Owner-reported complaints naming the electrical system, filed with NHTSA
Data refreshed
Reports naming the electrical system — wiring, battery, charging, control modules, infotainment and electrical accessories. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2012 Toyota Tacoma submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 19 reports on file name it.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
Shown in the owner’s own words, exactly as filed
Odometer Fraud. The contact purchased a 2012 Toyota Tacoma. It was discovered that there was a mileage discrepancy. The vehicle was a private sale. At the time of purchase, the vehicle mileage was 51,350 and at the time of registration, it was discovered that the mileage was 212,400. The VIN was not available
HORN WILL NOT WORK WITH THE STEERING WHEEL CENTERED. IF YOU TURN THE STEERING WHEEL 90% TO THE LEFT OR RIGHT THE HORN HAS WORKED SOMETIMES. TOYOTA ISSUED A RECALL FOR THIS PROBLEM ON OTHER TACOMAS BUT NOT FOR THE 2012. THE TOYOTA DEALERSHIP IS SAYING THAT ITS MOST LIKELY THE CLOCK SPRING.
HORN WILL NOT WORK WITH THE STEERING WHEEL CENTERED. IF YOU TURN THE STEERING WHEEL TO THE LEFT OR RIGHT AND PUSHING THE HORN IT WILL WORK. TOYOTA ISSUED A RECALL FOR THIS PROBLEM ON 2005-2009 TACOMA BUT NOT FOR THE 2012. TOYOTA HAS KNOWN THAT THEY HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE CLOCK SPRING THAT THEY WON'T ADDRESS ON THE 2012'S.
SUN VISOR , SPRING INSIDE VISOR BREAKS. MAKING THE VISOR HANG DOWN. WIRE HARNESS FROM AC BLOWER MOTOR, SO SOMEWHERE IN THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT OVERHEATS AND MELTS WIRING SO THE AIR CONDITIONING STOPS WORKING.
TOYOTA HAS KNOW THAT THE CLOCK SPRING HAS BEEN FAILING FOR YEARS. THEY ISSUED A RECALL FOR MODEL YEARS 2005-2009. TRUCKS IN THE MODEL YEARS 2010-2012 ARE ALSO AFFECTED. PROBLEMS - LOSS OF HORN, LOSS OF AIRBAG. OPTIONAL IF EQUIPPED - LOSS OF CRUISE CONTROL AND/OR LOSS OF RADIO CONTROLS. THIS IS A MAJOR SAFETY HAZARD! LOSS OR HORN AND LOSS OF AIR BAGS ARE A VERY, VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION!!! THE CLOCK SPRING FAILS RANDOMLY SO YOU MIGHT NOT BE AWARE UNTIL IT IS TOO LATE!!!
DEFECTIVE CLOCK SPRING. OPEN CIRCUIT.
THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT AND THE TRAC OFF LIGHT CAME ON AS I WAS MERGING ONTO THE INTERSTATE. I IMMEDIATELY STOPPED THE VEHICLE, PULLED OVER, AND TOOK MY 2012 TOYOTA TACOMA WITH 78,000 MILES TO THE MECHANIC WHERE I LEFT IT OVERNIGHT FOR THEM TO LOOK AT IT IN THE MORNING. RUNNING A DIAGNOSTIC THEY FOUND CODE P2443 - SECONDARY AIR INJECTION SWITCHING VALVE STUCK. I ASKED IF THEY HAD DEALT WITH THIS BEFORE AND THEY SAID THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM FOR TOYOTA AND THEY HAVE DONE RECALLS ON BOTH THE TUNDRA AND SEQUOIA MODELS THAT HAVE HAD THESE ISSUES, BUT THE TACOMA HASN'T HAD A RECALL YET, EVEN THOUGH IT SEEMS TO BE JUST AS COMMON WITH THE SAME PARTS. THEY SAID THE COST OF PARTS AND LABOR WOULD BE AROUND $2,000. WHEN I ASKED THEM IF THE VEHICLE WAS SAFE TO DRIVE OFF THEIR LOT THEY SAID THESE CODES CAN CAUSE THE TACOMA TO GO INTO "LIMP MODE" WHERE YOU CAN LOOSE POWER, ACCELERATION, AND WON'T BE ABLE TO GO OVER 45MPH. I HATE TO THINK WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED IF I HAD KEPT MERGING ONTO THE INTERSTATE AND TRIED TO GET UP TO SPEED ONLY TO "LIMP" INTO TRAFFIC OR IF THIS HAD HAPPENED A MINUTE LATER ON THE INTERSTATE! EVERY THREAD I READ ONLINE FROM MULTIPLE SOURCES SHOW PEOPLE HAVING SIMILAR ISSUES FROM AS LOW AS 1,000 MILES ON THE TRUCK. THE ISSUES WITH THE SECONDARY AIR INJECTION PUMP AND SWITCHING VALVES SEEMS MOST COMMON BETWEEN 50,000-80,000 MILES, BUT EVENTUALLY DOES HAPPEN IN THE 2012-2015 TOCOMA MODELS.
