Edmunds.com NHTSA Complaints Activity Report

Safety is an important factor in any vehicle research and consideration process. In order to stay abreast of safety trends related to consumer vehicle complaints, Edmunds analysts undertook a task that has now given Edmunds — and ultimately, consumers, the automotive industry and the media — a new way of looking at complaints.

The mission of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is to achieve "the highest standards of excellence in motor vehicle and highway safety." Part of achieving that goal is listening to what consumers have to say about their vehicles.

Consumers can complete an online form or call a hotline to report the safety-related complaints they believe they are experiencing with their vehicles. The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI), an office of NHTSA, reviews and analyzes all submissions to identify trends and conducts any necessary investigations.

Because consumers' descriptions and categorizations of their experiences vary, are not expressed in a consistent manner and are not adequately aggregated and analyzed by NHTSA-ODI, Edmunds recognized that there was a need to engage in a further review of the complaints and a deeper analysis of the complaints database. Edmunds did such a review and has re-categorized the complaints using new standard categories that Edmunds defined. Edmunds began with complaints submitted to NHTSA-ODI since January 1, 2005 for vehicles commencing with the 2005 model year. Edmunds continues to retrieve, review and categorize complaints data from NHTSA-ODI weekly, adding to an in-house database that now consists of more than 90,000 consumer vehicle complaints.

The Edmunds.com NHTSA Complaints Activity Report is the result of this examination of the frequency, trends and composition of complaint submissions at the automaker, brand and category levels. The Edmunds team performs a relative comparison among the automakers and their brands by weighting the number of complaints based on total vehicle sales. This result is expressed as "Complaints per 100,000 Vehicles Sold."

The Edmunds.com NHTSA Complaints Activity Report is published monthly.

Overview

Complaints filed in April totaled 2,288 complaints, a 10% decrease from March. This is also a 24% increase from April 2011.

Manufacturer Highlights

1,897 out of 2,288 complaints, or 83%, were filed in April for the major automakers indicated below, with General Motors and Chrysler making up 50% of the complaints. When compared to unit sales, American Honda had the lowest complaints per 100,000 vehicles sold out of the major automakers for April.

Complaints by Brand

Complaints submission decreased 10% in April. 65% of brands indicated a percentage decrease in complaints filed.

Category Breakdown

The monthly complaints received for April decreased for 80% of categories. Powertrain continued to be the category receiving the most complaints (36%). Most of these complaints revolved around consumers' problems with stalling, improper shifting, and vehicle hesitation/surging.

Category Definitions

Airbags and Seatbelts
Complaints related to the functioning of airbags and seatbelts. Examples include: air bags that don't deploy when expected, air bags that deploy on their own, seatbelt retractor or buckle difficulties.

Body and Glass
These complaint reports include mechanical faults related to the integrity of body panels or problems with external systems such as windshield wipers, doors or cargo hatch operation. Concerns with design factors such as outward visibility and blind spots are also included.

Brakes
Complaints related to issues that occur when braking, such as: pull left or right, brake lock-up, high or low pedal effort, long pedal travel, reduced braking effectiveness, noise and vibration, and warning lights associated with the brake system.

Chassis suspension and axles
Complaints in this category describe symptoms related to a car's suspension, not including steering, but including symptoms like suspension noise and/or vibration, suspension breakage, separation of a tire and wheel from the vehicle, stability/traction control malfunction or warning lights.

Exterior Lighting
Includes complaints dealing with the operation of headlights, turn signals, brake lights, any other exterior lighting or their associated control systems. Examples include: one or both headlights fail prematurely, loss of tail or brake lights.

Fuel/Emission/Exhaust System
These complaints involve a vehicle's fuel, emissions or exhaust system. Examples include: gas gauge malfunction, fuel tank overflow, fuel tank leakage, fuel or exhaust smell, fire, etc.

Interior Electronics/Hardware
Concerns with interior electronics or interior hardware components such as interior door locks, power accessories, heating and ventilation systems, keyless entry systems or a loss of electrical power.

Powertrain
This category includes complaints associated with a car's engine, transmission or driveline. Symptoms reported here are generally dynamic issues such as unintended acceleration, improper shifting, engine surge or hesitation. Other complaints such as stalling, overheating, failure to start and fluid leaks may also be included.

Steering
These complaints describe problems with steering a vehicle, such as: drift or pull to one side when driving straight, loss of steering response, loss of power assist/high effort, unusual noise and/or vibration that occurs while steering, steering that sticks or freezes.

Wheels and Tires
Complaints filed here relate to wheel and tire problems such as tread separation, valve stem leaks or rim failures, but they can also include problems with tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) or difficulties with the spare tire and jack.