2009 Toyota Tacoma
Complaints about this year name lens far more often than the other years of this generation — 12% of them, about 28× the usual rate of 0.4%.
Generation 1 of the Toyota Tacoma, which began in 2005 and ran to 2015. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 518 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 185 |
| Involving a crash | 25 |
| Involving a fire | 18 |
| Recalls | 13 |
| EPA combined | 18 mpg |
Also unusual this year
- running lights — 10% of complaints, 26× usual
- running — 15% of complaints, 7× usual
- daytime running — 9% of complaints, 22× usual
What owners wrote
THE DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS WERE MELTING THE HEADLIGHT LENSES. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALER FOR DIAGNOSIS AND THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE LENSES WOULD NEED TO BE REPLACED. THE [VIN] WAS NOTIFIED AND OFFERED TO PAY FOR THE COST OF THE LENS BUT NOT FOR…
THE DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS WOULD CAUSE THE HEADLIGHT LENS TO OVERHEAT, MELTING THE PLASTIC LENSES. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER WHO ADVISED THAT THERE WAS A BULLETIN FROM THE [VIN] THAT STATED IF ANY HEADLIGHT WAS DEFECTIVE THEY HAVE TO REPLACE BOTH HEA…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 14V743000 SEATS Fixed free of charge.
- 14V604000 SUSPENSION
- 14V168000 AIR BAGS
- 14V475000 EQUIPMENT
- 16V396000 SEATS Fixed free of charge.
- 11V148000 TIRES
- 13V337000 SEAT BELTS
- 12V092000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
Showing 8 of 13. The rest are on NHTSA's site.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Toyota Tacoma was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2009 Toyota Tacoma? What happened to yours?
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