2005 Toyota Tundra
Complaints about this year name frame far more often than the model's other years — 28% of them, about 17× the usual rate of 1.7%.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 374 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 119 |
| Involving a crash | 33 |
| Involving a fire | 3 |
| Recalls | 14 |
| EPA combined | 15.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- frame — 30.2% of this year's complaints, against 4.1% across the model's other years (7.3×). Owners wrote it as: frame, rusting, frame rusted, holes.
- bags — 17.1% of this year's complaints, against 2.7% across the model's other years (6.4×). Owners wrote it as: bags, air bags, bags however, takata.
- rusted — 12.8% of this year's complaints, against 1.3% across the model's other years (9.7×). Owners wrote it as: rusted, lines, brake lines, lines rusted.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- rusted — 11% of complaints, 27× usual
- air bags — 14% of complaints, 9× usual
- rust — 13% of complaints, 10× usual
What owners wrote
The frame is rusted, luckily a mechanic caught it in time, it’s not road worthy.
1)Frame is rusting out. Not repairable. 2) Fuel tank strap rusted through and broken.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 19V741000 AIR BAGS
- 18V883000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 22E002000 SUSPENSION Fixed free of charge.
- 16V065000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 15V286000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 16V396000 SEATS Fixed free of charge.
- 15V285000 AIR BAGS
- 05V254000 AIR BAGS
Showing 8 of 14. The rest are on NHTSA's site.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Toyota Tundra 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 2005 Toyota Tundra? What happened to yours?
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