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 11, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 Thor Outlaw Motorhome built on a 2014 Ford F-550 Super Duty chassis. The contact stated she noticed that the front cap was separating from the structure. The contact took the motorhome to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the front cap to be replaced. The motorhome was not repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage w... Read more
Incident date: Aug 19, 2023
The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed and making a turn, the contact heard an abnormal sound coming from the vehicle. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was diagnosed by a dealer with hub bearing and tie rod failure. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was... Read more
Incident date: Aug 11, 2023
On Friday, August 11th. My wife and I were traveling on I-70 Eastbound from Colorado to Kansas. On several occasions during the trip, we experienced phantom braking while using the adaptive cruise control. The car would immediately brake at highway speeds, slowing rapidly when nothing was on the road. Luckily every time this happened there were no cars immediately behind us as it could have eas... Read more
Incident date: Aug 11, 2023
I bought a 2022 mustang Mach e. Which was supposedly fixed at the factory in regards to the HVBJB issue. However, in mid 2023, my vehicle suffered a limp mode/warning about reduced power while on the interstate, was limited to about 60mph with very poor acceleration. Was diagnosed by ford tech as a failure of the recalled part and required HVBJB and BECM replacement, similar to 22V-412 recall. I ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 11, 2023
I bought a 2022 mustang Mach e. Which was supposedly fixed at the factory in regards to the HVBJB issue. However, in mid 2023, my vehicle suffered a limp mode/warning about reduced power while on the interstate, was limited to about 60mph with very poor acceleration. Was diagnosed by ford tech as a failure of the recalled part and required HVBJB and BECM replacement, similar to 22V-412 recall. I ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 15, 2023
I was exiting the highway onto a Blvd and I slowed down. The car all of a sudden accelerated by itself, went over the exit curb and hit the central median of the blvd. Fortunately, no vehicles on the blvd wer crossing when this happened. I was fortunately not physically hurt in the incident but it could have been afr worse if I had a vehicle in my front or on the lvd when the incident happened.
Crash
Incident date: Aug 15, 2023
Truck shuts down, power steering quits working and forces vehicle wheel back other direction, stablitrack light comes on, ac shuts down, truck loses power, sometimes completely shuts down while turning.
Incident date: Aug 15, 2023
Truck shuts down, power steering quits working and forces vehicle wheel back other direction, stablitrack light comes on, ac shuts down, truck loses power, sometimes completely shuts down while turning.
Incident date: Aug 21, 2023
The stabilitrak notification appeared on my dashboard while driving on the highway, which immediately caused the car to slow down. It was a hazard as I had to maneuver over 4 lanes on a highway at high speed to move to safety. This issue has occurred three times and is currently on the fourth as the vehicle is at the Chevrolet dealer. It is going on three weeks on my fourth return in 6 months with... Read more
Incident date: Aug 14, 2023
I purchased our Tesla model Y 3 years ago. I intentionally disabled and did not subscribe to any autonomous driving features because I don’t trust them. I disabled all aspects of auto pilot functions. Despite this, my car still will automatically swerve at random times, slam on the brakes randomly with no reason to break, etc. It is terrifying when this happens unexpectedly and infuriating that... Read more
Incident date: Aug 14, 2023
Car is stalling and won’t accelerate over 45 mph.
Incident date: Aug 14, 2023
Car is 4 months old 12,000 miles. 3 intermittent episodes upon startup car has only 20% power even with gas pedal to the floor like it’s in limp home mode. All episodes so far on cold start up 60-80 degree weather. No CEL lights, no misfire, no odd smells. YouTube poster has same problem and ran obd scan tool showing crank position sensor malfunction. Others suspect problem is software issue as... Read more
Incident date: Aug 6, 2023
I believe the autopilot and cruise control systems are affected. On 6-8 occasions, the cameras have picked up a non- existent hazard along the road causing the cruise control to disengage, rapidly slowing the car approximately 20 MPH in about 3 seconds. This has occurred on highways and freeways at speeds of 65-75 MPH. If there had been another vehicle traveling close behind, an accident would lik... Read more
Incident date: Aug 6, 2023
It is hard for me to steer my steering wheel. It keeps saying service power steering. This is dangerous.
Incident date: Aug 6, 2023
It is hard for me to steer my steering wheel. It keeps saying service power steering. This is dangerous.
Incident date: Aug 19, 2023
Touch capacitive buttons on the steering wheel and doors are major safety hazard. The touch buttons on the steering wheel for critical functions like blinkers, headlights, wipers and the horn are all moving with the steering wheel (so you have to look down to locate these critical functions while still moving, especially if you are turning at all), and worse, these buttons sometimes fail to activ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 19, 2023
The car will not charge on a Level 2 charger without disconnecting after 20-60 minutes due to thermal/high heat issues. This is a problem with the car, not the charger, as I have charged multiple other types of electric vehicles off of this Level 2 charger without difficulty.
