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2012 Toyota Camry Recalls & Complaints

2

open safety recalls on record

Serious

808 owner complaints filed · Severity Index 0.78 · updated 2026-08-07

The recalls

Serious13V014000

Air Bags:Frontal:Sensor/Control Module-Inactive

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.

Remedy & full details

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.

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.

Serious13V442000

Electrical System

short circuit may cause the air bags to become disabled or inadvertently deploy.

Remedy & full details

Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will seal the air conditioning condenser unit housing and install a protective cover on the airbag control module, free of charge. The recall began on February 5, 2014. Owners may contact Toyota at 1-800-331-4331.

Toyota is recalling certain model year 2012-2013 Avalon, Avalon HV, Venza, Camry, and Camry HV vehicles. In the affected vehicles, the drain hose for the air conditioning condenser may become clogged causing water to accumulate at the bottom of the air conditioning condenser unit housing. The accumulated water may then leak through a seam in the housing onto the air bag control module potentially resulting in a short circuit of the module.

Complaint volume

808 this model-year 8 median, same year

Volume alone is not a fault rate — popular vehicles attract more reports. Read it next to the severity mix below.

What owners reported happened

128Crashes
8Fires
88Injuries
0Deaths

Across 808 complaints. Severity Index 0.78.

Severity Index weights each complaint's reported outcome (death ×10, injury ×4, fire ×3, crash ×2) and divides by total complaints. It measures how severe reports are, not how often faults occur.

What owners report most

Power Train128 · 16%Unknown Or Other81 · 10%Air Bags75 · 9%Vehicle Speed Control65 · 8%Electrical System60 · 7%Steering58 · 7%Engine58 · 7%Service Brakes52 · 6%
  1. Power Train — 128 reports
  2. Unknown Or Other — 81 reports
  3. Air Bags — 75 reports
  4. Vehicle Speed Control — 65 reports
  5. Electrical System — 60 reports
  6. Steering — 58 reports
  7. Engine — 58 reports
  8. Service Brakes — 52 reports
  9. Structure:Body — 44 reports
  10. Fuel/Propulsion System — 23 reports

What to do

  1. Find your 17-character VIN on the driver's door jamb or the base of the windscreen.
  2. Check it against NHTSA's official lookup at nhtsa.gov/recalls — the authoritative record for your exact car.
  3. Book the repair with any franchised dealer. Safety recall work is free, with no time limit and regardless of who owns the car now.

Other model years

1995 (5) · 1996 (7) · 1997 (4) · 1998 (3) · 1999 (2) · 2000 (4) · 2001 (4) · 2002 (4) · 2003 (1) · 2004 (3) · 2005 (5) · 2006 (5) · 2007 (10) · 2008 (8) · 2009 (10) · 2010 (9) · 2011 (5) · 2012 · 2013 (2) · 2014 (3) · 2015 (1) · 2016 (2) · 2017 (3) · 2018 (8) · 2019 (6) · 2020 (3) · 2021 (1) · 2022 (1) · 2023 (2) · 2024 (1) · 2025 (1)

Numbers in brackets are open recall campaigns for that year.

Questions

Does an open recall mean the car is unsafe to drive?

Not usually. NHTSA issues a "do not drive" or "park outside" advisory when a defect is dangerous enough to keep you out of the car — those are flagged Critical above. Everything else should be repaired promptly but is not an immediate stop-driving order.

Do I pay for recall repairs?

No. Federal law requires the manufacturer to fix a safety recall free of charge, including parts and labour, whether or not you are the original owner.

Why are there complaints but no recalls?

Complaints are unverified reports filed by owners. They can prompt an investigation, but many never become recalls — either the fault isn't safety-related or it isn't widespread.