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: Oct 17, 2025
On October 17, 2025, while using Full Self-Driving (FSD) mode on my 2021 Tesla Model S Plaid, the car failed to stop at two red lights within a three-hour period. In each case, the car attempted to drive through the intersection even though the signal was solid red. I intervened manually and applied the brakes to prevent a potential collision. There were no prior warnings or alerts, and I have not... Read more
Incident date: Sep 25, 2025
On October 17, 2025, while using Full Self-Driving (FSD) mode on my 2021 Tesla Model S Plaid, the car failed to stop at two red lights within a three-hour period. In each case, the car attempted to drive through the intersection even though the signal was solid red. I intervened manually and applied the brakes to prevent a potential collision. There were no prior warnings or alerts, and I have not... Read more
Incident date: Oct 15, 2025
When I change gears to P or R the car shut down , also it shakes when I break
Incident date: Oct 18, 2025
Pulling into traffic car stalled without warning. Went from about 25 MPH to a complete stop in approximately in less than 100 feet. Car sputtered with transmission grabbing intermittently as it jerked to a stop. Restarted about several times with similar behavior. (Covered under 60,000-mile warranty (actual mileage ~55,000)). Replaced fuel pump driver control module to correct. No accident due to ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 18, 2025
The "Front passenger safety restraint system" is prone to errors because the wiring for it beneath the seat is prone to getting knocked loose and electrical interference
Incident date: Oct 18, 2025
The "Front passenger safety restraint system" is prone to errors because the wiring for it beneath the seat is prone to getting knocked loose and electrical interference
Incident date: Oct 15, 2025
Vehicle: 2022 Tesla Model S Tire: Goodyear ElectricDrive 2 255/45R19 104W XL Date of incident: October 15, 2025 Location: Chambers Rd., approximately 1.7 miles from Cosmopolitan Rd., Colorado Speed: Approximately 35 mph (speed limit 40 mph) Mileage on tire: Installed October 31, 2024 — approximately 10,000 miles of light local driving Description of the Problem At approximately 1:30 PM on Octo... Read more
Incident date: Jul 22, 2025
For no apparent reason my vehicle is shifting itself into Neutral while driving. The car will suddenly completely slow down to a stop and in order to restart the car, I have to put it in park. It doesn't matter what speed or the road condition, it simply comes to a slow stop because it is no longer in driving mode, it has shifted itself into Neutral. The recall has been serviced and after more tha... Read more
Incident date: Jul 22, 2025
On July 22, 2025, at about 6:30 PM in a western suburb of Illinois, on a hot, humid, sunny evening after my car had sat in direct sun all day, my 2022 Tesla Model Y Long Range (Dual Motor AWD) suffered a total electrical failure. As I walked up, the car unlocked automatically with my phone key as usual. I placed my dog in the back seat, closed that door, and immediately tried to open the driver’... Read more
Incident date: Jul 22, 2025
On July 22, 2025, at about 6:30 PM in a western suburb of Illinois, on a hot, humid, sunny evening after my car had sat in direct sun all day, my 2022 Tesla Model Y Long Range (Dual Motor AWD) suffered a total electrical failure. As I walked up, the car unlocked automatically with my phone key as usual. I placed my dog in the back seat, closed that door, and immediately tried to open the driver’... Read more
Incident date: Oct 13, 2025
The throttle body and valve body failed at 90,500 miles. When this occurred it went into limp mode and I could not travel ov 20 mph. Also would not go in reverse. This was very dangerous for me since most travel need to be done at high speed. Also not being able auto go in reverse has significant potential for danger. This failure has been confirmed at a Chevrolet Dealer.The dealer diagnosed th... Read more
Incident date: Oct 17, 2025
Happened twice now while driving, power steering suddenly lost and two messages on dash: Loss of Power Steering and Stabilitrak. Pulled over and turned off ignition. When restarted all errors automatically cleared and systems appear to be functioning correctly. Steering without power assist is very difficult and high safety concern at low speed driving.
