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: Nov 27, 2023
The contact owns a 2011 BMW 328I. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle displayed the message "Do Not Drive" with the low engine oil warning light illuminated and the contact pulled over to the shoulder of the roadway. After a visual inspection of the engine compartment, the contact became aware that the engine was extremely low on engine oil. The contact added... Read more
Incident date: Nov 21, 2023
Paint defect should extend it to fix the paint issues. Clear coat as well.
Incident date: Nov 21, 2023
Paint defect should extend it to fix the paint issues. Clear coat as well.
Incident date: Apr 3, 2023
When locking the doors upon exiting my Palisade, the alarm starts going off. This occurs when I use the door lock (internal and external), as well as the lock button on the key fob. When this occurs, two alerts come to my phone through Bluelink simultaneously. One is showing a Rear Occupancy Alert and the other shows a Panic Alert. My vehicle has been to the dealership 3 times in the past month, a... Read more
Incident date: Apr 3, 2023
After about twenty minutes of driving I start having sticking steering. Around 65-70mph it starts getting difficult to keep the car in a straight line as it drifts to the left or the right. It doesn't matter if lane keep/ lane departure is on or off. When I'm able to get the car to turn it jolts to one side or the other, and then I need to constantly correct the car. As snow and slippery condition... Read more
Incident date: Apr 3, 2023
Engine has lost power from 150hp @ 3K RPM and 200ft·lb @ 4K RPM. It is now 50hp @ ½K RPM & 75ft·lb @ 2K revolutions per minute. Gear Shift Button has seperated from globe. Radio needs to be replaced or reset daily. Rear window defroster has seperated from window, and won’t retain position. Tire Pressure Monitoring System hasn’t worked to no avail. Turn signals are showing discrepancie... Read more
1 injured
1 deaths
Incident date: Oct 26, 2023
Illumination of the malfunction indicator lamp and/or ABS (Anti-lock brake system) light. My 2012 Sonata Hybrid has been towed twice to Key Hyundai dealer in Jacksonville, FL. They charged me several thousand dollars and the vehicle ABS lamp remains illuminated. The dealership did not offer me alternative transportation and I feel unsafe driving the vehicle. On Friday November 12th they blamed th... Read more
Incident date: Oct 26, 2023
Illumination of the malfunction indicator lamp and/or ABS (Anti-lock brake system) light. My 2012 Sonata Hybrid has been towed twice to Key Hyundai dealer in Jacksonville, FL. They charged me several thousand dollars and the vehicle ABS lamp remains illuminated. The dealership did not offer me alternative transportation and I feel unsafe driving the vehicle. On Friday November 12th they blamed th... Read more
Incident date: Jan 20, 2023
Transmission is really bad after even nissan replaced it doesn’t shift correct, the car jumps, the brakes really doesn’t do well even after they change it. The motor sound is really high. The car doesn’t speed up on the highway to go in front of the right lane, so it puts me in dangerous several times. All documents of complain since 2019 at Nissan Petaluma ,CA and now the car at Nissan auto... Read more
Incident date: Jan 20, 2023
Transmission is really bad after even nissan replaced it doesn’t shift correct, the car jumps, the brakes really doesn’t do well even after they change it. The motor sound is really high. The car doesn’t speed up on the highway to go in front of the right lane, so it puts me in dangerous several times. All documents of complain since 2019 at Nissan Petaluma ,CA and now the car at Nissan auto... Read more
Incident date: Jul 4, 2021
The contact owns a 2012 Hyundai Accent. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V651000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic) 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 ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 4, 2021
. I leased the vehicle from the Suburban of Troy (Jaguar Troy-Land Rover Troy) at 1815 Maplelawn Troy, MI 48084 through Ally Financial on 6/30/22. On 7/29/22 and 8/15/22, I brought the vehicle into the Suburban Collection’s Service Center. I stated that when I remote started the vehicle from the app, I would start driving and a “Gearbox Fault” message would turn on for a day or so and would ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 4, 2021
Disc are advanced, technologically superior, and come standard with enabling more braking force with less pressure. Albeit an impermeable transmission requires no fluid changes and less maintenance, servicing one is challenging. It works well in dusty environments or in heavy–duty tasks, and an malfunctioning transmission risk ruining the entire system. Wiper motor & transmission failed last ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2020
Vehicles engine crank shaft and fuel system. Was on the highway when the vehicle started loosing power and finally shut down in traffic. Confirmed that vehicles crank was seized and fuel system failure by an independent shop. Was confirmed by extended warranty. No warning lights before incident.
