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 620 complaints for NEWMAR
Incident date: Sep 15, 2022
I have owned the Bay Star for a month, since 9/15/2022. In that time, the “Service Advance Track” warning has come on 4 times. When this happens, the traction control, cruise control, and hill assist features do not work. They advertised these as safety features and now they are gone. Also, the info display is filled with the message above and I can’t see my trip info. It’s very frustratin... Read more
Incident date: Sep 15, 2022
I have owned the Bay Star for a month, since 9/15/2022. In that time, the “Service Advance Track” warning has come on 4 times. When this happens, the traction control, cruise control, and hill assist features do not work. They advertised these as safety features and now they are gone. Also, the info display is filled with the message above and I can’t see my trip info. It’s very frustratin... Read more
Incident date: Sep 15, 2022
I have owned the Bay Star for a month, since 9/15/2022. In that time, the “Service Advance Track” warning has come on 4 times. When this happens, the traction control, cruise control, and hill assist features do not work. They advertised these as safety features and now they are gone. Also, the info display is filled with the message above and I can’t see my trip info. It’s very frustratin... Read more
NEWMAR
LONDON AIRE
(2022) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:INTERIOR LAMPS/BULBS
Oct 5, 2022
Incident date: Feb 25, 2022
When driving at night, the dash lighting system fails to dim beyond 40%. The intensity is too much for safe driving, and I have had to cover the dash with a cloth to safely drive at night. Doing this removes the ability to monitor vital systems and speed. I contacted Spartan Chassis, and they suggested that I put a photo film or window tint over the display. The stated justification is "most RV o... Read more
NEWMAR
LONDON AIRE
(2022) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: INSTRUMENT CLUSTER/PANEL
Oct 5, 2022
Incident date: Feb 25, 2022
When driving at night, the dash lighting system fails to dim beyond 40%. The intensity is too much for safe driving, and I have had to cover the dash with a cloth to safely drive at night. Doing this removes the ability to monitor vital systems and speed. I contacted Spartan Chassis, and they suggested that I put a photo film or window tint over the display. The stated justification is "most RV o... Read more
NEWMAR
LONDON AIRE
(2022) - TIRES:PRESSURE MONITORING AND REGULATING SYSTEMS
Oct 5, 2022
Incident date: Feb 15, 2022
The TPMS system fails to read tires while in motion. Primarily affects the rear outer drive axle, but all wheels, including front are impacted at random intervals. When standing still, the sensors will all read and display temperature and pressure. After driving for 10 minutes, a TPMS alert will display on the dash and one or more wheels will show as missing. The frequency of these alerts has ca... Read more
NEWMAR
LONDON AIRE
(2022) - WHEELS
Oct 5, 2022
Incident date: Feb 15, 2022
The TPMS system fails to read tires while in motion. Primarily affects the rear outer drive axle, but all wheels, including front are impacted at random intervals. When standing still, the sensors will all read and display temperature and pressure. After driving for 10 minutes, a TPMS alert will display on the dash and one or more wheels will show as missing. The frequency of these alerts has ca... Read more
NEWMAR
DUTCH STAR
(2018) - STRUCTURE:BODY
Sep 30, 2022
Incident date: Sep 1, 2022
The driver's side window is a dual pane window. The glass has lost its seal letting moisture in between the panes causing a drivers visibility issue. Driver is unable to see in the rear mirror or to the left side of the vehicle. Vehicle manufacturer claims vehicle is out of warranty and denied any remedy.
NEWMAR
DUTCH STAR
(2018) - VISIBILITY/WIPER
Sep 30, 2022
Incident date: Sep 1, 2022
The driver's side window is a dual pane window. The glass has lost its seal letting moisture in between the panes causing a drivers visibility issue. Driver is unable to see in the rear mirror or to the left side of the vehicle. Vehicle manufacturer claims vehicle is out of warranty and denied any remedy.
