NHTSA Owner Complaint Log
This page lists owner-reported complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2021 Toyota Venza. Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA and do not by themselves prove a defect or defect rate.
I was driving down the street when I hear a pebble, rubble, hit my windshield. I didn’t think too much of it as that happens from time to time while I’m driving in any vehicle. When I reached the stop light I peeked over and saw a crack of near 12 inches coming from the passenger side to the center of the windshield. I cannot understand how driving at slow speeds on a street and having a pebble hit your windshield cause such damage. I stepped out of my vehicle to inspect and you can see the small area where the pebble hit.
On 17th June 2023, while returning home on the WA-9/SR-9 NB, I stopped at the red light where WA-2 was crossing. My wife was sitting with me in the car. One Subaru rammed me from behind. This road has a speed limit of 55 Miles per hour and is a single-lane state highway. The rear was damaged heavily. I lost control of the vehicle, went into the SB lane, and saw a car approaching me from the opposite direction. I looked right and saw a little space between the car ahead of me and the vehicle ahead of it. I turned right without hitting those two cars and entered the roadside ditch damaging the front. In both cases, the airbag was not deployed, first the ramming from behind and then going into the ditch. Is this normal? Later my insurance declared my car as the "Total Loss."
Driving at 45MPH alone on a paved road. Outside temperature 85F. Suddenly a crack appeared on the driver side of the windshield (about halfway up from hood). Crack was initially about 3 to 4 inches long. By the time I got home (10 miles - about 15 minutes) the crack was 24 inches long and still growing. Failed component: Windshield Risk? Degraded driver vision, possibility of glass flying into passenger compartment Reproduced: Not yet, it happened Saturday afternoon. Inspected: Not yet it happened Saturday afternoon Warning lamps? No
On May 30, 2023 at approx. 11:30am I was leaving the car wash located at 2330 Olympic Hwy. N. Shelton Washington. The automatic bar pushed me through the car wash to the end where it left you. There was a slight grade downwards to the highway (Olympic Hwy. N.) I touched the gas peddle slightly and the car surged forward across the SB lane where a car traveling SB had to slam on its brakes to avoid a collision. My car continued across to the NB lane where it struck a vehicle in the drivers side rear quarter panel. I had slammed on the brakes but not quick enough to avoid the collision. The brake was slow to respond when I applied them. I'm thinking what may have happened as this is a gas electric hybrid that the gas engine kicked in instead of the battery when I gently applied the gas peddle which caused it to surge forward.
On numerous equations, when I press on the gas pedal the car does not react from either the hybrid battery or from the engine. I will depress the pedal and the car pauses for a few seconds before it moves forward. This has happened multiple times at different mileages but until this report, I did not think much of it since it was not in a near collision situation. On two occasions as I am pulling into traffic I will put my foot on the gas and since I get no reaction, the cars coming towards me have been very close to hitting me. One would have been a T bone incident where I would have been hit and another would have been a rear ended situation. Both times, the cars coming towards me had to brake rapidly. I have taken the issue to the dealer to examine. There have been no warning lamps and it does not happen consistently.
When accelerating from a stopped position, the car fails to go forward. This incident has occurred six times and often seems to be at the worst times, such as pulling into a busy road from a stop sign. The car will start to accelerate and stop with no response from the gas pedal for 3-5 seconds. There have almost been a couple of accidents with this vehicle because of this issue. No check engine light or any light at all came on in the car when this incident occurred. This vehicle has been taking to the dealership and the problem has been mentioned to them, however with no codes to read for the OBDII they claim there is nothing they can do about it.
FRONT WINDSHIELD STRUCK BY A ROCK CREATING A DIME SIZED CRACK ON THE UPPER DRIVER SIDE WINDSHIELD AND WITHIN DAYS AN APPROXIMATELY ONE FOOT LONG HORIZONTAL CRACK EXTENDED TOWARD THE CENTER
I was on the highway, no ice on the road, in a construction zone, going about 50mph. The cars in front of me stopped completely, and the light to warn me to "Brake" came on the dashboard to engage the brakes, but the emergency braking system failed to engage the brakes and slow down the car. I also pushed on the brakes, but nothing happened, the car did not seem to slow down at all, like I had no brakes. I kept going and crashed into the vehicle in front of me. It's like the brakes did not work and the automatic braking did not work either. There was a complete system brake failure. Also, the air bags did not deploy, which I'm surprised with so much front end damage to my car. The brakes also did this last year, and I collided with a vehicle the same way, but there was ice on the road, so at that time, I attributed it to the icy road. Now since these two accidents are so similar, I am concerned about a defect in the brakes and automatic emergency braking system. I am also worried to own a vehicle with the Automatic Emergency Braking System. I am having the vehicle towed to the dealership to have the brakes looked at.
