Complaint volume
177 consumer-submitted complaints are matched to this model year. Treat the count as a research signal, then read the actual summaries for repeated symptoms.
Complaint records
2021 Toyota Corolla Complaints
177 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2021 Toyota Corolla, grouped by component category.
177 Total complaints
18 Crash reports
2 Fire reports
10 Injury reports
Complaint data reflects consumer-submitted reports. A complaint is not proof
of a defect, recall, or manufacturer fault. Enriched severity fields come
from official bulk records when the complaint can be matched by ODI number.
Buyer interpretation
How to use these complaints before buying
Complaint records are most useful when they turn into inspection points, seller questions, and comparison checks against nearby model years.
Pattern to inspect
The most common categories are air bags, engine, power train. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 18 crash reports, 2 fire reports, 10 injury reports, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 23 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 39,578 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to air bags, engine, power train?
- Can I see recent maintenance and repair records?
- Has the vehicle ever been towed, involved in a crash, or repaired for the same issue twice?
- Can we also check the recall record for this 2021 Toyota Corolla?
Used-car checklist
Use these complaints before the test drive.
Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.
2021 Toyota Corolla
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2021 Toyota Corolla complaints?
18 Crash
2 Fire
10 Injury
0 Fatality
17 Towed
11 Medical attention
What are the most common 2021 Toyota Corolla complaint categories?
AIR BAGS 42
ENGINE 26
POWER TRAIN 14
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 14
VISIBILITY/WIPER 10
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 4
TIRES 4
AIR BAGS,SEAT BELTS 3
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 3
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 3
177 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2026 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | During the lower interval settings, wipers will not work in proper order. Sometimes you may get three quick wipes and them the wipers will stop in middle of windshield for about 5-8 seconds. Sometimes the wipers are inconsistent with proper timing and will not properly work all the time. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2026 | POWER TRAIN | Clutch pedal kept sticking to floor. Eventually the pedal did not return at all. Concentric slave cylinder failed and brake fluid leaking in bell housing. Dealer stated: found slave cylinder inside the bell housing failed which caused brake fluid to contaminate bell housing components. recommend replace slave cylinder assembly, clutch kit with flywheel, and throw out bearing assembly. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2026 | POWER TRAIN | LA TRANSMISSION AUTOMATICA CVT USADAS EN LA MAYORIA DE LOS TOYOTAS, NO PUEDES REVISAR SI ESTA EL ACEITE SUCIO , YA QUE ES COMPLETAMENTE SELLADA, Y CUANDO PREGUNTAS EN EL DEALER TE DICEN QUE CON ESTAS NUEVAS TRANSMISSIONES NO NECESIAS CAMBIAR EL FLUIDO(ACEITE ), RESULTA QUE ESTAS TRANSMISSIONES LA MAYORIA SOLO DURAN DE 50000 A 100000 MILLAS, ES INCREIBLE COMO TOYOTA SIENDO UNA COMPANIA DE BUENA REPUTACION, NOS H AFECTADO A MILES DE CONSUMIDORES, LE COMENTO ESTO PORQUE MI AUTO ES 2021, MENOS DE 5 ANOS, CON 135000 MILLAS ,YA NO TENGO GARANTIA, ES FRUSTANTE QUE TODO ESTO LO HAGAN PARA HACER GASTAR MAS AL CONSUMIDOR SOLO POR SU INTERES ECONOMICO | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2026 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | The vehicle displays an “Engine Maintenance Required” warning message shortly after the air conditioning is turned on. The warning does not usually appear immediately at startup but consistently appears when the A/C system is activated. The vehicle currently remains drivable, but the issue appears related to the engine cooling system and may involve the coolant bypass valve/flow control valve, which has been widely reported by other owners of similar model vehicles. The problem raises safety concerns because a cooling system malfunction could potentially lead to overheating while driving. The issue has been reproduced multiple times. A generic code scan at an auto parts store did not show stored engine codes. The vehicle was taken to a Toyota dealership and Toyota customer service was contacted regarding known coverage programs related to this issue, but the VIN was reportedly not included. Warning symptoms first appeared during normal driving and continue intermittently whenever the air conditioning system is used. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2026 | SEAT BELTS | The rear seatbelt sensor doesn't work well, sometimes the rear seatbelt are buckled what it says they're not and sometimes they're not buckled and it says they are. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2026 | STRUCTURE,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | The car accelerated on its own when I was attempting to park it. I had no control over the car and it ended up crashing into multiple vehicles. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Towed | Unknown |
| Apr 2026 | STRUCTURE | When attempting to replace the rear glass at Safelite on 4/29/2026, the worker noticed rust on the headliner. Now the rear glass can't be replaced until a body shop replaces the rusted headliner. I began leasing this car in December 2020, and now I own it. Now I am driving with a plastic covering over the rear window, which poses a safety hazard. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2026 | AIR BAGS | The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Corolla. The contact stated that while his son was driving at 3 MPH, they were rear-ended by a BMW X5 and pushed forward, crashing into a Ford Explorer. No warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that his son sustained injuries consisting of lacerations to his face and was taken to the hospital by ambulance, where medical attention was provided. There was no reported fire. A police report was filed, which indicated that the air bags deployed. The contact stated that the air bags did not deploy. The vehicle was towed to a towing lot. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was approximately 90,000. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 1 Towed Medical attention | 90,000 |
