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: May 15, 2022
The contact owned a 2022 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while slowing pulling into the parking space the vehicle suddenly experienced unintended acceleration and drove over a curb and traveled up a hill before crashing into a tree. During the crash neither the driver nor passenger-side air bags deployed. The driver and front passenger sustained chest injuries. The vehicle was destroyed a... Read more
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: May 15, 2022
The contact owned a 2022 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while slowing pulling into the parking space the vehicle suddenly experienced unintended acceleration and drove over a curb and traveled up a hill before crashing into a tree. During the crash neither the driver nor passenger-side air bags deployed. The driver and front passenger sustained chest injuries. The vehicle was destroyed a... Read more
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Jun 7, 2022
The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Ascent. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V955000 (Power Train) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The dealer was made aware of the issue. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts ... Read more
Incident date: May 22, 2022
transmission failed in traffic lane at a traffic light, causing loss of mobility. I called Police to secure seen, they responded and towed vehicle to dealer. my wife and Grandson were in the car and we could not move it out of the traffic lane the dealer has replaced the transmission, and are working to reimburse towing charges. But , so far, they have not offered me a warranty for the new tra... Read more
Incident date: Jun 6, 2022
The contact owns a 2021 Subaru Crosstrek. The contact stated that while his daughter was driving approximately 70 MPH, the sunroof exploded without impact. The contact stated that the majority of the shattered glass blew up and out of the vehicle. The dealer was contacted and informed of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate fa... Read more
Incident date: Feb 25, 2022
The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Ascent. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V955000 (Power Train) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted and informed the contact that the remedy was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufact... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2021
The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Ascent. The contact stated that while driving, the vehicle was shaking and the transmission was slipping. There was an abnormal squeaking noise detected from the brakes. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where the brakes were replaced but, however, the mechanic was unable to duplicate the other failures. The vehicle w... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2021
The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Ascent. The contact stated that while driving, the vehicle was shaking and the transmission was slipping. There was an abnormal squeaking noise detected from the brakes. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where the brakes were replaced but, however, the mechanic was unable to duplicate the other failures. The vehicle w... Read more
Incident date: Jun 2, 2022
Car is a Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid Car was connected to its electrical charge cable The connector is a type SAE J1772 When the connector is connected to the car, the ignition is supposed to be disabled, and the car is not supposed to be able to be removed from Park. Neither safety system was operable. When the car was moved, it broke the connector, exposing the bare pins. Hazard - potential exposur... Read more
Incident date: Jun 6, 2022
Driving a 2011 Subaru Forester, about 5mph in traffic on city street when car suddenly and unexpectedly accelerated at full gas and rammed into truck in front of me, with no pressure on the gas pedal. Slamming on brakes and pulling on hand brake was not enough to override the unexpected and unasked-for acceleration. I can only imagine what would have happened if there were pedestrians or if I'd ... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Jun 5, 2022
Gas gauge appears to be out of calibration. Not giving good / accurate readings. It's "50-50".
Incident date: Jun 5, 2022
Gas gauge appears to be out of calibration. Not giving good / accurate readings. It's "50-50".
Incident date: Jun 6, 2022
The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Outback. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V955000 (Power Train) 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 made a... Read more
Incident date: Mar 28, 2022
The contact owns a 2015 Subaru Forester. While the contact's wife was driving at 30 MPH, she crashed into another vehicle causing damage to the front driver's side of the vehicle. The air bags failed to deploy. The contact's wife was injured. A police report was filed and the vehicle was towed to a tow yard. The manufacturer was contacted and stated that "there are many types of collision that are... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Jun 3, 2022
The contact owns a 2018 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while driving 30 MPH, the vehicle started shaking abnormally. The contact pulled over, stopped, turned off, and restarted the vehicle. After the vehicle was started, smoke started coming from the vehicle while several unknown warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the... Read more
Incident date: Jun 3, 2022
The contact owns a 2018 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while driving 30 MPH, the vehicle started shaking abnormally. The contact pulled over, stopped, turned off, and restarted the vehicle. After the vehicle was started, smoke started coming from the vehicle while several unknown warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the... Read more
Incident date: Jun 6, 2022
There is a stress crack in the bottom, middle of the windshield that appeared out of nowhere.
