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2012 Toyota Corolla Problems and Recalls
Owners filed 446 complaints with NHTSA about the 2012 Toyota Corolla, most often about the air bags (83% of complaints, typically around 45,000 miles). It is 9th of 27 Corolla model years by number of complaints and has 5 recalls.
Most common 2012 Toyota Corolla problems
Air bags
370 complaints · 83%Half of these problems showed up before 45,000 miles.
As I was driving on the freeway, another vehicle lost control in front of me and I collided with it. The front of my car impacted the driver-side/rear-end of the other vehicle. I was going approximately 60-65 MPH. I was wearing my seat belt, but my airbags did not deploy. As a result of the airbag not deploying, I…
Takata recall I have contacted jeff hunter Toyota in waco tx on numerous occasions since the first recall notification in maybe february 2016. I always get another excuse for not fixing the recalled air bags. Several times it was they didn't have the part then it was the hurricane. I am driving a potentially deadly…
Steering
18 complaints · 4%Half of these problems showed up before 4,000 miles. Parts named most often: electric power assist system.
This is the second time I report this issue. I logged 1,500miles roundtrip from houston to el paso. This is also the 4th longest trip I have taken in this car. The problem is the steering is dangerous over 65+ MPH! The front end of the car feels like it floats at highway speeds. I have zero feeling of the road from my…
The contact owns a 2012 Toyota Corolla. The contact stated that the steering wheel made a rubbing noise while it was turning. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who stated that it was normal for the steering wheel to make that noise. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure.…
Speed control
16 complaints · 4%Half of these problems showed up before 25,500 miles. Parts named most often: accelerator pedal.
The contact owns a 2012 Toyota Corolla. While the vehicle was driving in reverse at 5 MPH, it began to accelerate forward without warning. The failure recurred twice. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where the cause of the failure was not determined. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the…
While driving northbound on interstate I-75 home during rush hour in the metro-detroit area, the vehicle sped up in excess of 90mph! I almost caused a collision. The gas pedal did not react to my foot not even being on the pedal! I braked and pumped the brake to only control my speed. When I finally got the vehicle to…
Body and structure
14 complaints · 3%Half of these problems showed up before 36,000 miles. Parts named most often: body.
I was going to park my car in an empty parking spot, was just in idle speed putting the car into the parking space when all of it sudden the car started accelerating by itself. Because of the acceleration my car hit the car that was park in front of me, the acceleration was so sudden and it pick up enough speed and…
I was driving around one day with my windows down, and all of a sudden it started raining, I went to roll my windows up and surprisingly they didn't work. None of them. When I got back to my house and parked I tried to see if it was a fuse problem but no such luck. The lock/unlock buttons wouldn't work either. A few…
Electrical
13 complaints · 3%Half of these problems showed up before 41,000 miles.
I was driving around one day with my windows down, and all of a sudden it started raining, I went to roll my windows up and surprisingly they didn't work. None of them. When I got back to my house and parked I tried to see if it was a fuse problem but no such luck. The lock/unlock buttons wouldn't work either. A few…
My 2012 Toyota Corolla has issues with the electric locks. When I try unlocking my vehicle using the keypad or the electric locks within the vehicle, it simply does not work on my two front doors despite having electric locks in my vehicle. My research of other customers' issues online reveal similar issues to mine.…
Brakes
11 complaints · 3%Half of these problems showed up before 21,500 miles.
Accident occurred when trying to park Toyota Corolla 2012 in a grass parking space. Driver (me) began to brake to get into the designated parking space, the engine revved up and the vehicle accelerated (as if it has a "mind of its own") until it struck the vehicle parked in front, driver continued to apply brakes but…
While waiting for the traffic light to change and my foot on the brakes, the car suddenly accelerated and despite shifting to park and pulling on the emergency brake the car continued to rev very high for several minutes. Just prior to acceleration, the car's brakes became very soft and sunk all the way to the floor…
Other or unspecified
11 complaints · 3%Half of these problems showed up before 37,000 miles.
Unexpected acceleration, which almost caused a major accident at a gas pump. The car was in motion and slowing to stop at the gas pump. This happened once a few years ago while pulling into a parking lot. Very dangerous situation.
My 2012 Toyota Corolla has issues with the electric locks. When I try unlocking my vehicle using the keypad or the electric locks within the vehicle, it simply does not work on my two front doors despite having electric locks in my vehicle. My research of other customers' issues online reveal similar issues to mine.…
Transmission
8 complaints · 2%Half of these problems showed up before 18,000 miles. Parts named most often: automatic transmission.
While waiting for the traffic light to change and my foot on the brakes, the car suddenly accelerated and despite shifting to park and pulling on the emergency brake the car continued to rev very high for several minutes. Just prior to acceleration, the car's brakes became very soft and sunk all the way to the floor…
Sudden unintended acceleration from stop. Put car in drive after backing out and it shot forward about 25' into a tree. Major damage to car. No injuries.
Complaints are owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects. One complaint can name several components, so shares add up to more than 100%.
2012 Toyota Corolla recalls
Air bags: air bag/restraint control module
Risk: In the event of a crash, air bags and/or seat belt pretensioners that do not deploy as intended may increase the risk of injury.
Fix: Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the ecu and install a noise filter between the air bag control module and its wire harness, as necessary, free of charge. Owners were notified of the safety risk beginning march 2, 2020. A second letter notifying owners of the remedy repair will be mailed between march 16, 2020 and june 27, 2020. Owners may contact toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371. Toyota's numbers for this recall are 20tb03, 20ta03 and 20ta05.
