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2016 Toyota Tundra

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

Similar to other model years

Owner complaints for the 2016 Toyota Tundra do not stand out strongly from the model-year median of 144.5.

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How this year compares

Owner complaints by model year

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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

80 reports with mileage · 39 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.

  • Service Brakes. Review the 34 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Electrical System. Review the 26 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Structure. Review the 21 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

2 crash reports0 fire reports3 injury reports

Service Brakes complaints

34 reports
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21,500 miles · May 12, 2017
Service BrakesUnknown Or Other

HAVE HAD BRAKING ISSUES WITH INTEGRATED BRAKE CONTROLLER, NO MATTER WHAT POWER LEVEL I USE THERE SEEMS TO BE VERY LITTLE IF NO EFFECT ON THE TRAILER BRAKING. I CAN SWITCH THE INTEGRATED BRAKE CONTROLLER TO ELECTRIC OVER HYDRAULIC AND THEY APPLY THE BRAKES AND THEY GRAB IMMEDIATELY, IT SEEMS THAT THE INTEGRATED BRAKE CONTROLLER I…

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HAVE HAD BRAKING ISSUES WITH INTEGRATED BRAKE CONTROLLER, NO MATTER WHAT POWER LEVEL I USE THERE SEEMS TO BE VERY LITTLE IF NO EFFECT ON THE TRAILER BRAKING. I CAN SWITCH THE INTEGRATED BRAKE CONTROLLER TO ELECTRIC OVER HYDRAULIC AND THEY APPLY THE BRAKES AND THEY GRAB IMMEDIATELY, IT SEEMS THAT THE INTEGRATED BRAKE CONTROLLER IN ELECTRIC BRAKE MODE DOES NOT PRODUCE ENOUGH ELECTRICAL POWER TO ACTIVATE THE TRAILER BRAKES.

NHTSA ODI #10985431

Mileage unknown · Apr 17, 2017
Service BrakesUnknown Or Other

CPSC:I PURCHASED A 2016 TOYOTA TUNDRA PICKUP TRUCK. THE TRUCK COMES WITH AN INTEGRATED BRAKE CONTROLLER FOR TOWING TRAILERS, BOATS, ETC. THE IBC HAS TWO MODES OF BRAKING, FOR TRAILERS WITH ELECTRIC BRAKES OR FOR TRAILERS WITH HYDRAULIC BRAKES. *BF THE CONSUMER STATED THE AUTOMATIC BRAKING DID NOT WORK FOR THE ELECTRICS BRAKE…

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CPSC:I PURCHASED A 2016 TOYOTA TUNDRA PICKUP TRUCK. THE TRUCK COMES WITH AN INTEGRATED BRAKE CONTROLLER FOR TOWING TRAILERS, BOATS, ETC. THE IBC HAS TWO MODES OF BRAKING, FOR TRAILERS WITH ELECTRIC BRAKES OR FOR TRAILERS WITH HYDRAULIC BRAKES. *BF THE CONSUMER STATED THE AUTOMATIC BRAKING DID NOT WORK FOR THE ELECTRICS BRAKES MODE. UPDATED 04/21/2017 *JS

NHTSA ODI #10979512

15,000 miles · Apr 5, 2017
Service BrakesUnknown Or Other

INTEGRATED BRAKE CONTROLLER DOES NOT OPERATE TRAILER BRAKES, AT ANY TIME. MOVING OR STANDING STILL.

NHTSA ODI #10970626

5,680 miles · Mar 27, 2017
Service Brakes

THE IBC FAILS TO WORK ON A ALUMA TANDEM TRAIL.

NHTSA ODI #10968621

5,000 miles · Mar 3, 2017
Service Brakes

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 TOYOTA TUNDRA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE BRAKE CONTROLLER ON THE VEHICLE FAILED TO ACTIVATE THE BRAKE ON THE TRAILER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT AN ERROR MESSAGE ILLUMINATED, REFERRING THE DRIVER TO THE OWNER'S MANUAL. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALER WHO WAS UNABLE TO DIAGNOSE THE FAILURE. THE MANUFA…

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TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 TOYOTA TUNDRA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE BRAKE CONTROLLER ON THE VEHICLE FAILED TO ACTIVATE THE BRAKE ON THE TRAILER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT AN ERROR MESSAGE ILLUMINATED, REFERRING THE DRIVER TO THE OWNER'S MANUAL. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALER WHO WAS UNABLE TO DIAGNOSE THE FAILURE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE AND SENT TWO ENGINEERS TO INVESTIGATE THE FAILURE. THE ENGINEERS DIAGNOSED THAT THE PART WAS WORKING AS DESIGNED. THE FAILURE WAS NOT REMEDIED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 5,000.

