← New search

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 →

When problems were reported

Mileage at the reported incident

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

Exterior Lighting complaints

17 reports
Clear category filter
15,000 miles · May 10, 2020
Exterior Lighting

3RD BRAKE LIGHT SEAL DEFECTIVE. RAIN WATER ENTERS BACK OF CABIN AND STAINS INTERIOR ROOF FROM DEFECTIVE SEAL AROUND 3RD BRAKE LIGHT. *TR

NHTSA ODI #11324011

65,469 miles · Dec 27, 2019
Exterior Lighting

THIRD LIGHT LEAKS WATER DAMAGED WIRING/ DAMAGED CARPET / MILDEW PROBLEM

NHTSA ODI #11291554

35,000 miles · Aug 20, 2019
Exterior Lighting

POOR INTERIOR LIGHTING. BACK UP CAMERA DOES NOT DIM AT NIGHT MEANING IT BLINDS THE OPERATOR WHEN BACKING AT NIGHT. DASHBOARD LED DISPLAY IS SO POORLY DESIGNED THAT, UNDER MOST DAYTIME LIGHTING CONDITIONS, OPERATOR CANNOT READ THE ODOMETER OR DETERMINE WHAT GEAR VEHICLE IS IN. THIS IS DANGEROUS WHEN VEHICLE IS USED IN THE MANUA…

Read full complaint

POOR INTERIOR LIGHTING. BACK UP CAMERA DOES NOT DIM AT NIGHT MEANING IT BLINDS THE OPERATOR WHEN BACKING AT NIGHT. DASHBOARD LED DISPLAY IS SO POORLY DESIGNED THAT, UNDER MOST DAYTIME LIGHTING CONDITIONS, OPERATOR CANNOT READ THE ODOMETER OR DETERMINE WHAT GEAR VEHICLE IS IN. THIS IS DANGEROUS WHEN VEHICLE IS USED IN THE MANUAL SHIFT MODE AS THERE IS NO OTHER WAY TO KNOW IF YOU'RE SHIFTING FROM 2D TO 3D OR 3D TO 4TH. IT ALSO MAKES IT VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO DETERMINE MILES TO NEXT INTERSTATE EXIT WHEN YOU CANNOT SEE YOUR ODOMETER. TRYING TO STARE AT THE DISPLAY TAKES EYES OFF THE ROAD FOR FAR TOO LONG. DASHBOARD LIGHTING IS SO POOR THAT OPERATOR CANNOT READ SPEEDOMETER UNDER MANY DAYTIME LIGHTING CONDITIONS, ESPECIALLY WEARING SUNGLASSES.

NHTSA ODI #11245173

63,000 miles · Jun 14, 2019
Exterior Lighting

BACK SEATS AND FLOOR WERE FOUND TO BE WET. DIDN'T KNOW WHY UNTIL WE WERE DRIVING IN A RAINSTORM AND WATER CAME IN BACK WINDOW AROUND 3RD BREAK LIGHT. TOOK TO LOCAL TOYOTA DEALERSHIP TO GET FIXED.

NHTSA ODI #11220130

60,000 miles · Oct 29, 2018
Exterior Lighting

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 TOYOTA TACOMA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE BACK SEAT OF THE VEHICLE WOULD BE WET EVERY TIME IT RAINS WITHOUT ANY WARNING LIGHTS ILLUMINATED. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE LEAK WAS SEEN COMING FROM THE THIRD BRAKE LIGHT. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHERE IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE TH…

Read full complaint

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 TOYOTA TACOMA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE BACK SEAT OF THE VEHICLE WOULD BE WET EVERY TIME IT RAINS WITHOUT ANY WARNING LIGHTS ILLUMINATED. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE LEAK WAS SEEN COMING FROM THE THIRD BRAKE LIGHT. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHERE IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE THIRD BRAKE LIGHT HAD TO BE REPAIRED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE DEALER PETERSON TOYOTA (4381 FAYETTEVILLE RD, LUMBERTON, NC 28358, (910)-375-4996) WAS CONTACTED AND A DIAGNOSED TESTING APPOINTMENT WAS SCHEDULED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE AND INFORMED THE CONTACT THAT IF THERE WAS WORK DONE TO THE VEHICLE BY AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC, THAT THEY WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO ASSIST WITH ANY REPAIRS. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 60,000.

NHTSA ODI #11143654

41,000 miles · Aug 14, 2018
Exterior LightingSeats

3RD BRAKE LIGHT OVER TORQUED AT FACTORY RESULTING IN DEFECTIVE SEAL AND EVENTUALLY CRACKED LIGHT FIXTURE. THIS RESULTS NOT ONLY IN ELECTRICAL ISSUE BUT SERIOUS LEAKING INTO CABIN - AFFECTING REAR SEAT, ROOF, AND FLOORING. LEAK NOTICED AFTER RAIN STORMS AND NOTICING WET FLOOR/SEATS AND DAMP FLOORS. THERE ARE NUMEROUS REPORTS OF T…

Read full complaint

3RD BRAKE LIGHT OVER TORQUED AT FACTORY RESULTING IN DEFECTIVE SEAL AND EVENTUALLY CRACKED LIGHT FIXTURE. THIS RESULTS NOT ONLY IN ELECTRICAL ISSUE BUT SERIOUS LEAKING INTO CABIN - AFFECTING REAR SEAT, ROOF, AND FLOORING. LEAK NOTICED AFTER RAIN STORMS AND NOTICING WET FLOOR/SEATS AND DAMP FLOORS. THERE ARE NUMEROUS REPORTS OF THIS ISSUE AFFECTING 3RD GENERATION TACOMAS ON TOYOTA FORUMS SUCH AS TACOMAWORLD.COM.

NHTSA ODI #11119971

Mileage unknown · Apr 10, 2017
Exterior Lighting

2016 TOYOTA TACOMA. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARDS TO HEADLIGHTS FAILURE TO PROVIDE ADEQUATE NIGHT LIGHTING. *SMD THE CONSUMER STATED THE LIGHTING WAS ESPECIALLY POOR DURING RAIN OR SNOW. THE DEALER STATED THE VEHICLE WAS OPERATING AS DESIGNED. THE CONSUMER FEELS THE STANDARDS FOR THE HEADLIGHTS SHOULD BE REVIEWED. *JS

NHTSA ODI #10969155

Official recalls

4

17V425000 · 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

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.