Full defect summary
Toyota motor engineering & manufacturing (toyota) is recalling certain 2011-2019 corolla, 2011-2013 matrix, 2012-2018 avalon, and 2013-2018 avalon hybrid vehicles. During certain crashes, the air bag electronic control unit (ecu) may malfunction, possibly disabling the deployment of the air bags and/or seat belt pretensioners.
Air bags: inflator module
Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: 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.
Full defect summary
Toyota motor engineering & manufacturing (toyota) is recalling certain 2010-2016 4runner, 2003-2006 tundra, 2003-2013 corolla, 2009-2010 corolla matrix, 2004-2005 rav4, 2002-2007 sequoia, 2011-2013 sienna, 2008-2012 scion xb, 2008-2009 lexus is-f, 2007-2012 yaris and lexus es350, 2010-2017 lexus gx460, 2002-2010 lexus sc430, 2006-2012 lexus is250 and is350 and 2010-2015 lexus is250c and is350c vehicles. These vehicles had their driver or passenger frontal air bag inflators previously replaced under a prior recall using inflators of the same design. The inflators may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, temperature and temperature cycling.
Air bags: inflator module
Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: 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.
Full defect summary
Toyota motor engineering & manufacturing (toyota) is recalling certain 2014-2016 toyota 4runner, 2014-2015 scion xb, lexus is350c, is250c, 2014 toyota sienna, lexus is-f, and 2014-2017 lexus gx460 vehicles sold, or ever registered in the states of alabama, california, florida, georgia, hawaii, louisiana, mississippi, south carolina, texas, puerto rico, american samoa, guam, the northern mariana islands (saipan), and the u.s. Virgin islands or "zone a." toyota is also recalling certain 2011-2013 toyota corolla, corolla matrix, lexus is250, is350, 2011-2016 4runner, 2011-2015 scion xb, lexus is350c, is250c, 2011-2014 toyota sienna, lexus is-f, 2011-2017 lexus gx460, and 2011-2012 lexus es350 vehicles ever registered in the states of arizona, arkansas, delaware, district of columbia, illinois, indiana, kansas, kentucky, maryland, missouri, nebraska, nevada, new jersey, new mexico, north car
Air bags: inflator module
Risk: An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: 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).
Full defect summary
Toyota motor engineering & manufacturing (toyota) is recalling certain 2012 toyota 4runner, corolla, corolla matrix, sienna, yaris, scion xb, lexus es350, gx460, is-f, is250, is350, is250c, is350c, and lexus lfa vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in alabama, california, florida, georgia, hawaii, louisiana, mississippi, south carolina, texas, puerto rico, american samoa, guam, the northern mariana islands (saipan), and the u.s. Virgin islands, or "zone a." additionally, unless included in "zone a" above, toyota is recalling certain 2009 toyota corolla, corolla matrix, yaris, yaris hb, scion xb, pontiac vibe, lexus, es350, is250, is350, and is-f vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in arizona, arkansas, delaware, district of columbia, illinois, indiana, kansas, kentucky, maryland, missouri, nebraska, nevada, new jersey, new mexico, north carolina, ohio, oklahoma, pennsy
Seats
Risk: 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.
Fix: 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.
Full defect summary
Southeast toyota distributors, llc (set) is recalling certain models interspersed through model years 2009 through 2013 as follows: model year 2009-2012 tacoma, 4runner, camry, camry hybrid, prius, and rav4; model year 2009-2010 avalon, fj cruiser, and highlander hybrid; model year 2010-2013 model year corolla, sienna and tundra; model year 2009-2013 highlander and venza; model year 2012 prius v; and model year 2010-2012 sequoia. During modification by set to include accessories such as leather seat covers, seat heaters or headrest dvd systems, these vehicles may not have had the passenger seat occupant sensing system calibration tested. Without passing the calibration test, the occupant sensing system may not operate as designed.
Recall repairs are free at any franchised dealer. Enter your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which recalls are still open on your car.
NHTSA defect investigations
Desiccated air bag inflator rupture
Summary
From 2000 through 2017, takata produced millions of air bag inflators using two types of phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate ("psan") propellant -- propellant 2004 and propellant 2004l. After prolonged exposure to high temperature cycles and humidity, inflators using propellant 2004 can degrade, causing the propellant to burn too quickly when ignited. The rapid burning can cause the inflator to rupture during deployment, potentially causing serious or even fatal injury to vehicle occupants. See 2016 blomquist report at www.NHTSA.gov/sites/NHTSA.gov/files/documents/expert_report-hrblomquist.pdf.consequently, all frontal inflators using propellant 2004 that do not contain a "desiccant" (a substa
Electrical overstress
Summary
The office of defects investigation (odi) opened this investigation to determine if the failure of airbags to deploy during severe crashes, in certain vehicles, was the result of a safety related defect.â during the investigation a complex failure was studied that can result in non-deployment of subject vehicle air bags and other restraint system devices in severe crash events. The subject vehicles may be equipped with an airbag control unit (acu) for the supplemental restraint system (SRS) electronic control unit (ecu) manufactured by zf-trw. â the ecu receives signals from crash sensors mounted in the vehicle and deploys the vehicle air bags and seat belt pretensioners in accordance with m
Questions about the 2012 Toyota Corolla
- What are the most common problems with the 2012 Toyota Corolla?
- By NHTSA owner complaints: air bags (370 complaints, typically around 45,000 miles); steering (18 complaints, typically around 4,000 miles); speed control (16 complaints, typically around 25,500 miles).
- How many recalls does the 2012 Toyota Corolla have?
- 5 recalls listed by NHTSA, the latest from January 17, 2020 (air bags). Check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which ones are still open on your car.
- Is the 2012 a bad year for the Toyota Corolla?
- It is 9th of 27 Corolla model years by number of complaints, with 446 complaints. Complaint counts are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, so popular years collect more of them, and the newest years have had less time to.