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Toyota problems by generation and mileage

39 generations across 10 models, built from 55,795 complaints that record mileage at failure.

Toyota models and generations

Pick your car. Each generation has its own page: what owners reported breaking, at what mileage, year by year, and its recalls.

How long do Toyotas last?

Complaint records can’t measure how long a car lasts; they show when reported failures happened. Across the 39 Toyota generations here — 24 of the 39 generations here left production more than ten years ago, and older ones have had longer to reach high mileage, so read the figure against that mix — half of the 55,795 complaints that record an odometer reading were filed by 57,000 miles and 90% by 150,000 miles. 5,577 came in past 150,000 miles and 1,735 past 200,000 — each one a car that got there, not one that failed there.

At what mileage do Toyotas start having problems? A quarter of those reports came by 20,000 miles, and 20% within the first 12,000 — the window this site treats as manufacturing defects rather than wear. That is the start of the reports, not the onset of problems on any one car.

For one car, open its generation in the list above: each page gives its own figures, year by year.

Mileage at failure, generation by generation

Each strip places that generation’s mileage-tagged reports on a linear 0–200,000-mile scale: whisker = middle 80%, box = middle half, line = median. † marks recent generations — their fleets are young, so their reports can only have come at low mileages. Compare generations of similar age.

4Runner

• 1996–20021,164145,000
• 2003–20091,711100,000
• 2010–2024†39929,000

Avalon

• 1995–199913683,000too few reports to chart
• 2000–200447975,000
• 2005–20121,17846,000
• 2013–201823718,000

Camry

• 1992–1996231116,000
• 1997–200181580,000
• 2002–20062,51346,000
• 2007–20115,42960,000
• 2012–20171,45635,000
• 2018–2024†63614,000

Corolla

• 1998–200231667,000
• 2003–20082,08859,000
• 2009–20132,05318,000
• 2014–201968724,000
• 2020–2025†13712,000too few reports to chart

Highlander

• 2001–20071,63373,000
• 2008–20131,26760,000
• 2014–201968420,000
• 2020–2025†17827,000

Prius

• 2001–200331768,000
• 2004–20095,98754,000
• 2010–20153,20411,000
• 2016–2022†26815,000

RAV4

• 2001–20051,15794,000
• 2006–20122,64853,000
• 2013–201891823,000
• 2019–2025†7065,000

Sienna

• 1998–200361474,000
• 2004–20104,33872,000
• 2011–202095539,000

Tacoma

• 1995–20041,666122,000
• 2005–20153,01558,000
• 2016–2023†61111,000

Tundra

• 2000–20062,46398,000
• 2007–20211,34742,000
• 2022–2025†15425,000

What the strips show across Toyota

Of the 39 Toyota generations here, 21 with failures spread across the mileage range; 15 with failures concentrated early; 3 with failures concentrated late. The shape matters more than the median: a generation whose reports cluster tightly at one mileage is describing a part that fails, while one spread across the whole range is describing ordinary wear, and the two need different decisions from a buyer. The most common shape across this make is failures spread across the mileage range, on 21 of 39.

Comparing generations of the same age

Medians fall as generations get newer, and that is age, not decline: a car built three years ago has not had time to reach a high odometer reading, so its reports cannot come from one. The only honest comparison is inside an age band, and here is this make split into three.

Toyota built in the last decade

15 generations, median of medians 23,000 miles. The earliest reports in this band belong to the RAV4 2019–2025 at 5,000, the latest to the Tundra 2007–2021 at 42,000. That is a spread of 37,000 miles between two cars of comparable age, which is a comparison worth making; the same numbers set against a generation from another band are not.

Toyota built between ten and twenty years ago

14 generations, median of medians 59,000 miles. The earliest reports in this band belong to the Prius 2010–2015 at 11,000, the latest to the 4Runner 2003–2009 at 100,000. That is a spread of 89,000 miles between two cars of comparable age, which is a comparison worth making; the same numbers set against a generation from another band are not.

Toyota older than twenty years

10 generations, median of medians 83,000 miles. The earliest reports in this band belong to the Corolla 1998–2002 at 67,000, the latest to the 4Runner 1996–2002 at 145,000. That is a spread of 78,000 miles between two cars of comparable age, which is a comparison worth making; the same numbers set against a generation from another band are not.

Where the reports concentrate

The middle half of the reports — between the 25th and 75th percentile — is the part of the curve that says most. On the Avalon 2013–2018 it spans 42,000 miles, the tightest of any Toyota generation here: half the reports arrive inside that window, which is what a single failing part looks like in this data. On the 4Runner 2003–2009 the same half spans 102,000 miles — a curve that wide is describing a fleet ageing, not a part failing.

The largest body of evidence for this make is the Prius 2004–2009, with 5,987 reports that record an odometer reading. Generations with a few hundred reports describe their own owners more loosely, and every number on this page carries that weight with it.

Model by model

Within one model the generations are the fairest comparison this data allows: same maker, same intent, often the same platform carried forward. Where a median moves sharply between two generations of the same model, it is worth asking whether the newer one is simply younger.

