Owners have filed 97 complaints on the Scion xD, covering 2006–2014. The system named most often is Service Brakes (15 reports). Worst years by volume: 2008, 2009, 2010; cleanest: 2006, 2013, 2011. 14 reports describe a crash, 6 a fire. On average the car was 5.7 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Scion xD
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 97 xD complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Service Brakes 15 Read
While returning home on nov.19, 2009 there was fresh snow and cold temperatures. Approaching an intersection, a garbage truck failed to yield the right of way. I applied the brakes on my 2008 scion xd and they locked, the ABS failed to activate. This resulted in an injury accident. After the car was in the body shop I…
The contact owns a 2008 toyota scion xd. The contact stated that the anti lock brake would engage independently with the illumination of the brake lights when the contact had engaged the brakes even on dry pavement. The failure was intermittent and would recur while driving at any speed. The vehicle was taken to an…
The contact owns a 2008 toyota scion. The contact stated that the dealer told her that the ABS sensor failed. The failure caused every other warning light to come on. The dealer does not have the parts available to replace the sensor. The manufacturer stated that even though the ABS sensor failed they insist that the…
Electrical System 14 Read
While car running on the local road, approx. 40 mph, rear window from driver side rolled down itself and a lot of smoke started coming out from power window master switch controls and from driver side window, inside. Two of four switches from master switch control then melted and pushed all the way down, seems like…
I was turning on a left on a major street to small street. Alll cars in the opposite direction was stopped due to a street light a block away. It was a 2 lane street along with street curb parking. Both cars on each lane had stopped for me n as I was turning left another car appeared suddenly and as I pressed the…
My battery went dead while I was at work as I had left the lights on. When it was time to go home, I was unable to unlock my doors with the key fob. There was one place to unlock the door manually and it was the driver door. I unlocked that and reached over to unlock the passenger door. I reached back to unlock the…
Vehicle Speed Control 11 Read
My sister's toyota scions xd was involved in a multi cars accident on sept. 9, 2010 around 6:00 pm. The scions was first involved into 1 sudden and right afterward the car suddenly accelerated closed to 100 mph and it went about quarter mile before it hit another car. It finally stopped when the car hit a road guide
Was stopping behind a line of cars on an exit ramp, mashed brake pedal and brake did not stop car completely,hit truck in front of me rolled back and hit it again rolled back again and finally had to pull emergency brake to get car to stop completely
The contact owns a 2008 toyota scion xd. While driving approximately 34 mph, the vehicle spontaneously jerked to the right. The contact depressed the brake pedal, but the vehicle would not stop. The vehicle crashed into a parked vehicle and some bushes; however, the only thing that stopped the vehicle was the mud. The…
Suspension 11 Read
Right rear axel is cracked and broken, wheel is rubbing on inside weel well, car is un driveable until it's fixed and has a very large cost to repair
Read axle beam broke on the right side. Appears to have rusted through
A major safety structural defect has developed in the rear axle beam. About 50 percent of the welds failed where the passenger side swing arm attaches to the rest of the axle. The lack of support ended up creating about a three inch stress crack across the width of the swing arm tube. This could have led to a complete…
Air Bags 8 Read
I was the driver and only passenger of my 2012 scion xb when I was tboned in the driver door by another vehicle. I was hit hard enough that the car looks almost bent in half and it was deemed a total loss. Even though I was hit so hard, no airbags deployed at all. The door was crushed in on me and I was knocked…
The contact owns a 2010 toyota scion xd. The contact stated that while making a left turn at approximately 15 mph, another vehicle crashed into the contact causing the contact to lose control of the vehicle. The contact crashed into a traffic sign and the air bags did not deploy. A police report was filed. The driver…
The contact owns a 2009 toyota scion xd. While driving approximately 45 mph, the contact struck an animal in the middle of the road and immediately swayed off of the road over an embankment. The vehicle went airborne and landed at an 90 degree angle where the front end crashed towards the ground. The driver suffered…
Seats 6 Read
While stopped at a red light I had a rear end collision by a ford f250 into my scion xd then knocking me into a toyota van in front of me. Drivers air bag deployed. When the car came to a stop I went to lay back in my seat and my head fell back, that is when I noticed the head rest was missing. When I looked for it…
The contact owns a 2010 toyota scion xd. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 14V169000 (seats) and stated that the part needed was not available for an extended period of time. The dealer did not give a specific date for when the part would become available. The manufacturer was contacted and…
The contact owns a 2008 toyota scion xd. The contact received a recall notification for NHTSA campaign number: 14V169000 (seats); however, the part needed to do the repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repairs. The manufacturer was made…
Engine 5 Read
Brief engine knock/rattle noise at cold startup. When starting the vehicle after a cold soak startup, the vehicle exhibits a brief knock/rattle noise from the engine compartment for approximately one second
Leaking water pump. The pump starting leaking around 31,000 miles. It was a minor weep from the drain hole at the bottom of the pump at that time. At 40071 miles the pump needed to be replaced. Warranty on the xd had lapsed by four months. Toyota would not reimburse for repair
Water pump went on the car at 63,000 miles, with no warning whatsoever. Bearings came flying out of the water pump, belt fell off and car wouldn't drive. $75 part. $950 for labor
Steering 4 Read
The steering wheel seems to be very stiff and won't move unless I crank the wheel to turn. It has happened when I was pulling out of my driveway. All of my fluids are full and I have no leaks in my car, everything checked out in a multipoint inspection
I own a 2008 scion xd (aka corolla hatchback) that has steering problems ever since I bought it new in 2008. The vehicle has electrical powered steering. It is difficult to keep the car in the lane when driving at highway speeds. It tends to wander around in the lane and requires constant monitoring to avoid drifting…
While driving on any ordinary day my car began making loud noises in the front and made the car feel as though it's jerking when I brake. My husband looked under the car and said he could see a bolt that looks rusty and "the top is gone." I took my car to the toyota dealership and they confirmed that the #2 control…
xD years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Engine | — | 3 | |
| 2013 | Steering | — | — | |
| 2012 | Air Bags | 2 | 2 | |
| 2011 | Seats | 1 | — | |
| 2010 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 2009 | Air Bags | 3 | 1 | |
| 2008 | Air Bags | 7 | — | |
| 2006 | Engine | — | — |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 40 |
| Average complaints per series | 2.4 |
| Worst single series | 11 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 5.7 years |
A model average of 2.4 hides a worst series at 11. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
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- No ads, no tracking — and much more
How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the xD?
By complaint volume, 2008, 2009, 2010 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which xD years are the cleanest?
2006, 2013, 2011 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Scion xD have?
97 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2006–2014. Of those, 14 describe a crash and 6 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.