2003 TOYOTA CELICA — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 17 complaints · 1 recalls
Most-reported system: FUEL SYSTEM (5 complaints · 29.4%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 1
  • Fires 0
  • Injuries 1
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 2002 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution FUEL SYSTEM appears in 5 of 17 owner complaints (29.4%) in this vehicle snapshot. FUEL SYSTEM: 5 complaints, 29.4% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 5 · 29.4% ENGINE: 2 complaints, 11.8% of reports ENGINE 2 · 11.8% AIR BAGS: 1 complaints, 5.9% of reports AIR BAGS 1 · 5.9% POWER TRAIN: 1 complaints, 5.9% of reports POWER TRAIN 1 · 5.9% STEERING: 1 complaints, 5.9% of reports STEERING 1 · 5.9% STRUCTURE: 1 complaints, 5.9% of reports STRUCTURE 1 · 5.9% SUSPENSION: 1 complaints, 5.9% of reports SUSPENSION 1 · 5.9% · 1 crash reports TIRES: 1 complaints, 5.9% of reports TIRES 1 · 5.9% VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 1 complaints, 5.9% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1 · 5.9% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 13 complaints, 76.5% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 13 · 76.5% · 1 crash reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
FUEL SYSTEM 5 29.4% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 2 11.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 1 5.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 1 5.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 1 5.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 1 5.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 1 5.9% 1 crashes · 0 fires
TIRES 1 5.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1 5.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 13 76.5% 1 crashes · 0 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Jan 2003; the first recall shown was reported in Mar 2003. 2003-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2004-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2004-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2017-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2018-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2021-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2022-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jan 2003 Jan 2022 Recall campaign 03V074000 ◆ Recall campaign 03V074000
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2003-Q1 Owner reports 1
2003-Q3 Owner reports 2
2004-Q2 Owner reports 1
2004-Q3 Owner reports 2
2004-Q4 Owner reports 1
2005-Q4 Owner reports 1
2006-Q1 Owner reports 1
2006-Q4 Owner reports 1
2008-Q2 Owner reports 1
2010-Q2 Owner reports 1
2011-Q1 Owner reports 1
2017-Q3 Owner reports 1
2018-Q1 Owner reports 1
2021-Q4 Owner reports 1
2022-Q1 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 03V074000
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (1)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 03V074000

    Report date
    Component:
    Not available in the source record
    Consequence:
    THIS CONDITION MAY RESULT A FIRE IN THE PRESENCE OF AN IGNITION SOURCE.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL INSPECT AND, IF NECESSARY, REPAIR THE FUEL TANK CHECK VALVE. OWNER NOTIFICATION BEGAN APRIL 4, 2003. OWNERS WHO TAKE THEIR VEHICLES TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER ON AN AGREED UPON SERVICE DATE AND DO NOT RECEIVE THE FREE REMEDY WITHIN A REASONABLE TIME SHOULD CONTACT TOYOTA AT 1-800-331-4331.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot 2026-08-21
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 17 complaints · page 1 of 1

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot 2026-08-21
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources