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: Dec 23, 2025
What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? TRANSMISSION - GEAR SHIFT How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? THE CAR STOPPED SHIFTING GEARS AND WE WHEN THE CAR INSTRUCTED US TO PULL OVER IMMEDIATELY IT WASN'T A SAFE PLACE TO STOP THE CAR. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 14, 2026
Transmission 10l80 stuck solenoid truck has hesitation delayed shifting. And will not shift after certain gears.
Incident date: Oct 28, 2025
Rear brakes backing plates rotted prematurely despite garage kept and well maintained status. While driving, noticed loud scraping and grinding noises from the rear left wheel. Took to mechanic and he found severe rust, with deep corrosion and flaking "rotted". He said I was lucky because this was very close to causing the entire brake assembly to fail, which would lead to serious braking problems... Read more
Incident date: Jan 2, 2026
Vehicle: 2022 Ford F-250 Super Duty Component: Door latch / door ajar sensor system This complaint concerns a latent manufacturing defect involving the door latch / door ajar sensor system on a 2022 Ford F-250. The defect causes the vehicle to falsely indicate that doors are open when they are fully closed, triggering alarms and safety warnings and impairing normal vehicle operation. This failur... Read more
Incident date: Jan 2, 2026
It was cold out and my sister was driving my car with the heated seats on when she started to smell fire as well as her back got really hot. She pulled over and leaned forward and discovered a flame/fire coming through the seat back. She burned my hand and had visible ash on it trying to put the fire out. There is now a hole in the seat back from where the fire burned through.
Fire
Incident date: Jan 17, 2026
I was driving down the highway and all of a sudden my sunroof exploded. It sounded like a loud gunshot. I got off the exit pulled over and I saw that my sunroof was shattered. On my Audi Q5 2016.
Incident date: Oct 10, 2025
Abs engages the truck rolls forward 10 to 20 ft. Before it stops. There was a recall that was done on the truck but the issue still continues. Nobody will help me. It's still a problem?
Incident date: Jan 16, 2026
I have had multiple instances where the vehicle has failed to accelerate when making a left hand turn. Each time this has occurred, my car has rolled into the intersection from a stop at a small decline, but the gas seems to do nothing. My car silently rolls forward and then I have no power or gas and am trapped with no acceleration. I’m worried this is going to get me into an accident and... Read more
Incident date: Jan 16, 2026
This 2018 Honda Pilot has been taken to mechanic after a number of check engine and other dash lights came on while trying to accelerate to merge with freeway traffic. Mechanic pulled a P0369 code and I paid for replacement of the cam shaft sensor. Problems continued shortly after work and mechanic conducted further inspections and determined the sensor had been worn by a walking camshaft. Ther... Read more
Incident date: Jan 16, 2026
This 2018 Honda Pilot has been taken to mechanic after a number of check engine and other dash lights came on while trying to accelerate to merge with freeway traffic. Mechanic pulled a P0369 code and I paid for replacement of the cam shaft sensor. Problems continued shortly after work and mechanic conducted further inspections and determined the sensor had been worn by a walking camshaft. Ther... Read more
Incident date: Dec 12, 2025
Power steering return line ruptured in cold weather causing loss of steering.
