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: Nov 6, 2022
The contact owns a 2019 Honda Civic. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V858000 (FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE); 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. Parts distribut... Read more
Incident date: Nov 6, 2022
rccd email. nhsta david chin on 04 envoy vin and smog cali fraud.. ended case sold vehicle to pick a part. did not sur dealer. purchased 1 month later Carmax Ontario california 2019 subaru outback. nhsta states moonroof and pedestrian braking for ev and hybrid u5 engine. this outback has no moonroof nor is it an ev or hybrid. owned by enterprise rent a car and subaru santa monica prior as grey in ... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Nov 11, 2021
The contact owns a 2014 Ford F-150. The contact stated while his son was driving 50 MPH, the vehicle downshifted into third gear and remained in third gear. The vehicle was manually shifted into manual mode (M), and then up to 6th gear. The check engine warning light and another unknown warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent dealer and an unknown DTC code populated whil... Read more
Incident date: Jul 16, 2024
After starting and backing the car out of a parking spot, I noticed the instrument cluster display screen behind the steering wheel was completely blank, except for the letter of the gear I was in (P, R, or D) in the bottom center of the screen. The symbol for the parking brake also appeared in the bottom left of the screen, and the Door Ajar symbol at the top of the screen. The Heads Up display... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
The issue appears to be an acceleration malfunction and brake failure in my 2021 Tesla Model Y. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. On [XXX] at [XXX], while waiting for the garage door to open, the car experienced an unknown unintended acceleration malfunction, surging forward uncontrollably. It didn't wait for the garage to open, crashed through the garage into the family room, ... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Oct 7, 2024
The contact owns a 2016 GMC Sierra 1500. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power. No warning light was illuminated. The contact opened the hood and heard a clicking sound. The vehicle was able to be restarted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failur... Read more
Incident date: Sep 21, 2024
The fuel pump system in my Honda Accord 2018 Lx failed causing my car engine to turn off while I was driving on the express lane which then caused my car to spin out and slam my backside of the car into the wall. I was driving alone in the car with my seatbelt on and was able to blow my horn to alert other drivers to slow down. The vehicle was only inspected by the policer officer who arrived on s... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jun 9, 2024
My 2020 MDX with less than 52,000 miles (VIN [XXX] ) has a transmission problem. I serviced the SUV as recommended by the dealer regularly and I take very good care . The transmission jerks several times when taking my foot off the gas to slow down within my short drive to and from work. If I parked on a little uphill or downhill roads and switch gear (either forward or reverse), the car jerks a... Read more
Incident date: Apr 16, 2021
When I had to slow down or suddenly stop because there were other cars in front of me, I. stepped on the break, but it did not stop; maybe it slowed down a little, but the acceleration seemed to accelerate faster. I could hear the acceleration sound. I had to push the gear to stop. The car finally stopped. But I almost hit the front car. Similar occurrences happened when I came to a stop signal... Read more
Incident date: Oct 6, 2024
When parked on a slope, driver attempted to back SUV out of parking space. Before starting car, with key inserted, ignition on and foot on brake, driver attempted to remove gearshift from park. Car drifted backward rapidly and uncontrollably. The brakes completely failed even with foot on brake. The car was a hazard to anyone in its path and could not be stopped. The emergency brake was att... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Oct 6, 2024
The steering knuckles on our 2016 Land Rover Range Rover cracked at the upper ball joint. This issue has been discovered in Canada as well as the UK. Land Rover has recalled vehicles in both Canada and the UK, but not the USA market. The recall in the UK is recall number R/2022/341 (7303). Land Rover wants over $3,000 just for the parts. I spent a lot of money and my time replacing these so my fam... Read more
Incident date: Oct 6, 2024
White Pearl paint flaking off front of car above windshield
Incident date: Sep 18, 2024
I was driving at low speed 20 mph , stopped at the stop sign , when I pressed acceleration the vehicle did not respond . I checked Dash and I could see all engine warnings light up. I switched off the vehicle and started again it started back with no issues and started running again. The vehicle sounds normal .there was no engine related warnings afterwards.
Incident date: Sep 18, 2024
When regenerative braking is active brake lights do not turn on causing vehicles behind you to come extremely close. The vehicle has extremely strong regenerative breaking. That should activate the brake lights.
Crash
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
During any precipitation, primarily rain, the adaptive cruise control fails to sense vehicles in front of it. This became alarming as the vehicle began to speed up and get alarmingly close to the other vehicle, causing driver to slam brakes. When looking at the cruise control display, the vehicle never showed another vehicle in front of it.
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
I turned into my driveway and the Jeep accelerated significantly and the brakes did not work even when I pumped them. The result was that the Jeep crashed into my garage door and house!
Crash
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
I turned into my driveway and the Jeep accelerated significantly and the brakes did not work even when I pumped them. The result was that the Jeep crashed into my garage door and house!
