Our analysis found problems with the Engine, powertrain, brake, and electrical system
The 2022 Toyota Tundra is meant to provide all of your trucking needs. The automaker claims it is “engineered for adventure,” but many customers are finding more excitement than they signed up for. 2022 Tundra owners are facing a multitude of problems including reduced engine power, throttle lags and surges, stalling, faulty brakes, electrical problems, and even engine failure.
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Between January 25, 2022, and July 27, 2024, consumers lodged complaints with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) about the 2022 Tundra. These all relate to 18 components and systems, with many including their problems in 2 or 3 categories.
There are 51 complaints that mention the engine and engine cooling, 33 that include the powertrain, and 47 that list their problems under various fuel and fuel/propulsion system categories. It is clear that many of these are related since many of the fuel system problems are linked by consumers to the engine and/or the powertrain.
Primary issues include an engine turbo wastegate that is defective and causes reduced engine power, engine surges, throttle lag, and stalling after an acceleration surge. Sudden engine failure is another issue.
Other major problems relate to the brakes and the electrical system.
Three complaints are filed under airbags. The one involves a malfunction warning after turning the truck off. The other, filed under Airbags, Fuel/Propulsion System, and Unknown or Other, mentions multiple problems. The third reports airbags failing to deploy in a crash. Luckily no-one was injured.
The complaint, by an owner in New York, states that “the truck has been stalling while driving.” It happened 4 times between the middle of March and April 5, 2022, when he filed his complaint. It happened “twice while in traffic and twice while driving on the highway. You have to come to a complete stop, put the vehicle in park, and start the vehicle again.
“One time (that) it happened we were almost rear-ended by a semi-truck driving behind us. Along with that, the airbag malfunction light has been coming on and off every few days. The fuel gauge has been showing all different fuel amounts as well every day.”
Stating that it is “a very dangerous and serious problem,” he says, “ My family is terrified to drive the truck.”
| Complaint Category | Number of Complaints |
|---|---|
| Engine | |
| Power Train | |
| Fuel/propulsion System | |
| Fuel System, Gasoline | |
| Service Brakes | |
| Engine And Engine Cooling | |
| Unknown Or Other | |
| Electrical System | |
| Vehicle Speed Control | |
| Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking |
Above all, the engine must be in good working order to create that “adventure” that Toyota is talking about. But there are so many problems with the engine, owners are wondering what sort of adventure they’ve signed up for.
An owner from Pennsylvania experienced engine failure. “I was driving and all of a sudden my engine failed and told me to pull over to a safe spot and restart.”
Several owners have mentioned a fuel gate or turbo wastegate issue. An owner from California states: “The engine V6 turbo wastegate is defective. The problem causes Reduced Engine Power. Toyota and its dealerships are trying to hide the problem from consumers.”
An owner from Texas, states, “While driving forward on (a) freeway 70 mph vehicle, (the) rear parking collision warning came on. Immediately (the) truck lost power and (the) display showed reduced power because (of the) turbo/wastegate issue. Truck lost all power (and) started shaking and trying to brake on its own.”
Toyota released a technical service bulletin (TSB) in January 2022 talking about a possible turbocharger failure. Sadly, the only way to fix this is to replace the turbocharger, which isn’t a quick repair. In February, they released a second communication that confirms that the “turbocharger sub-assembly is not a serviceable part.”
Other engine issues include reports that vehicles hesitate when accelerating as if they are going to stall.
An owner from Connecticut states that “From a dead stop, pressing the gas pedal nothing happens for 3-4 seconds, and then the engine surges. Very stressful pulling out into traffic. I’ve reported it to the dealer service dept and they tell me it’s normal. This condition is not normal.”
Since then, issues described in NHTSA complaints about the 2022 Tundra engine have gone from bad to worse. Here’s an update with some more recent examples.
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A complaint listed with the NHTSA on June 5, 2024 by an owner in Illinois tells how a 2022 Tundra engine failed. Bizarrely, after the engine “abruptly stopped running,” the dash display indicated: “Engine stopped. Please stop vehicle immediately.” There were no codes displayed until the “abrupt failure.” The vehicle wouldn’t restart and had to be towed to a dealer who acknowledged that the engine had blown. “Toyota guidance is to rebuild (the) engine from parts only. Short block, turbos, heads, coolers, etc. Unacceptable. Complete assembly replacement is more cost effective for manufacturer and dealer both.”