Incident date: Jun 4, 2022
My wife was driving and was involved in traffic accident when the airbags deployed. She is a small person and has the driver's seat pulled all the way forward so she operate the vehicle. I was concern about her seating so close the steering wheel and the airbag, but told by the dealer personnel that airbags where mandatory and any tampering voids warranty, etc. She was in an accident and the air... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Jun 4, 2022
My wife who is a small statured woman was leaving parking lot of church onto a narrow 2 lane street. As she made a left turn, the right front tire climbed the curb and dropped back onto the street. The car suddenly accelerated to top speed and crushed into a tree about 50 yards down the street. Airbags deployed causing bone breaks in left cavalcule, fractured ribs and T12. The driver is short and ... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Jun 4, 2022
My wife who is a small statured woman was leaving parking lot of church onto a narrow 2 lane street. As she made a left turn, the right front tire climbed the curb and dropped back onto the street. The car suddenly accelerated to top speed and crushed into a tree about 50 yards down the street. Airbags deployed causing bone breaks in left cavalcule, fractured ribs and T12. The driver is short and ... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Jun 4, 2022
My wife who is a small statured woman was leaving parking lot of church onto a narrow 2 lane street. As she made a left turn, the right front tire climbed the curb and dropped back onto the street. The car suddenly accelerated to top speed and crushed into a tree about 50 yards down the street. Airbags deployed causing bone breaks in left cavalcule, fractured ribs and T12. The driver is short and ... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: May 14, 2022
Rod bearing broke on engine at 9k miles, car shuts down. Replaced engine and turbo under warranty. Rod bearing broke again on engine at 38k, car shut down. Both times will traveling on highway posing major safety risk.
Incident date: Jun 22, 2021
My husband has trouble getting the key out when in park and turn off. Have to use the E-break every time we park because even in park the vehicle seems to get a mind of its own and start to roll. IT ROLLED ON ME WHILE I WAS GETTING MY CHILD OUT OF THE CAR!! NOW my driver side window seems to roll all the way up but right back down with out me touching it. I have to fight the thing for 5mins to ge... Read more
Incident date: Jun 22, 2021
My husband has trouble getting the key out when in park and turn off. Have to use the E-break every time we park because even in park the vehicle seems to get a mind of its own and start to roll. IT ROLLED ON ME WHILE I WAS GETTING MY CHILD OUT OF THE CAR!! NOW my driver side window seems to roll all the way up but right back down with out me touching it. I have to fight the thing for 5mins to ge... Read more
Incident date: Jun 4, 2022
The front windshield cracked in the lower middle section of the windshield. There was no apparent strike from an object while driving (the driver saw no objects strike and the sound did not sound like a typical object strike). The crack appeared suddenly and stretched about 2+ inches to the bottom of the windshield up approximately 2-3 more inches and then horizontal toward the middle of the winds... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2022
Eye Sight Blind Spot Warning indicator on each side view mirror does not function intermittently: blind spot warning indicator light does not light up when cars are in blind spot. Eye Sight Rear Cross Traffic Warning camera does not function intermittently in Reverse gear: screen turns black OR camera shows cross traffic AND sound alert does not sound.
Incident date: Jun 1, 2022
Eye Sight Blind Spot Warning indicator on each side view mirror does not function intermittently: blind spot warning indicator light does not light up when cars are in blind spot. Eye Sight Rear Cross Traffic Warning camera does not function intermittently in Reverse gear: screen turns black OR camera shows cross traffic AND sound alert does not sound.
Incident date: May 30, 2022
The windshield of my Subaru Outback just cracked spontaneously and it needed to be replaced. Subaru of America is not paying for the replacement even if it is not my fault that it cracked. They said it is out of warranty but there is an ongoing class action suit against them about this
Incident date: Jun 3, 2022
The Navigation system will randomly go blank and then restart while driving. This not only affects any navigation which is currently in progress, but also disables the Cruise Control, Eye Sight, Lane Departure and other Safety devices. This has occurred numerous times while driving on an interstate highway and is dangerous and life threatening.
Incident date: Jun 3, 2022
The Navigation system will randomly go blank and then restart while driving. This not only affects any navigation which is currently in progress, but also disables the Cruise Control, Eye Sight, Lane Departure and other Safety devices. This has occurred numerous times while driving on an interstate highway and is dangerous and life threatening.
Incident date: Jun 3, 2022
The Navigation system will randomly go blank and then restart while driving. This not only affects any navigation which is currently in progress, but also disables the Cruise Control, Eye Sight, Lane Departure and other Safety devices. This has occurred numerous times while driving on an interstate highway and is dangerous and life threatening.
Incident date: Jun 3, 2022
The base for the infant car seat was installed by a car seat technician and the latch continued to come loose while driving. ( would move more than an inch) this car seat would look like it was never installed. When we contacted the manufacturer they stated they would need a receipt of purchase and a video of the car seat problem. And provided no advice on how to fix the problem.
