1998 Toyota Tercel

Routine

Owners filed 3 complaints about this vehicle with federal regulators, most often about the air bags › frontal. It has been recalled 1 time.

What fails

Component	Reports	Crashes
Seat Belts › Front › Anchorage	1	0
Engine and Engine Cooling › Engine › Gasoline	1	0
Air Bags › Frontal	1	1

1 safety recall

Part 573 reports

Exterior Lighting › Headlights08E050000

Filed Aug 11, 20081,921 vehiclesK2 Motor Corporation

Defect. K2 MOTOR IS RECALLING 1,921 AFTERMARKET HEADLAMPS OF VARIOUS MODELS SOLD FOR USE ON THE ABOVE LISTED VEHICLES. THESE HEADLAMPS ARE MISSING THE AMBER SIDE REFLEX REFLECTOR WHICH FAILS TO CONFORM WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARD NO. 108, "LAMPS, REFLECTIVE DEVICES, AND ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT."

Risk. WITHOUT THE AMBER SIDE REFLEX REFLECTORS, THE LIGHTING VISIBILITY MAY BE AFFECTED, POSSIBLY RESULTING IN A VEHICLE CRASH.

Remedy. K2 MOTOR WILL NOTIFY OWNERS AND OFFER A FULL REFUND. THE RECALL BEGAN ON DECEMEBER 17, 2008. OWNERS MAY CONTACT K2 MOTOR AT 1-909-839-2992.

What owners reported

Newest filings

Engine and Engine Cooling › Engine › Gasoline

Filed Oct 18, 1999PR

ENGINE NOISE AND HESITATION, SEVERAL REPAIR ATTEMPTS, HOWEVER UNABLE TO RECTIFY. MJS

Seat Belts › Front › Anchorage

Filed Feb 1, 1999CA

SEAT BELT FAILURE. *YC

Air Bags › FrontalCrash

Filed Jan 8, 1999FL

WAS TRAVELING APPROXIMATELY 35MPH WHEN ANOTHER VEHICLE WAS REARENDED BY THE TERCEL. UPON IMPACT, AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. *AK

3 of 3 complaints, reproduced as filed.

Across model years

Worst on record: 1995

Year	Complaints	Recalls	Fires	Deaths	Assessment
2000	1	0	0	0	Routine
1999	1	1	0	1	Fatalities reported
1998 — this page	3	1	0	0	Routine
1997	20	2	0	0	Routine
1996	40	2	4	0	Routine
1995	51	2	1	0	Routine
1994	40	0	3	2	Fatalities reported
1993	43	0	0	0	Routine
1992	24	0	1	1	Fatalities reported
1991	17	0	1	0	Routine
1990	19	1	4	0	Routine

Compare every Tercel year →

Other Toyota models

All Toyota models →

Camry 17,874 Prius 12,499 Corolla 11,638 RAV4 9,363 Sienna 8,544 Tacoma 8,420 Tundra 6,885 4Runner 5,858 Highlander 5,680 Avalon 3,402

Reading this record

No unusual pattern of severe incidents in the complaint record.

Complaint counts track how many cars were sold and how long they have been on the road as much as they track quality. A common model from 2013 has had a decade to accumulate reports; a rare one from last year has not. The signal worth weighing is in the severity columns, in whether the same component keeps appearing, and in whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.

Recall repairs are free for as long as the recall stands. Check whether a specific car still has open work at NHTSA's VIN lookup.

Most recent recall on file: Aug 11, 2008. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.