2012 Toyota Tundra Problems and Recalls (153 Complaints)

The most-reported problem on the 2012 Toyota Tundra is Engine (26% of 153 owner reports). There are 4 safety recalls. Check the VIN and inspect Engine — this is the NHTSA file, not a score.

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-09-07 153 complaints · 4 recalls

What problems show up on the 2012 Toyota Tundra?

40 of 153 filings named Engine (26% of the file). That is what owners wrote, not a shop diagnosis of the vehicle in the driveway.

Second is Fuel system (20 reports).

There are 4 official safety recalls on this year. They were filed about Airbags and Steering. Check the VIN at nhtsa.gov — a campaign on this page can still be open on a specific truck.

The 2011 has 133 reports on file; this year has 153. Older years collect more reports just by being on the road longer. If you need a fairer comparison, use the equal-time view.

What to check before you buy a 2012 Toyota Tundra

A useful visit to this page takes five minutes. YearTell does not score years and cannot see the vehicle in front of you.

  1. Look up the VIN for open recalls at nhtsa.gov. This year has 4 campaigns on file below.
  2. Engine. Have a shop check for oil consumption, coolant leaks, rough idle and unusual engine noise.
  3. Fuel system. Check for fuel smell, leaks and whether it starts and idles cleanly.
  4. Transmission / driveline. Have a shop drive it and check the transmission: hard or delayed shifts, burnt-smelling fluid, and 4WD engagement if equipped.
  5. Skim a few owner reports below for Engine. Look for the same symptom repeating.
  6. Take that list to a mechanic. Do not turn the complaint total into a score.

What owners reported

System named most often: Engine 40 complaints · 26.1% of the file
Crashes, fires, injuries and deaths in those filings:
  • Crashes 7
  • Fires 1
  • Injuries 5
  • Deaths 0
All Toyota Tundra years →
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.

Which systems owners named Engine (ENGINE) appears in 40 of 153 owner complaints (26.1%) in this vehicle snapshot. Engine (ENGINE): 40 complaints, 26.1% of reports Engine (ENGINE) 40 · 26.1% Fuel system (FUEL SYSTEM): 20 complaints, 13.1% of reports Fuel system (FUEL SYSTEM) 20 · 13.1% Transmission / driveline (POWER TRAIN): 15 complaints, 9.8% of reports Transmission / driveline (POWER TRAIN) 1 crash reports 1 fire reports 15 · 9.8% Electrical (ELECTRICAL SYSTEM): 12 complaints, 7.8% of reports Electrical (ELECTRICAL SYSTEM) 12 · 7.8% Steering (STEERING): 10 complaints, 6.5% of reports Steering (STEERING) 2 crash reports 10 · 6.5% Body / frame (STRUCTURE): 9 complaints, 5.9% of reports Body / frame (STRUCTURE) 2 crash reports 9 · 5.9% Wheels (WHEELS): 7 complaints, 4.6% of reports Wheels (WHEELS) 7 · 4.6% Airbags (AIR BAGS): 6 complaints, 3.9% of reports Airbags (AIR BAGS) 1 crash reports 6 · 3.9% Brakes (SERVICE BRAKES): 6 complaints, 3.9% of reports Brakes (SERVICE BRAKES) 1 crash reports 6 · 3.9% Unclassified NHTSA leftover: 39 complaints, 25.5% of reports Unclassified NHTSA leftover 2 crash reports 39 · 25.5% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

“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)
Engine (ENGINE) 40 26.1% 0 crashes · 0 fires
Fuel system (FUEL SYSTEM) 20 13.1% 0 crashes · 0 fires
Transmission / driveline (POWER TRAIN) 15 9.8% 1 crashes · 1 fires
Electrical (ELECTRICAL SYSTEM) 12 7.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
Steering (STEERING) 10 6.5% 2 crashes · 0 fires
Body / frame (STRUCTURE) 9 5.9% 2 crashes · 0 fires
Wheels (WHEELS) 7 4.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
Airbags (AIR BAGS) 6 3.9% 1 crashes · 0 fires
Brakes (SERVICE BRAKES) 6 3.9% 1 crashes · 0 fires
Unclassified NHTSA leftover 39 25.5% 2 crashes · 0 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.

