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.
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
Showing 49,794 complaints for VOLKSWAGEN
VOLKSWAGEN
JETTA
(2021) - SERVICE BRAKES
Dec 7, 2022
Incident date: Oct 1, 2022
I recently took in my 2021 VW Jetta to the dealership for a routine service visit. The car is 18 months old and has 24,000 miles on it. I constantly get a recurring loud squeaking brake noise when reversing the car after a cold start. It seems to be coming from the rear brakes. I took the vehicle to the dealership and was informed that they are aware of the issue but have no fix for it yet. Upon i... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS
(2019) - ENGINE
Dec 7, 2022
Incident date: Dec 1, 2022
Car engine turns off while driving and says start engine. Yes the vehicle is available for inspection. Car stop in traffic and I was almost hit by the car behind me on multiple occasions. I had 6 children in the vehicle at the time who would’ve been seriously injured or dead as the car behind me was going at least 70 mph and my car halted out of nowhere. Nothing has been confirmed for my vehicle... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
GOLF
(2022) - BACK OVER PREVENTION: REARVIEW SYSTEM BRAKING
Dec 7, 2022
Incident date: Sep 10, 2022
Quite often various warnings show on the screen and following features - Maneuver braking function currently not available - Rear Traffic Alert is currently not available - Error: Park Distance Control
VOLKSWAGEN
GOLF
(2022) - LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
Dec 7, 2022
Incident date: Sep 10, 2022
Quite often various warnings show on the screen and following features - Maneuver braking function currently not available - Rear Traffic Alert is currently not available - Error: Park Distance Control
VOLKSWAGEN
GOLF
(2022) - BACK OVER PREVENTION: WARNINGS
Dec 7, 2022
Incident date: Sep 10, 2022
Quite often various warnings show on the screen and following features - Maneuver braking function currently not available - Rear Traffic Alert is currently not available - Error: Park Distance Control
VOLKSWAGEN
GOLF
(2022) - ENGINE
Dec 6, 2022
Incident date: Dec 5, 2022
My 2022 Golf GTI SE is part of the recall with NHTSA ID of 22V707 (Radiator and Coolant Hose). The issue is the radiator comes loose causing a hose and housing to make contact with the accessory belt eventually causing a leak. In my particular instance, I caught the problem early. My radiator had become loose (wasn't loose on previous checks) but hadn't dislodged to the point of causing damage. Pe... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
GTI
(2010) - FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Dec 6, 2022
Incident date: Nov 1, 2022
About a month ago, while driving , the abs light, brake light and ESP light came on. After about 2 weeks of troubleshooting, a local mechanic troubleshot the issues to a faulty ABS module. After many phone calls with my local VW dealership I was able to set an appointment for a diagnostic. They determined " Diag ABS system no communication advised on replacement module". The module costing $2,886.... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ID.4
(2021) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:BODY CONTROL MODULE/BCM
Dec 6, 2022
Incident date: Feb 6, 2022
The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen ID.4. The contact stated while starting the vehicle and exiting his driveway, the "All Wheel Drive Function Disabled", "Electrical System Failure", "Rear Assist Failure" and other unknown messages were displayed. The contact stated that the vehicle hesitated to respond while depressing the accelerator pedal. The contact also stated that the vehicle was slow to ge... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS
(2022) - SERVICE BRAKES
Dec 6, 2022
Incident date: Nov 16, 2022
Was driving under 10mph and the brakes suddenly locked despite nothing being in way that would trigger ABS system. Brakes have also been grinding and feel off going down steep inclines, and sounds like water is moving around when i press them, even lightly. This is not safe and VW refuses to acknowledge an issue!
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS
(2022) - FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Dec 6, 2022
Incident date: Nov 16, 2022
Was driving under 10mph and the brakes suddenly locked despite nothing being in way that would trigger ABS system. Brakes have also been grinding and feel off going down steep inclines, and sounds like water is moving around when i press them, even lightly. This is not safe and VW refuses to acknowledge an issue!
VOLKSWAGEN
JETTA
(2019) - UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Dec 6, 2022
Incident date: Nov 27, 2022
Like MANY people have experienced, I was driving on the highway when the sunroof glass suddenly exploded. It was terrifying and the startled reaction could easily have caused a serious highway speed crash. There was no obvious reason for the failure of the glass but having shattered glass fall in my lap was scary.