An owner from Texas was told he had to have the engine rebuilt after it shut off on a highway. “I barely had enough time to pull off the highway. After restarting the engine it had a knock. Had it towed to the dealership and it needed to have the engine rebuilt. I pursued Texas lemon law since they had my vehicle for over 90 days waiting on the repair.”
In April 2024, an owner from Tennessee also experienced engine failure. Having bought it new in 2022, despite numerous recalls, there hadn’t been any significant problems. Then, on a long trip, he “heard a slight knocking sound and noticed oil on the ground under the truck.” All he could tell was that the oil was on the low side.
“It was diagnosed with (the) main bearing spun, metal pieces in oil and engine failure. The truck had 63k miles, 3k outside of the warranty. There were no warning lights or check engine or low oil pressure light on at any time. It is hard to believe a truck can be serviced with no issues to a blown engine with no warning lights. I believe Toyota knows about an issue with the early engines but are not informing the customers. If it happens under warranty they will rebuild the engine or buy back the truck. In my case it was 3k outside of warranty and the dealership and Toyota gave no goodwill warranty.“
An owner in North Carolina tells a similar story. Less than a week after the vehicle was serviced on April 1, 2024, the engine cut off when merging onto an exit lane in heavy traffic. The damage was major! “I was told that my engine and both of my turbos would need to be replaced because everything was full of metal shavings due to catastrophic engine failure. The total bill would be around $24,000.00 for a truck that is 2 years old.” The warranty was up to 60,000 miles and the truck was at 64,000. So, he was told to take it up with Toyota. “I have called Toyota customer care and still have not gotten anyone to respond to me.”
Many complaints record “a dangerous throttle lag.” An owner from Massachusetts states, “I have addressed this to (the) dealership but no solutions. They just put it in the notes. It has been an ongoing problem I’ve had with the truck since I bought it new. It has put me in many dangerous situations.”
An owner from Florida feels the same way. “I was driving on Highway 98 at 76 miles an hour. A light came on the dash said (the) engine is low on power. Then immediately the car said to get to the side of the road the engine had shut off. This was in the middle of a drive on the interstate. I almost got hit by a truck, with family in the car. I made an appointment at our local dealer for all the recalls and they canceled it last Friday due to their service force being sick. This almost got me and my son killed.”
A recall issued on May 30, 2024, announced that 102,092 2022-2023 Tundra and Lexus LX600 vehicles with V35A engines were being recalled. This was because “Debris from the manufacturing process may contaminate the engine and cause the main bearings to fail, which can result in an engine stall and loss of drive power.” Furthermore, it warns that a loss of drive power increases the risk of a crash.
An owner from California experienced loss of power “and shut down” on a major interstate in July 2023 — “with many check engine lights coming on.” The dealer said the cause was debris in the engine, but Toyota hadn’t provided a remedy so to keep on driving. During 2024, the owner was towing a trailer and “the engine was making a knocking sound and lost power, only allowing me to reach about 2k rpm with the pedal to the floor.” This symptom persisted every time he towed thereafter.
In June 2024, again while towing, “and would not exceed 3K rpm or 45 mph on the interstate.” He then discovered that Toyota told all dealers to stop selling his model year truck due to the recall that he said describes the symptoms he’d been having. “The tech at the dealer was in communication with Toyota, and Toyota was telling them that unless they could replicate the issue, there was nothing they could do.”
An owner from Texas states, “This Engine Recall has me concerned for the safety and security of my family. The fact that my engine can stall and fail at any time is unacceptable, especially for how much I spent on this vehicle. Toyota should be buying these trucks back from us and issuing new ones that don’t have this issue. We customers are stuck with vehicles we can’t sell or trade in and it is very upsetting to spend 60k on a vehicle that is essentially unsafe and virtually worthless two years in.”
Commonly, this happens when driving from a stop. Complaints are listed under Engine or Powertrain (sometimes both).
An owner from North Carolina experienced the throttle lagging, which resulted in the vehicle hesitating while accelerating. About two seconds after depressing the accelerator, the vehicle would lunge forward. This happened intermittently. The dealer was unable to determine the cause, but admitted it was “a known failure.” The owner was told there was “no known fix!”