HORN QUIT WORKING, ONLY WORKS WHEN THE WHEEL IS TURNED TO THE LEFT, FUSES ARE GOOD AND SO ARE THE RELAYS.
DRIVING AT HIGH WAY SPEED; THE ABS LIGHT, PARKING BRAKE LIGHT, TRACTION LIGHT, LOST POWER TO WINDOWS, A/C, RADIO, POWER STEERING, ENGINE WAS RUNNING ROUGH, THEN THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. COULD BE A SAFETY ISSUE OF CONTROL OF VEHICLE FOR DRIVERS NOT PAYING ATTENTION. TOYOTA DEALER SAID THE ROOT CAUSE WAS A BAD CELL IN BATTERY THAT CAUSED THE IGN#2 FUSE TO BE BLOWN. THESE BATTERIES HAVE KNOWN ISSUES TO BE BAD FROM THE FACTORY. REPORTED EARLIER ABOUT 30000 MILES THE FACTORY BATTERY WOULD NOT START VEHICLE AND DEALER SAID THEY REPLACED BECAUSE OF A BAD CELL. I OWN A 2008 TOYOTA TACOMA ALSO , SAME MODEL AND MAKE AS BEING REPORTED AND THAT BATTERY HAS BEEN REPLACED 2 TIMES FOR SAME REASON.
MY 2012 TACOMA HAS A SPIRAL WIRE ISSUE THAT DEALER REFUSES TO FIX EVEN THOUGH THIS PART IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE TAKATA RECALL IN PREVIOUS YEAR MODELS WONDERING WHY THE RECALL STOPPED AT 2011 AND DOES NOT COVER THE ISSUE WITH MY TRUCK. CURRENTLY ONLY AFFECTIN THE USE OF MY HORN BUT AS SEEN IN PREVIOUS RECALLS COULD AFFECT MORE LTHINGS LATER ON.
HORN STOPPED WORKING A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO. MY RESEARCH SHOWED IT WAS SAME PROBLEM WITH 2010 TACOMA'S,AND THEY WERE RECALLED! READ THERE WAS A RECALL TO REPLACE A DEFECTIVE SPIRAL CABLE IN STEERING WHEEL. CALLED TOYOTA WAS TOLD TO TAKE TO DEALER, BUT WOULD HAVE TO PAY,AND MAYBE BE REIMBURSED. DON'T HAVE THE MONEY BEEN UNEMPLOYED FOR 4 YEARS.
SECONDARY AIR INJECTION VALVE STUCK OPEN CAUSING LIMP MODE. HAPPENED NEAR VERY DANGEROUS INTERSECTION AND LOST ALL POWER IN TRUCK. AS OTHERS HAVE STATED, TRUCK ONLY HAS 50K MILES AND REQUIRED A $500+ REPAIR (PART ONLY) FOR A COMPONENT OF THE EMISSION SYSTEM WHICH IS ONLY USED ON STARTUP AND INCLUDES A WARRANTY OF ONLY 2 YEARS.
ENGINE/ALL POWER IS LOST WHEN ENGINE HAS REACHED A CERTAIN RPM. CODE READER STATES "CRANKSHAFT POSITION SENSOR "A" CIRCUIT MALFUNCTION".
