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: Jan 27, 2024
I have a 2016 Hyundai Sonata that has had repeated engine issues including stalling overheating and shutting off. The car engine also caught on Fire on [XXX} and was reported to Hyundai Consumer affairs where a case was opened. The car was in the dealership for repair until [XXX] I have a warranty that the dealership or Hyundai did not honor for the engine, power train. The services that were rep... Read more
Incident date: Jan 27, 2024
I have a 2016 Hyundai Sonata that has had repeated engine issues including stalling overheating and shutting off. The car engine also caught on Fire on [XXX} and was reported to Hyundai Consumer affairs where a case was opened. The car was in the dealership for repair until [XXX] I have a warranty that the dealership or Hyundai did not honor for the engine, power train. The services that were rep... Read more
Incident date: Jan 20, 2024
The following incidents with my vehicle 2023 ST CRV Hybrid purchased in July 2023 are as follows: 1. Emission system failure with no resolution after a month at the dealership. 2. Powertrain: unresponsive due to loose wiring. 3. Immobilizer system: it was engaged after receiving emission system failure.
Incident date: Jan 1, 2024
I was backing up and the way that the sun came through the passenger window, I was unable to see people walking behind my car using the back up camera because of the squiggle lines throughout the screen. When the sun hits the screen, you cannot see anything. Whether it is changing the radio station, or backing up. Had I had only relied on the backup camera ( which most people do) I would’ve hit ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2024
Operator law enforcement was idling for an extended time in this vehicle. He was found unconscious in the vehicle and diagnosed with acute carbon monoxide poisoning. He was hospitalised for 4 days, and suffers continuing neurological deficits. Post-incident testing by engineer instructed by operator indicated two improper or incomplete welds on exhaust system, allowing exhaust to pool under vehic... Read more
1 injured
Incident date: Jan 18, 2024
The contact owns a 2014 Chevrolet Camaro. The contact stated that after a visual inspection of the exterior of the vehicle, he observed that the air bag safety information sticker peeling away from the driver’s and passenger’s side windows. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but referred... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2024
The engine and catalytic converter failed while driving on the highway started slowing down and making a sound
Incident date: Jan 1, 2024
My car was working fine since I bought it in April 2023. I passed inspection in November 2023. On January 24, after driving for about 15mins, my check engine light began flashing. The car would not accelerate over 25mph. I brought it to a dealership where it has been for 3 days. All communication about this problem was initiated by me, and the only answers I get are vague comments about testing.
Incident date: Jan 19, 2024
The entire radio/ backup camera freezes and will not come back on for minutes at a time. The dealer is aware of the problem and replaced the entire system once already. They were not able to reproduce the issue however I have video and pictures of a few incidents. There were no warnings however it almost always happens when first starting the car and so the backup camera becomes unusable along wit... Read more
Incident date: Dec 30, 2023
Charged air cooler makes it so your car slows down to 20 on interstate
Incident date: Jul 26, 2023
I have raised case [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] ] with Mazda regarding my 2024 CX90 where there's a suspension and emergency automatic forward Collison breaking since I purchased the car and now this steering issue safety recall. They are not replacing or buying back. I'm feeling unsafe and fear to drive as if this malfunction car leads to accident. Please assist. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREE... Read more
Incident date: Jul 26, 2023
On several occasions the truck engine started to sound noisy, metal clicking when running. l checked the oil and found it was down several quarts of oil. This has happened several times despite my checking. No leak. Usually down one quart but sometimes down 5 or 6 quarts. The engine doesn't start sometimes and has no power on other times. I brought it to a Ford dealer and told him that it wa... Read more
Incident date: Jan 12, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V334000 (Air Bags) 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 contacted. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a... Read more
Incident date: Jan 25, 2024
Drivers assist failed and caused me to cross lanes into the cable barrier on interstate 40 causing 18,000 dollars worth of damage now the parking assist no longer works
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Jan 25, 2024
Drivers assist failed and caused me to cross lanes into the cable barrier on interstate 40 causing 18,000 dollars worth of damage now the parking assist no longer works
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Feb 1, 2021