An owner from Texas talks about this problem, referencing a TSB (T-SB-0111-22) released by Toyota in December 2022 under Powertrain and Electrical System. This states that some 2022-2023 Tundra vehicles have one or more drivability-related conditions:
“The Transmission Control Module (TCM) logic has been modified to address these conditions. Follow the Repair Procedure in this bulletin to address these conditions.”
As he points out in his July 11, 2024 complaint, other than this TSB, “Toyota has not acknowledged this issue even though it continues to occur on the MY22+ Tundra/MY23+ Sequoia, as well as the MY18+ Lexus LS 500.” His experience began in February 2022. “At certain times, when coming to a stop, and then attempting to proceed, the throttle will delay or lag from a stop.” While the updated logic should prevent this from happening, it doesn’t, he states. “The only way to keep it from happening is to Reset the TCM Learning. This requires the battery to be unplugged for an extended period of time.”
Most of the powertrain problems reported by owners relate to throttle surge, throttle lag, the throttle not responding, and reduced engine power. At least 3 of these complaints are also listed under Engine. But there are other powertrain issues too.
An owner from Idaho complains about a “significant delay” when pressing on the gas from a complete stop. “The vehicle then overcompensates and launches you into drive aggressively… This could cause a massive crash if people are not prepared for the massive acceleration after waiting a few seconds for whatever engine component is stalling.”
Another, from California, experienced the rear differential locking up. “If I had been on the freeway at a faster speed I could have easily caused an accident. The Toyota mechanics had no idea how it happened, (and) replaced the entire differential. They said it was related to an earlier recall for differential problems.”
Interestingly, while there are 4 recalls for the 2022 Tundra, none relate to the differential.
On the face of it, there are only 2 complaints to the NHTSA about brakes. One, from an owner in New Mexico, states that while driving at about 20 mph the Tundra engaged the automatic emergency brakes even though there was nothing in front of the truck.
The other reports problems with the trailer brake controller. This owner, from Wyoming, experienced “extreme brake fade” because the controller was off. This, he states, was because he didn’t realize he had to set up the trailer in the dash before the controller would switch on.
But there are several more complaints about brake problems in other categories. For example, an owner from Texas says the brakes started to squeak at 9k/10k miles. The “automatic emergency braking sensors or radar tech brakes hard at stoplights when a car is in front of me. When (the) green light is on to go, (it) is too sensitive and it slams on the brakes, jerking my neck/head forward.” This results in vehicles people driving behind him “slamming on their brakes.” Additionally, heat from outside “throws codes” for collision and brakes.
With today’s lineup of vehicles, customers should have access to every top electronic feature available. While the 2022 Toyota Tundra might have great features, they don’t all seem to work well.
There are issues with Toyota Tundra’s cameras and with Apple and Android Car Play. Additionally, an owner from Texas, in a complaint listed under Electrical System and Unknown or Other, states that the vehicle’s engine turned off power steering was inoperable. According to the dealership, this was caused by an electronic control unit (ECU) computer failure.
The owner from Texas, whose brakes were squeaking, also complained that the screen of the reverse camera goes blank or white “for a good period of time.”
An owner from Los Angeles has experienced front-view camera failure numerous times. This “resulted in several warning lights appearing on the instrument panel. Due to the failure, the vehicle would come to an abrupt stop while driving at various speeds.” The fourth time he took the vehicle to the dealer, the front-view camera was replaced. Additionally, the tailgate would open inadvertently, all four windows would roll down independently, and he would receive a notification on the phone about the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but, according to the complaint, offered no assistance.
There are 2 recalls relating to the rearview camera. The first, dated April 28, 2022, warns that as many as 18,101 rearview cameras may not display an image. This reduces the driver’s view of what is behind the vehicle and increases the risk of a crash. The second, dated July 13, 2022, has the same warning but is labeled, Rearview Camera Malfunction. The number of units has increased to 31,428, with the 2022 Tundra Hybrid included in the recall.
A complaint to the NHTSA from an owner in Arizona states that “Apple CarPlay does not mute music when playing back text messages. This does not allow the driver to hear the message sent to them and requires they open up their phone to read the message. The point of Apple CarPlay is to allow the driver to listen to and respond to text messages using their voice. I brought up my concern with Toyota and my dealership and they both said it’s working as designed, despite the fact that Apple CarPlay does not behave this way in any other vehicle.”
