IllustrationERRATIC TRANSMISSION SHIFTING. LURCHES IN LOW GEARS, DELAY WHEN SHIFTING FROM REVERSE TO DRIVE, STAYS IN 4TH GEAR AFTER CRESTING A HILL, UNABLE TO STAY IN 6TH GEAR WHILE CRUISING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS ON LEVEL GROUND WITHOUT LOAD IN VEHICLE.
2016 Toyota Tacoma
Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations
Similar to other model years
Owner complaints for the 2016 Toyota Tacoma do not stand out strongly from the model-year median of 228.5.
About this comparison →How this year compares
Owner complaints by model year
Compare all Tacoma years →Counts vary with age, sales and reporting. They are not failure rates.
What owners reported most
All reported categories
Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.
When problems were reported
Mileage at the reported incident
1180–25K
3525–50K
2350–75K
875–100K
5100–150K
0150K+
189 reports with mileage · 134 unknown
NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.
What to inspect
Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.
- Power Train. Review the 136 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Engine. Review the 47 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Electrical System. Review the 36 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
4 crash reports4 fire reports1 injury reports
Engine complaints
47 reportsWHILE DRIVING STRAIGHT ON A BUSY THREE-LANE CITY STREET, WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS IN MOTION, I HEARD A "BEEP" SOUND, "BRAKE OVERRIDE MALFUNCTION" APPEARED OF MY DASHBOARD DISPLAY, I LOST THE ABILITY TO ACCELERATE, AND THE ENGINE CAME TO A SLOW IDLE. SINCE I DID NOT HAVE THE ABILITY TO ACCELERATE, I COULD ONLY COAST TO THE RIGHT HA…
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WHILE DRIVING STRAIGHT ON A BUSY THREE-LANE CITY STREET, WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS IN MOTION, I HEARD A "BEEP" SOUND, "BRAKE OVERRIDE MALFUNCTION" APPEARED OF MY DASHBOARD DISPLAY, I LOST THE ABILITY TO ACCELERATE, AND THE ENGINE CAME TO A SLOW IDLE. SINCE I DID NOT HAVE THE ABILITY TO ACCELERATE, I COULD ONLY COAST TO THE RIGHT HAND SIDE OF THE STREET. SINCE THERE WAS NO SHOULDER LANE ON THIS STREET, MY VEHICLE CAME TO A STOP IN THE RIGHT HAND LANE, BLOCKING THE LANE OF TRAFFIC FOR SOME TIME UNTIL TWO GENTLEMEN CAME TO ASSIST ME WITH PUSHING MY VEHICLE OUT OF DANGER. REPAIR TOOK 10 BUSINESS DAYS SINCE THEY DID NOT KNOW HOW TO REPAIR THE VEHICLE INITIALLY (REPAIR INVOICE WILL BE PROVIDED UPON REQUEST). TWO DAYS AFTER I PICKED UP MY TRUCK FROM THE DEALERSHIP, THE BATTERY DIED IN A PARKING LOT. I'M NOT SURE IF THE BATTERY DEFECT IS RELATED TO THE "BRAKE OVERRIDE MALFUNCTION".
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 TOYOTA TACOMA. THE CONTACT RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBERS: 17V356000 (ENGINE) AND 17V285000 (POWER TRAIN); HOWEVER, THE PARTS TO DO THE REPAIRS WERE UNAVAILABLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE MANUFACTURER EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR THE RECALL REPAIRS. THE DEALER WAS CONTAC…
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TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 TOYOTA TACOMA. THE CONTACT RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBERS: 17V356000 (ENGINE) AND 17V285000 (POWER TRAIN); HOWEVER, THE PARTS TO DO THE REPAIRS WERE UNAVAILABLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE MANUFACTURER EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR THE RECALL REPAIRS. THE DEALER WAS CONTACTED (FRED ANDERSON TOYOTA, ASHVILLE, NC, 828-667-8888) AND CONFIRMED THAT THE PARTS WERE NOT AVAILABLE FOR THE RECALL REMEDY. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE ISSUE AND WAS NOT ABLE TO CONFIRM WHEN THE PARTS WERE TO BECOME AVAILABLE. THE CONTACT HAD NOT EXPERIENCED A FAILURE. PARTS DISTRIBUTION DISCONNECT.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 TOYOTA TACOMA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 17V356000 (ENGINE) AND NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 17V285000 (POWER TRAIN) EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR REPAIR. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN UNKNOWN DEALER FOR OVER FOUR MONTHS WAITING FOR PARTS TO BECOME AVAILABLE. THE MANUFACTURER W…
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TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 TOYOTA TACOMA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 17V356000 (ENGINE) AND NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 17V285000 (POWER TRAIN) EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR REPAIR. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN UNKNOWN DEALER FOR OVER FOUR MONTHS WAITING FOR PARTS TO BECOME AVAILABLE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS CONTACTED AND STATED THAT PARTS FOR THE REPAIR WERE IN LIMITED SUPPLY; THEREFORE, THE WAIT WOULD BE LONGER THAN EXPECTED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 10,000. VIN TOOL CONFIRMS PARTS NOT AVAILABLE AND PARTS DISTRIBUTION DISCONNECT.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 TOYOTA TACOMA. THE CONTACT RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 17V356000 (ENGINE); HOWEVER, THE PARTS TO DO THE REPAIR WERE UNAVAILABLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE MANUFACTURER EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR THE RECALL REPAIR. THE CONTACT CALLED POE TOYOTA (915-775-2000 LOCATED …
