Consumer Safety Complaints
Search 2,192,899 safety complaints filed by vehicle owners with NHTSA — including 137,559 crashes, 55,854 fires, and 8,555 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 2,192,899 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 48,404 complaints for VOLKSWAGEN
VOLKSWAGEN
PASSAT
(2014) — AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER CLOCKSPRING/SPIRAL CASSETTE
May 4, 2022
Incident date: Apr 4, 2022
The contact owns a 2014 Volkswagen Passat. The contact stated that the control buttons on the steering wheel were no longer operable and the horn would fail to honk when engaged. The air bag warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a Volkswagen certified independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the clockspring needed to be replaced; however, the part was not available. The v... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
PASSAT
(2014) — AIR BAGS
May 4, 2022
Incident date: Sep 1, 2021
The airbag not working after recall, the dealer says the clock spring is bad. Cant order a new one bc they have been on backorder for over 9 months now.
VOLKSWAGEN
PASSAT
(2017) — AIR BAGS
May 4, 2022
Incident date: May 3, 2022
Hit a deer head on while travelling at about 40 mph on a rural highway. Airbags did NOT deploy, despite front end damage.
Crash
VOLKSWAGEN
JETTA HYBRID
(2013) — POWER TRAIN
May 4, 2022
Incident date: Mar 30, 2022
The contact owns a 2013 Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid. The contact stated after starting his vehicle, he was unable to move the gear shifter into a desired gear. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not drivable. The contact towed the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the mechatronic assembly unit to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. Th... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
TIGUAN
(2011) — AIR BAGS
May 3, 2022
Incident date: Apr 13, 2022
The clock spring is broken in my 2011 VW Tiguan at 114,000 miles. Therefore, the driver airbag on the steering wheel does not work. Therefore, there is a safety issue if one drives the car. The problem is not fixed because there are no parts to fix it. Apparently there is a chip in the clock spring and there are no chips available to manufacture replacement springs. I was told that the part has be... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
TIGUAN
(2011) — STEERING
May 3, 2022
Incident date: Apr 13, 2022
The clock spring is broken in my 2011 VW Tiguan at 114,000 miles. Therefore, the driver airbag on the steering wheel does not work. Therefore, there is a safety issue if one drives the car. The problem is not fixed because there are no parts to fix it. Apparently there is a chip in the clock spring and there are no chips available to manufacture replacement springs. I was told that the part has be... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
TIGUAN
(2011) — ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
May 3, 2022
Incident date: Apr 13, 2022
The clock spring is broken in my 2011 VW Tiguan at 114,000 miles. Therefore, the driver airbag on the steering wheel does not work. Therefore, there is a safety issue if one drives the car. The problem is not fixed because there are no parts to fix it. Apparently there is a chip in the clock spring and there are no chips available to manufacture replacement springs. I was told that the part has be... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
TIGUAN
(2014) — AIR BAGS
May 3, 2022
Incident date: May 3, 2022
Clock spring failed in the steering wheel after having the part replaced 2 years ago under a VW warranty. Now that the clock spring failed a second I am told that there is no ETA to get the vehicle fixed and there are over 10k people waiting for the part needed to fix the vehicle. The wait is likely over 9 months. With a failed clock spring the airbags do not work. The horn also doesn't work.... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
TIGUAN
(2014) — ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
May 3, 2022
Incident date: May 3, 2022
Clock spring failed in the steering wheel after having the part replaced 2 years ago under a VW warranty. Now that the clock spring failed a second I am told that there is no ETA to get the vehicle fixed and there are over 10k people waiting for the part needed to fix the vehicle. The wait is likely over 9 months. With a failed clock spring the airbags do not work. The horn also doesn't work.... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
TIGUAN
(2015) — AIR BAGS
May 3, 2022
Incident date: Feb 21, 2022
Airbag error light has been on since February 2022, clockspring malfunctioned and is covered under warranty. There are no loaner cars available forcing me to drive an unsafe vehicle with no airbags. The part has been on back order with no estimated date of arrival.
