2023 Toyota Corolla Complaints
Consumer complaints filed with NHTSA
73
Total
8
Crashes
1
Fires
4
Injuries
0
Deaths
Most Reported Components
Owner Complaint Reports
Showing 25 of 73 reports, crash, fire and injury reports first, then the most recently filed. The full set is on NHTSA.gov.
LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES — Filed 09/05/2026
My door actuators are going out on all my doors started with the driver door then the passenger rear door and now my driver rear door. This poses serious safety concerns, for example when Class Vehicles are involved in vehicular accidents because the occupants may become entrapped when the Door Actuator Defect prevents an occupant from unlocking the doors. Furthermore, this defect jeopardizes the safety of Vehicle occupants given that not all doors are capable of being manually unlocked from the exterior. Also another thing I would Like to add is that when I try to unlock the doors my only two working doors are my passenger front and back driver rear door but like I said it is starting to go out but I have to unlock them first then I have to use the key to the driver door just to get in cause if I do It the other way the car alarm will go off.
POWER TRAIN,SERVICE BRAKES — Filed 01/05/2026
On Monday, January 5, 2026 at approximately 3:15 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, in the middle of stopped traffic (leftmost lane, southbound on Van Nuys Boulevard near the Saticoy Street intersection in Los Angeles, California), the vehicle, a 2023 Toyota Corolla Hybrid LE, suddenly started slowly moving backward. The driver pressed on the brake pedal, but the vehicle did not stop. In a panic, the driver removed the key from the ignition, which immobilized the vehicle. While in the middle of traffic, the driver contacted a family member for assistance and the vehicle was towed to the driver's residence. On the following day, January 6, 2026, the vehicle was towed to a service center for inspection. It is unknown if the warning messages observed January 6, 2026 were due to the vehicle being towed. At the service center, a tire was replaced and the brake system was flushed, at the owner's expense. Afterward, the driver continued to operate the vehicle. As of August 5, 2026, this incident had not recurred.
POWER TRAIN — Filed 04/07/2026
I purchased a 2023 Toyota Corolla LE as a Toyota Gold Certified Pre-Owned vehicle on March 8, 2026 at 61,387 miles. Within 30 days of purchase I began experiencing the following safety concerns: •Vehicle revs to 5,000-6,000 RPM unexpectedly •Violent jerking while driving •Vehicle stalls On April 7, 2026 I brought the vehicle to the selling dealership. The technician confirmed experiencing the jerking and stalling personally during a test drive but documented it as “common operation” and “operating as designed.” I disagreed with this assessment in writing on their service document. A second Toyota dealership subsequently found cracked motor mounts and transmission mounts in multiple locations on a 3 year old vehicle. Replacement of these components did not resolve the issue. Transmission fluid drained at service was nearly black in color on a Gold Certified vehicle that supposedly passed a 160-point inspection including transmission health check. The vehicle is currently at the dealership unresolved after nearly two weeks. The stalling and RPM surging present a serious safety hazard particularly at highway speeds. I am requesting this be investigated as a potential safety defect.
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM — Filed 05/01/2025
The contact owns a 2023 Toyota Corolla. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the infotainment screen unexpectedly turned on and off. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who determined that the infotainment system needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000.
STRUCTURE,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,VISIBILITY/WIPER — Filed 11/01/2025
Component: VISIBILITY / SUN VISOR Vehicle: 2023 Toyota Corolla Both the driver-side and passenger-side sun visors in my 2023 Toyota Corolla have failed within approximately two years of normal use. The visors no longer remain in their intended position and instead fall downward unexpectedly. When this occurs, the visor drops directly into the driver’s field of vision, creating a significant safety hazard by obstructing forward visibility while driving. This condition can happen without warning and requires the driver to physically move the visor out of the way, causing distraction and increasing the risk of an accident. The vehicle has not been modified, damaged, or subjected to abnormal conditions. The visors were used only as intended. Sun exposure is a normal and expected condition for this component, and failure under these circumstances indicates a potential defect in materials or workmanship. Both visors failing in the same manner suggests a systemic issue rather than isolated wear and tear. The vehicle was taken to a Toyota dealership, where I was initially told the repair would be covered under the manufacturer’s warranty. However, the claim was later denied and classified as “wear and tear” due to sun exposure. Given the function of sun visors, this explanation is not reasonable. This issue presents an ongoing safety concern due to impaired driver visibility. I am submitting this complaint so that this defect can be reviewed and tracked for potential broader impact.
