2012 Toyota Sienna Problems and Recalls (242 Complaints)
The most-reported problem on the 2012 Toyota Sienna is Body / frame (24% of 242 owner reports). There are 9 safety recalls. Check the VIN and inspect Body / frame — this is the NHTSA file, not a score.
NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-09-07 242 complaints · 9 recalls
What problems show up on the 2012 Toyota Sienna?
58 of 242 filings named Body / frame (24% of the file). That is what owners wrote, not a shop diagnosis of the vehicle in the driveway.
Second is Airbags (56 reports).
There are 9 official safety recalls on this year. They were filed about Airbags, Body / frame, and Brakes. Check the VIN at nhtsa.gov — a campaign on this page can still be open on a specific truck.
The 2011 has 600 reports on file; this year has 242. A smaller lifetime total is not a clean bill of health. If you need a fairer comparison, use the equal-time view.
What owners reported
System named most often: Body / frame 58 complaints · 24.0% of the file
Crashes, fires, injuries and deaths in those filings:
- Crashes 10
- Fires 4
- Injuries 13
- Deaths 0
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-09-07 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.
Which systems owners named
Share of owner complaints filed against each vehicle system. These shares are not adjusted for how many vehicles were sold.
“Unclassified NHTSA leftover” is not a car part. It is a filing bucket and always sits last.
View component data as a table
| System / Component | Complaints | Share of Reports | Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Body / frame (STRUCTURE) | 58 | 24.0% | 0 crashes · 0 fires |
| Airbags (AIR BAGS) | 56 | 23.1% | 3 crashes · 0 fires |
| Electrical (ELECTRICAL SYSTEM) | 18 | 7.4% | 0 crashes · 0 fires |
| Transmission / driveline (POWER TRAIN) | 15 | 6.2% | 1 crashes · 0 fires |
| Steering (STEERING) | 12 | 5.0% | 0 crashes · 0 fires |
| Cruise / speed control (VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL) | 11 | 4.6% | 1 crashes · 0 fires |
| Wheels (WHEELS) | 10 | 4.1% | 0 crashes · 0 fires |
| Engine (ENGINE) | 6 | 2.5% | 2 crashes · 1 fires |
| Glass / wipers / cameras (VISIBILITY) | 6 | 2.5% | 0 crashes · 0 fires |
| Unclassified NHTSA leftover | 104 | 43.0% | 3 crashes · 3 fires |
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-09-07 Open source record
Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.
When reports and recalls showed up
When owners filed reports, and when recall campaigns showed up.
- Campaign 13V123000 was reported 237 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
- Campaign 16V858000 was reported 1,475 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
- Campaign 17V006000 was reported 1,392 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
- Campaign 19V005000 was reported 2,122 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
- Campaign 19V553000 was reported 1,858 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
- Campaign 19V741000 was reported 2,403 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
| Date | Record type | Count | Record identifier |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-Q1 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2012-Q2 | Owner reports | 2 | |
| 2012-Q3 | Owner reports | 5 | |
| 2012-Q4 | Owner reports | 4 | |
| 2013-Q1 | Owner reports | 5 | |
| 2013-Q2 | Owner reports | 2 | |
| 2013-Q3 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2013-Q4 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2014-Q1 | Owner reports | 2 | |
| 2014-Q2 | Owner reports | 5 | |
| 2014-Q3 | Owner reports | 6 | |
| 2014-Q4 | Owner reports | 4 | |
| 2015-Q1 | Owner reports | 4 | |
| 2015-Q3 | Owner reports | 2 | |
| 2015-Q4 | Owner reports | 3 | |
| 2016-Q1 | Owner reports | 2 | |
| 2016-Q2 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2016-Q3 | Owner reports | 7 | |
| 2016-Q4 | Owner reports | 3 | |
| 2017-Q1 | Owner reports | 35 | |
| 2017-Q2 | Owner reports | 37 | |
| 2017-Q3 | Owner reports | 36 | |
| 2017-Q4 | Owner reports | 10 | |
| 2018-Q1 | Owner reports | 5 | |
