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: Jul 17, 2023

airbag recall still not having a solution

Incident date: Jul 3, 2023

lane assistance problems too carmax went and authorized a once before recalled Pilkington windshield on my brand new honda purchased last year. Since the windshield has been replaced twice going on a third time in the next month . It has had calibration issues and durability issues from everyday small rock taps off the highway or street when driving. the honda fuel consumption is too fast when... Read more

Incident date: Jul 13, 2023

from day one, it has had a hesitation on acceleration from both still and moving normal highway speeds. rarely is acceleration steady, smooth and immediate. dealer has had for regular oil change and this problem has been reported every time . answer was that factory recall was performed and should be better. but NO. over a year now, several visits and nothing resolved. a couple times when i needed... Read more

Incident date: Jul 14, 2023

The check engine light came and took the car to O'Reillys and was informed it had low turbo boost code took car to the dealership and they indeed confirmed that was the issue and that it would be over $3000.00 to fix!!! I bought this car 4 months ago and this seems to be an issue with a few other owners as well Buick needs to recall this part!!! If not fixed it may cause deceleration or overheat ... Read more

Incident date: Jul 16, 2023

Dear Mr; I own a 2011 Toyota Prius, and this week my brakes failed while driving down the highway. The ABS and Break lights and the ESP warning light on the instrument panel come on. The brake pedal is hard and has an intermittent hum in the engine area. The scanner gave the code C1391 / ACC PRESS abnormal leak error. I want to file a formal claim against Toyota for the failure of my car's br... Read more

Incident date: Jul 16, 2023

The contact owns a 2016 Mercedes-Benz Metris. The contact stated that while driving downhill approximately 60 MPH, the steering wheel became very difficult to turn in either direction. During the failure the "Power Steering Assist" message was displayed. The contact stated that the failure occurred immediately after driving over a metal gutter in the road. After stopping and restarting the vehicle... Read more

Incident date: Jul 16, 2023

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated while driving approximately 25-30 MPH, the power steering became inoperable. The steering wheel was difficult to turn. The power steering fault message was displayed. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer and the contact was informed that the part to repair the vehicle was on backorder. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repair... Read more

Incident date: Jul 16, 2023

The contact owns a 2014 GMC Sierra 1500. The contact stated while driving 30 MPH and attempting a left turn, the steering wheel became stiff and jerked to the right. The contact was able to pull to the side of the road and restart the vehicle however, the power steering failed to return to normal functionality. The power steering assist warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to t... Read more

Incident date: Jul 17, 2023

Unexpected Phantom Braking was experienced in this vehicle on a sunny day at mid day on I-30 going East through Arlington. The car was operating on Traffic Aware Cruise Control. Travelling at approx 70mph the vehicle suddenly slowed very quickly below 50 mph before I interceded to resume control of the accelerator to resume my speed before I was rear ended. This occured as I was approaching an ove... Read more

Incident date: Jul 17, 2023

Incident date: Jul 7, 2023

My name is Jorge L Cremades, my mobile phone is 786-546-6956. Today, 7/17/2023, around 2:42 PM EST, as I was driving / backing up in my driveway, my 2023 RDX shattered it's rear glass. As I was backing up in my driveway and looking through the side and back mirrors, I heard a loud noise and when I looked back into my car I saw my rear glass was blown away like it exploded or something similar. I... Read more

Incident date: Jul 9, 2023

Driving truck and automatic changed to manual 4th gear - would not stay in automatic and would not go into any other manual gear at same time cruise stopped working along with the horn, seat belt light came on and would not go off , ESC light came on and did not go off, non of the steering wheel controls would work work , air bag light came in and would not go off , horn would not work at steerin... Read more

Incident date: Jul 9, 2023

Incident date: Jul 12, 2023

On 17th June 2023, while returning home on the WA-9/SR-9 NB, I stopped at the red light where WA-2 was crossing. My wife was sitting with me in the car. One Subaru rammed me from behind. This road has a speed limit of 55 Miles per hour and is a single-lane state highway. The rear was damaged heavily. I lost control of the vehicle, went into the SB lane, and saw a car approaching me from the oppos... Read more

Crash 2 injured

Incident date: Jun 9, 2023

The rear lug nuts have sheared off on the passenger side. This is the second time this has happened in a year creating an extremely dangerous condition. The first time we lost the entire wheel. Ford continues to deny that this recall is only limited to certain vans and continues to deny our request. I cannot believe this has happened once again to the tune of $1000 per incident and endangerment of... Read more

Incident date: Jun 9, 2023

1. Airbag warning light is on. 2. Unable to roll down front passenger window from driver’s side master window control switch.

