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 35,035 complaints for SUBARU
Incident date: May 21, 2023
The engine cutoff while driving through a major intersection in 3/2022 with no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure. Dealership replaced the fuel pump module. Subsequently, the engine cutoff while driving in 5/2023. Dealership replaced the fuel pump module. Each of these occurrences placed my life, my passengers life and the lives of others on the road ... Read more
Incident date: May 21, 2023
Brakes grab abruptly at slow speeds. This doesn't occur every time but when it does occur it can be significant enough to launch an unfastened dog into the front console. At times it feels like the car wants to lunge forward for a second then the brakes grab as if they are locking up. This only occurs at slow speeds like in a parking lot.
Incident date: Aug 1, 2022
The component that is malfunctioning is the emblem on the airbags. Nissan has known of this issue for a while. In the event of a crash, when the airbags deploy, the emblem will also explode with the airbags and send shrapnel from it flying towards the driver and nearby passengers. If the crash wouldn't kill the driver, then this issue could as it could hit the driver in a vital part. They are taki... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2022
The whole hood vibrates while driving or when is windy, very noticeable at times. It was replaced once, almost a year ago but now it needs to be replaced again. same problem eventually the latches will be damaged creating a very hazardous situation. This vehicle has not been on an accident
Incident date: Aug 1, 2022
While driving my Santa Fe sport I have an issue with loss of power when accelerating. I was getting on the freeway and attempting to merge with freeway traffic. When I was pressing the gas to accelerate the car the RPM's rose but my speed would not. I had to pull off as my vehicle could not get up to speed. It has happened twice now and only when trying to get on the freeway. No warning lamps... Read more
Incident date: May 22, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Ford F-350. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V644000 (Back Over Prevention) 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 not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confi... Read more
Incident date: May 22, 2023
At about 79330 miles, sharp right or left steering elicited a clunking sound. The dealer "found rack and pinion going bad, recommend replacing rack and pinion," If the steering mechanism were to fail while the car was moving, severe injury or death to the occupants or other persons could result. As noted, the car was inspected by the dealer's mechanic but not by a manufacturer's representative.
Incident date: May 12, 2023
Water pump failure causing a major leak. Because the vehicle is designed to have the water pump run on the timing chain and the oil pan right underneath the water pump, the coolant leaks right into the oil pan and coolant enters the engine. I was driving on a back road and had to abruptly pull over on the side of the road because the driver assist screen said “engine coolant overheating.” Th... Read more
Incident date: Apr 15, 2023
The Jeep stalled when I went from a stop to starting after stopping for traffic, three times in the last week. It wouldn’t restart for 10mins. The last time it happened
Incident date: Jan 28, 2023
The shadows are serious issue. They are distractive, annoying, irritating and dangerous. It is a safety issue. As car go up and down on the road, they are longer or shorter (because of the light angle) . They are tiring and fatiguing. Eyes are drawn to it at night. Constant distraction. Not acceptable on a new car. Problem reported to the dealer. Dealer won't do anything. Went to 2nd dealer. They... Read more
Incident date: Jan 28, 2023
The car is slamming on breaks at random no warning it is going to cause a reck a 18 wheeler almost killed us that was behind us. And I can be driving down the road and the wheel try to jerk me into another lane. This car is not safe. But is not having any warning lights going off that anything is wrong
Incident date: Jan 28, 2023
The car is slamming on breaks at random no warning it is going to cause a reck a 18 wheeler almost killed us that was behind us. And I can be driving down the road and the wheel try to jerk me into another lane. This car is not safe. But is not having any warning lights going off that anything is wrong
Incident date: May 1, 2023
This is allegedly related to the Balmar relay system installed by Winnebago in the Ford Transit van.It is currently at the dealer, Colonial Winnebago, in Millstone Twp., NJ. Dealer can be contacted for inspection. We began traveling at a 25 mph speed for about 2 miles when smoke began to flow from under the hood. We pulled over to inspect; 911 was called. Smoke and flames under the hood were visib... Read more
Fire
Incident date: May 20, 2023
K1 snap ring failure in the transmission. Lost gears 1-4. Truck was stuck in the middle of the road unable to move, blocking traffic and causing safety concerns. Vehicle is currently at the dealer awaiting replacement parts. There was no warning. The check engine light and service 4wd light came on as soon as the failure occurred.