I was at an intersection. Right turn lane, waiting for a green or a hole in traffic to turn right. The light turned green and I lifted up on the brake, turned the wheel to the right, and tried to accelerate into the turn. The car started rolling, and I heard an electric noise (hybrid car), but the car did not accelerate normally. I applied more 'gas' on the pedal, and nothing happened; the car continued to lightly roll. Usually if you press the gas pedal past a point, it will kick in the gas engine with the electric drivetrain, but this did not occur. After approximately 2 seconds, the pedal felt 'normal' and the electric drivetrain accelerated normally. I was OK because traffic had turned green, but if I had tried to find an opening in traffic and turned on the red, after a complete stop, having the acceleration pedal not correctly functioning for 2 seconds would have been highly problematic and not safe at all. No warning light or beeps. The only noise was an odd electrical sound which was 'not' the normal sound that I hear from the electric drivetrain. I have not told the dealership yet, but I will during my next appointment. I did find one other posting online which was the exact same description that I experienced. https://www.toyotanation.com/threads/no-acceleration-from-stopped-position.1713347/
I heard a crack on my windshield. There were no other vehicles in front or beside me that may have thrown a rock into my windshield. A day later, I noticed a crack in my windshield that is approximately 10" long extending from the base of the windshield on the passenger side up and towards the middle of the windshield. There seems to be no reason for the crack to have developed. In researching this issue on line, it appears that there have been many complaints about unexplained windshield cracks with the 2021 Venza.
The car has a new type of sunroof (Stargaze) that turns clear or dark. It is operated by the electrical system. Mine shorted out and makes a buzzing sound if turned on. This same problem has been reported by many others with this sunroof. It is a design defect that is prevalent in the Venza. The Toyota Venza is a low volume vehicle and a very small percentage are equipped with this sunroof, but l have read about many others experiencing this issue in Toyota forums online. The pictures show the roof in clear mode and frosted mode with the shorted out burnt portion.
The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Venza. The contact stated that upon entering her garage at a low rate of speed, her brake pedal failed to operate as needed. The vehicle independently accelerated and crashed through the garage drywall and struck a water line. The air bags did not deploy upon impact. There were two unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact suffered back, head, and neck pain and sought medical attention from her doctor. A police report was filed. The contact's dry wall and water line were damaged as a result of the failure. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it remained in their possession and had yet to be repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and an inspection was performed on the vehicle; however, the results of the inspection were unknown. The failure mileage was approximately 18,000.
Forward collision avoidance; automatic emergency braking; adaptive cruise control; I pulled into a straight-ahead handicapped parking slot to park, going about 1-3mph . There was a handicapped sign in front of me on a newly installed steel pole. I pulled in within inches of the pole. When I tried to engage the brakes, the braking system failed to engage the brakes and slow down the car. The car instead accelerated and would have broken through a store front had the pole not stopped it. I also pushed on the brakes, but nothing happened, the car did not seem to slow down at all, like I had no brakes. It's like the brakes did not work and the automatic braking did not work either. There was a complete system brake failure. Also, the air bags did not deploy, which I'm surprised with so much front end damage to my car. So, in a panic to stop the forward acceleration, I put the car in reverse; after which the vehicle accelerated in reverse out of my control and crashed into a 3-foot concrete wall and another vehicle next to the wall. This crash stopped the vehicle. I had no control over speed of the acceleration, steering of the vehicle, or stopping. I am concerned about a defect in the brakes and the PKBS braking system. I could have been killed or backed into another person or car killing someone else. The car has been repaired. I did receive a msg about the raider cruise system being on days prior; I didn't know what it meant; it went away and I did not pursue why cruise control was on because I didn't engage it. I am seeking inspection by Toyota and my AAA Insurance rep.
Windshield cracked with no reason. Did not drive on highway but a over 10-inch crack appeared nowhere on the driver side. It was the second time our windshield cracked. This is definitely an issue with defective glasses.
