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Owner-Reported Problems · NHTSA

2012 Toyota Tacoma — Problems & Complaints

NHTSA has 295 owner complaints on file for this vehicle. Every report below was filed by a real owner with the US government's road-safety agency.

295

Complaints

filed with NHTSA

Involved a Crash

owner-reported

Involved Fire

owner-reported

Injuries

across all reports

Years to Avoid

Toyota Tacoma — Complaints by Model Year

Years flagged AVOID have at least twice this model's average complaint count — the strongest public-data signal of a bad year.

2010 Toyota Tacoma

0 complaints

2011 Toyota Tacoma

186 complaints

2012 Toyota Tacoma

295 complaints

2013 Toyota Tacoma

125 complaints

2014 Toyota Tacoma

93 complaints

2015 Toyota Tacoma

101 complaints

2016 Toyota Tacoma

323 complaints

2017 Toyota Tacoma

242 complaints

2018 Toyota Tacoma

209 complaints

2019 Toyota Tacoma

219 complaints

Problem Areas

What Owners Complain About Most

Engine 122 reports

Fuel/propulsion System 52 reports

Unknown Or Other 43 reports

Power Train 35 reports

Service Brakes 22 reports

Vehicle Speed Control 22 reports

Suspension 21 reports

Electrical System 19 reports

In Their Own Words

Recent Owner Reports

Engine ODI 11292261 12/31/2019

FAILURE OF THE SECONDARY AIR INJECTION SYSTEM P2440 AND P2442, WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS MOVING ONTO A CITY STREET FROM A PARKING LOT. WHEN ACCELERATING IMMEDIATELY THERE WAS A DECREASE IN POWER AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ALONG WITH THE "TRAC OFF" LIGHT ILLUMINATING SIMULTANEOUSLY. THE VEHICLE HAS A NOW MAXIMUM SPEED OF AROUND 55 MPH AND EXTREMELY SLOW TO ACCELERATE BEING ALMOST D…

Engine ODI 10938779 12/30/2016

AIR INJECTION PUMP AND DIVERTER VALVE ASSEMBLY FAILED CAUSING VEHICLE TO ENTER LIMP MODE. VEHICLE WAS MOVING AT LOW SPEED FROM A FRESH START UP. TOYOTA HAS RECOGNIZED THE ISSUE ON THE TUNDRA TRUCK AND EXTENDED 150K MILE WARRANTY ON THE PART. THEY HAVE NOT EXTENDED THE SAME CONSIDERATION ON THE TACOMA. BASED ON RESEARCH AND DISCUSSION WITH DEALER IT IS A KNOWN ISSUE ON TH…

Engine ODI 10938799 12/30/2016

I GOT THE ENGINE LIGHTS ON IN THE MORNING STARTING THE TRUCK ON NOV 3, AND TRUCK WENT INTO LIMP MODE. GOT IT HOME AND LET IT SIT FOR A BIT AND THEN IT SEEMED TO BE OKAY ACCELERATING BUT THE ENGINE LIGHTS WERE STILL ON. TOOK IT TO TOYOTA AND WAS READING THE DREADED P2442 SECONDARY AIR INJECTION SYSTEM CODE. THEY CLEARED THE CODE AND DROVE IT AROUND; CLEARED AGAIN THEY DEEMED IT…

Electrical System ODI 10938557 12/29/2016

SECONDARY AIR INJECTION VALVE STUCK CODES P2440,P2442. TRUCK GOES INTO LIMP MODE AND YOU CAN ONLY GO A MAX OF 40 MPH.TOYOTA KNOWS ABOUT THESE ISSUES AND DOES NOTHING ABOUT IT

Unknown Or Other ODI 10938583 12/29/2016

HEADED TO WORK TO FIND CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ILLUMINATED. TRUCK HAS LESS THAN 41,000 MILES. WENT TO AUTOZONE, CODE READER PROVIDED P2442 AND P2440 ERRORS RELATED TO THE SECONDARY AIR INJECTION SYSTEM VALVES. FOLLOWED UP WITH LOCAL TOYOTA DEALER. DEALER RAN DIAGNOSTIC AND FOUND SECONDARY AIR INJECTION SYSTEM VALVES STUCK OPEN IN BANKS 1 AND 2. DEALER WANTS TO REPLACE PARTS 17600-0…

Same Vehicle

Recalls & Crash Tests

Complaints are one half of the picture — see the official recalls and NHTSA crash-test stars for the 2012 Toyota Tacoma, or check your exact car by VIN with the free VIN lookup.

Check Another Car

Problems Checker

Any year, make and model: open the Car Problems Checker. Data: NHTSA (US DOT, public domain), cached up to 7 days.

Questions

FAQ

Is the 2012 Toyota Tacoma reliable?

Owners have filed 295 safety complaints with NHTSA for the 2012 Toyota Tacoma, most often about engine. Compare the complaint counts across model years above — a year with far more complaints than the model's average is the strongest 'avoid' signal in public data.

Which Toyota Tacoma years should I avoid?

The rule of thumb used by analysts: a model year whose complaint count is well above the model's own average (we flag 2× or more) usually had a real manufacturing or design problem — not just noisy reporting. Use the year-by-year strip on this page.

Where do these complaints come from?

Directly from NHTSA, the US government road-safety agency. Any owner can file a Vehicle Owner Questionnaire; NHTSA publishes them as public domain data. We cache each lookup for up to 7 days.

Do complaints mean a recall is coming?

Sometimes. NHTSA opens defect investigations when complaint patterns emerge, and investigations can end in recalls. Check the recalls page for this vehicle to see what has already been recalled.