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 34,453 complaints for SUBARU
Incident date: Sep 22, 2022
I was recently driving the vehicle with no issues and all systems running normally. Suddenly, every light in the cabin and every dashboard indicator light started flashing with a chime through the speaker system which normally occurs when the keys are in the ignition. The vehicle was parked and the engine was turned off immediately to avoid any further issues or damage. After turning off the ignit... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle experienced a loss of power steering assist. The power steering warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that the Electric Power Assisted Steering (EPAS) needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made a... Read more
Incident date: Feb 4, 2022
Recall on high pressure fuel pump is causing truck to keep struggling during driving , and sudden stop at street few times
Incident date: May 16, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, she attempted to stop the vehicle however, the contact had to apply added pressure and pump the brake pedal multiple times to coast the vehicle to a stop. The brake warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the brake line was leaking ... Read more
Incident date: May 12, 2023
Rear passenger side brake lights and turn signal stopped working due to ground wire burning out post. Ground wire seems to be to weak and gets overheated. I'm not the only one found this issue on YouTube with many other Mercedes C class vehicles
Incident date: May 11, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Kia Optima. The contact stated that the vehicle was sputtering while being started. The contact stated that the vehicle also sputtered while driving at various speeds, and while reversing. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the contact was informed that oil was getting onto the spark plugs and ignition coils. The spark pl... Read more
Incident date: Apr 25, 2023
Pulled into a parking space at the Village Green strip mall, applied brakes and immediately, the engine accelerated and lunged my vehicle into another car that was parked in the parking space in front of my car. When the car accelerated, the brakes did not work. I reversed the car since it continued to accelerate into the parked car in front of me and the car went back as fast as it was accelera... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Apr 25, 2023
The 21 inches uberturbine wheel breaks to easy with not too big road holes. It cause the tire to loose air pressure and can cause a serious accident. The machine shop has a lot of them to be repaired. For the money it cost, it should have a better quality wheel.
Incident date: Apr 25, 2023
The 21 inches uberturbine wheel breaks to easy with not too big road holes. It cause the tire to loose air pressure and can cause a serious accident. The machine shop has a lot of them to be repaired. For the money it cost, it should have a better quality wheel.
Incident date: Aug 1, 2022
I purchased my car on 9/22/21 with 103,000 miles as well as opting into the extended warranty offer. Since then, I have had a LOT of issues. It was taken to the dealership on 8/1/22 due to an issue with acceleration; the car would stop operating while driving to a point where I’d have to pull over, turn it off, then turn it back on. The check engine light would come on with code P0299. I had to ... Read more
Incident date: May 16, 2023
Car does not accelerate from a full stop. Hesitates to react to gas pedal for a few seconds
Incident date: May 16, 2023
I was driving the Jeep Cherokee and it stalled while driving, and engaged the parking brake. I then had to put the vechile in park release the parking brake turn it off then on again in order to make it operational. Since then the vehicle has started to have issues with EVCS and breaking system. The vechile will stall and engage parking brake while idling, driving, or even in park. Having a vechil... Read more
Incident date: May 16, 2023
I was driving the Jeep Cherokee and it stalled while driving, and engaged the parking brake. I then had to put the vechile in park release the parking brake turn it off then on again in order to make it operational. Since then the vehicle has started to have issues with EVCS and breaking system. The vechile will stall and engage parking brake while idling, driving, or even in park. Having a vechil... Read more
Incident date: Feb 8, 2023
Known Ford Edge engine issue. my 2017 purchased new at 81K miles has engine coolant leaking into cylynder 2. Engine light code p0302 and p316. Miss fire on start up. At dealer and informed it needs new engine long block at a cost of $8400. It is out of warranty obviously and this is a serious issue that is well documented online. Ford needs to have a recall on this issue. Paid $46k for a car that ... Read more
Incident date: May 13, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Honda Passport. The contact stated that on several occasions while driving at various speeds, the vehicle experienced phantom braking. The contact stated that on one occasion, the failure caused the vehicle to come to a complete and abrupt stop. The brake warning light was illuminated. Additionally, the contact also stated that the steering wheel was shaking with an unknown... Read more
Incident date: May 16, 2023
Our motorhome came with an optional electric grill that is mounted on a slide in the storage compartments. While underway, the slide deployed, popping open the compartment door. The slide was then hanging out approximately 5 feet while going down the road. Thankfully someone flagged us down just before we would have struck another vehicle with the slide. Upon further investigation, the slide that... Read more
Incident date: May 16, 2023
unknown, been reading that this brand/model/tires are having issues. Was wondering if I need to get them replaced before an accident. CrossContact LX Sport (continental) size: 245/50R20 102H
Incident date: Nov 14, 2022
Steering sticks at center, smooth straight roads are the worst. 70 mph small steering corrections cause the slight swerving to keep it in its lane. The amount of force is increasing as the vehicle ages, currently at 47,390 miles in 05/15/2023. The steering problem was first reported in 2016 and it has never had a successful repair. Multiple dealers have said they can’t duplicate the problem.
