2017 Peterbilt 579

NHTSA collects complaints from owners but does NOT verify each one. The complaints below are unfiltered owner reports — useful for spotting patterns, but a single complaint doesn't prove a defect. Pay attention to: (1) volume of complaints on the same component, (2) consistency of described symptoms, and (3) whether NHTSA has opened a formal investigation or issued a recall on the same component. If a component appears in 5+% of complaints, that's usually a real pattern worth taking seriously.

It depends on the components reported. 2 complaints across roughly tens of thousands of trucks of this model year is a light signal. Compare against other model years of the same truck — if 2022 has 3x more complaints than 2020 or 2024, that specific year has issues. Also check whether the most-reported component is something you can preventively address (e.g., DEF system issues can be mitigated with quality fluid + dealer software updates).

Yes — 8 NHTSA recalls have been issued for this make/model/year. Owner complaints are one of the inputs NHTSA uses to identify potential safety defects — when a pattern shows up in complaints, an investigation can open, and if a defect is confirmed, a recall is issued. See the recall page for this vehicle for details.

Visit NHTSA.gov/file-complaint. You'll need: your VIN, the date of incident, description of what happened, and component affected (drivetrain, brakes, etc.). Filing takes ~10 minutes and adds your data point to the public record. This is the input that triggers NHTSA investigations. For commercial trucks, fleet operators reporting issues at scale (10+ similar reports) often accelerate NHTSA's review timeline.

Based on the complaint data: the top reported issue is 'SERVICE BRAKES' with 1 reports. Depending on the specific failure mode, this can range from a few hundred dollars (sensor replacement) to several thousand (transmission rebuild, DPF replacement, engine work). The complaint pattern alone won't tell you cost — check the symptoms described for hints about the actual root cause. Most commercial-truck complaints describe symptoms ($1,500–$5,000 repair range is typical), not catastrophic failures.