VOLKSWAGEN
JETTA
(2014) - SUSPENSION
Dec 6, 2022
Incident date: Dec 2, 2022
Front end making a banging noise. Local car shop tells me the front Driver side STRUT COIL SPRING is broken and flopping around. Car steers, and drives ok.WHAT IF IT HAD BLOWN MY TIRE when it busted???? Have never seen one of these springs break myself. There are more reports on the internet about this with VW’S. A recall was issued on the 2019 and newer for the rear springs. Any before that yea... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
TIGUAN
(2020) - BACK OVER PREVENTION: WARNINGS
Dec 5, 2022
Incident date: Jun 22, 2020
I've been having backup camera problems since I purchased this vehicle in June 2020. It only works 20% of the time. There have been times were I don't see people or vehicles as I back up. I've only been seen for service twice. I don't have the time to take it in once a week for them to do to a hard reset or replace the J949 Module. I've attached a service receipt. Usually just have a black sc... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
TIGUAN
(2020) - BACK OVER PREVENTION: REARVIEW SYSTEM BRAKING
Dec 5, 2022
Incident date: Jun 22, 2020
I've been having backup camera problems since I purchased this vehicle in June 2020. It only works 20% of the time. There have been times were I don't see people or vehicles as I back up. I've only been seen for service twice. I don't have the time to take it in once a week for them to do to a hard reset or replace the J949 Module. I've attached a service receipt. Usually just have a black sc... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
TIGUAN
(2021) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Dec 5, 2022
Incident date: Aug 1, 2022
The car will suddenly shut off while slowing down or coming to a stop. The “start/stop” error message is displayed and the car displays to “manually restart car”. At first this happened only sporadically, but now this is happening while on the highway in traffic or while turning in an intersection. Today it has happened 5 times. Our car only has 10,000 miles and has had problems from the... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
TIGUAN
(2021) - ENGINE
Dec 5, 2022
Incident date: Aug 1, 2022
The car will suddenly shut off while slowing down or coming to a stop. The “start/stop” error message is displayed and the car displays to “manually restart car”. At first this happened only sporadically, but now this is happening while on the highway in traffic or while turning in an intersection. Today it has happened 5 times. Our car only has 10,000 miles and has had problems from the... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
TIGUAN
(2022) - AIR BAGS
Dec 5, 2022
Incident date: Dec 4, 2022
Driver fell asleep and vehicle want off the road into a ditch that led to a stone wall protecting a culvert. Vehicle hit the stone wall and was launched into the air across the driveway where it came to a rest on its right side. I estimate that the vehicle left the highway at 45 mph (the cruise control setting) and hit the stone wall at approximately 25-30 mph. During this violent event all airbag... Read more
Crash
1 injured
VOLKSWAGEN
ID.4
(2023) - VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Dec 5, 2022
Incident date: Dec 3, 2022
While I was pulling into a parking space in a parking garage, the car suddenly accelerated to a high rate of speed and crashed into the wall of the parking garage. The front and side air bags deployed. The crash caused significant front end damage to the car. The passenger (my husband) was not hurt but I have bruises on my head, nose, chest, and abdomen from the steering wheel and seat belt. I... Read more
Crash
VOLKSWAGEN
ID.4
(2023) - UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Dec 5, 2022
Incident date: Dec 3, 2022
While I was pulling into a parking space in a parking garage, the car suddenly accelerated to a high rate of speed and crashed into the wall of the parking garage. The front and side air bags deployed. The crash caused significant front end damage to the car. The passenger (my husband) was not hurt but I have bruises on my head, nose, chest, and abdomen from the steering wheel and seat belt. I... Read more
Crash
VOLKSWAGEN
JETTA
(2017) - FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE
Dec 5, 2022
Incident date: Nov 30, 2022
The contact owns a 2017 Volkswagen Jetta. The contact stated that while attempting to start the vehicle, an abnormal fuel odor was detected, and the vehicle failed to start. Additionally, there was a puddle of fuel underneath the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that there was a fuel leak coming from the fuel injector seal, and that the fuel rail and fuel inject... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
PASSAT
(2012) - UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Dec 5, 2022
Incident date: Dec 1, 2022
Bought in July and had 38461 miles and only put 3000 miles since bought. Driving down the road and it started raining and had 2” of water in my drivers side floor board. Took to jack Morris auto glass and they looked at it and said the pan on the driver’s side of the sunroof was cracked. He told me that driving it was risky as it could catch fire and cause electrical issues. Please advise.