VOLKSWAGEN
TIGUAN
(2020) — SERVICE BRAKES
May 3, 2022
Incident date: May 3, 2022
Automatic emergency brakes engage when pulling into/out of slightly sloped ground. My vehicle has come to a halt while in the middle of a highway multiple times after pulling out of a parking lot where it is slightly sloped. The most recent time was 5/3/22, but it has happened on 5 previous occasions. The emergency sensor believes the ground in front of me is an obstacle. I am now careful to only ... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
TIGUAN
(2020) — FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
May 3, 2022
Incident date: May 3, 2022
Automatic emergency brakes engage when pulling into/out of slightly sloped ground. My vehicle has come to a halt while in the middle of a highway multiple times after pulling out of a parking lot where it is slightly sloped. The most recent time was 5/3/22, but it has happened on 5 previous occasions. The emergency sensor believes the ground in front of me is an obstacle. I am now careful to only ... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
EOS
(2014) — AIR BAGS
May 3, 2022
Incident date: May 3, 2022
Clock spring failure causing complete disconnect of all steering wheel electrical components as well as disabling the airbag
VOLKSWAGEN
EOS
(2014) — ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
May 3, 2022
Incident date: May 3, 2022
Clock spring failure causing complete disconnect of all steering wheel electrical components as well as disabling the airbag
VOLKSWAGEN
EOS
(2014) — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
May 3, 2022
Incident date: May 3, 2022
Clock spring failure causing complete disconnect of all steering wheel electrical components as well as disabling the airbag
VOLKSWAGEN
ID.4
(2021) — ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
May 3, 2022
Incident date: May 2, 2022
Driving at about 10mph in parking lot and car jolted to stop. Dash flashing electrical failure in 12v battery, service immediately. Car would not move then it released into N position and began to roll back award. Warning electrical system failure flashed in dash and had no power for 10-15 minute. Flashing continued and said service needed. Sitting in isle of parking lot until Car allowed to mo... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS
(2021) — SERVICE BRAKES
May 3, 2022
Incident date: May 2, 2022
Vehicle’s electronic emergency brake system engaged while driving at low speed, below 15mph. Loud scraping sound repetitively heard from driver side tire.
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS
(2021) — WHEELS
May 3, 2022
Incident date: May 2, 2022
Vehicle’s electronic emergency brake system engaged while driving at low speed, below 15mph. Loud scraping sound repetitively heard from driver side tire.
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS
(2021) — UNKNOWN OR OTHER
May 3, 2022
Incident date: May 2, 2022
Vehicle’s electronic emergency brake system engaged while driving at low speed, below 15mph. Loud scraping sound repetitively heard from driver side tire.