Incident date: Nov 14, 2022
The contact owns a 2003 Jeep Liberty. The contact stated while her boyfriend was driving approximately 35 MPH, the front passenger’s side wheel stopped while the front driver’s, the rear driver’s and passenger wheels continued turning. As a result, the vehicle stalled; however, the engine remained revving. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the residence and then to... Read more
Incident date: Mar 9, 2023
Right front Cooper GS5 Grand Touring 205/70 R15 96T with only 862 miles on it had a complete air loss/went completely flat when car was turning into a parking lot. This is one of a set of brand new tires on the car. The car was never driven on a highway after these were purchased. Only local driving at 45 to 50 MPH max. Tire was taken to a tire shop in hopes of getting it plugged/repaired. Th... Read more
Incident date: May 12, 2023
Vehicle braking reduced to about 10%. Brakes was making lots of noise and couldn’t stop for almost 1/4 mile. Managed to stop vehicle was taken to dealer. Calipers were changed and rotors serviced. After several trips to dealership for repairs to brakes vehicle still having braking noise and reduced stopping power which gets worst with time.
Incident date: Apr 10, 2023
NHTSA 19V-701 is for Subaru Forester's concerning the passenger airbag being off while the passenger seat is occupied. The recall stops with Forrester's built after August 2017. My Forrester has this problem but was built in October of 2017 so Subaru says it is not covered! That's ridiculous. The exact recall problem not being honored because of some Subaru created arbitrary date? Subaru shou... Read more
Incident date: Apr 10, 2023
Baby in NICU. Mom bought this seat online from website starting with T. (Tema?) Notified mom of counterfeit seat and she obtained a new seat for baby.
Incident date: May 11, 2023
The tire had a blowout on the inside of the tire close to the inner rim. No road debris has been experienced on the trip on 71 N from Columbus to Cleveland. The blowout occured at around 10 PM Saturday (5/13/2023) A tire should not have an inner wall rupture unless the tire has a defect. This tire only has about 9,000 mille of use prior to this situation. Tire Info.Firestone Firehawk 215/45... Read more
Incident date: May 15, 2023
Braking system sometimes is activated by a sign on the side of the road, by a tree if we are turning, or nothing at all. Nearly in 2 rear end collisions when the system activated incorrectly. We cannot drive into our garage with the system activated...brakes keep slamming on. The only safe way to operate this subaru is to manually turn it off every time we start the car. Subaru dealership states i... Read more
Incident date: May 15, 2023
Driving home in the rain. Windshield wiper stopped working randomly everything I read online is that there is no recall for my year of car but for 2013 and 2014 for windshield wiper transmission arm linkage
Incident date: May 15, 2023
My 2018 Model 3 was purchased brand new direct from Tesla with no other drivers or accidents. In Feb of 2023 I heard a creaking sound from the front driver wheel. The steering wheel felt like it was shaking when going into lane changes. I brought it into Tesla and they found that both lateral link bolts were loose, subframe damage. The exact issue was recalled under #23V-235. I showed them t... Read more
Incident date: Apr 28, 2023
While driving at low speed, the side curtain airbags deployed along with the front seat belts. No injuries just stunted by the loud bang. I took car to Jeep dealership to have recall R06/15v-046 repaired and to diagnose cause of side curtain airbags deployment. Dealer would not repair recall R06/15v-046 due to the requirement that the side curtain and seat belts be repaired before making the recal... Read more
Incident date: May 12, 2023
Not to sure but sometimes my suv cuts off with no warning when I’m driving or stopping I have no check engine lights on or anythjnf
Incident date: Oct 1, 2020
I called Kia to replace fuse per their safety recall information. They are really uninterested in fixing these recalls or allowing me to speak to a manager to fix the issue. What's the point?