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
WHEN I WAS LEAVING WORK THE OTHER NIGHT MY 2012 TACOMA WENT INTO LIMP MODE AND PRESENTED THE CEL AND TRAC OFF LIGHTS ON THE DASH. AFTER REVIEWING THE MANY BLOGS ON THE SUBJECT AND TAKING THE VEHICLE TO THE MECHANICS, I HAVE FOUND OUT THAT THE SECONDARY AIR VALVE IS LIKELY STUCK IN THE OPEN POSITION. THE MECHANIC HAS QUOTED ME A PRICE OF $1,142 ($780 FOR THE PART) TO REPLACE THE WHOLE SYSTEM (VALVE NOT SOLD SEPARATELY). I UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH TUNDRAS/SEQUOIAS AND 2012 TACOS. HOWEVER, ONLY THE TUNDRAS ARE UNDER ANY TYPE OF WARRANTY. I BOUGHT A TACOMA BECAUSE THE LAST TWO TOYOTA'S HAVE RUN 300K MILES + WITH REGULAR MAINTENANCE. THIS TYPE OF EXPENSIVE REPAIR DUE TO POOR ENGINEERING IS LUDICROUS AND SHOULD BE A WARRANTY ISSUE. I GUESS TOYOTA WANTS TO BE TERRIBLE LIKE EVERYONE ELSE. GREAT. *TR
THE SECONDARY AIR INJECTION SYSTEMS SEEMS TO FAIL QUITE FREQUENTLY ON THESE 2012 TACOMAS WITH LITTLE TO NO HELP FROM TOYOTA TO TAKE CARE OF THIS ISSUE AS A RECALL. THESE ARE KNOWN TO FAIL RIGHT AFTER YOUR OUT OF WARRANTY AND TO CHARGE IT'S LOYAL CUSTOMERS OVER $1000 FOR A PART THAT SHOULD NOT FAIL OR A PART THAT SHOULD BE COVERED IS ABSURD. I HAVE BEEN A LOYAL TOYOTA CUSTOMER MY WHOLE LIFE BUT THE ISSUES OF THE TACOMA ARE MAKING ME RETHINK MY DECISIONS AS AN AUTOMOTIVE CONSUMER
FUEL SYSTEM CAN BE HEARD HOURS AFTER THE TRUCK IS PARKED, FEW TIMES A WEEK AND SOMETIMES DAILY .AND RUNS 2 TO 15 MINUTES. CONTACTED DEALER AND SAYS IT NORMAL FOR FUEL EVAP TO DO A SYSTEM CHECK. ONGOING STARTED BEFORE 3000 MILES
DEALER HAS DETERMINED THAT RODENTS ARE THRU THE WIRING FOR THE KNOCK SENSOR. CEL & TRAC LIGHTS CAME ON. ENGINE WENT INTO LIMP MODE. HAS BEEN AT THE DEALER NOW FOR ONE WEEK. PROBABLY BE ANOTHER WEEK BEFORE I GET IT BACK.
DRIVING MY TOYOTA TACOMA, I WAS APPROACHING A STEEP DECLINE. I TAPPED ON THE BRAKES AND CONTINUED DRIVING AT APPROXIMATELY 27 MPH WHEN I DOWN SHIFTED TO ACCOMMODATE FOR THE SNOWY ROAD. AS I WAS DOWN SHIFTING THE TRUCK LOST CONTROL AND SLID SIDEWAYS CAUSING THE FRONT PASSENGER SIDE TO HIT A SNOW BANK. ONCE THE TRUCK STRUCK THE SNOW BANK IT FLIPPED OVER ON ITS DRIVER SIDE. THE SIDE AIR BAGS ON BOTH SIDES CAME OUT BUT DID NOT INFLATE. THE DRIVER SIDE BAGS WERE TORN. I FOUND EVIDENCE OF THIS WITH SHREDDED PIECES OF THE AIR BAG FOUND IN THE VEHICLE. ADDITIONALLY THE DRIVER SIDE FRONT AIR BAGS NEVER DEPLOYED..UPDATED 03-02/15 *BF.....UPDATED 03-11-15 *BF UPDATED 9/22/2017*CN
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own
Data on this page last refreshed .