NHTSA Complaint #11060748 — 2012 TOYOTA TACOMA

THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT AND THE TRAC OFF LIGHT CAME ON AS I WAS MERGING ONTO THE INTERSTATE. I IMMEDIATELY STOPPED THE VEHICLE, PULLED OVER, AND TOOK MY 2012 TOYOTA TACOMA WITH 78,000 MILES TO THE MECHANIC WHERE I LEFT IT OVERNIGHT FOR THEM TO LOOK AT IT IN THE MORNING. RUNNING A DIAGNOSTIC THEY FOUND CODE P2443 - SECONDARY AIR INJECTION SWITCHING VALVE STUCK. I ASKED IF THEY HAD DEALT WITH THIS BEFORE AND THEY SAID THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM FOR TOYOTA AND THEY HAVE DONE RECALLS ON BOTH THE TUNDRA AND SEQUOIA MODELS THAT HAVE HAD THESE ISSUES, BUT THE TACOMA HASN'T HAD A RECALL YET, EVEN THOUGH IT SEEMS TO BE JUST AS COMMON WITH THE SAME PARTS. THEY SAID THE COST OF PARTS AND LABOR WOULD BE AROUND $2,000. WHEN I ASKED THEM IF THE VEHICLE WAS SAFE TO DRIVE OFF THEIR LOT THEY SAID THESE CODES CAN CAUSE THE TACOMA TO GO INTO "LIMP MODE" WHERE YOU CAN LOOSE POWER, ACCELERATION, AND WON'T BE ABLE TO GO OVER 45MPH. I HATE TO THINK WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED IF I HAD KEPT MERGING ONTO THE INTERSTATE AND TRIED TO GET UP TO SPEED ONLY TO "LIMP" INTO TRAFFIC OR IF THIS HAD HAPPENED A MINUTE LATER ON THE INTERSTATE! EVERY THREAD I READ ONLINE FROM MULTIPLE SOURCES SHOW PEOPLE HAVING SIMILAR ISSUES FROM AS LOW AS 1,000 MILES ON THE TRUCK. THE ISSUES WITH THE SECONDARY AIR INJECTION PUMP AND SWITCHING VALVES SEEMS MOST COMMON BETWEEN 50,000-80,000 MILES, BUT EVENTUALLY DOES HAPPEN IN THE 2012-2015 TOCOMA MODELS.