NEWMAR
DUTCH STAR
(2021) - STEERING
Sep 28, 2022
Incident date: Sep 26, 2022
This model motorhome has a steering assist function to allow the steering wheel effort to be adjusted to a very light turning input or a very hard turning input. This feature is known as Comfort Drive or Comfort Steer. As I was driving down the highway at 60 MPH, I got a warning on the dash that said “Steering Effort Control (CTRL) Disabled” and the steering wheel immediately went into the ver... Read more
NEWMAR
KOUNTRY STAR
(2022) - LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
Sep 25, 2022
Incident date: Sep 20, 2022
The Comfort Drive system on the Kountry Star has failed 12 times in the first year (7500 miles). Eleven of the faults have been while driving and once while sitting still. Vehicle was checked by Freightliner shop who in turn spoke to Newmar. Newmar advice was the system was functioning properly! On a 1200 mile trip earlier this month the system failed 3 separate times. When faults are thrown, an e... Read more
NEWMAR
KOUNTRY STAR
(2022) - STEERING
Sep 25, 2022
Incident date: Sep 20, 2022
The Comfort Drive system on the Kountry Star has failed 12 times in the first year (7500 miles). Eleven of the faults have been while driving and once while sitting still. Vehicle was checked by Freightliner shop who in turn spoke to Newmar. Newmar advice was the system was functioning properly! On a 1200 mile trip earlier this month the system failed 3 separate times. When faults are thrown, an e... Read more
Incident date: Sep 9, 2022
THE TIRE PRESSURE MONITORING SYSTEM IS DEFECTIVE AND IS GIVEING FALSE / INACURATE READINGS. THIS COULD LEAD TO A TIRE BLOWOUT AND AN ACCIDENT. MANY OTHER OWNERS ARE REPORTING THIS AS A COMMON PROBLEM.
Incident date: Sep 9, 2022
THE TIRE PRESSURE MONITORING SYSTEM IS DEFECTIVE AND IS GIVEING FALSE / INACURATE READINGS. THIS COULD LEAD TO A TIRE BLOWOUT AND AN ACCIDENT. MANY OTHER OWNERS ARE REPORTING THIS AS A COMMON PROBLEM.
NEWMAR
DUTCH STAR
(2019) - STEERING:HYDRAULIC POWER ASSIST:HOSE, PIPING, AND CONNECTIONS
Aug 26, 2022
Incident date: Aug 25, 2022
The contact owns a 2019 Newmar Dutch Star RV. The contact stated while driving 10 MPH, he heard an abnormally loud sound before the steering wheel seized. The contact stated there was no warning light illuminated. The contact was able to park safely on the side of the road. Upon inspecting the RV, he noticed the steering hose had separated from the fitting. The contact towed the RV to an independe... Read more
NEWMAR
DUTCH STAR
(2018) - STRUCTURE:BODY
Aug 21, 2022
Incident date: Aug 10, 2022
Entry door unlatches and allows door to open at highway speed, unless secondary deadbolt lock is manually latched. This occurred twice on my recent trip. Manufacturer has worked/examined this issue on 2 previous occasions. Standard door latch does not secure door as designed.
NEWMAR
DUTCH STAR
(2018) - TIRES:PRESSURE MONITORING AND REGULATING SYSTEMS
Aug 9, 2022
Incident date: Jul 15, 2022
Blowout and tire separation, Drivers front, traveling N on I-25 mile marker 7, south of Trinidad Co. Using Tire Patrol sensors on all motorhome tires and tow vehicle. After replacing tire and rim and on our way back home I noticed a low tire pressure on the right front tire. On inspecting the sensor I noticed a partial separation of the sensor which presumably allowed the tire to partially defla... Read more
NEWMAR
KOUNTRY STAR
(2020) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Aug 5, 2022
Incident date: May 26, 2022
The cable supplying 12V power to the RV generator (the house generator in the front of the coach) shorted out while driving causing failure of 12V chassis control systems and accessories including: Transmission control (i.e. could not shift gears) Instrument panel Turn signals Horn Rear view camera Engine brake control. The vehicle air brakes were operating and I was able to pull over to a safe... Read more
NEWMAR
DUTCH STAR
(2019) - POWER TRAIN
Jul 30, 2022
Incident date: Jul 18, 2022
Vehicle was operating normally when dash lights up with bars stating "check Engine and Low DEF." My dash (digital) locked up and I could not access any error codes. I checked my DEF tank and it was 80% full. I contacted Freightliner Custom Chassis who advised that it needed to go to a dealer. They gave me two dealers, one 30 miles away and the other was 60 miles. Contacted both. Neither on c... Read more
NEWMAR
DUTCH STAR
(2019) - FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Jul 30, 2022
Incident date: Jul 18, 2022
Vehicle was operating normally when dash lights up with bars stating "check Engine and Low DEF." My dash (digital) locked up and I could not access any error codes. I checked my DEF tank and it was 80% full. I contacted Freightliner Custom Chassis who advised that it needed to go to a dealer. They gave me two dealers, one 30 miles away and the other was 60 miles. Contacted both. Neither on c... Read more
Incident date: Jul 1, 2022
