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
Page 174 of 44,303 (2,215,138 complaints)
Incident date: Apr 3, 2026
I am writing to escalate a safety and reimbursement concern regarding my 2018 Jeep Cherokee, VIN [Your VIN], which is subject to recall 01C / 25V‑011 (Power Transfer Unit Snap Ring Defect). Before the recall remedy was available, my vehicle experienced a sudden loss of drive power, grinding, and jerking, which led to a full transmission replacement. I was stranded on the side of an interstate ra... Read more
Incident date: May 14, 2026
The contact owns a 2020 Ford F-250. The contact stated that he received NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V957000 (Fuel System, Diesel). The local dealer was contact who confirmed there were metal shaving in the fuel injectors. The vehilce was not repaired. The manufacture was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 30,000.
Incident date: May 14, 2026
he contact owns a 2026 Audi E6. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 40 MPH, another driver abruptly cut in front of the contact’s vehicle in ongoing traffic, causing the contact to t-bone the other vehicle. The contact stated that none of the air bags deployed in the contact’s vehicle; however, the other vehicle’s air bags did deploy. No warning lights were illuminated pri... Read more
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Sep 18, 2024
The contact owns a 2021 Jaguar E-Pace. The contact stated that while driving and coming to a stop light or stop sign, the automatic stop start caused the vehicle when stopped and light or stop sign, the vehicle stalled. The issue also occurred while driving on a roadway, the vehicle stalled when stopped. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed and did a multi point inspect... Read more
Incident date: Sep 18, 2024
The contact owns a 2021 Jaguar E-Pace. The contact stated that while driving and coming to a stop light or stop sign, the automatic stop start caused the vehicle when stopped and light or stop sign, the vehicle stalled. The issue also occurred while driving on a roadway, the vehicle stalled when stopped. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed and did a multi point inspect... Read more
Incident date: Apr 22, 2026
I took my car to have recalls fixed. The next time I drove it after that my power steering shut off while driving. The warning lights for "Hill Start Assist Not Available" and "Service AdvanceTrac" came on. After some research it looks like I have the exact problem for recall 19S26. However when I called the dealership they couldn’t find the documentation if they fixed this or not on my vehicl... Read more
Incident date: Apr 15, 2026
The contact owns a 2017 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle's speed independently accelerated. In addition, the power train failure warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately unknown.
Incident date: May 10, 2026
My vehicle has suffered a Transmission Control Valve Failure (stuck open). This is the exact mechanical failure detailed in GM’s Nationwide Recall N24245441-02. It is deeply disheartening and illogical that my vehicle—which shares the exact year, make, model, and identical mechanical failure detailed in the safety bulletin—is excluded from the recall purely due to an arbitrary VIN filtering ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 18, 2026
While driving transmission just died would only go in reverse. lucky it happened at midnight so there was no traffic and was able to pull over safely. I drove truck home in reverse has I was only about 1000ft from house. Checked transmission fluid was burnt and all black. there was no warning signs check engine light came on just has it happened. I then ordered a aftermarket transmission and had ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 28, 2025
Head gasket failure, specifically corrosion of the engine block. One day the car just did not start at all, with no clear indication of head gasket failure until compression test was ran. Symptoms include coolant levels getting lower each week, with constant refills needed. Random misfires. Smoke randomly emitting from the exhaust when idle. Has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police or... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2026
the first indication of an issue was oil consumption. It was using more oil than usual around the 70K mile mark. Then it started misfiring, and soon after a knocking noise coming from the engine. There are no check engine light on, after bringing it in for diagnostics, it read that it was a spark plug, once they got into the engine they discovered the cylinder had been stripped from the piston. ... Read more
CHEVROLET
TRAILBLAZER
(2008) — AIR BAGS
May 14, 2026
Incident date: May 12, 2026
Both side curtain airbags deployed while driving down the street. The driver's seatbelt tightened then locked up. There was no obvious reason for the airbags to deploy. the vehicle was taken to a Chevy dealer to see if it was on recall list but they said it was not. Vehicle was referred to a body shop for estimate for repairs...$6,435.00....if you can find the parts. driver was shaken up by the de... Read more
CHEVROLET
TRAILBLAZER
(2008) — SEAT BELTS
May 14, 2026
Incident date: May 12, 2026
Both side curtain airbags deployed while driving down the street. The driver's seatbelt tightened then locked up. There was no obvious reason for the airbags to deploy. the vehicle was taken to a Chevy dealer to see if it was on recall list but they said it was not. Vehicle was referred to a body shop for estimate for repairs...$6,435.00....if you can find the parts. driver was shaken up by the de... Read more
Incident date: May 13, 2026
The contact owns a 2021 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle's rear brakes rub significantly to the point of prematurely wearing out the brake pads. Additionally, the instrument panel is failing and displaying all warning lights, and the side mirrors flicker while driving. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where it was diagnosed to be NHTSA ... Read more
Incident date: May 13, 2026
The contact owns a 2021 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle's rear brakes rub significantly to the point of prematurely wearing out the brake pads. Additionally, the instrument panel is failing and displaying all warning lights, and the side mirrors flicker while driving. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where it was diagnosed to be NHTSA ... Read more
Incident date: May 14, 2026
There is a hard shift after the car has been parked. Bought the car with 6 miles on it, now has 35,000. This issue is not new, we have had it into 2 different dealerships, and neither "were able to duplicate the issue". It is increasingly getting worse so it will be going back to the shop yet again.
Incident date: May 14, 2025
The contact owns a 2015 Acura TLX. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds the vehicle had suddenly began to shake and rattle and eventually stalled. The contact able to restart the vehicle and continued to drive. Over time the failure continued to occur more frequently. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed the fuel pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was lat... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2026
Our truck has been experiencing downshift to a lower gear and the powertrain warning lamp wrench symbol in the instrument panel cluster comes on. This has been happening from about 4/1/2026 and ongoing.
Incident date: Apr 1, 2026
Our truck has been experiencing downshift to a lower gear and the powertrain warning lamp wrench symbol in the instrument panel cluster comes on. This has been happening from about 4/1/2026 and ongoing.
Incident date: Apr 1, 2026
Our truck has been experiencing downshift to a lower gear and the powertrain warning lamp wrench symbol in the instrument panel cluster comes on. This has been happening from about 4/1/2026 and ongoing.
Incident date: May 13, 2026
Vehicle was parked and turned off in a residential driveway when a fire spontaneously ignited in the engine compartment. There were no warning lights, unusual sounds, or symptoms prior to the incident. The fire department responded and extinguished the fire using dry chemical suppressant and water. The vehicle was a total loss. The fire appears to have originated in the front engine compartment... Read more
Fire
Incident date: May 13, 2026
Vehicle was parked and turned off in a residential driveway when a fire spontaneously ignited in the engine compartment. There were no warning lights, unusual sounds, or symptoms prior to the incident. The fire department responded and extinguished the fire using dry chemical suppressant and water. The vehicle was a total loss. The fire appears to have originated in the front engine compartment... Read more
Fire
Incident date: May 13, 2026
Vehicle was parked and turned off in a residential driveway when a fire spontaneously ignited in the engine compartment. There were no warning lights, unusual sounds, or symptoms prior to the incident. The fire department responded and extinguished the fire using dry chemical suppressant and water. The vehicle was a total loss. The fire appears to have originated in the front engine compartment... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Mar 1, 2026
The contact owns a 2021 Kia K5. The contact stated that there was an abnormal odor of fuel. The check engine light was illuminated. The contact received the recall notice for NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V794000 (Fuel System, Gasoline). An unknown local dealer was contacted, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, but no assistance was provided. The failure milea... Read more
Incident date: Mar 1, 2026
The contact owns a 2021 Kia K5. The contact stated that there was an abnormal odor of fuel. The check engine light was illuminated. The contact received the recall notice for NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V794000 (Fuel System, Gasoline). An unknown local dealer was contacted, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, but no assistance was provided. The failure milea... Read more
Incident date: May 11, 2026
