What 71 owners told NHTSA about the 2023 Toyota Corolla Hybrid

I purchased a 2023 Toyota Corolla LE as a Toyota Gold Certified Pre-Owned vehicle on March 8, 2026 at 61,387 miles. Within 30 days of purchase I began experiencing the following safety concerns: •Vehicle revs to 5,000-6,000 RPM unexpectedly •Violent jerking while driving •Vehicle stalls On April 7, 2026 I brought the vehicle to the selling dealership. The technician confirmed experiencing the jerking and stalling personally during a test drive but documented it as “common operation” and “operating as designed.” I disagreed with this assessment in writing on their service document. A second Toyota dealership subsequently found cracked motor mounts and transmission mounts in multiple locations on a 3 year old vehicle. Replacement of these components did not resolve the issue. Transmission fluid drained at service was nearly black in color on a Gold Certified vehicle that supposedly passed a 160-point inspection including transmission health check. The vehicle is currently at the dealership unresolved after nearly two weeks. The stalling and RPM surging present a serious safety hazard particularly at highway speeds. I am requesting this be investigated as a potential safety defect.

NHTSA ODI 11736927

The contact owns a 2023 Toyota Corolla. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the infotainment screen unexpectedly turned on and off. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who determined that the infotainment system needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000.

NHTSA ODI 11733654

Component: VISIBILITY / SUN VISOR Vehicle: 2023 Toyota Corolla Both the driver-side and passenger-side sun visors in my 2023 Toyota Corolla have failed within approximately two years of normal use. The visors no longer remain in their intended position and instead fall downward unexpectedly. When this occurs, the visor drops directly into the driver’s field of vision, creating a significant safety hazard by obstructing forward visibility while driving. This condition can happen without warning and requires the driver to physically move the visor out of the way, causing distraction and increasing the risk of an accident. The vehicle has not been modified, damaged, or subjected to abnormal conditions. The visors were used only as intended. Sun exposure is a normal and expected condition for this component, and failure under these circumstances indicates a potential defect in materials or workmanship. Both visors failing in the same manner suggests a systemic issue rather than isolated wear and tear. The vehicle was taken to a Toyota dealership, where I was initially told the repair would be covered under the manufacturer’s warranty. However, the claim was later denied and classified as “wear and tear” due to sun exposure. Given the function of sun visors, this explanation is not reasonable. This issue presents an ongoing safety concern due to impaired driver visibility. I am submitting this complaint so that this defect can be reviewed and tracked for potential broader impact.

NHTSA ODI 11729300

I am experiencing persistent and unresolved issues with the infotainment and display system in my Toyota Corolla, primarily involving Apple CarPlay overriding the driver display. Even when I manually disable the setting that allows CarPlay/navigation to take over the display behind the steering wheel, the system does not retain this setting. After turning the car off and restarting it, the navigation/map interface reappears and overrides the driver display again. This behavior is extremely distracting while driving and interferes with my ability to safely view normal vehicle information. It has created multiple situations where I felt at risk of a collision due to unexpected display changes and distraction. In addition, there are ongoing system malfunctions including: •Volume controls becoming unresponsive (the slider does not adjust sound), requiring the system to be restarted to function again. •Intermittent failure of the phone connection/charging port, where the device does not connect properly to the system. A prior software update temporarily addressed one issue, but the core problems persist. I have been attempting to resolve this through Ardmore Toyota dealership in PA for approximately one year without a meaningful fix or access to a qualified technician. This appears to be a recurring software or system defect that affects driver attention and vehicle operation. I am concerned this creates a significant safety risk for myself and others on the road. No one has taken me seriously even after I’ve gone to several Toyota dealerships over and over and I explained my concerns and they promise that I’ll be on a list of waitlist to be seen by a field tech technician however that has never happened and they are refusing to provide assistance.

NHTSA ODI 11728956

The drivers side locking mechanism doesn’t work with the key fab all of a sudden and I have to climb in through my passenger side door

NHTSA ODI 11720209

I have a Hybrid version of the 2023 Corolla in the SE trim. Everytime the car is cold (engine just started), and I'm pressing the brake, I can hear some clicking noises similar to a CV Axle noise when they are bad. That braking noise goes away as the car heat up. The noise is sensitive to speed, it changes frequency with it. I haven't experience loss of brakes but I'm concerned with the noise and the possibility of it.

