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: Jul 13, 2021
While turning my 2022 BMW 540i onto a busy, 50 MPH road, the vehicle suffered a catastrophic drivetrain failure, without any physical trauma such as encountering a curb or pothole. The car experienced a total and immediate loss of motive power (propulsion), leaving me coasting in live traffic. This created an extreme safety hazard as I was unable to accelerate or maintain speed to clear the roadwa... Read more
Incident date: Apr 7, 2025
The contact owns a 2025 Ducati Panigale V4 Motorcycle. The contact stated that after parking and turning off the motorcycle, there was an abnormal odor coming from the motorcycle, and a boiling liquid sound was coming from the fuel tank. The contact removed the fuel tank cap and discovered boiling fuel inside the fuel tank. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The motorcycle was not ye... Read more
Incident date: Jul 5, 2023
I had the Car's instrument panel go totally blank in March 2025 on my new 2025 Tucson Hybrid while driving on my first long distance trip. I took it to my local Hyundai dealer to have the issue looked at upon my return home, but they could not replicate the problem and therefore could not help me. I had the exact same issue of the instrument panel going out again on my latest long-distance trip ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 3, 2026
The same issue has happened twice. I'm driving on the highway, going maybe 60 or 65, and with no warning, the check engine light starts flashing and the car won't respond to the gas pedal. The car immediately starts to rapidly decelerate, and I can only try to get to the breakdown lane before I get rear-ended. I've been lucky (especially since my child was in the backseat both times). But when I s... Read more
Incident date: Feb 3, 2026
The same issue has happened twice. I'm driving on the highway, going maybe 60 or 65, and with no warning, the check engine light starts flashing and the car won't respond to the gas pedal. The car immediately starts to rapidly decelerate, and I can only try to get to the breakdown lane before I get rear-ended. I've been lucky (especially since my child was in the backseat both times). But when I s... Read more
Incident date: Feb 3, 2026
The same issue has happened twice. I'm driving on the highway, going maybe 60 or 65, and with no warning, the check engine light starts flashing and the car won't respond to the gas pedal. The car immediately starts to rapidly decelerate, and I can only try to get to the breakdown lane before I get rear-ended. I've been lucky (especially since my child was in the backseat both times). But when I s... Read more
Incident date: Feb 3, 2026
Vehicle only has 5839 miles and this is the 2nd time the battery has been dead. First time was Dec 18th 2025. Vehicle purchased 7/5/25. 2nd time 2/5/26. First time the outside lights flickered for a long time before finally going off. 2nd time the outside lights didnt flicker and key fob wont even lock the car. We took the vehicle in for service after 1st dead battery instance and they told us we... Read more
Incident date: Feb 3, 2026
Catastrophic engine failure. Engine failed while driving and lost all oil pressure. Nearly cause accident
Incident date: Apr 8, 2024
Honda issued a warranty extension covering piston ring deterioration that causes engine misfires (DTCs P0301–P0304) due to oil fouling. I experienced this exact condition on 3/11/25 prior to issuance of the warranty extension, resulting in an engine misfire and loss of drivability. To restore basic operation of the vehicle, an independent repair facility replaced a fouled spark plug, documentin... Read more
Incident date: Apr 8, 2024
Transmission issue. Sudden down shift and spike in RPMS while driving. Hard shift during acceleration.
Incident date: Apr 8, 2024
Transmission issue. Sudden down shift and spike in RPMS while driving. Hard shift during acceleration.
Incident date: Jan 3, 2026
Transmission erratic shifting causes unsafe vehicle handling characteristics. Vehicle will not properly accelerate under certain circumstances. Occasionally in parking lots, vehicle will accelerate on its own after throttle is released under certain conditions. Transmission has been replaced several times, and issue persists in all units. Problems are reported in TSB’s sent out by dealer... Read more
Incident date: Jan 3, 2026
I am submitting this complaint regarding a serious transmission failure on my 2020 Ford F-150. At approximately 68,000 miles, the vehicle began exhibiting dangerous and unpredictable driving behavior, including hard jerking, sudden hesitation, and unexpected deceleration and acceleration while driving. The vehicle would jerk aggressively during gear changes and decelerate without warning, particu... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2021
In July 2024 I purchased a 2017 Ford F150 3.5L Eco Boost pickup truck. Within two weeks of taking possession of the vehicle, the motors oil pump failed which resulted in permanent engine damage. The diagnosis to replace the motor, due to internal engine damage as a result of the oil pump failure, was made by the dealership that sold me the vehicle.
