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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

Electrical System complaints

26 reports
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250,000 miles · May 7, 2025
Electrical System

Odometer Fraud. The contact purchased a 2016 Toyota Tundra. The contact stated while going through prior service paperwork found in the vehicle, he discovered that there was a mileage discrepancy. The vehicle was a private sale. The contact also stated that the vehicle was once sold at a private auction. At the time of purchase,…

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Odometer Fraud. The contact purchased a 2016 Toyota Tundra. The contact stated while going through prior service paperwork found in the vehicle, he discovered that there was a mileage discrepancy. The vehicle was a private sale. The contact also stated that the vehicle was once sold at a private auction. At the time of purchase, the vehicle mileage was 158,000; however, upon discovery of the service paperwork, the contact discovered that the vehicle mileage was once 250,000.

NHTSA ODI #11659434

Mileage unknown · Jun 5, 2024
Electrical SystemService BrakesSteering

1)Over 60 MPH with new tires the vehicle pulses & shakes on front end, checked alignment everything OK per Mechanic. Just started to occur 2)Bluetooth when on iPhone will at any time cut out guaranteed to occur when using at any time been occurring for 2 + years. 3)Trailer brake warning light (Idiot light) comes on dashboard doe…

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1)Over 60 MPH with new tires the vehicle pulses & shakes on front end, checked alignment everything OK per Mechanic. Just started to occur 2)Bluetooth when on iPhone will at any time cut out guaranteed to occur when using at any time been occurring for 2 + years. 3)Trailer brake warning light (Idiot light) comes on dashboard does not recommend trailering due to electrical issue. occurring for 2+ years Bought vehicle used in 2017 with 13k on Truck now 2024 has 91K on truck love the truck but zero recalls for any of the above?

NHTSA ODI #11592560

Mileage unknown · Sep 6, 2023
Electrical System

Seat heater stopped working. Turns out there is a burnt connector leading to part number 87501-0C020, which appears to be a seat heater amp. One pin of the connector is completely melted. I've purchased this truck brand new from Toyota. Nobody has ever touched this part. Scared that it could have caught fire.

NHTSA ODI #11543017

Mileage unknown · Mar 1, 2021
Electrical System

THE FRONT DRIVER AND FRONT PASSENGER DOOR LOCK INTERMITTENTLY DO NOT WORK. THERE ARE NO SPECIFIC PARTS OF THE DAY, TIME, WEATHER CONDITIONS. IT WILL WORK FINE AND THEN EITHER ONE FAILS OR THE OTHER, OR BOTH. THEN ITS STARTS TO WORK AGAIN WITHOUT ANY ISSUES. THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR AT LEAST 12-18 MONTHS.

NHTSA ODI #11398419

100,000 miles · Dec 7, 2020
Electrical SystemExterior Lighting

MY HEADLIGHTS SHUT OFF WHEN USING MY TURN SIGNAL

NHTSA ODI #11378388

60,000 miles · Nov 28, 2020
Electrical SystemExterior Lighting

MY 2016 TOYOTA TUNDRA 1794 CREWMAX, DURING WINTER MONTHS IN MIDWEST - THE HEADLIGHTS AND AND INTERNAL INSTRUMENTATION WILL TURN OFF WHEN TURNING LEFT OR RIGHT WITH TURN SIGNAL ENGAGED. THE AUTOMATIC LIGHTS ARE ENGAGED ON COLUMN STALK AND THE ISSUE OCCURS AT NIGHT. THE VEHICLE IS IN MOTION

NHTSA ODI #11376803

24,000 miles · Apr 24, 2020
Electrical SystemExterior Lighting

HEADLIGHTS TURN OFF INTERMITTENTLY WHEN THE LEFT TURN SIGNAL IS USED AND THE HEADLIGHTS SWITCH IS IN AUTO MORE. DEALERSHIP CAN'T/WON'T REPLICATE THE ISSUE SO THEY WILL NOT TROUBLESHOOT FURTHER. THIS IS A PROBLEM THAT A LOT OF PLATINUM AND 1794 EDITION TOYOTA TUNDRAS ARE HAVING AND IT IS BEING IGNORED BY TOYOTA; HTTPS://WWW.TU…

