Consumer Safety Complaints
Search 2,215,138 safety complaints filed by vehicle owners with NHTSA — including 138,663 crashes, 56,255 fires, and 8,561 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 2,215,138 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 15,069 complaints for VOLVO
Incident date: May 14, 2022
The contact owns a 2011 Volvo XC60. The contact stated that she noticed an oil leak underneath the vehicle. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the turbo needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 3, 2022
Water in leaking from both sides of the windshield causing me to be distracted as I am trying to wipe water off my seat and avoid getting my legs/pants wet. Also the water running down the inside of the windshield in addition to the water on the outside causes visibility issues. Volvo needs to fix this problem.
Incident date: Aug 1, 2022
Right (passenger side) rear window failed at highway speeds. Window shattered spreading small pieces of glass throughout car interior. No projectiles found in the debris, and no other vehicles were around when window shattered.
Incident date: Jul 25, 2022
A warning light came on stating that the oil pressure was low and that the car needed to immediately be stopped. No previous warning lights have ever come on in this vehicle. It was towed to Kenny Jones auto and they stated that there was half a quart of oil in the engine. *This car has an electronic oil gauge (no manual "dip stick") which had failed. It indicated there was an appropriate amoun... Read more
Incident date: Jun 3, 2022
The contact owns a 2016 Volvo XC90. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH with his four children sitting in the rear of the vehicle, the parking brake engaged independently and the vehicle stopped abruptly. The contact stated that the seat belts engaged to the point of choking himself and the passengers. Additionally, the vehicle lost power steering functionality. The contact stated that the veh... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2019
I was at a stop street in Toledo and was pulling out onto a four lane street. I pressed the accelerator and the car crept slowly onto the street for about two or three seconds and the surged to about 3000 rpms and 20-25 mph. This has happened repeatedly an on occasion the delay has been 4-5 seconds. The dealership denies that there is a problem and refuses to repair the car.
Incident date: Oct 1, 2019
I was at a stop street in Toledo and was pulling out onto a four lane street. I pressed the accelerator and the car crept slowly onto the street for about two or three seconds and the surged to about 3000 rpms and 20-25 mph. This has happened repeatedly an on occasion the delay has been 4-5 seconds. The dealership denies that there is a problem and refuses to repair the car.
Incident date: Apr 14, 2022
*We're experiencing constant phantom braking (sometimes multiple times within a day) with our vehicle on local roads as well as highways. Usually this occurs when we're approaching a vehicle in a turn lane, slowing down. Our blindspot sideview mirror lights light up when there is nothing present, even when we're in the outside lane against the curb - we have video to document this. The vehicle has... Read more
Incident date: Apr 14, 2022
*We're experiencing constant phantom braking (sometimes multiple times within a day) with our vehicle on local roads as well as highways. Usually this occurs when we're approaching a vehicle in a turn lane, slowing down. Our blindspot sideview mirror lights light up when there is nothing present, even when we're in the outside lane against the curb - we have video to document this. The vehicle has... Read more
Incident date: Apr 14, 2022
*We're experiencing constant phantom braking (sometimes multiple times within a day) with our vehicle on local roads as well as highways. Usually this occurs when we're approaching a vehicle in a turn lane, slowing down. Our blindspot sideview mirror lights light up when there is nothing present, even when we're in the outside lane against the curb - we have video to document this. The vehicle has... Read more
Incident date: Jul 29, 2022
The drivers seat belt to lock in place or unlock gets stuck ! Makes it very difficult to ge try out of my vehicle daily. This is a major concern if i am ever in an emergency and cannot get out of my seat
Incident date: Jan 20, 2022
Driver was stuck on ice pulling into a driveway, car got traction and driver thought they were on the brake but was on the gas. The vehicle ran into the garage going 9.9 mph (we have the EDR) and the steering wheel airbag and knee airbags deployed. The knee airbag caused a significant compound fracture of the lower tibia and fibula. Accident happened on 1/20 and orthopedics tried to repair usin... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Jul 25, 2022
I was driving down our main road and I saw and smelled smoke coming out of the air vents, then a warning light came on my dashboard for my 12V battery I pulled over right away and opened the trunk and saw fire on the left-hand side. I attempted to extinguish the fire myself using soda, I was pulling clothing (2 shirts and napkins) out of the car and burned my hand
Fire
Incident date: Jul 28, 2022
Driving on Rte 211 in Oak Island, NC, slowing to turn with no one in front or behind me, emergency breaking engaged, bring the car to a full stop.