Incident date: Jan 10, 2026
Driving along at normal speed, often on the highway. Truck in 5th or 6th gear. Sometimes 4th. It will shift into 1st gear. Other times it will shift into 3rd or 2nd and get stuck for way too long. I will have to completely stop for it to start shifting "normally"
Incident date: Jan 10, 2026
Excessive oil consumption and potential for engine to blow up
Incident date: Oct 15, 2025
All seatbelts in vehicle sticks and/or catches have to use seriously more pressure on release button,or seatbelt/latch it’s self or both. My wife and children have had me have to come get it because it wouldn’t release. Engine motor mount bolt had to be replaced, I noticed when alternator went out, vehicle wouldn’t respond from throttle acted like it was missing then threw dash lights then n... Read more
Incident date: Jan 28, 2026
The contact owns a 2024 Ram 1500. The contact stated that while driving on the expressway at 60 MPH, the battery warning light illuminated. The vehicle then lost motive power while stopped at a stoplight. The vehicle was towed to the side of the roadway by the Police. The vehicle was then towed to the local dealer, who determined there was a failure with the 48-Volt E-Torque battery. The vehicle w... Read more
Incident date: Jan 4, 2026
The contact owns a 2012 Kia Sorento. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 20V750000 (Engine) and 23V652000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic); however, the parts to do the recall repairs were unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repairs. The contact stated that while driving into a parking spot, the vehicle ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 4, 2026
The contact owns a 2012 Kia Sorento. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 20V750000 (Engine) and 23V652000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic); however, the parts to do the recall repairs were unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repairs. The contact stated that while driving into a parking spot, the vehicle ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 23, 2026
Loss of power code p0016 now truck won't start
Incident date: Feb 4, 2026
The one pedal driving / regenerative braking would randomly deactivate. I have my car set on high one pedal driving. 99.9% of the time, the one pedal driving would work as expected with the car slowing down as the accelerator is released. However, the car would randomly deactivate one pedal driving, so when I release the accelerator, instead of slowing down or stopping, the car would continue goin... Read more
Incident date: Nov 15, 2025
During a recent incident where a tire issue caused damage to the wiring harness for the parking brake, resulting in a Parking Brake Failure notification on the screen, the vehicle would not stop or turn off. The vehicle displayed N for neutral on the dash, but the vehicle would drive forward unless the brake was depressed. In addition, we were unable to place the vehicle in Park, which meant tha... Read more
Incident date: Nov 15, 2025
During a recent incident where a tire issue caused damage to the wiring harness for the parking brake, resulting in a Parking Brake Failure notification on the screen, the vehicle would not stop or turn off. The vehicle displayed N for neutral on the dash, but the vehicle would drive forward unless the brake was depressed. In addition, we were unable to place the vehicle in Park, which meant tha... Read more
Incident date: Jan 15, 2026
The contact owns a 2017 Land Rover Range Rover. The contact stated that while driving on several occasions at various speeds or while the vehicle was idling, there was an abnormal coolant odor inside and outside the vehicle. There was condensation underneath the front of the vehicle. There was no warning light illuminated, or a message displayed. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic; h... Read more
Incident date: Oct 23, 2025
While sitting at a stop sign heard a loud bang and truck lunged forward as if we were rear ended . Actually thought we were . Drove about 20 miles and transmission went out . Even though i had foot on brake truck still went forward . Had to have transmission replaced at $6421.58 in Florida while on vacation . Have researched on internet and found several cases exact same thing . Even shop that did... Read more
Incident date: Feb 4, 2026
The contact owns a 2025 Toyota Tundra. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel was slightly locked while making a left or right turn. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The dealer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was scheduled for a diagnostic test in the upcoming da... Read more
Incident date: Feb 4, 2026
