2025 Toyota Tacoma Problems

What owners report

Owners of the 2025 Tacoma most often report interior door handles that fail to release the door from inside, and a smaller but consistent group describes alignment and steering problems that show up as pulling, vibration and premature tire wear. Nearly all complaints come from low-mileage trucks, many within the first few thousand miles. Transmission concerns — hard or jerky shifts on cold starts — and complaints that recall remedies are still unavailable appear repeatedly as well.

1. 1
   Body and structure

   Interior door handle fails, door won't open from inside

   • 48 complaints (41%)
   • median 5,238 mi at 1.8 yrs old (2 state mileage, few)
   • filed 2025–2026

   Owners describe the interior door handle or its cable letting go during ordinary use, leaving the door unable to open from inside; several say the only way out is to lower the window and use the outside handle. Dealers reportedly confirm the failure and order a replacement handle assembly, but many owners say the part is on national backorder with no arrival date, and a few report the repair was denied as a warranty claim. Complaints mention driver, front passenger and rear doors. Reported at low mileage, often within the first several thousand miles and during routine entry and exit.

   What to check: Open and close every door from the inside, including the rear doors, and listen for a loose or gritty feel in the handle. Ask whether any door handle or cable has already been replaced.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “Unable to open my driver's door from the inside. In order to get out of the vehicle, I need to put the driver's window down and open the door using the outside door handle. I took it to the dealership on July 29, 2026 for a warranty repair. I was informed that this is a known issue and there are currently 1,600 door handle mechanisms on a national back order. Unknown when the part will come in. …”

   NHTSA complaint #11753584, filed 2026-07

   “While attempting to exit my vehicle the inner door handle on the driver side felt loose. I attempted to open the door and the door would not open. I carefully attempted to manually move the lock on the door from unlocked to locked back to unlocked and again tried to carefully exit the vehicle but the inner door handle was inoperable. I am now forced to roll my window down and open my vehicle door from the outside to use the door”

   NHTSA complaint #11763988, filed 2026-09
2. 2
   Other or unknown

   Recall remedy not yet available (front driveshaft / brake

   • 16 complaints (14%)
   • typically at 1.2 yrs old
   • filed 2025–2026

   Several complaints are filed by owners who received notice of a recall for the front driveshaft CV joint or the rear brake hoses but were told the repair parts were not yet available. Owners report the truck sitting at a dealer or driving a rental while waiting, and some say the remedy had not been released after an extended period. Reported across the sample from mid-2025 onward, generally on trucks with low mileage.

   Recall 25V656000Recall 25V058000

   What to check: Check the recall status by VIN and confirm with the seller whether 25V656000 and 25V058000 have actually been completed, not just scheduled.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “In October of 2025 I was notified of a safety based recall for my 2025 Tacoma related to the front axle shafts possibly breaking which could cause loss of steering control should an incident occur. The recall is listed as 25TA11, (Interim notice 25TB11) and is attached to NHTSA ID 25V656. As of May 6th, Toyota lists this situation as still preparing the remedy. If the situation is truly a safety concern, I believe the length of time Toyota is taking to provide the remedy is unacceptable. …”

   NHTSA complaint #11736190, filed 2026-05

   “The vehicle is a 2025 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off-Road subject to Safety Recall 25TA11 involving the front axle shafts potentially breaking. The manufacturer has confirmed the recall and that a remedy is not yet available. The vehicle has been at a Toyota dealership and out of service for an extended period while waiting for a repair solution. The dealer has confirmed that no repair can currently be performed because Toyota has not released a remedy. …”

   NHTSA complaint #11717017, filed 2026-02
3. 3
   Steering

   Pulling, vibration and uneven tire wear (alignment)

   • 6 complaints (5%)
   • typically at 1.0 yrs old
   • filed 2025–2026

   Complaints describe the truck pulling to one side, needing constant steering correction, vibrating at speed and wearing front tires abnormally early. Several owners say alignment readings were outside specification — toe, thrust angle or caster — while a dealer reported the vehicle as within tolerance or declined warranty coverage. Some also describe unequal wheelbase measurements side to side or a body sitting unevenly. Typically noticed from the first few hundred to a few thousand miles, sometimes on the first day of ownership.

   What to check: Ask for a recent alignment printout with the actual toe and thrust-angle numbers, inspect front tire wear across the tread, and drive at highway speed to check for pull or vibration.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “I am reporting a severe safety hazard on my 2025 Toyota Tacoma caused by incorrect alignment specs and an uncorrected extreme toe setting. On a recent service visit, alignment inspection showed a Total Toe of +1.62 degrees (OEM target is approximately +0.10 degrees). The alignment machine database loaded incorrect tolerance specs (+1.37 to +1.87 degrees displayed as acceptable green range), leading technicians to leave the extreme toe-in completely unadjusted. …”

   NHTSA complaint #11751664, filed 2026-07

   “Supplemental Safety Description I am submitting this supplemental statement to provide a complete and consolidated description of the ongoing safety concern affecting my vehicle. Vehicle Behavior and Safety Symptoms During normal driving conditions, the vehicle consistently exhibits directional instability, including pulling to one side and difficulty maintaining straight-line tracking. Steering control feels unstable, and the vehicle experiences abnormal harshness and vertical movement over the road surface. …”

   NHTSA complaint #11706992, filed 2025-12
4. 4
   Transmission and drivetrain

   Hard or jerky transmission shifts, mainly when cold

   • 5 complaints (4%)
   • typically at 1.3 yrs old
   • filed 2025–2026

   Owners describe harsh shifts between the low gears, particularly on cold starts, sometimes with a clunk or lurch when coming to a stop. A few mention a transmission overheat warning on a highway drive or a jerk while climbing an incline. Complaints note that dealers often could not reproduce the condition, and some say it was described as normal for the vehicle. Mostly reported in the first several thousand miles, typically on cold starts or during the first shifts after startup.

   1 related service bulletin

   What to check: Drive the truck from a cold start and pay attention to the first few 1-2 and 2-3 upshifts and to downshifts when stopping. Ask whether any transmission software updates have been performed.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “On Sunday March 22, 2025 at around 1340, I was leaving my house and driving on a small incline and noticed my vehicle had a jerk when down shifting. This happened four times while traveling up hill. I have not yet had any repeat issues since this date.”

   NHTSA complaint #11729199, filed 2026-04

   “Driving up the 15 freeway from Diamond bar CA to Victorville CA the car gave me a warning that the transmission is overheating and to pull over to cool it down keep in mind I was on a paved freeway with no trailer and nothing in the bed of the truck so no unusual weight so with the car being brand new (only 1500 miles) I played it safe and pulled to the side of the freeway for about 15 minutes to allow for cooling then the sign went away and it was driving normal. …”

   NHTSA complaint #11714375, filed 2026-01

Buying note. On this model year, check door handles from inside on every door and ask for an alignment printout before buying, since both show up repeatedly at low mileage. Also confirm by VIN which open recalls have actually been repaired rather than just scheduled.

Summary written with AI from a sample of 60 NHTSA complaints for this model year (picked at random, with complaints that state a mileage and recent ones taken first), then checked automatically against the source records. Where a problem shows a complaint count, every complaint for this model year was matched with fixed keyword rules (written with AI and tested against the sample), and the mileage, age and repair figures are calculated from those complaints; owners' figures are as stated, not verified. Other counts refer to the sample. The excerpts come from NHTSA's public complaint records and are unverified; capitalisation is normalised, NHTSA staff notes are removed, and shortened text ends with “…”. Something wrong? Request a correction.