| Apr 2026 | ENGINE | The Clutch Slave Cylinder needs replacement | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2026 | ENGINE | Engine maintenance required, call dealer. The engine coolant bypass valve needs to be replaced. Known issue in Toyota corolla’s yet no recall to remedy the repair. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2026 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Coolant bypass valve has shorted out. “Engine maintenance required” notification popped up on the gauge cluster | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2026 | POWER TRAIN | The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Corolla. The contact stated that while driving at 20 MPH, the clutch pedal failed to function as intended. The clutch pedal was stuck, and the contact was unable to shift gear. The contact forced the clutch back into neutral while holding the clutch pedal. Once the clutch pedal was released, the vehicle went into LIMP Mode and traveled down to the floorboard. The contact pulled over to the side of the road. The contact kicked the clutch pedal upwards to continue driving back to the residence. The contact arrived at the residence and inspected the vehicle, and became aware that there was brake fluid leaking from the vehicle, and the brake fluid reservoir was empty. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the clutch slave cylinder had failed and damaged the clutch and the flywheel. The vehicle remained with the independent mechanic unrepaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 65,000. | Crash: No Fire: No Towed | 65,000 |
| Feb 2026 | POWER TRAIN | Complete failure of the slave cylinder under at 62k miles. changed fluid at 30k. Called to see if Toyota would still help with failure under warranty but did not help. Had to replace slave cylinder due to seal bursting. Left stranded on road. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2026 | POWER TRAIN | One night shortly after starting the car, I went to put the car in first gear amd as I let out the clutch, but pedal stayed flat to the floor. I was able to lift the pedal with my foot and drive the car back to safety. The next day, I drove the car to the nearest shop before anything catastrophic happens. This time, right in the shop parking lot, I lost all hydraulic pressure in the clutch and I could not take the car out of gear. I had to turn off the car to prevent it from stalling as the clutch slowly engaged without my doing. I had the car inspected by two repair shops—one quote at $3900, the other at $6600. The issue is a failed seal on the clutch slave cylinder, located inside the transmission. The seal is much too thin from factory to withstand normal use. There are no recalls for this issue, and MANY affected owners. This is a safety issue because the failure can be almost immediate and will leave the driver unable to take the car out of gear, leading to out of control driving. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2026 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Today I noticed that both of my door front locks passenger and driver side do not even actuate to have the door locked and unlocked by key of by the alarm. They completely stopped working. Even I contacted Toyota Corporate several times about this issue (800) 331-4331 and got ignored. This is a safety issue that needs to be addressed immediately. This is a safety concern for me and family. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2026 | POWER TRAIN | While in a parking lot, the clutch pedal suddenly lost all pressure and remained stuck to the floor, rendering the vehicle unable to shift gears. While this occurred at parked car , a sudden loss of gear engagement at highway speeds would have caused a catastrophic loss of motive power in high-speed traffic. Furthermore, this vehicle utilizes a shared reservoir for both clutch and brake fluid. A major failure of the clutch slave cylinder seals can lead to rapid fluid loss or air ingestion into the shared hydraulic system, potentially compromising braking performance. The dealership confirmed the internal clutch slave cylinder failed prematurely at only 38,000 miles. Because the part is internal to the housing, a full transmission removal was required, resulting in a total repair cost of $5,600. Despite the safety implications of a shared hydraulic failure and the extremely low mileage, Toyota has refused to cover the full cost. No warning lights or symptoms appeared prior to this sudden failure. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2026 | SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC | The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Corolla. The contact discovered brake fluid on the clutch pedal, and the brake pedal was mushy while depressed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who determined that the brake master cylinder needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 89,900. | Crash: No Fire: No | 89,900 |
| Feb 2026 | POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | I smell gas whenever I drive my car. My car has less than 33,000 miles on it. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2026 | POWER TRAIN | At approximately 5 years and 2 months of ownership, with approximately 53,000 miles, the clutch slave cylinder failed in such a way that contaminated both the clutch and flywheel with brake fluid. Repair of this issue requires replacement of the slave cylinder, clutch, and flywheel, as described by Toyota of Pullman in Pullman, WA who performed the inspection and quoted the repair. The symptoms of this failure included an inability to shift the manual transmission between gears, most notably out of 1st gear to get to 2nd. This inability to change gears resulted in limited speed in traffic, and created an obstruction. In less fortunate traffic conditions, this speed restriction could have created a collision. Other owners of the same model vehicle online have reported active failures in traffic, some of which have resulted in damage to the transmission as well as the clutch and flywheel. Toyota appears to have redesigned the slave cylinder at least twice, implying that they know the parts for these vehicles are subpar, and there are no flywheels available for the repair, which also implies this may be an all too common repair. