1997 Toyota T100 problems
Owners have filed 90 complaints with NHTSA about the 1997 Toyota T100. Body & structure is the most reported problem area, at 27% of complaints. Next are drivetrain & axles (20%) and steering (14%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 90 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Body & structure 27% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 3 and 0
- Injuries and deaths
- 1 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 120,000 miles 41 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 | 5 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 0 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 3 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 3 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 3 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 3 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 11 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 2 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 4 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 4 |
| 200k+ miles | 3 |
What the data shows
Of the 41 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 120,000 miles. For body & structure specifically, the median reported mileage is about 133,000 miles (19 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 3 complaints mention a crash; 1 injury reported. Its complaints are less severe on average than those of 88% 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 1997 ranks 3rd most-complained-about out of 4 model years of the Toyota T100 with enough data (25 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 1 safety recall campaign.
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.
The defective design of driver's seat belt lap portion causes bruises and pain to his hip area, causing the occupant not to wear his seatbelt because it harms him. Dealer and manufacturer won't help on this problem. *slc
Driver's seatback broke while driving, resulting in a minor collision. Dealer and the manufacturer have been notified.
The central steering linkage that connects the tie rods was defective. This defect resulted in a total loss of steering. Fortunately the steering linkage rod failed as I turned into the driveway. I saved the rod for further analysis if you wish to retrieve the rod. The auto shop that repaired the vehicle had not seen this defect, and it appeared that the rod was manufactured about 80% separated. Despite this, it required almost 6 years for the rod to fracture.
1997 toyota t100 truck is in fine condition but the frame is rust rotted through. This is the same exact issue as found and recalled for same-era toyota tacomas (and tundras later) but for some reason toyota will not recognize the t100 in the recall. Truck runs great and is in good condition but the rust has caused holes in the frame and will not pass inspection. It will probably fall apart soon.
Tl* the contact owns a 1997 toyota t100 sr5. The contact stated that the frame, rear wheel wells and rocker panels were corroded. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure who did not offer any assistance since the vehicle was not included in any recalls. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 150,000 and the current mileage was 165,000.