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: Jul 13, 2023
Phantom braking occurs in cruise control for no reason and with no warning. The car is available for inspection. Many other Tesla drivers have described the same situation. On a recent cross country trip phantom braking happened frequently. We made sure there was no one behind us when we engaged cruise to avoid being rear ended. We were in NV when it happened again- this time a big rig had safe ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 13, 2023
When braking to slow down in a roundabout, I had to push my brakes down further than usual to stop. After this various warning, signals came on my dashboard: brakes, slip indicator, brake system warning light, PCS, ABS. I took it in to Toyota dealer they said I needed to replace my master cylinder kit and brake booster pump. My concern is that when I went online, I discovered this has been an on ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 13, 2023
According to the dealership the engine has sludge and unrepairable
Incident date: Jul 14, 2023
1.We purchased the vehicle (Hyundai Ioniq 5, 2022 Model) on MAY 20, 2022. 2.The vehicle was acceptable until it started to fail on us while we were on the road, and soon after the vehicle crawled home at limited power and came to a stop, it would no longer even turn on. 3.Then started our nightmare with Hyundai USA. We called the service department and they told us, based on our brief description ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 30, 2023
When setting cruise control to speed limit then pressing brake and then resume the jeep sone times accelerates to a higher speed the. Having to break again. Has been reoccurring nervous when driving and setting cruise or resuming. Have not taken it in as of yet.
Incident date: Jun 9, 2023
Rearview mirror camera failed causing rearview mirror monitor to fail creating a blind spot while trying to back up. When i went back to visually inspect the camera assembly nothing looked damaged and when i physically touched the camera it was extremely hot to the touch to the point of burning my finger tip.
Incident date: Jun 9, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Infiniti Q50. The contact stated that the back-up camera was flickering while in use. The contact stated that over time, the back-up camera screen had gone blank and failed to operate as needed. Upon investigation, the contact discovered NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V654000 (Back Over Prevention) which she linked to the failure. The dealer was not made aware of the failure. The... Read more
Incident date: Jun 21, 2023
While traveling on I70 from Columbia, Missouri to Grand Junction, Colorado and back, we experienced at least 30 incidents of sudden braking while in adaptive cruise control. Some of the incidents were rapid, causing the car to lose 20 to 30 mph within a second. For the most part these occurrences of sudden braking happened on open highway with no other vehicle within 1/2 mile in front of us. W... Read more
Incident date: Jun 21, 2023
All dash lights come on. Fcw system failure. Abs/vsa module failed is what me and a lot of other people with the same car, have the same issues. Abs brake module to replace is $1100 and on backorder and alot of people can't drive there cars, some have had issues that almost caused accidents, mine seems to run fine for now, just started happening. Honda needs to do something about this, way to many... Read more
Incident date: Jun 21, 2023
All dash lights come on. Fcw system failure. Abs/vsa module failed is what me and a lot of other people with the same car, have the same issues. Abs brake module to replace is $1100 and on backorder and alot of people can't drive there cars, some have had issues that almost caused accidents, mine seems to run fine for now, just started happening. Honda needs to do something about this, way to many... Read more
Incident date: Jul 9, 2023
HeV and engine light came on while car was in motion and immediately lost power/decelerated, causing traffic hazzard to other potential drivers due to sudden and unexpected change in speed and inability to move car out of road. There were no prior warnings. Car is in shop and available for inspection.
Incident date: Jun 16, 2023
I posted when this happened but didn't know what it was. On 5/16/23, I was driving on highway going about 60 mph when my vehicle completely shut off with no warning. I lost all control except I could steer a little. Thank God, I was able to get off the road safely. I had no brakes and had to drift to a stop. It never started again. I had my granddaughter with me. I'm 62 years old and I've been dri... Read more
Incident date: Jun 16, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Mustang. The contact stated while reversing, the rear-view camera screen was blank. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the wiring harness for the rear-view camera to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but continued to experience a failure. The contact took the veh... Read more
Incident date: Nov 28, 2022
I was on my way home, its a 15 minute drive, I was about 5 minutes from home, I was on 279 North doing 50 mph, no warning at all the gas pedal started to lock, then the brakes and steering wheel. Next thing I sern was a flame out of my exhaust and smoke under my hood. I thought the car was going to burn up. No check engine light came on, no warning lights, NOTHING, had to get it towed off the hi... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while driving at 35 MPH, the vehicle came to a complete stop. The contact attempted to accelerate, and the vehicle stalled while making an unusual sound. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with a faulty fuel pump. The contact was informed that the upper high-pressure fuel pump needed to be replaced; however, the ... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2023
My rear passenger suspension has multiple part damage. Rear shock bracket failure and other parts.