Driving west on Interstate 80 in Iowa heading to South Dakota, when smoke started to appear in rear of motor home outside . Pulled over to find that diesel fuel was spraying all over the motor, very fortunate that it did not catch on fire. It is a Cummins 8.9 diesel motor # 73844606 . Had it towed to a licensed repair shop and the mechanic found that the # 1 fuel injector line had a hair line ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 1, 2022
Driving west on Interstate 80 in Iowa heading to South Dakota, when smoke started to appear in rear of motor home outside . Pulled over to find that diesel fuel was spraying all over the motor, very fortunate that it did not catch on fire. It is a Cummins 8.9 diesel motor # 73844606 . Had it towed to a licensed repair shop and the mechanic found that the # 1 fuel injector line had a hair line ... Read more
NEWMAR
KOUNTRY STAR
(2022) - STEERING
Jun 30, 2022
Incident date: Jun 30, 2022
Four times since taking possession of this 2022 RV, a red warning was displayed on the screen saying “Park Brake Not Set”. This requires the operator to insure the brake is actually set, chock tires and act to prevent movement. This exposes the operator and those nearby to potential injury or death. In addition, the “Steering Effort Control Disabled” yellow warning appears with the previo... Read more
NEWMAR
KOUNTRY STAR
(2022) - SERVICE BRAKES
Jun 30, 2022
Incident date: Jun 30, 2022
Four times since taking possession of this 2022 RV, a red warning was displayed on the screen saying “Park Brake Not Set”. This requires the operator to insure the brake is actually set, chock tires and act to prevent movement. This exposes the operator and those nearby to potential injury or death. In addition, the “Steering Effort Control Disabled” yellow warning appears with the previo... Read more
Incident date: May 17, 2022
Anti-Skid light on, Hill Start Assist Not Available Light on and Cruise Control inoperable. Come to a stop, turn engine off. Restart engine, Anti-Skid light still on, drive away and within 100 yards Skid light will turn off and cruise control will work. Within 5 miles Anti- Skid light back on and cruise control cuts out. Repeat procedure again. Same results. At times, no problem for 150 miles. At ... Read more
Incident date: May 17, 2022
Anti-Skid light on, Hill Start Assist Not Available Light on and Cruise Control inoperable. Come to a stop, turn engine off. Restart engine, Anti-Skid light still on, drive away and within 100 yards Skid light will turn off and cruise control will work. Within 5 miles Anti- Skid light back on and cruise control cuts out. Repeat procedure again. Same results. At times, no problem for 150 miles. At ... Read more
Incident date: May 17, 2022
Anti-Skid light on, Hill Start Assist Not Available Light on and Cruise Control inoperable. Come to a stop, turn engine off. Restart engine, Anti-Skid light still on, drive away and within 100 yards Skid light will turn off and cruise control will work. Within 5 miles Anti- Skid light back on and cruise control cuts out. Repeat procedure again. Same results. At times, no problem for 150 miles. At ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 30, 2022
The contact owns a 2020 Newmar Bay Star Motorhome built on a 2019 Ford F53 chassis. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the front windshield started moving side-to-side. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact took the motorhome to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the front of the motorhome to be repaired. The motorhome was not repaired... Read more
NEWMAR
CANYON STAR
(2022) - UNKNOWN OR OTHER
May 16, 2022
Incident date: May 13, 2022
On Friday, May 13th 2022 my wife and I were returning from a camping trip in our 2022 Canyon Star motorhome. We were getting close to home, we heard what sounded like a loud bang and the passenger side window had suddenly shattered. It appeared that the epicenter of the shatter was a circular spot behind the outside mirror about 2" from the bottom of the glass. We were not in any traffic and th... Read more
Incident date: Apr 20, 2022
Service advance trac ABS light In cross winds the system fails. Wind from either side The important stability control fails when you need it the most. ABS light is self explanatory. Called Ford and lady said she hears this issue a lot She mentioned that eventually it will disable the Rv. I’m in places where there is no phone service. Will be taking it in, but most people reported they throw p... Read more
Incident date: Apr 20, 2022
Service advance trac ABS light In cross winds the system fails. Wind from either side The important stability control fails when you need it the most. ABS light is self explanatory. Called Ford and lady said she hears this issue a lot She mentioned that eventually it will disable the Rv. I’m in places where there is no phone service. Will be taking it in, but most people reported they throw p... Read more
Incident date: Apr 27, 2022
My dual pane windows are delaminating causing foggy windows. All windows seem to be defective accept front windshield.