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2026 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE | “Engine Maintenance Required, See your dealer” light comes on the dashboard with a warning bell. Did a diagnostic test, and the code is the coolant bypass valve malfunction. This seems to be a common issue among 2020-2021 models. This has been inspected by professional mechanics. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2026 | POWER TRAIN | NOTE: This has not happened to me yet, but it appears that most Corollas manufactured before 2022 or 2023 have this issue. However I did recently flush the fluid from my clutch system and it was very clearly contaminated, possibly indicating early evidence of a failure. Clutch system, specifically the slave cylinder is faulty on these vehicles. It is a known issue on these cars that the clutch slave cylinder (inside the transmission) is made out of resin and fails. When the slave cylinder fails, brake fluid from the shared clutch/brake reservoir leaks out onto the clutch and flywheel, damaging them and resulting in an expensive repair. In addition to this, the brake fluid leak results in a "low braking power" message on the dashboard, indicating a problem with the braking system. Obviously this is a safety issue that could cause an accident. This issue has been confirmed by many dealers and the solution is to replace the slave, clutch, and flywheel and flush & refill the brake fluid reservoir. The vehicle has not been inspected by the dealer as of yet, but in the interest of safety I am considering an early replacement of the cylinder. The only warnings of this issue are a clutch stuck to the floor, and in some cases a "low braking power" warning on the dashboard. A low brake fluid level may also be an indicator of this issue if caught in time. Incident report below is of the clutch flush, showing the contaminated brake fluid from the clutch hydraulic system. It's important to note that flushing the clutch is not a recommended maintenance item at any point on these vehicles as it is expected to be done with the braking system, although that won't remove contaminants from the clutch cylinder. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,AIR BAGS,SEATS | On December 12, 2025, I was in a head on car accident in my 2021 Toyota Corolla nightshade. I was slammed into the steering wheel which caused injury. My car has over $14,000 worth of damage to the front yet my airbags did not deploy. I have taken my car to Toyota several times over the past few years and every time I’ve asked about a remedy for this recall I’ve been told there is no remedy as early as June or July 2025 I had to bring my car in for a manufacturer defect with the engine that Toyota fixed for free. I asked them about the recall on the airbags. They again told me there was no remedy. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 1 Towed Medical attention | Unknown |
| Dec 2025 | POWER TRAIN | The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Corolla. The contact stated that while driving in a parking lot, the clutch pedal failed to function as intended. The clutch pedal was depressed and failed to return after being released. The contact used his foot to raise the clutch pedal. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the slave cylinder had failed. The vehicle remained at the dealer unrepaired. Upon further investigation, the contact related the failure to the six-speed manual transmission. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and assisted with the labor cost. The failure mileage was approximately 58,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 58,000 |
| Nov 2025 | POWER TRAIN | I am filing this complaint regarding a serious defect in my 2021 Toyota Corolla (Manual). At approximately 42,000 miles, the clutch slave cylinder failed. This defect caused hydraulic fluid to leak and contaminate the clutch assembly, resulting in significant damage and loss of proper function. Despite the fact that this issue stems from a defective part, the dealership has refused to cover the repair of the clutch assembly, stating that the clutch is not covered under warranty. Instead, they are requiring me to pay for the repair out-of-pocket, which would not have been necessary if the damage had not been caused by the defective clutch slave cylinder. I believe this is unfair and unsafe, as the failure of a clutch slave cylinder directly impacts the drivability and safety of the vehicle. This is a significant safety issue. A defective clutch slave cylinder can lead to sudden clutch failure, loss of vehicle control, and increased risk of accidents. This is not a wear-and-tear issue but a manufacturing defect that compromises the safety of the vehicle. I respectfully request that NHTSA investigate this matter to determine whether similar failures are occurring in other Toyota Corolla vehicles of this model year. If this is a widespread defect, I urge NHTSA to take appropriate action, including a recall or requiring Toyota to cover repairs. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2025 | WHEELS | While attempting to change a flat tire on a 2021 Toyota Corolla Hatchback, two wheel studs sheared off completely, leaving the wheel unsafe to drive. My wife was stranded alone in the mountains with no cell service. She managed to loosen three lug nuts, but the final two were seized. When a passerby assisted, both seized studs snapped. The spare could barely be mounted. The vehicle has been serviced exclusively by Toyota dealers since new. Lancaster Toyota later replaced the broken studs free of charge, yet simultaneously claimed that another dealer, Frontier Toyota, had “switched the tyres.” so Lancaster are not responsible. That claim is false — Frontier’s invoice (Sept 25 2025) clearly shows only an oil change and inspection, no tire or wheel service of any kind. Replacing the studs at no charge while denying responsibility suggests an attempt to quietly resolve what may be a dealer-induced over-torque or defective-stud failure. The broken studs were not returned to us despite multiple requests — effectively withheld by the dealer, which constitutes unauthorized retention of customer property and prevents independent verification of failure cause. Toyota Corporate (case #251103002581) was notified but refused to investigate, referring the issue back to the same dealer. This complaint is being filed so NHTSA can document a potential wheel-stud safety defect or service-related failure and dealer mishandling of critical evidence that could conceal a wider safety problem. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |