10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
6 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
2 / 0
Average Mileage:
72,081 miles

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« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #19

May 142011

Tacoma

  • 50,000 miles
The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Tacoma. The contact stated that the air bag warning light remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who was unable to diagnose the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified and offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 50,000. The VIN was unavailable.

- Hanna Croix, NY, USA

problem #18

Oct 112011

Tacoma

  • 60,000 miles
SRS lite came on and never has gone out, for the driverside air bag. After investagating this problem, it seems that hundreds of these Toyota have the same problem. At the dearship, diagnosis, is about $115 to pull the code, and then run up to about $500 for repairs. The spiral cable in the steering colomne has a short life. 35K mile on some and up in miles after that for others. SRS systems such as this I understand is lifetime warrenty. That may be cut short if the air bag does not inflate if needed. Toyota should be responable, and fix this problem, as the cost of repair is out of reach for many people. Using inferior wires, that is not the consumers fault. I bought this Toyota new, thinking that Toyota will last a long time, it has been serviced at the dealership regular, and on time. Please help in this matter, as it affects many owners and life. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

- Yuba City, CA, USA

problem #17

Jan 062012

Tacoma 6-cyl

  • 93,000 miles
Air bags light came on for no reason.

- Miramar, FL, USA

problem #16

Dec 282011

Tacoma 6-cyl

  • Manual transmission
  • 50,000 miles
2005 Toyota Tacoma SR5 dbl cab, 6 cyl, 4.0 eng. 50K miles, 4 wheel drive, manual transmission: Driver side airbag light turned on and stays on. I have searched the internet for info. On it and have found a lot of people have been having this problem. Going by the info. Found on line, from google to newsgroups it seems that the spiral cable in the steering column is failing at a alarming rate. The Toyota dealers are just charging for diagnostics and not admitting a product defect. I am taking mine to the dealer and is $117 just to diagnose it.. and I know this takes them 10 min or less to hook it up to the computer and get the error codes printed. This dealers are charging $90 to $120 just for the diagnostic.. and it seems the repairs can go from $300 up to $800. SRS (air bag) issues should be covered for the life of a vehicle or SRS (air bags) should be optional! if it is a required part like a seat belt Toyota should cover the part free. Please take time to review my compliant and those of others.

- Port Jervis, NY, USA

problem #15

Oct 052011

Tacoma 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 95,261 miles
The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Tacoma. The contact stated that the air bag warning light was illuminated. The dealer advised the contact that the spiral cable needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure however, did not offer any assistance. No repairs were performed. The current and failure mileages were 95,261. Updated 10/27/11

- El Paso, TX, USA

problem #14

Jul 282011

Tacoma 4WD 6-cyl

  • 114,000 miles
My airbag light came on when driving one day. As I did research, it seems that the spiral cable in the steering wheel in the newer Tacoma are faulty. There are entirely too many of these things going bad. A simple search on google for Tacoma spiral cable brings up scores of people with these things going bad, some at 30-40 thousand miles! it is rediculous that Toyota has had this ongoing problem and done nothing! after all the crap about unintended acceleration and floormats I would expect them to address this issue, but apparently safety systems are't that important to them. Not only do they have chronic failures, but the dealerships are more than happy to charge $100 to diagnose the problem, even though almost every case is the spiral cable. The total bill comes to anywhere from 4-500 dollars depending on the dealership, for a repair that shouldn't happen in the first place. Normal wear and tear is one thing, but since when is there normal wear and tear on air bags?

- Willow Street, PA, USA

problem #13

Aug 012011

Tacoma 4-cyl

  • 92,277 miles
My air bag light went on for no reason - no service or impact to trigger the sensor. I paid a Toyota dealer $112 for a diagnostic check and they found codes B1660 & B1801, requiring me to replace the spiral cable. The cost was about $570 before tax. I did not have the money to do the repair, so the air bag light is still on. The Toyota representative told me that the air bag would not function in a crash if this was not repaired. This is a defective part and should be replaced by Toyota whether I am under warranty or not because it is a safety feature of the vehicle, and other mechanics will not work on air bags.

- Newport Beach, CA, USA

problem #12

Mar 302011

Tacoma

  • 100,000 miles
The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Tacoma. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle the air bag light illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the contact was informed that the squib cable needed to be replaced. The vehicle was in the process of being repaired. The failure mileage was 100,000 and the current mileage was 110,000.

- La Jolla, CA, USA

problem #11

Apr 262011

Tacoma 4WD 6-cyl

  • 83,000 miles
At 83,000 miles my air bag light came on and I was quite concerned. While looking in the owners manual all I found was "if light is continually illuminated bring to the dealer immediately?. so I took my 2005 Toyota Tacoma into the dealership and they charged me $60 to diagnose the code. Once diagnosed, I was informed that the spiral cable needs to be replaced at an estimate to replace the part at $420. I asked the sales person in the service department how did it break. To my surprise she said ? I don?T know but it seams like almost every 2005 and 2006 Tacoma that reaches 75,000 miles has this problem". at this point I can not afford the cable as I had to replace the water pump at the cost of $600. So this means that I get to sacrifice my safety until I can save up the money. This comes from a 30 year old who at 15 years of age almost lost his brother due to a broken back and a torn aorta in a car accident. Nissan did a recall on the lap belt he was wearing 3 days after the accident. He was in the hospital for 6 months and survived from a 2% chance of living. Please help!!!!

- Woodstock, GA, USA

problem #10

Oct 012010

Tacoma 4WD 6-cyl

  • 127,000 miles
SRS light is on at all times when vehicle is on. There was no cause, it simply came on. It does not seem to effect the vehicle, however, I am greatly concerned that my vehicles safety features are faulty and may not protect me in the event of a vehicle accident. I have done nothing to correct the issue other than research online and communicate with other owners of the same vehicle. There are many other instances of this problem and I feel there needs to be a safety recall by Toyota.

