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 22,185 complaints for TESLA
Incident date: Sep 1, 2023
Have reported multiple times the safety hazard with the unnacuracy of the mileage given per charge. Vehicle will drain through battery leaving motorist standard. When using self drive option vehicle will not stay in appropriate lanes. Vehicle will overheat on battery and start making concerning sounds while driving. When reported to Tesla they acknowledged the issue but have failed to fix the issu... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while stopped at a traffic signal, the vehicle hesitated while depressing the accelerator pedal. The contact stated there was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent. Additionally, the contact stated that while the vehicle was in reverse(R) the back over protection camera screen was black. ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while stopped at a traffic signal, the vehicle hesitated while depressing the accelerator pedal. The contact stated there was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent. Additionally, the contact stated that while the vehicle was in reverse(R) the back over protection camera screen was black. ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 19, 2024
Recently the readings on the gauge with my odometer, gas gauge, and oil life will flicker or glitch when the weather is cold. After about 15 minutes the gauge will go blank but will still have the backlight glow to it. It will continue to glitch if I turn the car off and on again quickly but if I let it sit for a while, the gauge is fine when I turn the car back on and until I start driving. I bro... Read more
Incident date: Feb 22, 2024
The vehicle oil level low light comes on every 600 miles (excessive oil consumption). I purchased the vehicle in July 2021, and in 2 weeks I had an oil-level light. I called Audi regarding the condition, they talked with the dealership regarding the issue and came back in 2 weeks and stated that the recall was up to 2011. I would like Audi to pay to repair my vehicle, because is a known problem... Read more
Incident date: Jan 31, 2024
Driving along a two lane country road when out of know were the truck lock up the brakes, there was know traffic in front or rear, lucky for use. The only thing was a park car about 200 ft off the road with no one in it. I have since taken the dealer who spent 5 hours looking at the system only two come back and tell me it working as designed. He told me to be careful as it is very sensitive. Boy ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 20, 2024
You have a safety recall #16V-642 for this model and the dealer did not put my vin# in the recall but yet my vehicle is saying the the left and right side marker lights are defective and the dealer will not correct it, instead they are trying to make me pay to replace the entire light harness for both head light assembly for $4,000, my next stop is with a class action law suit to get this taken up... Read more
Incident date: Feb 21, 2024
While I was driving , the center glass panel between the two falcon door flew off . There is a recall that was issued for this exact issue and Tesla said they inspected and no further action was taken. I am grateful that no person or person were injured as I was driving 65-70 mph on a highway . Tesla is refusing to pay for the repair and associated damages to the passenger rear roof window that ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 18, 2024
As I see in the news now, my rear window blew out on the expressway on 1/17/2024 on the way to work at 5:30 a.m. With the very cold day below zero it sounded like an explosion and then it crumbled. Luckily I was close to work and my team was able to help me shrink wrap the window to be able to get home. On 1/20/24 I took the car to Safelite for replacement which was done under my insurance. I have... Read more
Incident date: Dec 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2023 Ford Maverick. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where the PCM was reset. The vehicle was repaired. While driving at unknown speeds, the brake pedal was depressed, and the vehicle began to shake. The vehicle was taken back to the same local dealer, and the contact was informed that the ABS was ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 20, 2024
Hello, I'm filing a complaint against the Dothan, AL Ram dealership due to recalls that were never performed. I bought the truck on 7/12/2021 from a third party. I noticed this particular Ram had 12 recalls so I took it in to the Dothan, AL Dodge dealership to have them repaired. They had the truck for 2 weeks and nothing was repaired. Nothing at all. I lost 2 back pack blowers because... Read more
Incident date: Feb 19, 2024
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Transit. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V767000 (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 contact stated while driving at various speeds, there was abnormal sound of a lose part underneath the v... Read more
Incident date: Dec 20, 2023
headlights large amount of water condensation. decreases amount of light and could cause to fail
Incident date: Feb 20, 2024
360 review camera fails to operate correctly and screen goes blue. Front parking sensors, rear cross traffic, auto emergency braking, and rear parking sensors fail to operate as well.
Incident date: Feb 20, 2024
360 review camera fails to operate correctly and screen goes blue. Front parking sensors, rear cross traffic, auto emergency braking, and rear parking sensors fail to operate as well.
