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CarComplaints.com Notes: Beware of the NHTSA complaint data for the 2008 Corolla. It is almost certainly misleading.

The problem with NHTSA data for the 2008 Corolla is that for months on end, the news media repeatedly told the public that several Toyota models have an unintended acceleration defect, & to go to safercar.gov (the NHTSA's website) to file a complaint.

So, the NHTSA received a disproportionate number of complaints about Toyota unintended acceleration issues because of the national news media attention, to the point where now the NHTSA data is unreliable taken in context with any other vehicle that did not receive national news attention.

CarComplaints.com typically receives more complaints per day about vehicles than the NHTSA does, but the news media did not repeatedly say "go to CarComplaints.com to report your Toyota acceleration problems" like they did about the NHTSA -- so although we have less complaint data than the NHTSA for the 2008 Corolla, our data for the Corolla is a far more statistically accurate representation of the Corolla's reliability than what the NHTSA data shows.

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
2 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
37,743 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2008 Toyota Corolla body / paint problems

body / paint problem

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2008 Toyota Corolla Owner Comments

problem #4

Apr 172011

Corolla 4-cyl

  • 48,486 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

My daughter had a frontal collision while driving through an intersection at approximately 30 mph. Our 2008 Toyota Corolla S struck another vehicle on its front left fender. Our 2008 Corolla sustained major frontal damages, including the disintegration of the bumper, damage to the hood, both fenders, radiator, etc. The front stabilizer bar was ripped off the chassis. During the impact, the seat belts locked, however, the front air bags never deployed!! the car was taken back to East coast Toyota, rt. 17, wood-ridge, NJ where the car was purchased on Feb. 22, 2011 as a "certified used vehicle." We complained about the faulty air bags & that they did not deploy in a frontal crash of 30 mph. The GM of the dealership & GM of the service department kept the vehicle for inspection & to have a Toyota Corp. Rep. Look at the car to determine why the front air bags did not deploy. The dealership attempted to tell us that the airbags should only deploy during a front impact, but the car did in fact sustain heavy damages do to the impact but the airbags did not deploy. The impact was so great that the steel stabilizer bar was completely ripped off. That alone should have triggered the airbags to deploy. The car is currently not drivable due to the numerous damage sustained to the front end, motor, radiator & other parts. We are waiting to hear from the dealer, my insurance adjuster & Toyota to find out why this important safety feature did not work as it was designed to.

- West Orange, NJ, USA

problem #3

Apr 172011

Corolla 4-cyl

  • 48,486 miles
My daughter had a frontal collision while driving through an intersection at approximately 30 mph. Our 2008 Toyota Corolla S struck another vehicle on its front left fender. Our 2008 Corolla sustained major frontal damages, including the disintegration of the bumper, damage to the hood, both fenders, radiator, etc. The front stabilizer bar was ripped off the chassis. During the impact, the seat belts locked, however, the front air bags never deployed!! the car was taken back to East coast Toyota, rt. 17, wood-ridge, NJ where the car was purchased on Feb. 22, 2011 as a "certified used vehicle." We complained about the faulty air bags & that they did not deploy in a frontal crash of 30 mph. The GM of the dealership & GM of the service department kept the vehicle for inspection & to have a Toyota Corp. Rep. Look at the car to determine why the front air bags did not deploy. The dealership attempted to tell us that the airbags should only deploy during a front impact, but the car did in fact sustain heavy damages do to the impact but the airbags did not deploy. The impact was so great that the steel stabilizer bar was completely ripped off. That alone should have triggered the airbags to deploy. The car is currently not drivable due to the numerous damage sustained to the front end, motor, radiator & other parts. We are waiting to hear from the dealer, my insurance adjuster & Toyota to find out why this important safety feature did not work as it was designed to.

- West Orange, NJ, USA

problem #2

Mar 012008

Corolla 4-cyl

  • 4,000 miles
The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Corolla. The contact stated that water penetrated the glove compartment area, causing the passenger section carpet to become saturated and the instrumental panel to become foggy. The vehicle was taken to the dealer numerous times for the failure. The dealer examined the vehicle but was unable to locate the area where the water had entered and penetrated the clove compartment. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 4,000 and the current mileage was 19,800. Updated 05/04/11 updated 05/11/11

- South Gate, CA, USA

problem #1

Jan 022010

Corolla

  • 50,000 miles
I heard rattling which I thought was from my trunk. After several attempts to locate the rattle, I discovered that it was my back window. There is a seal failure and you can literally lift the rear window in my 2008 Toyota Corolla. The Toyota dealership tells me they have never seen anything like this before. The car had approximately 50,000 miles when I first noticed the problem. The dealership tells me that I shouldn't wait to get this repaired. However, the dealership also said they would repair the seal, but I have to pay for the part that goes around the rear window and that my 100,000 extended warranty will not cover this. Unfortunately, that part does not go all the way around the rear window, leaves the bottom of the window exposed and thus the possibility for this to occur on all of these vehicles as well as reoccur on this one. I have taken pictures of this. I don't understand why I should pay for anything since this is not a wear and tear issue. It is defective!

- Southgate, MI, USA

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