Incident date: Oct 17, 2025
I am reporting a safety issue involving my 2021 Tesla Model Y. The vehicle recently displayed a “Parking brake function degraded” warning. The car has only 91,000 miles and is approximately four years old, which is far too soon for a failure of a critical safety component such as the electronic parking brake. Please investigate whether this issue is part of a wider defect affecting Tesla Mode... Read more
TESLA
CYBERTRUCK
(2024) — UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Oct 17, 2025
Incident date: Apr 1, 2025
When operating the sunshade a plastic clip sprung from the assembly mechanism that retracts the shade towards my face. Now the shade is obstructing my vision of the road and I am concerned that I am going to run over someone and/or something.
TESLA
CYBERTRUCK
(2024) — STEERING
Oct 17, 2025
Incident date: Apr 1, 2025
The contact leased a 2024 Tesla Cybertruck. The contact stated while driving 25 MPH, the windshield wipers turned off. The contact stated that the indicator was inoperable. While depressing the left turn signal, the blinker was slow to respond. While driving on a narrow street, the vehicle swerved to the right. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact received a recall letter related ... Read more
TESLA
CYBERTRUCK
(2024) — VISIBILITY:WINDSHIELD WIPER/WASHER
Oct 17, 2025
Incident date: Apr 1, 2025
The contact leased a 2024 Tesla Cybertruck. The contact stated while driving 25 MPH, the windshield wipers turned off. The contact stated that the indicator was inoperable. While depressing the left turn signal, the blinker was slow to respond. While driving on a narrow street, the vehicle swerved to the right. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact received a recall letter related ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 15, 2025
The body paint is cracking and falling down. Since five years ago this problem started.
Incident date: Oct 1, 2025
I have reported to Tesla how dangerous it can be long term to have one pedal driving and to use the accelerator as a cancelation mode to it’s many errors, see uploaded example picture. Also, having lighted notifications on mirrors causes people to subconsciously ignore actual blinkers of other vehicles; the only thing that should be on a side mirror is an adjustable fish eye mirror that allows t... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2025
Recently I had three back to back near miss head on collisions on highway early morning still dark. These three along with a previous near miss the vehicle had zero reaction to the imminent collision with roughly half a second to spare. It happened so fast that I must have let go of the record button as there was no saved video. I am working with lemon law firm and class action firm, get your crap... Read more
Incident date: Oct 6, 2025
The vehicles Charging port door is swing type and as such on the open position protrudes out of the car body. In addition it has no warning light on the dash or anywhere to indicate its orientation position like open or close , this causes confusion while driving reversing or otherwise any other operation for the driver to ascertain the same if left open .It makes the car prone to accidents and ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 6, 2025
The center display (Vehicle Pad) on my 2018 Tesla Model 3 went completely blank while driving. This eliminated access to all vital driving information including the speedometer, gear selection, and safety indicators. Safety Concern: Without visible speed data and wipers the vehicle cannot be operated safely or legally. I attempted to reboot the system and power cycle the vehicle but the screen sti... Read more
Incident date: Oct 6, 2025
The center display (Vehicle Pad) on my 2018 Tesla Model 3 went completely blank while driving. This eliminated access to all vital driving information including the speedometer, gear selection, and safety indicators. Safety Concern: Without visible speed data and wipers the vehicle cannot be operated safely or legally. I attempted to reboot the system and power cycle the vehicle but the screen sti... Read more
Incident date: Oct 5, 2025
While driving on the highway at normal operating speeds, the vehicle suddenly lost power, and the accelerator pedal became completely unresponsive, preventing me from maintaining speed or safely exiting the roadway. This created a severe safety hazard, as I was unable to maneuver or pull off to avoid fast-moving traffic. Immediately after, I attempted to shift the vehicle into “Park,” but rece... Read more
Incident date: Oct 14, 2025
At engine idle with vehicle parked or driving in heavy traffic, exhaust fumes are entering the passenger compartment. I am not aware of any apparent exhaust leak. The fumes seem to be entering by way of the fresh air intake. I have confirmed CO readings with 2 different detection devices. If the vehicle is moving the readings have been 3-96 ppm. If the vehicle remains stopped with engine running, ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 12, 2024
Car doesn't start if sitting more than 4 days untouched. When i went to the dealer, they informed me they know about the issue but nothing can be done about it. They even told me what the issue was, there's something in the car (they don't know what) that draws a lot of power non stop. kills the battery and some time will get stuck mid ignition. I've replaced the battery a few times as well. It's ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 29, 2025
The car vibrates when it drives over 65-70 mph. Passengers feel car sick. Many Wagoneer drivers experience the same problem, but there is no remedy.
