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What 35 owners told NHTSA about the 2012 Toyota Yaris
These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.
1 of 35 complaints match · Electrical system · crash/fire/injury only · clear filters
Dec 6, 2013Electrical systemFire
I WAS DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 20 MPH MAKING A LEFT TURN WHEN THE CAR ABRUPTLY POWERED DOWN THE INSIDE LIGHTS, OUTSIDE LIGHTS, HEAT, ETC TURNED OFF. THE VEHICLE CONTINUED TO MAKE LOUD NOISES AS IF I WAS TRYING TO START THE CAR, BUT I HAD TAKEN THE KEY OUT OF THE IGNITION. I THEN NOTICED THE BATTERY WARNING LIGHT WAS ON AND THEN I SMELLED SMOKE. I WAS STUCK IN THE INTERSECTION WITH THE CAR STUCK IN PARK I KEPT PRESSING THE BRAKE, TO SHIFT TO NEUTRAL BUT THE CAR WOULDN'T CHANGE GEARS OR EVEN TURN ON AT THIS POINT. I CONTINUED TO SMOKE AND I SMELLED FIRE SO I GRABBED ALL OF MY THINGS AND EXITED THE VEHICLE. IT WAS RAINING AND A GOOD SAMARITAN POPPED THE HOOD AND THE HARD COLD RAIN PUT OUT THE FIRE. I WAITED UNTIL A TOW TRUCK TOLD THE CAR TO THE DEALER. I WAS TOLD THAT THE BATTERY AND STARTER CAUGHT ON FIRE. *TR
NHTSA ODI 10555063
Working with the data? Download all 35 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 19, 2026
How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your
pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the
full 2012 Toyota Yaris verdict →