| 2018-Q2 | Owner reports | 3 | |
| 2018-Q3 | Owner reports | 5 | |
| 2018-Q4 | Owner reports | 2 | |
| 2019-Q1 | Owner reports | 4 | |
| 2019-Q2 | Owner reports | 4 | |
| 2019-Q3 | Owner reports | 4 | |
| 2019-Q4 | Owner reports | 4 | |
| 2020-Q1 | Owner reports | 3 | |
| 2020-Q2 | Owner reports | 2 | |
| 2020-Q3 | Owner reports | 3 | |
| 2020-Q4 | Owner reports | 2 | |
| 2021-Q1 | Owner reports | 2 | |
| 2021-Q2 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2021-Q3 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2022-Q2 | Owner reports | 3 | |
| 2022-Q4 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2023-Q1 | Owner reports | 4 | |
| 2023-Q2 | Owner reports | 2 | |
| 2023-Q4 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2024-Q3 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2025-Q3 | Owner reports | 4 | |
| 2025-Q4 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2026-Q1 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2026-Q3 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| Recall campaign | 1 | 11V560000 | |
| Recall campaign | 1 | 12V120000 | |
| Recall campaign | 1 | 13V014000 | |
| Recall campaign | 1 | 13V123000 | |
| Recall campaign | 1 | 16V858000 | |
| Recall campaign | 1 | 17V006000 | |
| Recall campaign | 1 | 19V005000 | |
| Recall campaign | 1 | 19V553000 | |
| Recall campaign | 1 | 19V741000 | |
| Defect investigation | 1 | EA21002 |
Safety Recalls (9)
Official campaigns. Each one says what could go wrong and what the dealer was told to fix.
In short, these campaigns were filed about Airbags, Body / frame, and Brakes.
-
Recall campaign 11V560000
Safety recall 11V560000
- Report date
- Component:
- Unclassified NHTSA leftover
- Consequence:
- INCORRECT INFORMATION ON THE VEHICLE PLACARD MAY LEAD TO TIRE OVERLOADING AND POSSIBLY CAUSE TIRE FAILURE INCREASING THE RISK OF A CRASH.
- Remedy:
- TOYOTA WILL NOTIFY OWNERS, AND WILL PROVIDE A REMEDY WHEN IT IS AVAILABLE. TOYOTA WILL MAIL OUT A CORRECTED PLACARD TO CUSTOMERS ALONG WITH REVISED OWNER MANUAL INFORMATION. THIS SERVICE WILL BE PERFORMED FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON JUNE 27, 2013. OWNERS MAY CONTACT TOYOTA AT 1-800-331-4331.
-
Recall campaign 12V120000
Safety recall 12V120000
- Report date
- Component:
- Unclassified NHTSA leftover
- Consequence:
- IF THIS CONDITION OCCURS, ANTILOCK BRAKING AND STABILITY CONTROL MAY BE LOST, INCREASING THE RISK OF A CRASH. DRIVERS SHOULD RECEIVE DASHBOARD WARNING LIGHTS WARNING THEM OF A MALFUNCTION.
- Remedy:
- GULF STATES TOYOTA WILL NOTIFY OWNERS, AND DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE REMOTE ENGINE STARTER WITH A NEW ONE FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN ON OR ABOUT JUNE 4, 2012. OWNERS MAY CONTACT TOYOTA AT 1-800-444-1074.
-
Recall campaign 13V014000
Airbags
- Report date
- Component:
- Airbags (AIR BAGS)
- Consequence:
- If the front passenger seat occupant sensing system is out of calibration, the front passenger airbags may not deploy or they may deploy inappropriately for the passenger's size and position. This could increase the risk of personal injury during the event of a vehicle crash necessitating airbag deployment.
- Remedy:
- Southeast Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will test the sensitivity of the occupant detection sensors, and recalibrate them as necessary. The recall began on March 21, 2013. Owners may contact Southeast Toyota at 1-800-301-6859.
-
Recall campaign 13V123000
Safety recall 13V123000
- Report date
- Component:
- Unclassified NHTSA leftover
- Consequence:
- An inaccurate label could lead to owners overloading their vehicles and tires. An overloaded vehicle can result in a tire failure which may result in a vehicle crash, personal injury, or property damage.
- Remedy:
- Southeast Toyota will notify owners and provide a corrected label with instructions concerning its installation. A small group of the affected vehicles will need additonal remedies which are still being developed. The recall began on May 28, 2013. Owners may contact Southeast Toyota at 1-800-301-6859.