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HEADLIGHTS TURN OFF INTERMITTENTLY WHEN THE LEFT TURN SIGNAL IS USED AND THE HEADLIGHTS SWITCH IS IN AUTO MORE. DEALERSHIP CAN'T/WON'T REPLICATE THE ISSUE SO THEY WILL NOT TROUBLESHOOT FURTHER. THIS IS A PROBLEM THAT A LOT OF PLATINUM AND 1794 EDITION TOYOTA TUNDRAS ARE HAVING AND IT IS BEING IGNORED BY TOYOTA; HTTPS://WWW.TUNDRAS.COM/THREADS/AUTO-HEADLIGHTS-SHUT-OFF-WITH-TURN-SIGNAL.22968/ HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=2TZRPLQ9WP4 I'VE HAD IT INTO THE DEALERSHIP TO CHECK AND THEY SAY THERE IS NOTHING THEY CAN DO. PICKUP ONLY HAS ABOUT 26K MILES ON IT. FIRST TIME IT HAPPENED WAS ON A FREEWAY CLOVERLEAF IN THE RAIN AND LUCKILY THERE WERE STREET LIGHTS BECAUSE I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF A MERGE. OTHER TIMES IT HAS BEEN SIGNALING TO TURN LEFT AND ENTERING THE CENTER TURN LANE ON MULTI-LANE ROADS. ALWAYS HAPPENS WHILE IT IS DARK OUTSIDE BECAUSE THAT'S WHEN THE HEADLIGHTS ARE IN AUTO WHICH MAKES IT MORE DANGEROUS.

NHTSA ODI #11322175

68,000 miles · Mar 5, 2020
Electrical SystemUnknown Or Other

THE POWER LOCKS FOR THE FRONT DRIVER SIDE AND PASSENGER SIDE FAIL TO WORK AS EXPECTED. IT IS NOT CONSISTENT. WHEN DRIVING, IT IS SUPPOSED TO LOCK AUTOMATICALLY FOR SAFETY BUT DOES NOT ALWAYS LOCK (OR UNLOCK WITH THE KEY FOB WHEN NEEDING TO GET INTO THE VEHICLE. PROBLEM OCCURS WHEN VEHICLE IS STATIONARY OR MOVING.

NHTSA ODI #11316264

500 miles · Jan 8, 2020
Electrical System

ON MY 2016 TOYOTA TUNDRA PLATINUM EDITION, AT NIGHT WITH HEADLIGHTS IN "AUTO" POSITION, WHEN I USE TURN SIGNAL, THE HEADLIGHTS, TAILLIGHTS AND DASH LIGHTS ALL OCCASIONALLY TURN OFF. ONCE TURN SIGNAL SHUTS OFF, LIGHTS COME BACK ON . IT TYPICALLY HAPPENS AT NIGHT WHEN IT'S COLD OUT. THEM IS INTERMITTENT, THIS IS SO SCARY! I WAS GO…

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ON MY 2016 TOYOTA TUNDRA PLATINUM EDITION, AT NIGHT WITH HEADLIGHTS IN "AUTO" POSITION, WHEN I USE TURN SIGNAL, THE HEADLIGHTS, TAILLIGHTS AND DASH LIGHTS ALL OCCASIONALLY TURN OFF. ONCE TURN SIGNAL SHUTS OFF, LIGHTS COME BACK ON . IT TYPICALLY HAPPENS AT NIGHT WHEN IT'S COLD OUT. THEM IS INTERMITTENT, THIS IS SO SCARY! I WAS GOING DOWN THE FREEWAY AT 80 MPH AT NIGHT AND MY TRUCK (FULL OF MY FAMILY) JUST DISAPPEARED WHEN I CHANGED LANES. I HAVE TAKEN MY TRUCK IN 3 TIMES NOW AND TOYOTA CAN'T REPLICATE SO THEY SAYS THEY CAN'T FIX IT. PLEASE HELP! BEFORE SOMEONE GETS HURT.

NHTSA ODI #11297888

70,000 miles · Dec 22, 2019
Electrical SystemExterior Lighting

ON MY 2016 TOYOTA TUNDRA 1794 EDITION, WITH HEADLIGHTS IN "AUTO" POSITION, WHEN I USE TURN SIGNAL, THE HEADLIGHTS, TAILLIGHTS AND DASH LIGHTS ALL OCCASIONALLY TURN OFF. ONCE TURN SIGNAL SHUTS OFF, LIGHTS COME BACK ON . IT TYPICALLY HAPPENS AT NIGHT WHEN IT'S COLD OUT. IT HAS NOW HAPPENED PROBABLY HALF A DOZEN TIMES IN THE LAST…

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ON MY 2016 TOYOTA TUNDRA 1794 EDITION, WITH HEADLIGHTS IN "AUTO" POSITION, WHEN I USE TURN SIGNAL, THE HEADLIGHTS, TAILLIGHTS AND DASH LIGHTS ALL OCCASIONALLY TURN OFF. ONCE TURN SIGNAL SHUTS OFF, LIGHTS COME BACK ON . IT TYPICALLY HAPPENS AT NIGHT WHEN IT'S COLD OUT. IT HAS NOW HAPPENED PROBABLY HALF A DOZEN TIMES IN THE LAST SIX MONTHS. WHILE PROBLEM IS INTERMITTENT, IT'S VERY SCARY, AS I'M DRIVING BLIND ON A RURAL ROAD UNTIL THE LIGHT COME BACK ON. ON THE TUNDRAS.COM OWNERS WEBSITE, THIS APPEARS TO BE A COMMON ISSUE. HELP! BEFORE SOMEONE GETS HURT.

NHTSA ODI #11290778

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.