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TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 TOYOTA TACOMA. THE CONTACT RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 17V356000 (ENGINE); HOWEVER, THE PARTS TO DO THE REPAIR WERE UNAVAILABLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE MANUFACTURER EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR THE RECALL REPAIR. THE CONTACT CALLED POE TOYOTA (915-775-2000 LOCATED AT 6330 MONTANA AVE, EL PASO, TX 79925) WHERE IT WAS CONFIRMED THAT THE PARTS WERE TO BE AVAILABLE IN TWO WEEKS. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE ISSUE AND WAS NOT ABLE TO CONFIRM WHEN THE PARTS WERE TO BECOME AVAILABLE. THE CONTACT HAD NOT EXPERIENCED A FAILURE. PARTS DISTRIBUTION DISCONNECT.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 TOYOTA TACOMA. THE CONTACT RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBERS: 17V356000 (ENGINE) AND 17V285000 (POWER TRAIN) HOWEVER, THE PARTS TO DO THE REPAIR WERE UNAVAILABLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE MANUFACTURER EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR THE RECALL REPAIR. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO…
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TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 TOYOTA TACOMA. THE CONTACT RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBERS: 17V356000 (ENGINE) AND 17V285000 (POWER TRAIN) HOWEVER, THE PARTS TO DO THE REPAIR WERE UNAVAILABLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE MANUFACTURER EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR THE RECALL REPAIR. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER LITHIA TOYOTA OF REDDING LOCATED AT 250 E CYPRESS AVE, REDDING, CA 96002; (530) 605-2938 AND CONFIRMED THAT THE PARTS WERE NOT AVAILABLE FOR THE RECALL REMEDY. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT CONTACTED AND WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE ISSUE. THE CONTACT HAD NOT EXPERIENCED A FAILURE. PARTS DISTRIBUTION DISCONNECT.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 TOYOTA TACOMA. THE CONTACT RECEIVED A RECALL NOTIFICATION FOR NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 17V356000 (ENGINE); HOWEVER, THE PARTS TO DO THE REPAIR WERE UNAVAILABLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE MANUFACTURER EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR THE RECALL REPAIR. THE DEALER SUN COAST TOYOTA OF SARASOTA, F…
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TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 TOYOTA TACOMA. THE CONTACT RECEIVED A RECALL NOTIFICATION FOR NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 17V356000 (ENGINE); HOWEVER, THE PARTS TO DO THE REPAIR WERE UNAVAILABLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE MANUFACTURER EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR THE RECALL REPAIR. THE DEALER SUN COAST TOYOTA OF SARASOTA, FLORIDA WAS CONTACTED AND CONFIRMED THAT THE PARTS WERE NOT AVAILABLE FOR THE RECALL REMEDY. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE ISSUE AND WAS NOT ABLE TO CONFIRM WHEN THE PARTS WERE TO BECOME AVAILABLE. THE CONTACT HAD NOT EXPERIENCED A FAILURE. VIN TOOL CONFIRMS PARTS NOT AVAILABLE.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 TOYOTA TACOMA. WHILE ATTEMPTING TO ACCELERATE ON AN INCLINE, A CRANKING NOISE AND A TAPPING NOISE WERE HEARD FROM THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT. THERE WERE NO WARNING INDICATORS ILLUMINATED. THE FAILURE RECURRED SEVERAL TIMES. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER (COLONIAL TOYOTA IN MILFORD, CT), BUT THE FAIL…
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TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 TOYOTA TACOMA. WHILE ATTEMPTING TO ACCELERATE ON AN INCLINE, A CRANKING NOISE AND A TAPPING NOISE WERE HEARD FROM THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT. THERE WERE NO WARNING INDICATORS ILLUMINATED. THE FAILURE RECURRED SEVERAL TIMES. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER (COLONIAL TOYOTA IN MILFORD, CT), BUT THE FAILURE COULD NOT BE DUPLICATED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE CONTACT RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 17V356000 (ENGINE). THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS UNKNOWN. PARTS DISTRIBUTION DISCONNECT.