Crash
Incident date: Oct 5, 2024
I have wasted too much time and my own $ for my local KIA to dismiss their on going re-appointments and months of different service technicians to not have them reacting to an engine light to never retry something not done right. Now, they have my 2017 KiA Soul+ wrongly listed as no recalls remaining. I am trying to be as proactive and not lose my Kia or several more months of covering the Kille... Read more
Incident date: Oct 5, 2024
Past couple weeks, there is loud static noise coming from speaker after 15 to 20 minutes drive. It is impossible to stop and it is so loud that affects the driving, and easily causing accident if the driver not calming down. Sometime there is noise coming from the back amplifier, even I shut down the audio system.
Incident date: Oct 4, 2024
The contact owns a 2014 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel seized, and the vehicle lost motive power. The contact stated that the instrument cluster and the radio blinked off and on. In addition, the contact noticed that some wires were burnt. The vehicle was started and taken to Auto Zone. The contact stated that the battery and the alternat... Read more
Incident date: Oct 4, 2024
My 2017 Ford Edge developed a crack in the long block of the engine. This led to coolant leaking into the block and causing the engine to idle roughly. The service engine light was constantly on and the long block had to be replaced. When I asked the mechanic if the new engine assembly was the same, he said that Ford had beefed the new ones up because they new they had problems with the old ones. ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 4, 2024
Although this vehicle is a 2010 HHR, it has less than 23000 miles on it, has been garaged kept and maintained impeccably. The warning light blinks at random and then the power steering fails. It does not matter the speed of the vehicle and happens at random. Once turned off and restarted, the power steering works for approx 5 minutes and then fails again. There was a recall on 2009-2010 HHRs for ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 4, 2024
Car shut off while driving 60 miles per hour on the hwy. Battery light was on but I just had it checked and it was good. Seat belt light was also on but I had mine on and there were no other passengers. The collision light has repeatedly come on and off since I bought the vehicle new.
Incident date: Sep 11, 2024
Engine control unit failure
Incident date: Aug 19, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Edge. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light was illuminated. After a visual inspection of the engine compartment, the contact became aware that the coolant reservoir was abnormally low. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who determined that the coolant intrusion had damaged the engine. The contact was informed that t... Read more
Incident date: Aug 19, 2024
Uconnect System pushed an update to an out of warranty vehicle. The OTA (over-the-air) update bricked (boot loop) the system that also includes the backup camera. The system continually reboots even with the car in the OFF position. If left, it will drain the battery and I cannot start the vehicle. I am forced to pull the fuse and am unable to use the backup saftey camera. No guidance fro... Read more
Incident date: Sep 12, 2024
The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen ID.4. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V344000 (Back Over Prevention, Equipment, Electrical System); 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 contact stated that the vehicle was experiencing a loss of speedome... Read more
Incident date: Sep 25, 2024
MY REAR CAMERA REPEATEDLY FREEZES IN A PICTURE OR DOES NOT COME ON. MY STEERING HAS LOST MOST OF ITS FLUID TWICE AND I WAS TOLD THIS WAS NORMAL AIR BLEADING OUT. MY TRUCK HAS STOPPED ITSELF WHILE TRAVELING DOWN THE ROAD WITHOUT ANY OBSTRUCTION. MY TRUCK FLOODED FROM A LEAKING SUNROOF, CAUSING MOLD TO GROW ON THE CARPET AND A SMELL IN THE TRUCK. THIS IS A UNSAFE TRUCK
Incident date: Sep 2, 2024
The contact owns a 2015 Ram 1500. The contact stated while cold starting the vehicle, the check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact smelled an abnormal burning odor and observed white smoke coming from the exhaust pipe. The contact stated that while stopped at a traffic light, when the light turned green, the accelerator pedal was depressed, and the vehicle stalled. The contact state... Read more
Incident date: Sep 2, 2024
The contact owns a 2018 Mazda CX-5. The contact stated while driving downhill at an undisclosed speed, the oil warning light intermittently illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and diagnosed with a cylinder head leak. The dealer replaced the cylinder head and the gasket. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 82,000.
Incident date: Jul 17, 2024
The contact owned a 2024 Honda Prologue. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel seized. In addition, the brake pedal was depressed, however, the vehicle failed to stop as intended. The vehicle speed increased independently. As a result, the vehicle crashed into another vehicle. The fire department and the police arrived on the scene. A police report ... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Jul 17, 2024
I was notified by Honda that the fuel pump on my 2018 Honda CR-V would be replaced when replacement pumps became available. That was in May of 2024. As of this writing, I have not heard from my local dealer (Honda World, Louisville, KY) or Honda corporate about the availability of a replacement.
Incident date: Mar 14, 2022
The contact owns a 2021 Winnebago Revel built on a 2020 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 2500 chassis. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 22V863000 (Structure) and 23V663000 (Electrical System); however, the part to do the recall repairs were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repairs. The dealer was ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 14, 2022
The contact owns a 2021 Winnebago Revel built on a 2020 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 2500 chassis. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 22V863000 (Structure) and 23V663000 (Electrical System); however, the part to do the recall repairs were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repairs. The dealer was ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 14, 2022
The sensor in the seat has been intermittently working for years and finally quit. It costs close to $2000 to fix and there is no way to switch the air bag to stay on. It seems this is an issue with other 2018 Subaru foresters and for some reason the recall did not apply to my VIN.