VOLKSWAGEN
PASSAT
(2012) — AIR BAGS
May 3, 2022
Incident date: Oct 15, 2021
Although this site has my car listed with ZERO unfixed recalls, that is not true. I received a recall notice for the clockspring on this vehicle, called my local dealership and was told it was no big deal, just to have it fixed when I brought my car in for 80k mile servicing. At that time, the clockspring had not yet broken and my car only had 50k miles on it. Late last October, my clockspring... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
PASSAT
(2012) — ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
May 3, 2022
Incident date: Oct 15, 2021
Although this site has my car listed with ZERO unfixed recalls, that is not true. I received a recall notice for the clockspring on this vehicle, called my local dealership and was told it was no big deal, just to have it fixed when I brought my car in for 80k mile servicing. At that time, the clockspring had not yet broken and my car only had 50k miles on it. Late last October, my clockspring... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
PASSAT
(2007) — POWER TRAIN
May 2, 2022
Incident date: Apr 20, 2022
The brakes totally went out on my vehicle with no warning. It first started when I bought the car, the brake pad (almost brand new) almost set my left front rotor on fire within 10 minutes of driving. If I didn’t pull over there’s no question that my car would’ve set on fire. My fuel like was leaking heavily, and the emergency brake which is hydraulic wouldn’t even deploy. I could’ve got... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
PASSAT
(2007) — SERVICE BRAKES
May 2, 2022
Incident date: Apr 20, 2022
The brakes totally went out on my vehicle with no warning. It first started when I bought the car, the brake pad (almost brand new) almost set my left front rotor on fire within 10 minutes of driving. If I didn’t pull over there’s no question that my car would’ve set on fire. My fuel like was leaking heavily, and the emergency brake which is hydraulic wouldn’t even deploy. I could’ve got... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
GTI
(2014) — POWER TRAIN
May 2, 2022
Incident date: Apr 29, 2022
Was going about 75 mph on the highway when my car dropped into neutral by itself causing me to have to cut across 4 lanes of highway to stop the car. 2014 gti with 67k miles. now being told its my gear shifter an module costing $2,300. I believe this is an essential part that should not be going defective an the dealer told me that their was no visible damage or reason to why it happened. "It is ... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
JETTA
(2019) — SERVICE BRAKES
May 2, 2022
Incident date: Apr 26, 2022
The contact owns a 2019 Volkswagen Jetta. The contact stated that when depressing the brake pedal the vehicle would lunge forward. While driving approximately 40 mph and suddenly depressing the brake pedal the vehicle lurched forward and crashed into the rear of a second vehicle. During the crash, the driver sustained an injured left hand. A police report was taken at the scene and the vehicle was... Read more
Crash
1 injured
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS CROSS SPORT
(2020) — SERVICE BRAKES
May 2, 2022
Incident date: Apr 16, 2022
2020 VW Atlas Cross Sport. While traveling down the highway (medium speed) the vehicle abruptly threw itself into Park, and E-braked. Thankfully escaped a collision but the outcome could have been much worse. My safety and safety of others was put at risk. And the general trauma from this scary incident has lasted weeks. The abrupt braking continued to happen at low speeds / cruising speed until I... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS CROSS SPORT
(2020) — ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
May 2, 2022
Incident date: Apr 16, 2022
2020 VW Atlas Cross Sport. While traveling down the highway (medium speed) the vehicle abruptly threw itself into Park, and E-braked. Thankfully escaped a collision but the outcome could have been much worse. My safety and safety of others was put at risk. And the general trauma from this scary incident has lasted weeks. The abrupt braking continued to happen at low speeds / cruising speed until I... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS CROSS SPORT
(2020) — FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
May 2, 2022
Incident date: Apr 16, 2022
2020 VW Atlas Cross Sport. While traveling down the highway (medium speed) the vehicle abruptly threw itself into Park, and E-braked. Thankfully escaped a collision but the outcome could have been much worse. My safety and safety of others was put at risk. And the general trauma from this scary incident has lasted weeks. The abrupt braking continued to happen at low speeds / cruising speed until I... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS CROSS SPORT
(2021) — AIR BAGS
May 2, 2022
Incident date: Mar 18, 2022
there is a delayed airbag deploy in this vehicle with no remedy. Concerned for well being of my my wife and family who drive this vehicle on a daily basis.