BROUGHT VEHICLE IN TO DEALERSHIP( NORTHWAY TOYOTA) FOR RECALL NOTICE, AND VEHICLE STALLING. THEY SUPPOSEDLY REPAIRED IT, BUT VEHICLE IS DOING THE EXACT SAME THING, STALLING AND MALFUNCTION INDICATORS ARE ON. CONTACTED THE DEALERSHIP BUT NO ONE WILL RETURN MY CALL. I DON'T THINK THEY DID ANYTHING TO MY VEHICLE THE FIRST TIME.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 TOYOTA TACOMA. THE CONTACT RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBERS: 17V356000 (ENGINE) AND 17V285000 (POWER TRAIN). THE DEALER (ALL STAR TOYOTA, 9150 AIRLINE HWY, BATON ROUGE, LA 70815, (225) 490-7608) HAD BEEN UNABLE TO DETERMINE WHEN THE REMEDY AND PARTS MAY BE SUPPLIED FOR THE REPAIRS. THE …
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TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 TOYOTA TACOMA. THE CONTACT RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBERS: 17V356000 (ENGINE) AND 17V285000 (POWER TRAIN). THE DEALER (ALL STAR TOYOTA, 9150 AIRLINE HWY, BATON ROUGE, LA 70815, (225) 490-7608) HAD BEEN UNABLE TO DETERMINE WHEN THE REMEDY AND PARTS MAY BE SUPPLIED FOR THE REPAIRS. THE DEALER INDICATED THAT NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 17V356000 (ENGINE) WAS COMPLETED BUT THE CONTACT HAD NO RECORD OF THE REPAIR FROM THE DEALER. THE MANUFACTURER WAS CONTACTED CONCERNING THE TWO RECALL REPAIRS. THE CONTACT HAD NOT EXPERIENCED A FAILURE. PARTS DISTRIBUTION DISCONNECT.
Official recalls
417V425000 · Equipment; Structure:body:hood:hinge And Attachments
Jul 3, 2017
Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC (SET) is recalling certain 2011-2016 Toyota Tacoma and 4Runner vehicles equipped with accessory hood scoops installed by SET or SET dealers. The adhesive attaching the hood scoop may weaken, allowing the hood scoop to detach from the vehicle.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: If the hood scoop detaches, it may become a road hazard, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: SET will notify owners, and dealers will mechanically fasten the scoop to the hood, free of charge. The recall began on September 1, 2017. Owners may contact SET customer service at 1-954-429-2000. SET's number for this recall is SET17B.
Additional source detail variants (2)
Equipment
Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC (SET) is recalling certain 2011-2016 Toyota Tacoma and 4Runner vehicles equipped with accessory hood scoops installed by SET or SET dealers. The adhesive attaching the hood scoop may weaken, allowing the hood scoop to detach from the vehicle.
Consequence: If the hood scoop detaches, it may become a road hazard, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: SET will notify owners, and dealers will mechanically fasten the scoop to the hood, free of charge. The recall began on September 1, 2017. Owners may contact SET customer service at 1-954-429-2000. SET's number for this recall is SET17B.
Structure:body:hood:hinge And Attachments
Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC (SET) is recalling certain 2011-2016 Toyota Tacoma and 4Runner vehicles equipped with accessory hood scoops installed by SET or SET dealers. The adhesive attaching the hood scoop may weaken, allowing the hood scoop to detach from the vehicle.
Consequence: If the hood scoop detaches, it may become a road hazard, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: SET will notify owners, and dealers will mechanically fasten the scoop to the hood, free of charge. The recall began on September 1, 2017. Owners may contact SET customer service at 1-954-429-2000. SET's number for this recall is SET17B.
17V356000 · Engine
Jun 1, 2017
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2016-2017 Tacoma vehicles equipped with a six-cylinder engine. The affected vehicles have a crank position sensor that may malfunction, potentially resulting in an engine stall.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: An engine stall may increase the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace the crank position sensor with an improved design, free of charge. The recall began July 26, 2017. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's number for this recall is H0H.
17V285000 · Power Train:driveline:differential Unit
Apr 27, 2017
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2016-2017 Tacoma vehicles. Oil may leak from the area where the rear differential carrier is assembled to rear axle housing.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: If the vehicle is operated with an insufficient amount of oil in the rear differential, the differential may seize and cause a loss of control, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the rear differential for oil leakage. Based on the inspection, dealers will either tightening the fastening nuts or replace the fastening nuts and gasket. If the rear differential components are damaged, the rear differential carrier assembly will be replaced. The repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall June 19, 2017. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's number for this recall is H0G.
15V656000 · Air Bags:knee Bolster
Oct 14, 2015
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain model year 2016 Tacoma trucks manufactured August 20, 2015, to September 10, 2015. In the affected vehicles, incorrect bolts were used to install the driver's knee air bag module.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: The incorrect bolts may loosen over time and affect the performance of the driver's knee air bag, increasing the risk of driver injury during a crash that necessitates deployment of the air bags.
