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: Jul 29, 2023

car stopped mid freeway 3 times engine light turned on engine started smoking took too dealer per the recall notice and they took 3 months could not fix and wanted to charge me 600 for changing a battery but car still will not run so they want payment for a car I must tow and has had over 5 recall notices ..at this point the car is unsafe I need remedy

Fire

Incident date: Oct 18, 2023

The car gave me electrical malfunction warning while driving on the highway, then all the screens turned black, and the car completely shut down while driving. The steering was still working, although heavier than usual, and the breaking also worked. The car slow down to a complete stop at the shoulder of the highway. This was very concerning, and thankfully happened close on exit with a shoulder ... Read more

Incident date: Oct 18, 2023

On [XXX], I was driving southbound on the highway near Elizabeth City, NC when all of a sudden, my vehicle decelerated from 65 mph to 20 mph (limp mode) with no warning except for the sudden onset of a knocking noise in the engine compartment and the check engine light coming on immediately before entering limp mode. I was in the passing lane and thankfully was able to safely make it to the should... Read more

Incident date: Jan 28, 2024

I received the following as a gift for my recent baby shower: SteAnny Baby Stroller Foldable Toddler Pram Baby Carriage Combo Newborn Basket (White) [XXX] It was purchased on Amazon. It was $339 +tax!!!! I am absolutely horrified at the quality of this product. But most importantly I’m extremely concerned about the clear safety hazard the car seat is. I have attached a video of my husband ma... Read more

Incident date: Jan 28, 2024

When i went to the store i turned off my engine and when i came back in the car i started it and could not turn my steering wheel , Good thing this happened when i was parked.

Incident date: Dec 5, 2023

Vehicle does not stop if one tire is going over a man hole cover, divit in the road, bump etc. It also skids forward when this happens and almost like jumps (as if anti-lock brakes where let loose and then pressed again) even if I am braking. This has been happening since the day I bought the car brand new off the lot. The traction control light also goes off. If I am going down a hill while this ... Read more

Incident date: Dec 5, 2023

I am the owner of a 2018 ram truck. this is a 2500 series for wheel drive the ABS module failed approximately two years ago and I have not been able to get Chrysler to provide part for repair. The vehicle has 225,000 miles on it at this time and we are continuing to drive it, the ABS or cruise control or traction control because these are all related to the ABS module/pump

Incident date: Jan 26, 2024

The hood open sensor is displaying that the hood is open when it's been closed and is latched.

Incident date: Jan 26, 2024

The driver side mirror control will not move the mirror left to right. The button will only move the mirror up and down.

Incident date: Jan 26, 2024

Backup camera stopped working.

Incident date: May 25, 2023

The car suddenly started jerking in and out of gear and then completely stalled. The gear shift would not move and the car would not start. The car had to be towed to the dealership. Their service advisor stated, "DTCs are PSI related codes & metal in fluid. Believe internal transmission issues are present." There were no problems noticed or earning lights prior to this incident. The car is kept ... Read more

Incident date: Jan 25, 2024

The contact owns a 2011 Hyundai Tucson. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V651000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic) 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. VIN... Read more

Incident date: Jan 25, 2024

The entire radio/ backup camera freezes and will not come back on for minutes at a time. The dealer is aware of the problem and replaced the entire system once already. They were not able to reproduce the issue however I have video and pictures of a few incidents. There were no warnings however it almost always happens when first starting the car and so the backup camera becomes unusable along wit... Read more

Incident date: Jan 25, 2024

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while parking the vehicle, the vehicle stalled. Upon restarting the vehicle, the vehicle failed to move forward or reverse. The system default warning light was displayed. The contact called the local dealer and was informed that the vehicle was not covered under the recall. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the c... Read more

Incident date: Mar 29, 2023

Car seat was in the driver's side captain's chair of a 2022 Toyota Highlander. Car seat was occupied by 3 month old female. Vehicle was stopped and rear ended near or at highway speed. Infant carrier detached from base (base stayed attached to the vehicle seat) and infant carrier went forward on to the floor in the space between the 2 captain's seats.

Crash

Incident date: Jan 25, 2024

Digital instrument cluster keeps shorting out. Sometimes displays gibberish, sometimes displays nothing at all while the car is driving.

Incident date: Jan 11, 2024

Each time I’m driving my vehicle, I’ll hear a ding, ding, ding and my power steering will stop working. This seems to happen, most times, immediately after starting my car, while backing up. I did have it happen once, while in the middle of turning onto the road. Each time this happens, I must put the car in park, turn it off and restart it.

