2005-2020 Toyota Yaris Problems: 21 Known Issues

Certain 2015–2017 Yaris hatchbacks have front-door airbag-sensor wiring whose insulation can crack. Water intrusion associated with harness installation can then corrode the conductors and open the circuit. Front seat side airbags may be deactivated and curtain airbags may not deploy as intended. Toyota identified 43,221 vehicles built June 26, 2014–January 18, 2017. Its chronology includes a Canadian report of intermittent SRS illumination during door operation.

The 2006-2007 Yaris has a small urethane foam sound insulator sponge fitted in the B-pillar directly underneath each front seat belt pretensioner. The pretensioner is a pyrotechnic device: in a severe frontal impact it fires a gas generator to retract the belt and start absorbing the occupant's forward momentum. Toyota determined that the hot gas produced by that generator can reach the urethane sponge and, in the worst case, ignite it - producing a post-collision fire inside the cabin at exactly the moment the occupants are least able to get out. Approximately 134,895 model year 2006-2007 Yaris vehicles were recalled under NHTSA 09V031 in January 2009. Toyota lists the affected vehicles as 2006-2007 Yaris 3-door hatchbacks built from late August 2005 to early April 2007 and 2007 Yaris sedans built from early February 2006 to early April 2007; not every vehicle in those ranges is involved.

The springs used in the seat rails of the driver's seat, and in both front seat rails on three-door hatchback models, can fracture with age and use. The spring is what holds the seat-track locking pawl engaged after the adjustment lever is released. If it breaks, the seat may not positively lock in the selected position - the seat can slide on its rails, and in a crash it moves under load, which changes how the belt and airbag restrain the occupant and increases the risk of injury. Toyota recalled roughly 472,388 vehicles under NHTSA 14V169 on 9 April 2014: approximately 158,000 2006-2010 Yaris hatchbacks, 250,500 2007-2010 Yaris sedans and 64,000 2008-2010 Scion xD. Toyota reports no advance warning. Once springs break, the seat may fail to lock; in limited cases, a broken spring can restrict adjustment to forward movement.

Certain 2006–2010 Yaris vehicles with a seven-channel spiral cable are covered by 14V168/E0M. Contact with an internal plastic retainer can damage the flexible cable's driver-airbag circuit. The driver airbag may become disabled. Toyota's notice lists approximately 402,500 affected Yaris vehicles; this is a campaign population, not a count of failures. The SRS lamp may indicate a problem, but the owner notice warns that this condition can exist without a warning. This electrical-circuit recall is distinct from inflator recalls.

Yaris hatchback and sedan built in the Takata era use inflators with a non-desiccated ammonium-nitrate propellant. Long-term exposure to heat, humidity and temperature cycling degrades the propellant, so on deployment the inflator canister can over-pressurize and rupture, spraying sharp metal fragments into the cabin. Cars that spent their life in high-absolute-humidity regions (Gulf Coast, Southwest, Puerto Rico) are the highest risk. In the US this covers the front passenger inflator on the 2006-2011 Yaris hatchback and 2007-2012 Yaris sedan (Toyota-built XP90), not the Mazda-built Yaris iA.

US recall 15V134 concerns 16,582 model-year 2012–2015 Yaris vehicles built August 31, 2011 through February 9, 2015 and sold in Puerto Rico. An affected roof headliner may not meet FMVSS 201 occupant-protection requirements, increasing injury risk in a crash. This is a compliance issue, not a documented wear interval or a symptom-based diagnosis.

The Yaris's electric power steering system can fail, causing sudden loss of power assist and very heavy steering. The EPS motor or its control module malfunctions, typically with a power steering warning light. The failure is sudden and dangerous at low speeds.

A narrow-build defect on 2015 Yaris hatchbacks built 13 January 2015 to 27 February 2015 - about 3,106 cars - recalled as NHTSA 16V367 (Toyota campaign G0S). The strut mounting bearing that sits between the top of the strut rod and the suspension support can be damaged when a high load is applied to the strut, for example driving over a large bump or a deep pothole. If the bearing is damaged, the driver may hear an abnormal noise over uneven roads or when turning the steering wheel. If the car keeps being driven in that state, the upper end of the strut rod can separate from the suspension support entirely, dropping that corner and causing an immediate loss of vehicle stability. Abnormal noise can be a warning of this condition, but its absence does not establish that the vehicle is unaffected.

