2006 Toyota Tundra problems, complaints & recalls

Updated from NHTSA data · How we count

Owners have filed 118 complaints with NHTSA about the 2006 Toyota Tundra, most often about body & structure. There are 8 recalls for this model year.

Complaints
118
Recalls
8
Crashes
5
Fires
0
Injuries
4
Median mileage
143,000 mi
at time of problem

Key facts

  • Body & Structure is the most-reported problem area, named in 62 of 118 complaints (53%).
  • Suspension (35) and airbags (8) follow.
  • Half of the complaints that list mileage happened before 143,000 mi.
  • Owners reported 5 crashes, 0 fires and 4 injuries.
  • The 2006 Toyota Tundra has 8 recalls on file.
  • NHTSA has opened 3 defect investigations covering this vehicle.
  • It ranks 5th of 22 Toyota Tundra model years by our severity-weighted complaint score (1st = worst).
  • That is 42% more complaints than the 2005 model year (83).

2006 Toyota Tundra problems by category

  • Body & Structure · 2 crashes
    62 complaints
  • 35 complaints
  • Other / Unknown
    34 complaints
  • Airbags · 3 crashes
    8 complaints
  • Brakes · 1 crash
    8 complaints
  • Steering
    7 complaints
  • Wheels & Tires
    4 complaints
  • Electrical System
    2 complaints
  • Transmission & Drivetrain
    2 complaints
  • Engine
    2 complaints
  • Seats & Seat Belts
    1 complaints
  • Fuel, Hybrid & EV Propulsion
    1 complaints

A complaint can mention more than one problem area, so categories add up to more than the total.

Most-reported components

Component (as filed with NHTSA)Complaints
Structure:body47
Unknown or other34
Suspension34
Structure:frame and members8
Air bags8
Steering7
Service brakes6
Structure4

When problems happen (mileage)

Under 10k210k–30k230k–60k360k–100k17100k–150k20150k+
Mileage at the time of the problem, for 2006 Toyota Tundra complaints that list mileage.

2006 Toyota Tundra recalls (8)

  • Recall 19V741000Oct 17, 2019928,220 vehicles
    AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE · AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE

    Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2010-2016 4Runner, 2003-2006 Tundra, 2003-2013 Corolla, 2009-2010 Corolla Matrix, 2004-2005 RAV4, 2002-2007 Sequoia, 2011-2013 Sienna, 2008-2012 Scion xB, 2008-2009 Lexus IS-F, 2007-2012 Yaris and Lexus ES350, 2010-2017 Lexus GX460, 2002-2010 Lexus SC430, 2006-2012 Lexus IS250 and IS350 and 2010-2015 Lexus IS250C and IS350C vehicles. These vehicles had their driver or passenger frontal air bag inflators previously replaced under a prior recall using inflators of the same design. The inflators may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, temperature and temperature cycling.

    Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

    Remedy: Toyota will notify owners. Depending on the vehicle model, dealers will replace the front driver inflator, front passenger airbag inflator, the airbag assembly, or the front passenger airbag sub-assembly and inflator. The recall began November 20, 2019. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371 or Lexus customer service at 1-800-255-3987. Toyota's numbers for this recall are J0A, J0B, and J0C. Lexus' numbers for this recall are JLI, JLJ, and JLK.

  • Recall 16V396000Jun 2, 20167,749 vehicles
    SEATS:FRONT ASSEMBLY:SEAT HEATER/COOLER

    Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC (SET) is recalling certain 2005-2011 4Runner, Highlander, Sequoia, and Sienna, 2005-2010 Avalon and Tundra, 2006-2008 Camry Solara, 2006-2010 Highlander hybrid, 2006-2011 Rav4 and Tacoma, 2007-2010 FJ Cruiser, 2007-2011 Camry hybrid, 2009-2010 Venza, 2010-2012 Prius, 1988-1990 and 2005-2010 Camry, and 1989 and 2009-2010 Corolla vehicles equipped with aftermarket accessory seat heaters with a copper strand heating element. The electrical wiring in the seat heaters may be damaged when the seat cushion is compressed.

