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 29,025 complaints for RAM
Incident date: Nov 8, 2024
REPAIR ORDER DATE: 11/04/2024 MIKE PERRY CHRYLSER/NACOGDOCHES PROBLEMS: SHAKING WHILE IDLING/STOP-START NOT WORKING ACTIONS TAKEN: REPLACED SUPPORTS AND MOUNTS ENGINE SUPPORT – $105 TRANS MOUNT – $274 ENGINE MOUNT – $155 PARTS - $535 LABOR - $600 TOTAL - $1191 REPAIR ORDER DATE: 10/14/24 - MIKE PERRY CHRYSLER/NACOGDOCHES PROBLEMS: CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ON/ENGINE MISSING ACTIONS TAKEN: ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 8, 2024
REPAIR ORDER DATE: 11/04/2024 MIKE PERRY CHRYLSER/NACOGDOCHES PROBLEMS: SHAKING WHILE IDLING/STOP-START NOT WORKING ACTIONS TAKEN: REPLACED SUPPORTS AND MOUNTS ENGINE SUPPORT – $105 TRANS MOUNT – $274 ENGINE MOUNT – $155 PARTS - $535 LABOR - $600 TOTAL - $1191 REPAIR ORDER DATE: 10/14/24 - MIKE PERRY CHRYSLER/NACOGDOCHES PROBLEMS: CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ON/ENGINE MISSING ACTIONS TAKEN: ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 16, 2024
The contact owns a 2019 BMW X1. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to the dealer for an oil change and was informed that the vehicle was leaking coolant. The contact stated that while the vehicle was idling, the contact became aware that there was coolant on the ground underneath the vehicle. There were no warning lights illuminated. The dealer determined that the water pump had failed.... Read more
Incident date: Sep 5, 2024
The third row passenger side seatbelt was restricted and bought in for service 2 weeks after purchasing the vehicle. It was serviced. Problem happened again 1 year later, it was then diagnosed and serviced back to position. 2 years later the same problem persist and restricted the seatbelt. The front passenger seatbelt is now sending alerts and asking for service. The seatbelt belt problem was sai... Read more
Incident date: Sep 5, 2024
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle jerked and hesitated while depressing the accelerator pedal. The contact stated that the traction control and brake warning lights were illuminated. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was 120,022.
Incident date: Sep 1, 2024
Purchased a 2017 Ford Focus with 30,000 miles on it in July of 2020. This engine was originally a manual transmission and was turned it into an automatic transmission for several years. During this time, there were many issues with the transmission. I knew that when I purchased it, but the 2017 engine was supposed to be the best version now. In June of 2021, I had the the transmission clutch r... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2024
The contact owns a 2019 Honda Accord. The contact stated while driving 20 MPH, the vehicle was hesitating and then lost motive power. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the head gasket was cracked, and there was a cooling leak within the cylinders. The vehicle was repaired. The contact was able to drive the vehicle. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The fai... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2023 GMC Sierra 1500. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH with the cruise control engaged, the instrument cluster was blinking and then went black. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent but had become a recurring failure. The contact also heard a chirping sound when the instrument cluster went black. The contact had taken the vehicle to a dealer and was inform... Read more
Incident date: Nov 3, 2024
Lost acceleration, check engine light and warning light came on ‘Service Electronic Throttle Control’ Diagnostic code P0336 Crankshaft Position Sensor A Circuit Truck has issues starting, once running, it idles rough and is in limp mode Appears to correspond with Safety Recall W68 / NHTSA 20V-475
Incident date: Nov 3, 2024
The contact owns a 2022 BMW X3. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V534000 (STRUCTURE); 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 manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not avai... Read more
Incident date: Nov 3, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Ford F-150. The contact stated there was water dripping from the grab handles and the dome light was filled with water. While driving at undisclosed speeds, the vehicle stalled. The contact stated that several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was determined that water was leaking into the vehicle causing the comput... Read more
Incident date: Nov 3, 2024
My vehicle has always been well-maintained with the dealer with regularly scheduled oil changes. On the captioned date, my vehicle failed the state emissions test. Immediately after leaving the testing facility, the check engine light came on and the engine began to rumble. The vehicle barely made it to the Kia dealership. Kia told me the entire engine needs to be rebuilt for $6,500 and that may n... Read more
Incident date: Nov 8, 2024
The contact owns a 2013 Dodge Avenger. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive with several unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that the warning lights on the instrument panel flashed on and off. The contact stated that the horn was inadvertently honked while the vehicle was losing motive power. The vehicle was restarted; however, the fa... Read more
Incident date: Nov 8, 2024
The contact owns a 2013 Dodge Avenger. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive with several unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that the warning lights on the instrument panel flashed on and off. The contact stated that the horn was inadvertently honked while the vehicle was losing motive power. The vehicle was restarted; however, the fa... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2024
The Tire losing with steering shaft . The bolt come off , my vehicle can’t make hard turn make it unsafe to able to drive.
