2012 Toyota TUNDRA - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2012 Toyota Tundra PU/RC 2WD has a respectable safety rating of 4 out of 5. It performs well in front and side crash tests, with a combination of 4 and 5-star ratings in various categories. The vehicle is equipped with standard electronic stability control, which adds an extra layer of safety by helping the driver maintain control in slippery conditions. However, it does not have forward collision warning or lane departure warning features.

In terms of recalls and complaints, the Tundra has had 4 recalls reported and 146 complaints filed. While recalls indicate potential safety issues that have been identified and addressed, the number of complaints might suggest areas where the vehicle could be improved. Overall, the 2012 Toyota Tundra is a solid option in terms of safety, with room for enhancement in certain areas.

auto generated summary, may be inaccurate.

Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

146

Recall Count

4

Investigation Count

1

Safety Rating

4/5

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Safety Features

2012 Toyota Tundra PU/RC 2WD Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2012 Toyota Tundra PU/RC 2WD

Electronic Stability Control (ESC)

ESC is an advanced safety feature in vehicles designed to help drivers maintain control during challenging driving conditions. By continuously monitoring various factors such as steering angle, vehicle speed, and individual wheel speeds, ESC can detect and reduce the risk of skidding or loss of control. It achieves this by automatically applying brakes to specific wheels to stabilize the vehicle.

Standard
Forward Collision Warning (FCW)

Forward Collision Warning (FCW) is a safety feature in vehicles that helps prevent frontal collisions by alerting the driver of an imminent collision with a vehicle or obstacle ahead. Using sensors such as radar or cameras, FCW monitors the distance and speed of vehicles in front, and if it detects a potential collision, it provides visual and/or auditory warnings to prompt the driver to take evasive action.

No
Lane Departure Warning (LDW)

Lane Departure Warning (LDW) is a safety feature in vehicles that alerts drivers when their vehicle unintentionally drifts out of its lane without signaling. Utilizing cameras or sensors to monitor lane markings on the road, LDW detects when the vehicle crosses these lines and triggers visual, auditory, or haptic alerts to notify the driver of potential lane departure.

No

2012 Toyota Tundra PU/RC 2WD Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2012 Toyota Tundra PU/RC 2WD Where possible we've included the ratings for the oldest and latest models of this car so you can compare how the safety ratings have changed over time.

Frontal Crash Ratings

Combines Driver and Passenger star ratings into a single frontal rating. The frontal barrier test simulates a head-on collision between two similar vehicles, each moving at 35 mph.

Test 2005 Score 2012 Score 2024 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating Not Rated 4 Not Rated
Front Crash Driver Side Rating 4 4 Not Rated
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating 5 3 Not Rated

Side Crash Ratings

Combines Side Barrier and Side Pole Star Ratings into a single side rating.

Test 2005 Score 2012 Score 2024 Score
Overall Side Crash Rating Not Rated 5 Not Rated
Side Crash Drivers Side Rating Not Rated 5 Not Rated
Side Crash Passenger Side Rating Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Front Not Rated 5 Not Rated
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Rear Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated
Overall Side Barrier Rating Not Rated 5 Not Rated

Rollover Ratings

The Rollover Resistance test measures the risk of rollover in a single-vehicle, loss-of-control scenario.

Test 2005 Score 2012 Score 2024 Score
Rollover Rating Not Rated 3 Not Rated
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result No Tip
Side Pole Crash Rating Not Rated 5 Not Rated

Complaints for the 2012 Toyota TUNDRA

This chart show the number of complaints for each car component. A Higher number of complaints could indicate that this car might have a common fault. Something to look out for when purchasing one.

Component Complaints

Choose a component to see what complaints people have made about them.

Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2012 toyota tundra. the contact stated while starting the vehicle, the check engine warning light was illuminated. the contact stated that the light stayed illuminated while driving. the contact had taken the vehicle to an independent certified mechanic where it was diagnosed and determined that the secondary air injectors needed to be replaced. the mechanic informed the contact that the manufacturer had offered an extended warranty program to cover the failure under "warranty enhancement program zg6" for "air injection pumps and air switching valves" and that the warranty had expired several months prior. the vehicle had not been repaired. the manufacturer had been informed of the failure. the failure mileage was approximately 98,000."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2023-05-12
Complaint:
"secondary air injection system failed may 2019. all dash warning lights came on. researched on-line and found truck would not have accelerated past “limp mode” (25-30 mph). had to have vehicle towed to local toyota dealer as i was over 40 miles from home (all highway). toyota dealer diagnosed secondary air injection system failure. cost to repair over $3000. toyota has acknowledged this is a known design problem on the tundra “big” v8s but refuses to recognize this is a design problem on the 2012 4.6l v8 models. local dealer stated “we have lots of these lying around the shop so no problem getting the part.” indicating this is a common problem/repair. spoke directly with toyota corporate office who refused to acknowledge design fault or reimburse for repair. this is a huge safety issue caused by a known toyota design problem that needs to be investigated by nhtsa. toyota must be help accountable for this problem and made to correct the problem with a "recall"."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2020-05-05
Complaint:
"secondary air injection system failed june 2018. vehicle went into limp mode on highway, a dangerous situation as you go from 70 to 30 mph rather suddenly. alamo toyota dealership in san antonio stated code po418 and needs to have air pumps and valves replaced. cost estimate of $3362.57. toyota has acknowledged this is a design problem on certain toyota tundras but fails to recognize this is an issue on the 2012 4.6l v8 models. toyota needs to take responsibility that this is still an issue with the 2012 4.6l v8 models."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2018-12-06
Complaint:
"check engine light which when checked revealed air pump and air control valve failures. this is a known problem with 2006-2011 tundras that toyota issued an extended warranty for 10 years or 150,000 to replace these parts. there was additional extended warranty for 2012 with 5.7 liter engine but not the 4.6 liter engine. safety issue is when total failure occurs vehicle goes into limp mode with max speed of 25mph which would be bad at highway speeds. code was run by repair facility and copy is enclosed. email was sent to toyota corporate and upon phone call follow up, toyota refused to do anything towards the defect."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2022-03-09
Complaint:
"2012 toyota tundra cam carrier seal/cam tower leak on passenger side. the consumer stated once the oil pressure becomes higher than the bond holding the seal element, it begins to leak. the manufacturer was notified, but did not offer any assistance."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2017-04-04
Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2012 toyota tundra. the contact stated while driving 25 mph, he heard an abnormal sound, and the check engine warning light illuminated. the contact drove to his residence. the contact took the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the secondary air injection system to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer had been informed of the failure. the failure mileage was 95,899."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2023-04-05
Complaint:
"my tundra with 75,000 miles has a camshaft tower leak and this oil is falling into the exhaust manifold without being noticed because it doesn't make it to the floor, but it gets to the sensors and starts ruining them. toyota motor co knows about this issue in all their 5.7l engines and that its a factory robot error by not applying enough sealant in the gasket. and this is just being fixed if you are either under factory warranty or extended warranty. the vehicles loose power and if driving on a highway can cause a major accident. the least this company can do is offer a voluntary recall but they are refusing to do so because the fix will cost them $3500-$4000 from all their 5.7l engines assembled in the u.s. so for my safety and the safety of many toyota drivers and general highway drivers safety, i hope this would be taken into consideration. thank you"
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2020-02-11
Complaint:
"'12 toyota tundra appears to go into limp mode, brought it to the dealer ship, a recall was listed for something, didn't fix the issue. had to have about $1,500of work done. fixed the issue....for 1.5 months. back at the dealership again, throwing all the same codes for all the same parts. clearly the parts being used aren't a fix to the problem, and seems like more than just is are having the same issue. at this point it's playing with peoples lives. toyota dealt with this with earlier models but anything 2012 and up , nothing is being done. someone is going to get killed if these trucks go into limp mode on a highway and they get hit at 70-80 miles an hour from something out of the drivers control, that toyota knows about. when will a recall condo this, something needs to be done."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2022-02-06
Complaint:
"after filling up with gas and pulling onto highway there was no power like truck was in limp mode and tractor trailor had to swerve off of road to prevent severe accident. the secondary air injection has a severe mal function which toyota only recognized in earlier models and they extended warranty to 10 year and 150,000 miles. this is a severe problem i wish someone would investigate before it's too late and lives are lost. there is not much response time to make a quick decision during this moment. thank you"
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2020-08-08
Complaint:
"leaky tundra cam tower seal. toyota claims that they uses a epoxy type seal that has been found to leak, and needed to be replaced with different type of gasket seal..the charge for this approximately $ 5000.00 that they say is the consumers responsibility."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2019-01-12

