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
Page 3 of 44,908 (2,245,377 complaints)
Incident date: May 30, 2026
The safety recall (Hyundai Recall 227, NHTSA Recall 22V-312) repair on my 2013 Hyundai Sonata (previously completed by a Hyundai dealership prior to my purchase in April 2026) has suffered a critical mechanical failure. In May 2026, within 30 days of driving the vehicle, the recalled safety component completely failed while the vehicle was in operation on a public roadway. This sudden failure crea... Read more
KIA
SPORTAGE HYBRID
(2026) - POWER TRAIN
Sep 10, 2026
Incident date: Jan 25, 2026
COMPONENT: Shift-by-wire transmission selector / hybrid control system. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. WHAT HAPPENED: Intermittently, after starting the vehicle, it will not engage Drive or Reverse. The selector input is accepted but the vehicle remains in Park/Neutral and does not move. The only way to clear it is to shut the vehicle off and restart it, sometimes up to 10 ... Read more
KIA
SPORTAGE HYBRID
(2026) - ENGINE
Sep 10, 2026
Incident date: Jan 25, 2026
COMPONENT: Shift-by-wire transmission selector / hybrid control system. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. WHAT HAPPENED: Intermittently, after starting the vehicle, it will not engage Drive or Reverse. The selector input is accepted but the vehicle remains in Park/Neutral and does not move. The only way to clear it is to shut the vehicle off and restart it, sometimes up to 10 ... Read more
KIA
SPORTAGE HYBRID
(2026) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Sep 10, 2026
Incident date: Jan 25, 2026
COMPONENT: Shift-by-wire transmission selector / hybrid control system. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. WHAT HAPPENED: Intermittently, after starting the vehicle, it will not engage Drive or Reverse. The selector input is accepted but the vehicle remains in Park/Neutral and does not move. The only way to clear it is to shut the vehicle off and restart it, sometimes up to 10 ... Read more
LAND ROVER
DEFENDER
(2025) - Chest Clip, Buckle, Harness
Sep 10, 2026
Incident date: Sep 6, 2026
My child was in the car seat and I noticed that the harness was not staying tight. I did research and apparently if a small object and or crumbs gets stuck under the fastener the harness won’t lock in place. I reached out to the manufacturer and they failed to do anything about this. They have no warnings regarding it and did not want to replace it. Something must be down, if this is happening ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 6, 2026
My child was in the car seat and I noticed that the harness was not staying tight. I did research and apparently if a small object and or crumbs gets stuck under the fastener the harness won’t lock in place. I reached out to the manufacturer and they failed to do anything about this. They have no warnings regarding it and did not want to replace it. Something must be down, if this is happening ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 8, 2026
My car suddenly lost all power when at a red light in a turn lane on an active roadway. Fortunately, it was daytime because I could not turn on hazards or lights. I couldn't open the trunk and more importantly I couldn't shift into neutral because of the power failure. A tow truck was sent but he didn't have rollers and couldn't jump start the car, so a second tow was called. We ended up there... Read more
Incident date: Aug 24, 2026
On Monday, August 24th around 7:30am my wife was driving South in our Jeep and had just entered onto the freeway. There was heavy traffic and the early morning sunlight was impairing her vision. To remedy the sunlight issue, she pulled the visor from the plastic dock/restraint and while folding the visor down she proceeded to rotate the visor to a position to shield the light. During the foldin... Read more
Incident date: Jul 27, 2026
I am writing to formally document serious and recurring safety concerns with my Certified Pre-Owned 2024 BMW X5e, which I purchased from BMW of Sterling on XXX. On XXX I was merging onto [XXX] during morning rush hour when my vehicle suddenly lost power and shut down in the middle of traffic. The vehicle first displayed a yellow drivetrain warning indicating that I could continue driving at reduc... Read more
Incident date: Jul 27, 2026
