5 Toyotas That Aren’t Actually That Reliable
Toyotas have a nearly bulletproof reputation for reliability. Secret ingredients in the company’s philosophy and manufacturing process have led to some exceptionally reliable vehicles. That said, Toyota has also had some notable misses.
The Car Complaints website compiles reports of malfunctioning cars from real owners. The only Toyota models that received more than 1,000 complaints are the Camry, RAV4, Corolla, Prius, and Tacoma. These are among the brand’s most popular vehicles, so with more sold they’ll naturally get more complaints. But no other models even came close. Read on for the most problematic model years of each, and what the most common issues are with each year.
2008-2009 Toyota Camry
Toyota launched the Camry in 1980 and has sold 21 million cars bearing this nameplate. It’s not shocking that there are 3,576 driver complaints about serious Camry problems. But the vehicle’s powertrain and layout has changed dramatically over the decades. The most common complaints are for excessive oil consumption, the top three years are 2007 through 2009. This problem tends to show up around 100,000 miles and can cost $2,000 to fix. The most common solution was replacing a piston and the piston rings.
2007-2008 Toyota RAV4
The RAV4 is one of the mot popular crossovers around. Toyota introduced it in 1994 and in the past 30 years it has received 2,614 complaints. The most common problems are excessive oil consumption in the 2007 and 2008 RAV4s. The worse problem is a hesitation and lurches reported in the 2019 RAV4, so even though the 2002 RAV4 had the most complaints overall, the 2019 can be the most expensive to repair.
2002-2003 Toyota Corolla
The Toyota Corolla is the Camry’s compact little sibling and got its own fair share of complaints: 1,544 in total. Here are the most reported: The 2009 Toyota Corolla suffered a familiar problem at around 100,000 miles: excessive oil consumption. Even more owners reported the same problem on their 2002 Corolla. Another common issue to look out for is transmission failure, reported most often for the 2003 Corolla.
2010-2011 Toyota Prius
The Prius didn’t join the Toyota family until 2001. This compact lift-back has already racked up 1,516 complaints. The most common two problems were excessive oil consumption in the 2010 and 2011 model year. Some owners never figured out what the problem was, but a few replaced the entire engine. Another problem (reported by 25 drivers) is an easily cracked windshield on a 2016 Prius.
2005 & 2017 Toyota Tacoma
The Toyota Tacoma is the most popular midsize truck in North America, by a mile. Owners have reported 1,134 complaints in total. The most common problem is peeling paint. And if you want to fix it, you’re looking at spending $3k or more on a re-spray. That problem is more about age of the truck, and whether it’s stored outside, than mileage. It’s been reported most often on 2005 and 2017 models, so not a short-lived issue. The third-most-common reported issue is a 2017 Tacoma not shifting properly. Twenty-five owners reported this problem with their nearly-new trucks.
You can find out more about Toyota engines’ oil consumption issues in the video below:
