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: Aug 28, 2023
EXHAUST SAFTEY ISSUE / MY CEL CAME ON LEAVING WORK ON 9/25 , SCANED CODE AND GOT A CODE OF P0430 (CATALYTIC CONVERTER BANK 2) I FOUND A CUSTOMER SATISFACTION PROGRAM ISSUED ON 06/13/19 -(PROGRAM #19M01) ON THIS TO REPLACE UNDER AN EXTENDED WARRANTY. THE ISSUE IS WARRANTY COVERAGE IS 11 YEARS OR 120,000 MILES. THE CODE CAME UP AT 120,325 JUST OUTSIDE THE WARRANTY EXTENSION , FORD IS UNWILLING TO EX... Read more
Incident date: Sep 26, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle inadvertently lost motive power and failed to restart. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, who determined that coolant intrusion had caused a failure with the short block, requiring an engine replacement. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigat... Read more
Incident date: Sep 26, 2023
My vehicle stalls a lot when driving. At first i thought it was an issue with the tire alignment but i was told by a mechanic that i had good alignment. My car stalls and shakes a lot while speeding up in the highway. I honestly feel unsafe at this point because its gotten worse in a short amount of time. My seatbelts are lose and useless. I love my car but i may change it for a safer option. It i... Read more
Incident date: Aug 5, 2023
The Tesla Model Y autoaccelerated even with me pressing the brakes. The car was on regenerative breaking and instead of stopping it accelerated lunging into the walkway and almost killing a person. The car hit another car, 2 bike racks and a tree as well as concrete slabs beofr coming to a stop. There have been reports of unintended auto acceleration from Tesla cars. The car components has not be... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Aug 5, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 GMC Acadia. The contact stated while driving at approximately 5 MPH, the vehicle experienced phantom braking. An unknown warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 114,590.
Incident date: Aug 5, 2023
The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Camaro. The contact stated that while driving at 65 MPH, the vehicle was overheating, and the coolant gauge was stuck in the cold region. The contact heard an abnormal sound after the vehicle was turned off. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to be diagnosed by an independent mechanic. The contact was informed that the thermostat... Read more
Incident date: Sep 4, 2023
On 9/4/23, I encountered a serious malfunction with my Model Y. The issue in question involved the vehicle crashing into a wall on the top level of a parking structure while using the “Smart Summon” feature in Tesla’s mobile app. The “Smart Summon” feature allows you to use the Tesla app to retrieve the vehicle and have it move to your location (within 12 meters) while you are standing o... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Sep 4, 2023
Park brake limited function. Service required. Says my brake light is on. Drains my battery. Is this the same Recall for 2021 & 2022??
Incident date: Sep 4, 2023
Park brake limited function. Service required. Says my brake light is on. Drains my battery. Is this the same Recall for 2021 & 2022??
Incident date: Sep 27, 2023
While driving on a two lane highway I experience daily ghost braking incidents. While doing 75, in both cruise and autopilot mode, the car will slam on the brakes when approaching a semi in the right lane. Today it even swerved to the right without the semi moving out of its lane. I also experience panic braking if a car crosses the lanes in front of me even if it is 500m away and the crossing car... Read more
Incident date: Sep 27, 2023
When attempting to apply brakes, the pedal sunk to the floor with no result. On subsequent attempts, the left front brake activated and locked up while there was no apparent effect on the other 3 wheels. The car veered to the left as a result of the one brake being applied, and began to travel down the road at an angle of about 45 degrees. Correction was required to steer out, the brake remained l... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Sep 27, 2023
When attempting to apply brakes, the pedal sunk to the floor with no result. On subsequent attempts, the left front brake activated and locked up while there was no apparent effect on the other 3 wheels. The car veered to the left as a result of the one brake being applied, and began to travel down the road at an angle of about 45 degrees. Correction was required to steer out, the brake remained l... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Sep 15, 2023
As I was driving the transfer case and drive shaft dropped out of truck. Broken bolts and no warning.
Incident date: Sep 15, 2023
As I was driving the transfer case and drive shaft dropped out of truck. Broken bolts and no warning.
Incident date: Sep 16, 2023
The drivers side seat does not retain memory and will randomly start moving while driving down the road. My car has been in repair for over 9 weeks during 5-6 separate visits. No fix in place other than a software update that doesn’t have a ETA. The dealership isn’t working the moving while driving because they can’t replicate the issue.