I am writing to formally document serious and recurring safety concerns with my Certified Pre-Owned 2024 BMW X5e, which I purchased from BMW of Sterling on XXX. On XXX I was merging onto [XXX] during morning rush hour when my vehicle suddenly lost power and shut down in the middle of traffic. The vehicle first displayed a yellow drivetrain warning indicating that I could continue driving at reduc... Read more
Incident date: Jul 27, 2026
I am writing to formally document serious and recurring safety concerns with my Certified Pre-Owned 2024 BMW X5e, which I purchased from BMW of Sterling on XXX. On XXX I was merging onto [XXX] during morning rush hour when my vehicle suddenly lost power and shut down in the middle of traffic. The vehicle first displayed a yellow drivetrain warning indicating that I could continue driving at reduc... Read more
Incident date: Sep 3, 2026
I am reporting a serious safety defect involving a Nuna RAVA child safety seat. The harness straps loosened on their own without the harness release button being pressed or otherwise intentionally operated. This occurred while the child was secured in the car seat. This malfunction presents a serious risk to child safety. If the harness loosens during vehicle travel, particularly in a sudden sto... Read more
Incident date: Sep 3, 2026
I am reporting a serious safety defect involving a Nuna RAVA child safety seat. The harness straps loosened on their own without the harness release button being pressed or otherwise intentionally operated. This occurred while the child was secured in the car seat. This malfunction presents a serious risk to child safety. If the harness loosens during vehicle travel, particularly in a sudden sto... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2024
I am writing to file a complaint regarding the air conditioning system failure in my 2020 Honda Civic Sport. The air conditioner in my vehicle began blowing hot air instead of cold air starting in January 2024. I took the vehicle to a mechanic for inspection, I was informed that the evaporator has failed and needs to be replaced. While researching this issue, I discovered that many other Honda Civ... Read more
1 injured
Incident date: Jan 1, 2024
I am writing to file a complaint regarding the air conditioning system failure in my 2020 Honda Civic Sport. The air conditioner in my vehicle began blowing hot air instead of cold air starting in January 2024. I took the vehicle to a mechanic for inspection, I was informed that the evaporator has failed and needs to be replaced. While researching this issue, I discovered that many other Honda Civ... Read more
1 injured
Incident date: Sep 8, 2026
The first incident was one week after purchasing the vehicle. All of my maintenance lights flashed on after driving my vehicle for several miles. I pulled over and immediately turned my car off and called my mechanic. He immediately came over and my lights flashed on again. He said for me to take it to the dealership. I did and when I turned off my car to go into the dealership and returned, the l... Read more
Incident date: Sep 8, 2026
The first incident was one week after purchasing the vehicle. All of my maintenance lights flashed on after driving my vehicle for several miles. I pulled over and immediately turned my car off and called my mechanic. He immediately came over and my lights flashed on again. He said for me to take it to the dealership. I did and when I turned off my car to go into the dealership and returned, the l... Read more
Incident date: Apr 16, 2026
Had a valve body failure in mid XXX. The vehicle would not go into reverse and drove it in limp mode to a dealership about 5 miles away. Fortunately they were able to get a new valve body and repair it in one day. Cost was approximately $3,500 and not covered by warranty. The vehicle had about 110,000 miles on it at the time. This is a known defect on this vehicle and a recall should be initiated.... Read more
NISSAN
ROGUE SPORT
(2018) - POWER TRAIN
Sep 10, 2026
Incident date: Aug 26, 2026
Nissan Rogue Sport with 39,500 miles. While driving on a busy highway the vehicle all of a sudden was losing power and surging dangerously. Barely made it home. There were no warning lights. It had to be towed to a garage. There were no leaks. I was told the CVT transmission would have to be replaced. It was towed to a Nissan dealer who verified the CVT transmission would indeed need to be replac... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2026
The backup camera display only works intermittently. About 75% of the time the screen is blank when I put it into reverse
Incident date: Aug 14, 2026