NHTSA ODI #10958535

1,000 miles · Feb 28, 2017
Service Brakes

THE INTEGRATED BREAK CONTROLLER DOES NOT FUNCTION CORRECTLY. DEALER STATED IT IS A KNOWN PROBLEM AND TOYOTA DOES NOT HAVE A REPAIR FOR THE FACTORY DEFECT.

NHTSA ODI #10957662

9,500 miles · Oct 18, 2016
Service Brakes

INTEGRATED TRAILER BRAKE CONTROLLER NOT FUNCTIONING CORRECTLY. IN ELECTRIC MODE, NO POWER SETTING (1-10) IS ABLE TO GET THE TRAILER BRAKES TO LOCK UP WHEN THE TRUCK BRAKES ARE APPLIED. THIS IS A CRUCIAL TEST TO CALIBRATE THE TRAILER BRAKES BEFORE GOING ON THE ROAD, AND DEMONSTRATES THAT THE OUTPUT SIGNAL FROM THE BRAKE CONTROLLE…

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INTEGRATED TRAILER BRAKE CONTROLLER NOT FUNCTIONING CORRECTLY. IN ELECTRIC MODE, NO POWER SETTING (1-10) IS ABLE TO GET THE TRAILER BRAKES TO LOCK UP WHEN THE TRUCK BRAKES ARE APPLIED. THIS IS A CRUCIAL TEST TO CALIBRATE THE TRAILER BRAKES BEFORE GOING ON THE ROAD, AND DEMONSTRATES THAT THE OUTPUT SIGNAL FROM THE BRAKE CONTROLLER ISN'T SUFFICIENT TO STOP THE TRUCK/TRAILER COMBO IN AN EMERGENCY SITUATION. THE TRAILER BRAKES ARE ABLE TO LOCK UP WITH CERTAIN SETTINGS IF YOU MANUALLY ACTIVATE THE TRIGGER, DEMONSTRATING THAT THE CONTROLLER NOT ONLY HAS THE ABILITY TO LOCK UP THE BRAKES, BUT THAT THE TRAILER ITSELF ISNT THE PROBLEM. THE PROGRAMMING OF THE CONTROLLER IS SUSPECT.

NHTSA ODI #10916820

3,000 miles · Oct 17, 2016
Electrical SystemService BrakesUnknown Or Other

THE INTEGRATED ELECRIC BRAKE CONTROLLER INCLUDED IN MY PLATINUM EDITION OPTIONS FOR TOWING A TRAILER DOES NOT WORK. ACCORDING TO DEALER, THERE IS NO FIX FROM TOYOTA ALTHOUGH THEY ARE AWARE OF THE ISSUE.

NHTSA ODI #10916440

6,000 miles · Oct 3, 2016
Service Brakes

INTEGRATED BRAKE CONTROLLER (IBC) ON A 2016 TOYOTA TUNDRA FAILS TO ADEQUATELY STOP A TRAILER FITTED WITH ELECTRONIC DRUM BRAKES. WHEN THE BRAKE CONTROLLER IS IN THE ELECTRIC BRAKE MODE, I GET VERY LITTLE BRAKING WITH THE IBC MAXED AT LEVEL 10 ON THE GAIN CONTROL. I CAN MANUALLY STOP THE TRAILER USING THE MANUAL SQUEEZE LEVERS…

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INTEGRATED BRAKE CONTROLLER (IBC) ON A 2016 TOYOTA TUNDRA FAILS TO ADEQUATELY STOP A TRAILER FITTED WITH ELECTRONIC DRUM BRAKES. WHEN THE BRAKE CONTROLLER IS IN THE ELECTRIC BRAKE MODE, I GET VERY LITTLE BRAKING WITH THE IBC MAXED AT LEVEL 10 ON THE GAIN CONTROL. I CAN MANUALLY STOP THE TRAILER USING THE MANUAL SQUEEZE LEVERS AND THE BRAKES STOP THE TRAILER AND TRUCK, BUT PROVIDES VERY LITTLE BRAKING WHEN USING THE BRAKE PEDAL. THE TRAILER PUSHES THE TRUCK CREATING A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION. IF I PUT THE BRAKE CONTROLLER IN THE ELECTRIC OVER HYDRAULIC BRAKE MODE, THE BRAKES WORK BY THE BRAKE PEDAL BUT GRAB INSTANTLY AT ONLY A GAIN LEVEL OF (1.5). THE TRAILER BRAKES HAVE BEEN TESTED AND WORK AS EXPECTED WITH AN AFTERMARKET BRAKE CONTROLLER. TOYOTA'S IBC, AS NOTED BY SEVERAL OTHER OWNERS, ON MANY WEBSITES ARE NOT PERFORMING AS EXPECTED WHEN TOWING A TRAILER. IF ROAD SURFACES ARE WET OR ICY THE TRUCK BREAKS WOULD HAVE LITTLE CHANCE TO STOP A LOADED TRAILER AT MAX CAPACITY.