Incident date: Aug 19, 2023
Abs system lights keep coming on even without system needing fixed.
Incident date: Aug 20, 2023
Transmission issues! Very hard shifting! Feels like someone ran into me from behind. Shutters while crushing at 45-48 mph. Vehicle shakes from transmission issues!! GMC will not do anything about it!
Incident date: Aug 20, 2023
Hi, The Metal, wind shield frame is blocking the driver from seeing If a person is crossing the street or not. I wish all cars have a Glass wind shield frame so we can see through. In the meantime, can I replace my metal windshield frame by a Glass frame. Thank you. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------... Read more
Incident date: Aug 20, 2023
The car inside electrical would turn on, radio on, lighting on, fan on, but the engine light would be on and the car would not start. Not even a tow truck can jump it. I've fixed it once and they said it was the alternator, but that was 6 mths ago.
Incident date: Aug 20, 2023
The torque sensor failed while turning left at a stoplight and the power steering didn't work. It was extremely difficult to keep the steering wheel rotated in order to complete the turn. I came very close to hitting the car on the opposite direction at the stoplight and to hitting the curb. The problem has been confirmed by the dealer service center. The Diagnostic Trouble Code (DTC)was B2278... Read more
Incident date: Aug 20, 2023
Transmission has been problematic for the past two years. We have had it checked twice but nothing can be found during the inspection. It shifts very roughly by jolting you forward when you are accelerating from a slow speed or at times when you are coasting as well with no foot on gas or break. You feel jolted as if you were rear ended by another vehicle. I was driving with my family, to include ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 20, 2023
Engine Valve Lifter for cylinder 3 had failed and Camshaft lobes damaged. Error codes of P0300 and P0303. Vehicle had 67,049 miles when I brought it in to be repaired at Park GMC in Greenville, SC on 12/28/2022. GMC has the lifters (they replaced all 8) and the camshaft. Failure happened while on I40 in the Smokey mountains at night while driving back from Dollywood with my family. Engine produced... Read more
Incident date: Aug 13, 2023
Car roof is delaminating.
Incident date: Aug 19, 2023
Coolant intrusion between #2 and #3 cylinders from poor design of engine block.
Incident date: Aug 19, 2023
My car is leaking coolant and needs a new coolant bypass valve. It seems like it is happening to every rav4 and camry. They put in faulty parts.
Incident date: Aug 19, 2023
All of a sudden my power steering failed while backing out of a parking space. I almost hit the car next to me because it was sudden and froze. Thank God I wasn’t on the road! Would have crashed for sure! My vehicle is only at 111000 miles!!! Insane!!! DANGEROUS
Incident date: Aug 7, 2023
Turn signals shut off after three blinks with no lane change or steering wheel movement. Lane departure / assistance fails to function. Blind spot monitor / alert fails to function. Adaptive cruise control / braking fail to function. Problem first reported to Tesla on 7/6/2023. Telsa installed software update to resolve remotely. Problem recurred 8/6/2023, towed to Tesla 8/7, Tesla replaced side c... Read more
Incident date: Aug 7, 2023
I used my rear defogger for a few minutes prior to driving. The defogger wasn't needed for the drive, I turned it off after 5 minutes of usage. After 40 minutes of driving, I smelled a faint burning smell. I arrived home at 7:59p and at 8:16 I heard a loud pop. My neighbor rang my doorbell and told me something had happened to my window. My rear window had a gaping hole in the upper left are... Read more
Incident date: Aug 7, 2023
When I took the car in for "the Works" they did not rotate the tires as the 'lug nuts were swollen and would not come off.' I percieve this as a safety issue if I have tire issues on the road. There was no incident- just a precautionary report.
Incident date: Aug 17, 2023
While we were at a speed of about 55 mph on a state highway, I had just selected cruise control when all the lights went on in the dash--including the warning lights for the brake, the check engine light--and power shut down in the vehicle as if we'd run out of gas. We were able to keep a very slow speed of about 20-25mph, but had to activate the 4-way flashers to alert other drivers that we were... Read more
Incident date: Aug 17, 2023
While we were at a speed of about 55 mph on a state highway, I had just selected cruise control when all the lights went on in the dash--including the warning lights for the brake, the check engine light--and power shut down in the vehicle as if we'd run out of gas. We were able to keep a very slow speed of about 20-25mph, but had to activate the 4-way flashers to alert other drivers that we were... Read more
Incident date: Aug 17, 2023
While I was driving my car earlier today, my Tesla Model Y experienced an unexpected steering freeze right in the middle of the freeway. This incident occurred while I was accompanied by my 2-year-old son. Initially, I was quite alarmed and attempted to exert force to guide the car towards the slower lane, but unfortunately, the steering remained unresponsive. After trying the brakes a few times a... Read more
Incident date: Aug 17, 2023
Timing chain stretching or breaking that can cause drivers to have a wreck or lose control of vehicle and also causes damage to the engine
Incident date: Aug 17, 2023
Engine start stop does not work anymore when at a stop but is causing a rough idle and sometimes will stall in traffic at low speeds.
