CSR

Toyota · NHTSA safety record

2021 Toyota Camry

Every safety complaint, recall and defect investigation the US government holds on this vehicle.

154

Complaints

20

Crashes

2

Fires

15

Injuries

1

Deaths

Owners of the 2021 Toyota Camry have filed 154 safety complaints with NHTSA between July 2021 and July 2026. The most complained-about system is the air bags, named in 77 of them (50%). The typical failure was reported at 20,000 miles, the median across the 17 complaints that gave an odometer reading.

NHTSA has issued 1 recall covering this vehicle.

Recalls (1)

AIR BAGS:SENSOR:OCCUPANT CLASSIFICATION

23V865000 · December 20, 2023

The defect
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Avalon, Avalon Hybrid, Corolla, Highlander, Highlander Hybrid, RAV4, RAV4 Hybrid, Lexus ES350, Lexus RX350, Lexus RX450H, 2021 Sienna Hybrid, Lexus ES250, 2020-2022 Camry, Camry Hybrid, and ES300H vehicles. A short circuit may develop in the Occupant Classification System (OCS) sensor, preventing the front passenger air bag from deploying.
The risk
An air bag that does not deploy during a crash increases the risk of injury.
The remedy
Dealers will inspect and replace the sensor as necessary, free of charge. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed in February 2024. Some final remedy owner letters were mailed October 31, 2024. Letters will continue to be mailed in phases through January 2026. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's number for this recall is 23TB15/23TA15 Lexus 23LB03/23LA03.

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing · up to 999,901 vehicles across all model years covered

What owners report

Complaints naming each system. One complaint can name several, so these add up to more than 154.

AIR BAGS 77 50%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 21 14%
SERVICE BRAKES 13 8%
POWER TRAIN 11 7%
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 10 6%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 8 5%
ENGINE 6 4%
LANE DEPARTURE 5 3%
STEERING 4 3%
STRUCTURE 4 3%
SEAT BELTS 3 2%
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC 3 2%

When the complaints arrived

By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2024 at 48.

2021 2024 2026
2021 to 2026, the last of them a part year

In owners' own words

Quoted from NHTSA's complaint file. These are unverified accounts by the people who filed them, not findings of fault.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

1 death · fire · crash · towed

My son hit a tree at an estimated speed of 45 (As estimated by the accident report) and the car went in flame burning completely my son and the entire inside of the car. I am amazed at a new car that does not have enough front crash support and most important the fuel pump should have shut off due to hitting the front to prevent the car from being burned. Yes, my son died in the accident but we did not have the chance to see him because of the fire, we have only bones to bury.

NHTSA complaint 11448682. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS

4 injured · crash · towed

Air Bag malfunction, Car was total loss. Message of the car screen attach to this report.

NHTSA complaint 11611408. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS

3 injured · crash · towed

The contact owned a 2021 Toyota Camry. The contact stated while driving at 35 MPH another vehicle struck the front passenger side of the contact vehicle and the air bags did not deploy. After the crash, an indicator for the air bags was defective. A dealer was contacted. The contact, the wife, and the daughter where severely injured and sought medical attention. The vehicle was towed and was deemed a total loss. A police report was filed. The manufacturer was contacted, and a case was filed. The failure mileage was not unavailable.

NHTSA complaint 11491163. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:BRAKE FLUID LOW WARNING:SWITCH/SENSOR/FLOAT

1 injured · crash · towed · 3,922 miles

The contact's wife leased a 2021 Toyota Camry. The contact stated that while his wife was pulling into a parking space, the brake pedal was depressed but failed to respond. He stated that his wife continued to depress the brake pedal but it would not respond, causing the vehicle to crash into trees. The air bags failed to deploy. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact's wife was able to exit the vehicle with assistance. The contact's wife sustained pain in the chest, upper back, shoulders, and ankle. The contact's wife also sustained a laceration on her finger from the broken window glass. The contact's wife sought medical assistance. A police report was filed. The vehicle

NHTSA complaint 11443667, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS
I went to a toyota dealership June 24th to have my car checked for the airbag recall. They told me my car did have the recall on it and that they would have to order the part. I haven't heard anything from them at all.

