Your vehicle report
1998 Toyota Tacoma
The problems owners report. The recalls to check. The evidence behind each.
Your vehicle at a glance
Complaint patterns and official recall records, kept distinct.
- Owner complaints
- 300
- Received Sep 1997 to Feb 2025
Owner reports
Most reported problems
- 1Frame rusts and corrodes through87 complaints · 29% of this vehicle’s complaints
- 2Airbags fail to deploy in crashes43 complaints · 14% of this vehicle’s complaints
- 3Tires blow out or tread separates29 complaints · 9.7% of this vehicle’s complaints
Official NHTSA records
Recalls to check
- Recall #98V188000Vehicle description: passenger vehicles. The statement required in the owner's manual that "...the on-off switch should only ben used when a member of a passenger risk group identified in the request form in appendix b......is occupying the right front passenger seating position..." is mis-stated. This does not comply with the requirements of FMVSS 208, "occupant crash protection."
BrakeNews signals
Flagged complaint patterns
Unusual complaint patterns with no matched recall yet. A flag does not mean a recall will happen.
No problems currently meet BrakeNews’s flagging criteria. This is not a safety rating.
How flags are identifiedComplaint counts reflect reports submitted to NHTSA, not failure rates or a reliability ranking. Reported in these complaints: 49 crashes, 0 fires, 29 people injured, 1 death.
Explore by system
Where do owners report problems?
Choose an area on the car or a system below to explore the reported problems.
Illustrative only; not this vehicle’s exact design. Areas represent complaint categories, not confirmed defective parts.
Showing all 14 listed problems by system.
Engine & powertrain
Brakes
Electrical & lights
Airbags, belts & seats
Steering, suspension & tires
Body, doors & glass
Driver assistance
No problems in this category meet this page’s listing criteria. This does not establish that the system is free of problems.
Other
No problems in this category meet this page’s listing criteria. This does not establish that the system is free of problems.
Complaint history
When NHTSA received these reports. Changes in reporting alone do not establish a change in failure rates.
Show as a table
| Year | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 2 |
| 1998 | 20 |
| 1999 | 50 |
| 2000 | 40 |
| 2001 | 16 |
| 2002 | 14 |
| 2003 | 6 |
| 2004 | 4 |
| 2005 | 7 |
| 2006 | 0 |
| 2007 | 18 |
| 2008 | 30 |
| 2009 | 2 |
| 2010 | 11 |
| 2011 | 6 |
| 2012 | 6 |
| 2013 | 7 |
| 2014 | 10 |
| 2015 | 11 |
| 2016 | 15 |
| 2017 | 13 |
| 2018 | 3 |
| 2019 | 3 |
| 2020 | 0 |
| 2021 | 2 |
| 2022 | 2 |
| 2023 | 1 |
| 2024 | 0 |
| 2025 | 1 |
| 2026 (to Oct 2026) | 0 |
| Total | 300 |
Problems owners report
Listed groups have at least 3 complaints. The page includes the 20 largest groups plus any additional flagged groups; some complaints are not assigned to a group.
| Problem | Complaints | Share | Share ratio | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frame rusts and corrodes through | 87 | 29% | – | |
| Airbags fail to deploy in crashes | 43 | 14% | – | |
| Tires blow out or tread separates | 29 | 9.7% | – | |
| Seat belt fails to latch or retract | 16 | 5.3% | – | |
| Unintended acceleration despite braking | 8 | 2.7% | – | |
| Steering wheel shakes violently at highway speed | 7 | 2.3% | – | |
| Brakes fail intermittently or repeatedly | 6 | 2.0% | – | |
| Coil springs break and puncture tires | 4 | 1.3% | – | |
| Headlights dim or fail at night | 3 | 1.0% | – | |
| Automatic transmission shifts unexpectedly or slips | 3 | 1.0% | – | |
| Ball joints wear out and fail | 3 | 1.0% | – | |
| Suspension clunking or rattling noise over bumps | 3 | 1.0% | – | |
| Front brake rotors warp and wear early | 3 | 1.0% | – | |
| Vehicle rolls backward out of park | 3 | 1.0% | – |
AI groups complaints by meaning; the groups are approximate. Share ratio compares the problem’s share of this vehicle’s complaints with its share on other vehicles over the last 24 months (shown from 3 recent complaints). A 2× ratio means twice the complaint share, not twice the failure risk. Flags mark unusual shares or recent surges after an AI review of the complaint content. “First signal” does not mean the pattern has persisted continuously.How recall estimates are calculated.
Recalls
NHTSA recall #98V188000August 6, 199884,323 vehicles affected
air bags: on-off switch assembly
Vehicle description: passenger vehicles. The statement required in the owner's manual that "...the on-off switch should only ben used when a member of a passenger risk group identified in the request form in appendix b......is occupying the right front passenger seating position..." is mis-stated. This does not comply with the requirements of FMVSS 208, "occupant crash protection."
If the air bag switch is "off," the seat occupant who is not a member of the passenger risk group would be subject to increased injury in the event of a vehicle crash.
Remedy
Owners will be sent a corrected owner's manual.
Other model years
About this data
NHTSA complaints and recalls through October 2026. Complaints are counted once each, however many components they name. Original complaints are on NHTSA's page for the 1998 Toyota Tacoma.
Problem groups are formed by AI and may be approximate. BrakeNews flags unusual complaint patterns; they are not official defect findings. Investigation reports are written and checked by AI, with no human review. Owner reports do not establish that a defect exists.
Read the methodology and track record · Check current recalls by VIN