2012 Toyota Corolla problems
The 2012 Toyota Corolla has 497 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (74%) concerns air bags. Next are steering (4%) and cruise control (3%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 497 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 74% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 54 and 1
- Injuries and deaths
- 37 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 34,000 miles 155 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 | 56 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 37 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 27 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 14 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 4 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 6 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 5 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 2 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 2 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 2 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 155 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 34,000 miles. For air bags specifically, the median reported mileage is about 45,000 miles (56 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 54 complaints mention a crash; 1 complaint mentions a fire; 37 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2012 ranks 5th most-complained-about out of 37 model years of the Toyota Corolla with enough data (433 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 5 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.
I believe there is a serious safety issue related to the placement of the air bag sensor. My wife and a co-workers wife were involved in an accident that severely deformed the front of a 2012 toyota corolla without triggering the airbag sensor. Upon inspection, it appears that the portion of the car that the airbag sensor is attached to, moved over a foot and a half without triggering the air bag sensor.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 toyota corolla. The contact stated the while driving at 45 MPH, the contact crashed into a deer that came into its path pushing the radiator into the engine block. The front driver and passenger air bags failed to deploy. The contact suffered injuries to the shoulder, neck, spine, feet and extensive nerve damage. The front passenger suffered a panic attack. The contact and passenger both required medical attention. The vehicle was destroyed. A police report was filed.
Hit head in passengers side into a cement pole, car was a total loss. No airbags deployed causing bodily injury to driver and passenger from impact and seatbelt , stopping us . Chest cavity injury’s
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 toyota corolla. The contact was driving approximately 25 MPH and lost control of the vehicle, crashing into another vehicle. The front driver's side air bag did not deploy. There was a police report filed of the incident but no injuries were reported. The vehicle was towed to a collision shop and but had not yet been diagnose or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 16,400.
While driving northbound on interstate I-75 home during rush hour in the metro-detroit area, the vehicle sped up in excess of 90MPH! I almost caused a collision. The gas pedal did not react to my foot not even being on the pedal! I braked and pumped the brake to only control my speed. When I finally got the vehicle to park, the engine was still running at a high rate like the engine was reacting to pressure on the gas pedal. The car smelled like smoke from the brake pad.