Toyota Tacoma vs Toyota Tundra: which is more reliable?
The Toyota Tacoma and the Toyota Tundra are level on the federal record — 70/100 against 69/100 across the years we score. Which one to buy is decided by the model year, not the badge.
The record, side by side
Toyota Tacoma
- 14 model years scored
- 2,085 owner complaints on record
- about 28 complaints per year on the road
- 61 recall campaigns, 18 safety-critical
- best year 2014 (90/100) · worst 2025 (38/100)
Toyota Tundra
- 11 model years scored
- 1,320 owner complaints on record
- about 22 complaints per year on the road
- 79 recall campaigns, 33 safety-critical
- best year 2015 (86/100) · worst 2023 (32/100)
Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.
Year by year: Tacoma against Tundra
The comparison that decides the purchase. A nameplate is not one car — a redesign can move the record sixty points inside two years, and the two nameplates rarely move together.
What owners actually complain about
Toyota Tacoma
- Power Train — 439 complaints
- Engine — 285 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 270 complaints
Toyota Tundra
- Engine — 281 complaints
- Electrical System — 206 complaints
- Fuel/Propulsion System — 171 complaints
They do not fail the same way: the Tacoma's complaints concentrate in Power Train, the Tundra's in Engine. That difference matters more to a buyer than the score gap, because it says which repair bill you are taking on.
Years to avoid on each
Toyota Tacoma — avoid: 2024, 2025.
Toyota Tundra — avoid: 2023.
A year scores below 45 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. Every car’s years to avoid.
What each costs today
A recent used Toyota Tacoma prices at about $51,700 and a Toyota Tundra at about $46,200 — the Toyota Tundra is roughly $5,500 less, and they return 23.0 against 20.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Toyota Tacoma or the Toyota Tundra more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Toyota Tacoma scores 70/100 against the Toyota Tundra's 69/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The gap is small enough that the model year matters more than the badge.
Which Toyota Tacoma and Toyota Tundra years should I avoid?
Toyota Tacoma: 2024, 2025. Toyota Tundra: 2023. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.
What goes wrong on the Toyota Tacoma and the Toyota Tundra?
The largest complaint group on the Toyota Tacoma is Power Train (439 complaints); on the Toyota Tundra it is Engine (281).
Is the Toyota Tacoma or the Toyota Tundra cheaper to own?
A recent used Toyota Tacoma prices at about $51,700 and a Toyota Tundra at about $46,200, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.