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: Jun 30, 2023

On 10/10/21 my wife and I were sitting in a parking lot when we heard a loud crack. The windshield of my Subaru cracked from midline on the passenger side post thru the middle of the windshield. After going through SOA and multiple times back to the dealer, the dealership repaired the windshield for no charge. Three weeks ago my wife and I were sitting at my son's house and a crack appeared onc... Read more

Incident date: Jul 5, 2023

The contact owns a 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, an abnormal clonking sound was coming from the vehicle while turning the steering wheel. The contact stated that the sound was heard while steering to the right while in drive. Additionally, the sound was heard while steering to the left with the vehicle in reverse. The vehicle was taken to a dea... Read more

Incident date: Jul 5, 2023

The air conditioning system is a failure. First my condenser went out and they replaced it with the extended warranty they provided. Now my evaporator is leaking and they do not have an extended warranty on it. Cost to replace is $2,100.00. This is a safety concern in California because of the smog. I could no longer keep my windows up when driving because of the heat and a/c not working.

Incident date: Jul 5, 2023

The contact owns a 2020 Ford Escape. The contact stated that he noticed six holes and one large crack located on the front driver’s side door. The contact then stated that the weld hinges had also cracked. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the top center hinge had fractured from the spot weld and needed to be replaced. The contact was then advised to take the vehicl... Read more

Incident date: Jun 30, 2023

The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, there was white smoke coming from underneath the hood of the vehicle, and the vehicle would not properly accelerate while depressing the accelerator pedal. The check engine light warning light illuminated, and the low coolant message was displayed. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The loca... Read more

Incident date: Jul 7, 2023

While driving an alert comes on that states check engine system. As soon as this happens all power in the car turns off. Engine is still running but you no longer have any turning signals, brake lights, headlights, air conditioning, etc. It happens randomly and has almost cause me to be rear ended due to car behind me not knowing I was slowing down or stopping. This happens when I am not close... Read more

Incident date: Jul 7, 2023

I was driving on a divided highway in the right hand lane out of two lanes. To the right was a grassy berm. To the left of the road was a grassy median. I was driving with the adaptive cruise control enabled and set to about 70MPH. Full self driving was not enabled. There were no vehicles or other obstacles visible ahead or to the sides, no vehicles following. Without any reason I could perc... Read more

Incident date: May 29, 2023

Clunk and clicking in steering. There is extra play in steering. All research points to a steering coupler.

Incident date: May 1, 2023

The brakes on my 2010 Genesis Coupe suddenly stopped working while on the freeway, luckily I was able to swerve into the carpool lane and avoid an accident. Upon taking it to Tuttle Click Hyundai I was told a master technician had to review it, which would cost $200 just to look at it. When the technician looked at the car, I was told it needed a new Brake Booster. Hyundai apparently no longer... Read more

Incident date: Jun 23, 2023

Unknown

Incident date: Jun 23, 2023

Oil cooler failed forcing engine oil in cooling system. ECU did not indicate any overheat, low oil pressure or check engine light. By the time the vehicle was parked and shut off no oil was left in the oil pan. Oil/coolant covered the passenger wheel well and tire/rim. Probably a good idea to have a bigger OEM oil cooler rather than using coolant to cool the engine oil. Oil cooler failure was conf... Read more

Incident date: Jul 1, 2023

The contact owns a 2016 GMC Canyon. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the stability control and power steering warning lights illuminated. The vehicle then lost stability control functionality and the steering wheel became firm. The contact stopped on the side of road and turned off the vehicle. The vehicle was restarted and operated normally. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The ... Read more

Incident date: Jun 26, 2023

The chrome colored plastic strip that runs along the dash reflects the sun into your eyes and is blinding. Sometimes I have to drive with my hand blocking the beams of light because it’s that blinding. This happens mostly in the summer but has happened in other seasons. I was going to paint it or put stickers on it to block it although my car is a rental and don’t want to void anything so ... Read more

Incident date: Jun 26, 2023

Water continues to gush out of the driver side passenger door when opened after raining. I also found out on Friday, July 30, 2023, that water has been leaking into the trunk of my brand-new car since purchasing it on May 10, 2023. It's a hybrid. [XXX], Pearson Hyundai's New Car Sales Manager (who I bought my car from), and I are extremely concerned about water leaking into the trunk of an electri... Read more

Incident date: Jul 4, 2023

As I was pulling my 2019 Jeep Compass Trailhawk to a light off the highway exit, the vehicle did its automatic stop the engine function. After about 4 seconds a "high coolant temp, shutdown vehicle" note appeared. The engine turned off and I lost complete control. The car would not move, e-brake engaged automatically, and the vehicle would not restart. 30 minutes later someone came by to jump star... Read more

Incident date: Jul 3, 2023

I was traveling at 55 mph and hit a deer with my car's front end. The impact affected about 60% of my front end. I couldn't escape from my vehicle through either front doors, I had to use the rear passenger doors. Upon impact, the front dash Indicated "airbag" buy not 1 airbag deployed. Even the car dealership indicated that they noticed the airbag light, but assured me it was okay.