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS CROSS SPORT
(2022) — SERVICE BRAKES
May 2, 2022
Incident date: Mar 1, 2022
Since purchasing this car, i have had problems with the parking brake automatically turning on when driving and at every stop; the car doors in the front do not lock/unlock; causing a concern for emergency with two kids in the car. The sunroof malfunctions along with the windows working on their own, going up and down and the sunroof not closing. The electrical front panels malfunction and cause t... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS CROSS SPORT
(2022) — ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
May 2, 2022
Incident date: Mar 1, 2022
Since purchasing this car, i have had problems with the parking brake automatically turning on when driving and at every stop; the car doors in the front do not lock/unlock; causing a concern for emergency with two kids in the car. The sunroof malfunctions along with the windows working on their own, going up and down and the sunroof not closing. The electrical front panels malfunction and cause t... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS CROSS SPORT
(2022) — AIR BAGS
May 2, 2022
Incident date: Mar 1, 2022
Since purchasing this car, i have had problems with the parking brake automatically turning on when driving and at every stop; the car doors in the front do not lock/unlock; causing a concern for emergency with two kids in the car. The sunroof malfunctions along with the windows working on their own, going up and down and the sunroof not closing. The electrical front panels malfunction and cause t... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
TIGUAN LIMITED
(2018) — AIR BAGS
May 2, 2022
Incident date: Jan 21, 2022
The clock spring on my 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan Limited unexpectedly failed @ 20,000 miles/3.5 years of ownership while gradually turning my wheel to pull into a parking space. The failure was indicated by the sound of plastic cracking and the airbag warning light appeared on my dashboard. The clock spring had been recalled on older VW's and was obviously never fully corrected. I then had to drive m... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
TIGUAN LIMITED
(2018) — ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
May 2, 2022
Incident date: Jan 21, 2022
The clock spring on my 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan Limited unexpectedly failed @ 20,000 miles/3.5 years of ownership while gradually turning my wheel to pull into a parking space. The failure was indicated by the sound of plastic cracking and the airbag warning light appeared on my dashboard. The clock spring had been recalled on older VW's and was obviously never fully corrected. I then had to drive m... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
TIGUAN LIMITED
(2018) — STEERING
May 2, 2022
Incident date: Jan 21, 2022
The clock spring on my 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan Limited unexpectedly failed @ 20,000 miles/3.5 years of ownership while gradually turning my wheel to pull into a parking space. The failure was indicated by the sound of plastic cracking and the airbag warning light appeared on my dashboard. The clock spring had been recalled on older VW's and was obviously never fully corrected. I then had to drive m... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
TIGUAN
(2013) — UNKNOWN OR OTHER
May 1, 2022
Incident date: Apr 18, 2022
The clock-spring in our VW Tiguan broke/snapped disabling the electronics on the steering wheel - including the vehicles horn and airbag which are both safety features. There are numerous other people having a similar experience on Twitter. We are being told by VW that the vehicle is still safe to drive which is frankly, insulting. The VW dealership/Indigo Auto Group in San Rafael, CA has verifie... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
TIGUAN
(2013) — STEERING
May 1, 2022
Incident date: Apr 18, 2022
The clock-spring in our VW Tiguan broke/snapped disabling the electronics on the steering wheel - including the vehicles horn and airbag which are both safety features. There are numerous other people having a similar experience on Twitter. We are being told by VW that the vehicle is still safe to drive which is frankly, insulting. The VW dealership/Indigo Auto Group in San Rafael, CA has verifie... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
TIGUAN
(2013) — AIR BAGS
May 1, 2022
Incident date: Apr 18, 2022
The clock-spring in our VW Tiguan broke/snapped disabling the electronics on the steering wheel - including the vehicles horn and airbag which are both safety features. There are numerous other people having a similar experience on Twitter. We are being told by VW that the vehicle is still safe to drive which is frankly, insulting. The VW dealership/Indigo Auto Group in San Rafael, CA has verifie... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS
(2019) — SERVICE BRAKES
May 1, 2022
Incident date: Apr 28, 2022
I was sitting at a stoplight when the vehicles in front of me started moving forward. I took my foot off the break so that I could roll forward slowly and my emergency brake engaged without me pushing the emergency brake button. At first I thought I had been hit from behind because I was jolted forward but when I looked at my dash the red PARK light was lit. And then turned off on its own.
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS CROSS SPORT
(2020) — SERVICE BRAKES
May 1, 2022
Incident date: May 1, 2022
While driving down a street the car engaged the emergency stop system and stopped the car, nothing in front of me or around me. Verify scary incident.
