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 23,203 complaints for TESLA
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
It has been 10 months since I was first notified of this fuel pump recall from Honda. The Honda dealership in Bel Air, Maryland still has not received the replacement parts from Honda to correct this problem. What is this delay? This is a serious problem and safety risk. I drive 500 miles a week.
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
The contact owns a 2007 Honda Accord. The contact stated while driving at 40 MPH, the vehicle hesitated and shifted out of gear independently. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 130,000.
Incident date: Sep 7, 2024
driving @ nite on[XXX] [XXX] doing 70mph on cruise control all of a sudden my 2016 kia sorento loss power! then the instrument cluster lit up like a x-mas tree. check oil, check engine, and everything else in between was blinking on and off. very lucky there was an exit ramp up ahead and no vehicles on the right lane. safely got off the freeway and parked on the side of the road. very fortunate it... Read more
Incident date: Oct 17, 2024
The contact owns a 2019 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while the vehicle was at the dealer for a routine oil change, it was discovered that the roof rack was loose and advised the contact to bring the vehicle to the dealer the following day to have it inspected. The vehicle was taken back to the same dealer the following day as instructed and it was advised that the roof rack needed to be repla... Read more
Incident date: Oct 10, 2024
My vehicle has a 2.4l GDI engine that is excessively burning oil. I burn 2 qts every 1000 miles. I took it to the Kia dealership since I’m still under warranty and they refused to do an oil consumption test. They want 3k miles worth of readings and it will put me over the 100k warranty. I was instructed to keep putting oil in my car and eventually the engine will die. When I asked they told me i... Read more
Incident date: Oct 10, 2024
When pushing the gas car will not accelerate then they’ll be like a big “clunk” like it’s not into gear and then the car will slow slowly accelerate then it’ll shoot off. Also my screen goes crazy like something electrical is happening .
Incident date: Oct 10, 2024
When pushing the gas car will not accelerate then they’ll be like a big “clunk” like it’s not into gear and then the car will slow slowly accelerate then it’ll shoot off. Also my screen goes crazy like something electrical is happening .
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
Radio display screen stopped working. Black screen. Back-up camera rendered unusable. Upon further research, this appears to be a common and expensive issue for Jeep Renegades that should be looked into by Jeep.
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
Radio display screen stopped working. Black screen. Back-up camera rendered unusable. Upon further research, this appears to be a common and expensive issue for Jeep Renegades that should be looked into by Jeep.
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
When at a stop at an intersection the engine auto idle/stop feature will engage and when you let off the break the engine comepletely dies and you have to put car in park and restart the car. This is extrememly dangerous when at intersections and in turning lanes.
Incident date: Oct 16, 2024
I bought a Ford Escape 2017 and noticed it started having engine problems I took it to a repair facility and they told me the coolant was leaking into the cylinders. They told me to fix it I would have to get a whole new engine for $8,000, this is so much for a car I just got; I can't get it fixed through Ford since there is no recall. I have already wasted so much money trying to fix it for what ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 16, 2024
Big oil leak on 3.0 Eco-Diesel front lower timing chain cover Dealer been trying to repair leak for over 2 years. Keepes leaking more and more. Yesterday driving smoke and oil fumes were coming inside the vehicle. You could smell burning oil. This vehicle is a major fire hazard and unsafe to drive. It's also hazardous to the environment and salmon streams. I see from the internet lots of other ow... Read more
Incident date: Oct 9, 2024
Fuel indicator is reporting empty when car is full, and car is switching gears or shutting off by itself in the middle of driving.
Incident date: Jul 1, 2024
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while shifting into the park position, the "change to parking mode" warning message was displayed. The vehicle failed to detect that the vehicle was in the park gear. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the contact was advised to call the manufacturer. A local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
Left screen where odometer should show become blackout at the middle of my driving. Went to drive for 200 miles without odometer and other warning signs because the screen are all blackout, 3rd time happen. 1st was Gear also not emgaging and blackout screen 3 months ago, then same incident happen 2 months ago and then another incident with same reason for this month.
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
Left screen where odometer should show become blackout at the middle of my driving. Went to drive for 200 miles without odometer and other warning signs because the screen are all blackout, 3rd time happen. 1st was Gear also not emgaging and blackout screen 3 months ago, then same incident happen 2 months ago and then another incident with same reason for this month.
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
Left screen where odometer should show become blackout at the middle of my driving. Went to drive for 200 miles without odometer and other warning signs because the screen are all blackout, 3rd time happen. 1st was Gear also not emgaging and blackout screen 3 months ago, then same incident happen 2 months ago and then another incident with same reason for this month.
