Consumer Safety Complaints

Search 2,245,377 safety complaints filed by vehicle owners with NHTSA, including 140,173 crashes, 56,794 fires, and 8,580 deaths.

2,245,377 Total Complaints

140,173 Reported Crashes

56,794 Reported Fires

8,580 Reported 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 2,245,377 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

How to Read NHTSA Consumer Complaints › How NHTSA Investigations Work › Used Car: 7 Recall Checks to Run First › The Takata Airbag Recall: Full Story › OBD-II Codes Explained › All Articles ›

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Showing 49,794 complaints for VOLKSWAGEN

Incident date: Nov 11, 2023

All brake lights are displayed on dash, along with steering, tire, and ABS lights. I spoke with the dealership two years ago and the part has been backordered. They could not tell me when it would become available. I checked today and it's available and expensive. When driving my brakes shake. I've had the brakes repaired at least for times and they still don't fully brake properly.

Incident date: Sep 18, 2023

The turn signal stalk does not differentiate between a partial (lane change) press or a full turn press. The signal will remain on until the stalk is moved in the opposite turn direction. This sometimes results in the opposite turn signal activating. This entire process is intermittent while driving. This happens mainly on the highway where an intermittent (half press) of the stalk is performed ... Read more

Incident date: Feb 4, 2024

UNKNOWN

Incident date: Mar 21, 2024

On 2/11/23, our 2017 Chevrolet Volt displayed a check engine light and the engine started to overheat, as determined by the driver from the dash coolant temperate display, while driving down the interstate after 1 hour of driving. The car was pulled over to the side of the road and towed home. Upon inspection of the Chevy Volt later, the F03 15 amp mini-fuse(referred to as non-walk home fuse) i... Read more

Incident date: Mar 21, 2024

The contact owns a 2015 BMW 320i. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 35 MPH the passenger side headlight stopped illuminating the road. The contact stated that there was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that about one month later the driver's side headlight stopped illuminating and the "headlight" symbol illuminated on the instrument cluster. The contact stated ... Read more

Incident date: Mar 21, 2024

There is an open recall on 2013 Volkswagen Jetta hybrid for known electrical and power train issues. My car was purchased last year and kept up on in maintenance . I have had it in the shop multiple times for checks due to the lights on my dashboard all going off. Nothing was found until recently the hybrid and engine light turned on out of no where and the cause was the clutch failing which is on... Read more

Incident date: Feb 20, 2024

The domestic refrigerator on this 2016 KEYSTONE RV caught on fire while traveling.

Fire

Incident date: Mar 11, 2024

I have already filed a report on my 2017 Ford Edge, I wanted to add this statement Ford made. Recall Programs A recall is conducted to remedy a Safety, Compliance, or Emissions concern. Recalls are Vehicle Identification Number (VIN)-specific programs. There are no expiration dates on Safety Recalls or Safety Compliance Recalls. Also, there are generally no expiration dates on Emission Recalls ... Read more

Incident date: Mar 19, 2024

Pearl white paint has been chippong through the years. I have had paint retouched in certain places. I continuously complained and demanded it get fixed. Eventually they would repaint. But when it gets painted over a new part of the car starts chipping away. It’s nonsense. I bought this car new and my parents have cars older than me that have no problems with the paint. My car started chipping ... Read more

Incident date: Mar 19, 2024

With the latest update of V12.3 FSD, the full self driving cannot predict the obstacles clearly, resulting in am incorrect left turn manuever, running over a central divider curb, and damaging tires. Not sure, what could have happened, if a human was standing there instead!

Incident date: Mar 19, 2024

Incident date: Mar 11, 2024

We have not had an incident BUT we were notified of this recall in Nov of 2023 and now as of March 2024 there is still no fix. If my car could “combust” at any moment why is it taking so long to come up with a fix? Doesn’t seem very safe….. Again, we have had no accidents but this is the only place I could find to fill out a complaint.