I read on my news feed today about issues with a 2017 Ford Edge that there are problems with coolant leaking into the combustion chamber and that we should report this to the NHTSA. We just traded in our 2017 edge that had this problem. In August of 26 I had a check engine light come on and the engine started running very rough, I had O'Reilly's hook up the diagnostic tool and it showed it needed ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 3, 2026
Slave cylinder on clutch failed and leaked fluid in to clutch and flywheel. Clutch pedal would not rebound after being pressed in to shift gear, stuck in middle of road trying to get vehicle in first gear. Had vehicle towed to dealership, estimate of $5800 to repair. Apparently this is a known problem with this manual transmission, many others have experienced similar failure at around 60,000 mi... Read more
GE
AIR CONDITIONER
(9999) - VISIBILITY:DEFROSTER/DEFOGGER/HVAC SYSTEM
Sep 10, 2026
Incident date: Sep 28, 2020
My air conditioning failed producing cool air in late 2020. I took it to Honda Penske in Ontario. The said at that time the Evaporator core is leaking but it not covered by warranty. I had pay out of pocket to install freon and that would like me for 5-6 months however the same problem would return. The following year I took it to El Monte Honda dealership where I purchased the car. They reviewed ... Read more
Incident date: Sep 28, 2020
My air conditioning failed producing cool air in late 2020. I took it to Honda Penske in Ontario. The said at that time the Evaporator core is leaking but it not covered by warranty. I had pay out of pocket to install freon and that would like me for 5-6 months however the same problem would return. The following year I took it to El Monte Honda dealership where I purchased the car. They reviewed ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 16, 2025
As I was driving down the highway, my A pillar trim began to get loose and flew off and hit the car behind me. It forced them to swerve yet they gained control of their car and approached me letting me know what happened. They were highly upset because it damaged their front windshield. I had no choice but to pay for the person's windshield to get repaired. This issue was recalled almost a year be... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Aug 17, 2026
Interior camera circuit failed in the main computer as diagnosed by Tesla, it disables most safety features of the car, no collision warning or avoidance, no automatic emergency breaking, no lane departure warning or correction, no reverse cam, no cruise control or self driving, and probably more. Only Tesla can replace it because it's vin matched to the car, for $2400. This part should be more du... Read more
Incident date: Aug 17, 2026
Interior camera circuit failed in the main computer as diagnosed by Tesla, it disables most safety features of the car, no collision warning or avoidance, no automatic emergency breaking, no lane departure warning or correction, no reverse cam, no cruise control or self driving, and probably more. Only Tesla can replace it because it's vin matched to the car, for $2400. This part should be more du... Read more
Incident date: Aug 17, 2026
Interior camera circuit failed in the main computer as diagnosed by Tesla, it disables most safety features of the car, no collision warning or avoidance, no automatic emergency breaking, no lane departure warning or correction, no reverse cam, no cruise control or self driving, and probably more. Only Tesla can replace it because it's vin matched to the car, for $2400. This part should be more du... Read more
Incident date: Jul 1, 2026
My 2019 Ford F-150 3.5L EcoBoost with the 10-speed 10R80 transmission has developed severe shifting and acceleration problems that create a safety risk. The transmission frequently appears to skip 2nd gear and bangs very hard into 3rd. This 1st-to-3rd harsh shift is persistent and does not go away after the truck warms up. I also experience delayed shifts including 3rd-4th, 6th-7th, 8th-9th and s... Read more
Incident date: Sep 9, 2026
I do not understand how Hyundai can approve its required testing process, have the vehicle fail that test, and then deny the engine replacement resulting from those findings. This is unfair and raises serious concerns about how Hyundai is applying its warranty procedures.Hyundai’s published oil-consumption procedures establish a process for diagnosing excessive oil consumption and determining wh... Read more
Incident date: Sep 9, 2026