VOLKSWAGEN
PASSAT
(2015) - AIR BAGS
Dec 5, 2022
Incident date: Dec 1, 2022
Clockspring is bad as noted by many other owners. Airbag light is lit and horn doesn’t work
VOLKSWAGEN
GOLF
(2011) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Dec 5, 2022
Incident date: Nov 18, 2022
Fuse F16 (30A) in the engine fuse plate, melted instead of breaking - causing half of the cars lights to stop functioning including turn signals and brake lights. Cannot be fixed with replacing the fuse as it was never tripped but instead the whole fuse plate needs to be replaced. No warning lights preceded the event, all lights went out while driving. VW dealership requires a new plate to be put ... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ID.4
(2022) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Dec 4, 2022
Incident date: Nov 28, 2022
Ever since I picked this car up I've noticed that it's been having constant electrical gremlins. Some days things will work some days things will not work. But the issue that I'm writing about is that earlier this week on a Monday I went to go to a local charger. When I was done charging about 10 minutes later I was pulling out of a parking lot and coasting to a stop to get on the main road. Howev... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ID.4
(2022) - FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Dec 4, 2022
Incident date: Nov 28, 2022
Ever since I picked this car up I've noticed that it's been having constant electrical gremlins. Some days things will work some days things will not work. But the issue that I'm writing about is that earlier this week on a Monday I went to go to a local charger. When I was done charging about 10 minutes later I was pulling out of a parking lot and coasting to a stop to get on the main road. Howev... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ID.4
(2022) - SERVICE BRAKES
Dec 4, 2022
Incident date: Nov 28, 2022
Ever since I picked this car up I've noticed that it's been having constant electrical gremlins. Some days things will work some days things will not work. But the issue that I'm writing about is that earlier this week on a Monday I went to go to a local charger. When I was done charging about 10 minutes later I was pulling out of a parking lot and coasting to a stop to get on the main road. Howev... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ID.4
(2022) - UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Dec 3, 2022
Incident date: Nov 23, 2022
Because all aspects of the cabin comfort are controlled through a visual screen, it's extremely dangerous to drive at night, or even sometimes during heavy daytime traffic. The car drives very well, but is quick, and taking one's eyes off the road even momentarily is risky. I've had several close calls already, and I am an older woman who drives conservatively. It's a struggle to find the defrost... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
GOLF
(2015) - FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE
Dec 2, 2022
Incident date: Mar 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2015 Volkswagen Golf. The contact noticed that the fuel pump would frequent stop while fueling the vehicle. The contact then stated that while his vehicle was being driven by a valet, fuel began to pour out of the fuel tank while on an incline. The valet attendant managed to drive the vehicle down a decline which stopped the leak. Despite the failure, the contact was able to dri... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
GOLF
(2015) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Dec 2, 2022
Incident date: Mar 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2015 Volkswagen Golf. The contact noticed that the fuel pump would frequent stop while fueling the vehicle. The contact then stated that while his vehicle was being driven by a valet, fuel began to pour out of the fuel tank while on an incline. The valet attendant managed to drive the vehicle down a decline which stopped the leak. Despite the failure, the contact was able to dri... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
GOLF
(2017) - UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Dec 2, 2022
Incident date: Dec 1, 2022
There is a piece of trim near the gear selector in the interior that separated to reveal a sharp edge that caused a severe cut on my hand.
1 injured
VOLKSWAGEN
PASSAT
(2017) - FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Dec 2, 2022
Incident date: Dec 1, 2022
Fuel smell in cabin. Diagnosed to be pin hole in high pressure fuel rail. Lucky no explosion or fire from related fuel leak.