Incident date: Dec 12, 2025
Started Jeep and after driver info cycled through on dash, the battery warning light came on. Battery had been replaced by local Jeep dealer within last 12 months. Contacted dealer, Keller Motors, while sitting in vehicle and made arrangements to drop off. Drove 3 miles to town with light still on. Then seat belt warning light came on and vehicle electrical system suffered complete shut down and ... Read more
Incident date: Dec 1, 2023
I was at a stop sign making a left turn across four lanes of travel. I had a gap in traffic with ample time to make the left turn so I pressed on the gas pedal to begin the turn. The vehicle did not move forward upon me pressing the gas pedal. After about one second the vehicle finally moved. At that point cross traffic was closing in so I pressed the gas pedal to the floor. The vehicle lurched fo... Read more
Incident date: Dec 1, 2023
I have a 2018 Ford Edge. In late October of 2025 my engine light illuminated. The diagnosis was a P301, indicating a misfire in cylinder one. Spark plugs and cylinder 1 coil was replaced. No problems until December and engine light came on again, same code. Coil was replaced again and in January engine light came on again. Ford released TSB 19-2346 on 12-19-19 describing a possible coolant leak in... Read more
Incident date: Dec 1, 2023
October 2025 we had just left the highway and was on a heavily traveled back road going home from the mountains. My husband felt a jolt and thought we had blown a tire. But he checked the tire monitor and it was fine, then he checked the side view mirror and saw that the camper was off the road and almost hit a speed limit sign! Luckily we were near a less traveled side road and pulled off, sti... Read more
Incident date: Oct 10, 2023
To Whom It May Concern, I am submitting a safety complaint regarding my 2019 Jeep Cherokee Limited due to ongoing defects that create unsafe driving conditions. Vehicle Information: •Year/Make/Model: 2019 Jeep Cherokee Limited •189,000 Safety Issues: My vehicle has experienced repeated and unpredictable failures, including: •Loss of power while driving •Electrical instability and volta... Read more
Incident date: Jan 16, 2026
While approaching a stop sign at a speed of less than 10mph with my wife and three small children in the car, the engine shut off and the steering/braking became degraded. I was able to restart the car after stopping, but the auto start / etorque does not appear to be working any more. I will be dropping the car off for diagnostics, but after some research this appears to be a common issue which... Read more
Incident date: Dec 15, 2025
TANSMISSION DIED AT 102,000 MILES, 2,000 MILES OVER THE WARRANTY. Toyota said it will pay $6,000 for parts. I HAVE TO PAY TAX AND LABOR. I have been waiting over a MONTH for the parts, while my HIGHLANDER SITS ON THE Toyota DEALER'S LOT IN RIVERHEAD, NY. My wife took the car there, since the "check engine" light had turned on. After the inspection, We were afraid to take it out of the parking lot.... Read more
Incident date: Jan 9, 2026
The retractable panoramic sunroof cover snapped out of it's clips while I was driving and the shade fell over my head. After reading about this online, numerous consumers have had this exact problem.
Incident date: Jan 15, 2026
Vehicle: 2025 Nissan Versa Mileage: 276 Date: 01/17/26 Location: my home in Winston salem nc Warning lights: None observed / Unknown While reversing to park, the vehicle suddenly lost power steering and braking assistance at the same time. The steering became extremely hard to turn, and the brakes did not stop the vehicle. I lost control, and the car continued rolling backward, resulting in a col... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jan 17, 2026
Component or System Failure The vehicle experienced two major mechanical failures. First, the transmission failed and required full replacement shortly after the expiration of the 60,000-mile powertrain warranty. At the time of this failure, the vehicle had approximately 61,000 miles. Second, at 100,119 miles, the engine suffered a catastrophic failure that required complete engine replacement. ... Read more
Incident date: Jan 16, 2026
For coolant reservoir being made out of polypropylene materials that is resistant to expansion and cracking, the overflow line into my reservoir is severally cracked causing excessive leaking of coolant causing steam and engine overheating.
