2004 Toyota Corolla problems
The 2004 Toyota Corolla has 560 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (42%) concerns air bags. Next are cruise control (11%) and engine (10%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 560 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 42% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 85 and 3
- Injuries and deaths
- 66 and 5
- Typical mileage
- 58,000 miles 289 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 72 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 41 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 32 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 33 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 37 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 14 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 19 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 14 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 8 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 7 |
| 200k+ miles | 12 |
What the data shows
Of the 289 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 58,000 miles. For air bags specifically, the median reported mileage is about 94,000 miles (67 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 85 complaints mention a crash; 3 complaints mention a fire; 66 injuries reported; 5 deaths reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 82% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2004 ranks 18th most-complained-about out of 37 model years of the Toyota Corolla with enough data (200 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 9 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Tl- while driving a rented 2004 pontiac montana west bound on bridge at approximately 65MPH a toyota corolla driving east bound came over the medium into his lane and collided head into his vehicle. There was two fatalities the driver in the toyota corolla, and his front seat passenger, he and the other two passengers were also injured. He stated this complaint is on the toyota corolla.
My daughter had a head-on collision with a motorcycle, while driving her 2004 toyota corolla. The motorcycle rider was killed. The airbag in the corolla deployed and saved my daughter's life. Unfortunately, she still has little, or no memory of the accident. We don't know what happened, or why? The police believe she lost control of her vehicle, crossed the lane into oncoming traffic and struck the motorcycle. A witness stated her car was going fairly fast. Why was it going so fast in a residential area?
Unexpected and without warning while car is in drive and stopped in traffic or at red light, engine idle speed increases when compressor from heating/air conditioner unit engages (when heater/defroster or air conditioner are in use) resulting car to lunge forward. If hard and constant pressure is not applied at all times on brake pedal while stopped, car could lunge forward resulting in; rear-end collision with another car; auto/pedestrian mishap while stopped at a crosswalk or hitting another vehicle board side…
On december 5, 2009, I could not get out of my vehicle through the front doors because I couldn't unlock the front doors locks (manually or electronically). I had to crawl and get out of the car through the rear door. Good thing this is a 4 door vehicle. My concern is that this could have been serious if the whole system shut down. This defect causes the doors to be inoperable. Now I am afraid to drive the vehicle feeling that I could one day be trapped and have to break a window to get out.