Incident date: Jul 22, 2022
Driving at highway speed and a sudden loss of power. Vehicle has a history oil consumption. Seems that engine has a major defect. Waiting on a second estimate, seems a known catastrophic issue with pistons issue causing major engine work or possible replacement.
Incident date: Jul 24, 2022
The car is only a few months old with less than 10k miles. After parking the car for about 2 hrs, came back and the battery was completely dead. This left me and my family stranded unexpectedly. After jumping the car, a warning displayed "Stop Safely, 12 V Battery Critical Charging Fault". I decided to try to make the short drive home as I was stranded with my family otherwise, the vehicle w... Read more
Incident date: Jul 24, 2022
The car is only a few months old with less than 10k miles. After parking the car for about 2 hrs, came back and the battery was completely dead. This left me and my family stranded unexpectedly. After jumping the car, a warning displayed "Stop Safely, 12 V Battery Critical Charging Fault". I decided to try to make the short drive home as I was stranded with my family otherwise, the vehicle w... Read more
Incident date: Jul 21, 2022
Very frequently (4-5 times a week) the charging cable will not release from the vehicle. Pushing release button resolves to flashing yellow, red, or green lights, but does not release. Sometimes will release from console, but not always. Locking and unlocking the vehicle, repeating all the above several times will eventually release the cable. This may be related to the erratic charging process wh... Read more
Incident date: Jul 20, 2022
Side impact curtain air bags only deployed on right side (side of impact), causing head concussion from hitting driverside window on left side. Vehicle has been towed for repair, but may still be available for inspection for a short time. Fire department stated airbags tried but failed deployment. Contacted dealer. Dealer said contact Volvo North America. Volvo has yet to connect me to the r... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Jul 16, 2022
Backup camera fails intermittently at least a dozen times, error message "camera unavailable". Camera icon disappears from dash. Took to dealer. No code, no problem. Backed up and worked, did not understand intermittently?! Asked tech to report to Volvo, got push back. I advised I was reporting as safety failure to SaferCar and they report to Volvo. Suspect was not reported to Volvo. When camera f... Read more
Incident date: Jul 16, 2022
Backup camera fails intermittently at least a dozen times, error message "camera unavailable". Camera icon disappears from dash. Took to dealer. No code, no problem. Backed up and worked, did not understand intermittently?! Asked tech to report to Volvo, got push back. I advised I was reporting as safety failure to SaferCar and they report to Volvo. Suspect was not reported to Volvo. When camera f... Read more
Incident date: Jul 21, 2022
The front windshield was not properly sealed during manufacturing and is now leaking when it rains. Water drips down the inside of the windshield in front of the driver resulting in distraction and poor visibility. I also fear that in an accident the windshield would not perform as it should and would be a safety issue. I brought it to the Volvo dealer and they just said I had to have it replaced ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 29, 2022
The google android automotive operating system is unstable. It will reboot while driving. During this time all Settings and functions of the car including safety systems are rebooted as well. For about 30-60 seconds the cars systems are unavailable even the HVAC. I’ve had it serviced twice and they have been unable to fix the issue. The cars data/cell connection also does not work and is requir... Read more
Incident date: Jul 9, 2022
In September 2021 on 3 occasions, my car's steering locked up while driving. I could not unwind my wheel from a turn. Each time nearly resulted in a collision with a garage ticket booth, a median, drifting into an oncoming lane. II slammed on brakes each time to avoid and accident or collision. It was frightening. This happened at low speed (approx. 10 mph), I had no warning indicators, and the wh... Read more
Incident date: Jul 9, 2022
In September 2021 on 3 occasions, my car's steering locked up while driving. I could not unwind my wheel from a turn. Each time nearly resulted in a collision with a garage ticket booth, a median, drifting into an oncoming lane. II slammed on brakes each time to avoid and accident or collision. It was frightening. This happened at low speed (approx. 10 mph), I had no warning indicators, and the wh... Read more
Incident date: Jul 9, 2022
On three occasions in September 2021 the car's steering locked up while driving so that I was unable to unwind the wheel, nearly sending me into stationary objects or the opposing lane. After slamming on the brakes, the wheel released. These all happened at low speeds, around 10mph. No signals or warnings popped up on my display. This was very upsetting. The dealer could not reproduce, could find ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 14, 2022
Car will not start because of eCALL and SOS system malfunctioning. Car will only start with key in cupholder (where secondary reader is located). Possible TCAM issue or 12v battery issue.