Incident date: Oct 10, 2024
was at a stop in the middle lane going to turn left, got hit straight head on by a driver driving in the middle lane. his air bags deployed, none of mine deployed. the front end and drivers side of the subaru was impacted
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Oct 10, 2024
was at a stop in the middle lane going to turn left, got hit straight head on by a driver driving in the middle lane. his air bags deployed, none of mine deployed. the front end and drivers side of the subaru was impacted
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Oct 11, 2024
Dear NHTSA, I am writing to express my disappointment regarding my experience with my 2015 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel, particularly in relation to unresolved recalls and inadequate service from dealerships. Last year, I began experiencing significant issues with my truck, ultimately leading me to Southern Motors in Springfield. They diagnosed the problem as needing a new engine, which was concerning. Ho... Read more
Incident date: Oct 11, 2024
the 2013 Audi 4.0T generation have a massive issue where the engine start leaking from the bottom of the crankcase where the block connects to it and to fix all these issues audi is asking a rebuild of the entire engine this issue is very common on the 2013 2014 2015 S6 S7 S8 with the 4.0T worldwide problem
Incident date: Oct 11, 2024
The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated that while starting and driving at an undisclosed speed, the "Reduced Propulsion" message was displayed. Additionally, after parking the vehicle, the "Shift To Park" message was displayed, and the vehicle failed to turn off. The contact pressed the Start/Stop button and then opened and closed the front driver's side door to turn off the ve... Read more
Incident date: Oct 15, 2024
The contact owns a 2011 Ford F-350. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH, the vehicle experienced a Death Wobble. The contact stated that the front end of the vehicle and the steering wheel were shuddering violently from the right to the left, causing the contact to lose control of the vehicle. The contact stated that he was able to regain control of the vehicle upon decelerating to 10 MPH. The... Read more
Incident date: Oct 15, 2024
2022 Yukon XL, (49465 miles) while driving in stop and go traffic, engine quit, able to roll off roadway, restart engine and get back in "drive", this occurred three times in succession when we took foot off accelerator, with in 50 minutes (45 min) time line. This occurred on 9/29/24 took vehicle to dealership on 10/14/24 (earliest appointment), they completed two recalls, could not fined any t... Read more
Incident date: Oct 15, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Mercedes-Benz GLC300. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the accelerator pedal was depressed, however, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended. In addition, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with a failed positive crank valve. The contact was informed that the positive cra... Read more
Incident date: Aug 16, 2024
After filling up the car with gas the cabin smells like gasoline for the first 25 miles then goes away. We are not topping off the gas and it is a strong noxus odor. The car was taken in once when it was new for this issue it went away temporarily but came back now that the car is out of warranty.
Incident date: Aug 16, 2024
Steering rack issue being sticky. Dealership has confirmed this problem BUT they are unwilling to fix this because my VIN is not apart of the recall. But I have the problem…. And it was confirm. They are unwilling to fix at covered cost.
Incident date: Oct 10, 2024
- Per the dealer - "the main crankshaft bolt had come loose allowing the car to "jump" time and damage the cylinder head valves." The vehicle has not yet been repaired. - When we were driving, the engine started to make very loud noises and then lost all power. The breaks felt they became not responsive and I had to put a lot of force into them to work. We were going downhill so this was very dang... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
I had some lurching when trying to accelerate for a month before the check engine and HEV warning beeping came on. Kia Niro EGR (Gas Recirculated Cooler) failed at 105K miles. It leaked on to the engine causing it to overheat. My children and I got smoked out and my child had an asthma attack from this issue. We were also stressed, thinking the engine would catch fire. Kia says there are no recall... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
Electrical warning issue, totally stopped and showed all the faults on the dash. Seems like starter/alternator problem. Located in Spain, car is from US. Will tow the car to the dealer.
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
Ford performed a safety recall for driveshaft repair and the recall was performed - as a result of the upgraded parts (first section of driveshaft and ujoint) installed due to the recall, the driveshaft is out of balance due to the newly changed design of the driveline (going from a giubo joint to a ujoint). The vehicle now needs the rest of the driveshaft balanced (a ~15ft long driveshaft) as a r... Read more
Incident date: Oct 14, 2024
What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? Transmission, and yes its available for inspection. When I put the truck into drive from park, and even reverse, the truck would jerk. (I have videos) When accelerating around 13-14mph, I could feel the transmission "gear searching" with rough shifting. When decelerating around 15-17mph, the transm... Read more
Incident date: Oct 14, 2024
When applying the brakes as you approach a stop light or vehicle etc.. the vehicle will apply or go into an ABS event and lock you out of the brake pedal so you can't apply any more pressure to the pedal and will not stop the vehicle without a collision. I have had this happen several times and have had to steer into the ditch or oncoming lane to avoid an accident. This has occurred at slow speeds... Read more
Incident date: Oct 14, 2024
When applying the brakes as you approach a stop light or vehicle etc.. the vehicle will apply or go into an ABS event and lock you out of the brake pedal so you can't apply any more pressure to the pedal and will not stop the vehicle without a collision. I have had this happen several times and have had to steer into the ditch or oncoming lane to avoid an accident. This has occurred at slow speeds... Read more
Incident date: Oct 13, 2024
Undercoating of vehicle was not properly installed causing the frame to rust out creating a serious safety concern as the fuel tank can fall from the vehicle due to extensive rust. Toyota is aware of this situation however refuses to repair the problem.
