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: Jun 22, 2024

All 4 windows have an Auto up/down feature on the driver door switches. Intermittently the auto up/down feature does not work on 1 of the 4 windows randomly. If I roll all 4 windows down for example and then decide to roll all 4 up, sometimes 3 out of the 4 windows will roll up auto with 1 touch, and the random 1 window that decides to not roll up automatically will work by holding the button up m... Read more

Incident date: Jul 4, 2024

I purchased this car and the dashboard is melting and sticky. It’s affecting visibility to the point where I found myself trying to lift up to look overtop of the blinding glare on my windshield due to my melting dashboard and got into an minor accident Like was reflecting off the dashboard onto the windshield obstructing my view and resulted in me rear bumping into the rear of another car that ... Read more

Crash

Incident date: Jul 4, 2024

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Edge. The contact stated that the vehicle hesitated while starting with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the fuel injectors and spark plugs were replaced; however, the failure persisted. A second diagnostic test was performed, and the mechanic discovered coolant intrusion into cylinder #1. The vehicle wa... Read more

Incident date: May 31, 2024

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Ranger. The contact stated that while driving at undisclosed speeds, there was an abnormal squeaking and humming sound coming from the vehicle. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who determined that the failure was due to the carrier bearings and there was no grease or scratches. The local dealer was contacted, b... Read more

Incident date: Feb 1, 2024

At 15,000 miles the car began to exhibit a loud “knocking” and / or “clunking” sounds upon turning the steering wheel. Three dealerships later I’ve learned it is called a “strut bearing”, and that it’s covered under a “special coverage”. Which special coverage means that this is a widely known issue after the cars have be sold. This should be a total recall. They dealer a fixin... Read more

Incident date: Jun 14, 2024

In Oct. 13, 2023, I was driving and my back window exploded. The dealership said they could not do anything about it so I had to go to a glass store and have a new one put in when they had availability about 2 weeks later. So I drove with No back window during cold times. I had only had the cat a little over a year.

Incident date: Jun 14, 2024

Tried to open sunroof and it tore itself apart and tore itself off of the tracks and now I can not close the sunroof

Incident date: Jun 14, 2024

Attempted to start car, screen behind steering wheel went black. Tried again, car went through several error messages but would not start. Gear shift and other lights flashed. Hazards did not work. No warnings prior to failure. Only after. This is the third time this has happened. The first two in busy intersections where the car stalled then went through multiple error messages. This time, thankf... Read more

Incident date: Jul 3, 2024

While parked the passenger side head rest opened up exposing the air bag ect stuff

Incident date: Sep 28, 2023

The contact owned a 2023 Hyundai Tucson. The contact stated that while his mother was driving at an undisclosed speed, she heard an abnormal sound emanating from an unknown location of the vehicle, after which the vehicle began to accelerate on its own. The driver attempted to stop the vehicle, but the brake pedal pulsated and failed to slow the vehicle, resulting in the driver briefly losing cont... Read more

Crash 2 injured

Incident date: Sep 28, 2023

Crash 2 injured

Incident date: Jun 28, 2024

Was traveling down freeway at 70 mph when truck hit a bump and got severe death wobble from the front end. Brought truck into ford dealer and determined steering wheel dampener was bad and replaced under warranty which Ford extended due to known issue. No warning lamps or prior issue before that day. Almost crashed due to known issue with child in truck.

Incident date: Mar 16, 2023

I had my car towed to mechanic because transmission would go into park. He ran a diagnostic and found multiple codes (mechanics Bill and list of codes he found will be included) relating to transmission. He searched on a data base he uses Shopkey.pro(copy of recall will be included) to check on recalls. He requested I have car towed to Dealership. I did that and the dealer has a letter about the r... Read more

Incident date: Jun 30, 2024

The 2015 F150 shifted itself from drive at 60mph to 1st gear. I as leading traffic when this occurred. The rest of traffic went around me as, I went to shoulder of rd. The F150 shuttered and was unable to be steered safely off the road. Warning lights flashed but as a driver I was unable to watch as traffic behind me was more important then watching F150. As a Simi was also close to me. This was a... Read more

Incident date: Jul 1, 2023

The contact owns a 2023 Chevrolet Blazer. The contact stated that there was a dark shadow and circle on the headlight while driving at various speeds. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact called the local dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 14,000.

Incident date: Jul 2, 2024

The panoramic sunroof makes popping sounds when I drive the car up or down ramps or curbs at angles that twists the chassis. This could potentially break and shatter the glass on top of the driver and passengers or worse dislodge from the mounting bracket and fall into the cabin of the car.

Incident date: Jun 22, 2024

Emergency braking system activated without anything in front of the vehicle. EBS lighting on the dash came on and vehicle made a weird sound to stop. Has happened several times in the past month, most recent was today.