Incident date: Sep 10, 2024
This Mercedes Metris is my wife's primary vehicle. She had the electric power steering stop working twice in six weeks. Each time the vehicle became barely controllable. Both times it happened on curvy mountain roads and she was barely able to keep control of the vehicle and is now afraid to drive it. We took it into the local Mercedes dealership twice and spent over a $1,000 the first time to rem... Read more
Incident date: Sep 10, 2024
I have been having problems with my steering wheel. I took my car in September 14th for steering problem. The associate said it’s the alignment without checking the car I asked to first assess my car before assuming the issue. He called me saying it would be $180, I said I would go elsewhere and he asked if I was going somewhere else and how much were they charging I said $80 and he said he woul... Read more
Incident date: Sep 9, 2024
What happened? While driving my 2014 Honda Accord, both the brake and steering warning lights suddenly illuminated. The steering became difficult, indicating a loss of power steering assist. I pulled over safely and discovered that the ABS light remained on. After towing the vehicle to a service center, the technician confirmed that the ABS pump/module had failed, which triggered both warning lig... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Oct 28, 2024
My engine failed as I was driving down the road with cars behind and in front of me. Lost power while driving, had to find a place immediately to pull over before being hit by other vehicles. Dash lights came on, car started making beeping noises, dash said it was overheating when thermostat gauge said it was completely cold. No antifreeze in the overflow tank, all antifreeze went into the engine ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 7, 2024
I have had multiple incidents of my 2022 Ram 1500 ETorque, when coming to a stop the auto start stop system engages and when I let my foot off the brake to take off the truck will not start the engine back. It will engage the parking brake and shift into park, sometimes will start back with the start button depressed. I have had at least 4 different incidents where it leaves me sitting in heavy tr... Read more
Incident date: Nov 7, 2024
The contact owns a 2013 BMW X1. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V608000 (Engine and Engine Cooling, Electrical System); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the engine overheated and the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the turbo and other unknown parts were ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 7, 2024
The contact owns a 2013 BMW X1. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V608000 (Engine and Engine Cooling, Electrical System); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the engine overheated and the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the turbo and other unknown parts were ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2024
The recall was issued in Feb 2024 and the BMW still has not remedy for the problem. This is a serious recall and poses a serious safety risk to my health and life. Per BMW: "In Some Cases, There Will Be A Reduction In Power Assist Braking, Which Could Lead To An Extended Stopping Distance And Increase The Risk Of A Crash. The Antilock Brake System (ABS) And Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) Syste... Read more
Incident date: Nov 7, 2024
The steering gear has failed at only 43,000 miles and yes the car is available for inspection if needed. The steering binding is a safety issue, and if left along long enough, might fully bind up causing an accident. My local GM dealership has reproduced the issue and diagnosed the failure. There have been no warning lamps, messages, or other visual indications of the failure.
