2021 Toyota Tacoma
This year drew an ordinary 78 complaints for a Toyota Tacoma — the model's median is 202. What they were about is the unusual part: 16.7% of them mention year, against 4.3% across the other years of this generation.
Generation 2 of the Toyota Tacoma, which began in 2016 and ran to 2023. 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 | 78 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 202 |
| Involving a crash | 9 |
| Recalls | 0 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 4/5 |
| EPA combined | 20 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- year — 16.7% of this year's complaints, against 4.3% across the other years of this generation (3.8×).
- slow — 11.5% of this year's complaints, against 3.5% across the other years of this generation (3.3×). Owners wrote it as: slow, press, brakes due.
- screen — 7.7% of this year's complaints, against 1.4% across the other years of this generation (5.4×). Owners wrote it as: screen, speedometer.
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.
What owners wrote
while driving at unknown speeds, the brake message and alarm were displayed on the infotainment screen. While driving, the blind spot warning light illuminated, and the brake seized. The contact stated that the vehicle was pulling to the left. While driving an…
AC compressor pressure release discharges gas. Dealer states new compressor needed. Vehicle is only 4 years old.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
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 2021 Toyota Tacoma? What happened to yours?
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