Cold start rattle lasting a second or more. Ford dealer diagnosed it as being bad cam phaser (TSB 23-2143). This is a very common issue with 3.5L engines from 2017-2020 - well documented on forums and youtube (even by ford technicians). I contacted Ford to see if they would assist in covering cost (my vehicle was a previous fleet vehicle and sold certified used in Dec 2020 with warranty running... Read more
Incident date: May 13, 2026
When I'm driving my truck, usually when I have come to a stop on an incline, the parking/emergency brake will engage on its own. For example, most recently I was pulling out of a driveway with an incline. I was stopped at the bottom of the driveway to wait for the roadway to clear before I pulled out. When I hit the gas to go, the rear wheels skidded and the truck came to a stop in the oncoming tr... Read more
Incident date: Feb 11, 2026
The front driver door lock/latch actuator is failing. The driver door does not lock or unlock using the key fob or the interior power lock button. The only way to lock or unlock the door is manually with the key or by pushing/pulling the lock from inside the vehicle. This issue started shortly after we had a historic/unusual cold freeze in Florida. The vehicle is kept outside, so it was exposed t... Read more
Incident date: Feb 11, 2026
The front driver door lock/latch actuator is failing. The driver door does not lock or unlock using the key fob or the interior power lock button. The only way to lock or unlock the door is manually with the key or by pushing/pulling the lock from inside the vehicle. This issue started shortly after we had a historic/unusual cold freeze in Florida. The vehicle is kept outside, so it was exposed t... Read more
Incident date: May 13, 2026
Transmission shifted from 6th gear to 1st gear while driving on the highway. Unpredictable hard gear shifts at times.
Incident date: Apr 30, 2026
I purchased this vehicle from CarMax about 5 months ago. It had 74,XXX miles. CarMax showed no open recalls and a printed sheet from your site showing the same. Several weeks ago, while driving, the engine seized. I sent it to one of the local Hyundai dealers for repair. Hyundai said because recall Campaign #966 had not been performed, they would not replace the engine under the extended warr... Read more
Incident date: May 12, 2026
I had recall 23S64 repaired on 04/39/26 and now my car check engine light is on and is running hot, and shaking causing a safety hazard due to recall not being completed correctly by authorized Ford dealership
Incident date: May 12, 2026
I had recall 23S64 repaired on 04/39/26 and now my car check engine light is on and is running hot, and shaking causing a safety hazard due to recall not being completed correctly by authorized Ford dealership
Incident date: May 14, 2026
When first started sometimes power steering does not work. Temporary fix is to restart the car. It's gone out while I was driving. This is very scary and hard to turn when it goes out.
Incident date: Apr 21, 2026
On April 20th, 2026 I called Genesis of Carmel (Address: [XXX] Phone: [XXX] ) to get a oil change. On the same day I called them I also explained that various warning lights started to appear in the dash (check high beam assist system, check driver attention system, check speed limit system). The next day on the 21st when I wen to t take the car in for service the car would not start. I had t... Read more
Incident date: May 14, 2026
While driving, transmission will randomly shift gears from a higher gear all the way down to first gear regardless of travel speed. When traveling at highway speeds, this results in a loss of traction on the rear wheels, causing fishtailing and a momentary loss of control. This problem is getting worse, and is the result of a known defect in the transmission speed sensor that has been acknowledg... Read more
Incident date: May 11, 2026
delayed response when accelerating from a stop
Incident date: Feb 9, 2026
The passenger door lock/latch actuator is failing. The passenger door will not open from the outside at all. The door has to be opened from the inside. The power lock button and key fob do not unlock the passenger door. I can hear the lock/actuator trying to operate, but the door does not unlock or release from the outside handle. This issue started shortly after we had a historic/unusual cold fr... Read more
Incident date: Feb 9, 2026
The passenger door lock/latch actuator is failing. The passenger door will not open from the outside at all. The door has to be opened from the inside. The power lock button and key fob do not unlock the passenger door. I can hear the lock/actuator trying to operate, but the door does not unlock or release from the outside handle. This issue started shortly after we had a historic/unusual cold fr... Read more
Incident date: May 13, 2026
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving approximately 45 MPH the front driver side door erroneously came open and would not remain shut and secured. The cause of the failure was not determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were contacted but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 130,000.
