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 2,780 complaints for PORSCHE
Incident date: Feb 22, 2021
Was driving in a parking lot when I lost all steering ability. Dealership said my vehicle had steering rack malfunction and the whole electronic steering gear had to be replaced. I was stuck in the middle of a parking lot blocking other cars without the ability to move out of the way. I can't imagine what would happen if someone had steering rack malfunction while driving on the highway. Definitel... Read more
Incident date: Dec 24, 2021
There are thousands of complaints/postings appearing on the Internet, including fixes, (many of which may be equally dangerous) whereby the vehicle's central locking mechanism fails, making it impossible for passengers to egress through either door or window. The locking mechanism on the driver's side door has a cheap part that is known to commonly fail. When it does, neither the driver nor pass... Read more
Incident date: Dec 24, 2021
There are thousands of complaints/postings appearing on the Internet, including fixes, (many of which may be equally dangerous) whereby the vehicle's central locking mechanism fails, making it impossible for passengers to egress through either door or window. The locking mechanism on the driver's side door has a cheap part that is known to commonly fail. When it does, neither the driver nor pass... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2021
I purchased this vehicle from The Collection Dealer Coral Gables, Florida. I brought the car in to have them check the brake pedal travel. It seems to me that the brake pedal response to applying the brakes is spongy or too much travel. It feels like the lines have air in them. The Service advisor says it is normal for this Macan S to feel that way. I still don't think is right. Also, it has been ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2021
I purchased this vehicle from The Collection Dealer Coral Gables, Florida. I brought the car in to have them check the brake pedal travel. It seems to me that the brake pedal response to applying the brakes is spongy or too much travel. It feels like the lines have air in them. The Service advisor says it is normal for this Macan S to feel that way. I still don't think is right. Also, it has been ... Read more
Incident date: Dec 18, 2021
The back up camera in the Taycan is very difficult to use. The view is not clear and very distorted making it hard to judge distances.
Incident date: Dec 18, 2021
Rear back up camera distortion makes it virtually unusable and like unsafe. Porsche is aware of the issue as it is disclosed on their legal notice at https://www.porsche.com/usa/legal-notice/
Incident date: Jan 1, 2020
The front windshield and rear window glass seals have failed. Black tar like material flows and spears the windows. Especially bad when driving during summer months. Vehicle only has 6200 miles. Is out of warrenty. Dealer says repair costs at my expense. Contacted Porsche North America Customer Assistance. They also said they would not stand behind known defect. Many defects reported and corrected... Read more
Incident date: Dec 8, 2021
I received delivery of my vehicle this morning and put about 20 miles on it when I received an engine fault error and my vehicle check engine light came on while accelerating from a stop to about 15 mph before the issue occurred. I lost responsiveness and my engine was in “limp mode”. This occurred in traffic and I had to safely exit the roadway before calling roadside assistance to get it t... Read more
Incident date: Dec 8, 2021
I received delivery of my vehicle this morning and put about 20 miles on it when I received an engine fault error and my vehicle check engine light came on while accelerating from a stop to about 15 mph before the issue occurred. I lost responsiveness and my engine was in “limp mode”. This occurred in traffic and I had to safely exit the roadway before calling roadside assistance to get it t... Read more
Incident date: Jun 4, 2021
The manufacturer was unable to remedy the defect in the past 6 months despite I followed up multiple times. The respective service was also unable to provide estimated fix date as they mentioned no clear date provided by the manufacturer as to when the part will be available
Incident date: Jun 4, 2021
The manufacturer was unable to remedy the defect in the past 6 months despite I followed up multiple times. The respective service was also unable to provide estimated fix date as they mentioned no clear date provided by the manufacturer as to when the part will be available
Incident date: Dec 2, 2021
The Park Assist system frequently throws a warning that the system is malfunctioning & requires service. During this time the system does not in fact work. However, the system will work again after the car has been turned off for a while, so it seems like the error message is wrong and it’s more of a software problem then a hardware problem that requires service.
Incident date: Nov 22, 2021
Driving gently at 50mph down a smooth road the tire suddenly deflated; I pulled over to swap it out for the spare. On examination of the tire the inner side wall delaminated in 2 places, I could find no reason for the failure. There are no screws or nails or other damage that would explain why it deflated other than the sidewall delaminating. The car had an oil change 4 days before the tire incide... Read more
Incident date: Oct 12, 2021
I have been trying to have this recall taken care of by Porsche for the last 4 months. Both Walnut Creek and Livermoore dealers have been unable to do this recall repair leaving the front passenger airbag non-functional as best I can tell. It serves no purpose to have a safety recall if there is no ability to have the recall repaired despite multiple attempts to contact the dealer. Both site inabi... Read more
Incident date: Oct 19, 2021
The contact owns a 2020 Porsche Cayenne S. The contact stated while driving approximately 10 MPH, there was a rough hard deceleration. The contact stated that the vehicle lurched forward causing the driver to apply the brakes. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where the contact was informed that there might be a possible software patch soon.... Read more
Incident date: Nov 8, 2021
The contact owns a 2015 Porsche Macan S. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V131000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact called the local dealer who stated that parts were not yet available for the recall repair. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufa... Read more
Incident date: Nov 9, 2021
The contact owns a 2017 Porsche Macan. The contact received a recall notification for NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V131000 (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 made aware of the issue. The manufacturer was not notified of the issue. The contact ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 25, 2021
When braking to a stop, the car lunges forward even when foot is on the brake. This occurs at slower speeds around 5mph right before a dead stop.