NHTSA complaint 11750599. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

TIRES:PRESSURE MONITORING AND REGULATING SYSTEMS
Component failed: Falken tire size 235/40R19. The tire was manually over-inflated to a life-threatening 91 PSI by the service facility. It is currently available for inspection upon request.Safety risk: Upon driving onto public Highway 79, the extreme over-inflation caused the vehicle to immediately exhibit violent structural shaking and pull aggressively toward the ditch, creating an imminent danger of handling failure and a high-speed collision.Confirmation: The vehicle safety defect and inflation failure were officially confirmed and documented via a physical inspection by certified dealer Round Rock Toyota (Service Advisor Bryan Sanders).Symptoms: Extreme, immediate physical steering

NHTSA complaint 11748945, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

STRUCTURE:BODY
2021 Camry with 29,000 miles panoramic roof is stuck in the vent position. Took it to two different automotive shops and was told they could not close the vent. The concern was too much pressure on the glass could cause it to shatter if they forced it to close. The recommended repair was to replace the entire sunroof assembly. A private auto garage quoted almost $15,000 to repair. Toyota confirmed the original diagnosis and quoted $10,600 plus tax. If the glass shatters, it obviously is a safety risk. Currently, the car is unusable as is. Two automotive centers confirmed the diagnosis. No warnings, the sunroof stopped responding. When googling, it appears many Camry owners have had the same

NHTSA complaint 11747464, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SERVICE BRAKES
Vehicle Information: • Year/Make/Model: 2021 Toyota Camry • VIN: [XXX] Incident Date: May 4, [2025] Incident Time: Approximately 9:45 AM Incident Location: [XXX] toward [XXX] Description of Incident: While driving at approximately 25 MPH, multiple dashboard warning lights suddenly illuminated simultaneously. Immediately after, the vehicle began to accelerate on its own without any input from the driver. The driver applied the brakes repeatedly and forcefully, but the vehicle did not respond to braking. The car continued to accelerate uncontrollably until it abruptly stopped directly in front of another vehicle, narrowly avoiding a serious collision. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE

NHTSA complaint 11740908, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

TIRES:TREAD/BELT
We ordered this car custom what we wanted 2021 Toyota Camry xse awd. The car is great wife and I love driving it. But at 68,857 miles as of today 4/29/26 it’s on its second set of tires with regular maintenance and rotations on tires it’s eating them up on the inside. We have had 4 alignment checked by Toyota and les Schwab and everything time it comes out perfect. Two sets of tires within 30,000 give or take is a very bad problem as both times the inside of been to the cords. The last set was only 26,000 miles and half the tire was separated tread to tire. First set every tire was down to cords on the inside.

NHTSA complaint 11734642. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

TIRES:PRESSURE MONITORING AND REGULATING SYSTEMS
While driving down the highway, the whole car and steering wheel of 2021 Toyota Camry Hybrid started shaking side to side. Was able to exit safely and found a bubble in the sidewall of the 2021 Hankook Kinergy GT H436 BW 235/45R18 tire. Never had this happen with any tire before. 31,000 miles on tire. Could have caused a blow out if the exit was further away. No notification on Toyota Camry Hybrid screen or dash that anything was wrong with the tire before failure. I will check if the tire center will inspect the tire for me when they replace it in a few days.

NHTSA complaint 11734287. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Compare

Other years of the Toyota Camry

Model year Complaints Recalls Deaths
2025 145 1
2024 47 1
2023 62 2
2022 58 1
2020 268 3
2019 390 6
2018 731 8
2017 148 3
2016 180 2
2015 268 1 1
2014 454 3 1
2013 274 2 1
2012 588 2
2011 598 5
2010 602 9

Other 2021 Toyota models

Every Toyota on this site — 272 vehicles, 370 recall campaigns and 3 open investigation s.

If this is your car and a dealer keeps failing to fix it, your state's lemon law may require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. What each state asks for , read from the statutes.

Where these numbers come from

A complaint is one owner's account and has not been verified by NHTSA or by us. A vehicle with more complaints is not necessarily worse: models that sold in larger numbers collect more of them. How this is counted.

Compiled and maintained by
Independent developer and analyst