Incident date: Jul 1, 2023

So it appears to be fine until about 30/45 mins drive time Then it starts shifting/slamming real hard and hesitates to shift in the next gear To the point where stopping and going isn’t an option or it slips After about 45 mins all the prnds lights turned on and did the same in manual mode.. I read someone it’s a valve body that leads to a faulty Tranny I’ve read almost 150 of the same exact... Read more

Incident date: Jul 1, 2023

Incident date: Jul 14, 2023

57,XXX miles on truck. 11 months out of full warranty. HCU and ABS unit failing at random times during normal driving conditions. Keeps throwing service abs, and service electronic brake controller. On off, on off, on off non stop, constantly the whole time truck is being driven its almost undeliverable. ABS unusable stability control not available traction control not available

Incident date: Jul 14, 2023

While driving one day in early April 2023 , numerous system warning lights such as braking and collision alert lights came on. I took the car to Germain Honda of Dublin. They told me that the VSA MODULE CONTROL UNIT needed to be replaced. Next they told me the part was on back order. As of today, 7/14/23 it is still on back order. Dealer tells me it is okay to drive the car. A lot can go wrong in ... Read more

Incident date: Jul 14, 2023

The contact owns a 2013 Land Rover Range Rover Sport. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH, the vehicle lowered significantly and started bouncing. The contact stated that she depressed the brake pedal and veered to the side of the road. The contact stated that she pressed the air suspension button and the vehicle raised slightly. The contact was able to drive to her destination 15 MPH. The veh... Read more

Incident date: Jul 11, 2023

The contact owns a 2010 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated that while the vehicle was at an independent mechanic for an oil change, the mechanic informed the contact that there was a crack in the frame near the fuel tank and that the frame needed to be repaired. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 128,000.

Incident date: Jul 10, 2023

The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that while attempting to open the driver’s door, the door was difficult to open. The contact stated that the door handle was operational however, the door lock failed to release as needed. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent at first however, the door became inoperable and no longer was able to be opened. The contact had ... Read more

Incident date: Jul 7, 2023

The adaptive cruise control malfunctioned while engaged on the highway/interstate. On a recent trip of approx. 1,000 miles, the vehicle experienced "phantom braking" (aggressive emergency braking for no reason) on three occasions while the adaptive cruise control was engaged on the highway/interstate at approx. 65-75 mph, with no obstruction/vehicle in front and the weather was clear sunny skies. ... Read more

Incident date: Jul 12, 2023

2016 FORD FOCUS VIN: 1FADP3F20GL341128 Mileage: 64,750 Hello I am having problems with my 2016 Ford Focus. The vehicle is shuddering, moving forward, problems in shifting, vibrating and Ford cannot do anything about this as they have told me that you have not added this model on the recall. I got the vehicle checked over by Ford and they said it is the same issues as the other Ford Focus and F... Read more

Incident date: Apr 26, 2023

My 2016 Ford F150 XLT would stall when stopped at red lights or stop signs. My dealership advised they ran codes and could not find anything wrong. I continued to drive the truck and the problem persisted. I had another location run for codes and found that I had a defective intake manifold where the valves would stick closed and not allow enough air to the engine causing it to shut down. I return... Read more

Incident date: Jul 13, 2023

I have a 2018 Ford Escape with 71,500 miles. Within the last 6 weeks the engine had run rough a couple of times and check engine light had come on, my mechanic ran the code which was for misfiring, it stopped happening and the light went off though it turned on and off 1-2 more times over the next few weeks. On July 4th, while driving, I got a large warning that the engine was overheating and to p... Read more

Incident date: Jul 13, 2023

I was in a car accident and my airbags did not deploy. No warning lights on prior to the accident.

Crash

Incident date: Jul 4, 2023

One day I got in my car an there was a crack on my windshield and there was no rick chip or any indication of an impact to the windshield.

Incident date: Jul 4, 2023

The contact owns a 2014 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid. The contact stated that while driving approximately 10 MPH and pressing the brake pedal, the brake pedal extended to the floor causing the stopping distance to be extended, almost causing the vehicle to crash into the rear of another vehicle. Upon inspection, it was discovered that brake fluid had leak from the vehicle. The vehicle was later towed the re... Read more

Incident date: Dec 11, 2022

While driving, the engine suddenly went dead with no warning. No lights came on no over heating signal, no warnings. Just gone. I could have been killed in other circumstances. Fortunately, I was going down hill in the slow lane and was able to get at least partially off the road. Subaru said the engine had no oil! This should not be possible with no warning and the good care and maintenance I ... Read more

Incident date: Jul 4, 2023

The contact owns a 2011 Ford Edge. The contact attempted to park the vehicle however, the brake pedal was depressed and nearly depressed to the floorboard without warning. Despite the failure, the contact managed to drive the vehicle to the dealer where a diagnostic test was performed. The diagnostic test determined that the hydraulic compression unit was defective and needed to be replaced. The m... Read more

Incident date: Jul 1, 2023

Warning light for break trailer system.