Incident date: Jul 13, 2022
Lately my vehicle has been shutting off power when I hard right turn during parking everything shut off then I have to restart it again, but the scary part was what happened this morning I was driving on interstate and as I was charging lanes it almost powered off again but it picked up.
Incident date: Jun 30, 2022
On June 30, 2022 our Volvo XC60 was driven at high speed on I-80 in western NE at dusk in heavy truck traffic before a holiday weekend. With semi’s on 3 sides, and NO WARNING, the vehicle LOST COMPLETE POWER. Driver fought the rapidly slowing car out of the left lane and limped onto right shoulder dodging semi’s. Scary. Only a turtle 🐢 icon appeared on the dash. Online owner’s manual w... Read more
Incident date: Jun 30, 2022
On June 30, 2022 our Volvo XC60 was driven at high speed on I-80 in western NE at dusk in heavy truck traffic before a holiday weekend. With semi’s on 3 sides, and NO WARNING, the vehicle LOST COMPLETE POWER. Driver fought the rapidly slowing car out of the left lane and limped onto right shoulder dodging semi’s. Scary. Only a turtle 🐢 icon appeared on the dash. Online owner’s manual w... Read more
Incident date: Jun 30, 2022
On June 30, 2022 our Volvo XC60 was driven at high speed on I-80 in western NE at dusk in heavy truck traffic before a holiday weekend. With semi’s on 3 sides, and NO WARNING, the vehicle LOST COMPLETE POWER. Driver fought the rapidly slowing car out of the left lane and limped onto right shoulder dodging semi’s. Scary. Only a turtle 🐢 icon appeared on the dash. Online owner’s manual w... Read more
Incident date: Jul 10, 2022
Volvo's Blind Spot Information System (BLIS) lends itself to unsafe conditions. This is true for the many drivers who are used to driving cars that are smilarly equipped. For nearly 15 years I have been driving cars that were similarly equipped and when activating the turn signal in the direction where the system indicated another vehicle in the "blind spot" an audible warning sounded until the... Read more
Incident date: Jul 10, 2022
Volvo's Blind Spot Information System (BLIS) lends itself to unsafe conditions. This is true for the many drivers who are used to driving cars that are smilarly equipped. For nearly 15 years I have been driving cars that were similarly equipped and when activating the turn signal in the direction where the system indicated another vehicle in the "blind spot" an audible warning sounded until the... Read more
Incident date: Jul 9, 2022
Started car after driving an hour, and having it sit 2.5 hours. Center panel was very dim and no air out of vents despite leaving air on when turned off. Error Message that cooling infotainment system. Audio sound for turn signal also not working Had to drive/leave. Left and found somewhere safe to pull over turn car off and sit. After 10+min no change. Drove home 60miles with no AC, cruise co... Read more
Incident date: Jul 9, 2022
Started car after driving an hour, and having it sit 2.5 hours. Center panel was very dim and no air out of vents despite leaving air on when turned off. Error Message that cooling infotainment system. Audio sound for turn signal also not working Had to drive/leave. Left and found somewhere safe to pull over turn car off and sit. After 10+min no change. Drove home 60miles with no AC, cruise co... Read more
Incident date: Jul 9, 2022
Started car after driving an hour, and having it sit 2.5 hours. Center panel was very dim and no air out of vents despite leaving air on when turned off. Error Message that cooling infotainment system. Audio sound for turn signal also not working Had to drive/leave. Left and found somewhere safe to pull over turn car off and sit. After 10+min no change. Drove home 60miles with no AC, cruise co... Read more
Incident date: Jun 6, 2022
4 day old car with 45 miles on it wouldn’t unlock-manually unlocked the car to find it wouldn’t start/no power. Car was towed to dealer after being jump started. Software error caused application downloads or refreshes to continually run draining the battery which needed to be replaced entirely.