    Risk: If damaged, the copper strand heating element may short circuit, increasing the risk of a fire.

    Remedy: SET will notify owners, and dealers will disconnect the seat heaters, free of charge, and refund the purchase price of the seat heater accessory. The recall began on July 14, 2016. Owners may contact SET customer service at 1-866-405-4226. SET number for this recall is SET16B.

  • Recall 16V065000Feb 5, 2016320,409 vehicles
    AIR BAGS:SIDE/WINDOW

    Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain model year 2003-2006 Toyota Land Cruiser and Lexus LX470, 2005-2006 Toyota Tundra and Sequoia, 2004-2006 Toyota 4Runner and Lexus GX470 vehicles equipped with side curtain-shield-air bags. The affected vehicles have an air bag control module that may be improperly programmed, causing the side curtain-shield-air bags to deploy inadvertently.

    Risk: If the side curtain-shield-air bags deploy unexpectedly, it can increase the risk of occupant injury.

    Remedy: Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace the air bag control module with one that has improved programming, free of charge. The recall began on December 1, 2016. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-271-9371. Toyota's number for this recall is G0C and GLB.

  • Recall 15V286000May 13, 20151,069,055 vehicles
    AIR BAGS

    Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) notified the agency on May 13, 2015, that they are recalling 2005-2007 Lexus SC, Toyota Corolla, Corolla Matrix, Sequoia, and Pontiac Vibe, and 2005-2006 Toyota Tundra vehicles that were originally sold, or ever registered, in Florida, along the Gulf Coast, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Saipan and American Samoa. On June 16, 2015 Toyota expanded the recall to cover an additional 769,055 vehicles, including certain model year 2002-2004 Lexus SC, Toyota Sequoia, 2003-2004 Toyota Corolla Matrix, Toyota Corolla, Pontiac Vibe, and Toyota Tundra vehicles, as well the vehicles covered by the May 13, 2015 notification in the portions of Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas that were not previously included. The inflators in the front passenger air bags are susceptible to rupture in the event of a crash necessitating the deployment of the front passenger air bag.

    Risk: In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants potentially resulting in serious injury or death.

    Remedy: 2003-2004 Corolla and Corolla Matrix vehicles that are recalled under both 15V-043 and 15V-286 are under a Do Not Drive advisory. Owners of these vehicles are advised not to drive their vehicles until the recall remedy has been completed. Toyota will notify their owners. Pontiac Vibe owners will be notified by GM. Dealers will replace the passenger side front air bag, free of charge. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota began the recall on July 13, 2015. Pontiac Vibe owners may contact GM at 1-800-762-2737. GM began the recall on June 29, 2015. NOTE: This recacll supersedes recall 14V-655 in its entirety. For vehicles located in the U.S. states not listed above, please see Toyota recall 15V-285 which covers all other U.S. states.

  • Recall 15V285000May 13, 20151,973,468 vehicles
    AIR BAGS

    Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) notified the agency on May 13, 2015 that they are recalling certain model year 2004 Sequoia vehicles manufactured August 18, 2003, to August 19, 2004, and 2003-2004 Tundra vehicles manufactured March 18, 2003, to August 25, 2004. On June 16, 2015, Toyota expanded the recall to include an additional 1,270,468 vehicles, including model year 2002-2003 and 2005-2007 Sequoia, 2005-2006 Tundra, 2003-2007 Corolla, 2003-2007 Corolla Matrix, 2003-2007 Pontiac Vibe and 2002-2007 Lexus SC vehicles. This is to address a safety defect in the passenger side frontal air bag inflator which may produce excessive internal pressure causing the inflator to rupture upon deployment of the air bag. This recall addresses both the passenger side frontal air bags that were originally installed in the vehicles, as well as replacement air bags that may have been installed as replacement service parts. A replacement air bag may have been installed, as one example, if a vehicle had been in a crash necessitating the replacement of the passenger side frontal air bag.

    Risk: In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants potentially resulting in serious injury or death.

