2011 Toyota Tacoma: Solid

1. Air bags7% · 4 complaints
2. Speed control13% · 7 complaints · median 22,000 miles
3. Engine7% · 4 complaints
4. Electrical13% · 7 complaints · median 40,000 miles
5. Suspension22% · 12 complaints
6. Brakes13% · 7 complaints · median 19,000 miles
7. Lights15% · 8 complaints · median 42,000 miles
8. Body and structure7% · 4 complaints
9. Powertrain7% · 4 complaints
10. Seats and belts2% · 1 complaints

Bars rank problem areas by complaints weighted for severity (crashes, fires, injuries and deaths count more). A complaint can name more than one area. Mileage is reported on about half of complaints.

Summaries are written with AI from the owner complaints shown on NHTSA's site and checked against them; quotes are word for word.

• NHTSA 17V425000July 20173,547 vehicles

  Equipment · 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.

  Risk: If the hood scoop detaches, it may become a road hazard, increasing the risk of a crash.

  Fix: SET will notify owners, and dealers will mechanically fasten the scoop to the hood, free of charge.

• NHTSA 16V396000June 20167,749 vehicles

  Seats: front assembly: seat heater/cooler

  Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC (SET) is recalling certain 2005-2011 4Runner, Highlander, Sequoia, and Sienna, 2005-2010 Avalon and Tundra, 2006-2008 Camry Solara, 2006-2010 Highlander hybrid, 2006-2011 Rav4 and Tacoma, 2007-2010 FJ Cruiser, 2007-2011 Camry hybrid, 2009-2010 Venza, 2010-2012 Prius, 1988-1990 and 2005-2010 Camry, and 1989 and 2009-2010 Corolla vehicles equipped with aftermarket accessory seat heaters with a copper strand heating element. The electrical wiring in the seat heaters may be damaged when the seat cushion is compressed.

  Risk: If damaged, the copper strand heating element may short circuit, increasing the risk of a fire.

  Fix: SET will notify owners, and dealers will disconnect the seat heaters, free of charge, and refund the purchase price of the seat heater accessory.

• NHTSA 14V743000November 20143,233 vehicles

  Seats: front assembly: seat heater/cooler

  Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC (SET) is recalling certain model year 2010-2011 Prius and Corolla, 2009-2011 Venza, 2006-2010 Avalon, 2007-2010 FJ Cruiser, 2005-2011 Sienna and Sequoia, 2006-2011 Tacoma 4x2 and 4x4, Camry, Highlander, Tundra 4x2 and 4x4, and 2007-2011 Rav4 and 4Runner. The affected vehicles may experience compression of the seat cushion which may damage the seat heater wiring.

  Risk: Damage to the seat heater wiring could cause the wires to short, increasing the risk of the seat burning and causing personal injury to the occupant.

  Fix: SET will notify owners, and dealers will disconnect the heaters with copper strand heating elements and refund the purchase price of the seat heater accessory, free of charge.

• NHTSA 14V604000September 2014710,711 vehicles

  Suspension: rear: springs: leaf spring assembly: leaf

  Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain model year 2005-2011 Toyota Tacoma Pre-Runner and 4x4 vehicles manufactured September 14, 2009, to October 11, 2010. In the affected vehicles, one of the leaf springs may fracture due to stress or corrosion. While being driven, the broken leaf could move out of position and contact surrounding components including the fuel tank, possibly puncturing the tank and causing a fuel leak.

  Risk: If the fuel tank leaks fuel from being punctured, there is an increased risk of a fire.

  Fix: Toyota will notify owners and dealers will install new rear leaf spring assemblies.

• NHTSA 14V475000August 201420,000 vehicles

  Equipment: other: labels

  Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain model year 2008-2014 FJ Cruiser and Tacoma vehicles equipped with accessory wheels and tires installed by Toyota or dealers prior to the vehicle's first sale. The affected vehicles may list incorrect spare tire size and/or cold tire inflation information on the tire placard. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 110, "Tire Selection and Rims for Passenger Cars."

  Risk: If the spare tire is inflated to the incorrect pressure provided on the placard, tire failure may occur while it is being driven on, increasing the risk of a crash.

  Fix: For the involved vehicles, overlay stickers to correct the tire placard will either be mailed to owners or provided to dealers for placement over the incorrect information on the placard.

• NHTSA 13V337000August 2013342,451 vehicles

  Seat belts

  Toyota is recalling certain model year 2005-2010 Tacoma Access Cab vehicles manufactured September 14, 2004, through March 29, 2010; and model year 2011 Tacoma Access Cab vehicles manufactured July 1, 2010, through September 7, 2011. If the access doors are repeatedly and forcefully closed, the screws that attach the seat belt pre-tensioner to the seat belt retractor can loosen over time. If the screws loosen completely, the seat belt pre-tensioner and the retractor spring cover could detach from the seat belt retractor.

  Risk: If the seat belt pre-tensioner detaches from the seat belt assembly, the seat belt pre-tensioner will not perform as designed, increasing the risk of injury in a severe crash.

  Fix: Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the seat belt assemblies.

• NHTSA 13V123000April 20137,525 vehicles

  Equipment: other: labels

  Southeast Toyota is recalling certain model year 2008 and 2010-2013 Toyota Tundra, 2010-2012 Rav4, 2012 Toyota Sequoia, 2010-2011 Toyota Corolla, 2010-2011 Toyota Camry and Camry Hybrid, 2010-2013 Toyota Highlander and Highlander Hybrid, 2010-2013 Toyota FJ Cruiser, 2011 Toyota Land Cruiser, 2010-2013 Toyota Venza, 2010-2011 Toyota 4Runner, 2010-2013 Toyota Tacoma, 2011-2012 Toyota Sienna, 2012 Toyota Prius, 2013 Scion FR-S, 2011 Scion XD, 2011 Scion XB, and 2012 Scion TC vehicles. These vehicles were sold with labels that were outside the allowable one percent of accuracy of actual weight added. Thus, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) Number 110, "Tire Selection and Rims."

  Risk: An inaccurate label could lead to owners overloading their vehicles and tires. An overloaded vehicle can result in a tire failure which may result in a vehicle crash, personal injury, or property damage.

  Fix: Southeast Toyota will notify owners and provide a corrected label with instructions concerning its installation.

• NHTSA 13V014000January 20133,235 vehicles

  Seats · Air bags: frontal: sensor/control module-inactive

  Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC (SET) is recalling certain models interspersed through model years 2009 through 2013 as follows: model year 2009-2012 Tacoma, 4Runner, Camry, Camry Hybrid, Prius, and RAV4; model year 2009-2010 Avalon, FJ Cruiser, and Highlander Hybrid; model year 2010-2013 model year Corolla, Sienna and Tundra; model year 2009-2013 Highlander and Venza; model year 2012 Prius V; and model year 2010-2012 Sequoia. During modification by SET to include accessories such as leather seat covers, seat heaters or headrest DVD systems, these vehicles may not have had the passenger seat occupant sensing system calibration tested. Without passing the calibration test, the occupant sensing system may not operate as designed.

  Risk: If the front passenger seat occupant sensing system is out of calibration, the front passenger airbags may not deploy or they may deploy inappropriately for the passenger's size and position. This could increase the risk of personal injury during the event of a vehicle crash necessitating airbag deployment.

  Fix: Southeast Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will test the sensitivity of the occupant detection sensors, and recalibrate them as necessary.

• NHTSA 11V148000March 201122,000 vehicles

  Tires: pressure monitoring and regulating systems

  Toyota is recalling certain model year 2008 through 2011 fj cruiser, land cruiser, tacoma, sequoia and tundra vehicles for failing to comply with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 138, "tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS)." when factory-installed wheels and tires were replaced with toyota authorized accessory wheels and lt tires prior to first sale, the tire pressure monitoring systems were not re-calibrated correctly and therefore do not start illuminating the low tire pressure warning telltale at the required minimum activation pressure.

  Risk: Failure to warn of tire deflations is a non-compliance with fmvss 138 and could lead to tire failure increasing the risk of a crash.

  Fix: For the land cruiser, sequoia, tacoma and tundra vehicles, the dealer will re-calibrate the tire pressure monitoring system on affected vehicles and install an updated tire and loading information label at no charge.

A recall only helps if the repair was done. Enter the vehicle's 17-character VIN on NHTSA's official recall lookup before you buy.

Toyota sent NHTSA 375 service bulletins and other notices to dealers covering the 2011 Tacoma. These are repair instructions, not recalls. Warranty extensions and bulletins about its top problem areas:

• T-SB-0103-20 Rev1 · June 2024This Service Bulletin provides updated non-electric water pump leak inspection and diagnostic tips for some 2008 – 2025 model year Toyota vehicles.
• T-PANT-2024-004- · March 2024This is to advise of various price adjustments that will affect Toyota Genuine Motor Oil and Long Life Coolant, effective March 1, 2024.
• TSB003220 · August 2023TSB: Replacement certification labels (the vinyl label installed on the driver door or door post) and VIN plates (the metal plate riveted to dashboard) (see Figure 1) for most 1979 ?
• T-SB-0094-21 Rev · November 2022TSB: Some 2005 ?
• Toyota Safety Re · March 2021Toyota Safety Recall and Service Campaign - Technician Certification Requirements
• T-TT-0628-20 · October 2020TT: HVAC drain tube is found to be blocked/clogged.
• T-TT-0468-17 Rev · July 2020TT: HVAC drain tube is found to be blocked/clogged.
• T-SB-0134-16-Rev · July 2019TSB: REVISION NOTICE July 01, 2019 Rev2: ?

All 2011 Tacoma bulletins on NHTSA ›

Questions owners ask

Is the 2011 Toyota Tacoma reliable?

Owners filed 55 complaints with NHTSA about the 2011 Toyota Tacoma in its first five years on the road, about 50 for every 100,000 sold: 0.9× the rate of a typical Tacoma year. That's close to a typical year. Ratings compare Tacoma years with each other using complaints filed with NHTSA; they don't measure every problem owners have.

What are the most common 2011 Tacoma problems?

Owners' complaints most often involve the air bags (7%), speed control (13%) and the engine (7%). A complaint can name more than one area.

Has the 2011 Toyota Tacoma been recalled?

Yes. NHTSA lists 9 recall campaigns for the 2011 Toyota Tacoma, the most recent in July 2017 (equipment). Enter the vehicle's VIN on NHTSA's recall lookup to see whether the repairs were done.