Consumer Safety Complaints
Search 2,215,138 safety complaints filed by vehicle owners with NHTSA — including 138,663 crashes, 56,255 fires, and 8,561 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 2,215,138 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 39,107 complaints for PONTIAC
Incident date: Mar 19, 2022
Went to get insurance and the recalls were brought to my attention.
Incident date: Mar 1, 2022
The contact's daughter owns a 2007 Pontiac G6. The contact stated that while her daughter was driving at an undisclosed speed, the power steering assist warning light illuminated. The vehicle then experienced a loss of power steering assist. The contact replaced the fuse; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacture... Read more
Incident date: Mar 13, 2022
The problem hasn't been happening nearly as much in the cold temperatures. I'm experiencing the same issue that was supposed to be recalled. The power steering goes out while I'm driving. I can pull over, restart it and it usually goes away the first start (sometimes more "restarts" are necessary). The steering wheel also twitches or shakes while the car is just idle. I don't move it... just ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 13, 2022
The problem hasn't been happening nearly as much in the cold temperatures. I'm experiencing the same issue that was supposed to be recalled. The power steering goes out while I'm driving. I can pull over, restart it and it usually goes away the first start (sometimes more "restarts" are necessary). The steering wheel also twitches or shakes while the car is just idle. I don't move it... just ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 7, 2022
Well, we purchased a 2009 Pontiac G6 in November of 2021. We have been having problems with our light staying on, we were pull over a couple nights ago due to our lights not working. Also, our G6 pulls to the right and tweeters are the only speakers that work. Sometimes the driver door speaker will come on but that's in a blue moon. My step dad looked at my lights and noticed our wires were burnt ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 7, 2022
Well, we purchased a 2009 Pontiac G6 in November of 2021. We have been having problems with our light staying on, we were pull over a couple nights ago due to our lights not working. Also, our G6 pulls to the right and tweeters are the only speakers that work. Sometimes the driver door speaker will come on but that's in a blue moon. My step dad looked at my lights and noticed our wires were burnt ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 7, 2022
Well, we purchased a 2009 Pontiac G6 in November of 2021. We have been having problems with our light staying on, we were pull over a couple nights ago due to our lights not working. Also, our G6 pulls to the right and tweeters are the only speakers that work. Sometimes the driver door speaker will come on but that's in a blue moon. My step dad looked at my lights and noticed our wires were burnt ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 28, 2022
The contact owns a 2006 Pontiac G6. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, and making a lane change, the vehicle lost power steering assist. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact stopped and turned the vehicle off. The contact stated that power steering engaged upon restarting the vehicle; however, the failure recurred. The contact had not taken the ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 4, 2022
The electric steering assist went out while driving, making it very hard to steer. I am in the process of getting this replaced. I will try to have the mechanic give me the old part so it is available. It was very hard to steer and stay in my lane. Could have easily gotten into an accident. No dealer, or independent service center has verified it yet. Trying to get it scheduled now. Nothing in... Read more
Incident date: Feb 24, 2022
The contact owns a 2010 Pontiac G6. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH, the steering wheel was inadvertently locked up. The power steering fault warning light was illuminated. The contact pulled over and restarted the vehicle and the vehicle operated as designed. The vehicle was not taken to be diagnosed or repaired. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer had been notified of the failure. Th... Read more
PONTIAC
TORRENT
(2007) — AIR BAGS:SENSOR:OCCUPANT CLASSIFICATION:STATUS INDICATOR LAMP/LIGHT
Feb 25, 2022
Incident date: Jan 13, 2020
Passenger side air bag light is staying off even when an adult is seated there.