The contact owns a 2017 Ram 1500. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 23V411000 (ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING) and 22V406000 (FUEL SYSTEM, DIESEL). The contact stated that while driving at a slow speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact pulled into the driveway and turned off the vehicle. After exiting the vehicle, there was smoke coming from the exhaus... Read more
Incident date: Feb 3, 2026
The contact owns a 2025 Polestar Polestar 3. The contact stated that while driving approximately 3 MPH in a parking lot, as he depressed the brake pedal, to slow down the vehicle did not slow down. The contact stated no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle jumped a curb and ran over some shrubbery. The contact stated that the passenger side front and rear doors had scrape... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Feb 3, 2026
The contact owns a 2025 Polestar Polestar 3. The contact stated that while driving approximately 3 MPH in a parking lot, as he depressed the brake pedal, to slow down the vehicle did not slow down. The contact stated no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle jumped a curb and ran over some shrubbery. The contact stated that the passenger side front and rear doors had scrape... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jun 1, 2024
A shake or shimmy at 49 ,50 mph. Ase mechanic confirmed all four tires belts have shifted.
Incident date: Jan 30, 2026
1) ENGINE FAILED IN AN INTERSECTION AND A DRIVE THRU EACH TIME OF FAILURE THE CAR COULD NOT BE PUSHED TO CLEAR THE ROAD 2) THREE OPEN RECALLS HAVE BEEN REPORTED SINCE 10/2025 AND TO DATE THERE IS NO REMEDY 3) SAFETY RECALL DUE TO FIRE HAZARD WITH NO FIX AVAILABLEI HAVE SPOKEN TO THE DEALER AND THE MANUFACTURER. WITH NO FIX AVAILABLE
Incident date: Jan 30, 2026
1) ENGINE FAILED IN AN INTERSECTION AND A DRIVE THRU EACH TIME OF FAILURE THE CAR COULD NOT BE PUSHED TO CLEAR THE ROAD 2) THREE OPEN RECALLS HAVE BEEN REPORTED SINCE 10/2025 AND TO DATE THERE IS NO REMEDY 3) SAFETY RECALL DUE TO FIRE HAZARD WITH NO FIX AVAILABLEI HAVE SPOKEN TO THE DEALER AND THE MANUFACTURER. WITH NO FIX AVAILABLE
Incident date: Jan 30, 2026
I was driving down a road and my engine just stopped working lights came on saying there were several issues including the engine. I researched online and found there were recalls due to this same problem for the same make, model and year as my Vehicle, but there is no recall on my vehicle. The dealer confirmed the engine was seized up or whatever wording they used. No one has inspected it othe... Read more
Incident date: Feb 4, 2026
On the morning of Saturday, January 31st, we went to get in the vehicle and saw that the back hatch window had begun to shatter. It did not appear to be caused by vandalism or that it had been hit by any objects. Therefore, I did not report it to the police. I did report to my insurance. I took it to a Safelite AutoGlass repair shop and they agreed that it was a very unusual break. The glass did... Read more
Incident date: Feb 4, 2026
In May 2025 shortly after purchasing this vehicle I had complete Brake failure while driving down the road. I was driving approximately 65 mph when the forward collision warning, ABS warning, Brake Warning, Auto Emergency Brake warning lights came on and when I pushed on the brake pedal it was hard as a rock and wouldn't stop the vehicle. It was returned to the purchasing dealership, and they repl... Read more
Incident date: Feb 3, 2026
There have been 3 instances within the last year and a half where the rear window of my vehicle (Ford mustang) and the rear window of family member ford mustang both have shattered during the extreme cold possibly due to the heating coils on the window over heating and burning. You can see a burn pattern in the window This is a safety issue due to the window shattering, it sounded as if someone sh... Read more
Incident date: Feb 3, 2026
There have been 3 instances within the last year and a half where the rear window of my vehicle (Ford mustang) and the rear window of family member ford mustang both have shattered during the extreme cold possibly due to the heating coils on the window over heating and burning. You can see a burn pattern in the window This is a safety issue due to the window shattering, it sounded as if someone sh... Read more
Incident date: Feb 3, 2026
Traveling on the expressway, engine made wearing noise, reduced engine power and complete engine failure while driving. Rear main seal blowout due to a defective PCV system freezing. It is a known issue for GM2.4L engine especially in cold weather leading to massive oil loss and catastrophic engine damage. This has been confirmed by a GM authorized dealer.