Incident date: May 20, 2023
I purchased the vehicle on 2/17/22 and shortly afterwards started noticing problems starting with acceleration car wouldn’t go past 45 mph or lower. The car radio system has static can’t get reception; the battery died requiring a jump. On 9/21/22 and January 10, 2023 I took car to dealer about these problems and other concerns and they said couldn’t verify my concerns. On 5/9/23 I set out f... Read more
Incident date: May 20, 2023
Problem began October 2022. Digital instrument cluster went completely out. My personal safety is a failure to obtain information that illuminates from this panel. I took the vehicle to the dealership I bought it from and they tried a software update and it failed. I was then told the cluster needs to be replaced. Trying to be consistent with my maintenance and not knowing the milage hinders the... Read more
Incident date: Mar 30, 2023
My engine locked up for no reason
Incident date: May 18, 2023
seat collapse. Available to be inspected. Unable to see over wheel or reach the acceleration and break pedals. Airbag light comes on due to the collapsed seat either cutting the airbag electrical cable, or puncturing the airbag itself. Vehicle has only been inspected by our fleet manager, our in house mechanic, and the dealership. No prior warning(s) before the failures.
Incident date: Feb 1, 2023
Driving down the highway with the cruise control set and all of a sudden the cruise control stops working and my dash is dinging with service ABS system and service Electronic Brake System. The truck had 78,500 miles when this first happened. Now it does it intermittently while driving down the road. I notice there’s no recalls and it sound like a large problem. Haven’t taken it to a dealer ye... Read more
Incident date: Apr 24, 2023
. The "travel assist not available" alert goes off intermittently while driving for over a year now, sometimes 15-20 times in the span of 10 minutes which also makes a loud noise that cannot be disabled and is causes me to be startled and distracted while driving - nearly resulting in wrecks multiple times. I have taken the car to the dealership many times to resolve this - only for them to tell m... Read more
Incident date: May 13, 2023
Car keep having message “shift to park” this is dangerous issue and should be covered in the warranty why isn’t this covered.
Incident date: May 6, 2023
We experienced loss of power in heavy interstate traffic. We had been driving in the rain for some time on I-10 in Florida. We were in the right lane behind a vehicle that was traveling much slower than other vehicles. There was a gap in vehicles in the left lane so I signaled and pressed the gas pedal significantly so I could quickly get up to a matching speed for the left-lane vehicles. At thi... Read more
Incident date: May 16, 2023
The contact owns a 2010 Honda CR-V. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V228000 (Structure) 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 contact stated that during an emissions inspection, he was made aware that the rear trailing arm was corrode... Read more
Incident date: May 18, 2023
al accionar el boton de la 4wd low en la pantalla Servicio no disponible y requiere mantenimiento, iva por carretera y llegue a un taller y se escaneo para ver el problema, el escaner arrojo muchos codigos entre ellos que no havia comunicacion con varios modulos y problemas con el freno de parqueo, llame a la agencia para ver si havia un recall de esta unidad y solo tenian registrado 2 llam... Read more
Incident date: May 12, 2023
When using cruise control the car decides to randomly hard-brake dropping instantly 40+ mph OR it increases speed higher than the set cruise control for no reason. We literally have had our bodies slammed into the seats during braking and we will inevitably be rear-ended for this faulty “phantom” braking. We submitted a service request to Tesla on 5/18/23 and were told there’s nothing to be ... Read more
Incident date: May 12, 2023
When using cruise control the car decides to randomly hard-brake dropping instantly 40+ mph OR it increases speed higher than the set cruise control for no reason. We literally have had our bodies slammed into the seats during braking and we will inevitably be rear-ended for this faulty “phantom” braking. We submitted a service request to Tesla on 5/18/23 and were told there’s nothing to be ... Read more
Incident date: May 12, 2023
The waterpump of the vehicle causes excessive leaking which causes the vehicle to overheat.