I do not understand how Hyundai can approve its required testing process, have the vehicle fail that test, and then deny the engine replacement resulting from those findings. This is unfair and raises serious concerns about how Hyundai is applying its warranty procedures.Hyundai’s published oil-consumption procedures establish a process for diagnosing excessive oil consumption and determining wh... Read more
Incident date: Sep 8, 2026
I am filing a complaint concerning a recurring gear shift failure in my 2012 fiat 500c. The same failure has occurred three times between June 10 and September 8, 2026. On June 10, 2026 I was able to move shift lever but the transmission remained in reverse and would not shift into another gear despite multiple attempts. I did not know what the cause or problem was and had no knowledge that it mi... Read more
JEEP
GRAND WAGONEER
(2022) - POWER TRAIN
Sep 10, 2026
Incident date: Jul 21, 2026
I am filing this complaint because my Grand Wagoneer has experienced repeated, serious safety-related failures involving the braking system, electrical/communication systems, and vehicle shutdown. I no longer believe this vehicle is safe to operate. The most serious problem has occurred more than once. On July 21, 2026, while driving, the brakes failed. The brake pedal went to the floor and the v... Read more
Crash
JEEP
GRAND WAGONEER
(2022) - ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Sep 10, 2026
Incident date: Jul 21, 2026
I am filing this complaint because my Grand Wagoneer has experienced repeated, serious safety-related failures involving the braking system, electrical/communication systems, and vehicle shutdown. I no longer believe this vehicle is safe to operate. The most serious problem has occurred more than once. On July 21, 2026, while driving, the brakes failed. The brake pedal went to the floor and the v... Read more
Crash
JEEP
GRAND WAGONEER
(2022) - SERVICE BRAKES
Sep 10, 2026
Incident date: Jul 21, 2026
I am filing this complaint because my Grand Wagoneer has experienced repeated, serious safety-related failures involving the braking system, electrical/communication systems, and vehicle shutdown. I no longer believe this vehicle is safe to operate. The most serious problem has occurred more than once. On July 21, 2026, while driving, the brakes failed. The brake pedal went to the floor and the v... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Sep 3, 2026
While drive northbound on [XXX] departing [XXX] and entering [XXX], the rear passenger wheel snapped off of the truck carrying sing loss of control and the truck hit a concrete median damaging the the front driver’s side bumper and forcing it into the front driver’s side wheel flattening it. Upon colliding into the concrete median no airbags deployed. Myself as the driver suffered soft tissu... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Sep 3, 2026
While drive northbound on [XXX] departing [XXX] and entering [XXX], the rear passenger wheel snapped off of the truck carrying sing loss of control and the truck hit a concrete median damaging the the front driver’s side bumper and forcing it into the front driver’s side wheel flattening it. Upon colliding into the concrete median no airbags deployed. Myself as the driver suffered soft tissu... Read more
Crash
1 injured
GMC
SIERRA 1500
(2021) - UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Sep 10, 2026
Incident date: Sep 10, 2026
The engine coolant control valve on my 2021 GMC Sierra 3.0L Duramax diesel failed. This specific component failure triggers an active vehicle 'No-Restart' safety event during automatic engine stop/start operations (per GM Service Bulletin #24-NA-070). This condition can suddenly prevent the vehicle from restarting when stopped at intersections or in active traffic, creating an immediate highway sa... Read more
Incident date: Dec 9, 2025
On December 9, 2025, the factory exterior paint on my 2020 Kia Telluride (Snow White Pearl) began experiencing massive, sudden delamination, shearing completely off the roof down to the factory primer layer in a sheet larger than a hand towel. The peeling is continuing to spread due to wind exposure while driving. Furthermore, the paint failure has compromised the protective coating, causing specs... Read more
Incident date: Dec 9, 2025
On December 9, 2025, the factory exterior paint on my 2020 Kia Telluride (Snow White Pearl) began experiencing massive, sudden delamination, shearing completely off the roof down to the factory primer layer in a sheet larger than a hand towel. The peeling is continuing to spread due to wind exposure while driving. Furthermore, the paint failure has compromised the protective coating, causing specs... Read more
