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 6, 2023
On Monday, August 7, 2023, I was accelerating, using the gear shifter and then went back into automatic-mode and the lights came on and car just stopped. It wouldn't restart - there was no noise, but the battery seemed to be working as the radio, lights, clock, etc. were all working fine. I was travelling at about 40 mph. There was a small shoulder and I was able to pull off, but I wasn't all the ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 6, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Ram 1500. The contact stated while driving approximately 45 MPH and other various speeds, the instrument cluster went blank. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the instrument cluster failure was intermittent at first but had become a constant failure. The contact stated that the instrument cluster was no longer operational. The cont... Read more
Incident date: Jul 1, 2023
1)the engine died upon stopping at the stop light,but was able to start again.the engine light & stability control light came on. the service dept replaced the battery and neutral switch was also replaced. 2) check engine light & stability control light came on again in the same situation.the technician suggested to remove the aftermarket alarm system for less than $1k(6hours of labor). I took the... Read more
Incident date: Aug 7, 2023
Unknown. I was driving and my car slowed to a stop and started smoking. The engine stopped and I couldn’t restart the car. Kia says the engine block threw a rod. But they won’t cover saying I don’t have sufficient service records.. I can’t get records from an out of business shop. Insurance won’t cover saying this is a warranty thing. I bought this car brand new cash purchase only a few ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 7, 2023
I was driving on a rural, two-lane highway with no other cars around and with cruise control engaged. Without warning, the car decelerated suddenly and rapidly from about 60 MPH and continued to decelerate until I pressed on the accelerator pedal (at about 40 to 45 MPH) to stop the deceleration. It happened at least 5 times during a drive from Spring Grove, IL to Champaign, IL on July 7, 2023, b... Read more
Incident date: Jul 7, 2023
Vehicle was set up per manual to be flat towed behind our motorhome. We followed the set-up steps according to the manual exactly. When driving and applying the brakes for more than a few seconds the front tires would lock up and squeal. This same situation happened when making a hard curve like a cloverleaf exit ramp.
Incident date: Jul 7, 2023
Vehicle was set up per manual to be flat towed behind our motorhome. We followed the set-up steps according to the manual exactly. When driving and applying the brakes for more than a few seconds the front tires would lock up and squeal. This same situation happened when making a hard curve like a cloverleaf exit ramp.
Incident date: Aug 9, 2023
During auto pilot or cruise control the vehicle suddenly brakes causing a sudden deceleration with no obstacles or obstruction! Phantom braking! Happens several times during a trip.
Incident date: Aug 9, 2023
The contact owns a 2020 Honda Pilot. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V431000 (Back Over Prevention) however, the contact drove her vehicle to a dealer prior to receiving the recall letter due to the failure of the camera image. The contact stated that the vehicle was repaired, however, the rear view camera failure reoccurred. The contact was in reverse (R) and backing... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Aug 9, 2023
Parking brake cable retainer clip that extends above the driveshaft all the way to the rear wheels has broken and now cable scrapes against drive shaft causing a loud unpleasant concerning grinding noise when accelerating. The dealer were I service my vehicle is aware of issue, the part is a very inexpensive part, ranging from $12 to $50 depending ware you purchase but the dealer wants to charge $... Read more
Incident date: Aug 7, 2023
The contact owns a 2020 Ram 1500. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V767000 (Fuel System, Gasoline, Engine) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was not contacted. 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 and informed ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 7, 2023
When traveling on the highway at cruising speeds of 65mph or higher while in "cruise control" the car will suddenly slam the brakes on. Luckily there has not been any one close to me to cause a rear end collision. It seems to be random but there are times when it happens more often. On a two lane highway or if a car in front of me is slowing down to make a turn. One time a car entered the high... Read more
Incident date: Aug 7, 2023
Sliding passenger door staying in the unlock position
Incident date: Aug 7, 2023
The contact owns a 2013 Infiniti QX56. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the vehicle made an abnormally loud ticking sound. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the timing chain had failed, and the failure was related to Infiniti Campaign Number: P6305. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was no... Read more
Incident date: Jul 26, 2023
Vehicle began to shudder on the highway, managed to pull off at next exit and drive to nearest gas station approximately 3 miles away from the highway. Vehicle was towed to neared GM dealership. Dealership has determined that the fault is caused by a failed or multiple failed Camshaft Lifters inside the engine. This has been reported to be a common issue with the GM 5.3L Engine with no active reca... Read more
Incident date: Aug 8, 2023
User interface for HVAC, entertainment system, and everything through the Ford Sync screen is unusable. Had this repaired 11 months prior. Issue returned. Dealer says , “There are several things going on with it. 1 The front inter face control module 2. Display screen and 3. APIM. Parts labor and tax it would run $2,670.00.” There are many instances of reports of these issues with not o... Read more
Incident date: Aug 2, 2023
the autopilot was engaged and the system failed, it james the breaks hard and it started scraping the body above the tire
Incident date: Aug 2, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Dodge Grand Caravan. The contact stated that the passenger’s side sliding door failed to open as designed. The contact stated that the driver’s side sliding door made a buzzing sound while coming from the power lock actuator. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The local dealer and manufacturer were notified of the failures, but no assistance was offered. The contact was ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 2, 2023
We have had numerous times that the vehicle ignition system will not turn off after pushing the stop button. The motor will stop but the ignition and radio system stay on. The car must be restarted(sometimes numerous times) and shut down before the ignition system shuts down. I have seen many other owner's complaints about this same problem on (carcomplaints .com).
