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 8, 2021

The contact owns a 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, he heard an abnormal sound coming from the engine compartment, after which the vehicle briefly lost motive power before returning to normal functionality. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed a failure with the transm... Read more

Incident date: Jul 8, 2021

my ram 2018 u connect radio changes stations on it own, heater starts and stops on it own it makes telephone calls on its own screen goes black can't see screen on its own gps will go black and turn off on its own very scary and unsafe almost caused me to have several accidents while using gps system. unsafe using u connect radio!!!!

Incident date: Dec 15, 2023

The contact owns a 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that after turning the vehicle off, the brake lights remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the Hydraulic Control Unit was faulty and needed to be reprogramed. The Hydraulic Control Unit was reprogrammed under NHTSA Campaign: 22V426000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic) but the failure persisted. T... Read more

Incident date: Dec 15, 2023

Steering wheel sticks when making small adjustments at highway speed, which can cause jerking/swerving. Occurs more often in colder weather and after car has been driven for a period of time. Does not happen consistently and was unable to replicate the issue for the dealership. No warning lights on dashboard.

Incident date: Dec 14, 2023

Vehicle directional system indicates that vehicle is traveling in the opposite direction of actual movement. ie: indicates vehicle is traveling north when the vehicle is actually traveling south; west when actually traveling east; south when traveling north; east when actually traveling west You may think this is not a safety issue but if a driver goes by the vehicles indicated path of direction... Read more

Incident date: Sep 21, 2023

While driving on the freeway at normal freeway speeds, after 5-10 miles the steering gets sticky. When attempting to make minor steering adjustments to stay within the lane, it takes an extra measure of force to move the steering wheel. It is necessary to concentrate constantly in order to not overcorrect.

Incident date: Dec 14, 2023

Transmission will not shift up out of first gear until the vehicle is completely up to normal operating temperature.

Incident date: Dec 9, 2023

The backup camera stays on even in neutral and drive mode. In reverse the guide lines are present, however they are not present when in drive or neutral but the camera remains on. This is a safety hazard because it is very distracting to drive forward with live video on the 8" screen. I believe this is also illegal in my state when my teen is driving the car as state law does not permit drivers a... Read more

Incident date: Dec 9, 2023

I submitted this form earlier, but I’m unsure whether it went through. If this is a duplicate, please disregard. An incident of sudden, unintended acceleration occurred while pulling into a gravel parking area on a hillside at dusk. While turning, the vehicle suddenly lunged forward and struck a tree stump. It would have been avoided without the sudden acceleration. The driver slammed on the br... Read more

Incident date: Dec 11, 2023

ABS system malfunctioned in the following manner. ABS sensor displayed. Brakes pedal must be depressed to the floorboard in order to "try" to stop. The emergency "e brake" will not engage & is non-functioning. Contacted Hyundai Headquarters for recall resolution as this issue could harm/kill my child &/or others. The car is unsafe to be driven. Hyundai resolution rep made an appt for at a local de... Read more

Incident date: Apr 1, 2023

The contact owns a 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid. The contact stated that while sitting in the passenger seat as their husband was driving through a fast food drive-through and attempting to make a left turn the power steering suddenly failed. The dashboard was illuminated with several different lights, meanings unknown, however, there were no warning lights before the failure occurred. The driver had u... Read more

Incident date: Apr 1, 2023

Incident date: Dec 1, 2023

I was driving on the highway and my power steering suddenly went out on me in the middle of traffic. My 2011 Ford Fusion SE had a "Power Steering Assist Fault" on my dash and it stopped working, it only had 117k miles on it. I then took it to the dealership to get it diagnosed and they said it was the Rack and Pinion that needed to be replaced. They told me that its a known problem, and for this g... Read more

Incident date: Dec 5, 2023

When stopped at a stop sign (on a slight incline, if that could be a factor), the Compass suddenly lost power. No reaction from pressing the gas pedal at all. In Drive or in Reverse. The Check Engine light came on and the temperature gauge went all the way up. Putting it in Park and restarting cleared the Check Engine light and the temperature gauge was right back to normal. Almost like nothing ha... Read more

Incident date: Dec 5, 2023

On the morning of 12/12/23 it was a cold morning, the driver side door was frozen the door wouldn't secure. Had to heat up vehicle to get door lock to engage.

