What breaks most · 2001 to 2018 model years
Toyota Sequoia problems by year
Owners have filed 2,729 safety complaints with NHTSA about the Toyota Sequoia across model years 2001 to 2018. Three years stand out: 2002 for stability control complaints, 2003 for stability control complaints and 2001 for stability control complaints. The quietest years are 2009, 2015 and 2013.
- Years to check closely: 2002, 2003, 2001
- Fewest complaints: 2009, 2015, 2013
- Complaints on file
- 27292001 to 2018, all trims
- Worst year
- 2002610 complaints
- Crashes reported
- 966 fires · 118 injuries · 3 deaths
- Typical failure mileage
- 96kMedian where owners gave mileage
- Recall campaigns
- 116Across the years shown
Complaints by model year
Raw filings with NHTSA, not adjusted for how many were sold.
| Model year | Complaints | Crashes | Recalls | Most-reported component |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 492 | 20 | 3 | Stability control (118) | |
| 610 | 22 | 8 | Stability control (184) | |
| 522 | 14 | 7 | Stability control (156) | |
| 339 | 17 | 9 | Stability control (96) | |
| 331 | 6 | 11 | Stability control (93) | |
| 181 | 4 | 10 | Air bags (43) | |
| 109 | 5 | 9 | Air bags (33) | |
| 51 | 4 | 9 | Body and structure (11) | |
| 4 | 0 | 9 | Speed control and throttle (1) | |
| 24 | 1 | 10 | Engine and cooling (7) | |
| 11 | 1 | 7 | Engine and cooling (2) | |
| 14 | 0 | 4 | Brakes (6) | |
| 6 | 0 | 3 | Engine (2) | |
| 8 | 1 | 3 | Unknown or other (5) | |
| 4 | 0 | 3 | Speed control and throttle (2) | |
| 9 | 0 | 3 | Brakes (3) | |
| 3 | 1 | 3 | Electrical system (1) | |
| 11 | 0 | 5 | Electrical system (6) |
What fails on the 2002 Toyota Sequoia
| Component | Share of complaints | Filings | Crashes | Parts for this job |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stability controlABS and wheel speed sensors | 30% |
184 | 3 | Shop stability control parts for the 2002 Toyota Sequoia |
| Speed control and throttleThrottle and pedal sensors | 21% |
130 | 4 | Shop speed control and throttle parts for the 2002 Toyota Sequoia |
| Brakes (hydraulic)Brake pads, rotors and calipers | 14% |
87 | 1 | Shop brakes (hydraulic) parts for the 2002 Toyota Sequoia |
| BrakesBrake pads, rotors and calipers | 13% |
82 | 2 | Shop brakes parts for the 2002 Toyota Sequoia |
| Body and structureDoors, latches and body hardware | 13% |
78 | 0 | Shop body and structure parts for the 2002 Toyota Sequoia |
| Traction Control System | 11% |
67 | 1 | — |
| SteeringPower steering pumps, racks and hoses | 11% |
65 | 6 | Shop steering parts for the 2002 Toyota Sequoia |
| Powertrain and transmissionTransmission parts | 8% |
50 | 2 | Shop powertrain and transmission parts for the 2002 Toyota Sequoia |
One complaint can name more than one component, so shares add to more than 100%. "Unknown or other" is NHTSA's uncategorized bucket and is shown but never ranked.
In owners' words
Complaint narratives as filed with NHTSA, trimmed for length.
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Tamara recall: i was going 60 mph when my traction control lights started blinking. It started making a grinding noise and front end shaking and loss of power steering it has 190,000 miles on it
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My 2003 sequoia got vsc off, vsc trac, and brake indications in the cockpit again since the problem was fixed by replacing the sensors at dealer few years ago. Very disappointing. I don't know if toyota has ever since recall in 2010.
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Driving down the road trac, vsc trac lights come on and the vehicle breaks hard and jerks the steering wheel to the right.
How to read this page
Every figure comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's public complaint database, which holds every safety-related defect complaint filed by owners since 1995. We refresh it monthly and count each complaint once per component it names. Data through September 30, 2026.
NHTSA only accepts safety-related complaints. Rattles, paint, infotainment bugs and other annoyances are under-reported here, so this page is a map of what fails in ways owners consider dangerous, not a full reliability score.
Counts are raw. Use the year-over-year shape and the component mix, not the absolute numbers. Where a component maps to parts we stock, the row links to that category filtered to the year you are viewing. Air bag and seat belt complaints link to the recall checker instead, because those repairs are almost always covered.
Common questions
Which Toyota Sequoia years have the most problems?
By NHTSA complaint volume, 2002, 2003, 2001 carry the most filings on the Toyota Sequoia. The 2002 alone has 610 complaints, led by stability control.
What is the most common Toyota Sequoia problem?
On the 2002 model year, the most-reported component is stability control with 184 complaints. The table above lists the top components for every year.
At what mileage do Toyota Sequoia problems start?
The median mileage at failure across all Toyota Sequoia complaints that include mileage is about 96,000 miles. Older model years skew higher; the per-year figure is in the "at a glance" card.
Are these complaints verified?
No. NHTSA publishes complaints as submitted and does not investigate individual filings. Patterns across hundreds of complaints are meaningful; a single one is not.