Incident date: Oct 5, 2024
Sub frame cracked,due to corrosion.Broke Lower control arm. I could not steer my SUV. I was terrified.The noise was so loud. This happened a road away from my home. I called AAA. They came and towed my vehicle to my driveway. I don’t understand why Ford company did not send me a recall. I could have been killed.I was on the highway a day before.I have researched and found this to be a safety con... Read more
Incident date: Oct 5, 2024
I’ve had a recall on this car for over 4 months and the dealership/brand hasn’t been able to fix the car yet. I recently got another recall that looks it won’t be fixed because, as the first one, the repairs are not yet available. The dashboard and the screen every now and then will go off and reset as if I was turning the car on. It has happened when the car is moving. My car is loosing val... Read more
Incident date: Oct 12, 2024
Multiple problems since purchasing brand new 2024 Hyundai Palisade Calligraphy Edition last November. Within the first 2 weeks we experienced electrical problems and the entire dashboard add monitor had to be replaced. 2nd- recall on the engine and was replaced, recall issued in February and was never notified, only found out in August when taken in for complimentary service oil change. 3rd- eng... Read more
Incident date: Oct 12, 2024
The car fails to completely brake when going slowly over uneven pavement. The car, steering wheel and brakes shake before stopping and coming to a complete stop.
Incident date: Oct 13, 2024
Two things: my auto start/stop often shuts off, and the display reads: "Auto stop/start is disabled/hood open," though it's not. I also often get a "Service Stop/Start system" notification and the car will require a restart before it will allow me to shift it back into gear and turn off parking brake.
Incident date: Oct 12, 2024
We experienced multiple/many warning lights all at the same time. Systems not working. Repeated every time. The Acura dealer diagnosed the problem to the DTC U3000-49 Multipurpose Camera internal electronic failure. Replaced the unit and they performed a couple of calibrations. Thank You, [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Incident date: Oct 12, 2024
We experienced multiple/many warning lights all at the same time. Systems not working. Repeated every time. The Acura dealer diagnosed the problem to the DTC U3000-49 Multipurpose Camera internal electronic failure. Replaced the unit and they performed a couple of calibrations. Thank You, [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Incident date: Jul 1, 2024
This is a follow up to complaint #11459461 filed on 4/3/22 at 9:16:43am. I was not able to send documents at that time. Documents included relate to follow up on complaint #11591104. First pdf file: pages 1-4 Service bulletin from Chrysler - my model year not included; pages 5-7 service invoice and picture of missing engine cradle pan; page 8 original repair invoice; page 9 copy of original... Read more
Incident date: Jul 1, 2024
This is a follow up to complaint #11459461 filed on 4/3/22 at 9:16:43am. I was not able to send documents at that time. Documents included relate to follow up on complaint #11591104. First pdf file: pages 1-4 Service bulletin from Chrysler - my model year not included; pages 5-7 service invoice and picture of missing engine cradle pan; page 8 original repair invoice; page 9 copy of original... Read more
Incident date: Sep 20, 2024
My GMC Terrain 2022 has stopped working 3 times for the same issue. All those times the car was tow to the dealership to get repairs. Every time that happened was the same problem, I turn on the car and immediately shuts down. It didn’t show a warning light.
Incident date: Oct 8, 2024
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while attempting to start the vehicle, the vehicle failed to start. The contact stated that an independent mechanic went to the residence and performed a diagnostic test on the vehicle. The diagnostic test received the code for a misfire in cylinder #4. The vehicle was towed to the independent mechanic where it was diagnosed with a coolant le... Read more
Incident date: Oct 9, 2024
We used to have a 2016 Kia Forte5 LX hatchback we been having problems with this vehicle the car would stall and it was having electrical problems like my turn signals not working even when the bulbs were replaced and same thing to the brake lights prior after I noticed the problem with the car was going to take it in to get ot looked at and serviced when exiting my home with the car and turning l... Read more
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Sep 29, 2024
The braking system is failing with the following codes I tested with the BlueDriver scanner. Code TypeCodeDescription ABS CodesC1241Low or high power supply coltage ABS CodesC1391Abnormal leak in accumulator Main BodyB1206P/W Master SW ECU Communication Stop Main BodyB2321D-Door Motor ECU Communication Stop Main BodyB2430LED Headlight LH Entry and StartU0142Mainbody Ecu Communication Circuit Entry... Read more