Incident date: Feb 21, 2022
gm recall March 2017 #17036 changed out a defective passenger presence module and now 5 years later the same switch went out again but repair shop said its not covered by any recalls. The vehicle has 60538 miles and is not a daily driver as I have 4 vehicles and very rarely carry any passengers. I feel like the switch replaced was still defective and should be covered by gm. it cost me $980.95 to ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 20, 2022
I will start my car with my power steering not working, turn it off and turn it back on and it will be working fine. I was driving down the road and it went out and I could not stop and restart the car because I was in mid traffic and not near a red light. The steering wheel is hard to control and takes all my effort to turn the steering wheel to get where I needed to go. My car has not been worke... Read more
Incident date: Feb 5, 2022
About two weeks ago, my steering wheel locked up while driving on the expressway. Luckily I was in the far right lane and was able to pull over without causing a car accident. Once pulled over, I shut off the vehicle and called my mom. While on the phone, she told me to try to start it up again. This time, the steering wheel turned with no problem. Hastily, I drove home. I have made arrangements t... Read more
Incident date: Feb 11, 2022
I have had two incidents when powering steering failed. Luckily I wasn't going fast both times. Problem resolved after restarting car. I took to mechanic and was given a recall number and told to contact the dealership. I made appointment and was told that recall had expired. Apparently this has been an issue with this car for many years but dealership isn't always acknowledging it. The reca... Read more
Incident date: Feb 11, 2022
I have had two incidents when powering steering failed. Luckily I wasn't going fast both times. Problem resolved after restarting car. I took to mechanic and was given a recall number and told to contact the dealership. I made appointment and was told that recall had expired. Apparently this has been an issue with this car for many years but dealership isn't always acknowledging it. The reca... Read more
Incident date: Feb 15, 2022
The ignition is faulty. My ignition allows my radio to turn on randomly. I could have the car off, I'm not in it at all. If I get inside to go somewhere and the radio is already on before I put the key in. Most times it's not a big deal. The car starts and I go about my business. Recently I've been experiencing needing to get a jump because the battery gets run down over the radio being on. ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 15, 2022
The ignition is faulty. My ignition allows my radio to turn on randomly. I could have the car off, I'm not in it at all. If I get inside to go somewhere and the radio is already on before I put the key in. Most times it's not a big deal. The car starts and I go about my business. Recently I've been experiencing needing to get a jump because the battery gets run down over the radio being on. ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 31, 2022
The contact owns a 2008 Pontiac G6. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, the vehicle lost steering functionality. The contact stated that as his daughter turned off and restarted the vehicle several times and the steering wheel functionality returned; however, the steering was shaking. The TPMS warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure had been reoccurring while ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2021
The contact owns a 2007 Pontiac G5. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the steering wheel locked inadvertently. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that both the power steering motor and steering column needed to be replaced. The contact stated that the vehicle was repaired; however, the failure persisted. U... Read more
Incident date: Jan 25, 2022
The contact owns a 2009 Pontiac G6. The contact stated that while driving at slower speeds, the power steering warning system would chime and illuminate then the power steering would fail intermittently. The contact had to use excessive force to maneuver the vehicle. The contact would then turn off and restart the vehicle for the power steering to function as needed. The contact stated that the fa... Read more
Incident date: Feb 2, 2022
UNKNOWN . I was driving on a normal day, turned the corner and me and this car almost hit each head on because the steering wheel locked up on me . Im very little I injured my arm trying to hurry and grab on to the steering wheel tight to keep from hitting the other car . Power steering keeps popping up on my car can somebody please help me now the steering wheel doesn’t want to ever unlock .
Incident date: Dec 29, 2021
The contact owns a 2008 Pontiac G6. The contact stated while driving at an unknown speed, the steering wheel became difficult to turn. The contact stated there was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed with needing the rack and pinion and intermediate steering shaft replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was informed of ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 22, 2022
SUDDEN LOSS OF ELECTRIC POWER STEERING (EPS) ASSIST. THERE IS NO WARNING AND HAPPENS FREQUENTLY EVEN AFTER RESTARTING THE VEHICLE. THE ERRORS ON THE DASH ARE +POWER STEERING+ +SERVICE ESC+ AND +ESC OFF+ AFTER POWER STEERING IS LOST. THIS IS A HUGE SAFETY ISSUE THAT WAS ADDRESSED WITH THE 2009 MODEL BUT YOU HAVE FAILED TO ADDRESS IT IN THE 2010 MODEL.
Incident date: Dec 15, 2021
The airbag safety indicator shows a fault, indicating the passenger airbag is not operational. I researched the cause since we have no local GM dealers and the forums show this issue was addressed by a recall notice. However, this care was not part of that recall. I will be happy to have it inspected but don't want to pay the outrageous prices for a dealer inspection, especially since the closest ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 27, 2019
Power-steering went out abruptly and had to be replaced. I wasn't aware of the recall several years prior to the incident. Upon further research acquired I learned of any refunds on any repairs for this situation.
PONTIAC
GRAND PRIX
(2007) — EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Jan 21, 2022
Incident date: Jul 15, 2021
The multifunction/turning signal switch is malfunctioning. It started in 2012 about a year after I purchased the car. The brights would randomly turn on without me touching the switch and then the brights would turn on when I'd use my turning signal. I delt with it for several years, but eventually it got so bad that the brights wouldn't even turn off at all. I would have to drive with my finger ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 16, 2022
The power steering went out on me. Sometimes it will work turning to the left but never the right. It says “power steering” on the radio. Upon doing some research I believe there is a recall on the eps, more specifically the torque sensor. I wanted to see if I was eligible. Thank you for your help.
Incident date: May 20, 2021
Head light connector is burning out too fast. Had to replace it 2x in 1 year.
Incident date: Jan 11, 2022
Steering wheel has un- commanded movement, steering system alert message present and power steering assist is inoperable. Causes difficulty making directional changes and maintaining vehicle control.