Incident date: Jan 29, 2024

2019 GMC Sierra 1500 SLT. Truck would not start on several occassions. By playing with brake, shift, and steering wheel truck would start again., Also would show warning notices, last one being {engine oil low-add oil}, even right after I just had the oil changed. This last time it would not start I paid to have my mechanic come to me to check it out. He tested a lot and thought it might be t... Read more

Incident date: Jan 29, 2024

I have a serious safety issue with my 2014 Acura RLX. While driving, the rear wheel intermittently kicks out, causing the entire vehicle to swerve unpredictably. This poses a significant safety risk to myself, passengers, and other road users. The rear wheel kicks out, leading to sudden swerving of the vehicle. I believe this is related the the Rear Toe Actuators and PAW-S system. I first notice... Read more

Incident date: Jun 23, 2024

The contact owns a 2019 Ford EcoSport. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V905000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) 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 not made aware of the issue. The contact... Read more

Incident date: Jul 2, 2024

While I was driving my car the driver side airbag abruptly deployed. The airbag inadvertently deployed; the car did not crash into anything to cause the airbag to deploy. When the airbag erupted it caused injury to my head, face, hand, arm and wrist. I believe the airbag is defective because I have lacerations on my face possibly due to sharp objects ejecting from the airbag and the impact as well... Read more

Incident date: Jun 26, 2024

After a few weeks of owning my 2018 Honda accord-Sport driving along the road my car hesitated and acted as if it didn't want to continue driving. I had to pull over to the side of the road to turn the car completely off and back on for the car to regain energy (power) to drive. Every light on the dash is on from the check engine light, brake system, check emission system, road assistance, tire sy... Read more

Incident date: Jun 26, 2024

The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Silverado LD Crew. The contact stated that while driving from a complete stop and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle hesitated to respond as intended and suddenly stalled. The contact stated that the vehicle worked in reverse but did not move forward. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the contact residence and was then ... Read more

Incident date: Jun 25, 2024

The collision warning lights randomly come on, the vehicle loses power suddenly. If I was trying to merge or go on the interstate and suddenly my vehicle loses power while thinking I have enough distance and can accelerate safely but my vehicle just loses power other drivers wouldn’t be able to stop while I was pretty much stuck.

Incident date: Jun 30, 2024

When the vehicle is cold in the winter it is very hard to push in and latch the Driver seat belt. I have complained to the dealer and they have told me that there is no factory approved method to lubricate it. They suggested that I try spraying some WD-40 in it, but they are not allowed to. My vehicle is not under bumper-to-bumper warranty anymore, but I do have a GMC extended warrantee that... Read more

Incident date: Jun 3, 2024

On 6-11-24 The warning lights cycle through Auto Highbeam problem Lane Keeping assist Adaptive Cruise Control Collision Mitigation System problem Road departure Mitigation System problem Earlier in the day I had maintenance at the dealership performed on my car: brake fluid , trans svc,new tires and alignment, oil change and rotate tires, ac filter change, air cleaner element replaced. I went b... Read more

Incident date: Jun 3, 2024

It has been over five months since I was notified about this recall and nothing has been done sense then. I am extremely unhappy with Genesis.

Incident date: May 1, 2024

The contact owns a 2024 Honda Civic equipped with Continental Tires, Tire Line: ProContact TX, Tire Size: 215/50/R17, DOT Number: [XXX] . While the contact's daughter was outside of the vehicle, she discovered a large bubble on the front driver’s side tire. The contact was notified of the failure and instructed her daughter to take the vehicle to an independent mechanic where the tire was replac... Read more

Incident date: Jun 25, 2024

I bought my 2023 F150 August 31 2023 and a few days later with just 600 miles on it the air conditioner quit working. We were traveling and turned it off for a couple hours and when turned back on it worked. Called the salesman and he said there have other incidences. Today 7/01/24 it happened again, and opening the hood I saw that the air conditioning lines were frozen. If this issue wit... Read more

Incident date: Jun 25, 2024

Driving at Approximately 70miles an hour on a divided highway and the top right plastic trim between the back window and the steel side came loose and flew off into traffic behind me creating a road hazard for other motorists. I drove back and picked up the shattered pieces off the highway, no incident was filed with the authorities since there was no accident. I’ve scheduled a service appoint... Read more

Incident date: Jun 27, 2024

The contact owns a 2023 Fisker Ocean. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed and attempting to make a right turn, the vehicle unexpectedly shifted to park(P). There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that the failure was a recurring failure. The contact stated that the vehicle remained stuck in the middle of traffic and would not shift out of park(P) into driv... Read more

Incident date: Jun 29, 2024

Collant by pass malfuntion 2 time

Incident date: Jun 14, 2024

Purchased car new, Dec 2021. Drive infrequently because my work under 5 miles away and I go into the office x2/week. Car has approx 14500 on it. Last week the car would not start. Smelled like gasoline. Called Chevy and they towed it under the bumper to bumper warranty to nearest Chevy dealership, 7 miles away. Dealership called and said fuel line is corroded. We have had no snow in DC and... Read more

