2008 Toyota Sequoia
Complaints about this year name frame far more often than the other years of this generation — 17% of them, about 42× the usual rate of 0.4%.
First year of a new generation. The Toyota Sequoia was redesigned for 2008. A first year carries problems nobody has found yet, and they are found by the people who buy it — which is worth knowing before you become one of them.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 66 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 12 |
| Involving a crash | 4 |
| Recalls | 9 |
| EPA combined | 15 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- located — 7.6% of this year's complaints, against 0.5% across the other years of this generation (15.3×).
- seat — 13.6% of this year's complaints, against 4.4% across the other years of this generation (3.1×).
- button — 9.1% of this year's complaints, against 2% across the other years of this generation (4.6×). Owners wrote it as: button, fire, itself.
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
- able — 14% of complaints, 34× usual
- accident — 14% of complaints, 34× usual
- pedal — 12% of complaints, 30× usual
What owners wrote
while the vehicle was in for routine service, the independent mechanic discovered that the rear subframe was severely damaged due to rust and corrosion. The contact was advised that holes were present in the subframe, and the vehicle was unsafe to drive. The v…
EXSESSIVE RUST CAUSING SEIZED BOLTS RELATED TO SUSPENSION. CANNOT DO PROPER ALIGNMENT OR CHANGE LEAKING SHOCK WITHOUT MAJOR PARTS BEING CUT FROM FRAME.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 21V920000 STEERING Fixed free of charge.
- 21E103000 STEERING Fixed free of charge.
- 16V396000 SEATS Fixed free of charge.
- 14V743000 SEATS Fixed free of charge.
- 11V148000 TIRES
- 12V491000 VISIBILITY Fixed free of charge.
- 10V036000 EQUIPMENT Fixed free of charge.
- 10V035000 EQUIPMENT Fixed free of charge.
Showing 8 of 9. The rest are on NHTSA's site.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Toyota Sequoia 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 2008 Toyota Sequoia? What happened to yours?
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