Incident date: Aug 1, 2020
I was driving down the road heading to work on a regular street, not even the highway or anything. I heard a loud bang like a gun shot and I almost swerved and crashed from how loud it was. I immediately pulled over to see if maybe I ran something over or anything else, when I had noticed my sunroof glass had exploded like completely dismantled from some type of force from the inside. The glass lo... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2020
Korr’s Automotive wants $55Ø to repair our exhaust leak. Fuel lines are too close to engine, which can cause death or injury upon impact. You’re welcome for [XXXXXX] upon request! Driver seat is out of commission on power. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
4 injured
2 deaths
Incident date: Aug 1, 2020
Korr’s Automotive wants $55Ø to repair our exhaust leak. Fuel lines are too close to engine, which can cause death or injury upon impact. You’re welcome for [XXXXXX] upon request! Driver seat is out of commission on power. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
4 injured
2 deaths
Incident date: Aug 1, 2020
Complete engine failure randomly on the highway. Was unsafe and left me stranded. Well maintained truck that will cost tens of thousands to repair
Incident date: Aug 1, 2020
Ecotec Gen I was re–engineered to be smoother and more efficient than its predecessor. Featuring an dual in–block balance shafts, power–steering pump, water–pump housing, and removable oil filter housing. This engine replaced the Quad–4 and GM 122 in North America and first appeared. GM offers an official kit which can be converted into 2.2 supercharged versions using modified ECM so... Read more
2 injured
4 deaths
Incident date: May 25, 2020
Been waiting six months for Hyundai part to fix a fire hazard. They knowingly installed a defective part during manufacturing of the vehicle. A scared to drive the car knowing it can catch fire at any moment. Hyundai refuses to compensate in any way.
Incident date: Oct 16, 2023
Runaway acceleration. Three times now in the last two weeks the RPMs went to maximum redline without my foot on the accelerator pedal. Fortunately all occurred when I was at very slow speed and either in a driveway or a parking lot. Each time I immediately put the transmission to neutral and shut off the engine. For the first occurrence, Restarting the engine all went back to normal. But for ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 10, 2023
Frame rotted and will not pass state inspection. Toyota dealer stated there was no recall on the frame, but some kind of warranty extension which is no longer active since 2022. I don't remember getting any notice from Toyota. I did get 3 recall notices, but nothing on the frame. Now they will not fix or do anything. I did not see it when I looked up recalls 2 years ago, and thought it was not ef... Read more
Incident date: Dec 12, 2018
While driving at 60 miles per hour on an interstate, the car's steering system took control of the car and made a quick "S" maneuver. It took all of my strength to maintain control of my car. This incident lasted for just a second or two but it was potentially very dangerous to me (the driver of the car) and to nearby cars (and their drivers). The vehicle is available for inspection. I just rep... Read more
Incident date: Oct 5, 2023
The contact owns a 2023 Ford Bronco. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the power train and service engine soon had warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that there was bad gasoline in the vehicle, and gasoline needed to be drained from the fuel tank. The fuel tank was drained and refilled; however, the failure recurred. The... Read more
Incident date: Sep 25, 2023
The rack and pinion steering gear is failing, it will loose power steering which makes it hard to steer. This part has been replaced five times in a year, they are defected coming from the factory. The dealer is aware of the problem. I have been in contact with Ford about this ongoing issue asking for the manufacturer information but no one knows who makes this part.
Incident date: Sep 6, 2023
My 2017 Hyundai Elantra has problems with the ignition coil packs, sensors and engine. The car stalls at lights. It idles very rough and shakes when driving. Acts as if it will stall on the highway and extremely slow acceleration. Dealer told me there was metal parts in my oil, oil was thick sludge and that I never changed the oil. False and I have the oil change receipts to prove my oil change... Read more
Incident date: Sep 6, 2023
My 2017 Hyundai Elantra has problems with the ignition coil packs, sensors and engine. The car stalls at lights. It idles very rough and shakes when driving. Acts as if it will stall on the highway and extremely slow acceleration. Dealer told me there was metal parts in my oil, oil was thick sludge and that I never changed the oil. False and I have the oil change receipts to prove my oil change... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that on several occasions when the vehicle was shifted to park, the gear shifter failed to remain in the intended gear. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the jump harness and shift part switch needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was... Read more
Incident date: Sep 21, 2023
Error message popped on my screen steering might require extra force and shortly after that I lost power steering, cruise control, automatic emergency, braking, forward collision warning land departure etc. Contacted Tesla service to acquire about recalls since I remember reading about it.