    Remedy: 2003-2004 Corolla and Corolla Matrix vehicles that are recalled under both 15V-043 and 15V-285 are under a Do Not Drive advisory. Owners of these vehicles are advised not to drive their vehicles until the recall remedy has been completed. Toyota will notify their owners. Pontiac Vibe owners will be notified by GM. Dealers will replace the front passenger air bag. The recall began on July 13, 2015. Toyota owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Pontiac owners may call 1-800-762-2737. NOTE: This recall supersedes recall 14V-312 in its entirety.

  • Recall 14V743000Nov 19, 20143,233 vehicles
    SEATS:FRONT ASSEMBLY:SEAT HEATER/COOLER

    Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC (SET) is recalling certain model year 2010-2011 Prius and Corolla, 2009-2011 Venza, 2006-2010 Avalon, 2007-2010 FJ Cruiser, 2005-2011 Sienna and Sequoia, 2006-2011 Tacoma 4x2 and 4x4, Camry, Highlander, Tundra 4x2 and 4x4, and 2007-2011 Rav4 and 4Runner. The affected vehicles may experience compression of the seat cushion which may damage the seat heater wiring.

    Risk: Damage to the seat heater wiring could cause the wires to short, increasing the risk of the seat burning and causing personal injury to the occupant.

    Remedy: SET will notify owners, and dealers will disconnect the heaters with copper strand heating elements and refund the purchase price of the seat heater accessory, free of charge. The recall is expected to began in January 2015. Owners may contact SET customer service at 1-866-405-4226.

  • Recall 10V036000Feb 3, 2010153,418 vehicles
    EQUIPMENT:OTHER:LABELS

    Southeast toyota is recalling certain model year 2005-2011 passenger vehicles for failing to comply with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 110, "tire selection and rims." these vehicles were sold without the requisite load carrying capacity modification labels.

    Risk: A driver may overload a vehicle which may increase the risk of a crash.

    Remedy: Dealers will mail to consumers the corrected label or the customer will have the option for dealers to install the label free of charge. The safety recall began on may 27, 2010. Owners may contact southeast toyota at 1-800-301-6859.

  • Recall 10V035000Feb 3, 2010271,417 vehicles
    EQUIPMENT:OTHER:LABELS

    Gulf states toyota is recalling certain model year 2005-2010 vehicles for failing to comply with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 110, "tire selection and rims." these vehicles were sold between september 1, 2005 and june 2, 2008 without the requisite load carrying capacity modification labels.

    Risk: This does not meet the standard requirements.

    Remedy: Dealers will mail to consumers the corrected label or the customer will have the option for dealers to install the label free of charge. Dealers will also correct the owner's manual. The safety recall began on may 27, 2010. Owners may contact gulf states toyota at 713-580-3300.

NHTSA defect investigations

  • EA21002Opened Sep 17, 2021Open

    Desiccated Air Bag Inflator Rupture

    From 2000 through 2017, Takata produced millions of air bag inflators using two types of phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate ("PSAN") propellant -- propellant 2004 and propellant 2004L. After prolonged exposure to high temperature cycles and humidity, inflators using propellant 2004 can degrade, causing the propellant to burn too quickly when ignited. The rapid burning can cause the inflator to rupture during deployment, potentially causing serious or even fatal injury to vehicle occupants. See 2016 Blomquist Report at www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/documents/expert_report-hrblomquist.pdf.C…

  • PE09049Opened Oct 6, 2009Closed Jan 26, 2010led to recall 09V444000

    Frame corrosion

    This investigation was opened based on 20 reports of model year (my) 2000 and 2001 vehicles experiencing severe corrosion of the frame, resulting in either under-body mounted spare tire separation or rear brake failure.the failure report counts shown above are for my 2000 and 2001 vehicles only.by letter of november 16, 2009 toyota has notified the agency that it will conduct a safety recall (09v-444) of approximately 110,000 model year (my) 2000 through 2003 tundra vehicles.the affected recalled vehicles were sold or are currently registered in the district of columbia and the states of ct, d…