Incident date: Oct 15, 2025
I experienced the blank dash cluster screen that was recalled on other models. Critical vehicle information is invisible without the screen
Incident date: Oct 15, 2025
On [XXX] at approximately [XXX], I was driving northbound on [XXX] in Phoenix, Arizona in my 2025 Tesla Model 3 using Tesla's Full Self Driving (FSD) (Supervised) mode, when the incident occurred. I was paying close attention while driving in the left-most, non-HOV lane coming up to a bend just before the [XXX] overpass, when I noticed traffic ahead slowing down and coming to a stop. I monitore... Read more
Incident date: Oct 15, 2025
On [XXX] at approximately [XXX], I was driving northbound on [XXX] in Phoenix, Arizona in my 2025 Tesla Model 3 using Tesla's Full Self Driving (FSD) (Supervised) mode, when the incident occurred. I was paying close attention while driving in the left-most, non-HOV lane coming up to a bend just before the [XXX] overpass, when I noticed traffic ahead slowing down and coming to a stop. I monitore... Read more
Incident date: Jun 15, 2025
air bags deployed for no reason while driving.
Incident date: Jun 15, 2025
The contact owns a 2019 Tesla Model X. The contact stated that the Full Self-Driving system was updated in June 2025. Since the update, while idling at red traffic lights, the vehicle was surging forward as if it were trying to run the red light. The contact had to immediately depress the brake pedal to prevent the vehicle from accelerating unintendedly. While attempting to make a right lane chang... Read more
Incident date: Oct 4, 2025
I was driving my car going 30-35mph when all of a sudden my driver's side headrest popped me in the back of my head as if the airbag in the headrest was deployed. I was not involved in any collision for this to occur nor was there a bump in the road that would have caused it. It startled me thinking someone was in the back of my car and hit me, but that was not the case. There were no warning si... Read more
Incident date: Oct 14, 2025
After an update on the vehicle it shut off while driving, I had no control of the steering. All the lights on the dash came one and I had to put it in park and restart the car. Then the check engine light came on.
Incident date: Oct 14, 2025
My car is equipped with Full Self Driving. When I use that mode the car drives over , on, or dangerously close to the middle yellow line. Basically it drives you into oncoming traffic every single time I use it. It also has erratic fluctuations in throttle control that would confuse other drivers and possibly cause an accident. It’s constantly increasing and decreasing the throttle and feels jer... Read more
Incident date: Oct 14, 2025
My car is equipped with Full Self Driving. When I use that mode the car drives over , on, or dangerously close to the middle yellow line. Basically it drives you into oncoming traffic every single time I use it. It also has erratic fluctuations in throttle control that would confuse other drivers and possibly cause an accident. It’s constantly increasing and decreasing the throttle and feels jer... Read more
Incident date: Oct 10, 2025
Ever since I bought the car back in April 2022, it has been in the dealer for intermittent check engine lights due to problems with the engine and transmission. The car would go on a limp mode especially when driving on a highway at steady speed. It would rattle, slow down or will not accelerate even when pressing the gas. This happened to me multiple times and it’s a major safety concern. After... Read more
Incident date: Oct 14, 2025
The 4xe system had a software update that ran and caused sudden lost of power. Vehicle has been at the dealership since September 15th and should be available for inspection. Upon completion of the update, the vehicle turned off and came to a quick stop. The vehicle did restart and while driving it, it died again. Second time it turned off, I was not able to move it from the traffic lane. Drivi... Read more
Incident date: Jul 22, 2025
After starting the 2019 Ram 1500 Bighorn in the morning, or after starting the truck and putting it in Drive, the vehicle sometimes shifts itself from Drive into Neutral as we come to a stop. When this happens, the gear indicator on the dashboard begins blinking and displays the message: “Shift to P then desired gear.” On one occasion, as my wife was merging onto the freeway in front of an 18... Read more
Incident date: Jul 22, 2025