Incident date: Sep 16, 2023
This vehicle continues to burn oil and the engine light does not turn on when the vehicle is low on oil. I have had this car for 4 years and it has been an issue where when I take it in for oil change there is no oil left in engine. Vehicles are not supposed to burn oil. I have been told it is an internal engine issue and that this is a known problem from this vehicle by the Chevy dealership. It i... Read more
Incident date: Sep 23, 2023
Abs pump and motor replaced twice once in 2019 and 2021 now faulty again in 2023 there needs to be a recall on these parts.
Incident date: Sep 21, 2023
While driving on the highway between Nenana and Fairbanks, AK, on August 9, 2023, I attempted to pass a slow moving RV towing a trailer. While in the passing lane, I accelerated and my vehicle suddenly loss power. I was forced to swerve out of the passing lane to avoid a collision with with oncoming traffic and the vehicle being passed. After that event, the vehicle would not exceed 3000rpms or 35... Read more
Incident date: Aug 15, 2022
Back up camera stays on after selecting Drive and moving forward, it will either stay on showing what’s happening behind me or will stay on for 20-40 seconds than go to a blue screen or blue than black screen and stay in that screen. While this is happening I have no control over the display, sound, radio or heat. There has been time the back up camera has stayed on while in park. I have severa... Read more
Incident date: Aug 15, 2022
Back up camera stays on after selecting Drive and moving forward, it will either stay on showing what’s happening behind me or will stay on for 20-40 seconds than go to a blue screen or blue than black screen and stay in that screen. While this is happening I have no control over the display, sound, radio or heat. There has been time the back up camera has stayed on while in park. I have severa... Read more
Incident date: Aug 28, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 Buick Enclave. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V334000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. 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 experien... Read more
Incident date: Sep 24, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 BMW X5. The contact stated that while his sister was driving approximately 35 MPH, the vehicle lost power steering functionality. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact had taken the vehicle to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed and determined that the steering mechanism needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The cont... Read more
Incident date: Jul 23, 2023
We’re getting errors for traction control, reduced traction, control, disabled automatic emergency, braking is unavailable, ABS disabled. This is a manufactures defect, and Tesla is requiring us to pay.
Incident date: Jul 23, 2023
The contact owns a 2023 Hyundai Tucson. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V526000 (Power Train) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were 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: Jul 23, 2023
Backup camera works when car started up, but will go out after the vehicle has been on for serval minutes and will not work. Know recall on other later models of Ford 2020-2023 backup cameras
Incident date: Sep 25, 2023
Engine died. Took it to a licensed mechanic and was told coolant leak caused total engine failure. Needs a new engine. Only 80000 miles.
Incident date: Aug 1, 2023
Suddenly getting harder to turn the steering wheel to either direction. The problem happens randomly and also looses the power steering, needing to forcibly bring the steering back and making the driving difficult. When this happens many alerts pop on the dash including traction alert, break alert, and line alert.
Incident date: Aug 1, 2023
Catastrophic control arm failure. The part is available for inspection. Problem confirmed by certified technician at Brake Master repair shop in Santa Fe NM. No visible damage to control arm prior to catastrophic part failure from apparent metal fatigue. Only 37,000 miles on this 2019 Encore. There were no indications of this problem prior to the part failure. The vehicle began making a loud clunk... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2023
My oil pump messed up, the belt fell apart inside the oil pan, man it’s so much [XXX] that messed up because of this belt and oil pump it’s a whole [XXX] list. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Incident date: Sep 22, 2023
Headrest deployed while sitting in the driveway. The vehicle was in parked and not running. I was getting ready to go to the store. I got in and fastened my seatbelt then the headrest deployed. The ignition was off.
1 injured
Incident date: Sep 22, 2023
Oil pump pulley failure resulting in loss of oil pressure while driving and causing catastrophic engine failure
Incident date: Sep 22, 2023
Tires damaged due to a rear toe link not having proper alignment adjustments. I was told to buy aftermarket products because the two ASE certified shops could not align my rear suspension. I've chewed through two pairs of brand new tires in less than 4 months.
