I purchased a vehicle from a car dealer "as is" with a clean title. About two months after purchase I took it to a mechanic after I got an airbag light and he told me the vehicle was missing airbags and was in a hard enough collision that it caused the airbags to deploy. This was not listed on the Carfax report and was not disclosed to me. I would have never purchased a vehicle if I knew it was missing airbags.
Toyota Tacoma airbag light comes on
166 of the 8,489 owner complaints about the Toyota Tacoma describe airbag warning light, most of them for the 2006 model year.
- owner complaints
- 166
- worst model year
- 2006
- typical repair cost reported
- $575
- typical mileage
- 77,000
Is there a fix? There are 8 recalls for this area of the car. See below
By model year
Often reported together
Adaptive cruise 8No deployment 5Sudden acceleration 2Seat belt 2Check engine light 2Won't shift 1Power steering loss 1Jerking 1
Trouble codes mentioned
B1801 3B1785 1B1660 1B1650 1B1100 1
What owners say
Purchased this vehicle used from dealership after reviewing the carfax and receiving reassurance from dealer that airbags were never deployed. 4 days after purchase passenger window needed to be reset into the track and upon removing plastic around front pillars, discovered vehicle had airbags cut out of it. Also found other SRS components of vehicle tampered with or non functional.
Clock spring has failed. I've lost all steering wheel button controls as well as cruise control. Air bag light has now come on. I am afraid that if I get into a wreck, the airbag will not deploy. This seems to be a common issue with this select year for this Tacoma.
My 2023 Toyota Tacoma creates an error message on my console screen "A Malfunction in the SRS Airbag System has been detected. Contact your Toyota dealer to have your vehicle inspected." In 2024, the first error message appeared. Same as above. By January 2025, there also appeared a red indicator light on the dashboard displaying something about the seat belt or airbag. It stayed continually on. I took it to the Lonestar Toyota dealership and they told me the airbags were considered part of the drive train and the issue was still under warranty. They returned my pick up to me while we ordered the airbag parts they needed to fix the issue. The parts arrived in February and on Thursday, February 20th I dropped off my vehicle and picked it up on Friday, February 28. When I picked up the tacoma, the notes on the invoice said, "Tech replaced the passenger side airbag, airbag light is off." Later that evening, the error message on the console screen returned. Same as above, "A malfunction in the SRS airbag system has been detected. Contact your Toyota dealer to have your vehicle inspected." On Monday morning, March 3 I returned the 2023 Toyota Tacoma and left it there for a week when I picked it up the following Monday, March 10th. This invoice said, "could not duplicate customer concern at this time". Even though the error message was not on the Console screen by the time I took it to the service department it was still visible within the notification history. The very next Wednesday, March 12th, the error message on the console screen appeared once again, and I arrived at the dealership within the hour with the error message still within the history, even though it was not on the main console screen. The notes on this last invoice states, "history of airbag system malfunction was cleared. The computer was reset and no message is currently populating." I picked up my vehicle March 21. This morning, Monday, March 24 the same error message.
The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Tacoma. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the air bag warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 12V092000 (Air Bags), but the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was 220,000.
Front passenger seat belt/SRS lights flashing and staying on. I recently gave someone a ride and when they adjusted the seat/seat belt these lights on the dash came on and will not go off. My guess it is the SRS/seatbelt/seat pretensioner.
The SRS airbags both driver and passender side warning lights turned on 1/23/2025 at 6:06 pm right after I got home from work. The air bag failed to turn off when the seat belt is fasten to the seatbelt buckle. When the seat belt was in place and removed from holster, the indicator light lit up and a bell sound alerted me as the operator of the truck, the seat belt warning also triggered the air bag lights to turn on with a indicator SRS airbags off. The indicator resumes as the airbag off lights remain on until the car engine is off. When the engine is turned back on, the warning lights of both driver and passenger seat belt is on.
I was driving on the highway and a semi truck hit my car from behind, pushed my car and I hit the car in front of me. I was doing around 55 mph when thee truck hit me.The airbags did not deploy. but the airbag light was lit up on the cluster. Later I received a message through the toyota app about a malfunction on my car's airbag system, that I have to contact the dealership to get it fix.