Incident date: Feb 7, 2022
New 2022 Volvo S60 began shutting off while driving on highways and Interstates and in once within feet of railroad crossing. Also occurrences of car being unable to turn off even after several attempts. Problem arose 2/2022. In all instances traffic, including 18 wheelers, was approaching behind at highway and interstate speeds up to 70mph. Sometimes a warning lamp would appear saying vehicle is... Read more
Incident date: Feb 7, 2022
New 2022 Volvo S60 began shutting off while driving on highways and Interstates and in once within feet of railroad crossing. Also occurrences of car being unable to turn off even after several attempts. Problem arose 2/2022. In all instances traffic, including 18 wheelers, was approaching behind at highway and interstate speeds up to 70mph. Sometimes a warning lamp would appear saying vehicle is... Read more
Incident date: Jul 4, 2022
The airbag sign comes on but nothing wrong with the car. This is third time it came on. Adaptive auto breaking switch does not work.
Incident date: Jul 5, 2022
Brand new vehicle that I brought home 18 days ago. Went to start car this morning and it had zero power. The FOB didn't work so I couldn't get into my car. Tow Truck Driver jump started car successfully. Fortunately, I instructed the driver to take it to the dealership anyway because there was no reason for the new vehicle to have a dead battery. I had left the car running and returned to it after... Read more
Incident date: Jun 28, 2022
The contact owns a 2006 Volvo XC70. The contact stated while attempting to start the vehicle, the front suspension springs fractured. The contact heard a loud clicking sound. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who confirmed the fracture of the suspension springs. The passenger’s side suspension springs were replaced. The manufacturer was notified ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 6, 2019
The front windshield has a faulty gasket, I put sealant from Autozone but didn’t help. Water falls down the windshield causing skewed vision. I’m also afraid that there may be some type of short, which can cause damage either parked or driving.
Incident date: Jun 10, 2022
The contact called on behalf of the mother who owns a 2021 Volvo CX40. The contact stated that the mother was driving approximately 25 MPH, when the brake inadvertently stopped the vehicle and the seatbelt tighten the driver into the seat. There was anti-lock brake light illuminated and a message about accident avoidance city safety. The vehicle was diagnosed at a local dealer with an unknown reca... Read more
Incident date: Jun 30, 2022
2007 VOLVO V70. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARD TO DRIVERS SIDE AIRBAG. THE CONSUMER STATED THE RECALL REPLACEMENT AIRBAG WOULD DAMAGE THE COSMETICS OF THE VEHICLE. THE CONSUMER STATED THE AIRBAG DID NOT MATCH THE INTERIOR OF THE VEHICLE.THE CONSUMER WOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE COSMETIC REPAIRS AS THEY ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THE RECALL.
Incident date: Oct 23, 2019
Transmission issues, shifting, stop bump. Headlight issues wiring and hid ballast. Engine Evap work done. Back drivers side seat belt locking mechanism faulty. Knocking clinging under carriage in suspension areas.
Incident date: Oct 23, 2019
Transmission issues, shifting, stop bump. Headlight issues wiring and hid ballast. Engine Evap work done. Back drivers side seat belt locking mechanism faulty. Knocking clinging under carriage in suspension areas.
Incident date: Oct 23, 2019
Transmission issues, shifting, stop bump. Headlight issues wiring and hid ballast. Engine Evap work done. Back drivers side seat belt locking mechanism faulty. Knocking clinging under carriage in suspension areas.
Incident date: Jun 25, 2022
Water damage to the electrical system from blocked drainage by sunroof; potential mold damage
Incident date: Jun 25, 2022
Water damage to the electrical system from blocked drainage by sunroof; potential mold damage