2016 TOYOTA TUNDRA. CONSUMER STATES THAT AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY AND SEAT BELTS DID NOT LOCK DURING COLLISION. *LD *JS
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.
About this comparison →How this year compares
Owner complaints by model year
Compare all Tundra years →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.
What owners actually said
119 reportsON 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.
IF THE HEADLIGHTS ARE SET TO AUTO AND I SIGNAL A LEFT TURN AND TURN TO THE LEFT, THE HEADLIGHTS SHUT OFF AND THE INTERIOR LIGHTS SWITCH TO "DAY MODE". THE ISSUE SEEMS INTERMITTENT. IT SEEMS TO OCCUR IN COOLER TEMPS (<50F).
WHEN ENGAGING TURN SIGNAL, ALL LIGHTS EXTINGUISH MOMENATARILY. THIS IS AN INTERMITTEN AND HAPPENS AT RANDOM, BUT NOT CONSTANT. THE FIRST TIME I NOTICED WAS EARLY MORNING BEFORE SUN RISE I WAS IN A TURNING LANE AT A RED LIGHT STOPPED, ENGAGED LEFT TURN SIGNAL AND ALL LIGHTS WENT DARK. THE NEXT TIME I WAS ATTEMPTING TO MERGE AND E…
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WHEN ENGAGING TURN SIGNAL, ALL LIGHTS EXTINGUISH MOMENATARILY. THIS IS AN INTERMITTEN AND HAPPENS AT RANDOM, BUT NOT CONSTANT. THE FIRST TIME I NOTICED WAS EARLY MORNING BEFORE SUN RISE I WAS IN A TURNING LANE AT A RED LIGHT STOPPED, ENGAGED LEFT TURN SIGNAL AND ALL LIGHTS WENT DARK. THE NEXT TIME I WAS ATTEMPTING TO MERGE AND ENGAGED TURN SIGNAL IN TRAFFIC ALL LIGHTS WENT DARK. I SEARCHED THE INTERNET FORUMS TO FIND THIS IS A COMMON OCCURENCE WITH TUNDRA PLATINUM AND 1794 MODELS. MY VEHICLE HAS NO MODIFICATIONS AND ALL LIGHTING IS FACTORY INSTALLED.
ALL LIGHTS (HEADLAMPS AND TAIL LAMPS AND INSTRUMENT PANEL) TURN OFF WHEN USING TURN SIGNAL. THIS TYPICALLY HAPPENS WHEN CHANGING LANES AT HIGHWAY SPEED. I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE EXPERIENCING THIS PROBLEM. SEEMS TO OCCUR IN 2015-2017 TOYOTA TUNDRAS (1794 & PLATINUM EDITIONS). SEE THREAD. HTTPS://WWW.TUNDRAS.COM/THREADS/AUTO-HEADLI…
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ALL LIGHTS (HEADLAMPS AND TAIL LAMPS AND INSTRUMENT PANEL) TURN OFF WHEN USING TURN SIGNAL. THIS TYPICALLY HAPPENS WHEN CHANGING LANES AT HIGHWAY SPEED. I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE EXPERIENCING THIS PROBLEM. SEEMS TO OCCUR IN 2015-2017 TOYOTA TUNDRAS (1794 & PLATINUM EDITIONS). SEE THREAD. HTTPS://WWW.TUNDRAS.COM/THREADS/AUTO-HEADLIGHTS-SHUT-OFF-WITH-TURN-SIGNAL.22968/PAGE-3
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 TOYOTA TUNDRA. WHILE THE CONTACT WAS SERVICING THE VEHICLE, THE BUMPER DETACHED WHEN A FRIEND STEPPED ON THE BUMPER. PRIOR TO THE FAILURE, THE CONTACT RECEIVED A RECALL NOTICE FOR NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 17V051000 (STRUCTURE). THE CONTACT DROVE TO AUTONATION TOYOTA SOUTH AUSTIN (4800 S IH 35 FRONTAGE R…