  • EA06014Opened Aug 2, 2006Closed Feb 28, 2007led to recall 07V013000

    Lower ball joint failure

    In a letter dated january 18, 2007, toyota notified nhtsa of a safety defect in model year (my) 2004 through 2006 toyota tundra and my 2004 through 2007 toyota sequoia vehicles produced between september 15, 2003 and november 17, 2006 (nhtsa recall no. 07v-013). According to toyota, ?in the front suspension lower ball joint on the subject vehicles, due to possible improper finishing of the ball joint, such as the aspect of the ball stud surface, some ball joints may experience an incidental deterioration of the internal lubrication. This may cause the ball joint to wear and loosen prematurely,…

Recent 2006 Toyota Tundra complaints

Excerpts of the newest owner complaints, lightly cleaned of personal details. Complaints are unverified owner reports.

  1. Filed May 26, 2026330,000 miOHBody & Structure
    The vehicle was at the independent mechanic. For a repair and discovered that the bottom frame was rusted. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was also notified of the failure; however the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the issue. The approximate failure mileage was 330,000.
    NHTSA complaint #11740080 · source
  2. Filed Feb 16, 2026WVBody & Structure
    My frame is rotting, with literal holes in it. I spoke with a dealership and they stated the recall had been fixed in 2015, prior to me owning it. I was told to contact the manufacturer and they said it would be an out of pocket expense. When I research the recall, the affected area of the frame is the same, with no apparent fixes.
    NHTSA complaint #11718303 · source
  3. Filed Feb 1, 2026MAOther / UnknownSteeringSuspension
    The frame has rusted so badly that the sway bar mount disengaged from the frame. Brought it to a Toyota dealership and confirmed that frame recalls were performed on earlier models with the same issue . However my year did not qualify.
    NHTSA complaint #11714854 · source
  4. Filed Oct 20, 2025194,040 miCAWheels & Tires
    The contact’s father owns a 2006 Toyota Tundra equipped with Cooper Tires, Tire Line: Discoverer Rugged Trek, Tire Size: 265/70/R16, DOT Number: (N/A). While the contact’s father was driving at an undisclosed speed, the driver lost control of the vehicle. The contact’s father was able to regain control of the vehicle by releasing the accelerator pedal and allowing the vehicle to decelerate. The driver was able to pull over to the side of the road to inspect the vehicle. The…
    NHTSA complaint #11694530 · source
  5. Filed Oct 7, 2025NYOther / Unknown
    I own a 2006 Toyota Tundra with severe frame corrosion and rot. The rust has eaten through major portions of the frame, especially around the rear crossmember and leaf spring mounts. It has compromised the vehicle’s safety and structural integrity. Toyota previously offered frame replacements and extended corrosion coverage for similar models (Tacoma, Sequoia, and certain Tundras), but my VIN was denied even though the issue is identical. The corrosion is so severe that it…
    NHTSA complaint #11691772 · source
  6. Filed Sep 25, 2025277,000 miOHBrakes
    The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Tundra. The contact stated that while driving 25 MPH, the brake pedal was depressed to prevent a crash with another vehicle that had pulled in front of the vehicle, but the vehicle failed to respond. The contact was able to veer into another lane safely, and the crash was avoided. The brake warning light was illuminated after the failure. The contact continued driving and was able to slow down by shifting the transmission into a lower gear. The…
    NHTSA complaint #11689706 · source
  7. Filed Sep 10, 2025200,000 miTXBody & Structure
    The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Tundra. The contact stated that upon further inspection, it was noticed that the frame was rusted. In addition, the contact related the failure to an unknown NHTSA Campaign that was performed in the past; however, the failure reoccurred. The local dealer that performed the recall repair was contacted; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 200,000.
    NHTSA complaint #11686234 · source
  8. Filed Aug 5, 2025MSSuspension
    The lower ball joint broke causing the upper ball joint to break and damage the strut rocked pion and the brake line. I contacted Toyota and they said it was fixed from a former recall
    NHTSA complaint #11678618 · source

Compare the 2006 Toyota Tundra with another vehicle →

Other 2006 Toyota models

Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Office of Defects Investigation public data, as of Oct 10, 2026. Complaints are submitted by owners and are not verified by NHTSA or by us; a complaint does not prove a defect exists. View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov Methodology