Incident date: Nov 1, 2024
The contact owns a 2014 Ram 1500. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, the contact became aware that the vehicle was lower to the ground. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed, and determined that the air suspension needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2024
Engine siezed total engine failure at 31095 miles
Incident date: Jan 6, 2026
I am worried about my safety while riding this bike. There has been two different recalls associated with this bike. The first recall my bike passed and was deemed safe to ride. The second recall my bike failed and the dealer was in contact with kawasaki for a week. The dealership is now stating that since so many bikes were being failed, kawasaki had changed the spec numbers for the crank bearing... Read more
Incident date: Jan 16, 2019
The contact owns a 2025 Hyundai Kona. The contact stated that while upon starting the vehicle, the vehicle failed to respond as intended, and the vehicle needed to be jump-started. The vehicle was taken to a dealer to be diagnosed; however, the diagnostic result was unknown. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure had occurred on several occasions. The manufacturer was notified of the failure an... Read more
Incident date: Nov 25, 2025
I am experiencing multiple safety-related issues with the driver's side door latch/lock assembly on my Volkswagen vehicle. These problems are isolated to the driver's door and appear linked to a known defect involving water intrusion and freezing. Symptoms include: In cold mornings (around 7:30 AM), the driver's door latch frequently freezes shut, likely due to moisture ingress that freezes in sub... Read more
Incident date: Nov 25, 2025
I am experiencing multiple safety-related issues with the driver's side door latch/lock assembly on my Volkswagen vehicle. These problems are isolated to the driver's door and appear linked to a known defect involving water intrusion and freezing. Symptoms include: In cold mornings (around 7:30 AM), the driver's door latch frequently freezes shut, likely due to moisture ingress that freezes in sub... Read more
Incident date: Nov 25, 2025
The contact owned a 2022 Hyundai Tucson. The contact stated that while her husband was driving at 25-30 MPH, another vehicle struck the front driver side, flinging the vehicle to the right side before another vehicle crashed into the front passenger side. The air bags failed to deploy. No warning light was illuminated. The contact's husband sustained back injuries, while the contact suffered a con... Read more
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Jan 16, 2026
The Car has over the last few years not turn off due to shift to park. This is concerning, due to we cannot turn the car off unless we strike the shifter few times assuming this is the remedy. It doesn't look like there is any type of recall but there should be.
Incident date: Nov 18, 2024
When driving vehicle into sunlight a system warning light displays saying “ Driving Aids temporarily disabled, poor visibility. This warning has displayed during all day parts and occurs immediately when the sun is directed at the front of the car. Have had the car at the dealership and showed them pictures of warning light. Dealer noted car did not exhibit customers concern at this time. I do... Read more
Incident date: Jan 13, 2026
The contact owns a 2019 Jeep Cherokee. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V011000 (Power Train). The contact stated that while driving approximately 65 MPH, the vehicle lost power and failed to accelerate as intended. The vehicle was towed to a dealer, where it was diagnosed, and determined that the PTU needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired because the part... Read more
Incident date: Mar 14, 2025
To: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Subject: Safety Complaint – 2018 BMW M550i Driver Assistance System I am filing a formal safety complaint regarding a dangerous malfunction of the driver assistance systems in my 2018 BMW M550i. These systems behave unpredictably and cannot be reliably disabled, creating an unsafe driving condition. The vehicle’s driver assistance f... Read more
Incident date: Mar 6, 2020
The contact owns a 2021 Kia Sorento. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V649000 (ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, VISIBILITY); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, with the A/C activated, there was an abnormal burning odor entering the vehicle through the vents. The burning odor was coming from ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 13, 2025
1) Transmission vehicle is not able to be driven Driving on the highway taking kids to school as my vehicle would not accelerate put me the kids and all that were on the road that morning at risk because all i could do is coast to get off on the side of the highway. I had it towed to independent center No warning signs, lights or messages nor any other symptoms. 2)also faulty steering wheel cloc... Read more
Incident date: Jan 15, 2026
My car started having issues with the hybrid system, with fault alerts related to the drive motor control module, hybrid powertrain control module, and battery energy control module in the transmission, and the vehicle is available for inspection if needed. The engine light had been on for about a week, and I was waiting for availability at work to take it to a mechanic. While driving around 70 mp... Read more
Incident date: Dec 24, 2025
I am reporting a serious safety defect involving the brake pedal area of my newly leased Kia K4 GT-Line. There is a metal bracket/component located directly above the brake pedal that interferes with foot placement. My foot becomes caught on this bracket when attempting to apply the brake, which delays or prevents proper brake application. On [XXX], while exiting the roadway and attempting to stop... Read more
Incident date: Dec 24, 2025
When turning the steering wheel 3/4 turn, a knocking sound is heard until the steering wheel is straightened. Suspecting CV joints.