Incident date: Jul 1, 2022

SUNROOF TRIM SEAL LOOSE, The rubber seal/trim catching under the sunroof glass.

Incident date: Jul 1, 2022

I have the already mention over internet forums as a STICKY WHEEL STEERING After half an hour more or less the steering wheel becomes resistant to move to do little adjustments and keep my driving strait, driving slow or at speed, does it. Is safety hazard because is like a stuck steering always taking the car out of the lines and you have to apply more force than normal to correct, when you unstu... Read more

Incident date: Jul 1, 2022

At about 30,000k miles, began to hear a creak/pop sound when opening and closing the front d/s door. This past weekend, at about 30,075 miles, there was a loud noise when opening and closing the door, and noted that 3 spot welds appear to have popped and pulled through the sheet metal. These held the safety 'check arm' in place inside the door. In researching the matter, I located that you alre... Read more

Incident date: Jun 13, 2023

The contact owns a 2013 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle hesitated. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an Auto Zone where it was placed on a diagnostic machine and produced an undisclosed code indicating that the HECU was faulty. The vehicle was then taken to the dealer where it was then determined that the H... Read more

Incident date: Jun 13, 2023

Takata recall. The contact owns a 2016 Volkswagen Beetle Convertible. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V945000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was not contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the ... Read more

Incident date: Jun 13, 2023

The contact owns a 2013 GMC Sierra 1500. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V054000 (Air Bags). The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer and had the recall repair performed February 25, 2021. The contact stated the air bag warning light had since illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer had not been info... Read more

Incident date: Jul 7, 2023

Have experienced 2 major “phantom braking” incidents almost causing 2 accidents. There has also been several other incidents but not as severe as the 2 almost causing accident. Called Tesla and they said it is a known problem, service person said he has had his car for 5 years and still having issues. Evidently he said it was software related. He reported there is nothing they can do as soluti... Read more

Incident date: Jul 10, 2023

Power steering fails intermittently with no warning. Causes loss of steering control momentarily, then returns to normal after restarting. It has affected this vehicle sporatically since 152K miles. Odometer reads 156K on 7-10-23. It has not been inspected by any mechanic, dealer, or insurance professional. This is a serious safety risk.

Incident date: Jul 10, 2023

The contact owns a 2022 Ford F-150. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V842000 (Visibility) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact then received notification that parts were currently available. The dealer was notified, and the contact was informed that unless the windshield wipers had failed, they would not perform the recall repair. The ... Read more

Incident date: Jul 20, 2022

Pearl White 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport purchased from dealer in 2020- paint began peeling, bubbling, and chipping from hood badly in 2022 and has increased, now starting to spread to side panels. Issue confirmed by multiple2017-2018 Elantra and Santa Fe owners in multiple places, multiple NHTSA complaints filed, class action lawsuit has been filed for the same issue with same make/model and vin b... Read more

Incident date: Sep 16, 2022

My car's emergency brake failed to work and my car's rear slid downhill into a 90 degree angle. The front passenger bumper of my car hit the front driver bumper of the car parked behind me. This happened while I was parallel parking in front of my home, which is on right side of a street with an uphill incline. I turned my car's front wheels away from the curb, which is why my car's rear spun into... Read more

1 injured

Incident date: Sep 16, 2022

The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact stated while driving approximately 65-70 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated. There was an abnormal gurgling and bubbling sound heard. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed that the exhaust pipe bracket had fractured and there was an exhaust leak. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contac... Read more

Incident date: Jul 10, 2023

The contact owns a 2007 BMW 328I. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, he smelled fuel within the interior of the vehicle and observed low RPM's before the vehicle lost motive power and stalled. The contact was able to coast to the shoulder of the road, where, after visual inspection, he observed fuel leaking within the rear driver's side wheel well. The check engine warn... Read more

Incident date: May 26, 2023

The contact owns a 2008 Suzuki XL7. The contact stated that when the vehicle was started, the contact was unable to deactivate the alarm. Additionally, other unknown electrical system functions failed to operate as needed. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The ... Read more

Incident date: Jul 10, 2023

As of 07/10/2023 vehicle Display saying "service electronic braking system" and "service ABS" intermittently. Vehicle is available for inspection. Vehicle has 46000 miles on odometer. upon further research this is a very common problem involving the need to replace the ABS module and HCU to fix the issue. there is a class action lawsuit on this matter. Estimated repair cost is $1700. Failure of th... Read more

Incident date: Sep 15, 2021

“Service trailer brake system” this message randomly appears with no trailer connected at all, i recently bought a brand new trailer and im scared to tow it since there is no current fix for this error message on the display, it comes on randomly and will not stop popping up and dinging it is a huge distraction as it repeatedly does it over and over, also when it does this you lose trailer bra... Read more

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Vehicle Safety

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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