VOLKSWAGEN
JETTA HYBRID
(2013) - POWER TRAIN
Dec 2, 2022
Incident date: Oct 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2013 Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid. The contact stated while starting the vehicle, the hybrid system fault message was displayed. The contact stated that he turned off and restarted the vehicle and the hybrid system fault message was off however, the check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact continued driving to his residence with the warning light illuminated. The conta... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
JETTA
(2011) - AIR BAGS
Dec 1, 2022
Incident date: Feb 2, 2017
On February 2, 2017, My car was stop in an intersection. A car coming in my direction swerved into my lane and hit me head on. The air bag was deployed, it exploded so violently that both of my hands were severly injured. There was a fracture in my right wrist. There was a laceration to the base of the thumb and my thumb finger almost fell off and required several stiches for my forefinger to be a... Read more
Crash
1 injured
VOLKSWAGEN
JETTA
(2019) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Nov 30, 2022
Incident date: Nov 30, 2022
I was driving on a active snowing highway at 7pm when an alert appeared on the dashboard to “check starter system” and “pull vehicle over…”. During this time im on the highway going about 6mph and everything electrical turned off including my headlights and windshield wipers turned off. I was able to activate my hazards and pull off the highway but due to the snow and everything electric... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
JETTA
(2019) - ENGINE
Nov 30, 2022
Incident date: Nov 30, 2022
I was driving on a active snowing highway at 7pm when an alert appeared on the dashboard to “check starter system” and “pull vehicle over…”. During this time im on the highway going about 6mph and everything electrical turned off including my headlights and windshield wipers turned off. I was able to activate my hazards and pull off the highway but due to the snow and everything electric... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
JETTA
(2019) - FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
Nov 30, 2022
Incident date: Nov 30, 2022
I was driving on a active snowing highway at 7pm when an alert appeared on the dashboard to “check starter system” and “pull vehicle over…”. During this time im on the highway going about 6mph and everything electrical turned off including my headlights and windshield wipers turned off. I was able to activate my hazards and pull off the highway but due to the snow and everything electric... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
TIGUAN
(2022) - UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Nov 30, 2022
Incident date: Oct 29, 2022
During stops the start/stop system has failed to re-engage. This has resulted in the driver having to shift the vehicle into park and re-start the engine while in traffic. Obviously being stalled in traffic elevates the risk of being rear-ended
VOLKSWAGEN
GOLF
(2015) - ENGINE
Nov 29, 2022
Incident date: Nov 4, 2022
Loss of coolant due to cheap plastic housing leads to damage to the thermostat and water pump. Researching the forums on this issue has shown that it's a common problem with the vehicle that Volkswagen hasn't addressed.
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS
(2021) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Nov 28, 2022
Incident date: Nov 27, 2022
While driving in a city, the emergency parking brake would switch on everytime i slowed down or came to a stop. Multiple other warnings happened such as lane assistance unavailable. And one of my windows would roll down part way.
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS
(2021) - SERVICE BRAKES
Nov 28, 2022
Incident date: Nov 27, 2022
While driving in a city, the emergency parking brake would switch on everytime i slowed down or came to a stop. Multiple other warnings happened such as lane assistance unavailable. And one of my windows would roll down part way.
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS
(2021) - LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING
Nov 28, 2022
Incident date: Nov 27, 2022
While driving in a city, the emergency parking brake would switch on everytime i slowed down or came to a stop. Multiple other warnings happened such as lane assistance unavailable. And one of my windows would roll down part way.
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS
(2023) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Nov 28, 2022
Incident date: Nov 28, 2022
While driving down the road at about 50 mph, the vehicle engine shut off. The vehicle lost all power to the engine, dash board, and steering. The vehicle was unable to be moved as it could not be shifted into neutral so as to push it out of the roadway. After approximately 30 minutes, the vehicle was able to restart. The vehicle then drove for about 1 mile before it lost all power again. This inc... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS
(2023) - ENGINE
Nov 28, 2022
Incident date: Nov 28, 2022
While driving down the road at about 50 mph, the vehicle engine shut off. The vehicle lost all power to the engine, dash board, and steering. The vehicle was unable to be moved as it could not be shifted into neutral so as to push it out of the roadway. After approximately 30 minutes, the vehicle was able to restart. The vehicle then drove for about 1 mile before it lost all power again. This inc... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
JETTA
(2006) - SERVICE BRAKES
Nov 27, 2022
Incident date: Nov 1, 2022
The windshield wiper broke the window, brakes need replaced to soon, fuel system car has trouble fueling and after fueling and engine over heating due to engine cooling malfunction. None of these have been repaired yet it shows 0 unprepared recalls.
VOLKSWAGEN
JETTA
(2006) - ENGINE
Nov 27, 2022
Incident date: Nov 1, 2022
The windshield wiper broke the window, brakes need replaced to soon, fuel system car has trouble fueling and after fueling and engine over heating due to engine cooling malfunction. None of these have been repaired yet it shows 0 unprepared recalls.
VOLKSWAGEN
JETTA
(2006) - VISIBILITY/WIPER
Nov 27, 2022
Incident date: Nov 1, 2022
The windshield wiper broke the window, brakes need replaced to soon, fuel system car has trouble fueling and after fueling and engine over heating due to engine cooling malfunction. None of these have been repaired yet it shows 0 unprepared recalls.
VOLKSWAGEN
PASSAT
(2009) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Nov 27, 2022
Incident date: Oct 27, 2022
The power steering system failed. At first I thought the steering wheel was locked. I started the car and could not turn the wheel. The power steering light illuminated in red and there was a loud beeping sound when the car is turned on. It was not until the car was towed that I realized that the wheel was not locked. The tow truck driver was able to turn the wheel to steer the vehicle on to the t... Read more