Crash

Incident date: May 23, 2022

ACCELERATOR BECAME UNRESPONSIVE. HAD TO PLACE CAR IN NUTRAL AND BACK TO DRIVE TO REGAIN CONTROL.

Incident date: May 23, 2022

My Tesla has experienced several phantom breaking occurrences while on the highway where autopilot engages break aggressively when there is no collision possibility and almost caused rear end collisions into my car. Very terrifying and this needs to be addressed.

Incident date: May 23, 2022

I've had several instances where the car didn't turn over and all technology screens began glitching, clicking and stating the key wasn't in the car. After a few tries, it would start up. Ice also experienced engine failure WHILE driving. The first time was at a stop light and the engine completely shut off and I had to park, and restart it. This has happened twice. When it did, all of the scree... Read more

Incident date: Jun 28, 2023

The contact owns a 2017 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that after the vehicle was repaired under NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V701000 (Air Bags), the passenger’s side air bags experienced intermittent functionality failure. The air bag warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who determined that the front passenger’s side seat needed to be replaced; however, the par... Read more

Incident date: Jun 29, 2023

The headrest has come apart and is showing the phone padding underneath. The headrest was bumped while placing the baby in the car seat in rear face position.

Incident date: May 20, 2023

Is the car still available: UNKNOWN. The Police report saids the Engine caught fire, it was while parked and was not driven since around 7pm that night, it was inspected by Geico insurance company and by the Police Dutchess County Sheriff's Office, Case Number: 2020-00014944 Reporting Officer: 151 - Sheppard. The vehicle would have put me and my girlfriend in danger if we drove again or further t... Read more

Fire

Incident date: May 20, 2023

Wheel hubs. Yes High. Yes. No, light came on after

Incident date: May 20, 2023

Wheel hubs. Yes High. Yes. No, light came on after

Incident date: May 5, 2023

VEHICLES CENTER CONSOLE DISPLAY SCREEN SUFFERS FROM GHOST TOUCHES. THE DISPLAY REGISTERS INPUTS FROM THE TOUCHSCREEN WITH NO ONE TOUCHING THE DISPLAY THIS IS THE SAME ISSUE THAT IS ON THE 14-16 VERSIONS OF THIS VEHICLE. THE DISPLAY SELF NAVIGATES CAUSING A SUBSTANTIAL DISTRACTION AND INCREASING THE LIKELIHOOD OF A CRASH. AS WELL ON A FEW INSTANCES SELF NAVIGATES THROUGH THE MENU AND SOMETIMES ENAB... Read more

Incident date: May 5, 2023

2019 Honda Pilot EX-L AWD; approximately 76k miles; all routine maintenance performed as scheduled Power Train (Jun-2023)-- had to replace both seals on on transmission / transfer case within the same month as case was leaking transmission fluid. Problem has been confirmed and repaired by two service centers (one seal each) with one at dealer and one at independent service center. No warning ligh... Read more

Incident date: Jun 27, 2023

The airbags is displayed as not working/off. The blind spot warning, and the lane keeping assistance does not function. There was an incident that happened where I hit a pot hole and ended up hitting a construction cone. No warning signs went off and my car wasn’t assisted yo avoid the cone.

Crash

Incident date: Jun 25, 2023

Vehicle rolled backwards due to defective trans shifter bushing on transaxle end. In the process of replacing bushing if available from Ford

Incident date: Jun 29, 2022

Questionable manufacturing practices, wiring harness for lighting and brake controls ran through a cut out in a piece of aluminum that had no rubber grommet protecting the insulation of the wires resulting in insulation being cut resulting in possible short. Also, during manufacturing process, front skin of the V front of the trailer was not secured to the frame resulting in possible panel displac... Read more

Incident date: Apr 1, 2023

This is the second time the antilock brake control module has failed and this truck has less than 75k miles on it. The warning lights constantly come on and off and if I needed to brake I am not sure that my antilock brake system would work.