When reports and recalls showed up Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Jul 2012; the first recall shown was reported in Jan 2013. 2012-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2012-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2013-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2013-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2013-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 2014-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2015-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2016-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2016-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2016-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2016-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2017-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2017-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2017-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2017-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2018-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2018-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2018-Q3: 8 owner reports 8 2018-Q4: 8 owner reports 8 2019-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2019-Q2: 8 owner reports 8 2019-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2019-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 2020-Q1: 10 owner reports 10 2020-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2020-Q3: 10 owner reports 10 2020-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2021-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2021-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2021-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2021-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2022-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2022-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2022-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2022-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2023-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2023-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2023-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2023-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2024-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2024-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2024-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2025-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2026-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2026-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 Owner reports Jul 2012 Jul 2026 Recall campaign 13V014000 ◆ Recall campaign 13V014000 Recall campaign 13V123000 ◆ Recall campaign 13V123000 Recall campaign 21V920000 ◆ Recall campaign 21V920000 Recall campaign 21E103000 ◆ Recall campaign 21E103000 Investigation EA19001 ● Investigation EA19001
  • Campaign 13V014000 was reported 64 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
  • Campaign 13V123000 was reported 224 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
  • Campaign 21V920000 was reported 2,276 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
  • Campaign 21E103000 was reported 2,306 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2012-Q3 Owner reports 1
2012-Q4 Owner reports 4
2013-Q1 Owner reports 3
2013-Q3 Owner reports 2
2013-Q4 Owner reports 1
2014-Q1 Owner reports 6
2014-Q2 Owner reports 1
2014-Q3 Owner reports 1
2014-Q4 Owner reports 2
2015-Q3 Owner reports 3
2016-Q1 Owner reports 1
2016-Q2 Owner reports 4
2016-Q3 Owner reports 2
2016-Q4 Owner reports 1
2017-Q1 Owner reports 4
2017-Q2 Owner reports 2
2017-Q3 Owner reports 4
2017-Q4 Owner reports 3
2018-Q1 Owner reports 5
2018-Q2 Owner reports 4
2018-Q3 Owner reports 8
2018-Q4 Owner reports 8
2019-Q1 Owner reports 5
2019-Q2 Owner reports 8
2019-Q3 Owner reports 5
2019-Q4 Owner reports 5
2020-Q1 Owner reports 10
2020-Q2 Owner reports 5
2020-Q3 Owner reports 10
2020-Q4 Owner reports 2
2021-Q1 Owner reports 3
2021-Q2 Owner reports 3
2021-Q3 Owner reports 2
2021-Q4 Owner reports 1
2022-Q1 Owner reports 3
2022-Q2 Owner reports 2
2022-Q3 Owner reports 2
2022-Q4 Owner reports 4
2023-Q1 Owner reports 1
2023-Q2 Owner reports 2
2023-Q3 Owner reports 1
2023-Q4 Owner reports 1
2024-Q1 Owner reports 1
2024-Q3 Owner reports 2
2024-Q4 Owner reports 1
2025-Q2 Owner reports 1
2026-Q1 Owner reports 1
2026-Q3 Owner reports 2
Recall campaign 1 13V014000
Recall campaign 1 13V123000
Recall campaign 1 21V920000
Recall campaign 1 21E103000
Defect investigation 1 EA19001
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-09-06 Open source record

Safety Recalls (4)

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 and Steering.

  1. 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.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  2. 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.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  3. Recall campaign 21E103000

    Steering

    Report date
    Component:
    Steering (STEERING)
    Consequence:
    An oil leak may cause a sudden loss of power steering assist, increasing the risk of a crash.
    Remedy:
    Dealers will inspect and replace the power steering gear assembly, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on February 17, 2022. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's number for this recall is 21TH01.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  4. Recall campaign 21V920000

    Steering

    Report date
    Component:
    Steering (STEERING)
    Consequence:
    An oil leak may cause a sudden loss of power steering assist, increasing the risk of a crash.
    Remedy:
    Dealers will inspect and replace the power steering gear assembly as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on January 21, 2022. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's numbers for this recall are 21TB10 and 21TA10.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints 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.