Could feel and hear the front passenger seat (including the supplemental restraint system airbag) and seat belt move side to side and making a noise. I took the vehicle to Toyota of Denton, in Denton Texas for evaluation. Here is what they found from the service manager's email "Yours will need the seat frame replaced. The seat was removed, we found the seat track has play in it and is non serviceable meaning it comes as an assembly and you can not get individual parts for it. The estimate is $2234.28 and the part would take 3-4 weeks to come in as it is on back order. Keep in mind, that time can change along the way, but that is the current ETA. If you want to proceed with the repair, you would need to pre pay for the part and the diagnostic. The total repair would be reduced by the amount prepaid. I did reach out to Toyota and there would be no goodwill offered for this repair. It was just purchased and the selling dealer is who I would recommend you ask them for assistance. Please let me know how you would like to proceed." This same type of issue is found on from multiple owners. How many passenger seat frames have been replaced on 2019-2023 Tacomas, thousands? This is a huge safety issue effecting the safety of the seatbelt and airbag of the front passenger occupant. What is worse TOYOTA Motor Corp. refuses to honor their own SRS fully transferable 5 year - 60,000 mile warranties. leaving owners of these vehicles to pay for the cost on their own or worse driving a vehicle with loose seats, airbags, airbag sensors, and front passenger seat belts. the federal safety agency needs to conduct an immediate full safety recall of all 2019-2023 Toyota Tacoma loose passenger seats due to factory defect faulty seat frames, which directly bolt the front passenger seat belt, airbag, and safety sensors to the vehicle. the federal safety agency additionally needs to investigate SRS warranty fraud conducted by Toyota Motor Corp, for failing to uphold their own published SRS warranties
First notices that volume control on steering wheel and temp and directional display stopped working about a year ago. Now air bag light stays on when car is started and alarm for seat belts quit working.
Related recalls
Air bags: frontal: driver clockspring/spiral cassette
- What is wrong
- Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2023 Corolla, Corolla Cross, Corolla Cross Hybrid, Highlander, Highlander Hybrid, Tacoma, 2023 Lexus RX350, RX350 Hybrid, RX500 Hybrid, 2023-2024 Lexus NX250, NX350, and NX350 Hybrid vehicles. An electrical connection inside the steering column's spiral cable assembly may be insufficiently welded, causing the connection to separate and deactivate the driver's air bag. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 208, "Occupant Crash Protection."
- Risk
- A deactivated driver's air bag that does not deploy as intended increases the risk of injury during a crash.
- Remedy
- Dealers will inspect and replace the spiral cable assembly, if necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed September 8, 2023. Owners may contact Toyota's customer service at 1‑800‑331‑4331. Toyota's number for this recall is 23TA08. Lexus' number for this recall is 23LA02.
Recall number 23V480000 · Recall details
Air bags: knee bolster
- What is wrong
- Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain model year 2016 Tacoma trucks manufactured August 20, 2015, to September 10, 2015. In the affected vehicles, incorrect bolts were used to install the driver's knee air bag module.
- Risk
- The incorrect bolts may loosen over time and affect the performance of the driver's knee air bag, increasing the risk of driver injury during a crash that necessitates deployment of the air bags.
- Remedy
- Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will install the correct driver's knee air bag module mounting bolts, free of charge. The recall began on November 19, 2015. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1‑800‑331‑4331. Toyota's number for this recall is F0T.
Recall number 15V656000 · Recall details
Air bags: frontal: driver side: inflator module
- What is wrong
- Toyota is recalling certain model year 2006-2008 RAV4, 2006-2010 Yaris, 2008-2010 Highlander, and 2009-2010 Tacoma, Corolla, Corolla Matrix and General Motors Pontiac Vibe vehicles. In the affected vehicles, the steering column assembly contains electrical connections to the driver's airbag module housed in a spiral cable assembly, which includes a Flexible Flat Cable (FFC). Due to the shape and location of the FFC's retainer, the FFC could become damaged when the steering wheel is turned.
- Risk
- If the FFC is damaged, connectivity to the driver's air bag module could be lost and the air bag deactivated. The failure of the driver's air bag to deploy in the event of a crash that typically necessitates deployment increases the risk of injury to the driver.
- Remedy
- Toyota will notify the Toyota vehicle owners, and General Motors will notify the Pontiac Vibe owners. Toyota sent owners an interim notification letter in May 2014 to advise owners of the recall. Toyota will mail owners a second letter when remedy parts are available. General Motors sent Pontiac Vibe owners an Interim letter on June 20, 2014 notifying them that parts are currently unavailable. General Motors sent notices to the Pontiac Vibe owners on September 15, 2014, that a remedy is available. The recall began on October 27, 2014. Owners may contact Toyota at 1‑800‑331‑4331. Owners may contact General Motors at 1‑800‑762‑2737.