Incident date: Aug 21, 2023
What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? The electronic braking system seems to have randomly failed due to some electrical glitch. Mechanically the braking system works fine but during this incident the ABS system kicked in causing the car to shutter and the brake petal went to the floor with 0 braking power. Was forced to put the car in P... Read more
Incident date: Aug 21, 2023
What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? The electronic braking system seems to have randomly failed due to some electrical glitch. Mechanically the braking system works fine but during this incident the ABS system kicked in causing the car to shutter and the brake petal went to the floor with 0 braking power. Was forced to put the car in P... Read more
Incident date: Aug 27, 2023
This vehicle was purchased in 2021 with a 3 year 36k mile warranty. At 39k miles the truck has started to shut off randomly while driving. It has put us in very dangerous situations and it happens multiple times every day. The vehicle will be driving down the road and suddenly shut off. It will not switch to neutral so cannot be pulled off the road. It will not turn on for at least 20 minutes so w... Read more
Incident date: Sep 22, 2023
I owned 2 of these 2022 civics equipped with Honda's Collision mitigation braking technology. This is the year they removed the forward radar and relied only on a single camera unit. I was involved in a rear end collision where I was the rear ender even with the distance setting on the furthest setting. The accident was on the highway at about 40MPH. A vehicle Merging on to the highway stopped in ... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Sep 22, 2023
I owned 2 of these 2022 civics equipped with Honda's Collision mitigation braking technology. This is the year they removed the forward radar and relied only on a single camera unit. I was involved in a rear end collision where I was the rear ender even with the distance setting on the furthest setting. The accident was on the highway at about 40MPH. A vehicle Merging on to the highway stopped in ... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Sep 18, 2023
It smells like gas when I start the car. It's also wasting alot of gas. I have to put gas every couple of days. I spend more money putting gas. The steering and suspension and the tires keep giving me problems to where the brakes locked up on their own and now it drives really bad especially on the freeway. The steering wheel moves alot when I'm on the freeway sometimes feel like I'm loosing cont... Read more
Incident date: Sep 22, 2023
Place vehicle into reverse gear, then backup camera displays on infotainment screen, The view on the screen displayed in purple , green and blue hues making the image of what is behind the vehicle unclear and unsafe to operate in reverse.
Incident date: Sep 22, 2023
Driving on hiway and vehicle shifted gears. Would no shift normally afterwards. Tried several times. Left myself and granddaughter in hiway in danger. Had local mechanic inspect the vehicle. Was told defective shifting linkage. Has occurred multiple times.
Incident date: Sep 16, 2023
My husband was driving down the street in our 2020 Kia soul when under the hood of the car started to smoke profusely and a fire broke out under the hood of the car the engine was affected the car no longer turns on or turns over there was a recall for the engine overheating however we took it into a Kia location and June and they said nothing was wrong we took it in in May for recalls they said n... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Sep 16, 2023
Engine problems . Oil problems. Metal shavings in the oil and took to a mechanic and they said it needs a new engine. Also the heater isn’t working. Check engine light would go on and off. Had the oil changed beforehand. Says reduced engine power. Took daughter to work stopped at gas station and shut it off came back out and wouldn’t start had to have it towed home.
Incident date: Sep 20, 2023
The engine was has blown twice the first day 95000 miles and again at under 6000 miles. And there is still a bad knock and major vibration and ticking noise coming from the car. We told the car we no longer have faith in this car and didn't want it no more and all he did was see if he could get us another loan to trade it in. We're now scared to really ride in to and can't get no one to help us on... Read more
Incident date: Sep 20, 2023
The engine was has blown twice the first day 95000 miles and again at under 6000 miles. And there is still a bad knock and major vibration and ticking noise coming from the car. We told the car we no longer have faith in this car and didn't want it no more and all he did was see if he could get us another loan to trade it in. We're now scared to really ride in to and can't get no one to help us on... Read more
Incident date: Sep 17, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving approximately 60 MPH, the vehicle suddenly stalled. The vehicle was later taken to the local mechanic who diagnosed that the purge valve was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The contact also indicated that the vehicle had previously experienced rough idling, check engine light illuminated, fuel ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 1, 2023
Vehicle has 59,000 miles on it currently I am a Toyota certified collision tech so I try to fix my own cars and not cause unnecessary visits to the dealer and my car started making a wining/clicking noise early 2022 around 55,000 miles. So I tried to diagnose this problem I replaced both front wheel bearings and it seemed to get a little better. Then it got exceptionally worse after about 57,000... Read more
Incident date: Sep 18, 2023
Error message popped on my screen steering might require extra force and shortly after that I lost power steering, cruise control, automatic emergency, braking, forward collision warning land departure etc. Contacted Tesla service to acquire about recalls since I remember reading about it.
Incident date: Sep 18, 2023
The contact owned a 2020 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated while driving approximately 15 MPH, the vehicle in front of the contact had lost control and ended across the lane. The contact stated that the road was a gravel road and the driver of the other vehicle had created a dust cloud that obscured the vehicle. The contact stated that her vehicle crashed into the other vehicle on their pass... Read more
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Sep 18, 2023
rear view mirror detached
Incident date: Sep 21, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 BMW 320I. The contact stated that on several occasions while driving at various speeds, the vehicle started overheating. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was steered to the side of the road and inspected. The contact stated that he observed a burning odor coming from the engine compartment. The vehicle was taken to an indep... Read more