Incident date: Jun 6, 2023
TRACTION CONTROL WARNING LIGHT INDICATE STABILITRAC NEEDS SERVICE AND IS NOT ON. OBD CODE READS BAD STEERING SENSOR. ACCORDING TO OTHER GM OWNERS ONLINE THIS IS A CONSTANT PROBLEM WITH THESE VEHICLES. MANY SHOW THE REPAIR INSTRUCTIONS ON LINE. THE WARNING LIGHT HAS BEEN OFF AND ON FOR SOME TIME WHEN CAR IS COOL ITS OFF WHEN IT SETS IN THE SUN IT GOES ON. I HAVE CONTACTED THE TOPEKA KS GM DEA... Read more
Incident date: Jul 12, 2023
12v battery failed without warning. Car was parked. Was unresponsive. Could not unlock the car. Able to open trunk and passenger side door only. Drivers side would not open. Touchscreen black no power to Do anything car essentially dead with no warning. There should have been on screen display informing driver of the need to replace 12v battery. There was none. Car needed to be towed. ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 12, 2023
Engine started knocking pretty bad during a trip. Just over 80,000 miles not covering due to 2nd owner.
Incident date: Jul 12, 2023
While attempting to reverse the vehicle has a delay, or rolls forward, and then vehicle will hard shift into gear quite roughly. the vehicle was taken to the dealership in 02/23 for repair where it spent 2 weeks at a mileage of 5650. the dealership did what they would fix the issue. Well in June 2023 the issue started happening again, and now slips while driving. For as much as i paid for this ca... Read more
Incident date: Jul 12, 2023
Rear right passenger lock actuator failing to unlock randomly, sometimes locks only partially.
Incident date: Jul 12, 2023
Front windshield pillars came off auto while driving. The passenger side flew off in July 2022 and the driver side came off in July 2023. Nether hit a car behind us but it happened on the freeway so could not stop to find the piece. We had the passenger side replaced by Vroom auto shop and just ordered a non OEM part for the driver side. If we have Ford replace it the cost is about $500 EACH.
Incident date: Jul 12, 2023
The adaptive cruise control malfunctioned while engaged on the highway/interstate. On a recent trip of approx. 1,000 miles, the vehicle experienced "phantom braking" (aggressive emergency braking for no reason) on three occasions while the adaptive cruise control was engaged on the highway/interstate at approx. 65-75 mph, with no obstruction/vehicle in front and the weather was clear sunny skies. ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 12, 2023
The contact owns a 2007 Honda CR-V. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V228000 (Structure); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer and other unknown dealers were notified of the issue. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of t... Read more
Incident date: Jul 12, 2023
The contact owns a 2003 Mercedes-Benz C320. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V954000 (Visibility) however, the contact was advised by the dealer that he needed to open and close the sunroof to perform the recall however, if the motor failed the contact would pay for the repair of the motor. The contact called the manufacturer and was provided with the same information.... Read more
Incident date: Jul 13, 2023
Constant phantom breaking
Incident date: Jul 13, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid. The contact stated that while driving approximately 70 MPH with the accelerator pedal depressed, the vehicle started to lose power with the Hybrid and check engine warning lights illuminated. The contact veered to the side of the roadway. The contact shut off and restarted the vehicle however, the vehicle stalled and was not able to be restarted. The ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 13, 2023
Takata recall. The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact received notification of the NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V334000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. An undisclosed dealer was contacted 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. T... Read more
Incident date: Jul 8, 2023
The contact owns a 2008 Honda CR-V. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to the dealer for the recall repair of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V228000 (Structure) and an unknown door latch recall; however, while driving after the vehicle was returned, the contact became that the doors were no longer closing securely, and the vehicle failed to respond immediately while depressing the brake pedal... Read more
Incident date: Jul 13, 2023
The tail light assembly mounting fastener failed and the tail light assembly fell out of the rear bumper assembly. There was no indication of a failure while driving. Apparently this is a known issue with the 991.1 version of the 911. I’ve owned the car since new (MY 2013), have it serviced at a Porsche dealership and have not been notified of the potential safety issue.
Incident date: Jul 13, 2023
Coolant leak which is causing engine to overheat. This is a common problem with Fords but my VIN is not included. Has been confirmed by an independent service center. It’s a safety issue that could cause the vehicle to overheat and disable. I keep having to add coolant at times on side of road. I receive an engine coolant above temperature and a check engine light.
Incident date: Jul 10, 2023
I have a 2018 Ford Escape with 71,500 miles. Within the last 6 weeks the engine had run rough a couple of times and check engine light had come on, my mechanic ran the code which was for misfiring, it stopped happening and the light went off though it turned on and off 1-2 more times over the next few weeks. On July 4th, while driving, I got a large warning that the engine was overheating and to p... Read more
Incident date: Jul 10, 2023
I was in a car accident and my airbags did not deploy. No warning lights on prior to the accident.