Incident date: Nov 7, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the check engine warning light remained illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the local mechanic who replaced the spark plugs and the vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, there was white smoke coming from the exhaust pipes. The vehicle was driven to the local dealer who d... Read more
Incident date: Apr 11, 2024
On Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 I started my 2013 Ford Escape, put it in reverse and the steering froze and I could not turn the steering wheel. On Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024 I took it to the mechanic and he had the same thing happen and diagnostic indicated thatthe power steering needed replacement. I contacted Ford Motor Company and they stated that my VIN was not included in their recall of the 2013 For... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
Driving Incident with Auto High Beam: I was driving on the freeway early in the morning with the auto high beam feature activated. However, due to heavy fog, I wanted to turn it off. I asked my passenger to help me find the option on the screen. Unfortunately, she clicked the wrong button, which completely turned off all the lights while we were driving. This caused a moment of panic, and I had t... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
Driving Incident with Auto High Beam: I was driving on the freeway early in the morning with the auto high beam feature activated. However, due to heavy fog, I wanted to turn it off. I asked my passenger to help me find the option on the screen. Unfortunately, she clicked the wrong button, which completely turned off all the lights while we were driving. This caused a moment of panic, and I had t... Read more
Incident date: Sep 24, 2024
The contact owns a 2020 Jeep Compass. The contact stated that on two separate occasions, while driving at undisclosed speeds, the vehicle stalled. After the first failure, the contact waited for a while before restarting the vehicle and then drove to a dealer. Despite the failure, the contact was informed that no defect was found in the vehicle. During the second failure, the contact stated that a... Read more
Incident date: Sep 24, 2024
While driving my steering column locked up and I was unable to steer, luckily I was on a side street with little to no traffic and was able to eventually make it to my driveway but with a lot of resistance in turning and the steering warning indicator lit up. While parked in my driveway the steering column locked up on 6 of the 8 times I started the vehicle while also displaying the steering warni... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2024
HCU/ABS modules have failed for the second time in 50K miles. While using Cruise Control at highways speed (70mph) in heavy traffic the warning lines and chime came on. At the same instance the truck started slowing down dramatically. Almost causing us to get rear ended. It was like slamming on the brakes, but without brake lights to warn cars behind me. I finally figured out it caused the Crui... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2024
Warning of Anti skid system needs service
Incident date: Sep 1, 2024
I recently purchased a 2021 Toyota Corolla SE. After a few days the "Engine Maintenance Required - See Dealer" notification appeared. See as it was purchased very recently, I assumed this was the oil maintenance light, and reset it. Later that day, it came back, and I reset it a different method under the assumption I did it wrong. The next day it was back, and that is when I realized it must be s... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2022
Water accumulation in the rear passenger side when it rains. Can hear slushing water when driving. It accumulated all the way to the luggage compartment and caused the Control unit rear electrical and the ASD module to fail causing $2564.61 in repairs. Was wondering if this is the case of the issue [XXX] . When I read online there Is a lot of complaints about this. Has BMW ever acknowledged the i... Read more
Incident date: Nov 2, 2024
the car lost power in the middle of the freeway -and decelerated; in a highway with speed limit of 65mph while driving in I-680, all of a sudden the car slowed down from 65mph all the way to less than 20mph - displaying "power reduced - 0% battery" ; even it was recently fully charged - I was able to drive the car - back at 20mph speed - went straight to the Nissan dealer/service - where I left ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 2, 2024
the car lost power in the middle of the freeway -and decelerated; in a highway with speed limit of 65mph while driving in I-680, all of a sudden the car slowed down from 65mph all the way to less than 20mph - displaying "power reduced - 0% battery" ; even it was recently fully charged - I was able to drive the car - back at 20mph speed - went straight to the Nissan dealer/service - where I left ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 22, 2024
Front dash of car has severe reflection of light onto windshield. This reflection from the dashboard cowl cover interferes with driver's vision and impairs safe driving. We have created a make-do dashboard cowl cover from non-reflective felt to temporarily solve issue, but feel a recall that would install a new dashboard cowl cover is warranted.