This car is 1.5 years old and this will be the third windshield replacement. Ether nothing hit the windshield or if something did, it was so small and there is a 8 inch crack starting from bottom center side of passenger windshield. The last replacement was only 6 months ago. This glass is either defective or is so weak it continues to crack
Extremely loud seatbelt warning chimes created a hazardous situation by causing a severe distraction, preventing ability to hear traffic, and having no way to correct the situation. I had a near miss accident while trying to figure out what was wrong, and was forced to make a very dangerous stop on the side of a highway to correct the problem. The seatbelt warning chime was improperly triggered by a fault in Toyotas programming. A child briefly plugged their seatbelt into the 'wrong' receptacle in the rear seat. They quickly realized it was the wrong one and plugged it into the correct receptacle. After visually and verbally checking with my child that they were properly restrained, we left a parking spot at a shopping center and got almost immediately onto a highway. The car improperly deduced there was a child in the middle seat because of the brief failed attempt of buckling into the wrong buckle. And since the buckle was not buckled, it assumed there was an unbuckled child now in the middle rear seat. After some testing, it seems the only way to clear this alarm is to fully stop the vehicle and open one of the rear doors. This is how Toyota decided to 'clear' the status of someone leaving the car. The seatbelt warning system does not begin it's chimes until the vehicle has reached a certain speed, which did not occur until I was on the highway. The extremely loud chime with no obvious reason created a panic situation. The child was unable to help in the rear because they did not understand, and would not have been able to safely reach over and buckle the unoccupied seat anyway. While focused on resolving the intrusive noise, we had a near miss situation. I was unable to hear any of the safety system warnings over the chimes. Ultimately I had to perform a dangerous stop on a 65mph highway to get out, and figure out why the car thought there was someone in the rear seat that wasn't there.
You just cannot see with these headlights. I cannot drive the car at night. No crashes but we live in the country with no added light and these light don’t work. This is a proble since we bought the car a year ago.
The windshield has cracked 2 times since I bought the car – 1 crack per year. This is an expensive repair. In no other vehicle have I experienced windshield cracks so frequently. Is this windshield thinner than industry norms? Two times an object has hit the windshield while I was driving. Initially each impact only caused a chip on the windshield. Then a 12 inch crack appeared: a) the first crack appeared during the chip repair; b) the second incident's crack appeared 30 minutes after the windshield was chipped. The latest crack is available for inspection. The cracks caused no safety issues.
The miles do not seem accurate as the tank should hold 14.5 gallons but always register less than 11 gallons when filled. Total miles in that vehicle should be around 552 but has been 479 the last few times. Toyota dealers says not issue. Complaint in with Toyota motor co. I have pictures of this issues which has been going on for a little while but just documented the issue. This is an issue because I don’t know the true mileage I wait til the warning light comes on to fill but that has not been accurate lately. There are no warning lights or anything that there may be an issue with that car.
I have had to replace the windshield 5 times in the last two years. The windshield cracks with just the slightest impact to the windshield from small debris on the highway that should not typically damage the windshield in such a way. All replacement windshields have been ordered directly from Toyota and all have had this issue.
windshield cracking when i hit a "hard Shell" BUG on the interstate...Not a rock, nor a stone, but a bug!...Nobody around the vehicle in the middle of nowhere...;in broad daylight...going to cost me a high deductable because it cracked right in the line of vision for the driver...total replacement required...Toyota wont stand behind their product ...this windshield is way too soft...!!!
A crack in the windshield appeared at approximately 13,000 on June 20, 2022. It appeared after a short local trip-seemingly out of no where. Initially the crack was about six inches long, ending at the bottom of the window pane. Minutes later, the crack continued an additional foot. The crack has continuted to grow and on 10/14/22 is in excess of 2 feet long, with approximately 19,000 miles. The windshield had been out of stock since July, 2022 when I initiated an insurance claim. It is now scheduled to be replaced on 10/24/22.
I received a call from the Toyota service department during a routine oil change. They indicated that I had severe rodent damage throughout my car. After doing my own research, I found numerous complaints of similar nature with Toyota vehicles due to the soy based wiring they use. It creates a safety hazard as rodents (mice) are attracted to the wiring and create nests within the vehicle. My cost to fix the problem was over $4,500 that my insurance covered, but I still had to pay my deductible. The job took approximately 3-4 weeks and I was without a vehicle. The dealership nor the Toyota representative would do anything for me. The car was only a year old. I’ve never had anything like this happen to any new vehicles I have purchased. It seems to be a serious issue with other Toyota vehicles and can be hazardous.