- Prunedale, CA, USA

problem #9

Jun 032008

Tacoma

  • 34,699 miles
The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Tacoma. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked and when it was turned on the air bag light illuminated. The dealer was informed about the failure and it was repaired under warranty. The contact stated that when the air bag light illuminated a second time; the dealer stated that the cable sub assembly needed to be replaced again. The vehicle was repaired. The failure mileage was 34699. The current mileage was 65910.

- El Paso , TX, USA

problem #8

Aug 202010

Tacoma

  • 32,800 miles
The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Tacoma. While driving approximately 40 mph the air bags involuntarily deployed, knocking the driver unconscious and resulting in a single car crash. A police was taken. The driver was reported injured; however, when the ambulance arrive he was not transported to the hospital. The vehicle was destroyed and towed to an impound lot. The vehicle was not examined to determine the cause of failure and it was not repaired. The failure and current mileages were 32,800.

- Eureka Springs, AR, USA

problem #7

Jul 012010

Tacoma

  • 114,690 miles
2nd time a gas pedal stuck on my 2005 Toyota Tacoma truck leading to a 2nd collision with property damage to my truck & the car in front of me. Coming up to a red light with plenty of room to stop on a flat rd. There where skid marks from my truck and I had both feet on the brake and the engine increased inspeed. The dealer still does not have the parts to repair this problem even after my first accident in June of last year and again in July of this year. Toyota said they would turn it over to there legal dept. And the truck was to be inspected by a engineering firm from the West. The inspection firm was in a hurry to inspect the truck and called in July now they won't return my calls. This firm was hired by Toyota. Also during the repair it was found that the air bag had shorted out and did not deploy. If you have one of Toyota's trucks on the recall list be very careful and don't expect any help from the dealer or Toyota fixing the problem. As I said it is the 2nd time for both items to fail.

- Marco Island, FL, USA

problem #6

Jun 072010

Tacoma

  • 89 miles
2005 Toyota Tacoma lunges or surges while holding the brake at light. If I don't hold the brake firm it could rear end vehicle in front of me. Dealer says its normal. And charged me to inspect. Airbag light came on dealer told me it was a part in the airbag and wanted $612 to replace stating that it may go off while driving.causing a crash.shouldn't a part this critical be covered for life of truck?

- Gary, IN, USA

problem #5

Feb 222010

Tacoma

  • 73,105 miles
On February 22 at approximately 5:30 a.M. pst, I noticed my airbag light come on and stay on. I called the dealer in santee ca., and asked what this was being the manual in my truck said to "contact dealer immediately". I was informed that it meant that the airbags would not deploy if I was to be in a wreck. I brought the truck in on the 23rdbefore work about 5:15 a.M. pst. Later about 8:00 a.M., I got a call saying the wire harness had a short and needed to be replaced before I can get it back due to it being a safety issue. When I went to pick it up with my spouse, we were told this was by no fault by us, but they have changed hundreds due to a short in the harness itself which is located on the steering column. The part was replaced by said dealer, but the old part was not available to me.

- El Cajon, CA, USA

problem #4

Jan 032009

Tacoma

  • 86,000 miles
My 05 Tacoma, dash light went on. I took it to the dealer and they "oh yea, that's been a big problem with those models". turned out it was the air bag warning light, after 85,000 it came on. It cost me $800 dollars to fix, they said it was a 5 hour job, but it only took 2 hours but charged me the $800 anyway.the part is called the spiral cable, and it attaches to the air bag, they said they had to pull my whole dash apart to fix. I later asked them "if this is a common problem, then why hasn't it been recalled"? service said, must not been that important ! I have logged many complaints about this, but never heard a word back from anyone. If I chose to not have it fixed, what would of happened if I had been in a head on crash with no airbags to deploy, that's why I purchased the Tacoma, for it's apparent safety.

- Victorville, CA, USA

problem #3

Aug 152009

Tacoma

  • 95,000 miles
I had an accident last August while driving my Toyota Tacoma prerunner. I was slowing down in a turn lane and I could not get the truck to stop which made me continue into oncoming traffic. The damage to my truck was over $8,000. And I do not know the dollar amount cased to the other car but it sustained major to the front of that car. The other car hit me on the driver side near the front wheel and back wheel areas. I did not receive a ticket but I was noted as the cause of the accident. I also ended up in the emergency room. No air bags went off I guess because it did not hit me in the front. I am not sure of the exact day of the accident so I put the 15th of the month. I can get the exact from my insurance company when needed.

- Marco Island, FL, USA

problem #2

Sep 292007

Tacoma

  • 67,800 miles
The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Tacoma. While driving approximately 35 mph on normal road conditions, the air bag warning indicator illuminated on the instrument panel. The indicator remained lit until the engine was turned off. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer and they stated that the failure was related to a shortage in the spiral cable for the air bag system. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact was concerned of the safety risk involved. The failure mileage was 67,800 and current mileage was 68,500.

- Chesapeake, VA, USA

problem #1

Oct 312007

Tacoma 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 70,600 miles
The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Tacoma. While driving 25 mph, the air bag indicator light illuminated and remained lit. The contact referenced NHTSA campaign id number 06V096000 (air bags). The vehicle was taken to the dealer and they stated that the air bag switch needed to be replaced. The dealer also stated that the air bag could deploy at anytime if a crash occurred or for no reason at all. There was also the possibility that the air bags would not deploy at all. The vehicle had not been repaired. The current mileage was 71,000 and failure mileage was 70,600. Updated 3/25/08

- Westborough, MA, USA