Recall number 14V168000 · Recall details
Air bags: frontal: sensor/control module-inactive
- What is wrong
- Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC (SET) is recalling certain models interspersed through model years 2009 through 2013 as follows: model year 2009-2012 Tacoma, 4Runner, Camry, Camry Hybrid, Prius, and RAV4; model year 2009-2010 Avalon, FJ Cruiser, and Highlander Hybrid; model year 2010-2013 model year Corolla, Sienna and Tundra; model year 2009-2013 Highlander and Venza; model year 2012 Prius V; and model year 2010-2012 Sequoia. During modification by SET to include accessories such as leather seat covers, seat heaters or headrest DVD systems, these vehicles may not have had the passenger seat occupant sensing system calibration tested. Without passing the calibration test, the occupant sensing system may not operate as designed.
- Risk
- If the front passenger seat occupant sensing system is out of calibration, the front passenger airbags may not deploy or they may deploy inappropriately for the passenger's size and position. This could increase the risk of personal injury during the event of a vehicle crash necessitating airbag deployment.
- Remedy
- Southeast Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will test the sensitivity of the occupant detection sensors, and recalibrate them as necessary. The recall began on March 21, 2013. Owners may contact Southeast Toyota at 1‑800‑301‑6859.
Recall number 13V014000 · Recall details
Air bags: frontal
- What is wrong
- Toyota is recalling certain model year 2005-2009 tacoma vehicles, manufactured from september 14, 2004, through august 29, 2008. Over time, steering wheel vibration may damage the spiral cable assembly (clockspring) that powers the drivers air bag module. If damage occurs, the air bag warning lamp will illuminate and the air bag may become deactivated.
- Risk
- In the event of a crash, the drivers side air bag may not deploy, increasing the risk of personal injury.
- Remedy
- Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace the spiral cable assembly, free of charge. An interim letter is expected to be mailed to owners during april 2012. Owners may contact toyota at 1‑800‑331‑4331.
Recall number 12V092000 · Recall details
Air bags
- What is wrong
- On certain vehicles, due to improper assembly of the air bag inflator, which is used in the side air bag, the curtain shield air bag, and the knee air bag assembly, some inflators were produced with an insufficient amount of the heating agents necessary for proper air bag deployment. In this condition, the expansion force of the gas may be insufficient to properly inflate the air bag when the SRS system is activated during a crash.
- Risk
- This may increase the risk of injury to the occupant in the involved seating position in the event of a crash.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace the specific SRS air bag. The recall began on april 6, 2006. Owners may contact toyota at 1‑888‑270‑9371, scion at 1‑866‑548‑1851, or lexus at 1‑800‑255‑3987.
Recall number 06V096000 · Recall details
Air bags
- What is wrong
- On certain regular cab pickup trucks equipped with a bench seat, the seat position and seat belt buckle sensor connector pins are incorrectly positioned due to a wire harness manufacturing process error.
- Risk
- In this condition, the seat position and seat belt buckle sensor may not function as designed, affecting the adaptive air bag deployment, which if the vehicle is involved in a crash, could result in improper occupant restraint.
- Remedy
- Dealers will inspect the seat position and seat belt fastening condition sensor connector. An additional sub-wire harness will be installed to correct the connector pin manufacturing error, if necessary. The recall began on july 25, 2005. Owners may contact toyota at 1‑800‑431‑4331.
Recall number 05V302000 · Recall details
Air bags: on-off switch assembly
- What is wrong
- Vehicle description: passenger vehicles. The statement required in the owner's manual that "...the on-off switch should only ben used when a member of a passenger risk group identified in the request form in appendix b......is occupying the right front passenger seating position..." is mis-stated. This does not comply with the requirements of fmvss 208, "occupant crash protection."
- Risk
- If the air bag switch is "off," the seat occupant who is not a member of the passenger risk group would be subject to increased injury in the event of a vehicle crash.
- Remedy
- Owners will be sent a corrected owner's manual.
Recall number 98V188000 · Recall details
Questions about the Toyota Tacoma airbag light
Why does the airbag light come on in the Toyota Tacoma?
Owners who report it most often also describe adaptive cruise control problems, airbags did not deploy in a crash and sudden unintended acceleration, and the codes they mention most are B1801, B1785 and B1660.
Which Toyota Tacoma years have airbag warning light problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2006 (55 complaints), 2005 (27 complaints) and 2007 (23 complaints).
How much does it cost to fix airbag warning light on the Toyota Tacoma?
Owners who mentioned a price put the repair at about $575 (median of 44 complaints that include a dollar amount). Costs vary with mileage, warranty and where the work is done.
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