-
Recall campaign 16V858000
Body / frame
- Report date
- Component:
- Body / frame (STRUCTURE)
- Consequence:
- If door opens while the vehicle is moving, there would be an increased risk of injury to the vehicle occupants.
- Remedy:
- Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace the junction block, rear sliding door wire harnesses, and install two sub wire harnesses, free of charge. The recall began on July 28, 2017. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's number for this recall is G04.
-
Recall campaign 17V006000
Airbags
- Report date
- Component:
- Airbags (AIR BAGS)
- Consequence:
- An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
- Remedy:
- Toyota will notify the Toyota, Scion and Lexus owners. General Motors will contact the Pontiac owners. Depending on the model, dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag inflator or the air bag assembly, free of charge. The recall began on February 1, 2017. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331, or Pontiac customer service at 1-800-762-2737. Toyota's numbers for final remedy for this campaign are G0P (Toyota Zone A), G0R (Toyota Zone B), H0A (Toyota Zone C), GLG (Lexus Zone A), GLH (Lexus Zone B) and HLA (Lexus Zone C).
-
Recall campaign 19V005000
Airbags
- Report date
- Component:
- Airbags (AIR BAGS)
- Consequence:
- An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
- Remedy:
- Toyota will notify owners. Depending on the vehicle model, dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator, or replace the air bag assembly. The recall began February 15, 2019. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's numbers for this recall are "Zone A" Toyota: G0P, Lexus: GLG; "Zone B" Toyota: G0R, Lexus GLH; "Zone C" Toyota: H0A, and Lexus: HLA.
-
Recall campaign 19V553000
Brakes
- Report date
- Component:
- Brakes (SERVICE BRAKES)
- Consequence:
- The contact may cause failure of the rear brake hoses, resulting in a loss of vehicle control and reduced braking ability, increasing the risk of a crash.
- Remedy:
- Vantage will notify owners, and dealers will install a set of rear brake hoses that will provide the proper clearance, free of charge. The recall began December 16, 2019. Owners may contact Vantage customer service at 1-800-488-9082.
-
Recall campaign 19V741000
Airbags
- Report date
- Component:
- Airbags (AIR BAGS)
- Consequence:
- An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
- Remedy:
- Toyota will notify owners. Depending on the vehicle model, dealers will replace the front driver inflator, front passenger airbag inflator, the airbag assembly, or the front passenger airbag sub-assembly and inflator. The recall began November 20, 2019. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371 or Lexus customer service at 1-800-255-3987. Toyota's numbers for this recall are J0A, J0B, and J0C. Lexus' numbers for this recall are JLI, JLJ, and JLK.
Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.
What owners actually wrote
Short excerpts from the public NHTSA file. Look for the same symptom repeating.
Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot 2026-09-07
Showing 10 of 242 complaints · page 1 of 10
CrashFireInjuryDeath
The automatic side doors of this Toyota sienna le have malfunctioned twice between expensive repairs. When the hardware comes off the guide rail, it hits the window behind the door and shatters in covering the interior and occupants with glass. I had the window repaired after I had the door hardware replaced after its first failure in spring of 2024. The door gave no indication it was failed until I noticed the window bulging and nearly broke again. The Toyota dealer didn’t seem very interested in covering the cost of the repairs I made in 2024 and can’t get me in until mid August which leaves me without transportation for a month.
CrashFireInjuryDeath
The contact owns a 2012 Toyota Sienna. The contact was unable to use the driver's side cargo door. The contact stated that the door was possibly frozen; however, while driving at an undisclosed speed, the door opened unexpectedly. The contact referenced NHTSA Campaign Number: 16V858000 (Structure); however, the VIN was not associated with the recall. The dealer was not contacted, and the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 201,235.
CrashFireInjuryDeath
Coolant leaking from rear of the engine through the head gasket. Vehicle struggles to accelerate beyond 55mph or 80kmph. A quick search on the internet shows that this is a frequent occurrence in this 3.5L V6 engine from Toyota model years 2011 through 2017.