Incident date: Aug 18, 2023
Heading to Dallas from Houston. I got halfway to Dallas and my car started making this crazy knocking noise. Sound like a Go-Kart. Well we never made it to Dallas. Check engine light didn’t come on until hours later. A knocking noise from the engine that increases in frequency as the engine rpm increases. Reduced power and/or hesitation and vibration. I realized my 2016 Hydaui did not have ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 18, 2023
My Subaru just failed inspection for a defective airbag sensor in the front passenger side. We had this repaired at a Subaru dealer in Jan 2020, to the tune of $1500. There was a recall in 2020 for this exact problem, and our vehicle fell with the guidelines (2015-2018 Foresters equipped with heated seats), but for some reason our vehicle wasn't included in the recall. So we paid for our fix out o... Read more
Incident date: Aug 18, 2023
The contact owns a 2020 Ram 1500. The contact stated his son became aware that the rear passenger’s side lug nut had fractured and separated from the wheel. The contact stated while rotating the tires, he noticed that the rear and front driver’s side lug nuts were also fractured. The contact replaced all the lug nuts. The contact called the local dealer and made them aware of the failure. The ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 30, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at approximately 35 MPH, the vehicle started to lose motive power with white smoke coming from the exhaust before the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer who diagnosed that coolant had intruded into the engine cylinders causing the engine to fail. The contact was informed that the engine short block needed... Read more
Incident date: Aug 7, 2023
Dealer is refusing to replace a failed/noisy PTU as it does not have the mil code. Stellantis own paper work states it “may” have codes. Not that it must. They have refused to replace the part under the XJ1 warranty extension.
Incident date: Aug 7, 2023
At around 9:10 p.m. on 7/26/2023, I was driving 2 guests on the I-5 highway from Seattle to the airport. The car’s automatic driving assistance system suddenly failed to work. Tip 1: The steering assistance effect has been reduced 2: Lane departure avoidance function is not available; At this time, the steering wheel suddenly couldn't turn, and I felt locked tightly, unable to change lanes, so I... Read more
Incident date: Jul 26, 2023
At around 9:10 p.m. on 7/26/2023, I was driving 2 guests on the I-5 highway from Seattle to the airport. The car’s automatic driving assistance system suddenly failed to work. Tip 1: The steering assistance effect has been reduced 2: Lane departure avoidance function is not available; At this time, the steering wheel suddenly couldn't turn, and I felt locked tightly, unable to change lanes, so I... Read more
Incident date: Jul 26, 2023
2020 Chevrolet Colorado: Purchased truck in February 2023 w/25000 miles. Since purchasing truck, key would get stuck in ignition. Key gets stuck in ignition frequently and would take several minutes to release, very frustrating. Was told I was not pushing key in to release. After several months and repeated key release issues, I called dealership and was told problem was due to shifter assembly(co... Read more
Incident date: Jul 26, 2023
Van just unexpected shutdown no warming light nothing ! This is a handicap van rear entrance !!! On Tuesday August 8 2023, Daughter and handicapped granddaughter riding in van it just stopped she had to coast in the middle turn lanes until help arrived Did get daughter out in wheelchair push across 3 lanes traffic to safe very hot that day... On the NHTSA says as of January 17,2023 compaints on ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 17, 2023
The contact owns a 2021 Jeep Wrangler. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V116000 (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 dealer was not made aware of the issue. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact h... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2023
While traveling at a high speed, van's power train jerked hard and rapidly slowed on its own, not allowing me to excelerate. Almost rear ended by following vehicle that managed to swerve around to avoid my rapid deceleration. Check engine light came on and was hard to start. Had to allow the van to sit a while before I was able to start. Van acted like it was in limp mode. This malfunction has... Read more
Incident date: Aug 10, 2023
There are a couple of issues causing our concerns about the car. 1. Alternator - The alternator was reported went bad after only 4 years of usage, the dealer refused to pay the fixing cost for this. Due to the failure of the alternator, the car lost all the power in the middle of the road with our entire family in the car during the night, very dangerous. The car suddenly stopped at the road with... Read more
Incident date: Jun 19, 2023
I purchased a 2012 Ford Fiesta SE on 3/3/23 from Auto Nation Dealership in Florida. I started noticing the excessive jerking & hesitating when I hit the gas petal. I can't pinpoint exactly when it started but it got progressively worse. I scheduled an appt. with Mechanic for 7/26/23 after almost driving into car in front of me and concerned about getting hit from behind or even worse plowing into ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 19, 2023
The contact's son owns a 2017 Ford Edge. The contact stated while his son was driving 50-60 MPH and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle failed to respond. The contact's son veered to the side of the road. An unknown warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that there was coolant intrusion in cylinder #4, and that the failure ... Read more