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 97,402 complaints for NISSAN
Incident date: Dec 3, 2024
My engine check light came on and it said Engine Fault Service Now, with a wrench signal exposed. Then I could hardly stop the vehicle , it became very difficult to apply the brakes, using all of my body weight applied to stop the vehicle. I immediately brought it to O’Reily’s auto place and had a diagnostic test run on the vehicle. Multiple default code come up. P1016, p0365, p0299,p164D p036... Read more
Incident date: Dec 3, 2024
The rear video camera fails intermittently. It works sometimes and doesn't at times. The same with the rear cross traffic warning and pedestrian warning. I've taken my car to the dealer service center but they claim to not being able to reproduce the issue. I know the issue still exists since my husband hit a parked car while backing out of a driveway since there was no alert provided and the r... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Aug 21, 2024
Jun 13, 2024 2022 Rebel GT FIRST INCIDENT: while making a right hand turn from a stop light, the truck lost acceleration, rolled for a few feet and locked up into ebrake engagement and: >low voltage warning>red battery symbol>clicking lights>complete shut off!! Gave me the follwing messages in the display "key not in vehicle, place in park to start, low volatge." When i finally got it restarte... Read more
Incident date: Dec 31, 2024
My son was driving the vehicle when it lost power and he had to maneauver to the side of the road putting himself and others in danger. The truck was not able to drive forward, but could only drive in reverse. There were no warning lights or other indications that the vehicle had a problem. I had it towed to a mechanic who said Chevy Colorados have problems with their transmissions and it would... Read more
Incident date: Dec 31, 2024
The engine sporadically will “skip” and then keep going. The RPMs will spoke a little when it does
Incident date: Dec 31, 2024
The engine sporadically will “skip” and then keep going. The RPMs will spoke a little when it does
Incident date: Dec 22, 2024
There is a recall on 2017 Ford Fusion's torque converter. I currently have a 2017 Ford Fusion. After inspection at a Ford service dealership, the "torque converter clutch internally failed filling the transmission filter with metal debris and starving the pump for fluid causing debris to go throughout the transmission." The problem with this, is that even though it's list as a recall for ,y specif... Read more
NISSAN
PATHFINDER
(2013) - UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Dec 31, 2024
Incident date: Aug 25, 2023
2004 Toyota Tundra. Left rear upper shock mount rotted away and the shock absorber is no longer connected. (rust) Auto Service report 12/30/2024. October 21, 2021 Toyota Dealership report: Recommends replace spare tire cross member. (rust perforation damage) Recall issued for rust and dealership performed a very limited service repair to this vehicle years ago. The recall repair consisted of r... Read more
Incident date: Dec 11, 2024
Purchased a 1990 f150, having associated problems with fuel pump regulator, fuel is being transferred from rear tank to front tank, and causing spillage, (recall) electrical issue in dash with wipers which may cause fire to steering column, (another recall associated issue) took said vehicle into Ford dealership on Andresen in Vancouver Washington USA, service tech refused service saying truck is ... Read more
1 injured
Incident date: Jan 3, 2024
The contact owned a 2023 Buick Encore. The contact stated that while the vehicle was in park and shifting into the Drive position, the accelerator pedal was lightly depressed when the vehicle violently accelerated forward. No warning light illuminated. The vehicle struck several trees and crashed into an unknown concrete object in the roadway where it came to a stop. It was unknown if a police re... Read more
3 injured
Incident date: Jan 3, 2024
a smell of gas came into the car. fuel pump was the problem as per the dealer. could cause driver to pass out or fire
Incident date: Oct 30, 2024
A MALFUNCTIONING CHECK VALVE WITHIN THE FUEL PUMP ASSEMBLY CAUSES A PORTION OF THE UNUSED FUEL FROM ONE TANK TO BE RETURNED TO THE SECOND TANK. WHEN THIS OCCURS, THE CAPACITY OF THE SECOND TANK CAN BE EXCEEDED, CAUSING FUEL SPILLAGE.
Incident date: Jun 1, 2024
On drives longer than 40 miles, camera faults cause cruise control systems to degrade in function and then when the faults are cleared, full functionality resumes without driver alerts. Side repeater camera feeds and rear camera feeds inconsistently load, or take an extended time period to load (10+ seconds). Tesla has confirmed that the autopilot computer (HW3) likely needs to be replaced, but th... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2024
This car seems to have the same software issue as other altimas but the VIN does not record a recall. When someone is in the passenger seat, there is no dashboard confirmation and we are worried that the airbag might not deploy.
Incident date: Dec 30, 2024
ABS Code C2200-49, anti-lock brake module internal electronic failure. Have not been able to source a new ABS control module for my vehicle. Apparently Dodge/Mopar/Chrysler has stopped producing this part. No ABS makes it dangerous to drive in the snowy/wet conditions prevalent during the winter months, especially in New York State. ABS, traction control, and brake lights are illuminated on ... Read more
Incident date: Dec 28, 2024
This happened on [XXX] in Oakland CA, it was a rainy day. I drove off the freeway and then parked the vehicle in the parking lot. The car was in idle mode. After about 10 minutes the engine started to stall, and then shut off completely. I tried to restart the engine but it failed. The dashboard showed an error message "Engine Stopped, Steering Power Low". I suspected that rainwater entered in... Read more
Incident date: Dec 28, 2024
The contact owns a 2021 Ford Escape. The contact stated while reversing, there was a loud screeching sound coming from the rear of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who performed an unstated service on the vehicle, but the failure persisted. No further information was available. The manufacturer was contacted but no assistance was provided. The contact was informed of an Exten... Read more
Incident date: Dec 28, 2024
The contact owns a 2014 BMW X3. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V608000 (Engine and Engine Cooling, Electrical System); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failur... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
The cruise control (level 2 autonomous) will turn itself off without any warning sometimes. This happens any time the truck is set for above the speed limit by more than 2 mph. The truck uses a speed limit map, independent of actual posted speed limits. When the truck detects a speed limit drop to below the cruise setting, either real or imagined, the cruise control disengages without any warni... Read more
Incident date: Dec 25, 2024
Incident 12/29/2024 while making a stop at a Stop sign while making a left turn steering wheel broke free with no resistance what so ever??? Turned off the vehicle opened the hood discovered the intermediate steering shafts had separated??? retaining bolt missing causing shafts to slip out of each other, putting my life & passenger's at high risk how this happened there is no explanation to this f... Read more
Incident date: Dec 28, 2024
Loss of propulsion. Vehicle will not start/move. If vehicle does turn on , it will not turn off. Vehicle has been having reduced propulsion issues for multiple years (taken to dealer many times) that dealership has refused to do a HV battery capacity test while under warranty, even after leaving with them for multiple months they claimed they could not replicate error. On day of pickup error prese... Read more
Incident date: Dec 26, 2024
Merging on to the Interstate when noticed all the gauges were not working. No speedometer, tach, information center completely black. Checked all fuses and nothing
NISSAN
PATHFINDER
(2013) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Dec 29, 2024
Incident date: Dec 29, 2024
I was stopped at a stoplight about to get on the highway to go to work when my headlights turned off, music turned off, infotainment & cluster screen turned off, & all the backlit buttons went dark. Approximately 2-3 seconds later, everything turned back on as if nothing happened. The engine did not stop running. It was like all electrical to the car got turned off for a couple seconds. I was so g... Read more
Incident date: Dec 18, 2024
Three fuel injectors out of four have failed in a year’s time frame. Car shakes, stalls, hesitates, and is dangerous to drive. Waiting for fourth injector to fail.
Incident date: Jul 15, 2023
Several malfunctions: all cameras including rear cameras were disabled, high beams would flash on and off continuously when in auto mode. Front Passenger safety restraint failure alert message that eventually turned off. The car continuously has a humming noise even after turned off. Navigation system was not operable.
Incident date: Dec 22, 2024
There is no way to turn off the features after looking into the manual. While I was driving on the Interstate, my wheel jerked to the right towards the off ramp when I heals it straight. It was fighting me. Another time a bus was pulled to the right in front of me to pick up the people, and my car abruptly braked despite being in the clear and having pushing on my accelerator.But my vehicle jerked... Read more
1 injured
Incident date: Dec 22, 2024
Cracked dashboard. Continues to get worse. Cracks get bigger and more cracks appear.
Incident date: Aug 15, 2023
After performing the 95B recall, within 20-30 miles of driving the CEL came on. After powering off and back on the “service charging system” alert displayed on the dash. The vehicle seemed drivable however, and I proceeded to drive it to the dealership two days later which is about 4 miles away. In multiple instances when trying to accelerate from a stop the vehicle would not accelerate to mor... Read more
Incident date: Aug 15, 2023
After performing the 95B recall, within 20-30 miles of driving the CEL came on. After powering off and back on the “service charging system” alert displayed on the dash. The vehicle seemed drivable however, and I proceeded to drive it to the dealership two days later which is about 4 miles away. In multiple instances when trying to accelerate from a stop the vehicle would not accelerate to mor... Read more
Incident date: Aug 15, 2023
After performing the 95B recall, within 20-30 miles of driving the CEL came on. After powering off and back on the “service charging system” alert displayed on the dash. The vehicle seemed drivable however, and I proceeded to drive it to the dealership two days later which is about 4 miles away. In multiple instances when trying to accelerate from a stop the vehicle would not accelerate to mor... Read more
Incident date: Nov 8, 2024
"Front left side market light defective" - When the vehicle turns on and the lights activate the side marker lights do not illuminate. There was a recall for this model and year but doesn't include my VIN#. This is happening to MANY 2017 Q7 models. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 108, "Lamps, Reflective Devices... Read more
Incident date: Nov 8, 2024
"Front left side market light defective" - When the vehicle turns on and the lights activate the side marker lights do not illuminate. There was a recall for this model and year but doesn't include my VIN#. This is happening to MANY 2017 Q7 models. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 108, "Lamps, Reflective Devices... Read more
Incident date: Dec 23, 2024
Roll back feature on manual car. Causes disruptive driving by Engaging and holding too long causing stallouts and potential collisions. Also rearbackup camera only works <80% of time.