Incident date: Jun 1, 2019
While this incident took place last week, this has been an ongoing issue with the truck since purchase new from Golf Mills ford in Illinois. Transmission has been jumpy since truck was purchased, changing gears randomly, lurching or suddenly downshifting. I have reported this multiple times and was repeatedly informed it could not be replicated or that this was "normal". Recently, when deceler... Read more
Incident date: Sep 15, 2023
The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. While driving, the vehicle was sputtering. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the fuel pump driver module was defective. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken back to the local dealer, who was unable to duplicate ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 15, 2023
The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. While driving, the vehicle was sputtering. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the fuel pump driver module was defective. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken back to the local dealer, who was unable to duplicate ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 2, 2023
I purchased a 2014 BMW X5 on 8/31 Took possession of it 9/7 because the dealership needed to replace tires. On 9/15 while driving for about 3 minutes, the powertrain warning came on my screen and the truck began to shake. I turned around and parked in my driveway and turned the vehicle off. At which time smoke was visible from the engine area. As the smoke began to worsen, flames shot out and I c... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Sep 12, 2023
p 185/75r15 (?) copy of email sent to Kost Tires Pa, BBB, State Attorney General's office: Sirs, Please forward to your corporate office. Two months ago, I replaced my entire front end (hubs, bearings, lower ball joints and outer ties rod ends) because the excessive noise these tires generated sounded a lot like bad bearings. The bearings themselves turned out to be fine. This tire blew out on m... Read more
Incident date: May 31, 2023
Today 9/6/23 at 9:20pm I was driving 65mph on the highway and hit a medium sized pot hole. This caused my front end to violently shake back and forth over a prolonged period of time causing me to loose control of my vehicle. I was able to brake and the shaking stopped around 20mph while I was on the highway. This has happened to me once before almost causing an accident. Neither time was I spe... Read more
Incident date: May 31, 2023
The engine shuts down while driving. There was a recall on 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee L, there’s a current recall on 2023 Jeep Wrangler xe, and now my Jeep Grand Cherokee xe is experiencing the same malfunction. This is extremely dangerous since the vehicle loses power and comes to a stop while in the middle of driving. I came very close to being rear ended on 2 occasions. I had a service appointm... Read more
Incident date: May 31, 2023
I was driving no warnings lights to shutting down on the road to black smoke came out of the back luckily a guy was going by and helped me move my car
Incident date: Aug 9, 2023
I was driving by myself with my two small dogs on the interstate at approximately 70 mph when I ran over uneven pavement. Without any warning my truck began to shake so violently the dogs became terrified and hid under the seats and I briefly lost control of the vehicle. I was certain I had blown a tire. I decelerated quickly and looked for an opportunity to move out of traffic and pull over. I a... Read more
Incident date: Aug 9, 2023
I was driving by myself with my two small dogs on the interstate at approximately 70 mph when I ran over uneven pavement. Without any warning my truck began to shake so violently the dogs became terrified and hid under the seats and I briefly lost control of the vehicle. I was certain I had blown a tire. I decelerated quickly and looked for an opportunity to move out of traffic and pull over. I a... Read more
Incident date: Jun 15, 2023
Break booster malfunction sign popped up 3-4 time while driving and I lost 70% of the break. Luckily it happened on local road at speed under 30mph. It is very dangerous and can result in an accident
