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 5, 2023
My Acura (VIN: [XXX] ) experienced a non-collision spontaneous deployment of the side airbag while the vehicle was completely stationary. There was no impact, no crash, and no triggering event. This is a serious safety defect that could have caused significant injury or loss of vehicle control had the car been in motion. This vehicle was previously included in NHTSA Recall 19V182000 involving Tak... Read more
Incident date: Jul 5, 2023
Engine issue - but no recalls there have been hundreds of this same car yr and model with engine issues out of the blue
Incident date: Dec 15, 2024
The vehicle experienced an engine and power train failure while driving on the highway, resulting in sudden loss of power. The electrical system also failed after the dealer visit, causing the battery to die every morning. Yes, the vehicle is available for inspection upon request. My car suddenly lost power on the highway and would not accelerate, forcing me to pull over on the shoulder with traf... Read more
Incident date: Nov 9, 2025
Odometer Fraud. The contact won an auction for the 2013 Nissan Juke on November 15th, 2025. It was discovered that there was a mileage discrepancy. The contact had only placed a holding fee for the vehicle due to the mileage on the auction paperwork being different from other mileage reports for the VIN. At the time of purchase, the vehicle mileage was 115,087. The contact found on the Florida Hig... Read more
Incident date: Sep 22, 2023
Mechanical failure of the headlight assembly system. Sensors for the headlight assembly is sending false failure alerts.
Incident date: Sep 22, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle failed to shift into gear properly. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that while at a stop, the vehicle shimmied while attempting to shift into gear. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, and the contact was informed that the failure was related to the... Read more
Incident date: Sep 22, 2023
I am the owner of a 2021 Tesla Model 3 and am filing this complaint due to a significant safety concern: my vehicle does not have manual or mechanical releases for the rear doors; only electronic mechanisms are present. In the event of a total power failure, accident, fire, or submersion, rear seat passengers would be unable to exit the vehicle through the rear doors, as there is no physical lever... Read more
Incident date: Nov 17, 2025
The vehicle can't be changed with a message "issue with electrical system". The message blinks very fast for 3sec and disappears. I have to turn on and off the car a few time to be able to read the message. The the car lost 12V secondary battery, it only shows 5.5V when measured. car is dead.. Replaced with new battery, car can start again but the car still can't be charged. Is it related to ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 17, 2025
Hydraulic lifters keep having issues
Incident date: Nov 6, 2025
The forward-facing camera on my vehicle repeatedly fogs up inside the sealed camera housing, creating a light to severe haze across the camera lens. This internal fogging obstructs the camera’s view and affects the vehicle’s safety systems that rely on it, including forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, lane keeping, and adaptive cruise control. The components are available f... Read more
Incident date: Oct 18, 2025
Injector failure
Incident date: Jun 3, 2025
The driver seat motor malfunctioned when pennies got jammed iin the unprotected/exposed seat tracks. Hyundai would not cover the warranty and charged me $2000.00 for repair. After complaining to the Hyundai National customer service they would not consider my point of contention that the unproteted/exposed tracks contributed to the failure. A professional mechanic stated that a fuse should have ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 3, 2025
An “engine fault check engine now” Came up. We quickly brought our 2017 Ford escape into our near by Ford dealership. Mechanic says a P2601 code came up, which is related to coolant to Aux pump performance. They found reservoir leaking a reservoir spiderd hose down to oil cooler. Found coolant reservoir leaking. I have this diagnostic in writing. ford wanted to charge $1088 to fix the issue an... Read more
Incident date: Oct 18, 2025
I’ve had my Volkswagen Tiguen since 2021 fresh off the lot. I have been the only owner of the car at about 30,000 miles my head gasket blew, causing the engine to go into default after weeks in the dealer. They replaced the head gasket and stitched it up, the head gasket blew again at this point I was still under warranty so they agreed to replace the engine. It drove fine after the engine was r... Read more
Incident date: Oct 18, 2025
Vehicle Sudden Unintended Acceleration – Safety Complaint Vehicle: 2022 Dodge Durango Weather: Rain Situation: The vehicle was at an almost complete stop at a red light and in a 5 feet distance from the car in front. Without pressing the accelerator, the car suddenly surged forward at significant force and hit the vehicle in front of us. There was no driver input on the accelerator. The in... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jun 18, 2025
On 10/13/25, I was driving on a state hwy & lost all power. All of my warning lights came on. I managed to pull into a driveway & when I tried to start it, puffs of smoke were coming from under the hood. I got it to my mechanic & he said my starter was burnt up. He replaced the starter & discovered that my engine is seized up. It was a scary incident especially driving on a busy state highway. ... Read more
Incident date: May 27, 2025
My Ford jerks and shutters as I accelerate from 0 to 40 per hour. I took it in to Capitol Ford in Carson Ctiy, NV. They told me the transmission computer software need to be upgraded. I'm afraid the transmission is going to go out and cause a accident. No accident has happen yet.