Incident date: Jan 8, 2024
The contact owns a 2023 Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V851000 (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 contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the message “Do Not Drive Vehicle” me... Read more
Incident date: Jan 8, 2024
On March 2022 Forward Collision Warning System, Blind Spot Warning System, ABS braking System and other systems associated with a bad passenger rear wheel sensor not working. On March 17, 2022 rear passenger wheel sensor repaired under warranty by local Kia Dealer. In September 2023 same issue with the above warning systems occurs with only another 2,000 miles on car after previous repair. Local K... Read more
Incident date: Nov 29, 2023
My vehicle beeps liberally when parking in tight spots, anywhere near a line of any sort, etc. A few weeks after getting my vehicle in late November (I don’t remember the exact date), I was driving through construction at night and without warning, the steering “corrected” itself and I hit a cone causing 2 scuffs on my new vehicle. The steering locked, but thankfully I was able to get the ve... Read more
Incident date: Nov 29, 2023
The left and right headlight assembly's do not provide sufficient lighting to safely drive at night. I was notified of this recall over 1.5 years ago and there has yet to be a remedy available yet. Because of this, I am unable to safely drive at night. I am unsure what to do at this point other than replace them myself, which I cannot afford to do. I had an incident where I ran over animal carcass... Read more
Incident date: Nov 29, 2023
Positive crankcase ventilation regulator valve performance
Incident date: Feb 12, 2022
When starting and stopping the engine an awful noise is heard, it sounds like metal is grinding for about 2 seconds. Also on one occasion the electrical system seems to go haywire, as my power lift gate would not work. I tried several things to include turning the vehicle on and off, pressing the lift gate button several times, pressing my clicker, and pressing the lift gate button in the cabin ar... Read more
Incident date: Feb 7, 2024
Experienced temporary loss of electronic power steering (EPS) on 10FEB24. After driving about 15 miles returning from across town, my wife experienced a momentary loss of the EPS while slowing to make a left turn into our subdivision. She was able to wrestle the wheel through the turn with difficulty but then stopped the car to decide whether she should keep driving. After just a moment, she de... Read more
Incident date: Feb 19, 2024
I've reached out to Tesla Service Department on multiple occasions regarding the Auto Pilot Software update and they have failed to provide an update as of today February 19th, 2024.
Incident date: Feb 19, 2024
Windshield has cracked horizontally without an impact in the same spot two times now. Both times the car was sitting in the driveway. The first was in April of 2022 and began on the passenger side about 1' up from the bottom of the windshield. I had it repaired but was not told how the crack appeared. Now in February of 2024 I have the same crack beginning in the same spot with no sign of an impac... Read more
Incident date: Feb 19, 2024
I have had the blue screen sensors replaced 3 times. This has been a recall. Now my front camera is having an error code. Yeh blue screen came on while backing up and I hit a rock. They say it has been fixed but now it is still occurring with the radio freezing and the front camera producing an error. The dealer says there’s no current fix and they have an unable to reproduce it when it is at th... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Feb 15, 2024
Driving down the highway my truck will downshift for no reason. Sometimes a big bang will be felt in the rear end & the big wrench symbol will appear & all other controls don't work. There is a recall for this 16S19 & 19S07. I took my truck to the Yreka Ford dealership & was told it needed the molded lead frame replaced but the recall has ended. Still a definite safety issue but it's not co... Read more
Incident date: Oct 20, 2023
The Facts of the Incident: On [XXX], at approximately [XXX] PM, [XXX] , was driving our 2023 Tesla Model Y on Arizona State Route [XXX] ), a two-lane highway, enroute from Orange, California, to the Grand Canyon South Rim. The vehicle carried a total of four passengers, including my wife, myself, and another couple from San Diego. During our journey, an alarming and life-threatening situation unfo... Read more
Crash
6 injured
Incident date: Oct 20, 2023
transmission- vehicle started jerking and bucking with less than 101,000 miles.
Incident date: Oct 20, 2023
Intermittent power steering. Works great then all of a sudden have no steering, then a minute later it’s back working. Other times it is very choppy steering.
Incident date: Feb 15, 2024
I have received four Recall Notices (dated June 2023, 08/21/2023, 09/19/2023, and 10/17/2023) relative to the Drivers Air Bag Inflator May Explode. I have reached out to the dealer to schedule the free recall repair to no avail. Each time they have informed me that parts are unavailable. It now has been several months since they have not contacted me for repair or resolution. Occasionally, the S... Read more
Incident date: Feb 15, 2024
I have received four Recall Notices (dated June 2023, 08/21/2023, 09/19/2023, and 10/17/2023) relative to the Drivers Air Bag Inflator May Explode. I have reached out to the dealer to schedule the free recall repair to no avail. Each time they have informed me that parts are unavailable. It now has been several months since they have not contacted me for repair or resolution. Occasionally, the S... Read more
Incident date: Feb 18, 2024
Car decelerated drastically to a low speed when driving on the highway using cruise control.