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER — Filed 05/30/2025
I am experiencing persistent and unresolved issues with the infotainment and display system in my Toyota Corolla, primarily involving Apple CarPlay overriding the driver display. Even when I manually disable the setting that allows CarPlay/navigation to take over the display behind the steering wheel, the system does not retain this setting. After turning the car off and restarting it, the navigation/map interface reappears and overrides the driver display again. This behavior is extremely distracting while driving and interferes with my ability to safely view normal vehicle information. It has created multiple situations where I felt at risk of a collision due to unexpected display changes and distraction. In addition, there are ongoing system malfunctions including: •Volume controls becoming unresponsive (the slider does not adjust sound), requiring the system to be restarted to function again. •Intermittent failure of the phone connection/charging port, where the device does not connect properly to the system. A prior software update temporarily addressed one issue, but the core problems persist. I have been attempting to resolve this through Ardmore Toyota dealership in PA for approximately one year without a meaningful fix or access to a qualified technician. This appears to be a recurring software or system defect that affects driver attention and vehicle operation. I am concerned this creates a significant safety risk for myself and others on the road. No one has taken me seriously even after I’ve gone to several Toyota dealerships over and over and I explained my concerns and they promise that I’ll be on a list of waitlist to be seen by a field tech technician however that has never happened and they are refusing to provide assistance.
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM — Filed 02/24/2026
The drivers side locking mechanism doesn’t work with the key fab all of a sudden and I have to climb in through my passenger side door
SERVICE BRAKES — Filed 02/20/2026
I have a Hybrid version of the 2023 Corolla in the SE trim. Everytime the car is cold (engine just started), and I'm pressing the brake, I can hear some clicking noises similar to a CV Axle noise when they are bad. That braking noise goes away as the car heat up. The noise is sensitive to speed, it changes frequency with it. I haven't experience loss of brakes but I'm concerned with the noise and the possibility of it.
ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM — Filed 12/10/2025
after fueling strong fuel smell in vehicle within 100 miles check fuel cap light came on. next day check engine light came on. made appointment at dealership . dealership performed evap smoke test which found smoke coming from top of fuel cell. installed fuel pump ring and evap hose clip. performed evap test and smoke test -passed cleared codes. got car back next day less than 50 miles later ck engine code and fuel cap and fuel odor back.
POWER TRAIN,SERVICE BRAKES — Filed 11/25/2025
The contact owns a 2023 Toyota Corolla. The contact stated that whenever the vehicle was shifted to park(P), the word (P) was illuminated on the PRNDL, but the word was not displayed on the instrument cluster. The contact stated that while shifted to drive(D) there was no indication of drive on the PRNDL, or the instrument cluster, and the vehicle failed to respond. The contact stated that the failure had occurred while shifted to reverse(R). The contact had been advised by a mechanic on how to reset the parking brake to be able to shift to park(P), drive(D) or reverse(R). The contact had been advised to lift the parking brake lever and hold it for 5 seconds and then depress the lever and hold for 5 seconds. The contact was able to shift to any gear, and the vehicle would move after performing the reset. The contact normally did not engage the parking brake, however, when the failure first occurred, the warning "EPB Stopped Completely" illuminated twice but had not illuminated in weeks. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent but had gradually become a recurring failure. The contact had not taken the vehicle to a local dealer or independent mechanic. The vehicle was not diagnosed and was not repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 55,000.
EXTERIOR LIGHTING,LANE DEPARTURE — Filed 10/16/2025
Moisture and water got into the front head light causing it to go out . The blinker , low light and bright light on front driver went out while I was on the highway.
ENGINE — Filed 10/15/2025
I got a message that the engine needs maintenance and I should go to the dealership and have the coolant bypass valve repaired. I see there's a lawsuit against Toyota for a manufacturing defect in that component on 2019-2023 Corollas. I'd like to know if I'll get a refund.