Incident date: Aug 7, 2023
While traveling at highway speeds from Colorado to Texas and from Texas back to Colorado my car continuously slammed on the brakes without warning while the autopilot(cruise control) was engaged. There was no visible evidence or object in common for each event. What made this dangerous is any untied objects in the car would shift forward and the vehicles behind me would have to slam on their bra... Read more
Incident date: Aug 7, 2023
After sitting overnight, in reverse gear/backing out, you hear grinding noise from the rear brakes. It sounds as if the rear caliper(s) are binding on the rotors(s). Ford dealers said it”s normal, no It’s not! Going forward the noise stops.
Incident date: Aug 7, 2023
I am the second owner of this vehicle. Shortly after purchase (mileage 26,401) the Hydraulic Control Unit (Control for Anti-lock braking system) failed. Dodge dealer installed OEM replacement in March 2022. The same component (Hydraulic Control Unit (HCU)) failed again July 2023. Dodge dealer scheduled service/replacement for August 3, 2023. Upon delivery of vehicle for service I am told Chrysler... Read more
Incident date: Jul 22, 2023
Service shifter message was displayed along with one chime.
Incident date: Jul 22, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 Audi A5. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle inadvertently lost motive power, prompting the contact to pull over to the shoulder. The check engine and EPS warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed a failure with piston #3. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, who confirmed the fail... Read more
Incident date: Jul 19, 2023
My father was involved in a car crash, front end into a wall. Apparently, the front end collison warning did not sound and the auto braking system never engaged. Prior to the accident, the front end collsion warning would come on intermittently, but the dealer checked it out and stated it was working normally (San Bruno Hyundai). AFter the collision repair, the warning light comes on and the ca... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jul 18, 2023
The contact owns a 2012 Chrysler 300. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH, there was a burning odor inside the vehicle. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact pulled over on the side of the road and examined under the hood of the vehicle and noticed there was smoke coming from the alternator. After the vehicle cooled down, the contact was able to drive the vehicle back to the resi... Read more
Incident date: Jul 22, 2023
Coolant leak into engine, causing substantial issues.
Incident date: Aug 5, 2023
I was driving on the highway, on the way to the beach with my family and our pup! We heard a pop and thought maybe it was the tire but the engine began smoking. I pulled the vehicle over as safely as possible. I popped the hood and there was a fire. Everyone evacuated the vehicle as quickly and safely as possible. I was the last to get out of the vehicle. Within minutes the entire vehicle was engu... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Aug 2, 2023
On August 2, 2023 at 0400, the Tesla M3 was charging in the garage using a home charger. Smoke indicative of an electrical fire likely originated from the vehicle and eventually triggered a smoke alarm in the kitchen. The driver was unaware the source of the smoke was the Tesla, disconnected the Tesla and moved it out of the house to protect the vehicleb assuming a fire was in the house, and calle... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Aug 2, 2023
Our car repeatedly fails to complete charging using Level 2 chargers at 48-amps. The car sends an overheating error, stops charging and then starts charging again later (presumably after it has cooled down). Sometimes is fails to restart charging completely. This makes it impossible to get a fast, reliable Level 2 charge in a timely manner. We get a text to our cell phones alerting us that cha... Read more
Incident date: Aug 2, 2023
As you are driving the vehicle will randomly down shift into first gear, causing the vehicle to potentially slam into first while in mid drive almost as if you hit a wall, this causes the vehicle to lose any information on the dash including speedometer. There are no warning lamps on prior to incident. Took it to a dealer to have it diagnosed and diagnosis was recorded as Transmission speed sensor... Read more
Incident date: Aug 6, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 Mazda CX-5. The contact stated that when he turned off the vehicle, the radio remained operational. The contact disconnected and reconnected the battery. 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 approximately 191,493.
Incident date: Jul 30, 2023
While driving the motorcycle I lose the ability to pull in the front brake for a few seconds. When I pulled in the clutch to slow down the ABS and Traction Control error lights went off. At this moment I was able to pull the front brake again. I immediately took the bike in for service. The technician said the speed sensor was backing out of the bike and applied loctite. First, the speed sens... Read more
Incident date: Jul 30, 2023
Loss of power/misfire on cylinder 6 Diagnosis is cam/lifters. 8/4/2023 120k miles. Shift to park warning at 60,000 miles. continues. Max speed held to 65mph due to abs system???? for 10 minutes at approximately 90k miles. Park assist failure (complete) at approximately 80k miles.