Incident date: Aug 18, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 Dodge Ram 1500. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V406000 (Fuel System, Diesel) and 23V411000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the parts to do the recall repairs were not yet available. The local dealer was contacted, and the contact was informed that parts for the recall repairs were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacture... Read more
Incident date: Jul 14, 2023
The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport. The contact stated that while self-inspecting the vehicle, she noticed an excessive amount of water inside the vehicle. The contact stated that the water was coming from the HVAC system. Additionally, the contact stated that the display screen failed to operate as designed. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V892000 (Vi... Read more
Incident date: Mar 9, 2023
ONCE DURING A HARD BRAKING MANEUVER, NUMEROUS TIMES WHEN ACCELERATING FROM A STOP, NUMEROUS TIMES WHEN IDELING THROUGH A PARKING LOT i HAVE EXPERIENCED THE IGNITION MOMENTARILY CUT OFF PRECEEDED BY THE STEERING WHEEL BECOMING JERKY AND THE STABILITRAK LIGHT COMES ON. TWICE WHILE BACKING INTO A PARKING SPACE EVERYTING SHUTS OFF PRECEEDED BY THE STEERING WHEEL BECOMING JERKY AND THE STABILITRAK LIG... Read more
Incident date: Mar 9, 2023
ac/heat knob will not go into max air due to a cable slipping off the mechanism behind the dash when it does this the heat will not work and it is hard to defrost your windows if they get fogged up while driving making it difficult to see
Incident date: Mar 9, 2023
Electrical issue with my pontiac g6 I have had to replace my headlights bulbs multiple times due to the plugs melting I have actively seen the plug smoking and it has happened on both of my drl/low beam headlight bulbs resulting in plugs having to be replaced multiple times as well. My engine light isn't working and yet I have engine codes my service air bag light comes on at random my buckle seat... Read more
Incident date: Jul 17, 2021
VEHICLE SHUT DOWN WHILE DRIVING. WARNING LIGHTS ILLUMINATE, CHECK ENGINE LIGHT, DO NOT SHIFT INTO GEAR WARNING, 48V BATTERY WARNING, ETC. WOULD NOT STOP ALARMING. COULD NOT SHUT OFF CAR. COULD NOT PUT CAR INTO PARK. COULD NOT START CAR. WARNING BUZZER WOULD GO OFF ENTIRE TIME. CAR WAS ONLY ABLE TO BE STARTED WHEN REMOTE START REQUEST WAS INITIATED WHEN CAR WAS IN THIS MODE, CAR WAS STARTED BUT THE... Read more
Incident date: Jul 17, 2021
VEHICLE SHUT DOWN WHILE DRIVING. WARNING LIGHTS ILLUMINATE, CHECK ENGINE LIGHT, DO NOT SHIFT INTO GEAR WARNING, 48V BATTERY WARNING, ETC. WOULD NOT STOP ALARMING. COULD NOT SHUT OFF CAR. COULD NOT PUT CAR INTO PARK. COULD NOT START CAR. WARNING BUZZER WOULD GO OFF ENTIRE TIME. CAR WAS ONLY ABLE TO BE STARTED WHEN REMOTE START REQUEST WAS INITIATED WHEN CAR WAS IN THIS MODE, CAR WAS STARTED BUT THE... Read more
Incident date: Jul 17, 2021
7/17/21 (about 94500 miles) - While driving in heavy rain on a congested highway, with my windshield wipers turned on (of course), the wipers suddenly stopped working. This could have easily killed me and my family. The wipers would not turn back on, no matter what I did. At a rest stop that afternoon, and then later during extensive testing, I found that turning the wipers on would never actua... Read more
PONTIAC
GRAND PRIX
(2006) — SUSPENSION
Aug 3, 2023
Incident date: Aug 2, 2023
RV- 2022 Thor Miramar 34.5 With 2021 Ford F53 Chassis I appreciate your attention because this is the BIGGEST issue and safety concern. We spent over 160k on this class A that doesn't even feel safe to drive. As the driver or passenger, we are white knuckled. There is no stability when driving. The steering wheel is all over the place. A gust of wind pushes us off the road, every bump completel... Read more
PONTIAC
GRAND PRIX
(2006) — STEERING
Aug 3, 2023
Incident date: Aug 2, 2023
RV- 2022 Thor Miramar 34.5 With 2021 Ford F53 Chassis I appreciate your attention because this is the BIGGEST issue and safety concern. We spent over 160k on this class A that doesn't even feel safe to drive. As the driver or passenger, we are white knuckled. There is no stability when driving. The steering wheel is all over the place. A gust of wind pushes us off the road, every bump completel... Read more