This failure belongs to European-market Yaris fitted with Toyota's MMT (Multimode) automated manual transmission - an electrically operated robotised manual transmission with electric actuators for clutch and gear selection. It does not exist on the US-market four-speed automatic or on any Mazda-built Yaris. The clutch actuator can fail and lose the ability to hold or report clutch position. The gearbox then refuses to select a gear and the N on the gear position display flashes. Most owners hit it stationary, moments after switching on - the car simply will not take drive - but it also happens on the move, where the box drops out of the engaged gear and back into neutral, which is a loss of drive in traffic. UK actuator remanufacturers describe it as a frequent failure on MMT-equipped Yaris and commonly see fault codes such as P0810.

The U340E/U441E 4-speed automatic in the Yaris develops shudder during torque converter lockup and harsh shifts, particularly 1-2 and 2-3 shifts. Worn transmission fluid and torque converter clutch material are the primary causes.

The Mazda-sourced 6-speed automatic in the 2016-2018 Yaris iA and 2019-2020 Yaris sedan (a completely different unit from the Toyota U340E 4-speed in the hatchback) draws consistent owner complaints of a whistling or whining noise during the 1-2 and 2-3 upshifts, plus a grinding or clunking noise when selecting Drive from Park. Reports range from a noise-only nuisance to units replaced under warranty, and a few owners describe progression to gear slippage and a stall with audible metal-on-metal. Because this transmission uses a very small lock-up-early torque converter for economy, converter shudder and fluid degradation show up earlier than owners expect for a Toyota-badged car.

Recall 15V098 concerns 226 US-market 2015 Yaris vehicles built September 8, 2014 through January 9, 2015. Insufficiently tightened rear axle bearing bolts may loosen and detach. A detached bolt can damage rear brake components during rotation, reducing braking or potentially locking a wheel. Toyota identifies rear rattling or grinding as a possible indication of detachment.

A very common Yaris electrical fault: the rear wheel speed sensor is integrated into the rear hub/bearing assembly and is not sold separately. The weather seal where the harness plugs into the hub has a gap, so road spray and winter salt wick into the connector, corrode the pins and degrade the signal. The ABS light and the red brake/'!' light come on together, often intermittently at first and worse in wet or winter weather. Dealers routinely quote a complete rear hub assembly (owners report $650-750 CAD per side) when the actual fault is frequently just a dirty, corroded connector.

On 2007-2008 Yaris, grease was applied unevenly to the internal components of the driver's Power Window Master Switch during assembly at the supplier. With frequent use, unevenly applied grease can become carbonized and lose its lubricating properties, and the switch can malfunction, overheat and melt. The classic precursor is a 'notchy' or sticky feel when operating the window. Owners who tried to fix the notchiness with off-the-shelf silicone or WD-40-type lubricant made it worse - Toyota warns that applying commercially available lubricants to the switch can cause the switch assembly to melt or smoke and lead to a fire. Toyota recalled roughly 110,300 Yaris as part of a ~2.5 million vehicle US campaign in October 2012 (NHTSA 12V-491).

The 2016 Scion iA / 2017-2018 Yaris iA and the 2019-2020 Yaris sedan are rebadged Mazda2s and carry Mazda's Connect head unit, not a Toyota system - so this failure does not exist on the Toyota-built XP130 hatchback. Owners report the display going black and the unit entering an endless crash-and-reboot cycle, sometimes triggered by a specific USB device or by switching between a Bluetooth call and a streaming audio app. The reverse camera image also fails to appear or freezes, which matters because it is the federally required backing image. The root cause on the Mazda side is head unit firmware, aggravated by non-compliant USB cables/drives drawing on the port.

On certain 2020 Yaris Hatchback and 2019-2020 Yaris Sedan vehicles - the Mazda2-derived cars designed and manufactured by Mazda, NOT the Toyota-built 1NZ-FE hatchback - the low-pressure fuel pump in the tank may stop operating. Warning lights may appear on the instrument cluster and the engine may run rough; the engine can then stall, sometimes while driving at higher speeds, and may not restart. NHTSA campaign 21V617 covers about 31,300 vehicles; Toyota's internal numbers are 21TA05 and 21TB05. This is a defect of the Mazda-built car only - it has nothing to do with the 1NZ-FE Yaris hatchback sold through 2018.