Incident date: May 17, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Expedition. The contact stated while attempting to activate the A/C or heater, the blower fan failed to operate as designed. The contact stated that the defogger/defroster was inoperable. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed and the contact was informed that the two connectors underneath the steering that were attached to the blower motor fan had melted.... Read more
Incident date: Apr 24, 2023
The contact owns a 2012 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the battery warning light illuminated. Additionally, the vehicle overheated. An independent mechanic arrived at the scene and informed the contact that the serpentine belt had detached. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred 2 more times. The contact related the failu... Read more
Incident date: May 18, 2023
While driving down a dirt highway in rainy conditions the mud built up under the fender quickly and locked up the front wheel throwing me from the bike. In the attached photos you can see the pivot point at which the mud stressed the fender and caused it to break, in the video you can the point at which the wheel locks up. Upon inspection after that fall I noticed the tire would not move. https... Read more
Crash
Incident date: May 12, 2023
My Jeep Wrangler has the famous "Death Wobble" and they cant seem to pinpoint what is causing it. Steering dampener fixed it for 3 days and it came back. It literally feels like I am about to be ejected out of my vehicle when I drive on any highway. FCA is throwing band aids at a known issue instead of bringing permanent fixed to the market.
Incident date: May 11, 2023
Received recall notice Z46/NHTSA 22V-406 July 2022. Had received no update as of May 1, 2023 and called local Ram Dealer (Turpin Motors Dubuque, Iowa). They indicated parts available & would order and call me for appointment. That was a month ago & still no recall appointment made.
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
This occurs occasionally when I brake. I have my foot softly on the brake and the brakes cut out. The car feels like it accelerates/surges forward rather than slowing down. I need to apply the brakes hard to then stop the vehicle. I never know when it will happen. When it occurs and a car is in front of me, I have had near miss accidents. The issue seems to be worse on bumpy roads or downhill road... Read more
Incident date: Apr 25, 2023
Brakes barely stop at low speed
Incident date: Feb 4, 2022
The axel bolt sheered off of the rear passenger side of my vehicle. I only have 10K miles on the truck. This is a common problem among F150 Powerboosts w/ max tow package. This same flaw is found in Powerboosts from 21-23. Ford needs to recall!!! Check any F150 owners forum and you’ll see the same problem.
Incident date: May 16, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 Kia Optima. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V331000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic) and 22V093000 (Fuel System, Gasoline), however, the parts to do the recall repairs were unavailable. The contact had taken the vehicle to two dealers for the recall repairs. The contact stated that one charged her a fee for the recall repair however, there was no ev... Read more
Incident date: May 12, 2023
My vehicle started throwing an error with the stability track. This causes the whole car braking system to make my vehicle not go over 35 mph and vibrates the whole time. During this error, unable to turn on air conditioning.
Incident date: Sep 22, 2022
Repeated engine failure. 10/1/2022 "internal problem required engine teardown found exhaust cvvt dowel pin had sheared off inside of exhaust camshaft causing excessive play. Replaced exhaust cvvt exhaust camshaft valve cover gasket rtv exhaust cvvt bolt timing chain tensioner timing chain and ocv. Replaced gaskets as needed." Paid $2877.01 to repair. Then on 5/15/2023, loud knocking in engine (s... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Sep 22, 2022
drivers seat goes toward dash when key is turned on. have not been able to reset it in any way. cruise control wont activate. front washer pump wont pump. front wiper motor would not shut off. disconnected battery and then wiper motor would not restart. removed the wiper motor and found corosion in printed circuit board. trying to purchase a new front wiper motor. have found that the wai part nu... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2023
2019 Kia Sorento- Consumer Complaint- Engine went out after 7 months in to lease. Consumer blamed for damaged done to leased vehicle. Dealership will not honor warranty to repair or exchange. Attached Letter from Office of Attorney General Office Illinois, Retail installment Agreement, GAP Addendum, Vehicle Service Contract, Repair Order, Mechanic Info, & Bill of Sale.
Incident date: Apr 10, 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: Apr 10, 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: Aug 1, 2022
Front Blower motor not working correctly. Engine Valve cover driver side small crack.
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: May 16, 2023
Tire and brake , bear , park brake etc less 6 month issue
Incident date: Feb 8, 2023
Was driving down the highway, warning lights on the dashboard illuminated. Lost power, engine and electrical power. Message to place Jeep in park came on. Pulled car to shoulder. It would not start for two hours. Tow truck arrived. Jeep would start. Taken to Jeep dealership and nothing was found wrong with it. Same thing happened one week later. I checked ant there is no recall for my speci... Read more
Incident date: May 13, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford F-350. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V644000 (Back 0ver Prevention) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The local dealer was contacted, and it was confirmed that the part was not available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was ... 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