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 30,183 complaints for RAM
Incident date: Jan 1, 2022
Generator/altenator. MGU system. Vehicle was hard to crank at store. After it cranked it seemed fine until I went to pull into traffic. Then it completely died In the middle of the road where I was nearly t boned by a garbage truck. All power was gone. No lights, no radio not a thing worked. After 10 minutes waiting in my wife, it cranked. I was driving home and it started smelling something burni... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2014 Chrysler Town and Country. The contact stated that while the vehicle was idling, the contact's wife sat down in the front passenger’s seat, and several minutes later, the front passenger's seat headrest deployed. The headrest struck the contact's wife on the back of the head; however, no injuries were sustained. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to... Read more
Incident date: Aug 8, 2025
We own a Ford Expedition 2020. In 2023, we started noticing jerky, harsh, and aggressive “slips” when the vehicle was trying to change gears - upon multiple occasions. But, in 2024, we experienced three, major, different instances - all were extremely scary and it was miraculous they didn’t cause accidents, car pile ups, or worse! The first instance, the vehicle jerked and sputtered just as ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 8, 2025
We own a Ford Expedition 2020. In 2023, we started noticing jerky, harsh, and aggressive “slips” when the vehicle was trying to change gears - upon multiple occasions. But, in 2024, we experienced three, major, different instances - all were extremely scary and it was miraculous they didn’t cause accidents, car pile ups, or worse! The first instance, the vehicle jerked and sputtered just as ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 15, 2024
accident involving my Tesla while the Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature was engaged. Vehicle Information: [2022, Model - Y, ] Incident Summary: While driving with FSD engaged, the vehicle hydroplaned and the steering wheel started spinning uncontrollably and despite attempts, couldn't regain control of the car, and it spun while crossing lanes. A truck hit the front of the car and ended up on shou... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Mar 15, 2024
Toyota issued a Customer Support Program ZJB for extended coverage of the brake booster and actuator assembly (this notice was not sent to the correct address the car was registered to with the dmv in 2019 so I never received the notice for this program) The Toyota program length was for 10 years or 150k miles. My car’s part just failed at 129k which is far below the 150k threshold. Despite bei... Read more
Incident date: Aug 20, 2025
I was told by the Honda Service team that my Electric Power Steering rack could be failing. I went in with the complaint of my wheel not returning to center and jerking when turning left -> center. Upon further research, it seems this issue is wide spread and extremely common in the '16 - 19' models of the Honda Civics. Despite this however, Honda has yet to recall the issue, and I was denied on ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 20, 2025
After arriving home from a short drive to the grocery store I parked my car in the drive way and went inside. On the drive home I could hear a low humming coming from the speakers and the car was decelerating when the accelerator was not being pressed, no warning lights or sounds came on. About 10 minutes after I parked a neighbor knocked on the door letting me know my car was smoking from insid... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Aug 20, 2025
My 2016 Sedona’s engine is not operational. At this moment it is sitting at the dealership after having a diagnostic completed in which I was informed that it will cost me $21,000+ to replace my engine. I am SHOCKED to be informed of this! I love my car! It is our family car full of precious memories! There were no warnings that something was wrong with my engine. Not a single one came on... Read more
Incident date: Mar 11, 2023
On July 1st 2025, while driving in Raton, New Mexico, my 2019 Honda Odyssey EX-L experienced a spontaneous deployment of the driver-side curtain airbag. I was exiting the highway and slowing down to a stop sign (approx. 30 mph) when the airbag deployed. There was no crash, no impact, and no obstacle. This deployment disabled the entire SRS system, leaving the vehicle unsafe. My family — includi... Read more
Incident date: Mar 11, 2023
My vehicle displayed numerous brake failure codes and limited my speed to 43mph. When taken into my local GMC dealer the diagnostics I was given were a bad/leaking master cylinder. This vehicle has 16,200 miles on it and was never used for towing or hauling. The brakes are hard and brake assist has clearly failed. I’ve found numerous recalls and issues with other year vehicles from GMC, yet they... Read more
Incident date: Mar 11, 2023
there are eight recalls on my car I do not trust dealerships I do not trust mechanics I work on my own car I have very bad experience with mechanics I would rather return my car to the dealership I want to sell my car do the dealership eight different recalls is too much
Incident date: Aug 16, 2025
The touch screen is malfunctioning. Its "ghost touching" as in the screen is pressing random buttons on the screen at random times while driving. It can change and has changed settings while driving (distance for breaking before a collision, etc). While its touching random things on the screen im unable to touch anything on the screen. As if its locking me from pressing anything.