Incident date: Dec 11, 2023

I was not notified by Ford of two recalls issued on my vehicle.

Incident date: Dec 11, 2023

The timing chain guide broke while I was driving on the highway. The broken guide did not allow oil to lubricate the engine which destroyed the engine. BMW settled a class action lawsuit several years ago due to the premature failure of the primary and secondary timing chain assemblies for N20 & N26 engines. The time limit has expired for me to file a claim. However, owners of these vehicles sho... Read more

Incident date: Oct 4, 2023

Sunroof shattered while driving on the interstate. There was no impact to sunroof prior to and no known past impact to sunroof leading up to it shattering. The sunroof had previously shattered mid-drive on May 11, 2023. Impact to the sunroof had been heard ~2 weeks prior. The sunroof was fully replaced at the Jeep dealership the following week. Had sunroof shade been open, glass pieces would h... Read more

Incident date: Oct 4, 2023

I was involved in an accident with a deer. It impacted my driver door. The impact and physical damage were minimal to moderate. However, at least 6 airbags deployed, totaling out the vehicle. There have been some recalls on 2021 Broncos for faulty airbag sensors. There was no recall on mine. Yet, I believe these sensors were faulty as it was a minor impact to the vehicle. As I had purchased this v... Read more

Crash

Incident date: Jan 16, 2023

The service shifter light came on and there is an issue with that with Jeep cars.

Incident date: Oct 18, 2023

I bought the car with 83,000 miles 9 months ago. It had engine failure at 104,000. From the beginning the car stalled when trying to accelerate almost got hit several times. The car had major oil consumption issues with no leak. The car died without any warning lights almost causing an accident. I rolled into oil change place. Car was low on oil. It had engine failure.

Incident date: Oct 18, 2023

Car stopped while driving. Couldn’t get the car into neutral to move it out of the road. Would not crank. Leaking oil.

Incident date: Oct 18, 2023

Car stopped while driving. Couldn’t get the car into neutral to move it out of the road. Would not crank. Leaking oil.

Incident date: Dec 10, 2023

This is the 2nd time I have had a sensor indicator. The first was a knock sensor where my car barely made it across the road. Now another code for intake issues. If my car dies and I get hit Hyundai is liable. I know many people that have issues with their Hyundai dying and are without their cars waiting for repairs for. months and months, but the fact that I have a grandson and my car could die i... Read more

Incident date: Dec 10, 2023

First off let me start by saying the vehicle has 45k miles on it. There were no fault codes or system errors prior to the issue that developed. I was driving to a meeting in heavy rain, no issues or suspicion of issues arising. I parked the car, returned about 2 hours later started the car to find 6 warnings on the dash (tpms fault, acc disabled, steering disabled, air ride control disabled esc di... Read more

Incident date: Dec 10, 2023

Incident date: Dec 8, 2023

Steering got locked while driving. Couldn’t perform left turn in the middle of drive

Incident date: Oct 1, 2023

Driver side leaf spring rebound clips are broken.

Incident date: Apr 1, 2021

Driver side leaf spring rebound clips are broken

Incident date: Apr 1, 2021

Purchased this vehicle with about 64K miles. Vehicle, as per CarFax report, has been meticulously maintained. Upon delivery, we changed the oil and filter with full-synthetic Amsoil. We ensured oil levels were appropriate prior to returning to service. No more than 1,000 miles later, roughly incurred in about a month, we checked oil levels again. This time, it required about 1.25 quarts to return ... Read more

Incident date: Apr 1, 2021

Driver side leaf spring rebound clips are broken

Incident date: Nov 26, 2023

The vehicle as of 12/9/2023 at 3:00pm CST is at a mileage of 79,503. We are consistently experiencing the slipping of gears when the truck is switched from park to drive. The first couple gears seem to slip as it accelerates. The speedometer will be showing at under 10mph, and the truck will jerk forward. The engine/transmission gets loud as if the car is still in a lower gear as it’s accelerati... Read more

Incident date: Dec 8, 2023

The contact owns a 2021 Jeep Gladiator. 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 contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. ... Read more