I got my Fisker Ocean One in Nov 2023, and the car suddenly stops on the road. The car gives multiple jerks and stops in the middle of the traffic. The car just becomes idle on the busy road. Its too scary. This issue is happening on every drive. If something happens to the battery and I don't even have the option to get out of the car as it is dead in the middle of the road. I don't know the issu... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2021
Fire warning recall notice issued in July 2023. Follow up with both Kia and with Kia dealership that I purchased the vehicle from still says that there is no fix to this problem. THE PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD (PCB) IN THE HYDRAULIC CLUTCH ACTUATOR (HCA) MAY BECOME CONTAMINATED WITH FLUID. A FLUID-CONTAMINATED PCB MAY LEAD TO AN ELECTRICAL SHORT CIRCUIT, THEREBY INCREASING THE RISK OF AN ENGINE COMPA... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2021
Fire warning recall notice issued in July 2023. Follow up with both Kia and with Kia dealership that I purchased the vehicle from still says that there is no fix to this problem. THE PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD (PCB) IN THE HYDRAULIC CLUTCH ACTUATOR (HCA) MAY BECOME CONTAMINATED WITH FLUID. A FLUID-CONTAMINATED PCB MAY LEAD TO AN ELECTRICAL SHORT CIRCUIT, THEREBY INCREASING THE RISK OF AN ENGINE COMPA... Read more
Incident date: Jan 17, 2024
My torque converter is going out in my 2014 FORD FUSION SE and it caused me to almost get t-boned twice and hit in the rear once. I pull out of the driveway and it cuts off and won't move. No engine light was on and that's a safety hazard. The dealer is telling me to continue to drive it and if it does it again take a video. The vehicle is getting looked at tomorrow as I will show the video I took... Read more
Incident date: Jan 17, 2024
The passenger door start making a creaking/popping sound. Within the last week, it started to get louder and louder because the spot weld around the door check arm had completely broken. I took it to the dealership I purchased it from and ford denied assistance with my issue. They recommended I pay a body shop to fix it.
Incident date: Jul 15, 2023
I am experiencing an issue where the air conditioner blows hot air intermittently and now just blowing hot air. It seems to be a known issue with the 2017 Chrysler Pacifica but there doesn’t seem to be a recall for my van. I also noticed that there seems to be an issue with the coolant leaking which after some google searching also seems to be a known issue. Please advise.
Incident date: Jan 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 Mercedes-Benz C300. The contact stated that while the vehicle was at the dealer for routine service, a corrosion inspection was performed. The contact was informed of a rust hole in the sub frame. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to report the failure to the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximat... Read more
Incident date: Apr 4, 2016
While driving oil blew out of engine of 2.4 eco tech. Single digit temperatures. Very little warning caused engine to lock up cost over 5,000 to replace engine.
Incident date: Dec 22, 2021
I was driving my 2019 Chevy Silverado and the low oil pressure light came on. I pulled over to find that my truck was leaking oil. I called a tow truck and had the tow truck take me to location that I bought the truck (25 miles away). While waiting for the tow truck I did research about what could be happening. While doing my research I found this recall by Chevy: [XXX] My truck was looked at... Read more
Incident date: Oct 14, 2012
The contact owns a 2015 BMW X5. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine and low coolant warning lights illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the EGR module. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V907000 (Fuel S... Read more
NISSAN
PATHFINDER
(2019) - SERVICE BRAKES
Jan 25, 2024
Incident date: Jan 3, 2024
I have needed to replace the drivers side brake light almost every 3 months. I have seen many Kia Sedonas with that brake light out
NISSAN
PATHFINDER
(2019) - EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Jan 25, 2024
Incident date: Jan 3, 2024
I have needed to replace the drivers side brake light almost every 3 months. I have seen many Kia Sedonas with that brake light out
Incident date: Jan 25, 2024
Hi, I’ve been getting water into my engine air filter box. I did some research and a lot of customers are having the same problem. Is there a fix for this..
Incident date: Jan 25, 2024
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated while having new tires installed on the vehicle, the tire dealer was unable to remove the lug nuts because the lug nuts were swollen. The contact was informed by the tire dealer that the bolts and the lug nuts needed to be removed and replaced to properly mount the new tires. The contact called a dealer and was informed she had to pay out-of-... Read more
Incident date: Jan 24, 2024
When driving at 50mph the steering wheel gets stuck and requires more force in order to slightly turn the wheel, I took my car to the dealership to get my recall fixed about the steering rack but the issues persists.
Incident date: Jan 24, 2024
Back up camera is black with yellow lines
Incident date: Jan 24, 2024
Windshield cracked without impact. It is available for inspection upon request. The vehicle was inspected by dealer but said nothing could be done.