Incident date: Aug 16, 2025
While driving, my 2012 Honda Civic Hybrid suddenly loses power and steering ability. The vehicle stalls and the steering wheel locks up, making it impossible to safely maneuver. This has happened multiple times, including in traffic, creating a serious risk of collision. When the failure occurs, warning lights illuminate on the dashboard, including the IMA light, anti-lock brake light, and others... Read more
Incident date: Aug 16, 2025
My car just stopped working while driving on the road. It wouldn’t crank up/ the engine wasn’t operating and the car wouldn’t accelerate. It’s been over a year since my car hasn’t been working. I took it to the dealer and they said the engine wasn’t consuming the oil or something of that sort. No lights came on before it’s like it just went out. It has been inoperable ever since. Thi... Read more
Incident date: Aug 20, 2025
In November 2023, my lifters collapsed and I had multiple bent pushrods on my vehicle due to the active fuel management system, leading me to become stalled in my vehicle on the middle of the road with no way of getting off the roadway safely. I have had multiple issues with this vehicle, and know many other who have as well. I had been compliant with all routine and preventative maintenance to th... Read more
Incident date: Aug 20, 2025
In November 2023, my lifters collapsed and I had multiple bent pushrods on my vehicle due to the active fuel management system, leading me to become stalled in my vehicle on the middle of the road with no way of getting off the roadway safely. I have had multiple issues with this vehicle, and know many other who have as well. I had been compliant with all routine and preventative maintenance to th... Read more
Incident date: Aug 20, 2025
Airbags did not deploy after head on collision.
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Nov 1, 2023
I purchased my vehicle approximately 8 months ago, and recently all of the warning lights on my dashboard began coming on randomly while driving. I immediately brought the vehicle back to the dealership where I purchased it. At that visit, I was told the cause was unknown and that it might possibly be related to the battery. Unsatisfied with that explanation, I took the car to a second authorized ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2023
I got the car on 4/13/2025 from a Toyota dealership with about 31000 miles they told me the car fax showed the car had 2 owners a regular customer and another dealership, they also told me they change the battery but they failed to disclosed that they took the car to a body shop to fix a dent and to be repainted, by mistake they offered me the Toyota warranty 5 years or 60000 miles , on 8/10/25 ... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Aug 15, 2025
The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the message "Service Power Steering" was displayed, and the steering wheel was difficult to turn in either direction. Additionally, the ABS and Stabili-trac warning lights remained illuminated. The cause of the failures was not yet determined. The local dealer was informed of the failure, but no ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 27, 2021
Driving down the highway started having the check engine light start flashing and a loud clunking noise started in engine. Pulled over and shut off vehicle and tried restarting and it wouldn't. Tried again about 1 hr later and same noise came back. Stuck on side of highway for est 3 hrs. Had it towed to local Honda dealer (70 miles away) and it has a connecting rod/bearing failure and the engine i... Read more
Incident date: Jul 22, 2025
The contact owns a 2016 Honda Accord. The contact stated that while driving at 40 MPH, the air bag warning light turned on and off. Additionally, the brakes were squeaking while driving, and the radio and speakers were producing an abnormal static sound when turned on or off. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, who was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repair... Read more
Incident date: Aug 18, 2025
The contact owns a 2018 Mercedes-Benz C300. The contact stated that while driving approximately 60 MPH, a part of the panoramic roof towards the driver's side detached from the vehicle. The contact pulled over to inspect the vehicle. The part was no longer attached, and the contact had to continue driving. The failure caused additional electrical failures due to water entering the cabin of the veh... Read more
Incident date: Aug 18, 2025
The contact owns a 2023 Ford F-150. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V896000 (Power Train). The contact stated that the notification advised that parts to complete the recall repair were available. The local dealer was contacted and informed the contact that parts were on back order, and the dealer was unable to provide a timeframe for parts availability. Several other... Read more
Incident date: Dec 19, 2024
I was driving to work on a busy street, started accelerating and the car completely shut down on me. I had to come to a complete stop on the main road during morning rush hour. Was close enough to idle into a parking lot. All my dashboard lights started flashing with an "Engine Coolant Over Temperature" alert. No throttle response. Had to have the vehicle towed to the Ford dealership where they de... Read more
Incident date: Jul 22, 2025
The contact owns a 2020 Honda Civic. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V064000 (Air Bags); 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 dealer was contacted, and informed the contact that parts were not yet available for the recall repair, and there... Read more
Incident date: Dec 31, 1969
MY VEHICLE HAS BEEN BROUGHT BACK MULTIPLE TIMES DUE TO THE HYBRID NOT WORKING. AS PER THE DEALER, NO FIX IN CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FOR THIS VEHICLE. I PURCHASED THIS TYPE OF VEHICLE TO SAVE ON GASOLINE, WHICH I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO DO. I SPEND OVER $712 PER MONTH AND IT HAS NEVER WORKED PROPERLY
Incident date: May 15, 2025
My car wouldnt start and when it did, it would start shaking and every time I accelerate, The speed wasnt going any faster but only the RPMs were
Incident date: May 15, 2025
My car wouldnt start and when it did, it would start shaking and every time I accelerate, The speed wasnt going any faster but only the RPMs were
Incident date: Aug 8, 2025
I have turn signal lamps burned out on both sides of my 2021 VW ID4. When driving straight, the burnt out lights are part of daytime running lights. Half of the light is burnt out. But when you turn on your turn indicator, this light IS the turn indicator. So half my turn indicator on both sides, isn’t working. The only way to fix this where VW is concerned is to buy and install new headlight... Read more
Incident date: Aug 8, 2025
I have turn signal lamps burned out on both sides of my 2021 VW ID4. When driving straight, the burnt out lights are part of daytime running lights. Half of the light is burnt out. But when you turn on your turn indicator, this light IS the turn indicator. So half my turn indicator on both sides, isn’t working. The only way to fix this where VW is concerned is to buy and install new headlight... Read more
Incident date: Aug 17, 2025
Noise from the front end. Took vehicle to Toyota for diagnosis. Cvt transmission sneeds replacing
Incident date: Aug 17, 2025
The contact owns a 2008 Mercedes-Benz C300. The contact stated that while depressing the brake pedal, attempting to stop, the vehicle failed to respond as intended and causing the contact to drive through a stop sign, then merge onto the interstate independently. The driver's side rear tire was leaking brake fluid. The check brake system warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to a dealer... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Aug 6, 2025
Whining noise coming from the transmission when under acceleration believed to be overly common with Camrys of this model year.
Incident date: Aug 6, 2025
While driving on the expressway I heard a rattling noise coming from my undercarriage, by the time I got off my exit the sound got louder, I attempted to make it home and when I pulled in my driveway, and popped the hood, fluid starting pouring out the bottom as well as splashed on other components. Upon further inspection it was determined that the fluid was coolant. There was no dashboards light... Read more
Incident date: Aug 19, 2025
I have a 2019 Dodge ram 1500 has 77,000 miles on it. My alternator generator went out. I’ve called over 100 places and no one has the part so that leaves me stranded for work because I own a business I’ve had the truck for five months. And I’ve read that many people are having the same issue. Excuse my French, but this is [XXX].also My truck would shut off while while driving INFORMATION R... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2025
Summary Complaint – 2020 Tesla Model 3 (VIN: [XXX] ) I am reporting a defect with the passenger side airbag system in my 2020 Tesla Model 3. Tesla Service identified the passenger airbag sensor as defective and quoted a $1,600 repair cost. This raises concern that the problem is not isolated, but may represent a broader safety defect affecting other Model 3 vehicles of the same year. Why this is... Read more
Incident date: Jul 17, 2025
The contact owns a 2014 Jeep Compass. The contact stated that while driving in a tunnel at approximately 50 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was immediately restarted, and the vehicle operated normally. During the failure, there were no warning lights or messages displayed. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not per... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2013
I saw the KIA Sorento safety recall #24V-220 for the defective high pressure fuel pump. When I look up my VIN on your site, it doesn't show this affecting my vehicle. Although my vehicle does this exact same thing. It will randomly go into limp mode and not accelerate when pulling into traffic. I took it to the Kia dealer and they said it is the Fuel Rail Pressure Sensor and would be $1266 to re... Read more
Incident date: Nov 27, 2024
While driving today, my Ford F150 manual light came on while I was driving and then break assistance. Light came on, and it told me to check the brake system. And immediately immediately the truck slammed on the brakes while driving. I almost wrecked with my [XXX] daughter who is [XXX] in the vehicle. This needs to be fixed ASAP. This is very dangerous and could’ve been a lot worse this morning.... Read more
Incident date: Aug 11, 2025
The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, there was an abnormal rattling sound coming from the engine compartment. The vehicle was driven to the local dealer, who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the engine was faulty and needed to be replaced. No further information was available. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufactu... Read more
Incident date: Aug 11, 2025
Exterior driver's door mirror failure. The mirror is insecure, loose, unstable, not secured to the door, and rotates freely on its own. This condition makes it impossible and dangerous for the vehicle's driver to observe any vehicle approaching from the rear, left of the driver's side. The mirror is not secured to the vehicle's driver's door and spins freely. The driver cannot observe any appr... Read more
Incident date: Aug 16, 2023
Vehicle Shipped in Unsafe Driving Condition I purchased this vehicle from Cars2us with a clear understanding that the vehicle was in good working order. I paid $500 for shipping along with $3,000 cash down. I purchased it from out of state so I had to have the vehicle shipped to my work site. When I received the vehicle off the trailer, it was borderline underivable due to the rack and pinion and... Read more
Incident date: Aug 29, 2024
The contact leased a 2023 GMC Sierra 1500. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V274000 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 MPH, the vehicle experienced reduced motive power. Several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that the failure had recurred on another occasion. The vehicle was taken to the deal... Read more
Incident date: Aug 29, 2024
While traveling out of state, my 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe (2.5L) experienced a sudden loss of power and rough running during acceleration to pass; check engine light came on. Independent shop pulled code P0302 (cylinder 2 misfire). Vehicle became unsafe to drive and was left at a Hyundai dealer in Indiana. I later learned Hyundai issued TSB 25-FL-001H (Jan 2025) for 2.5L GDI injector internal filter... Read more
Incident date: Aug 11, 2025
The steering wheel has a noise when turn, actually the noise is so loud now that it shakes while I'm driving. I have a video of it. I also brought to the mechanic and he told me that this is from the manufacturer problem. The videos are not support to download here. Let me know if I can send it through another way. Thank you, I'm going to kia dealer on Sep. 2nd to fix another recall, if please, se... Read more