Owners have filed 205 complaints on the Toyota Tercel, covering 1982–1998. The system named most often is Air Bags (41 reports). Worst years by volume: 1995, 1993, 1996; cleanest: 1982, 1983, 1985. 53 reports describe a crash, 11 a fire, 3 a death. On average the car was 5.5 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Toyota Tercel
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 205 Tercel complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Air Bags 41 Read
Low speed impact accident, airbags deployed, passenger side airbag caught fire. Toyota was contacted but after inspeciton send memo that fire was not caused by a manufacturing or design defect. No assistance was offered. Car was totalled by insurance due to cost to replace airbags. If this is a "safety feature" why…
Was traveling approximately 35mph when another vehicle was rearended by the tercel. Upon impact, air bags did not deploy
1995 chevrolet 1500 pickup ran stop sign, tercel broadsided the truck at 30 mph. Despite hitting another vehicle straight on, neither airbag deployed in the car. The tercel was totalled and driver sustained minor injuries from the seatbelt
Seat Belts 31 Read
Lap/shoulder belt on passenger side will not retract,on impact did not lockup impact 6:00 position vehicle was at complete stop. Tt
Vehicle impact accident at 11:00 position, speed 45 mph, driver's side lap/shoulder belt did not retract, resulting in an injury
Consumer was in an accident and the the seat belt did not restrain her in seat, resulting in an injury
Engine And Engine Cooling 25 Read
Vehicle fire
Overheating of the catalytic converter causing vehicle fire
Vehicle fire due to possible engine failure, prior to fire the transmission was replaced. (ohio traffic crash report)
Service Brakes 16 Read
The contact owned a 1996 toyota tercel. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 35 mph, the front passenger's side brake rotor fractured. As a result, the front passengers wheel seized and the other wheels lost hydraulic pressure causing the vehicle to spin out of control crashing into a concrete wall.…
Poor performance of the brake system. Tt
Driving up steep hill, turned around, brakes not working, vehicle went faster as brakes applied, hit fence, went into bankment, airbag did not deploy
Visibility 15 Read
Heater fan motor overheated, resulting in a fire
Windshield wiper motor shorted, causing fire in engine compartment
An electrical short in the wiring, caused the windshield wiper motor to catch on fire, while vehicle was parked
Electrical System 11 Read
The contact owns 1996 toyota tercel. While driving 60 mph white smoke was coming from the dashboard. The smoke turned into a fire that was extinguished by the contact. The fire melted a hole in the steering column. The vehicle was taken to a mechanic and the failure was diagnosed as an electrical short caused by a…
Electrical fire
Brake light wiring shorted out, causing fire in rear of vehicle
Fuel System 11 Read
Fittings are not compatiple with fuel filter and they are forced in the factory this cause I have to change all the fuel line to change the fuel filter if I don't do this this cause a fuel leak
Oxygen sensor failed
Carburetor failure
Tires 10 Read
This is a recount of events in which my tire failed. I began my commute to work by entering onto a good condition state highway and began driving 65 mph around 6:30 am edt. Approximately 5 minutes into the drive with lite traffic, I decided to change from the middle lane into the right hand lane. During this lane…
On 8/29/1999 my daughters boyfriend and her brother were on their way to datona, fl for the week. Nearing datona her left rear tire started to break ts tread and her boyfriend lost controll of the car and crossed into the median and cut acrros an approaching car which hit her car on the right side broadside. She was…
That day, when I drive in rt 21, I suddently lost control, hit to another SUV, we slow down( DOT number: )
Tercel 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 1997 | Air Bags | 4 | — | |
| 1996 | Air Bags | 7 | 2 | |
| 1995 | Air Bags | 11 | 1 | |
| 1994 | Air Bags | 10 | 3 | |
| 1993 | Air Bags | 11 | — | |
| 1992 | Electrical System | 2 | 1 | |
| 1991 | Electrical System | 1 | 1 | |
| 1990 | Electrical System | 2 | 2 | |
| 1989 | Exterior Lighting | 3 | — | |
| 1988 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | — | |
| 1987 | Electrical System | — | 1 | |
| 1986 | Fuel System, Gasoline | — | — | |
| 1985 | Tires | — | — | |
| 1984 | Engine And Engine Cooling | 1 | — | |
| 1983 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 1982 | Suspension | — | — |
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 | 150 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.4 |
| Worst single series | 4 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 5.5 years |
A model average of 1.4 hides a worst series at 4. 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
- No ads, on every page
- 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 Tercel?
By complaint volume, 1995, 1993, 1996 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 Tercel years are the cleanest?
1982, 1983, 1985 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Toyota Tercel have?
205 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1982–1998. Of those, 53 describe a crash and 11 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.