Incident date: Oct 25, 2021
When braking to a stop, the car lunges forward even when foot is on the brake. This occurs at slower speeds around 5mph right before a dead stop.
Incident date: Nov 7, 2021
when decelerating and car is in gear 2 it lurches the car forward while braking, basically fighting the attempt to slow the car down. I attribute this to aggressive downshifting, but is a safety issue because the operator then needs to compensate by pressing down on the brake pedal harder to stop the car. This has happened inconsistently when driving, but occurs more frequently than not.
Incident date: Oct 28, 2021
Tires ware original equipment new vehicle they ware so loud after 15k miles that I thought the front bearings ware bad took it to the dealer they said all good its a tire issue something about Porsche Macan and Pirelli tires I am not the first with the problem they recommend to buy Michelin tires insane.
Incident date: Jun 1, 2021
Rearview camera picture quality is poor, even in ideal weather conditions.
Incident date: Oct 22, 2021
The backup camera is highly distorted and it is difficult to see what is in the distance (more than 10 ft) from the rear of the car. I have had multiple incidents where I almost hit someone who was walking up the street past my driveway entrance. The other problem is when you turn the backup camera turns, and there is no frame of reference left so it is extremely distorted and hard to figure out w... Read more
Incident date: Oct 14, 2021
The contact owns a 2015 Porsche Boxster. The contact stated that the vehicle rental app TURO informed him that the vehicle was included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V679000 (Power Train). The dealer was then notified about the recall and the contact was informed that parts were not yet available. The manufacturer had been notified of the issue. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 20, 2021
The adaptive cruise control has failed 4 times. As a significant driver in terms of miles driven, the lack of cruise control increases my fatigue and jeopardize the safety of all. Porsche dealer in St Louis explained there it’s not known fx
Incident date: Aug 20, 2021
The adaptive cruise control has failed 4 times. As a significant driver in terms of miles driven, the lack of cruise control increases my fatigue and jeopardize the safety of all. Porsche dealer in St Louis explained there it’s not known fx
Incident date: Oct 10, 2021
I wrote earlier today but now I found out the Porsche Cayenne and Porsche 911 all have safety feature lacking in the new macan - if u try to reverse with the engine off a message will come on that says to turn on the engine and engage the gear. The macan can reverse with no engine on and then you have no brakes and no power steering . There is a small window of one attempt according to Porsche t... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Oct 10, 2021
My daughter accidentally tried to reverse in auxiliary mode- she had the radio on and did not realize the engine was not on The car went into reverse and she had no brakes or steering to stop the car Mercedes - BMW- Range Roger - Tesla - we have checked these cars and it isn’t possible to do this scenario in those cars Porsche said the car is fine and if she was 6’3” and weighed 250 it wo... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Oct 10, 2021
My daughter accidentally tried to reverse in auxiliary mode- she had the radio on and did not realize the engine was not on The car went into reverse and she had no brakes or steering to stop the car Mercedes - BMW- Range Roger - Tesla - we have checked these cars and it isn’t possible to do this scenario in those cars Porsche said the car is fine and if she was 6’3” and weighed 250 it wo... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Oct 10, 2021
My daughter accidentally tried to reverse in auxiliary mode- she had the radio on and did not realize the engine was not on The car went into reverse and she had no brakes or steering to stop the car Mercedes - BMW- Range Roger - Tesla - we have checked these cars and it isn’t possible to do this scenario in those cars Porsche said the car is fine and if she was 6’3” and weighed 250 it wo... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Aug 28, 2021
On August 28, 2021, I was on I-75 in light traffic going about 70 MPH when a red alert on my screen appeared that said, “COLLISION WARNING.” It remained illuminated for about 3 seconds, then disappeared. It startled me because I didn’t know what evasive action to take. There were no vehicles even close to me. I also continue to receive "Driver Attention Required" warnings from time to tim... Read more
Incident date: Aug 6, 2020
The auto in question was, and is, under the new car warranty - While driving forward, one of the automobile's display screens displayed an error message stating "Transmission error - Reverse gear not available"; this in itself is not a major issue as the car was in a forward gear. The major safety issue is that the car would not shift gears once this error message cam up. The error has occurred ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 5, 2021
While driving the car suddenly lost power and displayed "electrical malfunction" please park in safe place. I was powerless and stranded in the middle of a 3 lane road. Car was towed to Porsche and they have had the car for 2 days- with no solution in site.