Incident date: Apr 14, 2026
The contact owns a 2017 FORD F-150. The contact stated while her husband was driving the vehicle at an undisclosed speed, they witness the vehicle suddenly changing into different gears on it's own very abruptly. The contact referenced NHTSA Campaign Number: (26V237000 (POWER TRAIN) however, the vehicle VIN was not added to the recall repair.. The local dealer was not contacted. The contact stated... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2026
In January of 2026 the vehicle had a 4WD system unavailable/ Service required message pop up. It would come on and go back off. At the time there was also a whining/ grinding noise present especially at high speeds on the highway along with vibrations. We had the vehicle checked with. Code reader and was told it was sending a false code, and that a fuse probably needed replaced for it to go off. T... Read more
Incident date: May 4, 2026
The contract owns a 2016 Dodge Charger. The contact stated that while driving approximately 38 MPH, the vehicle began cranking. The contact was able to pull to the side of the road, where they called a relative. Once the relative arrived and inspected the vehicle, they noticed the drive shaft had detached. They drove back up the road the truck had just traveled and found the drive shaft. The vehic... Read more
Incident date: May 11, 2026
The contact owns a 2020 Honda Accord. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle the engine was hesitant to start and while driving the flashing check engine light had illuminated and the vehicle did not accelerate past 40 MPH. The vehicle was slowly driven to the local dealer who diagnosed that the both the engine head gasket and water pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet r... Read more
Incident date: May 11, 2026
The contact owns a 2020 Honda Accord. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle the engine was hesitant to start and while driving the flashing check engine light had illuminated and the vehicle did not accelerate past 40 MPH. The vehicle was slowly driven to the local dealer who diagnosed that the both the engine head gasket and water pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet r... Read more
Incident date: May 11, 2026
The vehicle was making a vibration in the center of the car. I took it to the dealership and they said it was the ptu but that it's not part of the recall.
Incident date: Apr 19, 2026
I was driving on the high way and my car completely stopped I towed it to a shop and the engine seized
FORD
BRONCO SPORT
(2024) — FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
May 14, 2026
Incident date: May 10, 2026
January 10, 2026. My battery abruptly stalled. It was charged drove a few feet in the car just stopped. The car was towed, and the battery was deemed faulty and needed replacement. May 10. The engine coolant light came on. The car would turn on and then abruptly stalled. Mid traffic. The car again was towed and it was deemed had a faulty coolant pump. I asked for the fuel injection system to b... Read more
FORD
BRONCO SPORT
(2024) — ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
May 14, 2026
Incident date: May 10, 2026
January 10, 2026. My battery abruptly stalled. It was charged drove a few feet in the car just stopped. The car was towed, and the battery was deemed faulty and needed replacement. May 10. The engine coolant light came on. The car would turn on and then abruptly stalled. Mid traffic. The car again was towed and it was deemed had a faulty coolant pump. I asked for the fuel injection system to b... Read more
FORD
BRONCO SPORT
(2024) — ENGINE
May 14, 2026
Incident date: May 10, 2026
January 10, 2026. My battery abruptly stalled. It was charged drove a few feet in the car just stopped. The car was towed, and the battery was deemed faulty and needed replacement. May 10. The engine coolant light came on. The car would turn on and then abruptly stalled. Mid traffic. The car again was towed and it was deemed had a faulty coolant pump. I asked for the fuel injection system to b... Read more