Incident date: Oct 22, 2024
The contact owns a 2023 Jeep Wrangler. The contact stated that while driving 60 MPH on an interstate with her son occupying the front passenger's side seat, the vehicle shuddered violently. Additionally, the steering wheel became uncontrollable. The contact stopped in the right-hand lane and turned on the hazard lights. The contact was able to continue driving, but the failure recurred while drivi... Read more
Incident date: Aug 26, 2024
The contact owns a 2024 Ram 1500. The contact stated that while driving with his family at approximately 70 MPH, several unknown warning lights were illuminated, and the vehicle lost motive power and came to a complete stop in the middle of the highway. Additionally, the hazards lights failed to engage as needed. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer to be diagnosed; however, the dealer inform... Read more
Incident date: Aug 26, 2024
The contact owns a 2019 Honda Insight. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V858000(Fuel System, gasoline); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the vehicle was experiencing engine hesitation while driving. There was no warning light illuminated. The local dealer was contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. T... Read more
Incident date: Aug 26, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Edge. The contact stated while driving at approximately 20 MPH, the vehicle shuddered. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the failure had been recurring while driving. The contact stated that upon adding coolant to the vehicle, the vehicle operated as needed. The contact stated that the vehicle was experiencing excessive coolant con... Read more
Incident date: Aug 3, 2024
The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle inadvertently lost motive power. The contact was able to pull to the shoulder of the roadway, where the vehicle failed to restart. The low oil pressure and the check engine warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that the engine ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 15, 2023
I get a "Shift to Park" error message even though the car is in the park position as all indicator says it's in park. If I wiggle the shifter it would go away and come back on when i drive it again. On November 1st I came home from work and it would go off at all, I tried everything, wiggling the shifter, put in drive and back in park took if for ride around the block and it still would go off eve... Read more
Incident date: Mar 4, 2024
Bought 2013 suburban brand new and in 2018, on a trip to the mountains for fall break, the car quit with no warning signs, in the middle of the night. The car would not accelerate when gas pedal was pressed and RPM gauge needle “fluctuated erratically” until car came to a complete stop in the middle of the highway! It was a scary and dangerous situation because it was late at night and we were... Read more
Incident date: Nov 6, 2024
The contact owns a 2018 Ford EcoSport. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V905000 (Engine and Engine Cooling); 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: May 15, 2024
Thor Sequences RV: The roof top solar that was installed by Thor Motorcoach flew off of the RV roof while I was driving on [XXX] in downtown Columbus, Ohio. I thought something fell out of a cabinet when I heard a thud. I exited [XXX] on [XXX], and a Central Ohio Transit Authority van driver told something flew off the roof of the RV. I parked and inspected the vehicle and discovered the solar pa... Read more
Incident date: Nov 5, 2024
The contact owns a 2020 Honda Passport. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V064000 (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 local dealer and two other dealers, Buena Park Honda (6411 Beach Blvd, Buena Park, CA 90621) and Norm Re... Read more
Incident date: Nov 6, 2024
I was driving and the and the stop start error came on, smelled gasoline and the EPC and check engine lights came on. I kept driving because we were on the freeway and couldn’t quite stop there but my car automatically turned off. The lights stayed on. I was able to turn it off after a few tries and get it to the mechanic (with it turning off a couple times on the way there). After diagnosis, th... Read more
Incident date: Nov 6, 2024
The contact owns a 2023 Nissan Z. The contact stated that while her son was driving at an undisclosed speed, upon coming to an abrupt stop, the hood suddenly popped open; obstructing the driver's view, prompting him to pull over to the shoulder of the roadway. The message "Collision Detected - Pop-up Activators Deployed" was displayed. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to t... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2024
Driving on city & highway, driver side selt belt will release itself multiple times. On a daily drive to work 12 miles at least 2-3 times! I can be at a stop and literally wiggle it loose and releases. I have researched it online through multiple platforms there's over a 100+ hyundai owners with the same problem. Please look into this issue! I have 3 children 1 is gonna start driving soon. (2014 h... Read more