Crash
Incident date: Apr 2, 2022
The issue pertains to a persistent warning message that displays "front passenger safety restraint system fault" with associated error code "rcm_a056". This warning suggests a potential malfunction in the safety restraint system, which could pose a significant risk to the passenger in the event of an accident. Tesla Service quoted $1180 for the repair including replacing the front passenger airbag... Read more
Incident date: Jul 11, 2023
The contact owns a 2023 Piaggio MP3 530 Exclusive Motorcycle. The contact stated that while his feet were on the running board with the wheels locked, the motorcycle jumped to the right and he fell to the ground and sustained injuries to his elbow, muscles, and arm. The driver was taken to the hospital and was provided medical attention. There were no warning lights illuminated. While at a stop li... Read more
1 injured
Incident date: Jul 11, 2023
The component that failed was the fuel level sender. The attachment shows that I had it repaired by Audi. They found low static resistance which is the same issue they recalled 46,000 other vehicles for including 2019, just not Q7. The car is available for inspection. My safety was put at risk because the gas and did not work on the safety of others was put at risk because I could have run out of ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 19, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled. Several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to a dealer, who informed the contact that the engine needed to be replaced; however, the repair would not be covered under warranty. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage wa... Read more
Incident date: Jul 10, 2023
EPS (Power Steering Rack and Pinion) Driving on the interstate when my whole EPS (Power Steering System) failed at 75MPH. Never had had prior issues, No warning lights until after the system failed
Incident date: Jul 10, 2023
Jan 2023-check engine light for oil came on-just had oil change November 21, 2022 and only went 3000 miles. No oil in engine so it was topped off at a local Volkswagon Satellite and inspected for leaks no leaks found. Mid Feb 2023 had to put 2 quarts oil in car and high pitch noise/humming coming from car when driving. Mar 2023 went to VW dealership and explained noise and oil. They said noise w... Read more
Incident date: Jul 8, 2023
Received Manufacturer Recall Number APA1, NHTSA Recall Number 23V033, which states that "on the affected vehicles, there is a possibility of humidity ingress into the external coolant pump for the climate control system." The recall notice stated that "this could cause a short circuit and, in some instances, thermal damage. This can occur even after the vehicle is turned off, if the engine residu... Read more
Incident date: Jul 8, 2023
The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen Taos. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle was driving rough. The contact stated that the EPC and check engine warning lights were illuminated. After restarting the vehicle, the vehicle operated normally. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. After retrieving the vehicle, th... Read more
Incident date: Aug 27, 2021
The contact owns a 2016 Fiat 500. The contact stated while driving 50 MPH, the transmission was slipping, and the vehicle lost motive power. No warning light was illuminated. The failure recurred several times. The contact restarted the vehicle and forcefully shifted the transmission into 2nd gear to prevent losing motive power. The contact was able to drive to the residence. The vehicle was not d... Read more
Incident date: Aug 27, 2021
Starting in August of 2022 I started getting error messages from the car about Electronic Stability Control, Antilock Brake Systems, and Collision Avoidance problems. These seemed to come and go. But if I was on the highway with Cruise Control on and these messages appeared the car immediately drops out of Cruise Control. In addition if it happened while braking the pedal would go almost to the... Read more
Incident date: Jul 11, 2023
Received an error "Front left safety restraint system fault. Service is required." error on my vehicle yesterday (7/11/2023) which disappears when lifting seat to highest position. As soon as seat is lowered more than 1/2" the error reappears and airbag light is illuminating notifying that the airbag is not enabled. This error is clearly an issue with the safety restraint system on the vehicle b... Read more
Incident date: Jul 11, 2023
Charging at home with a 240v level 2 charger overheats the car charging port causing a charge failure. This is a potential fire hazard.
Incident date: Jul 11, 2023
was traveling about 45mph when warning lights come on engine light, brake light, abs light and "P" light and traction light. When brake petal was applied the petal went to the floor. Emergency brake would not work.
Incident date: Jun 29, 2023
The Driver Seat Lumbar suddenly broke while driving, which caused a sudden unplanned shit of my driving position. There was also a loud hardware breaking or snapping apart, which caused a certain degree of panic and distraction while driving. I fixed the broken lumbar seat approximately less than two years ago and now the incident I mentioned previously, has happened again. I paid for the first re... Read more
Incident date: Jun 29, 2023
The Driver Seat Lumbar suddenly broke while driving, which caused a sudden unplanned shit of my driving position. There was also a loud hardware breaking or snapping apart, which caused a certain degree of panic and distraction while driving. I fixed the broken lumbar seat approximately less than two years ago and now the incident I mentioned previously, has happened again. I paid for the first re... Read more
Incident date: Jun 26, 2023
Informed by Al Serra at 4200 Bay Rd in Saginaw, MI 48603 that there are holes present in the frame that pose a dire safety concern. This is a known issue with this model year, but Toyota says the recall is no longer valid.