Incident date: Apr 27, 2022
My dual pane windows are delaminating causing foggy windows. All windows seem to be defective accept front windshield.
Incident date: Apr 23, 2022
Nuisance service advance trac light illuminates which in turn disables hill assist, abs and cruise control. Will reset when ignition is recycled. However no ABS on a large vehicle in adverse weather is unsettling. It’s my understanding that this is a frequent issue in the new Ford F53 chassis. Many consumers have reported dealerships are unable to determine the exact cause and only have the faul... Read more
Incident date: Apr 23, 2022
Nuisance service advance trac light illuminates which in turn disables hill assist, abs and cruise control. Will reset when ignition is recycled. However no ABS on a large vehicle in adverse weather is unsettling. It’s my understanding that this is a frequent issue in the new Ford F53 chassis. Many consumers have reported dealerships are unable to determine the exact cause and only have the faul... Read more
Incident date: Apr 23, 2022
Nuisance service advance trac light illuminates which in turn disables hill assist, abs and cruise control. Will reset when ignition is recycled. However no ABS on a large vehicle in adverse weather is unsettling. It’s my understanding that this is a frequent issue in the new Ford F53 chassis. Many consumers have reported dealerships are unable to determine the exact cause and only have the faul... Read more
Incident date: Jul 27, 2021
The contact owns a 2019 Newmar Bay Star constructed on a 2019 Ford F53 Chassis. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V719000 (Equipment) and 21V571000 (Equipment, Structure) however, the parts to do the recall repairs were 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 ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 27, 2021
The contact owns a 2019 Newmar Bay Star constructed on a 2019 Ford F53 Chassis. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V719000 (Equipment) and 21V571000 (Equipment, Structure) however, the parts to do the recall repairs were 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 ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 2, 2022
19ft factory installed awning detached from RV rendering RV undriveable. Mobile repair shop manufactured parts to securely and properly reattach awning. Shop reported factory install was very substandard. Additionally shop reported they had never seen an awning arm installed crossing over a window. Detachment fortunately occurred while RV was stopped. On the road the detachment would have most... Read more
NEWMAR
CANYON STAR
(2014) - WHEELS
Mar 11, 2022
Incident date: Jan 8, 2021
While stopping, a heavy knock was apparent from the forward left wheel area. This knock was speed related and was easily identified as a rotational noise. As the speed of the tire rotation decreased the knock slowed until it was identifiable as one knock per wheel rotation.
NEWMAR
DUTCH STAR
(2016) - VISIBILITY/WIPER
Mar 5, 2022
Incident date: Mar 4, 2022
While driving on I-75 in the Venice, Florida area, the lower half of the window fell off our motorcoach. The window was located on the passenger side about 22 ft from the front. I have learned this morning that many reports of this continue being reported on windows made by Hehr, which is now owned by Lippert. We are so very thankful it did not hit the vehicle behind us.