Incident date: Jul 5, 2023

Losing power like the vehicle is in limp mode. Flashes the “service lights” for multiple things including shifter, airbags, breaking system, etc. it has set the park break while in motion as well. When a computer is attached is brings up can c bus codes and implausible assisted driving codes. Also will not go into reverse when this is happening. Sometimes the shifter doesn’t work either.

Incident date: Jul 5, 2023

Incident date: Jul 3, 2023

I have had a reoccurrence of a warning light "Trac Off- Check AWD" ( All Wheel Drive}. This is, apparently, an indication that the Vehicle Stability System has been turned off. The car is now less safe/ controlled in slippery inclement conditions. In researching this issue, I have found numerous indications that many drivers have experienced this problem with Vrious Lexus models and model years. ... Read more

Incident date: Jul 3, 2023

When I click the button to start the car and then quickly reverse, the system locks up. It's a safety hazard. It's happened to me 4 times. Twice on 7-14-23 and another two times within the last 3 weeks.

Incident date: Jun 8, 2023

Recall was issued 5/10/2023. No repair is available at this time. Driving this vehicle is a safety risk to my family and myself

Incident date: Jun 8, 2023

The passenger side windshield panel flew off while driving 70 mph on the highway. There is now a rattling sound when I drive over 30 mph. There were no warning signs, only a loud crack. This could have been very dangerous if someone had been next to or behind the vehicle.

Incident date: Jun 8, 2023

Incident date: Jul 4, 2023

We get the message "Hybrid engine overheated" and after that loses power/acceleration causing vehicle to stall. This happened twice in last year. First time, we were at the Canadian border idling the vehicle when it happened. We took the car to our dealer for inspection and they said it related to a recall and updated the software. Few months later, it happened again in stop and go traffic and thi... Read more

Incident date: May 1, 2023

Not sure where to direct this, so please redirect if this is the wrong inbox. I recently went into a local service appointment to have our passenger seat belt buckle replaced at Acura Concord. We had noticed that the belt was not seating securely in the buckle, and could be removed with minimal-to-moderate effort (would guess 15-30 lbs of force) - certainly not safe in a collision. ... Read more

Incident date: Jun 3, 2022

Repeated sudden loss of forward propulsion power associated with multiple warning messages about drive system and electrical system malfunction. Because the problem is sudden and the car has no forward propulsion power the car is left blocking traffic with occupants still inside. This has occurred multiple times over the last 6 months and no cause has been identified yet.

Incident date: Jul 3, 2023

Hi there, My car has been to the Acura dealer multiple times for the same issue, and I'm hearing that alot of other Acura TLX owners are having the same issue. My car screen will randomly short, and can just shut off. Sometimes when I'm backing up, the screen will freeze and i wont realize that someone is walking behind the car, almost causing me to hit them. The audio system also can make weird... Read more

Incident date: Jul 1, 2023

Car was stolen because of kia issue

Incident date: May 10, 2023

This will be the second time this has happened to my vehicle my vehicle just randomly stopped while driving and will not start back up. It keeps showing on the dashboard “check hybrid system stop car and turn off engine” this happen 4 years ago and then a safety recall came out for it to get fixed this should have been fixed from the safety recall and never happened again unfortunately it happ... Read more

Incident date: Jul 2, 2023

Our Sprinter 2500 is equipped with Mercedes Benz autonomous cruise (Distronic Cruise). It fails repeatedly for unknown reason, and when it does it also disabled related safety features (collision warning, emergency braking) as well as standard cruise control. The manual suggests checking for bugs, snow, or other obstructions on sensors, but they’ve been clear. Forums note that their vans also ... Read more

Incident date: Jul 2, 2023

The lane departure assist stopped working. The dash says lane departure assist not available.

Incident date: Jul 2, 2023

Car has issues with fuel pump with only 64k miles. I was told by Hyundai that I need a new fuel pump. With such low mileage this appears most likely to be a manufacturing defect. Hyundai Sonata has had recall issues regarding this part in the past.

Incident date: Jul 2, 2023

The paint on this car is defective. It peels off of the car without any action or agitation by the owner or outside forces. This causes multiple parts of the car rust to under the painted areas, including the roof and hood. This is a common problem with this model and color as several owners have posted about the problem online.

Incident date: Jul 1, 2023

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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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