NHTSA lists 1 safety recall and 214 owner complaints for the 2016 Toyota Corolla.
1Safety recalls
214Owner complaints
66Complaints citing a crash
1Complaints citing a fire
Data: NHTSA recall and complaint filesUpdated Sep 27, 2026
Recalled components: air bags. Most-reported area: air bags (65 complaints, 30%; median mileage when it happened: 34,900). Includes the Corolla Hybrid and hatchback. Excludes the GR Corolla and Corolla Cross.
1 safety recall for the 2016 Toyota Corolla
Newest first. Summaries are NHTSA's own wording. Open a recall for the fix and the full notice.
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2011-2019 Corolla, 2011-2013 Matrix, 2012-2018 Avalon, and 2013-2018 Avalon Hybrid vehicles. During certain crashes, the air bag electronic control unit (ECU) may malfunction, possibly disabling the deployment of the air bags and/or seat belt pretensioners.
Risk: In the event of a crash, air bags and/or seat belt pretensioners that do not deploy as intended may increase the risk of injury.
The fix and full notice
Fix: Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the ECU and install a noise filter between the air bag control module and its wire harness, as necessary, free of charge. Owners were notified of the safety risk beginning March 2, 2020. A second letter notifying owners of the remedy repair will be mailed between March 16, 2020 and June 27, 2020. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371. Toyota's numbers for this recall are 20TB03, 20TA03 and 20TA05.
NHTSA listing: COROLLA. Toyota campaign 20TB03 / 20TA03.
Questions about any of these recalls: call NHTSA's Vehicle Safety Hotline at 888-327-4236 (TTY 888-275-9171) or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
What owners report
The areas named in the 214 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2016 Corolla. NHTSA does not verify complaints.
Air bags65 · 30%
Median 34,900 miles at failure (44 reports)
Brakes29 · 14%
Median 20,800 miles at failure (26 reports)
Seat belts26 · 12%
Powertrain22 · 10%
Median 54,500 miles at failure (15 reports)
Speed control22 · 10%
Median 13,000 miles at failure (17 reports)
Steering22 · 10%
Median 25,000 miles at failure (15 reports)
Body structure15 · 7%
Most named: body (15)
Unknown or other24 · 11%
A complaint can name more than one area, so shares add up to more than 100%. Mileage is shown where at least 15 owners reported it.
Toyota Corolla recalls and complaints by model year
The highlighted bars are the 2016 model year. Newer model years have had less time on the road, so their counts are lower. Counting complaints filed in each model year's first three years, the 2016 Corolla drew the most (88).
Owner complaints
2016: 214 complaintsTap or drag across the chart for other years.
Show as a table
Owner complaints by model year, Toyota Corolla
Model year
Complaints
2016
214
2017
190
2018
142
2019
203
2020
309
2021
185
2022
103
2023
73
2024
65
2025
33
2026
16
Safety recalls
2016: 1 recallTap or drag across the chart for other years.
Show as a table
Safety recalls by model year, Toyota Corolla
Model year
Recalls
2016
1
2017
3
2018
3
2019
6
2020
6
2021
1
2022
0
2023
4
2024
3
2025
1
2026
1
Crash test ratings
NHTSA's 5-Star Safety Ratings for each version it tested. Rollover risk is NHTSA's estimate of the chance of rolling over in a single-vehicle crash.
Tested version
Overall
Frontal
Side
Rollover
Toyota Corolla 4 DR FWD
Rollover risk 11.8%
Questions
What are the most common 2016 Corolla problems?
The areas owners name most often in NHTSA complaints: air bags (65), brakes (29), seat belts (26). NHTSA does not verify complaints, and one complaint can name several areas.
Is the 2016 Toyota Corolla safe?
In NHTSA crash tests every tested version of the 2016 Toyota Corolla earns 5 stars overall. The table above lists each tested version.
How do I check if my Corolla has an open recall?
Enter the 17-character VIN from your dashboard, door jamb or registration at nhtsa.gov/recalls. The lookup lists unrepaired recalls for that exact vehicle. Safety recall repairs are free at Toyota dealers.
Sources and method
NHTSA recalls file (NHTSA datasets), dated Sep 27, 2026; every campaign checked against NHTSA's recalls API.
NHTSA owner complaints file, dated Sep 26, 2026. Counted by complaint number, so a complaint naming three components counts once in the total.
NHTSA 5-Star Safety Ratings (NCAP).
NHTSA model names covered: COROLLA.
Complaint counts are unverified owner reports. They rise with sales volume and time on the road, so compare model years with care. How we build these pages. Spotted an error? Tell us.