NHTSA ODI 11719548

after fueling strong fuel smell in vehicle within 100 miles check fuel cap light came on. next day check engine light came on. made appointment at dealership . dealership performed evap smoke test which found smoke coming from top of fuel cell. installed fuel pump ring and evap hose clip. performed evap test and smoke test -passed cleared codes. got car back next day less than 50 miles later ck engine code and fuel cap and fuel odor back.

NHTSA ODI 11706705

The contact owns a 2023 Toyota Corolla. The contact stated that whenever the vehicle was shifted to park(P), the word (P) was illuminated on the PRNDL, but the word was not displayed on the instrument cluster. The contact stated that while shifted to drive(D) there was no indication of drive on the PRNDL, or the instrument cluster, and the vehicle failed to respond. The contact stated that the failure had occurred while shifted to reverse(R). The contact had been advised by a mechanic on how to reset the parking brake to be able to shift to park(P), drive(D) or reverse(R). The contact had been advised to lift the parking brake lever and hold it for 5 seconds and then depress the lever and hold for 5 seconds. The contact was able to shift to any gear, and the vehicle would move after performing the reset. The contact normally did not engage the parking brake, however, when the failure first occurred, the warning "EPB Stopped Completely" illuminated twice but had not illuminated in weeks. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent but had gradually become a recurring failure. The contact had not taken the vehicle to a local dealer or independent mechanic. The vehicle was not diagnosed and was not repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 55,000.

NHTSA ODI 11705689

Moisture and water got into the front head light causing it to go out . The blinker , low light and bright light on front driver went out while I was on the highway.

NHTSA ODI 11698825

I got a message that the engine needs maintenance and I should go to the dealership and have the coolant bypass valve repaired. I see there's a lawsuit against Toyota for a manufacturing defect in that component on 2019-2023 Corollas. I'd like to know if I'll get a refund.

NHTSA ODI 11695545

A message came out that I need to maintain the engine and take it to the concierge and they told me that it is the coolant by pass valve

NHTSA ODI 11695043

7 months ago when my car had 56k miles my transmission was bad and they replaced but now is giving problems again i took it to lia toyota of rockland and they didn’t do anything about it, that the transmission is ok, but bad smell is coming out of the transmission and is hard to shift and it gives like hard pull when it changes into gear and u can hear the clunky sound of the transmission and it has only run for 19k miles and it has been only 7 months since they replaced

NHTSA ODI 11694203

There's an electrical problem going on with all Toyota vehicles coming out with the new navigation system where goes out and keeps rebooting. Multiple times on cars a year have reported this issue. Causes a distraction as screen goes on and off randomly as you drive and backing up. Also without it you can't see your GPS and find routes. Just simple search and there's many complaints about this issue from consumers being affected as fast as 10 miles into owning car to month or six. Not worth repairing as goes out every other month and don't even last a year before goes out.

NHTSA ODI 11690127

My Toyota, the 12.3-inch display screen fails to turn on when I start the vehicles or could unexpectedly shut down while driving.

NHTSA ODI 11688688

While driving my vehicle Southbound on [XXX] in the Simpsonville/Fountain Inn area of South Carolina, my vehicle suffered some sort of catastrophic failure while driving and became completely engulfed in flames. The vehicle was a total loss. The vehicle had been serviced a little over a month prior to this incident happening. The fire department took a report for the fire. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11682789

The Toyota Corolla LE screen goes blank and does not show any information. When the screen does work, the map malfunctions and shows the vehicle and directions in various bodies of water and displays unsafe routes. The car is available for inspection upon request. You are unable to drive hands free which increases the risk of distracted driving. Map routes to unsafe areas which can make a driver drive into areas that are unsafe to themselves and endanger other motorists and pedestrians. By the Toyota dealership, yes. They stated there was no recall for it and that they could not recreate the issues. No.

NHTSA ODI 11670126

I was at an intersection, and the engine suddenly stopped for no apparent reason. This message shows up on dashboard: Steering power low. It asked me to put it on park and turn the engine back on. Very dangerous

NHTSA ODI 11666802

The contact owns a 2023 Toyota Corolla. The contact stated that while attempting to adjust the steering wheel, the steering column failed to lock into place. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed and determined that the steering column was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was 35,000.