Remedy: Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will install the correct driver's knee air bag module mounting bolts, free of charge. The recall began on November 19, 2015. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's number for this recall is F0T.
Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗
NHTSA investigations
1EA19001 · Electrical Overstress
Opened Apr 19, 2019 · Closed Sep 19, 2024
Status: closed (inferred from source dates) · Air Bags: Air Bag/restraint Control Module
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened this investigation to determine if the failure of airbags to deploy during severe crashes, in certain vehicles, was the result of a safety related defect. During the investigation a complex failure was studied that can result in non-deployment of subject vehicle air bags and other restraint system devices in severe crash events. The subject vehicles may be equipped with an airbag control unit (ACU) for the supplemental restraint system (SRS) Electronic Control Unit (ECU) manufactured by ZF-TRW. The ECU receives signals from crash sensors mounted in the vehicle and deploys the vehicle air bags and seat belt pretensioners in accordance with manufacturer design specifications. The ECU in the subject vehicles contains a model DS84 application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) which controls the communication of the crash sensor signal, firing commands (i.e., when to deploy the airbag(s) and/or pretensioners), and fault information (e.g., diagnostic trouble codes). In September 2016, FCA announced recall 16V-668 for certain model year (MY) 2010 to 2014 Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep products manufactured with the subject ZF-TRW ACU. In this recall, FCA discussed an EOS condition that resulted in a failure of the subject DS84 ASIC, which caused air bag non-deployment. FCA noted that the defect condition had only been observed in vehicles equipped with sensor harnessing routed across the front of the vehicle. Other FCA vehicles that also used the subject ACU, but were not equipped with cross-car harnessing, had not experienced EOS failures, despite similar time in service. During the course of this investigation, ODI sent two separate Information Request (IR) letters to six vehicle manufactures (including FCA, Hyundai, Honda, Kia, Mitsubishi, and Toyota) and one IR letter to ZF-TRW. These IR letters resulted in ODI receiving comprehensive data from these manufacturers and suppliers. Studies of this data found that the DS84 ASIC does not have sufficient protection against negative electrical transients or electrical overstress (“EOS”) that can be generated in certain severe crashes. An electrical transient occurs when the electrical power supplied to a circuit changes momentarily over a short duration of time. In these severe crash cases, the crash sensors and other powered wiring can be damaged and short circuited so as to create a negative electrical transient of sufficient intensity and duration (that are outside the vehicle manufacturer's specification) to damage the ASIC before the restraint device deployment signal is received by the SRS ECU. This damaged signal can lead to incomplete or nondeployment of the air bags and/or pretensioners. Airbag non-deployment and/or lack of pretensioner operation can increase the risk or severity of injury in a crash.A total of 8 fatalities and 14 injuries were associated with known EOS events. The common element in all investigated manufacturers vehicles is the SRS ECU containing a DS84 ASIC manufactured by ZF-TRW. The risk associated with the ASIC is equally shared among all OEMS involved in the investigation. The actual real-world risk can be mitigated by other factors which were assessed by ODI during this investigation. The first mitigating factor involves protections built into the ACU design which protect the DS84 ASIC from damage. There are multiple strategies and levels of protection employed by different OEMs that provide effective EOS mitigation. The two most common strategies at the ACU level are circuit protection diodes on the remote senor signal lines, and current limiting resistors that protect critical components. The second mitigating factor is found at the vehicle level and involves the location and routing of the wires leading from the crash sensors to the SRS ECU. If the wires are well protected in a crash and are not routed with other power wires carrying large currents, the risk for an EOS event is significantly reduced or eliminated. These design specific factors combine to produce a spectrum of risk for the vehicles equipped with ACUs using the DS84 ASIC. Given the many of years of field exposure, it is possible to divide the subject population into two groups; vehicles which have experienced EOS events, and vehicles which have not experienced EOS field events. Four of the six OEMs involved in this investigation have experienced EOS field events on at least one of their models equipped with a DS84 ASIC. All vehicle models (including the Toyota models identified in the Failure Report Summary of the opening resume for this investigation) with field events have been recalled. In an abundance of caution, ODI kept this investigation open five years to monitor field performance and did not identify any field events on vehicles not included in existing safety recalls. Given the spectrum of risk identified in this investigation and that all vehicles with a demonstrated unreasonable risk have been recalled, ODI is closing this investigation. ODI is closing this investigation with the following manufacturer safety recalls: 16V-668, 18E-043, 18V-137, 18V-363, and 20V-024. With the recall actions taken by the subject vehicle and equipment manufacturers, this investigation is closed. The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by NHTSA that a safety-related defect does not exists on other model or model year vehicles outside of the recall scopes. The agency reserves the right to take further action if warranted by the circumstances.