Incident date: Mar 11, 2024

Incident date: May 1, 2023

I Keep getting code p2138 car stalls check engine light turns on, stability control flashes. I have to erase code to get it drive again, but will do it again soon. Been doing it for 4+ years now. The worst time it has done it is when I'm in the freeway where I have to pull off to the side if I can, I almost got into a bad accident because of this issue. Took it to my mechanic and he says take it t... Read more

Incident date: Oct 1, 2022

Later today I am getting my 4th windshield, maybe my 5th, I don’t remember. There is something wrong With these windshields. Nothing more than a small pebble has hit the windshield to cause the cracks and honestly that was only one incident. All the rest happened for no apparent reason. Again, my fourth or fifth windshield. This is ridiculous.

Incident date: Oct 1, 2022

Went to my local chevy dealership for them to fix the recall for my passenger air bag, less than a year later the airbag light came back on. i went to have it looked at and they told me it would be $145 to even see if it was the same problem, so now i have service airbag light and the recall was never fixed?

Incident date: Mar 19, 2024

The seat belts do not retract properly, causing a loose seat belt. The vehicle has 10,000 miles on it. This is a common problem with all 2017 to 2020 Fiat Spiders. Replacement seat belt retractors have the same problem.

Incident date: Mar 19, 2024

Vehicle had a sudden loss of power at ~40mph and began rapidly decelerating. Had there been a car behind me, the sudden deceleration could have caused a collision. Warning lamps and messages displayed on the instrument cluster instantly. I pulled the OBD codes and received U1011 and U1028 as active codes. These codes indicate a PCM software issue. It is important to note that this issue occurred a... Read more

Incident date: Mar 3, 2024

I am unable to open my rear passenger car door from the outside or the inside. Also the rear passenger door also lacks a manual release like the front doors have. This, coming off of [XXX] 's death, and Tesla's service apathy and insistence on first collecting money before solving this problem is incredibly dangerous. So I am now driving a death trap, and this is my only car, and Tesla should have... Read more

Incident date: Mar 19, 2024

Potential safety hazard ? Engine Auto start/stop feature for gas savings and emmisons control works by applying brakes and Engine shuts off, it restarts when brakes released. Normal operation, BUT I have noticed that unbuckeling the seatbelt or OPENING the DOOR will cause it to RESTART even though brakes are applied..this could cause an accident as it's an unexpected RESTART of the Engine in dr... Read more

Incident date: Mar 10, 2024

Multiple recurring manufacturer issues that they refuse to address: Gas Cap: spins on top of chassis, not locking down. Difficult to lock, or unlock, because it just spins incessantly. We've gone through 4 different gas caps from this manufacturer, and all of them keep doing the same thing after a few days. Sometimes the Gas Cap will fly off during driving, which is a major safety concern. Batt... Read more

Incident date: Apr 23, 2023

Without any notice the stabiltrak and service power steering message will come on while driving and the power steering will stop working. While researching it looks like this issue was resolved with a recall on the 2015 models which has the same components as the 2016 version. This is a life-threatening issue when you are driving on a busy road and have to make a turn or swerve to avoid an acciden... Read more

Incident date: Mar 18, 2024

The Tacoma still has only 10,000 original miles. We yearly replace the oil when we have our annual vehicle inspection. The truck has been trouble since the beginning. Early on I noticed when going downhill, the automatic transmission seems to slip when applying the gas. I have taken the truck back to the dealer in Kona to be told that it is not part of the rear end differential recall some years ... Read more

Incident date: Apr 5, 2023

The torque converter is malfunctioning to where I have been unable to use my vehicle for almost 2 months. It is available for inspection, but is currently at a repair shop pending inspection to get an estimate on costs to fix the issue (if it is something that can be fixed). My safety along with my family's safety were put at risk due to the inability for the vehicle to pick up speed while drivi... Read more