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS CROSS SPORT
(2020) — FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
May 1, 2022
Incident date: May 1, 2022
While driving down a street the car engaged the emergency stop system and stopped the car, nothing in front of me or around me. Verify scary incident.
VOLKSWAGEN
JETTA
(2013) — AIR BAGS
May 1, 2022
Incident date: Feb 2, 2022
The clock spring in this vehicle has failed in a vehicle that currently has less than 36k miles. There were no warnings or lights prior to failure. The controls on steering wheel and the vehicle’s horn no longer work as a result. When inspected by the local dealership, they also informed us that the airbag may not deploy in the event of an accident. The dealership also told us that the replaceme... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
JETTA
(2013) — ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
May 1, 2022
Incident date: Feb 2, 2022
The clock spring in this vehicle has failed in a vehicle that currently has less than 36k miles. There were no warnings or lights prior to failure. The controls on steering wheel and the vehicle’s horn no longer work as a result. When inspected by the local dealership, they also informed us that the airbag may not deploy in the event of an accident. The dealership also told us that the replaceme... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
JETTA
(2013) — STEERING
May 1, 2022
Incident date: Feb 2, 2022
The clock spring in this vehicle has failed in a vehicle that currently has less than 36k miles. There were no warnings or lights prior to failure. The controls on steering wheel and the vehicle’s horn no longer work as a result. When inspected by the local dealership, they also informed us that the airbag may not deploy in the event of an accident. The dealership also told us that the replaceme... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
GOLF ALLTRACK
(2017) — UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Apr 30, 2022
Incident date: Apr 30, 2022
Whenever you put the car in park and take your foot off the brake the car will roll a little.
VOLKSWAGEN
CC
(2014) — AIR BAGS
Apr 30, 2022
Incident date: Apr 25, 2022
The airbag light went off in the instrument cluster. I hear what sounds like a disconnected cable rubbing against the steering wheel whenever I try to make a turn. All buttons in the steering wheel are non functional after the incident. Really concerned if the airbag won’t deploy and cause fatal or deadly injuries in case of crash. I don’t feel safe driving it in this condition.
VOLKSWAGEN
CC
(2014) — ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Apr 30, 2022
Incident date: Apr 25, 2022
The airbag light went off in the instrument cluster. I hear what sounds like a disconnected cable rubbing against the steering wheel whenever I try to make a turn. All buttons in the steering wheel are non functional after the incident. Really concerned if the airbag won’t deploy and cause fatal or deadly injuries in case of crash. I don’t feel safe driving it in this condition.
VOLKSWAGEN
CC
(2014) — STEERING
Apr 30, 2022
Incident date: Apr 25, 2022
The airbag light went off in the instrument cluster. I hear what sounds like a disconnected cable rubbing against the steering wheel whenever I try to make a turn. All buttons in the steering wheel are non functional after the incident. Really concerned if the airbag won’t deploy and cause fatal or deadly injuries in case of crash. I don’t feel safe driving it in this condition.
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS CROSS SPORT
(2021) — SERVICE BRAKES
Apr 30, 2022
Incident date: Apr 30, 2022
Received an error message about driver door contact fail as I was driving down the highway. Next thing I knew my car was rolling down the back window and emergency braking. I was doing 65 down a highway. I had no control over my car. My passengers were freaking out. I was finally able to turn it off and back on and regain control. This is unsafe. I could’ve wrecked and been seriously injured tod... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS CROSS SPORT
(2021) — ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Apr 30, 2022
Incident date: Apr 30, 2022
Received an error message about driver door contact fail as I was driving down the highway. Next thing I knew my car was rolling down the back window and emergency braking. I was doing 65 down a highway. I had no control over my car. My passengers were freaking out. I was finally able to turn it off and back on and regain control. This is unsafe. I could’ve wrecked and been seriously injured tod... Read more