Incident date: Jan 13, 2024

Car losses power while driving, it will turn off. Shift to P and select gear comes up. It also has 4 different recalls that doesn't allow me to register but when contacted dealership they informed me that they didn't had parts for it, they didn't know when the were going to get them because it's in back order, to keep checking at the end of each month to see if the get any. This is not acceptable,... Read more

Incident date: Jan 13, 2024

Incident date: Dec 22, 2023

The seatbelts on the front driver and passenger side have failed to release when trying to unbuckle. This is a hazard. If there was a moment where it's imperative to leave the car (fire, water, etc) Driver and passenger could get locked in their seatbelts without the ability to exit the vehicle. Volvo would have covered it if the factor warranty was still active. My complaint wa ignored while the ... Read more

Incident date: Dec 22, 2023

Around January 30, 2023 (need to verify the exact date). My vehicle went on limp mode, the engine light went on plus an additional warning light. I was driving on highway 99 when my car started to stall. It felt like the car put itself in neutral mode. It was frightening as it happens randomly & suddenly after being able to drive 60+ mph. It wouldn’t pick up speed. Driving 5 mph. It was frighten... Read more

Incident date: Jan 24, 2024

The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Silverado 2500. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel briefly became tight before returning to normal functionality. After the failure, the temperature gauge indicated that the engine was overheating. The contact also stated that the brake pedal required excessive force to slow and bring the vehicle to a complete stop. No war... Read more

Incident date: Jan 24, 2024

Incident date: Jan 10, 2024

The contact owns a 2013 Kia Soul. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V652000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic) 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 contacted. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experi... Read more

Incident date: Jan 19, 2024

In late November 2023 I noticed my fuel economy dropping a lot, from 27-29mpg to 22-24mpg. And, soon tailpipes were accumulating a lot of soot in tailpipes and soot was coming out of end of muffler. I took to JEEP dealer in Palestine, TX. See invoice uploaded. Service advisor couldn't find any bad codes. He wrote some guesses as to source/cause of problem & suggested using more expensive, higher ... Read more

Incident date: Jan 16, 2024

This car was rented to me by Hertz and is still in my possession. This was after the most recent recall for 23TA15. I specifically asked Hertz if this recall applied to my vehicle and they stated they would not send out any vehicle with an Open Recall and yet, it turns out this one has the recall on it. They are knowingly rented dangerous vehicles. I have yet to be contacted to return the vehicle ... Read more

Incident date: Jan 16, 2024

The contact owns 2016 Ram 3500. The contact became aware that the front passenger's side tires had been wearing out prematurely. The vehicle was taken to a tire shop, and the contact was informed that an alignment could not be performed on the vehicle. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that he would be referred to a specialist for assistance. The specialist call... Read more

Incident date: Jan 14, 2024

The contact owns a 2014 Hyundai Accent. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V651000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic) 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 made aware of the issue. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and con... Read more

Incident date: Jan 14, 2024

The steering "sticks" making it dangerous to keep control of the auto.

Incident date: Dec 15, 2023

Water leaks from an unknown location causing the front passenger floorboard to be saturated.

Incident date: Dec 15, 2023

Picked up my truck from the dealership and my ABS, and traction control light came on, and i lost my abs function and traction control. The my dash started flickering and it would go in and out. Now my heat also has stopped working. Truck is saying service abs system, service electronic braking, service rear park sensor. I do not feel safe in this vehicle as i did my research and see how many vehi... Read more

Incident date: Mar 29, 2023

There wasnt an incident, but the power steering went out in my car and its a problem that the manufacturer knows about so i believe it should be a recall. I had the mechanics at Firestone look at my car and they told me that it needs a lower steering column bracket and motor assembly along with the torque input sensor. The service light came on when the power steering went out the light on the da... Read more

Incident date: Jan 23, 2024

The contact owns a 2012 Kia Sorento. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V652000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic) 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. VIN to... Read more

Incident date: Dec 18, 2023

On [XXX], I was traveling from Georgia to California in a 2024 Ford Maverick XLT 2.5L Hybrid with approximately 219 miles on the odometer, using cruise control set at 73 mph and in the ECO mode. I'd stopped for gas and upon returning to the highway [XXX]) the vehicle, still using cruise and in ECO mode, experienced an extreme reduction in power and the check engine light illuminated. I pulled o... Read more

Incident date: Jan 23, 2024

When driving on the highway next to a large truck or semi and on a curve, the adaptive cruise control thinks that there’s a vehicle in front of you and slams on the brakes. This has happened a few times with my vehicle. Thankfully, there were no vehicles immediately behind me, or the results could’ve been tragic.