Incident date: Dec 17, 2021
When the fan is on there is a strong smell of gasoline in the vehicle. This happens whether the vehicle is in motion OR is idling. The smell of gas fumes is very noticible if the fan for the heater/ac is pulling air from outside the vehicle. When the fan system is re-ciruclating the air from just the cabin, there is no smell. This is a very noticble smell and we have to drive with our windows op... Read more
Incident date: Dec 17, 2021
When the fan is on there is a strong smell of gasoline in the vehicle. This happens whether the vehicle is in motion OR is idling. The smell of gas fumes is very noticible if the fan for the heater/ac is pulling air from outside the vehicle. When the fan system is re-ciruclating the air from just the cabin, there is no smell. This is a very noticble smell and we have to drive with our windows op... Read more
Incident date: Dec 17, 2021
When the fan is on there is a strong smell of gasoline in the vehicle. This happens whether the vehicle is in motion OR is idling. The smell of gas fumes is very noticible if the fan for the heater/ac is pulling air from outside the vehicle. When the fan system is re-ciruclating the air from just the cabin, there is no smell. This is a very noticble smell and we have to drive with our windows op... Read more
Incident date: Dec 9, 2021
The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Ascent. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V955000 (Power train) 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 made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts... Read more
Incident date: May 31, 2022
2nd cracked front windshields in the 1st 5 months we have own the car. Not sure how the first crack happened but this 2nd crack just started and has now spread to over half the window.
Incident date: Jun 2, 2022
Windshield has been replaced 4 times. 7/21/2018, 7/24/2019, 4/8/2022, 06/01/2022 Replaced at Subaru Dealership with Subaru glass all four times. Last time the glass broke (5/2022) there was no impact which was confirmed by Subaru staff. I went to the car and noticed two cracks which had suddenly appeared and could not be fixed. It is a safety hazard because the glass can't be replaced exped... Read more
Incident date: May 25, 2022
Starlink Head System/software malfunctions while driving. This shuts down all safety systems, back up camera, radio. Heating system cannot be controlled while shut down. System restarts automatically after a few minutes but settings, etc may need to be restored. This creates a distraction that could lead to a collision or loss of vehicle control. Investigation reveals that many have this prob... Read more
Incident date: Dec 9, 2021
The contact owns a 2020 Subaru Outback. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V955000 (Power Train) 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 manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The dealer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 22, 2022
02 June 2022 Complaint submitted by current 2020 Subaru Outback XT owners to Subaru of America for slow to no action taken relating to NHTSA Recall ID 21V-955 & Subaru Safety Recall WRK-21 Recall notice received on 14 Feb. 2022. Recall involves failure of a Transmission Control Unit (TCU) component which could lead to a complete loss of vehicle motive power. Owners question if vehicle is safe t... Read more
Incident date: May 31, 2022
The car's AEB system keeps mistaking steam from the street (such as sewer covers or construction sites) for a physical object and will activate. It has stopped my car in the middle of the street two days ago (5/31/22) and I was almost rear-ended by the car behind me. The warning system will also engage for no reason in most city driving conditions when there is no danger. It mistakes merging wi... Read more
Incident date: May 31, 2022
The car's AEB system keeps mistaking steam from the street (such as sewer covers or construction sites) for a physical object and will activate. It has stopped my car in the middle of the street two days ago (5/31/22) and I was almost rear-ended by the car behind me. The warning system will also engage for no reason in most city driving conditions when there is no danger. It mistakes merging wi... Read more
Incident date: Apr 11, 2022
Three identical instances. 1. Was driving down road came to stop light pushed brakes and car stalled out. 2. Was approaching roundabout pushed brakes to wait for traffic and car stalled out. 3. Was on incline at stop pressing brakes, went to push gas and car stalled out. In each instance the car dies completely. You have to take key out, put back in and turn on the vehicle again.
Incident date: Apr 11, 2022
Three identical instances. 1. Was driving down road came to stop light pushed brakes and car stalled out. 2. Was approaching roundabout pushed brakes to wait for traffic and car stalled out. 3. Was on incline at stop pressing brakes, went to push gas and car stalled out. In each instance the car dies completely. You have to take key out, put back in and turn on the vehicle again.
Incident date: May 31, 2022
Windshield was struck by a very small pebble. The windshield cracked at the point of impact, and spread into over a foot long crack.
Incident date: May 25, 2022
MY 2022 OUTBACK HAS LESS THAN 3,000 MILES ON IT. ALWAYS GARAGED. I PARKED IT OUTSIDE OVER THE NOON HOUR, CAME OUT AND THE WINDSHIELD HAD A 6" CRACK ON THE PASSENGER SIDE; CRACKED FROM THE EDGE MIDWAY UP. THERE ARE NO ROCK CHIPS OR IMPACT DAMAGE. I CALLED SUBARU ADVISORY LINE AND ADVISED THEM OF PROBLEM THEY SAID TO CONTACT DEALER TO GET INSPECTED FOR MFG DEFECTS. I HAVE REACHED OUT THE DEALER FOR... Read more
Incident date: Jun 2, 2022
I came out to my car in the morning to go to work and there was a huge S-shaped crack in the windshield radiating from the base of the window from under the plastic. Nothing hit it and there is no visible strike. It continues to grow. It is smooth single, long crack about a foot or more long. Very strange and appears like a manufacturer defect as the car only has 2,196 miles.
Incident date: May 31, 2022
My windshield has cracked twice in the last year while driving
Incident date: May 31, 2022
for the second time in less than 8 months the windshield has spontaneously developed a significant crack though driver's sightline that requires the windshield to be replaced at outrageous expense.