Incident date: May 27, 2025
No prior issues/light on dashboard as the car was just serviced for coolant hose replacement. On my way home from work, the car stalled and loss power at the light. The signs were giving engine failure due to losing power then a clicking/ticking noise. After pulling over and giving the car a break I tried to restart it, at that point the noise had change from the clicking to a weird knocking noise... Read more
Incident date: May 27, 2025
Sunroof Explosion Incident: I was driving East bound on the I-880 highway (in the direction to Sacramento CA) between the Columbus Pkwy and Hiddenbrook exits in the city of Vallejo. When all of the sudden I heard a loud boom/explosion noise and heard glass drop onto the closed sunroof visor and flying hitting the rear of my car. I pulled off at the Hiddenbrook exit. I saw a highway patrol office... Read more
Incident date: Nov 10, 2025
2025 Corsair had a transmission failure with 1900 miles. Extremely hard shifting and near stall conditions until it failed completely.
Incident date: Oct 19, 2025
When I turn the wheel I get a grinding sound inside vehicle not outside of it.
Incident date: Jul 16, 2025
Pre collision pedestrian/cyclist warning automatic braking not working. Dealership tried 2x did all upgrades, checked another vehicle same results. Ford said both to technician and myself. This is normal. So pre collision does not activate in city traffic when they advertise and charge for this feature. Open to accidents and I jury.
Incident date: Jul 16, 2025
Got this vehicle about a year and a half ago at full price from local dealership. It looks like it has been pieced together with many other hondas. The check engine light has been on ever since. The car keeps yet no camera. Just tried to get inspected. So far charged 2500 but was given a pass on inspection only for the light to come back on. I noticed on the back of repair paperwork this car has 2... Read more
Incident date: Nov 14, 2025
The car don't run well
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Nov 13, 2025
PTU UNIT IS LEAKING AND THERE IS METAL IN THE OIL. CONFIRMED BY MECHANIC AND DRIVE TRAIN WARRANTY REPRESENTATIVE. CONFIRMED PART NEEDS TO BE REPLACED. CAUSING VIBRATION WHILE DRIVING. IT HAS NOT CAUSED A SAFETY ISSUE BUT COULD IN THE FUTURE. IS NOT A VIN IN A RECALL, BUT I BELIEVE IT SHOULD BE.
Incident date: Aug 25, 2025
I have a 2014 Impala limited I started having problems within 6 months after I bought the vehicle from Bergstrom Chevrolet in Wisconsin it was involving the ABS anti-lock stability track and traction control and the braking and steering we're all feeling and locking up while I was driving it presented and problems and endangering my life and the life of any passengers in the vehicle the brakes wil... Read more
Incident date: Aug 25, 2025
SUPPLEMENTAL RESTRAINT LIGHT KEEPS COMING ON & OFF. HAVEN'T BEEN TO DEALER FOR PROBLEM.
Incident date: Nov 12, 2025
On 11/3/25 honda conducted the fuel injection recall fix. Prior to this, no warning lights were displayed on dash. 11/11/25 nine different warnings displayed on dashboard board. 11/13/25 at approximately 35mph the vehicle would not accelerate and the 9 warning notifications continued to flash. Cars had to go around me as I tried to find a safe place to pull to side of the road. I turned off the i... Read more
Incident date: May 9, 2024
My truck doesn’t display a light and the steering doesn’t work. I can’t move the wheel. I have not had inspection done yet as I need to find a way to tow it.
Incident date: Nov 11, 2025
right running light has went out. yes, it will be available for inspection. lack of lighting causes trouble seeing at night while driving. brought to the dealership was told they would need to change the entire headlight. that woul cost around $2000.00. (both sides are now out). from research the 2021 ford f150 running lights are known for going off. $2000.00 all the time get to be big. the ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 11, 2025
Catalytic converter is reported to me as needing to be replaced. Check Engine light came on which indicated this error. It’s only at 84k miles. Followed by needing new O2 sensors if the catalytic converter is replaced. Another error was the thermostat which needs replacement. We are looking at over $5k in repairs.
Incident date: Sep 20, 2025
While driving a 2019 Ram I heard a winding noise then a rattling noise. I went immediately to the mechanic. He said it was my E-torque generator. He said I was lucky to get there because I could have had a complete loss of power or could have damaged other parts of the vehicle. A loss of power could be very dangerous on the highway possibly causing an accident or leaving me on the side of the... Read more
Incident date: Sep 20, 2025
Having torque converter replaced in my 2020 with 37,000 miles on it. Transmission stutters/lags at speeds under 40. Seems to be a common issue so wanted to report. Luckily had warranty replacement. Definitely a safety concern as the car delays when you hit the gas before it goes, many times i was nearly in an accident.
