2008 Toyota Yaris H/B

No clear pattern

0% of complaints about the 2008 Toyota Yaris H/B arrived in its first year of service. That is an unusual figure for a 2008 vehicle, but with only 36 complaints on record the sample is too small to call it a pattern — the margin of error covers the range where ordinary vehicles sit. The figures below are reported without a verdict. The most-reported system is air bags (17 complaints), typically at 7.8 yr or about 100,000 miles.

Complaints: 36
Median age at failure: 6.5 yr
Median mileage: 74,825 n=24
Crash / fire / tow: 25% of reports
Safety recalls: 1

Safety recalls — NHTSA campaigns

09V223000 2009-06-15

Equipment:other:labels

TOYOTA IS RECALLING 27,080 MODEL YEAR 2005 THROUGH 2010 PASSENGER CARS BUILT FROM SEPTEMBER 1, 2005 TO MAY 4, 2009. THESE VEHICLES WERE NOT EQUIPPED WITH LOAD CARRYING CAPACITY MODIFICATION LABELS WHICH FAILS TO CONFORM WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARD NO. 110, "TIRE SELECTION AND RIMS."

INCORRECT LOAD CARRYING CAPACITY MODIFICATION LABELS COULD RESULT IN THE VEHICLE BEING OVERLOADED, INCREASING THE RISK OF A CRASH.

In owners’ own words

Air bags 32,000 mi 3.1 yr in service crash / fire / tow

ON 12/19/2009 I WAS IN A CAR ACCIDENT ON THE NORTHERN STATE PARKWAY I HIT THE GUARD RAIL CEMENT DIVIDER AT 40 MILES AN HOUR. MY AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. MY ABS BRAKES FAILED TO STOP THE CAR IN A SNOW STORM. MY SEAT BELT DID NOT WORK CORRECTLY. AGAIN WITH THE SAME CAR ON 10/7/2010 A WOMAN STOPPED SHORT AND COMPLETELY STOPPED IN FRONT OF ME. I SLAMMED DIRECTLY HEAD ON INTO HER WHILE AT 30 MILES AN HOUR. AGAIN MY AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY AND MY SEATBELT FAILED TO RETRACT. AGAIN ATTEMPTING TO BRAKE I WENT INTO THE SUV. *TR

Air bags 118,000 mi 5.3 yr in service

AIRBAG LIGHT CAME ON AND HAS NOT TURNED OFF. INITIALLY IT WOULD BE INTERMITTENT, NOW IT'S CONTINOUS. *TR

Air bags 100,000 mi 5.9 yr in service

MY AIRBAG LIGHT CAME ON, AND HASN'T TURNED OFF FOR LONGER THAN A MINUTE IN THE PAST COUPLE OF MONTHS. BROUGHT IT TO REPAIR SHOP, WAS TOLD AIRBAG WON'T WORK WITH LIGHT ON. I WAS TOLD IT WAS MOST LIKELY THE CLOCK SPRING. NOTICED ON MULTIPLE FORUMS PEOPLE HAVE THE SAME COMPLAINT. NOT SURE IF I WANT TO REPLACE IT WITH A GENUINE TOYOTA PART IF THIS IS GOING TO HAPPEN AGAIN IN A FEW YEARS. *TR

Other Yaris H/B model years

How to read this

This is what owners reported, not a reliability rating. People file with NHTSA about alarming failures, not routine ones, and complaint volume tracks how many cars were sold.
Failure ages come from the incident date on each complaint, populated on about 83% of records. Mileage is shown where reported — NHTSA’s 2021 system change cut mileage capture to roughly 15%, so it thins out sharply after MY2020.
Every rank compares this vehicle only against others of the same model year. A 2025 car has not had time to accumulate five-year failures, so comparing early-failure share across years is meaningless.
Fourteen make-months distorted by media storms and mass recalls — Toyota in February 2010 ran 11× normal volume across 33 models — are excluded.
Recalls are manufacturer actions and authoritative; complaints are not. A recall listed here may already have been performed on any individual car. Check a specific VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

2008 Toyota Yaris H/B

When each system is reported — middle 50% of complaints

Safety recalls — NHTSA campaigns

In owners’ own words

Other Yaris H/B model years

How to read this