A Toyota truck is supposed to be one of the most reliable vehicles anyone can buy. While that’s true for some models and some model years, it wasn’t true for the 2009 Tacoma. This model year was plagued by a problem that you wouldn’t typically worry about in a car or truck. Here’s that issue and some of the other most frustrating issues that the 2009 Tacoma had, according to Car Complaints. 

The 2009 Tacoma’s wonky radio 

The radios in some Tacomas would turn on and off at random. This was by far the most common complaint on the Tacoma. Although thousands of Tacomas were involved in 13 recalls, this issue with the Tacoma’s radio wasn’t one of them.

Obviously, it wasn’t a severe issue, as the radio on the 2009 Tacoma would simply turn on and off, it’s more annoying than deadly. No crashes, injuries, or deaths were reported from this malfunctioning radio.

But that doesn’t stop this issue from being common nor frustrating. It’s the most common issue about the 2009 Tacoma on Car Complaints and it doesn’t seem to be related to the age of the truck. Used trucks in the 2009 model year tend to be very expensive, but even with low mileage, drivers on Car Complaints were suffering from this radio issue.

On top of that, it seems like this radio issue wasn’t something that could be easily fixed by the owners of the trucks. The most common way that this problem was fixed was by Toyota replacing the radios. Car Complaints doesn’t have a number on how much it cost to fix those faulty radios, but due to the low mileage of the trucks, it’s possible that Toyota replaced them for a cheap fee. 

The Tacoma had suspension problems too

However, the radio wasn’t the only common problem on the 2009 Tacoma. Many drivers reported problems with the suspension of the 2009 Tacoma either failing or being damaged after some use. Car Complaints even claims that the Tacoma’s suspension issues have led to at least one crash. Fortunately, no one was hurt in that crash. 

With that said, unlike the Tacoma’s radio problem, these suspension problems were largely reported by drivers of Tacomas that had a lot more mileage on them. The average mileage on the 2009 Tacomas that had suspension problems was about 34,000 miles, according to Car Complaints. In comparison, the average mileage on the Tacomas that had radio problems was about 11,500 miles. 

The suspension on the Tacoma was the subject of a recall, too. Over 700,000 Toyota cars, including this model year of the Tacoma, were affected by that recall. The cost to repair this issue will vary. Car Complaints cited a repair cost of between $500 to $1,200 depending on which part of the suspension broke. 

The Tacoma’s parking light issue

Another common issue that owners of the 2009 Tacoma reported was that the parking lights of the Tacoma would sometimes overheat and crack. Many drivers reported about this problem to Car Complaints, and like the Tacoma’s suspension issue, this mainly affected owners of Tacomas that had more miles on them. The average mileage of the Tacoma that suffered this issue was about 42,500 miles. 

Because this issue affected the lights on the Tacoma, it isn’t a severe issue. That said, in low visibility situations, a broken parking light can lead to a dangerous situation. So while this problem probably won’t be severe enough to hurt anybody, it’s not an issue that should be ignored. 

Car Complaints also mentions that the cost of repairing this issue is about $500. It’s unknown why this issue was happening to the Tacoma’s lights, but owners on Car Complaints speculate that it has to do with a faulty design on Toyota’s part. However, Toyota hasn’t issued a recall concerning the 2009 Tacoma’s lights.