Incident date: Dec 23, 2024
The problem with the car is that after a stop sign, the car no longer moved forward, it stayed in the road, this was blocking traffic and it was dangerous to get out of the car, the tow truck arrived to move it from the road, several mechanics examined it and said that the transmission was damaged, the car has only traveled 78,140 miles.
Incident date: Dec 2, 2024
About 30 miles after starting a 1,500-mile road trip, the infotainment screen and driver instrument panel both went completely blank. After about 60 seconds, the system apparently rebooted, restoring both screens to normal operation. However, during that minute I was driving at approximately 75 mph on Interstate 90, and I had no access to certain vehicle controls and no way to verify my speed or s... Read more
Incident date: Dec 28, 2024
Driver Side door handle stops working. Because the door handle operates with a sensor and not a standard pull door handle something is being affected and it will not open door. Causing safety issue and not being able to enter car normally.
Incident date: Dec 24, 2024
Electrical issues involving specific fuses in the vehicle where the f13 fuse constantly fries and melts into the fuse box. Causing an electrical burning smell. No warning lights come on. Certain aspects of the car stop working like the blower motor.
Incident date: Dec 4, 2024
The steering wheel jerks when driving.
Incident date: Dec 4, 2024
The Anti-Theft System on the car randomly looses power. This causes the car's power to cut out when you are slowing down and apply the brakes to stop. Once the power cuts, you have to wait about 30 seconds before the ignition Start button illuminates again to restart the car. Once you restart the car the screen on the center dash (stereo/navigation screen) states the Anti-Theft System lost power a... Read more
Incident date: Dec 4, 2024
Radiator was found to be leaking. Now thermostat is sticking. This could have caused my engine to overheat and catch fire. I have had a mechanical shop replace the radiator but could not afford to replace the thermostat yet. I had been seeing warning lights and still see warnings after radiator was replaced. They said “Steering Assist Reduced” and “ESC” and the engine light came on. I went... Read more
Incident date: Dec 20, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Honda Pilot. The contact stated while driving at various speeds and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle hesitated to respond, rattled, jerked, and shuddered. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure mainly occurred while driving at 15 MPH and higher speeds. The contact stated that the Push to Start button was inoperable intermitt... Read more
Incident date: Dec 20, 2024
A few years ago I was told my fuel injectors needed to be replaced. Last month, I was told that my suspension needed to be replaced and it wore out. Shortly after that my struts were leaking and making noise. I do not drive my car over rough terrain, just regular street driving and I get my vehicle maintained regularly.
Incident date: Dec 20, 2024
A few years ago I was told my fuel injectors needed to be replaced. Last month, I was told that my suspension needed to be replaced and it wore out. Shortly after that my struts were leaking and making noise. I do not drive my car over rough terrain, just regular street driving and I get my vehicle maintained regularly.
Incident date: Dec 27, 2024
Very strong smell of gas in my car , affecting me badly , got sick and threw up and took car in , and ford changed my catalyst convertor among other things , no lights lit up for anything , the smell that was there is why I took it in and they kept the car until fixed and picked up , now I don’t feel safe , I have a 2022 ford escape 34000 miles and have had multiple serious recalls and very unsu... Read more
Incident date: Dec 20, 2024
Vehicle dash won't activate beyond the welcome screen thereby preventing me from seeing the speedometer, fuel gage, lane sensors, navigation, etc. I had to drive it on side streets to the closest dealer without aid of any standard dash meters.
Incident date: Dec 11, 2024
When I have a passenger riding with me the passenger airbag cuts on and off the whole time while I’m driving. This is a major safety concern especially when I have passengers all the time. I’m concerned the airbag will not deploy during an accident.
Incident date: Dec 11, 2024
There has been an issue with front LED lights where they go out. It’s an electrical issue where my truck had both replaced and still in warranty this caused almost hit accidents a night. Many vehicles warned me by flashing the high beams. Also another issue is the transmission where it creates a huge jerk on the transmission causing a change in shift. Almost had an accident caused by it. No poli... Read more
Incident date: Dec 11, 2024
There has been an issue with front LED lights where they go out. It’s an electrical issue where my truck had both replaced and still in warranty this caused almost hit accidents a night. Many vehicles warned me by flashing the high beams. Also another issue is the transmission where it creates a huge jerk on the transmission causing a change in shift. Almost had an accident caused by it. No poli... Read more
Incident date: Dec 25, 2024
While driving 25mph, the brakes went out. 2 warning lights came up " service electronic stability control" followed by "service anti-lock brake system" We were able to pull into another lane and still to a stop but vehicle was not responding to brake being floored.
Incident date: Nov 16, 2024
The contact owns a 2022 Jeep Compass. The contact stated that while idle at a stop light the auto start/stop feature activated however when attempting to accelerate, the vehicle failed to restart. The vehicle then went into lockdown mode where all systems were deactivated. The police were contacted and assisted in merging the vehicle to the side of the road. The vehicle was placed in the park whil... Read more