Incident date: Nov 22, 2023
The contact owns a 2020 Lincoln Navigator. The contact stated that while driving 50-55 MPH and depressing the accelerator pedal, the transmission shifted into neutral(N). The contact was able to veer to the side of the road. The contact turned off and restarted the vehicle. The contact was able to continue driving; however, the failure recurred while driving. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, w... Read more
Incident date: Nov 22, 2023
The airbag passenger light is illuminated causing air bag system to remain off until resolve. The vehicle was taken in for inspection and dealer confirmed diagnostic results found Occupant sensor malfunctioning. Under warranty, the sensor was covered, but after installation the system also found that wasn’t the only thing to replace. It’s a handful of sensors and harness that is integrated wit... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2023
What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? "Hybrid System Malfunction. Stop Vehicle in a Safe Location." Car completely inoperable. Had to tow to dealership as would not start or go out of park. Hybrid and High Voltage battery issues reported by multiple owners. This happened less than a month into owning the vehicle and with less than 1200 m... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2021 Kia Sportage. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V703000 (Trailer Hitches) 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 contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the service brakes were inoperable. The c... Read more
Fire
Incident date: May 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2020 Ford EcoSport. The contact stated that while driving at 50–60 MPH, the high-pressure warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that an engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 79,000.
Incident date: Jan 24, 2024
After getting my left headlight assembly replaced the high beam went out. Shortly after my horn was no longer working. Other problems I noticed before these issues that seemed electrical but didn’t necessarily catch my attention: oil light doesn’t come on, seatbelt reminder doesn’t make noise, lights inside the car short at times unless turned on a specific way(including screens and overhea... Read more
Incident date: Jan 24, 2024
The driver-side tail light lens fell off. I don't know where, but it probably fell off while I was driving, and if so, could have caused an accident. Cadillac does not stock this tail light assembly anymore, so I had to order it online, and then have it installed by a local shop. I am uploading photos of 1) repair invoice 2) new tail light box 3) old tail light (missing lens).
Incident date: Jan 19, 2024
I was driving at 10 mph speeding up and the engine went out. There was oil in the engine so it wasn’t from lack of maintenance and I just bought the vehicle a month and a half prior to the incident.
Incident date: Jan 1, 2024
Drove vehicle to Arkansas one way checked the oil it had burned out replace with a full 5 quart
NISSAN
ROGUE SPORT
(2019) - STRUCTURE:BODY
Jan 24, 2024
Incident date: Jan 21, 2024
I was driving down the interstate and heard a tapping/clicking sound from the right side of my windshield that got progressively worse. Before I could stop at the next exit to examine the cause, I noticed an object falling to the ground in my rearview mirror just as the noise stopped. After exiting and looking at the area where the noise was coming from, I noticed a trim piece missing. I later ide... Read more
Incident date: Jan 6, 2024
While using adaptive cruise control, at highway speeds, there was aggressive, automatic braking when there was no vehicle in front of me. It happened about half a dozen times on a three-day trip from Indiana to Florida. Luckily, in each case there was no vehicle directly behind me.
Incident date: Feb 13, 2023
The contact's father owns a 2015 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while his father was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle shifted out of gear into neutral. The contact's father pulled over and waited before restarting the vehicle. There was an unknown warning message displayed. Additionally, the contact stated that the vehicle intermittently did not start as needed. The vehicle was ta... Read more
Incident date: Jan 23, 2024
On [XXX] at [XXX] my 2020 Tesla Model X Long Range Plus suddenly started braking while on the highway. I was driving 75MPH to San Diego from Arizona. There was no vehicles around or in front while using the cruise control. This also has been an issue with our 2023 Tesla Model Y and previous Model 3 while driving to Las Vegas at 70MPH. I really think this is safety concern. Luckily there was vehicl... Read more
Incident date: Dec 29, 2023
On January 23, 2024, while driving home I heard what sounded like a gun shot. I checked that I was ok and exited the freeway. I pulled over and got out of my vehicle and noticed the sunroof/moonroof was shattered. I looked for overpasses and there were none in my area. I called the authorities. Once the officer arrived he noticed that the glass was bubbled out from the vehicle and not inward as it... Read more
Incident date: Oct 23, 2023
The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while driving 75 MPH, the Forward Collision Avoidance Automatic Emergency Braking system activated and applied the brakes. The contact was able to pull to the shoulder of the roadway, where he smelled a burnt smell in the interior of the vehicle. The vehicle returned to normal functionality, but the failure became a regular occurrence. Th... Read more
Incident date: Dec 23, 2023
Unknown I wasn’t in an accident
Incident date: Jan 10, 2024
Shift performance unavailable and my steering wheel gets hard to turn and my car won’t accelerate. Sometimes won’t shift to drive & the parking break will stay on even when not pressed
Incident date: Jan 10, 2024
While driving car cut off and smoke filled inside car. This could have caused a major accident and harm to myself and others. Had to have car towed to dealership for repair that should have not have happened for this age of car. I just had to pay out for a previous repair a few months before this.