Incident date: Feb 20, 2025
While out shopping yesterday, [XXX], after turning off the car it would not start again. Everything completely shut down. Locks on doors did not work, hatch wouldn't open, fobs did not work (mine or my husband's) and my ford app even went blank. I called AAA and they sent someone out to get the car started. He thought it might be the battery. So my husband took the car this morning to the ford dea... Read more
Incident date: Feb 20, 2025
Burns oil and I have to change it every 3K-5K miles. I add oil throughout to keep it topped off, but by around 5K miles it’s nearly black. It would be completely dry by 10K miles. Yesterday I noticed an oil drip from what I assume is a faulty gasket, which is new.
Incident date: Feb 20, 2025
Burns oil and I have to change it every 3K-5K miles. I add oil throughout to keep it topped off, but by around 5K miles it’s nearly black. It would be completely dry by 10K miles. Yesterday I noticed an oil drip from what I assume is a faulty gasket, which is new.
Incident date: Feb 3, 2026
Wednesday [XXX]/Phantom Braking Proceeding northbound on [XXX] at estimated speed of 35 mph. Road was clear with no oncoming traffic. Suddenly the brakes locked up and a collision notice appeared on dash. Brakes released and continued northbound with no further issues. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Incident date: Feb 3, 2026
Wednesday [XXX]/Phantom Braking Proceeding northbound on [XXX] at estimated speed of 35 mph. Road was clear with no oncoming traffic. Suddenly the brakes locked up and a collision notice appeared on dash. Brakes released and continued northbound with no further issues. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Incident date: Feb 3, 2026
My name is [XXX] I live at [XXX] my phone number is [XXX] my social security is [XXX] . I own a 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe that is subject to Safety Recall 25V-808 involving the rearview camera system. On [XXX] at 12:30pm while operating my vehicle, the rearview camera malfunctioned (the image was [blank / inoperative]). Due to the loss of rear visibility, I was involved in a minor accident while b... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Oct 14, 2025
Ever since I bought that vehicle, it's had system malfunctions. I received three letters directly from Ford explaining the problems this vehicle had or could have. But he and the dealerships, where I took my vehicle for repairs, never did them. They always denied that it had any problems and said that my vehicle was new and had nothing wrong with it.
Incident date: Jul 10, 2025
The ICCU went out in my car. Fortunately I was at home charging and not on the road.
Incident date: Feb 3, 2026
At a complete stop my car started shaking violently back and forth. It felt like we were in an earthquake. It has happened before but not as violently and not as long. No warning lights or anything. It has had problems with lurching and stuttering since we bought it. The dealership said they fixed it once (the stuttering) but it’s still happening. They cannot duplicate it and it’s not throwing... Read more
Incident date: Jan 22, 2026
I bought a fairly used 2024 Mazda on December 19, 2025 from a Mazda dealership and immediately noticed that there was some resistance with turning the steering wheel. I mentioned it to the sales person and was told that it was how the car operated. After purchasing the car, the problem kept persisting in many ways while on the freeway or when making turns. The steering will try to self correct wit... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Feb 1, 2026
Car beeped and displayed warning stating that Ignition will turn off and Check Starter System on four separate occasions, resulting in loss of all electrical power including but not limited to headlights, brake lights, console display, speedometer, dashboard lights, turn signals, hazard lights a/c, etc. The center console felt very warm. The car needed to be pulled over and ignition turned off for... Read more