The 1NZ-FE/2NZ-FE coil-on-plug packs are a recurring failure point, and cylinder 1 - the one closest to the front of the engine and nearest the cowl drain area - fails disproportionately. Two mechanisms show up on the forums: the coil's internal windings break down with heat and age, and water gets down the plug tube (from a leaking valve cover gasket, a clogged cowl drain, or an engine bay wash) and sits on the coil boot, shorting the spark to ground. Owners describe replacing the plug and coil, getting a clean year, then having it recur if the water path was never fixed. A dying coil that is left alone dumps raw fuel into the catalyst and can eventually kill the converter.

Yaris owners often report vibration that turns out to come from damaged engine mounts. A summary of RepairPal owner reports lists it on 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2014 models and calls vibration the most commonly reported Yaris problem. Owners describe shaking when the engine starts, vibration when pulling away from a stop or changing gears, and vibration felt while slowing to a stop. The reports cited there were on manual-transmission cars. The engine sits on several mounts: a passenger-side mount, a driver-side mount and a torque strut. As the rubber wears or collapses, the engine moves more than it should. Owners notice this as a clunk when shifting into Drive or Reverse and as extra vibration at idle.

A few Yaris owners report door handle and lock trouble that leaves a door hard to open. In one 2007 Yaris hatchback at 82,000 miles, the driver's door lock came off first. About a week later, when the owner put the key in to unlock the door, the whole handle came off in their hand. They then had to climb over from the passenger side to get in and out. Not every "door won't open" report on the Yaris turns out to be the handle. On a 2007 Yaris at 3,500 miles, the driver's door would not open and the dealer replaced the lock cylinder. On a 2008 Yaris, the driver's door locked or opened only by hand, and the dealer found an open circuit in the door lock actuator. Only a handful of owners have reported these problems on public complaint sites, so treat this as an occasional wear failure, not a defect that affects every car.

The Yaris has been named in seven separate NHTSA campaigns on tire and loading information. Six concern the load carrying capacity modification (addendum) label and one concerns the spare tire's inflation. The addendum label is a separate label on the driver's side center pillar, next to the Tire and Loading Information placard. FMVSS 110 requires it when accessories above a set weight are added between factory certification and first retail sale, and it states how much those accessories reduce the vehicle's load carrying capacity. When the addendum label is missing, wrong or unreadable, a driver can overload the car without knowing it, which degrades braking, handling and tire load margin and increases crash risk. The campaigns: 09V223 (Toyota; accessories fitted at Toyota vehicle processing centers; first filed for 1,348 vehicles built from 2 June 2008, then expanded to 27,080 vehicles built 1 September 2005 to 4 May 2009, including 2007-2009 Yaris sedan and hatchback); 10V035 (Gulf States Toyota, 2008-2010 Yaris) and 10V036 (Southeast Toyota, 2007-2010 Yaris), both for vehicles sold without the required addendum label; 16V236 (Southeast Toyota, 2016, label does not reflect the weight of installed accessories); 17V295 (Gulf States Toyota, 2017: the spare tire was not inflated to the pressure stated on the Tire Pressure Label); 19V244 (Gulf States Toyota, 2019, label text may become illegible); and 19V503 (Southeast Toyota, 2017-2019 Yaris iA with factory-installed floor mats, label incorrect). Most are distributor campaigns, so they apply only to cars that passed through those distributors or processing centers.

Early XP90 Yaris (heavily reported on 2007-2008, and worst on the 8T0 blue and other lighter shades) suffer clear coat delamination: UV exposure degrades the adhesion between the factory primer/base and the clear layer, so the clear sheets off in large flakes rather than chalking gradually. It starts on the horizontal, sun-and-heat exposed panels - roof first, then hood - and spreads down the A-pillars, door frames and rear hatch. CarComplaints owner reports average about 84,000 miles (ranging from roughly 22,000 to 163,000), and it is not prevented by claybar-polish-wax maintenance because the failure is below the surface. Toyota's peeling-paint warranty extensions have covered other models, not the Yaris, and many US owners were told it was out of warranty.