Incident date: Aug 7, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Tesla Model S. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V035000 (Back Over Prevention, Visibility, Exterior Lighting) 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 that while reversing at 5 MPH, the back over pre... Read more
Incident date: Aug 7, 2023
I was turning left into a parking spot at work with my foot slightly on the break when my engine revvved and my car accelerated at face pace and my brakes were unresponsive causing me to hit a parked truck in front of me. Upon impact my vehicle kept trying to accelerate causing me to keep pushing the truck until my front right side of my car broke off. My car STILL kept accelerating and went acros... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Aug 7, 2023
I was turning left into a parking spot at work with my foot slightly on the break when my engine revvved and my car accelerated at face pace and my brakes were unresponsive causing me to hit a parked truck in front of me. Upon impact my vehicle kept trying to accelerate causing me to keep pushing the truck until my front right side of my car broke off. My car STILL kept accelerating and went acros... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Aug 7, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 Ram 1500. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V406000 (Fuel System, Diesel) and 23V411000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the parts to do the recall repairs were not yet available. The local dealer was contacted, and the contact was informed that the parts for the recall repairs were not yet available. No information on parts availability was ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 7, 2023
The contact owns a 2014 Ram 1500. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V406000 (Fuel System, Diesel) and 23V411000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the parts to do the recall repairs were not yet available. The local dealer was contacted, and the contact was informed that the parts for the recall repairs were not yet available. No information on parts availability was ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 20, 2023
I did have an incident in July of 2022, my car would not get out of park. I was in a drive through and put my car in park. When I went to put my car in drive. The vehicle completely shut off and began to roll backwards. The next set of issues, I first noticed the issues in the beginning of 2023. The service 4wd light is on and the parking brake will not engage. The 4wd itself works just fine, each... Read more
Incident date: Aug 7, 2023
Was informed during inspection the subframe is rusted very badly and could fail. In doing research the 2009 Ford escape has had these recalled for this specific reason that the subframe components were not properly coated causing rust and failure. My VIN isn't on the list after speaking to Ford. My next step is to address you to see if it needed to get added as it is exact nature of the original ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 5, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport. The contact stated that upon taken the vehicle to an independent mechanic for an oil change, she was informed that there was no oil in the vehicle. The mechanic determined that oil was leaking into the engine and the spark plugs needed to be replaced. The mechanic replaced the spark plugs on 4 occasions; however, the failure persisted. The contact s... Read more
Incident date: Mar 10, 2023
The speaker volume will turn up to max constantly while driving randomly without user touching the screen. The display screen will constantly flash random map and zooming in and out of random places. The screen also flash the auto control constantly. It like a ghost in the screen.
Incident date: Aug 5, 2023
I’m driving with cruise control on the highway at 65 and all of a sudden it shuts off. The check cruise system light comes on along with a triangle with an exclamation point in the middle of it in the lower left side of dashboard and the letters EPB lights up on the lower right side of dashboard.
Incident date: Jul 31, 2023
Hi, I was on cruise control (not autosteer) on highway and I just applied turn signal and my Model Y suddenly applied brakes and speed was reduced to around 50MPh from 70MPh. We might get into some serious accident if there was a car behind us. Need someone to look into issue please.
Incident date: Jul 31, 2023
Hi, I was on cruise control (not autosteer) on highway and I just applied turn signal and my Model Y suddenly applied brakes and speed was reduced to around 50MPh from 70MPh. We might get into some serious accident if there was a car behind us. Need someone to look into issue please.
Incident date: Aug 5, 2023
Hi, I was on cruise control (not autosteer) on highway and I just applied turn signal and my Model Y suddenly applied brakes and speed was reduced to around 50MPh from 70MPh. We might get into some serious accident if there was a car behind us. Need someone to look into issue please.
Incident date: Aug 5, 2023
Car just hit 100000 miles. Engine light came on . Took to Barnes Crossing Ford in New Albany. After inspection was in formed coolant was leaking into engine and block needed to be replaced.The car did not overheat but the coolant leaking into engine could have ignited a fire due to other chemicals present such as oil, and other fluids needed to operate motor. TSB was already issued regarding this... Read more
Incident date: Aug 5, 2023
Car just hit 100000 miles. Engine light came on . Took to Barnes Crossing Ford in New Albany. After inspection was in formed coolant was leaking into engine and block needed to be replaced.The car did not overheat but the coolant leaking into engine could have ignited a fire due to other chemicals present such as oil, and other fluids needed to operate motor. TSB was already issued regarding this... Read more