Home · 2018 Toyota Yaris Ia · Complaints

What 7 owners told NHTSA about the 2018 Toyota Yaris Ia

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.

All (7)Crash / fire / injury (1)Tires (2)Airbags (1)Brakes (1)Electrical system (1)Engine (1)Seat belts (1)Speed control (1)

Newest first · 7 complaints

Nov 27, 2024CrashFire

Over corrected, hit a tree, flipped car 2x landed upside down white smoke started filling in the car and went completely engulfed in flames within a few minutes.

NHTSA ODI 11627803

Feb 14, 2024Tires

This is a safety issue that needs to be addressed. I informed the Manufacturer , Yokohama, as soon as the incident occurred and had to be replaced by a tire shop. These tires can explode if they hit anything, on the side, at less than 2mph (two miles per hour).

NHTSA ODI 11572003

Jun 24, 2022Electrical systemEngine

The contact owns a 2018 Toyota Yaris IA. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the Forward Collision Avoidance and TPMS warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that the accelerator pedal was depressed however, the vehicle failed to respond. The contact stated that she depressed the brake pedal however, the vehicle failed to respond. The vehicle stalled and stopped independently. The contact veered to the side of the road. The contact was unable to restart the vehicle after several attempts. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where unknown repairs where completed. However, the failure reoccurred while driving. Additionally, the contact stated that the vehicle failed to start after several attempts. The contact jumpstarted the vehicle and the vehicle restarted as needed. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local Pep Boys where it was diagnosed that the failure was associated to the engine control module. The dealer and the manufacturer were notified of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle only had a power train warranty. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 26,000.

NHTSA ODI 11470843

Jan 25, 2022Brakes

I’m reporting a vehicle safety problem. My 2018 Toyota Yaris IA just had a mileage of 823 miles and was within the warranty time and had a brake system problem caused by the Toyota car quality problem. On August 22 (Sunday), 2021 about 1:00 pm I, with my wife, was going to drive my 2018 Toyota Yaris IA to my daughter’s house to see our five grandchildren as we did since April when we had covid 19 vaccine. When I started the car in my house parking lot, I was surprised to find several indicators of the brake system malfunction were on the car’s computer screen. Not only did the indicators still exist in the screen, I felt the car was shaking when I was driving about 30 feet. I immediately returned back to my house parking lot and found a new problem that the air conditioning didn’t work either. I decided not to drive this car. The next day, August 23 about 7:00 am, I drove to Oakton Sonoco Auto Service Center. There, Jim, the manager, found the same indicators of the brake system malfunction, he at once told me, “Your car just has 800 mileages and is under warranty. You should drive to the Toyota dealer immediately.” Then I drove to Ourisman Fairfax Toyota at about 7:25 am and told Mr. Carroll Hyman about the car problems. At about 4:00 pm he called me and said, “Mice bit and broke the wires to damage the wire system. Your car’s repairing can not have the warranty.” I asked, “Did you see the mice?” He answered, “Yes, the mice were in the wires close to the engine”. He didn’t mention whether the mice were alive or dead. If the mice were alive when he saw them, how could the mice be still there after about 18 hours including 20 minutes suffering heat, noise and vibration created by the working engine? If the mice were dead when he saw them, while I was driving several miles , the engine chatter and inertia of the moving body of the car already threw away dead mice into the road, how could he see them still there? His saying contradicts the facts.

NHTSA ODI 11448906

Apr 8, 2021AirbagsSeat belts

MY TRACTION CONTROL GOES CRAZY EVEN WHEN THE WEATHER IS NICE. WHEN DRIVING THE TRACTION CONTROL WILL START BLINKING AND TURN OFF. MY SAFETY RESTRAINT SYSTEM HAS AN ERROR AND MY SEAT BELT LATCH IS BROKEN. THEY SAID THEY WOULD NOT FIX IT BECAUSE ITS NOT AN ISSUE. MY CAR MAKES LOUD BEEPS WHEN I START. MY KEYLESS ENTRY HAS MALFUNCTIONED SINCE 2 MONTHS AFTER I BOUGHT IT IN DEC OF 2018. THEY WANT TO CHARGE ME TO "LOOK AT IT". IT SAYS THERE ARE NO KEYS IN THE VEHICLE WHEN I AM DRIVING. MY AIRBAGS ARE MALFUNCTIONING. IT IS NOT REGISTERING PEOPLE SITTING IN THE VEHICLE. WHEN DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD IT FLASHES THAT THE AIRBAGS ARE OFF. I WEIGHT 220LBS I AM MORE THAN ENOUGH TO SET THAT SENSOR OFF AND WHEN I DRIVE IT WILL NOT ENGAGE.

NHTSA ODI 11406991

Dec 21, 2020Tires

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2018 TOYOTA YARIS IA EQUIPPED WITH TOYO TIRES, TIRE LINE: PROXES A27, TIRE SIZE: P185/60R/16, DOT NUMBER: (NOT PROVIDED). THE CONTACT STATED WHILE DRIVING AT VARIOUS SPEEDS THE TIRES LOSS AIR WITHOUT WARNING. THE CONTACT ADDED AIR TO TIRES. THE LOCAL DEALER WAS NOT CONTACTED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED NOR REPAIRED. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE FAILURE WAS LIKE NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 19T004000 (TIRES). THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT CONTACTED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 38,789. THE VIN WAS NOT AVAILABLE.

NHTSA ODI 11384349

Oct 6, 2019Speed control

CRUISE CONTROL SPEED DOES NOT MATCH SPEEDOMETER TOYOTA ADMITS THERE IS A PROBLEM, BUT THERE IS NO FIX. TOYOTA CASE #[XXX] PAT LOBB TOYOTA VISIT 8-24-19 INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TT PAT LOBB TOYOTA VISIT 9-3-19 TOYOTA OF PLANO VISIT 9-15-19

NHTSA ODI 11266595

Working with the data? Download all 7 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 21, 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 2018 Toyota Yaris Ia verdict →