Recalls for the 2012 Toyota TUNDRA

Component Recalls

Choose a component to see what recalls people have made about them.

Recall:
"toyota motor engineering & manufacturing (toyota) is recalling certain 2008-2022 sequoia and 2007-2021 tundra vehicles. the power steering gear assembly may have been manufactured incorrectly, which can result in an oil leak."
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.

Component(s) Involved: STEERING > HYDRAULIC POWER ASSIST SYSTEM
Date of incident: 2021-11-23
Recall:
"toyota motor engineering & manufacturing (toyota) is recalling certain jtekt power steering gear assembly service parts for 2007-2021 tundra and 2008-2022 sequoia, part numbers 44250-0c160, 44250-0c131, 44250-0c170, and 11250-0c121. the power steering gear assembly may have been manufactured incorrectly, which can result in an oil leak."
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.

Component(s) Involved: STEERING > HYDRAULIC POWER ASSIST SYSTEM
Date of incident: 2021-12-23

TOYOTA Overall Complaint Ranking

This table shows the ranking of car manufacturers when it comes to most complaints and recalls. The manufacturer with the most complaints is at the top. However this doesn't necassarily mean they should be avoided. Some manufacturers might just have more popular or affordable cars which a lot of people have bought. Which means there's more scope for a complaint to be made. Use the ranking table below as a part your wider research into buying a car.

TOYOTA ranks 3 out of 44 in the complaints ranking table.

Manufacturer Complaint Count Recall Count Ranking
FORD 208,358 3,259 1
CHEVROLET 111,306 2,082 2
TOYOTA 81,019 1,852 3
HONDA 61,937 1,268 4
NISSAN 56,226 930 5
DODGE 45,756 827 6
HYUNDAI 44,150 649 7
GMC 34,441 1,410 8
KIA 29,832 501 9
CHRYSLER 27,698 254 10
TESLA 26,230 730 11
BMW 24,890 1,877 12
VOLKSWAGEN 23,125 829 13
MERCEDES-BENZ 19,066 2,925 14
SUBARU 18,513 703 15
MAZDA 10,599 364 16
PONTIAC 10,430 138 17
CADILLAC 9,434 444 18
AUDI 7,865 1,093 19
BUICK 7,851 279 20
SATURN 7,672 84 21
MERCURY 7,374 135 22
LEXUS 6,373 408 23
LINCOLN 5,897 423 24
ACURA 5,722 382 25
MINI 5,585 366 26
INFINITI 4,000 187 27
MITSUBISHI 3,912 397 28
VOLVO 3,875 727 29
PORSCHE 2,646 1,231 30
SUZUKI 2,272 123 31
FIAT 2,205 80 32
SAAB 1,536 76 33
JAGUAR 1,195 198 34
SMART 528 17 35
GENESIS 436 42 36
ISUZU 249 37 37
ALFA ROMEO 161 37 38
MASERATI 76 46 39
BENTLEY 46 159 40
POLESTAR 42 2 41
LUCID 14 6 42
CODA 4 2 43
MAYBACH 0 0 44

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