Incident date: Jan 21, 2024

When accelerating, both from a stop and/or at speed, there is a definite hesitation. When gas pedal is pressed down, there is a noticeable pause before acceleration begins. This causes safety issues especially when accelerating to merge with moving traffic. Have owned this van since Oct 2021, and it has always been an issue. Possible fuel filter problem. Have not reported issue to dealer. Currentl... Read more

Incident date: Jan 21, 2024

The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle briefly shuddered. The vehicle returned to normal functionality, but the failure became a regular occurrence. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed failures with the thermostat and torque converter. The vehicle wa... Read more

Incident date: Jan 20, 2024

The contact owns a 2013 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated while driving 80 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power with the accelerator pedal being depressed. The contact stated that the vehicle decelerated to 30 MPH. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with a greasy taillight bulb, and then later diagnosed with starter failure. The vehi... Read more

Incident date: Jan 20, 2024

Severe risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. At 5:00 am in the morning the alarm on my car went off by itself and there was no way I could turn it off or even start the car. I finally disconnected the battery to stop the car and later reconnected the battery assuming the issue was gone. When I went back to check on the car later, found that the car had started by itself and the garage was full of fum... Read more

Incident date: Jan 20, 2024

Incident date: Nov 22, 2023

I own a 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe and have noticed excessive oil consumption in between regularly, scheduled oil changes with my personal mechanic for the past 8-9 months. At NO TIME did any error or sensor codes or warning lights come on. At one point, it was down 5 qts of oil! I reached out to my local dealership for an oil consumption test, but they were booked out and I was told to watch it. The ... Read more

Incident date: Jan 3, 2024

Upon buying my Honda Passport 11/28/2023, I have been experiencing problems with the radio/electrical connections in my vehicle. There are times I have crackling noises in front speakers and a complete failure of sound altogether. Daily stop and start in the sound system with blank moments and complete sound loses.

Incident date: Oct 15, 2023

I have a fuel smell in the cabin of my car which started about 3 weeks ago. I have drove the car a couple of times and it was pretty bad, also my sunroof almost blew off the car while driving to dry the car after removing the salt from the streets after the snow. I have since parked it in the garage to avoid any further damage. I will submit pictures so you can see the sunroof.

Incident date: Oct 15, 2023

The third row seating Panorama Sunroof cracked. Now when it rains, water leaks inside the suv. Loud boom, cracking sound, was not sure what it was but was coming from rear of suv as I was driving yesterday afternoon. No warning lamps, messages, as it is the glass panorama sunroof located in the rear upper roof of the suv. I will take it to my AAA insurance representative this week. I will bring it... Read more

Incident date: May 1, 2023

I would assume the issue had something to do with the power train. 2 days after i had bought the car my wife and i were on our way to the gym and we had just came to a complete stop. Upon entering the highway the car would no longer accelerate no matter how much pressure was put on the accelerator pedal. The engine light also came on. Luckily there were no cars behind me and I was able to pull ove... Read more

Incident date: Mar 29, 2023

With the vehicle in 'B' mode, I started acceleration in a moderate fashion. After about 30 feet the car lost power. Pressing the accelerator further had no effect. Releasing the accelerator then pressing it immediately power was restored. The car has been to the dealer twice for this issue. Neither time could it be duplicated. It has happened five times in the past two months with the last inciden... Read more

Incident date: Dec 1, 2023

A few times I have pressed the brakes when coming to a red light and stop signs But instead of my vehicle stopping it propelled me forward as it excellerated out of no where and pushed me into oncoming traffic, I almost was hit by other cars and I almost hit other cars and even have had to swerve onto the side walk to prevent myself from getting g hit by another car. If there were people walking, ... Read more

2 injured

Incident date: Dec 1, 2023

The contact owns a 2019 Honda Odyssey. The contact was notified that the VIN was included in the NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V215000 (Fuel System, Gasoline). The contacts wife contacted the dealer to have the recall repaired. However, the dealer asked the contacts wife if the vehicle was having any issues and when the contacts wife stated no, the dealer told her she didn't have to worry about it. T... Read more

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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

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