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TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 TOYOTA TUNDRA. WHILE THE CONTACT WAS SERVICING THE VEHICLE, THE BUMPER DETACHED WHEN A FRIEND STEPPED ON THE BUMPER. PRIOR TO THE FAILURE, THE CONTACT RECEIVED A RECALL NOTICE FOR NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 17V051000 (STRUCTURE). THE CONTACT DROVE TO AUTONATION TOYOTA SOUTH AUSTIN (4800 S IH 35 FRONTAGE RD, AUSTIN, TX 78745, 512 518-6900) AND WAS INFORMED THAT SINCE THE VEHICLE WAS PREVIOUSLY INVOLVED IN A CRASH, THEY WOULD NOT REPLACE THE BUMPER. THE MANUFACTURER WAS CONTACTED AND SIDED WITH THE DEALER; HOWEVER, THEY FELT THE RECALL SHOULD STILL BE REMEDIED. THE MANUFACTURER REFERRED THE CONTACT TO SAN MARCOS TOYOTA (5101 I-35, SAN MARCOS, TX 78666, 512-392-1999) WHERE THEY POINTED OUT DAMAGE TO THE SIDE AND REAR OF THE VEHICLE AND ALSO REFUSED TO SERVICE THE RECALL. THE CONTACT CALLED THE MANUFACTURER BACK AND FILED A COMPLAINT REGARDING THE REFUSAL OF SERVICE. THE CONTACT DROVE TO UNIVERSAL TOYOTA (12102 I-35, SAN ANTONIO, TX 78233, 726-444-6959) WHERE THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 76,000. THE VIN WAS UNKNOWN.
REAR WHEEL OR AXLE BEARINGS MAKE A NOTICEABLE LOUD HUMMING SOUND WHEN DRIVING AT ROAD SPEED LIMIT, ESPECIALLY WHEN MOVING SLIGHTLY LEFT INTO A CURVE OR RIGHT INTO A CURVE.
INTEGRATED TRAILER BRAKE CONTROLLER INTERMITENT FAILURE. TRAILER BRAKES WORK FOR A FEW BRAKING CYCLES THEN FAIL COMPLETELY WITH AN ERROR MESSAGE ON THE TRUCK OF "TRAILER WIRING TYPE, OR CONNECTION FAULT". TURNING THE VEHICLE OFF AND ON RESETS THE CONTROLLER AND "FIXES" THE PROBLEM UNTIL ANOTHER FEW BRAKING CYCLES, THEN REPEATS.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 TOYOTA TUNDRA. UPON INSPECTING THE VEHICLE, THE CONTACT NOTICED RUST ON THE FRAME OF THE REAR SEAT. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO HERTRICH TOYOTA OF MILFORD (1367 BAY RD, MILFORD, DE 19963, (877) 458-0609) WHERE THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE WAS DUE TO MOISTURE ENTERING THE VEHICLE…
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TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 TOYOTA TUNDRA. UPON INSPECTING THE VEHICLE, THE CONTACT NOTICED RUST ON THE FRAME OF THE REAR SEAT. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO HERTRICH TOYOTA OF MILFORD (1367 BAY RD, MILFORD, DE 19963, (877) 458-0609) WHERE THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE WAS DUE TO MOISTURE ENTERING THE VEHICLE. THE CONTACT CLEANED THE RUST, BUT THE FAILURE RECURRED WITH EVEN MORE RUST. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 31,000.
AT ONLY 77,000 MILES THE AXLE BEARINGS HAVE FAILED. THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE SINCE SEALED BEARINGS ARE SUPPOSED TO LAST THE LIFETIME OF THE VEHICLE. THE TOYOTA DEALERSHIP PARTS MANAGER SAYS THESE BEARINGS FAIL FREQUENTLY ON THE TUNDRAS.
Official recalls
521V920000 · 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
1EA19001 · 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.
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