There have been so many different automakers over the last fifty years that it can be a little mind-boggling to car owners, and with so many brands, there have developed brand loyalists who've become loyal to a certain brand with each of their vehicle purchases. Toyota is a brand that's long been equated with quality, from the reliability of their vehicles to the stellar value that their vehicles have provided generations of consumers. This enhanced vision of quality has poured over into all of the various Toyota brands such as Scion, the Lexus marque. The brand image of quality and reliability has been very important in Toyota, being maintained since the brand's entry into the US market on Oct. 31, 1957.


That's not to say that all of the various Toyota models have been reliable, as there have been quite a few lemons to roll off the assembly line. This is not to say that the entire lineup was faulty, but sometimes, a design flaw or an engine malfunction will slip through the cracks, and this will lead to a notoriously unreliable model. Toyota, however, has still largely been a brand that's equated with quality and reliability and has been around for quite a long time. In fact, several of their models, such as the Toyota Camry and the Toyota Corolla, are tremendous sales success stories. In this list, we’ll be taking a look at some of the Toyota models that broke the tradition of quality and reliability and went into the realm of unreliability.

Who could forget this little bundle of joy? The Toyota Paseo was a two-door version of the Toyota Corolla that was designed to attempt to lure younger buyers into the showroom. Although the car had a sporty look and feel to it, the overall design and functionality were lackluster at best. This meant that the car was notoriously unreliable in the long term due to a lot of electrical issues with the cooling fan as well as a basically underpowered engine that didn’t fit in with the two-door sporty design of the vehicle. (Car complaints)

During the nineties, the minivan wars were heating up, and Toyota and Mazda wanted to jump into the fray with their Previa and MPV models. The Previa, although it was a valiant effort for Toyota, featured an odd eggshell design, which made the van quite awkward looking, although boasting a big modern interior unlike its competition from Chrysler. The Previa had a mid-engine design, which made the van a pain to repair because the engine compartment was inside the van, and this created a great number of headaches for owners. (Car complaints)

iginally released long before the Previa and the Sienna, the Toyota Van was the first foray into the van market of the US.

The Toyota Van was a nice-sized van, which featured a few engine choices and a cargo version, depending on what consumers needed.

The van also had a very sturdy feeling to it, which gave Toyota a verified entry into the minivan market. The Toyota Van was also available in an AWD version, but the van was a pain to work on because the engine was located underneath the front passenger area of the vehicle. (Car complaints)

Toyota Cressida


Long before the legendary Toyota Camry touched down on US soil, there was the Toyota Cressida, which was the family car of choice if you were seeking an import back in the day.

The Toyota Cressida was a fine automobile in many aspects, but this was before Toyota and Honda had really established themselves as having bulletproof reliability.

The Toyota Cressida had a few notable issues, most notably with the carburetor, which was a pain to tune up and could be costly to fix in the long run. (Car complaints)

The Toyota T100 was an odd bird in the pickup truck market because Toyota at the time had only sold the lightweight compact Hilux pickup truck and not a full-size offering. The T100 was designed to compete with the full-size trucks of the time, but the T100 lacked a true full-size demeanor or a V8 engine to make it a comparable offering. Although the T100 had the legendary Toyota name behind it, the truck had a few faults and issues such as the gauge cluster going out or not reading the proper measurements. (Car complaints)

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TOYOTA AVALON


The Toyota Avalon is another example of a great idea without the right execution, as the car was one of the best full-size sedans of the nineties. The Toyota Avalon was designed for the person who wanted more luxury than a Camry could offer without having to pay a Lexus price tag.

The Avalon was a roomy and well-powered sedan, but the car suffered from a lot of reliability issues in its later years. The main issue seemed to be with electrical shortage throughout the car, especially once the model became higher in mileage. (Car complaints)

Toyota Echo

Being egg-shaped and having a Toyota badge slapped on the front of it were about the most unique things about the Toyota Echo, which was a small compact car that was sold in the US for quite some time.