Incident date: Nov 17, 2021
Brakes, steering ,wheels, intake manifold gasket ,Thermostat,lighting ,a/c
PONTIAC
GRAND PRIX
(2002) — AIR BAGS
Jan 10, 2022
Incident date: Nov 30, 2021
I was driving a red 2002 Pontiac. While sitting at a stop sign and the driver of a 2012 Ford Fiesta was going 55-60 MPH and ran in the back of my vehicle.
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Nov 30, 2021
When I was gassing up my car, a fuel leak occurred in the gas tank and my car caught on fire. The gas station attendant used a fire extinguisher to put the fire out. I had 113,262 miles on my car. As you can see, the leak in the plastic gas tank caused the gas tank fuel pump to burn up and burn up its wiring harness. I don't want any money but I just thought the NHTSA should know. I do not n... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Jan 5, 2022
My 2009 Pontiac G6 power steering has been intermittently going out over the past 3 years between my self and my grandfather who bought the vehicle brand new before gifting it to me. It's done so while driving several times but not consistently. It can be reset by turning the car off and back on but that doesn't negate the danger it poses while driving and having sudden loss of the power steering.... Read more
Incident date: Dec 8, 2021
Please reference G.M. Bulletin 14116B or NHTSA recall on this vehicle for a defective Steering Torque Sensor. According to G.M., my car/VIN is not affected by this issue. The fact is it also has the defective Torque Sensor and it has disabled my power steering every winter since new on a cold day. I took it to the dealer when it was still under warranty in 2010, but the problem was not identified ... Read more
Incident date: Dec 8, 2021
Please reference G.M. Bulletin 14116B or NHTSA recall on this vehicle for a defective Steering Torque Sensor. According to G.M., my car/VIN is not affected by this issue. The fact is it also has the defective Torque Sensor and it has disabled my power steering every winter since new on a cold day. I took it to the dealer when it was still under warranty in 2010, but the problem was not identified ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 4, 2021
The contact owns a 2009 Pontiac G8. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, he noticed that the airbag warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the airbag warning light remained illuminated. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 23,000.
Incident date: Dec 23, 2021
The contact's son owns a Pontiac G6. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, her son noticed that the steering wheel was locked. The power steering assists warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure occurred intermittently and her son was able to take the vehicle to an unknown dealer who diagnosed that the steering column needed to be replaced. The contact stated tha... Read more
Incident date: Dec 11, 2021
The contact owns a 2006 Pontiac G6. The contact stated that while driving approximately 10 MPH and making a right turn, the steering wheel locked up and could not be turned in either direction. The message "Power Steering Assist Fault" was displayed. After restarting the vehicle, the steering wheel operated as designed however, moments later the failure reoccurred. The vehicle was towed to the res... Read more
PONTIAC
GRAND PRIX
(1999) — ENGINE
Dec 7, 2021
Incident date: Dec 5, 2021
valve covers leaks oil on to the exhaust and started a lil fire
Fire
Incident date: Nov 28, 2021
Was leaving for a road trip and the rear passenger door would not latch when closed. We were an hour from home, so I had to use a bungee cord to hold the door closed for the drive back. My son had to sit in the middle seat. That door is rarely used. I have ordered the part and it should be here soon. The drivers door has become difficult to open and close but I am unable to locate the part as it ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 31, 2021
I purchased a 2006 Pontiac Solstice from a Lexus dealership in 2020. No known issues were discussed when I purchased the vehicle. The ignition switch turned off while I was driving around a curve which caused engine to stall, and my steering wheel to locked up preventing me from turning. I crashed into a guardrail at 60 mph and my car spun, hitting the back as well. The car is totaled. My airbag d... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Oct 31, 2021
I purchased a 2006 Pontiac Solstice from a Lexus dealership in 2020. No known issues were discussed when I purchased the vehicle. The ignition switch turned off while I was driving around a curve which caused engine to stall, and my steering wheel to locked up preventing me from turning. I crashed into a guardrail at 60 mph and my car spun, hitting the back as well. The car is totaled. My airbag d... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Nov 28, 2021
Service air bag light continually goes on and of randomly, at times does not recognize when someone is sitting in the passenger seat. This is a serious problem because when air bag light is on it disables the air bags which won’t deploy in a crash. I found that they recall the 2007 models for this exact problem, Now is the time to recall the 2008 for the exact same problem. This is a dealer only... Read more
PONTIAC
GRAND PRIX
(2002) — ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Nov 25, 2021
Incident date: Nov 24, 2021
The night of the incident I was driving to my brother's house when I pulled over lifted the hood it burst into flames
Fire
1 injured
PONTIAC
GRAND PRIX
(2002) — ENGINE
Nov 25, 2021
Incident date: Nov 24, 2021
The night of the incident I was driving to my brother's house when I pulled over lifted the hood it burst into flames
Fire
1 injured
PONTIAC
GRAND PRIX
(2002) — FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Nov 25, 2021
Incident date: Nov 24, 2021
The night of the incident I was driving to my brother's house when I pulled over lifted the hood it burst into flames
Fire
1 injured