Recall Register

2004 Toyota Tacoma: recalls and complaints

NHTSA lists 3 recall campaigns for the 2004 Toyota Tacoma. The newest campaign is 12V542000. NHTSA received the report on 23 Nov 2012. The NHTSA record gives the component Tires / Temporary/Emergency Spare Tire. NHTSA has 414 complaints on file for this model year.

The NHTSA recall file shows no do-not-drive advisory and no park-outside advisory on these campaigns.

This page cannot show if a recall applies to one vehicle. The NHTSA VIN lookup shows the unrepaired recalls of one vehicle.

Remedy of the newest campaign, 12V542000, in the NHTSA record

Toyota will notify owners, dealers will inspect the vehicle and replace the spare tire carrier lift plate as necessary, free of charge. The recall began in February 2013. Owners may contact their Toyota dealer or the Toyota Customer Experience Center at 1-800-331-4331.

Complaint information entered into NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation vehicle owner's complaint database is used with other data sources to identify safety issues that warrant investigation and to determine if a safety-related defect trend exists.

NHTSA publishes these words. Source: NHTSA Datasets and APIs, section Complaints, read on . Complaint file through . Recall file through .

Since the last update

No tracked figure of this page changed in a data update. What the log tracks

All updates to the register

Recall campaigns

3 campaigns, newest first. 918,387 units in total.

  1. 12V542000Received . 150,000 units.

    Tires / Temporary/Emergency Spare Tire

    Defect, in the NHTSA record
    Toyota is recalling certain model year 2001 through 2004 Tacoma light trucks manufactured from August 28, 2000, through August 27, 2004, and originally sold, or currently registered, in the following cold climate states with high road salt usage: Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia. The spare tire in the subject vehicles is located underneath the rear of the vehicle and held by a spare tire carrier. A lift plate on the carrier is used to help raise, lower and retain the tire. During its manufacture, the lift plate may not have been sufficiently coated with anti-corrosion materials. If the plate is insufficiently coated and the vehicle is operated in cold climate regions where road salts are frequently used, road spray can reach the carrier assembly and corrode the lift plate.
    Consequence, in the NHTSA record
    Corrosion of the plate could cause it to break, which could result in detachment of the spare tire from the vehicle. Detachment of the spare tire could result in a road hazard which may increase the risk of a vehicle crash.
    Remedy, in the NHTSA record
    Toyota will notify owners, dealers will inspect the vehicle and replace the spare tire carrier lift plate as necessary, free of charge. The recall began in February 2013. Owners may contact their Toyota dealer or the Toyota Customer Experience Center at 1-800-331-4331.

    Report filed by Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: .

  2. 05V225000Received . 768,379 units.

    Suspension / Front / Control Arm / Lower Ball Joint

    Defect, in the NHTSA record
    On certain sport utility vehicles, due to a manufacturing issue in the front suspension lower ball joint, there is a possibility that the surface of the ball of the joint may have been scratched. The ball joint may eventually experience excessive wear and looseness, resulting in increased steering effort.
    Consequence, in the NHTSA record
    The lower ball joint may separate from the knuckle causing loss of steering control and a crash could occur.
    Remedy, in the NHTSA record
    Dealers will replace the front suspension lower ball joints free of charge. The recall began on july 5, 2005. Owners may contact toyota at 1-800-331-4331.

    Report filed by TOYOTA MOTOR NORTH AMERICA, INC.. Manufacturer campaign number 50J. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: .

  3. 04V214000Received . 8 units.

    Seat Belts / Front

    Defect, in the NHTSA record
    Certain pickup trucks fail to conform to the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 209, 'seat belt assemblies.' the driver's side seat belt has incorrect markings.
    Consequence, in the NHTSA record
    This does not meet the standard.
    Remedy, in the NHTSA record
    Dealers have replaced the seat belts. No vehicles were sold to consumers.

    Report filed by TOYOTA MOTOR NORTH AMERICA, INC..

The campaign number opens the NHTSA record. Each quotation is the text of the NHTSA recall file.

Recall campaign: One recall in the NHTSA recall file, with one campaign number. A campaign can name many makes, models and model years.

Units: The number of vehicles or products that a recall can include. The manufacturer or the firm reports the number to the agency.

Complaints by component

414 complaints, 545 component mentions.

A complaint can name more than one component. Each component that a complaint names is one component mention. The figure per 1,000 component mentions shows how many of each 1,000 mentions name the component.

  • 2004 Toyota Tacoma
  • All 2004 vehicles
2004 Toyota Tacoma: complaints by component, per 1,000 component mentions
Component2004 TacomaAll 2004 vehiclesTacoma, all yearsMentions
Structure376.173.3207.2205
Suspension161.551.1146.488
Unknown or Other58.725.167.432
Vehicle Speed Control5541.372.530
Steering53.271.744.229
Power Train40.4113.488.622
Electrical System31.2129.340.517
Air Bags27.578.952.215
Fuel/Propulsion System27.522.128.415
Tires23.921.824.913

The table shows the 10 components with the most mentions, of 26.

Complaints that report a crash
27
Complaints that report a fire
3
Injuries in the complaints
23
Deaths in the complaints
0
Date of the newest complaint
25 Mar 2026

These figures are the entries of the persons who sent the complaints.

Complaint: A report about a possible safety problem that a person sends to NHTSA. This site shows the number of complaints and not their text.

Complaints about the 2004 Toyota Tacoma, by the year NHTSA received them. The largest year is 2015, with 50 complaints.

Investigations

The NHTSA investigation file has no investigation that names this model year.

Investigation: A study of a possible safety defect by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. An investigation with no closing date in the NHTSA file is open.

Other model years

The number under each year is the number of recall campaigns.

Official channels

Cite this page

Recall Register. 2004 Toyota Tacoma: recalls and complaints. https://recallregister.com/vehicle/toyota/tacoma/2004/. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, recall, complaint and investigation files. Data through .

Sources

Source
NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Licence
US government work, public domain
Recall file through
30 Sep 2026
Complaint file through
30 Sep 2026
First complaint in the file
1 Jan 1995
Manufacturer in the recall file
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing

The NHTSA record is the authority. A complaint count is the number of different complaint numbers for the make, the model and the model year. How the register is made. Report an error.

Questions

How many units are in the recall campaigns for the 2004 Toyota Tacoma?
918,387 units in 3 campaigns. A campaign can name other models and model years, and its units include them.
How many recall campaigns does the Toyota Tacoma have for all model years?
NHTSA lists 56 recall campaigns for the Toyota Tacoma, model years 1995 to 2026. 3 of them name the 2004 model year.
Which component do the complaints about the 2004 Toyota Tacoma name most often?
Structure: 205 of 545 component mentions, or 376.1 per 1,000. For all 2004 vehicles the figure is 73.3 per 1,000.
Is an NHTSA investigation of the 2004 Toyota Tacoma open?
The NHTSA investigation file has no investigation that names this model year.