2009 Toyota Venza
Complaints about this year name sun visor far more often than the model's other years — 11% of them, about 28× the usual rate of 0.4%.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 172 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 42 |
| Involving a crash | 18 |
| Involving a fire | 3 |
| Recalls | 8 |
| EPA combined | 22.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- pay — 9.3% of this year's complaints, against 2.4% across the model's other years (3.9×). Owners wrote it as: pay, starter, components, telling.
- position — 6.4% of this year's complaints, against 2.4% across the model's other years (2.7×).
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
- abs — 9% of complaints, 22× usual
- burning — 6% of complaints, 16× usual
- pressure — 6% of complaints, 16× usual
What owners wrote
MY SUN VISOR ON THE DRIVER SIDE WOULD NOT STAY IN PLACE AND WHEN I APPLIED A LITTLE PRESSURE THE VISOR BROKE AROUND THE HOLE WHERE IT CONNECTS TO THE ROOF PIECE. I WAS DRIVING. THEN IT WOULD HANG IN MY FACE AND I COULD NOT SEE WELL. AT STOP SIGNS I WAS TRYING…
FAULTY WIRING OF THE DRIVER'S SIDE SEAT HEATER CAUSING A BURNING SMELL AND THE POTENTIAL FOR HARM TO THE OCCUPANT.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 21V257000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 14V743000 SEATS Fixed free of charge.
- 16V396000 SEATS Fixed free of charge.
- 12V091000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING Fixed free of charge.
- 13V014000 AIR BAGS
- 10V036000 EQUIPMENT Fixed free of charge.
- 10V035000 EQUIPMENT Fixed free of charge.
- 10V023000 VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Toyota Venza 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 Venza? What happened to yours?
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