If you think your 2022 Toyota Tundra is a lemon you don’t have to live with it. Lemberg Law will assess your problems free of charge because the law makes Toyota pay the legal fees for lemon law cases.
Every year, auto manufacturers buy back, replace or pay cash settlements to thousands of ‘lemon’ owners like you. So, call us on our Helpline or fill out a contact form and we will see how we can’t help you.
Brian Jones spent more than 30 years working as an ASE Certified Master Tech and Parts Specialist at multiple dealerships. Brian has become an authority in the industry, traveling across the country to consult for car dealerships and contributing his expertise as a writer for several major automotive publications. In his spare time, Brian enjoys working on pickup trucks, muscle cars, Jeeps and anything related to motorsports.
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Tundra limited 2022 This is the second time they are replacing the Transfer case and the fuel economy averages 16 mpg. The first time was in the service for 1 month and now what’s the second time, how long will it be?
I just recently purchased a 2022 Tundra and I get lag in the throttle and then a lurch. I took it to them because I still have the warranty and they told me it’s because it’s not fly by wire and that is an electronic signal but that it should go away once it learns how “i” drive. I call BS. I have about 700 miles before my warranty expires what should I do?
I have a 2022 toyota tundra limited and my first issue was the rear brake rotors had hot spots and I have never pulled anything heavy or braked like an idiot and this was at 28,000 miles. Next was my full lines that started leaking and had to drop off at dealership and they said it was due to two hoses rubbing against each other that one of them ended up tearing and this was at 45,000 miles then not even one month later I had to drop off at 48,000 miles for power loss in the engine and check engine light. Toyota called me and told me they are waiting for a field specialist to diagnose the issue. My truck is still currently at dealership a week later with no info.
First of all new cars and trucks smell, heating of plastics, hoses, adhesives etc, no worries there, also most of the complaints that I’ve read are in hot weather states, so welcome to my cadillac deville similar problems, what I can say is if your new vehicle is in the dealership for a month for repairs etc, you can contact your bank or lease company and demand free month payment due to the fact there is a payment agreement when the car is in your possession, soooo if you dont have the vehicle 😉 you don’t have to pay but get permission first and put in a claim with the bank or car company bank.
I purchased my 2022 Tundra TRD Off-Road in May of 2022. Felt a slight vibration, even driving over the smallest of bumps. Was told during my 5,000 mile maintenance that it was normal for that package. Experienced the EPB light come on, but not engage while driving. Hope that was taken care of last Saturday when I also had my 15,000 mile maintenance done. While in for the recent maintenance, I was told I needed an alignment (which I had them perform) AND that my front rotors were warped and needed to be turned. Thought that was a bit soon for both the alignment and rotors with only 15,000 miles. I’m 63 and like to think I drive like an adult. As mentioned above, my mileage is between 15 – 16 mpg when promised 20 – 23 mpg. Also experiencing glitching in the Infotainment system from time to time. I’ve always had Toyota products, latest being a 2016 Tundra, 6 cylinder, TRD which I never had issues with.
Not sure if there is any recourse here but I will be monitoring closely.
2022 Tundra TRD pro Cab has 700 miles and smells burning plastic inside in cab, in freezing days I have to open windows to get that smell out. Lousy mpg, only hitting 16 but most of the time it sits at 13 and was promised up to 22-24. Also, weird engine indicators coming on for something with the passenger door or seat? The electric engine compartment is right below the seat. Right now, the dealership service department has advised us to monitor the mileage between fill ups. Something isn’t right even when driving at the speed limit and using eco setting. Either something is broken
Not worth it, truck is garbage!
lousy mpg. only hitting 18 but most of the time it sits at 15. was promised up to 22-24. also, weird engine indicators coming on something with the passenger door or seat?) the electric engine compartment is right below the seat. right now, the dealership service department had advised us to monitor the milage between fill ups. something isn’t right even when driving at the speed limit and using eco setting. either something is broken, or we are dealing with false advertisement. curious to see how many other complaints will be coming up. I did read that they are replacing faulty turbos.