Incident date: Mar 18, 2024

hello i am a mechanic and have noticed on many of the f150s wiper transmission failure on the passenger side the due to water build up on the cowl the drivers side where the cowl meets the arm has two lower drain holes and 6 drain holes on the right side and a rubber seal around the wiper arm the passenger side only has two drain holes leading to water sitting and rotting the rubber seal allowing ... Read more

Incident date: Mar 18, 2024

See attached document for complaint

Incident date: Mar 18, 2024

While getting my recalls repaired at the dealership, I warned them of an issue my car was having with its front camera. I was receiving a “Pre-Collision Assist Not Available” notification each time I started my car. Upon investigation, the issue was described to me by the repair technician as. an internal failure IPM-A module on the car. This results in pre-collision no longer working on the v... Read more

Incident date: Mar 18, 2024

Fifth wheel pin box busted loose weld failed trailer about came off the truck this trailer weighs 16,000 plus pounds it was very unsafe the manufacturer knows of this issue The RV started to rip itself apart leave spring shackles busted

Incident date: Mar 15, 2024

[XXX] car malfunctioned in same ways it has been before. Car was going 76 on the highway, no cruise control, when a message about the gear shifting pops up and the accelerator stops working. Car begins to slow, and we pull over onto side of the highway. After getting down to about 40 parking break pops on and messages begin flashing through on the display saying: AdvanceTrac Off, Collision Assist ... Read more

Incident date: Mar 17, 2024

My dash went completely blank while driving at night. The center console was still functioning normal. The headlights and blinkers were still functioning normal. I could not see my speed or any other data on the dash. It was still backlit, but the screen was completely blank. Turning the vehicle off and on did nothing. I found on a forum that this is a fairly common occurrence. This is very... Read more

Incident date: Aug 9, 2022

My 2019 Toyota Camry with 73000 miles just went out and it will need a new transmission

Incident date: Mar 3, 2024

My sunroof just suddenly explode while driving at the highway with my kids, we almost got into a car accident. It sounded like a gunshot. Never get crack or hit by stone before we travel.

Incident date: Mar 16, 2024

From park to Drive or reverse there’s an issues with changing in between doing so. Loud noise and shake to the car when engaging in the new gear. Then it sounds like the cars accelerating but parked, not moving. When you put it back in drive a loud thud then revving noise occurs. Once driving again just after there’s little to no movement when you put your foot on the pedal. When you drive i... Read more

Incident date: Mar 16, 2024

I started the truck and as I backed out of a parking spot, the brake pedal went all the way to the floor and the brakes did not stop the truck. I used the emergency brake to stop and pulled back into the parking spot. I checked the brake fluid and it was low. I purchased some at the store I was at and filled up the reservoir. I pumped the brakes and they appeared to work. After driving for ab... Read more

Incident date: Dec 11, 2023

Lost all sound in the truck. No warning sounds , no turn signal sounds, no radio, no navigation sounds. I missed a notification of a wreck on the road in front of me that would have been audible if the trucks sound systems were working.

Incident date: Mar 15, 2024

There has been many reports of electronic steering issue where it would just swerve you off the road and loose full control while driving for years 2013-2015 cars but 2016 years are also being effected. A dealership confirmed it was an electronic steering rack causing the issue. No warning lamps had went off either

Crash

Incident date: Feb 1, 2024

My vehicle is experiencing an intermittent loss of the transmission output speed sensor (oss) signal to the powertrain control module resulting in a temporary, unintended downshift into first gear. In some cases, the oss signal recovers while Im driving, and the vehicle resume normal function; in other cases, my vehicle needs to be stopped and restarted to regain normal transmission operation. I b... Read more

Incident date: Feb 1, 2024

The contact owns a 2016 BMW X4. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, an abnormal popping noise was coming from vehicle while driving over a speed bump or while turning the steering wheel in either direction. The contact stated that no warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where a diagnostic test was performed; the diagnostic test show... Read more

Incident date: Mar 15, 2024

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that rainwater had leaked into the driver's side B-pillar trim panel causing electrical failures to occur which included the battery failure and the keyless entry failure. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 125,000.

Incident date: Mar 15, 2024

Heartland Toyota 901 W Hills Boulevard, Bremerton, WA 98312 (360) 377-1200 BROUGHT IN MY 2022 TOYOTA TUNDRA FOR FIRE HAZARD RECALL [XXX] ON [XXX]. UPON COMPLETION OF WORK, I INSPECTED IT AND FIND OUT THAT THE REPAIR WAS NOT DONE CORRECTLY WITH ACCORDANCE TO [XXX] TUNDRA MANUAL; (1) FUEL LINE NOT PROPERLY ATTACHED; (2) ELECTRICAL HARNESS IS PINCHED AND MISSING ATTACHMENT; (3) CORRUGATED TUBE MIS... Read more

Incident date: Jan 10, 2024

They have not fixed it yet I took it months ago and they say they don't have a remedy, but on here it says to replace driver airbag. The airbag lights come on and stay on then go off so I think something is wrong. I take my kid to and from school everyday in this vehicle. Please make them fix it.

Incident date: Jan 10, 2024

The contact owns a 2021 Nissan Versa. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V496000 (Steering) 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 manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution dis... Read more

Incident date: Jan 10, 2024

The contact owns a 2011 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 75 MPH, the driver's side A-Pillar Trim flew off hitting the driver's side mirror and cracked the mirror and casing. The vehicle was taken to the residence. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V031000 (Structure), however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The man... Read more

Incident date: Mar 31, 2023

Spare tire. ST205/75R14. Performing a walk around inspection of my camper and noticed a large Bulge under the tire cover on my spare tire. Removed tire cover and photographed the strange occurrence. This tire has been covered and unused since purchased with new camper.

Incident date: Oct 1, 2021

My car spontaneously caught fire while in a parking lot. I had left it for approximately 45 minutes. When I returned and opened the trunk, smoke began pouring out. Frightened, I called 911. The fire department came. When they opened the driver door, much more smoke poured out. My car continued to smoke I believe for a long time. I was ill for several days with headache and asthma as I am a senior ... Read more

Fire

Incident date: May 1, 2023

Phantom braking has occurred on 4 different occasions nearly causing a rear end collision during one of them. On all occasions it occurred with no other car in front of us. Tesla Service was contacted through their app for service and we were told this is a known issue and to simply apply pressure to the accelerator. No warning lights or other was given before the incident. The problem has not... Read more

Incident date: Feb 29, 2024

The contact owns a 2010 Dodge Grand Caravan. The contact stated that after turning off the vehicle, the ignition key was stuck in the ignition switch. The contact stated that the failure recurred intermittently. The contact stated that the failure was draining the battery and causing the rearview camera to become inoperable. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 11V139000 (Ele... Read more

Incident date: Jan 31, 2024

The Sunroof spontaneously shattered while I was driving home. Upon further inspection, it looked like the glass was becoming separated from the frame as well.

Incident date: Jan 1, 2024

The contact owns a 2023 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact stated that while driving 63 MPH with her son in the front passenger’s side seat, she heard a gunshot-like sound and noticed that the sunroof glass had shattered. The contact stated that the shade guard was closed at the time of the failure; however, while the contact continued driving, the shade guard raised up, allowing broken pieces of g... Read more

1 injured

Incident date: Mar 6, 2023

I absolutely love my kia borrego and have been trying to find a way to give the car back and end payments on it because I can't afford to put parts on it anymore. I'm on disability and can't seem to find the real issue after thousands of dollars in failed attempts. My transmission has not been shifting and if it does shift, it's sudden and aggressive. It will rev up higher than normal and if you c... Read more

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Vehicle Safety

Consumer Safety

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Consumer Safety Complaints

What is a NHTSA consumer complaint?

How to interpret what you read

If you've experienced a defect

Read more from our blog