Incident date: Sep 13, 2025
In March 2025, my 2023 Cadillac Escalade ESV experienced a sudden engine failure. The engine began running rough, the check engine light turned on, and the vehicle became unsafe to drive. The Cadillac dealer diagnosed the engine with #8 exhaust push rod bent and metal debris in the engine oil. This matches the defect described in GM Recall N252494000 (connecting rod/crankshaft internal engine def... Read more
Incident date: Oct 15, 2025
My 2019 Volvo XC60 with approximately 65,000 miles, experienced a sudden failure of the electric power steering rack. The vehicle became unable to steer and unsafe to drive. The dealership confirmed that the entire steering rack must be replaced at a cost of nearly $7,000. I was told by an independent second opinion that this kind of steering rack failure is highly unusual at this mileage and may... Read more
Incident date: Nov 13, 2025
AIRBAGS DID NOT DEPLOY
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Oct 22, 2025
The defect has occurred since the day the vehicle was leased. The entire multimedia and safety interface shuts down randomly while driving (screen goes black, GPS stops, rear camera and driver-assistance functions stop working). This happens in multiple areas across the city, not in a single location. The dealership initially blamed my internet or phone, delaying proper diagnosis. The first availa... Read more
Incident date: Sep 14, 2025
The EPS foam has come detached when removing my child from the seat and will not reattach even with the cover
Incident date: Sep 14, 2025
The EPS foam has come detached when removing my child from the seat and will not reattach even with the cover
Incident date: Nov 15, 2024
Left lowlight headlight stops working intermittently and then completely. Both front axles cracked. Right rear shock busted. Gas purge valve malfunctioned
Incident date: Oct 4, 2025
This vehicle is a danger to drive, and there is no information on when they will fix it. I have taken the battery in to fix it before and it took over 2 weeks to repair, and more problems with more recalls. The engine is said that it can cause fire like the battery. This vehicle is not safe to have and continues to be a severe safety problem for me and my family, Two of the recalls right now they ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2025
The Uconnect Emergency Vehicle Alert System (EVAS) nearly always causes the infotainment system's audio to cease unless the car or phone are turned off and back on. This glitch prevents other alerts and GPS from having any audio capabilities, increasing my exposure to risk and dangers (unless, of course, I only look at the infotainment screen instead of the road while driving). I have called Jeep ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 17, 2025
While driving my 2019 Jeep Cherokee, the vehicle's start/stop system malfunctioned and caused the engine to completely shut off at a traffic light. I had my hazard lights on, and while stopped safely another driver rear ended my vehicle. The Jeep has had repeated issues with stalling and engine shut-off since I purchased it. This is a serious safety concern and could have caused greater injury. I ... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Sep 17, 2025
While driving my 2019 Jeep Cherokee, the vehicle's start/stop system malfunctioned and caused the engine to completely shut off at a traffic light. I had my hazard lights on, and while stopped safely another driver rear ended my vehicle. The Jeep has had repeated issues with stalling and engine shut-off since I purchased it. This is a serious safety concern and could have caused greater injury. I ... Read more
Crash
RAM
2500
(2018) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:WIRING:CONNECTORS/PLUGS:ACCESORY POWER OUTLET/JACK/PORT/USB/SAE/CIGARETTE LIGHTER
Nov 13, 2025
Incident date: Jun 13, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Kia Forte. The contact stated that while driving with the phone plugged in on speaker, there was smoke coming from the adapter cord. The contact stated that the charger cord was melting. The adapter was unplugged by the driver. There were no warning lights illuminated. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not no... Read more
Incident date: Nov 13, 2025
My engine is burning excessive amounts of oil, which is a "known issue" of Hyundai Tucsons. After an oil change with full synthetic oil, I cannot drive my vehicle more than 4,000 miles without reaching dangerously low oil levels. Most importantly, there is no clear indicator of this low oil level—no light that comes on and STAYS on to tell me as the driver to check the oil and see if there is ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 13, 2025
I called ford about this recall in December of last year. The dealer in Chico CA. I submitted a request to get it done and they keep saying ford isn’t making them yet. I lost my piller and my car looks ugly an I just want it fixed
Incident date: Nov 11, 2025
The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Tahoe. The contact stated that while driving at 70 MPH, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended while depressing the accelerator pedal. The message “Service Electronic Stability Control" was displayed, and the traction control warning light and the check engine warning light were illuminated. The failure persisted while driving, and the vehicle failed to ex... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2025
The engine in my 2019 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off Road suffered internal damage that appears linked to Toyota’s low-pressure fuel pump recall (issued 10/28/2020, repaired 581 days later on 6/10/2022). While out on personal lease, the truck was driven over 16,000 miles with the defective pump, which can cause lean running conditions and elevated combustion temperatures. The result was metallic contamin... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2025
This is the fifth vehicle with the 2.5l engine that has experienced vacuum pump failure resulting in a broken exhaust camshaft. Without warning, drivers have experienced a complete loss of brake function as a result of the vacuum pump failure.