Incident date: Sep 9, 2026
The Specific Defect: My vehicle has two active federal safety recalls: NHTSA Campaign 26V080 (internal engine bearing failure causing a severe knock) and NHTSA Campaign 26V081 (electronic throttle body malfunction). The Dealer Violations: Nissan McDonough officially diagnosed the engine as faulty but refused to execute the free engine replacement under the campaign. Nissan South Morrow attempted... Read more
Incident date: Sep 9, 2026
The Specific Defect: My vehicle has two active federal safety recalls: NHTSA Campaign 26V080 (internal engine bearing failure causing a severe knock) and NHTSA Campaign 26V081 (electronic throttle body malfunction). The Dealer Violations: Nissan McDonough officially diagnosed the engine as faulty but refused to execute the free engine replacement under the campaign. Nissan South Morrow attempted... Read more
Incident date: Aug 28, 2026
I am requesting that BMW North America open a formal Customer Relations case regarding a front differential failure on my 2023 BMW X7 M60i. At approximately 60,000 miles, I began experiencing a whining/howling noise that increased with vehicle speed, along with a metallic grinding noise from the front drivetrain area. The vehicle was subsequently diagnosed, and during the diagnostic process the fr... Read more
Incident date: Sep 4, 2026
I am reporting a suspected high-pressure fuel pump safety defect involving my 2016 BMW X5 xDrive35d, VIN [XXX], with approximately 103,186 miles. The check engine light illuminated and BMW Fort Walton diagnosed failed fuel injectors and recommended injector replacement. I subsequently had the vehicle inspected by Techmaster in Fort Walton, Florida, where metallic shavings and debris were discover... Read more
Incident date: Sep 4, 2026
I am reporting a suspected high-pressure fuel pump safety defect involving my 2016 BMW X5 xDrive35d, VIN [XXX], with approximately 103,186 miles. The check engine light illuminated and BMW Fort Walton diagnosed failed fuel injectors and recommended injector replacement. I subsequently had the vehicle inspected by Techmaster in Fort Walton, Florida, where metallic shavings and debris were discover... Read more
Incident date: Sep 9, 2026
Torque converter began to fail around 50k miles. Took to Ford for service under TSB last July at around 60k miles, but performance has steadily deteriorated to present, around 80k miles, while waiting for service parts. Issue has expanded to cause violent engine surging, which I worry will increase the risk of a crash. Ford quoted $11k to replace the torque converter, a part they acknowledge is fa... Read more
Incident date: Mar 21, 2026
There was a recall for my 3rd row seat, my car sat at the dealer for 6 months due to it. They tell me they fixed the recall after 6 months I receive my car and my seats are not functioning. I believe the safety of my kids are at risk due to this. They have yet to take the vehicle back to fix the problem and it has been over 2 months now.
Incident date: Sep 6, 2026
System that failed: Automatic Emergency Braking. The car is at the dealership now. My safety/others safety at risk: I was driving at about 40-45 mph and for no reason at all the emergency braking system engaged and brought my car to a screeching halt in the middle of the road. There was no reason for the emergency brakes to engage as there was nothing in front of me. The car behind me then ha... Read more
Incident date: Sep 6, 2026
System that failed: Automatic Emergency Braking. The car is at the dealership now. My safety/others safety at risk: I was driving at about 40-45 mph and for no reason at all the emergency braking system engaged and brought my car to a screeching halt in the middle of the road. There was no reason for the emergency brakes to engage as there was nothing in front of me. The car behind me then ha... Read more
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE L
(2023) - UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Sep 10, 2026
Incident date: Sep 10, 2026
I live in Unalaska/Dutch Harbor, Alaska, where there are no authorized Jeep/Chrysler/RAM dealerships. The manufacturer requires me to ship the vehicle to Anchorage at my own cost, which is not possible. They refuse to authorize a local repair or send a technician. Because of this, I cannot complete multiple open recalls, including 01D (NHTSA 26V-328). I am requesting that this be classified as “... Read more