Incident date: Feb 18, 2024
I don’t know if this is a safety issue, but it is an issue with my car and others with this type of vehicle. The lift gate does not always open. It makes no difference if you use the inside button the outside button or the key fob. It will either open about an inch just enough to unlock it or it will open about 6 inches and then it will stop and beep it has to be manually closed and try again an... Read more
Incident date: Feb 18, 2024
EPB and Auto Hold lights were lit on the instrument cluster in yellow. Power was diminished and once stopped and the car in park, doors would not unlock. Starting and then stopping the car would not reset the lights nor allow the doors to unlock. Fixing the issue requires a second person to raise the hood, and disconnect the positive terminal on the battery to allow the computer to reset. Reconne... Read more
Incident date: Feb 17, 2024
The airbag sensor in the passenger seat failed. There is a known Supplemental Restraint System issue/recall in 2007-2011 Suzuki SX4s, however there has not been a recall for the 2012 model despite this being an issue beyond the aforementioned years. Affected vehicles may develop an electrical circuit disconnection within the front passenger sensing system sensor mat that is built into the front ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 10, 2024
The vehicle's primary Autopilot processor randomly and completely failed while in active use on February 10th, causing the vehicle to immediately change course towards a highway barrier at high speed. Since that moment, every time the Autopilot DAS computer is reset, the primary processor refuses to transition from the INIT state to the NOMINAL state and instead transitions to CRITICAL state. Th... Read more
Incident date: Feb 10, 2024
When I purchased my car in July of 2020 there was a 6 month warranty on it and my RPM gage started bouncing while I was driving and having issues switching gears seeming like a transmission problem in October of 2020, I brought my car up to the dealership on November 3 of 2020 specifically even saying that I thought something was wrong with my transmission and they said nothing was wrong and I hav... Read more
Incident date: Feb 10, 2024
Feb. 1, 2024: A short drive on electric during below zero weather, a car wash & a couple 100ft drive into a parking lot. Pulling into a parking space, foot on the brake pedal, ICE roared on accelerating the car over a curb, down an embankment & into a 3ft snow drift before I could stop it by pressing the brake pedal with both feet. We stopped 6in from a power pole. If forward crash avoidance syste... Read more
Incident date: Oct 5, 2023
I kept getting a check engine light on my dash even after taking it in for oil changes in the past year on and off and none of them caught what seemed to be the main issue. The check engine light would disappear once I got the oil change. I assumed everything was fine around April 2023, until December 2023 and apparently my check engine light turned back on. Finally after going to at least 4 more ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 3, 2023
As I was approaching my off ramp (which has a very tight turn), my automatic brakes failed which caused me to slam onto the brakes, and skid into one of the off ramp signs. All 3 of my children were in the back, the back driver side window shattered, I lost my driver side mirror, and there was damage done to the back door and wheel well (all on the driver's side). Although the damage looked minima... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Oct 3, 2023
Steering locks and is sticking after driving straight. Difficult to steer. Over correcting during driving causing lane change. DANGEROUS.
Incident date: Oct 3, 2023
abs module failure. first time covered under warranty at 11,906 miles. second time not under warranty at 24,786 miles, and currently in failure mode.
Incident date: Mar 19, 2023
Car did not react to uncoming car and accident happened. Car was totaled. RECALL NO. 23V-838 involved as the car didn’t have the right safety controls and caused collision
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Mar 19, 2023
Audi issued a recall for our vehicle’s fuel level sender which reports the amount of fuel in the tank to our fuel gauge display in late 2022 or early 2023. The reason for the recall stems from a safety issue in which the car incorrectly can display that there is more fuel in the tank than what is actually there. Our local dealership’s service center, Princeton Audi initially completed this re... Read more
Incident date: Mar 19, 2023
its been about 3 occasions , one being yesterday 2/16/24, as i was on the freeway my vehicle began to stall and it displayed , Error : stop/start, display said to manually start, got off the freeway and had to put my car into park then restart again. I almost got hit and forsure bad accidents could have happened. the other occasion was about a week ago exactly, i was on a turning lane, as i wa... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2024
WHEN THIS VEHICLE IS PARKED IN THE GARAGE THE ODOR OF GASOLINE FILLS THE GARAGE. WHEN THIS VEHICLE IS PARKED OUTSIDE THE ODOR OF GASOLINE DISSAPPEARS.
Incident date: Feb 1, 2024
My Transmission Temp light goes on when I am in slow traffic going on an uphill road. I need to pull over and let it cool down, This has happen in Mountains in Colorado , So it is cold outside. Both times i need to get a tow due to the fact there are no places to pull over on single lane road. it takes approx. 1 hour to cool down and i can only drive 100 yards before light comes back on. I have b... Read more
Incident date: Feb 17, 2024
On November 11th, 2023 I was driving down the road. I noticed my power steering starting to fail. I looked down and everything was lit up on the dash. I quickly put on my turn signal so the cars behind me knew I was exiting the road. I was in another state on a 2 lane road. Luckily I was able to pull off the road into a gravel parking lot. The car would not start. My children called for a t... Read more
Incident date: Feb 17, 2024
I was driving my vehicle and the vehicle suddenly started giving warnings. The gas pedal lost all power immediately and the car started to slow down. I then stepped on the brake pedal to bring the car to a complete stop and turned on the hazard light. However, after around 5 minutes, the car completely shut down and the hazard light also stopped functioning.
Incident date: Feb 17, 2024
I was just parking my car in a spot in my parking lot in front of my apartment. All of a sudden my car took at a fast speed. I could not stop it. I went over two curbs and hit a tree. Finally it stopped. Now it may be totalled. I looked up the recall of this car, and it said my car has a problem that could cause the engine and power brakes to fail while driving. My insurance company thinks it is m... Read more
Crash