4Runner. 3 generations here, 1996–2024, 3,274 reports with an odometer reading between them. The latest reports belong to the 1996–2002 at a median of 145,000 miles, the earliest to the 2010–2024 at 29,000, a gap of 116,000 miles. The older of the two has had longer on the road, so part of that gap is age rather than build.

Avalon. 4 generations here, 1995–2018, 2,030 reports with an odometer reading between them. The latest reports belong to the 1995–1999 at a median of 83,000 miles, the earliest to the 2013–2018 at 18,000, a gap of 65,000 miles. The older of the two has had longer on the road, so part of that gap is age rather than build.

Camry. 6 generations here, 1992–2024, 11,080 reports with an odometer reading between them. The latest reports belong to the 1992–1996 at a median of 116,000 miles, the earliest to the 2018–2024 at 14,000, a gap of 102,000 miles. The older of the two has had longer on the road, so part of that gap is age rather than build.

Corolla. 5 generations here, 1998–2025, 5,281 reports with an odometer reading between them. The latest reports belong to the 1998–2002 at a median of 67,000 miles, the earliest to the 2020–2025 at 12,000, a gap of 54,000 miles. The older of the two has had longer on the road, so part of that gap is age rather than build.

Highlander. 4 generations here, 2001–2025, 3,762 reports with an odometer reading between them. The latest reports belong to the 2001–2007 at a median of 73,000 miles, the earliest to the 2014–2019 at 20,000, a gap of 53,000 miles. The older of the two has had longer on the road, so part of that gap is age rather than build.

Prius. 4 generations here, 2001–2022, 9,776 reports with an odometer reading between them. The latest reports belong to the 2001–2003 at a median of 68,000 miles, the earliest to the 2010–2015 at 11,000, a gap of 57,000 miles. The older of the two has had longer on the road, so part of that gap is age rather than build.

RAV4. 4 generations here, 2001–2025, 5,429 reports with an odometer reading between them. The latest reports belong to the 2001–2005 at a median of 94,000 miles, the earliest to the 2019–2025 at 5,000, a gap of 89,000 miles. The older of the two has had longer on the road, so part of that gap is age rather than build.

Sienna. 3 generations here, 1998–2020, 5,907 reports with an odometer reading between them. The latest reports belong to the 1998–2003 at a median of 74,000 miles, the earliest to the 2011–2020 at 39,000, a gap of 34,000 miles. The older of the two has had longer on the road, so part of that gap is age rather than build.

Tacoma. 3 generations here, 1995–2023, 5,292 reports with an odometer reading between them. The latest reports belong to the 1995–2004 at a median of 122,000 miles, the earliest to the 2016–2023 at 11,000, a gap of 111,000 miles. The older of the two has had longer on the road, so part of that gap is age rather than build.

Tundra. 3 generations here, 2000–2025, 3,964 reports with an odometer reading between them. The latest reports belong to the 2000–2006 at a median of 98,000 miles, the earliest to the 2022–2025 at 25,000, a gap of 73,000 miles. The older of the two has had longer on the road, so part of that gap is age rather than build.

What fails across Toyota, and when

Summed across every Toyota generation on this site, the most-reported system is Structure: 12,218 reports, 14% of the 90,293 that name a system, and it appears among the leading systems on 17 of the 39 generations here, reporting at a median of 74,000 miles.

The right-hand column is a median of medians, not an average: a generation with three thousand reports and one with two hundred would otherwise carry the same weight in a mean, and they do not describe the same amount of evidence. Read it as the middle of the range this make reports at, not as a prediction for one car.

Recalls across Toyota

NHTSA has issued 288 recall campaigns against the Toyota generations on this site, spread over 38 of 39. A recall is not a reliability score: it means a defect was found and a free repair is owed, and a make watched closely can collect more campaigns than one nobody examined. What it does mean for a buyer is concrete — the work is free at an authorized dealer, for any owner, and whether a given car is included depends on its VIN rather than on its model year.

• Tundra 2007–2021 — 38 campaigns
• Sienna 2011–2020 — 36 campaigns
• 4Runner 2010–2024 — 33 campaigns
• Tacoma 2005–2015 — 28 campaigns
• Tundra 2022–2025 — 22 campaigns
• RAV4 2019–2025 — 21 campaigns

What this page cannot tell you

These are complaints, not failures. A complaint exists because an owner chose to file one with NHTSA, and nothing here counts the owners who did not. That makes the counts a measure of reporting as much as of breaking, and it is why this site never ranks one car against another: it describes what happens to a given car, and when.

Nor is any of this a rate. A rate needs a denominator — how many of these cars were sold — and no free model-level production figure exists. The obvious substitute, the affected-vehicle count on recall campaigns, was tested here and rejected: it overstates by a median factor of 7.6, because most campaigns span several model years. So a generation with more reports than another may simply be a generation with more cars on the road. The method page sets out every step.

Every page here is generated from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation dataset. How this is built · All makes