NHTSA ODI 11657176

Description of problem/issue: Dear Reader: I recently purchased a new (certified preowned) vehicle and ever since then I have been experiencing some concerns with its handling on the road. This letter seeks to communicate this matter to the proper establishment for some possible recourse. On level roads while the steering wheel is centered straight up (near/over 40mph), the car tends to automatically glide to the left of the lane or coast quickly to the right and won’t stay centered in the lane very long without driver input to steer the car back to the center of the lane. Then when re-centering the car it roams in the other direction, and so forth (an oscillating effect). The issue is that the car diverts from the center of the lane and to maintain the center of the lane the driver has to constantly work at pulling the vehicle back to center. This is not the type of driving performance that I would expect on a new or certified new vehicle. It is both a nuisance and a hazard having to constantly steer the vehicle to center up in the lane. The car’s auto Lane Assist and Departure Assist and auto Steering Assist features are turned off during this time. And even when all these Driver Assist Features are turned back on the drifting/pulling pattern is quite pronounced or seems to be compensating in my opinion. A Google search of the term “2023 Toyota corolla pulls to both sides” produces some great results as to the possible cause and effect. I have never driven a vehicle that diverts so quickly from its own lane so shortly after the driver’s hand is removed from the steering wheel. Nevertheless, the issues that I pointed out remains very alarming and nerve-racking for me! For safety reasons I’m still not pleased with how the car handles on the road. I wonder if there are any Safety Recalls, current or pending, concerning any of the steering or alignment components/features that would help resolve this problem?

NHTSA ODI 11645890

When idling my car makes a rattling sound and vibrates and oil smells like fuel only got 12k on it when I bought it which I just bought it not even a month ago used.

NHTSA ODI 11641454

When driving at night, there is a shadow in the headlight, that shines onto the road and makes driving at night difficult. This shadow looks like it comes from a tall screw or bolt in both headlights. The lights work correctly, but the shadow causes the driver to have a dark "spot" in the beam of light, which then makes it hard to see clearly while driving in dusk, or darkening circumstances. I took the vehicle in to the Toyota Dealer where I bought it and had them investigate this. They said they couldn't repair it, as it was part of the construction of the headlight itself. The Toyota repair people did see the shadow when the lights were turned on to face a wall in a darkened garage bay.

NHTSA ODI 11633441

The contact owns a 2023 Toyota Corolla. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle, an audible chime was heard, and unknown RED message was displayed on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to a dealer however, the dealer was unable to duplicate the failure or determine the cause for the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was provided a case number. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was unknown.

NHTSA ODI 11629175

We were driving on [XXX] near Norcross, GA about 200 ft from exit [XXX] at a constant speed of around 70 mph, when suddenly the vehicle displayed 'system malfunction' and started veering on its own and the brakes wouldn't work. It kept veering to the right and crashed into a vehicle 2 lanes away and rebounded back to the original lane and came to a halt with a message displayed 'Shifting to P'. The malfunction and loss of control, along with the brakes not functioning those few seconds/minutes put our lives and others' on the road at risk. The vehicle is available for inspection. The vehicle was towed on the day of the accident and then taken into a Toyota dealership and is currently there. The vehicle has not yet been repaired. Toyota sent a third-party inspector to gather data from the vehicle but that turned out to be merely the crash data up to 5 seconds prior by which time the malfunction had already occurred and the vehicle speed was down from 70mph to 31mph. The incident occurred on Thursday, [XXX]. We do not feel safe driving that vehicle again. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11628651

Multiple malfunctions causing the engine to misfire and eventually seize completely. Toyota never found out the issue but the engine failed. The suspect poor build quality. The engine, brake collision system, fuel pump all went out. Car was rough idling for about two weeks before the engine completely failed. Toyota has lemoned it.

NHTSA ODI 11626243

Since purchasing this vehicle new, I've had several occasions (not on just the most recent date noted in this case) where the car will issue a false Pre-collision Alert and apply the brakes for about 1 second while using the Adaptive Cruise Control. However, this happens while me and the drivers around me are driving "normally" and there are no vehicles in front of me nor attempting to merge into my lane. There does not seem to be a particular set of conditions that cause this false alert and they happen randomly, but it is startling when they happen since there is no observable reason for it. Fortunately, there has not been anyone tail-gating me when this happens because this could easily cause a rear-end collision if someone were following too close. I've notified my local dealer about this issue more than once, but they cannot find anything wrong.

NHTSA ODI 11625047