Although the Echo was a great deal if you were trying to get into an affordable new-model Toyota, the model was cheaply built and featured quite a few problems that owners encountered as their models increased in age.

The first problem with the Echo comes from a very cheap interior, which would tend to wear out pretty easily, and the underpowered engine didn’t help things along. (Car complaints)

Lexus ES250

One of the two original Lexus models to hit the US shores, the ES250 really didn’t have a lot to boast about. The model was basically a rebadged Toyota Camry, which, although it wasn’t a bad thing, didn’t warrant the premium price tag. The model suffered from a lot of electrical issues early on in reference to a lot of the technology that was built into the car, but engine-wise, the ES250 was actually a very reliable vehicle. One of the most expensive fixes is the entire gauge cluster going out, which can cost a fortune. (Car complaints)

Toyota MR2 SPYDER

Another notable car from the Toyota lineup is the MR2 Spyder, which is a well known little sports car that was released by Toyota for a few decades. This variable little car does a good job of handling speed and having predictable driving characteristics that made the car an excellent touring vehicle, but there were a few notable design flaws. The mid-engine design was more difficult to work on and a little more prone to breakdowns than your average engine, and the car also had a lot of issues with the timing chain, which can be a pricey repair. (Car complaints)

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TOYOTA CAMRY V6 TWO-DOOR


The Toyota Camry was a great model and continues to get recognition as one of Toyota's hottest-selling vehicles. And to this day, the two-door model is considered one of the oddities in the Toyota lineup.

There were quite a few reliability problems with this model, the first of which is the timing chain malfunctioning on the V6 engine.

Then, there's also the fact that the model was a more or less unknown variant in comparison to the sedan, and thus, parts can be a little more sparse. (Car complaints)

Toyota Scion

When the Scion brand was introduced to the US market, it was designed to lure younger buyers into the showrooms with innovative and affordable vehicles that offered a great deal of personalization for the generation-Y consumer base. While this was a great focus, as the original two cars were known for their innovative design and reliability, the XA didn’t fare as well as the XB model. The XA suffered from perpetual overheating issues as well as a basically cheap design that was hard to maintain, for the most part, and caused the car to be a little pricier to repair. (Car complaints)

Toyota Sienna

Toyota has released many different cars and trucks over the past few decades, and with every new lineup, the brand becomes more and more advanced. The Toyota Sienna was a replacement for the aging Toyota Previa, which suffered from a few design flaws that made the van a pain to work on. The Toyota Sienna was a better van in every aspect, but there are a few notable things that made the van unreliable. The main complaint came from the transmission, which was said to be faulty on the earlier models of the van. (Car complaints)

The Toyota Celica is one of the most well-known nameplates in the world and with good reason, as the car has seen so many different body styles that it's a notable exception. The Toyota Celica All-Trac was a cool and functional all-wheel-drive version of the car that made driving in hazardous road conditions a much more pleasurable experience, although this variation of the car was never as good of a seller as the more sporty and recent models that the Celica brand introduced to the world. (Car complaints)

Toyota Supra

Although one of the most expensive used cars in the world, the Toyota Supra Turbo has gained quite the customer base with its powerful design and very historic look and feel. For the most part, the Toyota Supra Turbo is one of the best pure sports cars that money can buy, and the fact that it's a Toyota is even more amazing. But the Turbo can be one of the most expensive parts to repair, which makes the car a costly investment, for the most part, and one of the least reliable Toyota models when it's equipped with the Turbo option. (Car complaints)

Lexus SC300

The original Lexus sports coupes were powerful and timeless cars that showed the world just how well Toyota could execute a luxury brand to compete with the German automakers. The Lexus SC300 didn't feature the powerful V8 engine that the SC400 did, instead opting for the same V6 motor that can be found in the Toyota Supra. While this car is a winning combination of power and performance, the digital dashboard in the SC300 dies quite often and is one of the most expensive parts for owners to have to repair. (Car complaints)

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