

ST235/80R16 Tire Load rang E Before going on a trip, I noticed the tire had lost about 10 lbs of pressure compared to the other tires. I found no leak or hazard in the tire, like a screw or nail, so I raised the tire to pressure. (80 psi) While travelling at 60 mph I noticed the tire's temperature was about 8 - 10 degrees hotter than the other tires, but still within acceptable range. After arriv... Read more

Incident date: Aug 28, 2023

Transmission is slipping and vibrates while driving. Delayed acceleration.

Incident date: Nov 27, 2022

Vehicle has an auto start/stop feature which turns off the engine when the brake is applied and the vehicle is at a full stop. When stopped at a traffic light with the engine auto stopped, driver lets foot off brake when light turns green, but engine fails to start. Vehicle remains stopped in an active traffic lane, or potentially in the middle of an intersection. A chime and a display message gui... 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