ENGINE — Filed 10/20/2025
A message came out that I need to maintain the engine and take it to the concierge and they told me that it is the coolant by pass valve
UNKNOWN OR OTHER — Filed 10/07/2025
7 months ago when my car had 56k miles my transmission was bad and they replaced but now is giving problems again i took it to lia toyota of rockland and they didn’t do anything about it, that the transmission is ok, but bad smell is coming out of the transmission and is hard to shift and it gives like hard pull when it changes into gear and u can hear the clunky sound of the transmission and it has only run for 19k miles and it has been only 7 months since they replaced
BACK OVER PREVENTION — Filed 01/01/2024
There's an electrical problem going on with all Toyota vehicles coming out with the new navigation system where goes out and keeps rebooting. Multiple times on cars a year have reported this issue. Causes a distraction as screen goes on and off randomly as you drive and backing up. Also without it you can't see your GPS and find routes. Just simple search and there's many complaints about this issue from consumers being affected as fast as 10 miles into owning car to month or six. Not worth repairing as goes out every other month and don't even last a year before goes out.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER — Filed 08/01/2025
My Toyota, the 12.3-inch display screen fails to turn on when I start the vehicles or could unexpectedly shut down while driving.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER — Filed 03/28/2025
While driving my vehicle Southbound on [XXX] in the Simpsonville/Fountain Inn area of South Carolina, my vehicle suffered some sort of catastrophic failure while driving and became completely engulfed in flames. The vehicle was a total loss. The vehicle had been serviced a little over a month prior to this incident happening. The fire department took a report for the fire. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE — Filed 10/31/2024
We were driving on [XXX] near Norcross, GA about 200 ft from exit [XXX] at a constant speed of around 70 mph, when suddenly the vehicle displayed 'system malfunction' and started veering on its own and the brakes wouldn't work. It kept veering to the right and crashed into a vehicle 2 lanes away and rebounded back to the original lane and came to a halt with a message displayed 'Shifting to P'. The malfunction and loss of control, along with the brakes not functioning those few seconds/minutes put our lives and others' on the road at risk. The vehicle is available for inspection. The vehicle was towed on the day of the accident and then taken into a Toyota dealership and is currently there. The vehicle has not yet been repaired. Toyota sent a third-party inspector to gather data from the vehicle but that turned out to be merely the crash data up to 5 seconds prior by which time the malfunction had already occurred and the vehicle speed was down from 70mph to 31mph. The incident occurred on Thursday, [XXX]. We do not feel safe driving that vehicle again. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE — Filed 11/05/2024
To start, on [XXX], I was going through an intersection on a country road and my automatic emergency braking engaged for no reason. My car stopped despite no other vehicle or object being in my way or anywhere close to me. I found it really weird but did not think much about after the fact. I have also heard a rattling noise under my hood since [XXX] and have reported this to Toyota and tried to have it fixed multiple times (and showed them videos) but they were never able to duplicate the noise so it has not been remedied. On [XXX] I was traveling on a highway during rush hour and the traffic in front of me came to a sudden stop. I braked as hard as I could; my automatic emergency braking did not engage and I rear ended the car in front of me (minimal damage to that car). We both immediately pulled partway onto the narrow left berm (we had both been in the left lane to get onto another highway). My car then turned off by itself and gave me an engine warning (I believe low engine oil- I had just had it serviced 3 days prior). The other car owner and I exchanged information quickly and decided to drive away because we were blocking rush hour traffic and it was dangerous. However, my car would not start back up. I called 911 and they came to use their vehicle to push me to the right side of the highway onto an exit where I was no longer blocking traffic. During the wait, I felt like I was going to die with traffic honking and swerving to avoid me. When the police officer was moving my car, the parking brake engaged when I put the car in neutral and would not turn off, so the smell of burning rubber was strong since the tires would not roll. Once the tow truck driver arrived he was able to use jumper cables to disengage the parking brake but the car still would not start. There were no prior warning lights. The car not starting was confirmed by the dealer- they are holding off doing maintenance to have an engineer check out the car and figure out what happened. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
STEERING,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE — Filed 10/31/2024
On [XXX], around 7:45 PM, My husband and I were driving on [XXX] from Atlanta to visit family at John’s Creek. We were driving at a steady speed of approximately 70mph on the second lane from the left when all of a sudden, the vehicle displayed a 'malfunction' alert and began swerving uncontrollably. Despite our attempts to regain control, the car swerved right, striking another vehicle three lanes away. We had no control over the steering or bringing the car to a safe stop. After colliding with the other vehicle, it then returned to its original lane and came to a sudden stop with a message displayed stating 'Shifting to P'. During this incident, an SOS call was automatically placed to Toyota, and we were subsequently connected to 911 through them. Our vehicle got damaged due to this and so did the other vehicle that got hit. The vehicle not only endangered our lives but was also a potential harm to others on the road. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
AIR BAGS — Filed 04/26/2024
I was in a extremely bad accident, I was parked waiting for the light to turn green, when i felt a massive bang from the back and glided me to the next car, car was totaled and the car was saying the airbags deployed and none deployed at all. There was 4 passengers in total and at the very least one should have deployed.