After Tesla Berkeley performed an alignment on my 2024 Model Y on July 22, 2025, the car suffered a complete systems failure while driving on the freeway. Within minutes of leaving the service center, multiple safety systems shut down at once — steering assist, emergency braking, lane keeping, stability control, etc... all turned off, and the car went into manual mode. The vehicle became extreme... Read more
Incident date: Jul 22, 2025
After Tesla Berkeley performed an alignment on my 2024 Model Y on July 22, 2025, the car suffered a complete systems failure while driving on the freeway. Within minutes of leaving the service center, multiple safety systems shut down at once — steering assist, emergency braking, lane keeping, stability control, etc... all turned off, and the car went into manual mode. The vehicle became extreme... Read more
Incident date: Oct 13, 2025
I GET ERROR MESSAGE FOR MY 2019 NISSAN ALTIMA OF ENGINE MALFUNCTION, REDUCE POWER, SERVICE NOW. ALONG WITH OTHER SAFTY FEATURES LIKE CASH DETECTION, TRACTION AND ENGINE LIGHT. MY CAR SHAKES, FEELS LIKE IT WILL STALL ESPECIALLY WHEN STOPPED AND JERKS. MY VIN DOES NOT SHOW THIS RECALL. I HAVE GOTTEN THIS MESSAGE SEVERAL TIMES AND A OBD CODE READER GIVES CODE P0404.
Incident date: Oct 13, 2025
Possible unintended acceleration incident While approaching the driveway the car accidentally accelerated on its own, cause a collision. We request that Tesla preserve all vehicle logs and telemetry data for safety investigation. VIN: [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Oct 13, 2025
Possible unintended acceleration incident While approaching the driveway the car accidentally accelerated on its own, cause a collision. We request that Tesla preserve all vehicle logs and telemetry data for safety investigation. VIN: [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Oct 8, 2025
Transmission and transfer case failed. Traction control light flashes when accelerating.
Incident date: Oct 8, 2025
Reporting FSD incident on 10/08/25 approx around 8.15 PM I was going on I-90 towards western mass / u mass Amherst using FSD on 10/08/25 On I-90 road work was ongoing and it was 2 lanes. All the vehicles started going in the right lane as left lane had cones . Left lanes cones were tapering on its way ahead. My Tesla FSD chose the left lane which I would not choose as I saw at the distance cone... Read more
Incident date: Sep 19, 2025
My 2020 Ford Escape's 2.0 ecoboost engine suffered a catastrophic head gasket failure at only 83 thousand miles. This occurred on 10/9/2025 and was confirmed via Ford dealership (Crossroads Ford- Ravena, NY) on 10/13/2025. Prior to 10/9, there were no warning signs or known mechanical issues. The failure happened out of nowhere. In discussing the failure with the Ford service advisor, it was expl... Read more
Incident date: Oct 10, 2025
Along with the current unable to be fixed PCM recall, the customer service satisfaction program regarding the drivers side buckle replacement and the replacement of high-pressure fuel injectors that I was told they will only replace if there is an issue because it is not considered a recall. I have had multiple other recalls that were done and several issues that weren't related to recalls. In the... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2025
While driving the car shuts off and unable to restart. It will turn over but not remain started enough to move the vehicle. I did notice it jerk when speed was increased a few times before. Fuel pump was replaced less than a year ago according to Mercedes in Tuscaloosa Alabama. . After a certified Mercedes mechanic inspected the vehicle I was told it was the fuel pump once again. $4000+ later and ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2025
I was driving along one of the main highways in Orlando, Florida called [XXX], on Wednesday [XXX], in my Model Y Tesla. I was between the exits of [XXX], and [XXX]. I was in the middle lane. There was a software update issued the previous Sunday. The warning came on the display that the lane changing was not valid. At that point the car took over and accelerated. The brakes would not work, u... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2025
I was driving along one of the main highways in Orlando, Florida called [XXX], on Wednesday [XXX], in my Model Y Tesla. I was between the exits of [XXX], and [XXX]. I was in the middle lane. There was a software update issued the previous Sunday. The warning came on the display that the lane changing was not valid. At that point the car took over and accelerated. The brakes would not work, u... Read more