Incident date: Jun 3, 2024

My car shudders when I accelerate from a stop position and during the stop, the engine revs really hard. I had an appointment to see the Honda service department on Wednesday, June 26 for a diagnostic. However, on my way home from a medical appointment on Tuesday, June 25, I stopped at the CVS. In the parking lot, in the parked position, the car shuddered violently and then I received these not... Read more

Incident date: Sep 1, 2023

The contact owns a 2019 Nissan Sentra. The contact stated that while his grandson was driving, another motorist informed him that the brake lights were inoperable. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the brake light switch needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that the failure had previously been repaired und... Read more

Incident date: Apr 1, 2022

Previous NHTSA ID Number. 11596944. Recall fix was run earlier this month. Car died at stoplight two days ago. Fix run again at dealership. Car died at red light again today. Was able to put car in park. Tried to restart. Multiple flashing warnings. Was able to get hazards on this time. Had car towed back to dealer. They are calling Ford. Second time this happened at busy intersection. This t... Read more

Incident date: Jun 28, 2024

The contact owns a 2015 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the transmission unexpectedly downshifted and the front wheels lost traction. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and was diagnosed with transmission failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure with NHTS... Read more

Incident date: Nov 1, 2022

I have an active recall on my honda, the fuel pump. I have had symptoms of this problem over the past year even prior to the recall. Bradenton Honda is refusing to do the recall now, stating my car hasn't stalled and there is no light on. They are waiting until FALL to do the recall but there is a long list. They said they can only do recalls on cars that stall. My car has intermittent losses of ... Read more

Incident date: Nov 21, 2017

Engine Maintenance Required, See the dealer msg started popping up. Went to the dealer and after diagnostic check, the dealer said the bypass valve need to be replaced and wont be covered under powertrain warranty.

Incident date: Jun 25, 2024

I have several issues related to its steering system, particularly the Electronic Power Assist Steering (EPAS). The problems include the power steering assist failing, making the steering wheel very difficult to turn, and various error messages such as “Power Steering Assist Fault” displaying on the dashboard. This happen at any moment and the dealer refuse to fixed.

Incident date: Jun 10, 2024

The contact owns a 2019 Acura ILX. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V858000 (Fuel System, Gasoline); 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 and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufact... Read more

Incident date: Jun 26, 2024

Driving at approximately 40-50 mph and it suddenly downshifted to 2nd gear, stopping the truck. This was the first time this happened. Recall 19s07 was performed on 05/03/2019 that supposedly fixed and prevented this from happening.

Incident date: Apr 11, 2024

While driving west on [XXX] thru Utah at 78 mph (speed limit posted 80) the car suddenly and almost violently applied full brakes and reduced speed to 50 mph before I could override by applying added pressure to the accelerator. There were no cars in front of me for over a mile, and the following cars were well back as well. This occurred late morning on perfectly dry pavement. There were few if a... Read more

Incident date: Jun 24, 2024

The contact owned a 2014 Volkswagen Jetta TDI equipped with four Continental Tires: Tire Line: Extreme Contact DW6 Plus; Tire Size: 245/45/R19, and DOT Numbers: N/A. The contact stated that while driving at 75 MPH and traveling around a curve, the passenger side rear tire tread separated, he lost control of the vehicle, and he crashed into a guardrail. The contact sustained injuries to his back, b... Read more

Crash 1 injured

Incident date: Jun 25, 2024

The HVAC control knob overheated and burned out in my car. It scorched/charred and melted the plastic switch it was plugged into in the dash. It caused a strong burnt plastic, Smokey smell inside the car while I was driving. I thought the car was on fire at first. Thank goodness it wasn’t but it really could have started a fire in the dash of the car under the right conditions. I’ve read nume... Read more

Incident date: Feb 28, 2024

In approximately 2019 I received multiple warning lights including "Serv 4WD", TCS disabled, and ABS warning lights. Had it looked at by the dealer who replaced wheel sensors and performed diagnostics. All lights cleared exept TCS disabled warning which is indicationg that the TCS system is not functioning and has a collateral effect of the cruise control not being able to turn on. I have paid t... Read more

Incident date: May 6, 2024

The contact owns a 2019 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the vehicle was jerking with an abnormal thumping sound coming from the vehicle. The vehicle was difficult to shift into gear. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that a software update was needed. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure ... Read more

Incident date: May 6, 2024

The contact owns a 2020 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that while his wife was driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the wiring harness that controlled the flaps for the coolant and the radiator needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that the fail... Read more

Incident date: Jun 25, 2024

The contact owns a 2019 GMC Acadia. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked, she noticed that the engine caught on fire with no warning light illuminated. The fire was put out by the Chicago Fire Department and after the vehicle was inspected the cause of the fire was determined as a failure with the electrical system. A police report was filed with the Chicago Police Department and a rep... Read more

Fire

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Vehicle Safety

Consumer 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

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