NEWMAR
CANYON STAR
(2015) - SERVICE BRAKES
Mar 3, 2022
Incident date: Mar 1, 2022
I have a 2015 Newmar Canyon Star 3953 (on an F-53 Motorhome Chassis) serial number [XXX] with 57,335 miles. The attached picture does not do justice to what I have to say. The picture is the front rotor of the brake assembly. In between the outer and inner plates of the rotor are two steel rods. The only purpose (that is thought) of the rod is to balance the rotor. The problem is, the rotor heats... Read more
NEWMAR
BAY STAR SPORT
(2021) - FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
Feb 4, 2022
Incident date: Jan 27, 2022
We had Ford recall #21S17 performed on our 2021 Bay Star Sport. Upon leaving the Ford dealership to return to our camp I started receiving warning lights and an error message on my console. Message was “hill assist disabled”, warning lights were for ABS , TCS operations. We called the dealership and we’re told to return to them. The motorhome was not hoisted, they used my stabilizing jacks a... Read more
NEWMAR
BAY STAR SPORT
(2021) - SERVICE BRAKES
Feb 4, 2022
Incident date: Jan 27, 2022
We had Ford recall #21S17 performed on our 2021 Bay Star Sport. Upon leaving the Ford dealership to return to our camp I started receiving warning lights and an error message on my console. Message was “hill assist disabled”, warning lights were for ABS , TCS operations. We called the dealership and we’re told to return to them. The motorhome was not hoisted, they used my stabilizing jacks a... Read more
NEWMAR
BAY STAR SPORT
(2021) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Feb 4, 2022
Incident date: Jan 27, 2022
We had Ford recall #21S17 performed on our 2021 Bay Star Sport. Upon leaving the Ford dealership to return to our camp I started receiving warning lights and an error message on my console. Message was “hill assist disabled”, warning lights were for ABS , TCS operations. We called the dealership and we’re told to return to them. The motorhome was not hoisted, they used my stabilizing jacks a... Read more
Incident date: Jul 6, 2021
IT ALL STARTED WITH THE ADVANCE TRACTION CONTROL. DRIVING DOWN THE HIGHWAY WITH WIND GUST DISABILIES THE CRUISE CONTROL AND THEN THE ABS. THIS CONTINUED TO HAPPEN. YOUR HAVE TO PULL OVER AND TURN OFF THE RV TO RESET THE ABS. ON THE LONG TRIP WE WERE PULLING OVER ABOUT EVERY 10 TO 15 MINUTES TO RESET THE SYSTEM. WE TOOK OUR FORD V8 RV INTO SHOP FOR REPAIR. AFTER HAVING THE REPAIR DONE. WE TOOK... Read more
Incident date: Jul 6, 2021
IT ALL STARTED WITH THE ADVANCE TRACTION CONTROL. DRIVING DOWN THE HIGHWAY WITH WIND GUST DISABILIES THE CRUISE CONTROL AND THEN THE ABS. THIS CONTINUED TO HAPPEN. YOUR HAVE TO PULL OVER AND TURN OFF THE RV TO RESET THE ABS. ON THE LONG TRIP WE WERE PULLING OVER ABOUT EVERY 10 TO 15 MINUTES TO RESET THE SYSTEM. WE TOOK OUR FORD V8 RV INTO SHOP FOR REPAIR. AFTER HAVING THE REPAIR DONE. WE TOOK... Read more
Incident date: Jul 6, 2021
IT ALL STARTED WITH THE ADVANCE TRACTION CONTROL. DRIVING DOWN THE HIGHWAY WITH WIND GUST DISABILIES THE CRUISE CONTROL AND THEN THE ABS. THIS CONTINUED TO HAPPEN. YOUR HAVE TO PULL OVER AND TURN OFF THE RV TO RESET THE ABS. ON THE LONG TRIP WE WERE PULLING OVER ABOUT EVERY 10 TO 15 MINUTES TO RESET THE SYSTEM. WE TOOK OUR FORD V8 RV INTO SHOP FOR REPAIR. AFTER HAVING THE REPAIR DONE. WE TOOK... Read more
Incident date: Aug 6, 2021
This is concerning the brake system (disk rotor & pads) on a vehicle with 2600 miles when detected. Vehicle manufacture date was March 2021, owner possession July 27, 2021. There has not been any one's safety compromised. Front Rotors are experiencing scoring which I can only conclude began during delivery of 2300 miles from Nappanee, IN. to Bend, OR. by manufacture. The abnormal wear was detected... Read more
Incident date: Aug 6, 2021
This is concerning the brake system (disk rotor & pads) on a vehicle with 2600 miles when detected. Vehicle manufacture date was March 2021, owner possession July 27, 2021. There has not been any one's safety compromised. Front Rotors are experiencing scoring which I can only conclude began during delivery of 2300 miles from Nappanee, IN. to Bend, OR. by manufacture. The abnormal wear was detected... Read more