2021 Toyota Venza while being driven while merging onto the highway, the vehicle lost all braking power causing my wife to almost cash into the car in front of her. The vehicle was moving between 50 to 55 miles per hour. Once the vehicle was pulled over, the dash was displaying these error messages: Pre-Collision System Malfunction; Braking Power Low/Visit your Dealer; Check Engine; and Secondary Collision Brake System Malfunction. This caused my wife to be stranded on the side of the highway. The vehicle has 24,811 miles on it. The vehicle had to be towed to the Toyota dealership. This is the second time this happened. The first time this happened was about 20 months ago when I had just bought the vehicle new and put about 400 miles on it. The first time the dealership said they could not find anything wrong with it.
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windshield cracked 8 inches when a small object hit it. u want even traveling close behind any vehicle. It was on a surface street and not the freeway.
After Traction Control recall firmware update was completed, my vehicle now turns on the parking break randomly when coming to a stop while still in drive. The vehicle says time for maitenance with aprox 5,500 miles before service required. Remote services no longer connecting. The firmware update to correct traction control not turning on automatically at vehicle startup has caused other electrical features to fail/malfunction.
2021 TOYOTA VENZA. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARD TO THE WINDSHIELD DESIGN CAUSING A BLIND SPOT.
The contact's mother owns a 2021 Toyota Venza. The contact stated that while she was driving in traffic and slowing down to 10 MPH with her foot on the brake pedal, the vehicle unintendedly accelerated with a jolt. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The unintended acceleration had occurred on several occasions. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer who diagnosed the vehicle and stated that the failure was caused by driver error. The dealer stated that the vehicle information showed that both the brake pedal and accelerator pedal had been depressed simultaneously. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 15,000.
The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Venza. The contact stated that on two separate occasions the front windshield cracked. The contact stated that the first time he noticed the crack was ten days after the vehicle was purchased. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the windshield was replaced however, the contact stated that the second time his wife was seated on the passenger side when she noticed that the windshield started to crack. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the dealer had taken photos of the windshield and sent them to the manufacturer. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was opened and the contact was advised to contact the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 11,500.
Windshield crack development possibly from an unnoticed very small impact. On August 13, 2022 we noticed a crack from center passenger side bottom edge arcing up and towards the driver side. No impact was ever noticed, heard, or seen. Upon close inspection there appears to possibly be a small/micro impact point that should not result in the development of a crack. This affects safety due to visibility issues. Insurance claim filed but not inspected or repaired.
As I was pulling in slowly (going about 2 miles or less) to a perpendicular parking spot at my apartment complex, I took my foot off the accelerator to brake. And all the sudden my car lunged forward and rapidly accelerated forward on its own. It was completely terrifying to have the car take over. The car jumped the curb and went over a hill. I couldn't stop the car and I crashed head on into a two story garage. I saw a "MALFUNCTION" on the dashboard and the air bags did not deploy. I injured my back, neck and right arm. My new car that only has 9K miles on it was completely totaled. Vehicle is scheduled to be inspected by Toyota's Product Liability Department - 3rd Party Engineer. The only other time I was concerned about the vehicle was about 5 months ago, I was at a stop sign and when I pushed on the gas, the car felt like it lost acceleration power, but then it was fine after that so I didn't think anything of it. Vehicle is available for inspection for a very limited time (probably within 1-2 weeks of this post), after Toyota inspects it, it will be going to the salvage yard. If you want to inspect it, please contact me ASAP.
Rear turn signal location is not easily visible in many traffic situations when being followed in traffic. Signals get snow covered quickly and markers are not visible from the side views. Rear signals are located very low on the rear bumper. Signals are small in size. There is also a recall on the failure of the signal on some of the 2021 Venzas that is concerning.
While driving, vehicle suddenly lost all engine and electrical power and steering locked up. Fortunately I was stopped at a light at the time. Car restarted after I shifted into park and started in normal manner.
My windshield was hit by a small rock about 2 inches from the bottom. This spread into a crack at least a foot long that curves across the windshield.