STEERING,LANE DEPARTURE — Filed 12/22/2023
I was Useing the lane keeping assist and steering assist. i was driving down the hyw and parts of the solid white line to the right of me was faded or missing with no sholders. a wide truck that was about to pass me going the opposite direction had crossed over the center lane line and the stearing assist jolted me to the right where there was no visible line as i tryed to turn the steerting wheel to the left the assist jolted me to the right as the line became visible again causing us to go in to a big ditch
AIR BAGS,SEAT BELTS,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE — Filed 06/22/2023
Coming home from work at 9:40pm a deer hit my car. I got no notification from my car about an object near my vehicle. I stopped my car lights were flashing and the operator on my car assist came on about detecting an accident. My cab filled with smoke and a funny smell. I thought the car was on fire. So I jumped out ambulance and cops showed up. My car got towed to Clifton collision in Clifton Texas. Later I found out that the air bags should have deployed . All my seat belts are locked up in the front and back. But no air bag deployment. The air bag light is on. After 4 months of my vehicle in the shop with me making payments and insurance payments still no vehicle back for me. My car sits at Toyota in Waco. Jeff hunter toyota waiting on emcu for the air bags with no eta. All the seatbelts had to be cut out of the car and the air bags replaced. I have called Toyota advocate to try to resolve my problem and still no help from them. This is a major safety concern that could take someone’s life.
AIR BAGS — Filed 09/12/2023
My wife & I were involved in a 4 vehicle accident on Tuesday September 12, 2023 at approximately 4:30pm. We were traveling north on Highway 17 ( Ogeechee road ) toward Savannah Georgia. We had stopped at the 2nd red light at Highway 204 & 17. The light turned green and the vehicles in front of me started moving, we proceeded north and went through the green traffic light at Little Neck road about 500 feet beyond the intersection all of the sudden everyone was stopped, before I could react to it I was rear ended by a 2013 Toyota Venza which in turn made me hit a 2016 Dodge Ram pickup truck which in turn caused him to hit the vehicle that was stopped a 2002 Chevrolet Silverado. I couldn't see why the Silverado was stopped because the Dodge Ram was blocking my view.. I would estimate my speed at the time of impact between 30mph to 40 mph.. The airbags in my car did not deploy, fortunately we were wearing our seatbelts. Luckily no one was seriously injured in this accident. So our main question is " why " didn't our airbags deploy??
BACK OVER PREVENTION — Filed 04/06/2023
Just today, I was driving my 2023 corolla when I accidentally rear ended someone. We were getting off the highway and they were taking a right turn and second guessed themselves while I was focusing on the oncoming traffic. Usually my car would notify me of there being an obstacle in front of me as it is equipped with a pre-collision system. This time however, it did not brake or notify me resulting in me rear ending the car in front of me and causing damage to my car.
About This Data
Complaints are filed by vehicle owners with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). They represent individual consumer experiences and do not necessarily indicate a widespread defect.
View on NHTSA.gov