Incident date: Oct 2, 2024
The contact owns a 2019 Honda Accord. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled. The failure recurred while shifting from park into drive. The failure had occurred on several occasions. The vehicle was able to be restarted. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V858000 (FUEL SYSTEM, GAS... Read more
Incident date: Sep 16, 2024
The contact owns a 2018 GMC Sierra 2500. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked with the engine idling for approximately ten minutes, the rear crew cab window suddenly shattered. During the failure, the rear window defroster was activated. The cause of the failure was not yet determined, and the vehicle was not repaired. The local dealer and manufacturer were notified of the failure.... Read more
Incident date: Sep 16, 2024
Honda vehicles have an A/C problem affecting the condenser and evaporator. Honda has put a 10 year warranty on the condenser but has done nothing to the faulty evaporator because it is a costly fix. The A/C in my Clarity has been a problem the last 3 years and I have had 3 condensers replaced in the car. I took the Clarity in a few weeks ago and now they are saying that it is the evaporator and... Read more
Incident date: Aug 13, 2024
The contact owns a 2018 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the START/STOP, and check engine warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that one of the spark plugs was misfiring and the ignition coils might need to be replaced. The independent mechanic requested to perform another diagnostic test on... Read more
Incident date: Feb 14, 2024
On Friday, September 27, around 12 pm, while driving on i880S near Union City, California, something horrific happened. The sunroof of my 2021 Mercedes CLA 250, with just 49,000 miles, suddenly exploded without any warning. The sound was so loud and violent, it felt like a gunshot. I was immediately overwhelmed with fear and panic as I struggled to process what was happening. In my rearview mirro... Read more
1 injured
Incident date: Sep 7, 2024
The front suspension randomly shakes when doing speeds above 60 on the freeway. It’s very dangerous especially because we almost experienced running into a semi while driving on I-50 between a cement construction wall and the semi. I find it hard to believe that Ford will NOT own up to this. There is clearly a history of this. I simply want my front suspension fixed to meet safety standards.
Incident date: Sep 30, 2024
Vehicle stalled in the middle of the road when in drive mode displaying "Drivetrain Malfunction". Couldn't start the engine or shift the gear. Vehicle was at the dealership one week before the incident for 'Drivetrain Malfunction'. Fixed bad fuel injector and was tested. My safety and safety of others was at risk if it had happened at higher speed. Suspecting fuel pump failure. Vehicle is with t... Read more
SUBARU
XV CROSSTREK
(2013) — ENGINE
Sep 30, 2024
Incident date: Sep 29, 2024
While driving on highway , I attempted to accelerate to pass , as I did all warning lights came on and I lost ability to accelerate. The car went into “limp mode “ . Took it to local mechanic, the to Honda dealer . I was told I need a new engine , at a cost of over $16k .
Incident date: Jul 22, 2024
The alarm and lights keep going off for No reason. The doors can be locked and Armed. Goes off even when not locked.
Incident date: Jul 22, 2024
The alarm and lights keep going off for No reason. The doors can be locked and Armed. Goes off even when not locked.
Incident date: Jul 22, 2024
**Component Malfunction**: The windshield developed cracks shortly after purchase, which expanded without impact, affecting visibility and causing the Safety Eyesight system to malfunction. **Safety Risk**: The expanding crack impaired vision and led to safety system malfunctions, posing a risk to driver and passenger safety. **Problem Reproduction**: It is unclear if the issue has been reproduc... Read more
Incident date: Sep 29, 2024
RIGHT FRONT TIRE 245/45R19B 102.H.M.S I HAD A MAJOR BLOWOUT. THE SIDEWALL OF THE TIRE HAD A WHOLE THE SIZE OF A RETANGULAR BRICK. i COULD HAVE LOST CONTROL AND HURT MYSELF AND OTHERS. I HAD MY BRAKES REPLACED AND THE TIRES ALIGNED AND BALANCED A COUPLE OF DAYS BEFORE. THE MECHANIC SAID IT WAS UNUSUAL FOR THE TIRES TO SHOW WEAR ON THE OUTSIDE AND INSIDE TREAD. AT 75 MPH IT WAS LIKE A LOAD EXPLOS... Read more
Incident date: Sep 21, 2024
The vehicle's exhaust intermediate pipe mount has broken has caused damage in the intermediate pipe requiring both the be replaced. The cracked exhaust allows exhaust fumes to enter the passenger compartment. A recall (N222385510) for 2021 Chevrolet Traverse has been made however is addressing this on only the 2021 models, even though the same issue is applicable to other models. On the this fo... Read more
Incident date: Sep 28, 2024
I have been up there date for fixing this vehicle for the last 4 years when i bought it with 60k miles , I have replaced multiple parts so far from foil pump , wheel, coolant pipes and the container many times from constant leaking in the fuel pump, I have replaced the alternater twice by 70k miles , ABS system failed many times and no one can fix it , Lastly , my daughter was driving to school an... Read more
Crash
1 injured