The windshield inexplicably cracked. The outside temp was 78 degrees, it was sunny and I was driving with no traffic or other cars at all on the road. There is no sign of a rock strike or any object impact to the windshield.
as I attempted to turn left in the parking lot of a strip mall with several restaurants, my engine suddenly revved and accelerated and despite pumping the brakes several times I could not slow it down or stop it. As a result I slammed into a concrete berm, kept going and crashed through the glass doors of a coffee shop/restaurant, continued on and the car did not stop until it hit a metal counter. Fortunately I was not hurt, nor did I kill anyone, although I was told two workers went to the hospital with bruises and lacerations on their legs. Since I was unable to stop the car, not only was my life at risk, but anyone who crossed my path or who was in the coffee shop could have been crushed. The police came, made a report and had my car towed to their impound lot. The problem has not been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center as of yet. . My insurer will have the car towed to a preferred repairer and they will inspect the car to determine whether it's repairable. I have asked them to check what made the car suddenly accelerate. I was informed at the police lot that they expect the car will be towed and inspected on Monday, 7/18/22. The accident occurred on 7/14/22. The vehicle has not yet been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representative or others. There were no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request.
I came out to get in my vehicle and observed a large crack beginning in the heat band along the bottom of the windshield. I was not aware of anything that hit my windshield to cause such a significant crack. After observing where the crack begins, it appears to have just split and cracked. A clear point of impact is not apparent.
Windshield just cracked with nothing hitting it. It literally just split from the bottom and is getting worse with only 24 hours.
My wife was in involved in a crash where a person ran a red light and she broadsided a truck which flipped over. The front end of our 2021 Toyota Venza was destroyed see photo which I uploaded. The airbags in our car did not deploy at all.
Cracked windshirld
Windshield cracked on its own
Windshield cracked extremely easily, small pebble cracked more than half my windshield. People also reporting theirs cracking from just sitting. (have never seen this happen in other cars I’ve owned) many other people owning 2021 Venza are having same issue. Already called Toyota Corperate to inform them of issue.
Car has a windshield crack starting at the rubber seal into the windshield approx.7 inches. It happened while sitting. It hadn't been driven.
I purchased my car on Dec. 21, 2021 and on March 12, 2022, a small pebble hit the driver side windshield on the lower side and created a small ding. By the next day, the windshield had a 30 inch crack across the drivers side in an arch toward the top center. It took until April 19, 2022 before the replacement windshield could be installed due to back order. My drivers visibility was terrible with sun glare on this crack. I had to pay my deductible to have it replaced. On May 16, 2022, as I was driving down the highway another small rock apparently hit the passengers side lower part of the windshield, but this time it shattered the glass so hard that a hole was formed and shards of glass shot out all over my dash. The crack went two ways up toward the top center in another arch. This scared me so bad I was shaking. Now my car is not safe to drive and I don't know how long it will take to have this OEM windshield replaced yet again. There is something wrong and now I am seeing that there are many more people with this same problem. There is also a class action lawsuit against Toyota for knowing the windshields are bad and refusing to do anything about it.
Widshield cracked all of a sudden without any reason
It was raining, I was driving in the far left lane next to the center divider. I noticed the car in front of me drive through a significant collection of water that was the width of the entire lane. I was unable to switch lanes, so I slowed down and went through the water as well. As soon as my Venza came to the collection of water, my steering wheel locked up. I was unable to direct the car in the opposite direction of the pull. I was not able to move the steering wheel at all. The car continued to go in it’s own direction, despite me pumping the brakes. The Venza spun out, hit another car before it crashed into the concrete center divider. As a result I smashed my head on the driver’s side window. My driver’s side air bags NEVER deployed. No air bags in the entire car deployed. After hitting the center divider my car ended up in the car right lane. My car was towed from the scene of the accident, it was not drivable. The insurance adjuster originally totaled the car, then they changed their minds and said the car can be fixed. It’s been 3 months and my car is still in the shop. There were no warning lights, it was a brand new car, I had it less than 6 months. I could have died, other people could have died. If the steering wheel didn’t lock up I could have easily maneuvered through the water, like the car did I front of me and like I have done many times in the past with my previous vehicles. If the driver’s side air bag deployed I wouldn’t have suffered such a bad concussion requiring medical attention, neurologist, loss of work and loss of pay.
Arch shaped crack in front windshield starting on passenger side reaching across to driver's side. No impact or other trauma to the windshield.
Windshield crack. Known that 2021 Venza windshield prone to crack. Impaired vision and possible hazard. Class action lawsuit filed against Toyota. This appeared first 7 days of purchase.
Data synced from NHTSA on May 4, 2026