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
Safety incident filters
Showing 10 of 153 complaints · page 1 of 7
2026-08-19Electrical (ELECTRICAL SYSTEM)Unclassified NHTSA leftover
NHTSA ODI 11758046
CrashFireInjuryDeath
Odometer Fraud. The contact purchased a 2012 Toyota Tundra. The contact discovered that there was a mileage discrepancy after the purchase. The vehicle was a dealer sale. At the time of purchase, the vehicle mileage was 149,000. It was later discovered upon checking the vehicle history that the mileage was 378,000.
2026-07-02Electrical (ELECTRICAL SYSTEM)Unclassified NHTSA leftover
NHTSA ODI 11747896
CrashFireInjuryDeath
Odometer Fraud. The contact purchased a 2012 Toyota Tundra. At the time of the purchase, the mileage was 149,000. The vehicle was a dealer sale. An independent mechanic checked the vehicle history report and discovered a mileage discrepancy. The Carfax report indicated that the mileage was 379,000 in May 2025. The contact reported the odometer fraud to Wisconsin's Department of Transportation - Field Investigation Unit, which informed him that the odometer fraud was outside of their jurisdiction because the vehicle was purchased in Kentucky. The contact stated that the current approximate mileage was 395,000.
2026-01-12Electrical (ELECTRICAL SYSTEM)Unclassified NHTSA leftover
NHTSA ODI 11710493
CrashFireInjuryDeath
Odometer Fraud. The contact purchased a 2012 Toyota Tundra. The contact discovered a mileage discrepancy after the purchase. The vehicle was a private sale. At the time of purchase, the mileage was 137,355. The contact stated that while inspecting the glove box, the contact found three receipts that showed three different odometer readings. The contact then ordered a Carfax report and discovered that the mileage on the Title on October 4, 2025, was 252,307.
2025-04-28Electrical (ELECTRICAL SYSTEM)Unclassified NHTSA leftover
NHTSA ODI 11657369
CrashFireInjuryDeath
Odometer Fraud. The contact purchased a 2012 Toyota Tundra. The contact stated while attempting to register the vehicle, it was discovered that there was a mileage discrepancy. The vehicle was a private dealer sale. At the time of purchase, the vehicle mileage was 161,000 and at the time of registration, it was discovered that the mileage was 260,000.
2024-10-24Unclassified NHTSA leftover
NHTSA ODI 11621690
CrashFireInjuryDeath
Temperature Seat switches are not working, fire hazard does to malfunctioning.
2024-09-10Fuel system (FUEL SYSTEM)Unclassified NHTSA leftover
NHTSA ODI 11613738
CrashFireInjuryDeath
The contact owns a 2012 Toyota Tundra. The contact stated while accelerating from a stop, the vehicle started leaking fuel, and the contact smelled an abnormal fuel odor. The contact turned off and restarted the vehicle, and the fuel leak stopped. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the fuel tank valve assembly needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure persisted. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was opened. The failure mileage was 20,000.
2024-08-08Fuel system (FUEL SYSTEM)
NHTSA ODI 11607293
CrashFireInjuryDeath
Wife was driving truck and immediately went into limp mode on the highway. Check engine light came on, no accelerating then died. Had to get it towed. This is the 3rd incident with this issue.
2024-02-14Fuel system (FUEL SYSTEM)
NHTSA ODI 11571836
CrashFireInjuryDeath
The fuel pump failed on my Tundra. Several dashboard check engine lights suddenly lit up to warn me of the issue. While I was able to safely get it to a mechanic to repair the independent Toyota certified mechanic I use shared they have seen a volume of these where the car stops immediately with the Fuel pump failing completely. I was lucky as the day prior to this I was driving through mountain passes on the highway in Colorado. I have since found out from the feedback from my mechanic that they have repaired a volume of these, and it is a known issue by Toyota who issued a technical service bulletin. The fuel pump needs to be replaced with a different specification - the original pump is not sufficient. My concern is putting driver/passenger safety at risk with a complete fuel pump failure while driving. I consider this a near-miss for me, and would worry about others that are about to have this issue.
2023-12-14Fuel system (FUEL SYSTEM)
NHTSA ODI 11560105
CrashFireInjuryDeath
ECM safety recall air injection pump failure
2023-07-26Transmission / driveline (POWER TRAIN)
NHTSA ODI 11534487
CrashFireInjuryDeath
My power steering gear blew its seal on the passenger side losing all power steering fluid and almost making me crash into a car next to me, and Toyota refuses to cover it stating that I hadn't had the steering gear replaced prior to whenever their dates were this is clearly faulty equipment and faulty machine work on the steering gear itself. why won't Toyota cover it? I tried contacting One Toyota and Downtown Toyota here in Oakland California and they told me that they wanted $250 to inspect my vehicle and that I would definitely have to pay for it because my vehicle was not under recall it states it is a recall if you look it up.It is worded recall if they're not going to cover it sounds like they're trying to back out of covering it until someone gets seriously hurt or killed like I almost did, I will never buy another Toyota again as long as I live because clearly they don't care about the faulty equipment on their vehicles that's going to hurt or kill someone. All they care about is the mighty dollar and that's just wrong. Safety has gone rite the window and if anyone reading this is thinking about buying a Toyota, I would seriously think twice.

Frequently asked questions

What are the most common problems on the 2012 Toyota Tundra?

Owners named Engine most often — 40 of 153 reports (26%). That is the NHTSA file, not a diagnosis of every vehicle.

Are there recalls for the 2012 Toyota Tundra?

NHTSA lists 4 safety recall campaigns. They were filed about Airbags and Steering. 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 Tundra?

Look up the VIN for open recalls. Have a shop check for oil consumption, coolant leaks, rough idle and unusual engine noise. 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.

EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record

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 2026-09-07 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.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Source: NHTSA ODI / recalls, snapshot 2026-09-07. YearTell is not a government agency.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources