2023 Toyota Corolla

Problems, recalls and owner-reported issues

Steering is the leading concern among 73 owner complaints filed for this model year. This is the 24th highest complaint count among 26 Corolla model years with reports.

Complaints by model year
  1. 73

Of the 2023 reports, 8 involved a crash and 1 involved a fire. 4 people were injured.

Primary concernSteering16 reports · 22% of complaints
Owner complaints73Filed with NHTSA
Recall relationship3 safety recallsNHTSA campaign records

What owners report most often

  1. Other or unspecified18
  2. Steering16
  3. Electrical system13
  4. Engine13
  5. Exterior lighting11
  6. Service brakes7
  7. Air bags6
  8. Forward collision avoidance6

Recalls and investigations

  1. Steering, columnJan 29, 2025

    Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2023 Toyota Corolla, Corolla Cross, Corolla Cross Hybrid, Highlander, Highlander Hybrid, Tacoma, Lexus RX350, 2023-2024 NX250, and NX350 vehicles that may have been incorrectly repaired under previous NHTSA recall number 23V-480. 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."

    A deactivated driver's air bag will not deploy as intended, increasing the risk of injury during a crash.

    Dealers will inspect and replace the spiral cable assembly as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 17, 2025. Owners may contact Toyota's customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's number for this recall is 25TA02. Lexus' number for this recall is 25LA02.

    Campaign 25V040000 on NHTSA.gov

  2. SteeringNov 21, 2024

    Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2023-2024 Corolla and Corolla Hybrid vehicles. Due to cracks developed during the manufacturing process, the steering intermediate shaft assembly may fracture and possibly result in the shaft detaching from the steering column.

    A steering shaft that detaches can result in a loss of steering control, increasing the risk of a crash.

    Dealers will replace the intermediate steering shaft, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed January 17, 2025. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's number for this recall is 24TB13/24TA13.

    Campaign 24V878000 on NHTSA.gov

  3. Steering, columnJul 12, 2023

    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."

    A deactivated driver's air bag that does not deploy as intended increases the risk of injury during a crash.

    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.

    Campaign 23V480000 on NHTSA.gov

Representative owner complaints: engine

13 reports, newest first. Show all

  1. Engine, Fuel/propulsion system, Dec 23, 2025

    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.

  2. Engine, Oct 25, 2025

    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.

  3. Engine, Oct 22, 2025

    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

  4. Other or unspecified, Engine, Feb 8, 2025

    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.

  5. Service brakes, Engine, Back over prevention, Nov 19, 2024

    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.

  6. Electrical system, Engine, Forward collision avoidance, Nov 8, 2024, crash

    To start, on [XXX], I was going through an intersection on a country road and my automatic emergency braking engaged for no reason. My car stopped despite no other vehicle or object being in my way or anywhere close to me. I found it really weird but did not think much about after the fact. I have also heard a rattling noise under my hood since [XXX] and have reported this to Toyota and tried to have it fixed multiple times (and showed them videos) but they were never able to duplicate the noise so it has not been remedied. On [XXX] I was traveling on a highway during rush hour and the traffic in front of me came to a sudden stop. I braked as hard as I could; my automatic emergency braking did not engage and I rear ended the car in front of me (minimal damage to that car). We both immediately pulled partway onto the narrow left berm (we had both been in the left lane to get onto another highway). My car then turned off by itself and gave me an engine warning (I believe low engine oil- I had just had it serviced 3 days prior). The other car owner and I exchanged information quickly and decided to drive away because we were blocking rush hour traffic and it was dangerous. However, my car would not start back up. I called 911 and they came to use their vehicle to push me to the right side of the highway onto an exit where I was no longer blocking traffic. During the wait, I felt like I was going to die with traffic honking and swerving to avoid me. When the police officer was moving my car, the parking brake engaged when I put the car in neutral and would not turn off, so the smell of burning rubber was strong since the tires would not roll. Once the tow truck driver arrived he was able to use jumper cables to disengage the parking brake but the car still would not start. There were no prior warning lights. The car not starting was confirmed by the dealer- they are holding off doing maintenance to have an engineer check out the car and figure out what happened. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

  7. Engine, Fuel/propulsion system, Jul 19, 2024

    Fuel Injector failed, causing the engine to run extremely rich, misfire, and cause severe drivability issues. Issue occurred just outside vehicle base warranty. Problem was verified and confirmed by vehicle dealership. MIL was illuminated when drivability issue and malfunction started.

  8. Engine, Sep 13, 2023

    Intermittently and without warning for the past few months the vehicle will at times fail to accelerate properly when pulling out in heavy traffic. The RPMs go past 5000 RPMs and the vehicle barely moves. When I let off the gas and reapply gas the vehicle will go. Vehicle also jerks and hesitates at speeds between 0 -. 30 mph. Disengaging the vehicles traction control helps to alleviate issue. Vehicle and issue will be presented to my Toyota dealer.

  9. Steering, Other or unspecified, Engine, Aug 18, 2023

    It said power steering low and it shut off on me

  10. Steering, Electrical system, Engine, Feb 27, 2023

    Two weeks and three days after picking up my 2023 Corolla Cross from the dealership, I was in stop and go traffic on a busy road. I came to a stop at a red light and my car started making a continuous beeping noise. The display alternated between "Engine Stopped Steering Power Low" and "Engine Stopped Press Brake Firmly to Restart." I pressed the brake VERY firmly multiple times, with no effect. When the light turned green, I tried to move my car to the side of the road, but it did not move. The cars behind me -- including the semi truck directly behind me -- started cutting into traffic in an attempt to get around. I finally put it in park and tried to turn it off, which finally turned the engine back on. (I only had to press the start/stop button once.) Once the engine came on, the car worked normally. The dealership has not been able to reproduce the problem, but an internet search shows that this is not an isolated incident.

  11. Steering, Electrical system, Engine, Feb 16, 2023

    I was at a stoplight and the car cut off. Not the normal auto power down feature, there was no power. A message saying press the brake down to restart appeared. Then a message saying steering power low appeared. The check engine light came on. I pressed the break down, and the vehicle did not restart. I put the car in park then restarted it and was able to drive again. But at the very next light, the same thing happened.

  12. Steering, Service brakes, Engine, Feb 15, 2023

    The automatic engine shut off failed. Normally when stopped the engine shuts off and restarts when pressing the gas. It did not do that and instead turned the vehicle completely off. I was waiting for traffic at an intersection to make a left hand turn when my vehicles engine shut off. Interior lights flashed and alarm sounded. Dashboard said engine was off and to press break firmly to restart. It did not work. Also had a power steering warning. I had to put the car in park and restart the vehicle. In the mean time the light had turned red and I was in the middle of the intersection at night, in the rain with a stalled vehicle that I bought last week and has less than 500 miles. A car nearly hit us as I put my hazard lights on and restarted the vehicle. My kids were in the car, it put not only ourselves in danger but also other vehicles on the road. I have not been able to reproduce the incident but it is at the dealership now. There were no symptoms of the incident prior to. I just went to turn and the car went nuts with lights and warnings and the engine was completely off and had to be restarted… IN THE MIDDLE OF A BUSY INTERSECTION. I see several other complaints and even videos where it did the exact same thing. This is for sure a safety issue.

  13. Steering, Other or unspecified, Engine, Feb 15, 2023

    This is the 3rd time it’s happened. It seems to happen after it’s rained and it’s wet and humid outside. I was at a red light waiting for it to change. The car starts making a buzzer noise and shows “ignition on” with “Engine stopped power steering low” and flashes to “press break firmly to restart.” Pressing the break does nothing and I cannot move the vehicle at all. This whole time the engine is off and I have to go into park to restart the car by pressing the start/stop button. It’s very dangerous when the light turns green because I cannot go anywhere.