Incident date: Dec 24, 2025
I was driving to work in the morning and was going down a slow side street when I heard a soft noise behind me. When I looked in my rearview I noticed that my back window was cracked all over it though nothing had hit it or fallen in it. The glass then completely fell out.
Incident date: Mar 7, 2024
To Whom It May Concern, I am writing to formally request reimbursement or goodwill assistance for the repair of the turbocharger on my Chevrolet Trax, which failed unexpectedly and caused my vehicle to stall in the middle of the freeway, creating a serious safety hazard. I had previously reported concerns related to the turbo, and after the failure occurred, I learned that General Motors issued ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 7, 2024
To Whom It May Concern, I am writing to formally request reimbursement or goodwill assistance for the repair of the turbocharger on my Chevrolet Trax, which failed unexpectedly and caused my vehicle to stall in the middle of the freeway, creating a serious safety hazard. I had previously reported concerns related to the turbo, and after the failure occurred, I learned that General Motors issued ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 18, 2025
I was driving slowly in heavy rain and pulled up to a red light behind another vehicle. Just as I was almost fully stopped, my car suddenly accelerated on its own and struck the vehicle in front of me. The car is equipped with an automatic braking system that should apply the brakes when there is an obstacle. Instead, not only did it fail to brake, it accelerated fully. If the car in front of us ... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Nov 18, 2025
The shark fin antennae on top of the vehicle was ripped off in a car wash; the antennae serves to transmit radio/GPS/data to & from the vehicle which will cease to function if it the cover is removed and components damaged. Hyundai description: The shark fin antenna will receive AM, FM broadcast signals and transmit data Multiple Hyundai dealers have been contacted for quotes on replacing the a... Read more
Incident date: Nov 18, 2025
The shark fin antennae on top of the vehicle was ripped off in a car wash; the antennae serves to transmit radio/GPS/data to & from the vehicle which will cease to function if it the cover is removed and components damaged. Hyundai description: The shark fin antenna will receive AM, FM broadcast signals and transmit data Multiple Hyundai dealers have been contacted for quotes on replacing the a... Read more
Incident date: Dec 3, 2025
The contact owns a 2014 Ram 1500. The contact stated that while his wife was driving approximately 45 MPH and entering the freeway, the driver heard an abnormal popping sound, and it felt as if the vehicle had been rear-ended. The message "Throttle Alert" was displayed, and the vehicle failed to exceed 50 MPH while depressing the accelerator pedal. The driver was unable to pull over to the side of... Read more
Incident date: Dec 3, 2025
Jumping into neutral while acceleration up on ramp
Incident date: Dec 3, 2025
I have a 2019 Kia Sportage with 41k miles on it and the paint is peeling. As of now, the roof spoiler is completely peeled off. The side view mirrors, and the door handles, have paint peeling and bubbling. I have reported it to Kia and they are unwilling to stand by their product and extend the warranty on the paint. Kia is fully aware of the problem but is not willing to fix it.
Incident date: Jan 14, 2026
The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V334000 (Air Bags). The local dealer was contacted and confirmed that parts were not yet available for the recall repair. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, and informed that parts were in the warehouse, but no assistance was provided. The contact had no... Read more
Incident date: Jan 13, 2026
The rear windshield of a 2019 Acura RDX spontaneously shattered while the vehicle was sitting in our driveway. Vehicle was turned off, nothing fell or contacted the car, no passengers in the vehicle. This is the 2nd time this happened, last incident occurred ~2 years ago. Acura denied any record of this being an ongoing issue then, and has the same stance on the issue now, despite it being a widel... Read more
Incident date: Jan 15, 2026
Vehicle showed all defect warnings as described in recall #23v652 .To include loss of all hydraulic components. Your reference Claim # [XXX]. I would like to know the status of this claim as the dealer still has my vehicle and now claims needs chassis repair , even though they earlier did an undercoat of vehicle in July per another recall. The dealer now estimates the repairs at over $5800 . Sinc... Read more