Owners have filed 16 complaints on the Toyota Scion tC, covering 2007–2008. The system named most often is Engine (11 reports). Worst years by volume: 2007, 2008; cleanest: 2008, 2007. On average the car was 12.4 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Toyota Scion tC
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 16 Scion tC complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Engine 11 Read
My tc has very high oil consumption. Starting day one from oil change, I have to add at least 2 quarts of oil to engine during the 5000 miles oil change. This car is very high oil consumption, I brought to dealer and have it tested twice, but dealer said not qualified. First test was 11-09-15, second test was…
High oil consumtion
Uses too much oil between oil change. 1quart low at 2000 miles. Should not burn this much oil. I have researched other vehicles having this same issue and this needs to be fixed. I checked Toyota website but it doesn’t show a recall for this car and it is have an issue that needs to be corrected. I scheduled an…
Steering 1 Read
I have newish wheels and tires. Last year I took my car into les schawb to get an alignment done on my car thinking that is what the problem was. The guy afterwards told me he fixed it as well as he could but wondered if I had hit something in the back and that's all he told me. My steering wheel shakes back and…
Electrical System 1 Read
The contact owns a 2008 Scion TC. The contact stated that the trunk rubber seal had melted onto the bumper, causing the battery to drain and the electrical system to fail with several unknown warning lights illuminated. The dealer was made aware of the failure; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The…
Structure 1 Read
Plate over back hatch just below third brake light detaches & hangs by a cable. It swings while driving & scratches the bottom of the hatch & back fender. If cable breaks while driving it will become airborne. The hatch plate hooks snapped off while the vehicle was stationary & I was opening the hatch. Now that it's…
Suspension 1 Read
I just buy it. But its on name of my girlfriend daisy. If you can help me with the recalls I can get please thanks
Power Train 1 Read
Literally just bought the vehicle. Only to look into the history of these cars and see that they have a factory defect that was never professionally taken care of. Now anyone like me coming into ownership of these vehicles are punished for something we had no knowledge of nor caused.I was driving my car today down a…
Scion tC 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 2007 | 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 | 14 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.1 |
| Worst single series | 2 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 12.4 years |
A model average of 1.1 hides a worst series at 2. 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
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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 Scion tC?
By complaint volume, 2007, 2008 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 Scion tC years are the cleanest?
2008, 2007 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Toyota Scion tC have?
16 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2007–2008. Of those, 0 describe a crash and 0 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.