Incident date: May 11, 2023
The car started to slow down on its own even when my foot was on the gas it wouldn’t pick up speed over 20mph then it started to over heat, then smoke. It sounded like sparks like from a firecracker and smelt like something was burning to the point I had to pull over and turn the car off so my children and I could get out and breathe. When I restarted it turned on but would not drive when put in... Read more
Incident date: May 13, 2023
Tesla purposely disabled sensors to warn when close to objects (curb, other vehicles, garage door opening & wall). I wasn’t informed that there will be no parking assist feature indefinitely when I spoke to sakes dept.Tesla says it is still developing cameras to replace sensors. I had a 2015 tesla, which had these warnings. Before that I had a2002 Jaguar with park sensors. It is not new. Because... Read more
Incident date: Oct 5, 2022
The shift gear got stuck. It appeared to be in park while it was not in park. So the shift gear was stuck in park while the car was in Standard mode and it moved when I lifted my foot off the breaks. This put me and my friend at risk as we were stuck on the road trying to shift gear to “Drive” but it wouldn’t. Also we couldn’t stop the car. During that time the engine light and the battery... Read more
Incident date: Mar 1, 2023
The red triangle keeps coming on with engine repair light when ever I'm driving from Los Angeles. My mechanic said that there's a recall from 2004 for the water pump. Please advise. Thank you, [XXX] [XXX] INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
Incident date: Sep 19, 2021
Recall on brakes says it's fixed. My brakes fail alot suspension chunks all the time and steering feels like tire is falling off
Incident date: May 13, 2023
After my 2019 Subaru Legacy 2.5i Limited sat outside on a level blacktop parking lot for one week (05-03-23 to 05-10-23) without moving, both passenger side tires were discovered completely deflated. The tires were Goodyear Eagle LS-2 size 225/50R18 95H (front passenger DOT M678 JR2R 1819 and rear passenger DOT M678 JR2R 1719). The tires were original to the car when purchased new by myself at Jen... Read more
Incident date: Aug 16, 2022
Vehicle experiencing "Death Wobble." Steering is very shaky if a bump is hit at highway speeds.
Incident date: Aug 16, 2022
Driver side headlight allows moisture to enter, contine to get headlight error. Turn signals and hazard signals stopped working. Dealer indicates that entire headlight assembly must be replaced at a cost of $2000.00. No sign of exterior damage.
Incident date: May 10, 2023
On the drivers side doir, the 3 spot welds for the door stop failed. Now it makes a horrible cracking sound. I was told the whole door needs to be replaced and I'm out of warranty. I've had the vehicle just over 3 years.
Incident date: Apr 30, 2023
While driving I was unable to come to a complete stop….while breaking the vehicle would pull to the side and keep moving into traffic 😞
Incident date: May 10, 2023
While driving down the road the battery falls rapidly from 14 to 11.8 or less causing the battery light and engine light to come on, and the unit to start losing power and die. The truck has been in the shop several times with still no repairs completed. They have given me back the unit telling me there’s nothing they can do and not sure what is causing it. The ecm data has pulled several codes... Read more
Incident date: Nov 4, 2022
the panel lights come on out of nowhere, showing the problem is a coil. The coil and the torques are changed but the problem continues. As soon as the lights come on, the car, HR-V, starts making a mistake that doesn't let me drive well. It has already been taken to the dealer on several occasions but they cannot solve the problem.
Incident date: Apr 12, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the check engine warning light had been illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that coolant had leaked onto the spark plugs, and cylinder #3 was misfiring. The mechanic informed the contact that it was a known failure and referred the contact to the dealer for assistance. The vehicle was tak... Read more
Incident date: May 10, 2023
There was no accident but I would like to prevent one. I believe there should be a recall on my vehicle regarding the service shifter. This defect could potentially result in power loss to the front wheels and the transmission being impossible to put into park. My vehicle service shifter light is on and my car jerks while driving. Is this not a problem with many Jeeps?
Incident date: May 10, 2023
Subaru's Windshield problems persist. Bought a 2021 forester in 2021, shortly after had a small chip turn into a giant crack in a matter of days. Dealership wouldn't repair under warranty, so $1000+ to have it replaced and Eyesight recalibrated. I understand now why they sell glass insurance. Less than 18 months later the replacement windshield spontaneously cracked from the bottom up, forming... Read more
SUBARU
FORESTER
(2019) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:EXHAUST SYSTEM:EMISSION CONTROL:CATALYTIC CONVERTOR
May 11, 2023
Incident date: Apr 19, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 Volvo S60. The contact stated that the vehicle was previously repaired under an unknown recall for the catalytic converter and the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact was told that the catalytic converter had failed due to an oil leak. The contact was informed that the catalytic converter needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer ... Read more
Incident date: May 5, 2023
UNKNOWN: Rapid DELAMINATION of paint (Snow White Pearl). Metal that is not protected, will lead to accelerated and premature rusting. Many Kia owners with Snow White Pearl paint have been encountering the same problem.
Incident date: May 5, 2023
ABS light and traction light
Incident date: May 9, 2023
ABS light and traction light
Incident date: Aug 12, 2022
Was driving at highway speeds when a hitting sound was heard to the body. Could not determine while driving what or where the noise came from. Later discovered the RH side a-pillar trim had detached from the car. Unsure whether the trim piece affected other vehicles on the road.