CrashFireInjuryDeath
The battery light came on suddenly and the power steering went out making it extremely difficult to steer the vehicle. An accident was narrowly avoided. We replaced the battery, alternator, and serpentine belt. The problem resolved for over 6 months, then reappeared. It starts with no issue, is charging properly, the serpentine belt is intact. The power steering will come on and go off sporadically, the only warning being the battery indicator on the dash that comes on first. This creates a substantial hazard and risk as the steering is severely impacted with little warning.
CrashFireInjuryDeath
Odometer Fraud. The contact purchased a 2012 Toyota Sienna. The contact discovered a mileage discrepancy after the purchase. The vehicle was a private sale. At the time of purchase, the vehicle mileage was 48,230. It was later discovered that the mileage on the Title was 241,080.
CrashFireInjuryDeath
The power sliding door cables snap by itself and unable to open or closed. While my children and I were in the vehicle.
CrashFireInjuryDeath
My 2012 Toyota Sienna having problem while braking on highway 65mph or above, when i hit brake it's start shaking so bad and brake doesn't work properly. i believe it is sway bar link or lower control arm. even i had replaced once, it didn't helped and again i claimed warranty and replaced other set, but still having same issue.
CrashFireInjuryDeath
On 8/22/2022 I had to replace the 2 front tires with MIM-Supreme Tour 18 inch tire 235/55R18. On 8/22/2022 I had 162,323 miles on the 2012 Toyota Sienna XLE 4 months later and 17,252 miles driven - the 2012 Toyota Sienna now has 179,575 miles and on 12/28/2023 the 2 front tires again have to be replaced - Matrix Toyr RS 11 on 18 inch rims. Now its July 2024 - again 6 months and now 6,700 miles and just the front tires are bald and dangerous to drive if any moisture on the road. All these tires are slated for 50,000 miles and I and not getting even half the mileage. Most driving is on highways and regular maintenance occurs on the car. this car should be designed to go at least 25,000 miles ( so once a year ) on a set of tires. I do not drive fast nor aggressive.
CrashFireInjuryDeath
The third row passenger side split was stored and then put back up. Upon lifting the seats, pieces fell out (spring, washer, and screw) and the locking mechanism would not lock the seats into place. I am not sure how long these parts were loose, but it is a major safety hazard as the vehicle seat was not secured to the car as intended. We plan to to follow up with Toyota, but upon investigating, it seems that this is an issue for several 2011 Siennas. My Sienna was manufactured 4/2012. This is the smaller of the split seats, but out of an abundance of caution, we don't plan to use the 3rd row at all until a remedy is produced. Unfortunately, I saw only consumer complaints in regards to the 2011 3rd row seating issue and didn't see any solutions.
CrashFireInjuryDeath
My wife let me know that when turning to the right (not an aggressive turn, but a normal turn from one lane to the next), the whole electrical system of the minivan would shut down and then come back on. I had a mechanic check it out and they say that this is due to the electrical steering system and will have to be replaced by the dealer. He was able to reproduce the same condition where he was able to get the minivan to lose power when changing lanes. He STRONGLY advised that we should have the vehicle towed to the dealer as he felt that it wasn't safe to drive due to this. I feel that this will end up causing a lot of crashes and also that this should be covered by the manufacturer under a recall.
Frequently asked questions
What are the most common problems on the 2012 Toyota Sienna?
Owners named Body / frame most often — 58 of 242 reports (24%). That is the NHTSA file, not a diagnosis of every vehicle.
Are there recalls for the 2012 Toyota Sienna?
NHTSA lists 9 safety recall campaigns. They were filed about Airbags, Body / frame, and Brakes. Check the VIN at nhtsa.gov; a campaign on this page can still be open on a specific vehicle.
What should I inspect before buying a 2012 Toyota Sienna?
Look up the VIN for open recalls. Look for rust, collision repair and body gaps that do not match a clean truck. Then skim owner filings for the same symptom and take that list to a mechanic.
Does a high complaint count mean I should skip this year?
No. Counts are reports people chose to file and they are not adjusted for sales volume. YearTell does not publish scores or a list of years to skip. Inspect the vehicle.
Estimated Ownership Cost
EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates
Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot 2026-08-21
Adjacent Model Years
Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records
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
Source: NHTSA ODI / recalls, snapshot 2026-09-07. YearTell is not a government agency.