Incident date: Apr 30, 2021
Porsche headquarters is unable to produce the part associated with this recall since April 2021. The dealer does not have the part either. I am unable to have passengers in vehicle causing hardship due to failure to fix recall by Porsche
Incident date: Sep 25, 2021
I'm submitting this information because I was in a accident and my airbags didn't deploy, taking speed and location of impact into consideration I think the airbag should've deployed, the vehicle that crossed over from the left 3rd lane to make a right turn was luckily hit on rear passenger door of SUV avoiding center pillar and rear tire, however their vehicle airbag did deploy for its front pass... Read more
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Aug 13, 2021
When slowing almost to a stop, and then need to accelerate, such as slowing for a yield sign, then trying to merge, vehicle is non responsive to throttle input for at least a second, or more. This has put me and others at risk because I assume I'm going to be able to accelerate when pull into traffic and am not able to. The dealer has had the vehicle but was unable to reproduce. It does not alw... Read more
Incident date: Aug 13, 2021
When slowing almost to a stop, and then need to accelerate, such as slowing for a yield sign, then trying to merge, vehicle is non responsive to throttle input for at least a second, or more. This has put me and others at risk because I assume I'm going to be able to accelerate when pull into traffic and am not able to. The dealer has had the vehicle but was unable to reproduce. It does not alw... Read more
Incident date: Aug 13, 2021
When slowing almost to a stop, and then need to accelerate, such as slowing for a yield sign, then trying to merge, vehicle is non responsive to throttle input for at least a second, or more. This has put me and others at risk because I assume I'm going to be able to accelerate when pull into traffic and am not able to. The dealer has had the vehicle but was unable to reproduce. It does not alw... Read more
Incident date: Aug 30, 2021
Car engine frequently stalls while driving, usually at stop or slow speed (e.g. intersection). Electrical system remains on; turning off and on ignition will restart car and allow driving. Had problem investigated and was told it was a transmission sensor which was repaired but failed to fix problem. Re-investigation identified transmission failure due to sensor in sealed transmission required r... Read more
Incident date: Jun 22, 2021
I cannot use my car for fearing of legal actions if I put anybody onto the front passenger seat. This recall has been on since April this year— that’s almost 5 months. I’ve contacted the Porshe dealership so many times and they still haven’t received the parts from the manufacturer.
Incident date: Jun 22, 2021
I cannot use my car for fearing of legal actions if I put anybody onto the front passenger seat. This recall has been on since April this year— that’s almost 5 months. I’ve contacted the Porshe dealership so many times and they still haven’t received the parts from the manufacturer.
Incident date: Jun 22, 2021
I cannot use my car for fearing of legal actions if I put anybody onto the front passenger seat. This recall has been on since April this year— that’s almost 5 months. I’ve contacted the Porshe dealership so many times and they still haven’t received the parts from the manufacturer.
Incident date: Apr 21, 2021
A recall was issued for my vehicle in April of 2021. I have contacted my dealer several times to have this repaired, but have been told that the parts are not available. Last time I inquired, i was told to contact Porsche of North America directly regarding the availability of parts. I attempted to do so, but was told that I need to contact the dealer. As the recall relates to possible non-deploym... Read more
Incident date: Sep 21, 2021
Conditions were clear and dry, with an ambient temperature of approximately 86 degrees F. Time of day was approximately 11:41am, Pacific. I was entering the 73 South onramp from Newport Coast Dr. (Newport Beach, CA 92657), somewhere between 60-70mph in Sport Plus mode, under heavy acceleration (but not full throttle). With no other symptoms or indications, the vehicle suddenly lost motive power an... Read more
Incident date: Aug 30, 2021
Fuel tank is rubbing against the body causing visible rub marks on the plastic tank itself. This is caused by foam pads either being misplaced or not installed at all from the factory. Porsche themselves have a TSB on it (SB-1403), but they will not handle the fix outside of warranty. This seems like a major safety issue where a plastic component holding flammable fuel is rubbing against the metal... Read more
Incident date: Jun 28, 2021
On my Porsche Cayenne e-Hybrid model, the check engine light came on at less than 1000 miles. Porsche does not know why this happens but I've heard them claim that it's a software problem that has to do with how the car communicates with the charging system. Based on my research, there has been many other owners of the same vehicle with this problem. My vehicle has been in the shop for well ove... Read more
Incident date: Sep 15, 2021
When the vehicle is decelerating and the transmission is in gear 2 the vehicle will lurch forward interfering/fighting with the normal operation of the brakes. This consistently happens when braking to a stop. The vehicle has 260 miles and I have driven it perhaps 4 - 5 times for a total of 30 miles. This is demo vehicle bought from a Porsche dealership and under full warranty.
Incident date: Sep 15, 2021
When the vehicle is decelerating and the transmission is in gear 2 the vehicle will lurch forward interfering/fighting with the normal operation of the brakes. This consistently happens when braking to a stop. The vehicle has 260 miles and I have driven it perhaps 4 - 5 times for a total of 30 miles. This is demo vehicle bought from a Porsche dealership and under full warranty.
Incident date: Aug 18, 2021
The vehicle would loose braking pressure after a few minutes of driving. This occurred when the vehicle transitions from regenerative braking to standard braking. Dealer states it is a problem with the brake booster.