"Phantom braking" is when a car's automatic emergency braking slams on the brakes, or its collision warning goes off, with nothing in the way. Owners filed 20,613 NHTSA complaints about forward collision avoidance systems on 2015–2025 vehicles, 5.5% of all complaints. The Tesla Model Y and Tesla Model 3 top the list.
Most phantom-braking complaints, by vehicle
| # | Vehicle (2015–2025) | Collision-avoidance complaints | Automatic emergency braking specifically | Share of that car's complaints |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tesla Model Y | 1,815 | 529 | 48% |
| 2 | Tesla Model 3 | 1,729 | 505 | 40% |
| 3 | Honda CR-V | 1,313 | 933 | 16% |
| 4 | Honda Accord | 842 | 493 | 15% |
| 5 | Honda Odyssey | 716 | 150 | 19% |
| 6 | Nissan Rogue | 523 | 295 | 12% |
| 7 | Honda Pilot | 491 | 181 | 9% |
| 8 | Tesla Model S | 319 | 92 | 13% |
| 9 | Ram 2500 | 308 | 194 | 7% |
| 10 | Ram 1500 | 293 | 184 | 3% |
| 11 | Hyundai Tucson | 279 | 128 | 6% |
| 12 | Subaru Outback | 249 | 102 | 4% |
| 13 | Volkswagen Atlas | 239 | 135 | 12% |
| 14 | Honda Civic | 234 | 113 | 5% |
| 15 | Ford F-150 | 216 | 57 | 2% |
| 16 | Jeep Grand Cherokee | 214 | 104 | 4% |
| 17 | Fisker Ocean | 211 | 99 | 24% |
| 18 | Tesla Model X | 187 | 57 | 12% |
| 19 | Nissan Sentra | 186 | 112 | 11% |
| 20 | Subaru Forester | 176 | 74 | 4% |
| 21 | Honda Passport | 168 | 89 | 25% |
| 22 | Acura MDX | 159 | 48 | 10% |
| 23 | Hyundai Palisade | 153 | 88 | 7% |
| 24 | Ford Mustang Mach E | 153 | 30 | 23% |
| 25 | Ford Explorer | 152 | 49 | 2% |
Where it's the biggest share of complaints
Raw counts favor popular cars. Ranking by share shows where collision-avoidance problems make up the largest part of what owners complain about:
- Tesla Model Y: 48% of its 3,783 complaints
- Tesla Model 3: 40% of its 4,295 complaints
- Honda Passport: 25% of its 672 complaints
- Fisker Ocean: 24% of its 883 complaints
- Ford Mustang Mach E: 23% of its 658 complaints
- Honda Odyssey: 19% of its 3,774 complaints
- Honda CR-V: 16% of its 8,154 complaints
- Honda Accord: 15% of its 5,446 complaints
- Tesla Model S: 13% of its 2,502 complaints
- Tesla Model X: 12% of its 1,536 complaints
Phantom braking is growing with each model year
For 2015 models, collision-avoidance problems were 0.8% of all complaints; for 2025 models they are 15.0%.
| Model year | Collision-avoidance complaints | All complaints | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 396 | 52,560 | 0.8% | |
| 2016 | 461 | 51,790 | 0.9% | |
| 2017 | 1,114 | 50,730 | 2.2% | |
| 2018 | 2,445 | 48,247 | 5.1% | |
| 2019 | 2,411 | 40,695 | 5.9% | |
| 2020 | 2,120 | 29,740 | 7.1% | |
| 2021 | 2,833 | 27,553 | 10.3% | |
| 2022 | 2,953 | 25,437 | 11.6% | |
| 2023 | 2,550 | 21,717 | 11.7% | |
| 2024 | 1,798 | 16,244 | 11.1% | |
| 2025 | 1,532 | 10,233 | 15.0% |
Phantom braking by brand
Share of each brand's complaints that involve collision avoidance, for brands with at least 1,000 complaints:
| Brand | Collision-avoidance complaints | Share of brand's complaints |
|---|---|---|
| Tesla | 4,075 | 33.1% |
| Honda | 4,370 | 12.3% |
| Nissan | 1,358 | 8.8% |
| Volkswagen | 795 | 8.7% |
| Volvo | 141 | 8.1% |
| Audi | 304 | 7.2% |
| Mazda | 283 | 6.5% |
| Mercedes-Benz | 378 | 6.2% |
| Infiniti | 76 | 6.0% |
| Mitsubishi | 73 | 5.7% |
| Acura | 267 | 5.7% |
| Cadillac | 148 | 5.2% |
| Hyundai | 1,166 | 5.1% |
| Lexus | 89 | 5.0% |
| BMW | 265 | 4.6% |
| Ram | 724 | 4.5% |
| Subaru | 592 | 4.2% |
| Toyota | 728 | 3.8% |
| Lincoln | 93 | 3.7% |
| Jeep | 829 | 3.1% |
| Kia | 553 | 2.9% |
| Chevrolet | 861 | 2.7% |
| GMC | 370 | 2.5% |
| Buick | 51 | 2.2% |
| Ford | 1,167 | 1.7% |
| Chrysler | 123 | 1.5% |
| Land Rover | 27 | 1.5% |
| Dodge | 90 | 1.2% |
Why cars brake for nothing
Forward collision systems use a front radar, a windshield camera, or both, to judge whether something ahead is about to be hit. Owners' complaints describe the same triggers again and again: overpasses and bridge shadows, metal plates and signs on the road, cars turning out of the lane ahead, and low sun or rain on the camera. The system reads one of these as an obstacle and brakes hard, sometimes at highway speed with traffic behind.
If your car does this
- File your own report at nhtsa.gov/report-a-safety-problem.
- Check for open recalls and software updates for your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
- If it started after a windshield replacement or a minor front-end bump, ask the shop to check the camera and radar calibration. See what windshield camera calibration costs.
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation owner complaints in the "forward collision avoidance" category, model years 2015–2025, retrieved 2026-09-25. Vehicles with at least 300 total complaints. Methodology.