NHTSA ODI #10911244

500 miles · Sep 21, 2016
Electrical SystemService Brakes

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 TOYOTA TUNDRA. WHILE TOWING A TRAILER, THE BRAKE PEDAL WAS DEPRESSED; HOWEVER, THE TRAILER BRAKE LIGHTS FAILED TO ILLUMINATE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE INTEGRATED BRAKE CONTROLLER FAILED AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE…

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TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 TOYOTA TUNDRA. WHILE TOWING A TRAILER, THE BRAKE PEDAL WAS DEPRESSED; HOWEVER, THE TRAILER BRAKE LIGHTS FAILED TO ILLUMINATE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE INTEGRATED BRAKE CONTROLLER FAILED AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 500. THE VIN WAS NOT AVAILABLE.

NHTSA ODI #10908430

Official recalls

5

21V920000 · Steering:hydraulic Power Assist System; Steering:rack And Pinion

Nov 23, 2021

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2008-2022 Sequoia and 2007-2021 Tundra vehicles. The power steering gear assembly may have been manufactured incorrectly, which can result in an oil leak.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: An oil leak may cause a sudden loss of power steering assist, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Dealers will inspect and replace the power steering gear assembly as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on January 21, 2022. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's numbers for this recall are 21TB10 and 21TA10.

Additional source detail variants (2)

Steering:hydraulic Power Assist System

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2008-2022 Sequoia and 2007-2021 Tundra vehicles. The power steering gear assembly may have been manufactured incorrectly, which can result in an oil leak.

Consequence: An oil leak may cause a sudden loss of power steering assist, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Dealers will inspect and replace the power steering gear assembly as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on January 21, 2022. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's numbers for this recall are 21TB10 and 21TA10.

Steering:rack And Pinion

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2008-2022 Sequoia and 2007-2021 Tundra vehicles. The power steering gear assembly may have been manufactured incorrectly, which can result in an oil leak.

Consequence: An oil leak may cause a sudden loss of power steering assist, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Dealers will inspect and replace the power steering gear assembly as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on January 21, 2022. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's numbers for this recall are 21TB10 and 21TA10.

17V416000 · Air Bags:knee Bolster

Jun 29, 2017

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2016 Tundra vehicles. The affected vehicles have a passenger knee air bag module that was attached to the instrument panel mounting brackets with incorrect bolts.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: The incorrect bolts may cause the air bag module to loosen over time, affecting the performance of the knee airbag, increasing the risk of injury during a crash.

Remedy: All of the affected vehicles have been inspected and any incorrect knee air bag mounting bolts have been replaced, free of charge. The recall began on June 22, 2017. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's number for this recall is H0K.

17V311000 · Wheels:lugs/nuts/bolts/studs

May 11, 2017

Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC (SET) is recalling certain model year 2013-2017 Toyota Tundra and Sequoia vehicles accessorized with Southeast Toyota accessory 20-inch Rockstar wheels installed by Southeast Toyota or a Southeast Toyota dealer. The Rockstar wheels were installed with lugnuts that may crack and detach.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: Lugnuts that crack and detach may cause the wheels to separate from the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: SET will notify owners, and dealers will install new replacement lugnuts, free of charge. The recall began June 23, 2017. Owners may contact SET customer service at 1-866-405-4226. SET's number for this recall is SET17A.

17V051000 · Structure:body:bumpers

Jan 24, 2017

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2016-2017 Tundra vehicles equipped with a resin rear step bumper and resin reinforcement brackets (vehicles with chrome step bumpers are not affected). In the event of an impact to the corner of the bumper, the resin bracket may be damaged but not be noticed.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: If a person steps on the corner of the bumper that is damaged, a portion of the bumper may break away, increasing the risk of injury.

Remedy: Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace the resin rear bumper reinforcement brackets with steel ones, and replace the rear bumper tread, free of charge. The recall began on May 21, 2017. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's number for this recall is H0C.

16V420000 · Equipment:other:labels

Jun 9, 2016

Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC (SET) is recalling certain model year 2016 Toyota Camry and Highlander, 2015-2016 Toyota Tundra, Scion FR-S, and tC vehicles. The Load Carrying Capacity Modification Label may not reflect the correct added weight of the installed accessories. As a result, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 110, "Tire Selection and Rims for Passenger Cars."

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: An incorrect label may lead an owner to overload the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: SET will notify owners, and provide a corrected label for placement over the inaccurate label, free of charge. The recall began on July 14, 2016. Owners may contact SET customer service at 1-866-405-4226.

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

1

EA19001 · 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.