Incident date: Dec 2, 2023

First of all, I have been driving tesla for 9 years and love them. But this new model S has a tiny button for a horn instead of a center horn. This was a meer annoyance up until today when I was nearly plowed into a by a car going the wrong direction at 60mph and no horn when I'm slamming the middle of the steering wheel. This is a serious and dangerous design flaw that needs to be remedied an... Read more

Incident date: Apr 6, 2022

The contact's wife owns a 2017 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH, the vehicle before him stopped suddenly, causing his vehicle to crash into the rear end of the other vehicle. The air bags failed to deploy. The emergency units transported the contact to the hospital, where he was informed that his upper spine disk could be dislocated or fractured. An appointment was scheduled ... Read more

Crash 1 injured

Incident date: Apr 6, 2022

2022 Sonata ; engine stops while driving without warning. After my Sonata stops; error message appears: auto stop is off; to restart engine shift to P or N

Incident date: Nov 22, 2023

The actual component or system is UNKNOWN. The vehicle is available for inspection. The safety issue is that the vehicle will drift into another lane even though both green lane indicators are illuminated posing a risk to myself and other drivers. The dealer mechanics stated that they could not verify or reproduce the problem. I reported the issue to Honda USA but they stated that they had no tech... Read more

Incident date: Nov 22, 2023

Incident date: Sep 29, 2023

During yearly inspection the mechanic noted excessive rust on frame components and warned that something should be done…. I am on my third Silverado and frame coating, brake lines and transmission coolant lines have had issues with excessive rust. I bought this new in 2014 and hoped they had addressed these issues… over the previous Silverados I have owned. What recourse do I have towards GM.... Read more

Incident date: Nov 30, 2023

Multiple Occasions of Driving on Road and the Engine shuts off. I have had to safely coast the truck off the road, after several minutes the truck starts again and drives fine. This is occurring Regularly. I may go a week with the Truck driving fine, then all of a sudden it powers down and shuts off.

Incident date: Nov 30, 2023

The contact owns a 2018 Honda CR-V. The contact stated that excessive force was needed to steer the vehicle while driving. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent and occurred at various speeds. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that the steering rack had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufactu... Read more

Incident date: Nov 20, 2023

I was driving on the highway three days ago, and the forward safety went off. It was raining heavily, this happened to me once before and as soon as the rain cleared, it went away. This time it has not gone away. The safety remains disabled. I am unable to locate the sensors to see if maybe there’s mud or some thing blocking it.

Incident date: Nov 20, 2023

Incident date: Mar 10, 2022

My steering is very stiff/sticky when traveling at highway speeds. A lot of other cars of the same year, make and model are recalled for faulty steering rack. However, mine is not included in the recall therefore I’m stuck with a brand new car that is unsafe to drive.

Incident date: Mar 10, 2022

The contact owns a 2014 Ram 1500. The contact stated that while depressing the accelerator pedal, there was a delay before the vehicle would operate as needed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who replaced the fuel pump and the sensor crank shaft tone wheel. The failure reoccurred and became a persistent failure. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 22V406000 (Fuel Syst... Read more

Incident date: Aug 1, 2023

Left front door has popping noise when opening and closing the door. I took it to our dealership and was given an estimate to replace the door because the spot welds were broken and not repairable. They stated that the mileage was 45,300 and not under warranty. They couldn’t confirm that it was safe to drive or if they had seen this problem before. The estimate is $1357.98.

Incident date: Aug 1, 2023

Check engine light came on, gear selector light was flashing and all dash board lights came on at 150,189 miles. The dealer attempted to repair the transmission by replacing the valve body. The car was driven 29 miles before all dash warning lights came back on. Dealer said the only repair was to replace the entire transmission, which includes a new valve body. Dealer said the codes recommended t... Read more

Incident date: Aug 1, 2023

Sticky steering while driving. The issue is intermittent and hence it's not always reproducible.

Incident date: Sep 2, 2023

I was driving on the freeway and the engine turned off. I was able to continue driving as the hybrid system still had some charge to continue powering the car. I had to get the EGR valve replaced. No warning lights prior to this occuring but had check engine light after. Car would not shift into drive nor would it accept a charge for the main drive battery. Had to be towed to a shop and resulted ... 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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