2023 Toyota Tacoma: Lease or Buy? The Verdict After Four Recalls

The setup

The 2023 Toyota Tacoma still sells on reputation, the way a band keeps touring on hits from fifteen years ago. People buy this truck because their uncle had one in 2004 and it's still running. That history matters, but it doesn't erase the reality that this specific model year has four open recall campaigns, two of them involving the steering column, and a complaint pattern that suggests some trucks left the factory with significant quality control gaps.

The question isn't whether the Tacoma is a good truck in the abstract. The question is whether you want to own this particular year outright, tying yourself to its repair history for the next decade, or whether you'd rather let Toyota carry the residual risk while you drive it for three years and hand back the keys. The data makes that choice easier than Toyota would like.

What NHTSA data actually shows

NHTSA has 54 owner complaints on file for the 2023 Tacoma and four safety recalls as of October 2026. That's not catastrophic, but it's not reassuring for a truck this young. Of those complaints, 5 involved a crash, 1 involved a fire, and 5 reported injuries.

The most-complained-about system is the electrical system with 12 complaints, followed by steering with 9 complaints and air bags and engine tied at 8 complaints each. Power train drew 7 complaints and service brakes pulled 5. That's a wide distribution, which is worse than one isolated problem. It suggests assembly inconsistency rather than a single bad batch of parts.

The recall list is the real problem. Campaign 22V520000 covers child seat anchors with insufficient welds. Campaign 23V480000 addresses a steering column issue that can deactivate the driver's air bag. Campaign 24V152000 involves the rear axle assembly, where axle shaft separation can cause loss of vehicle stability and brake performance. Campaign 25V040000 is a second steering column recall, again for spiral cable assemblies that deactivate the driver's air bag.

Two separate recalls for the same system, both involving air bag deactivation, tells you the first fix didn't catch all the trucks. And the axle issue is serious. As NHTSA notes, axle shaft separation increases the risk of a crash by degrading stability and braking at the same time.

Owner reports filed with NHTSA describe real-world failures. One owner wrote: "On February 16 I started my vehicle to drive home from work and the vehicle threw multiple error codes and shutdown while driving and would not start again. It was towed to the dealership. The dealership advised the problem was remedied. 11 days later the s..." Another reported: "On June 20, 2025, my 2023 Toyota Tacoma (VIN [XXX] ed a sudden loss of effective braking during normal driving conditions (dry roadway, clear weather). The vehicle was being driven by my adult son. While slowing for a turn, the instrument cluster displayed..."

Those aren't wear-and-tear complaints. Those are new vehicles experiencing sudden failures of critical systems.

The NHTSA crash test returned an overall 4 out of 5 stars: frontal 4, side 5, rollover 4. Rollover probability is 19.1 percent. That's typical for a midsize truck with this ride height, not a mark against it.

If you own one of these trucks and you're seeing intermittent electrical gremlins, a car battery load tester can help you confirm whether the battery or the charging system is actually at fault before you start replacing parts. And if you've got a known parasitic draw that the dealer can't trace, a car battery maintainer will at least keep the voltage stable while you decide whether to escalate the complaint.

The math

Let's work an example with stated assumptions. Say the truck has an MSRP around $40,000 and you're deciding between a 60-month purchase loan at 6.5% APR with $4,000 down versus a 36-month lease at $380 per month with $3,000 due at signing.

After three years, the buyer has paid $29,380 and still owes roughly $15,000. The lessee has paid $16,680 and owns nothing but also owes nothing. The buyer has equity only if the truck's value exceeds that $15,000 payoff, and that depends entirely on how the market treats three-year-old Tacomas with this recall history.

If the truck depreciates normally, the buyer comes out ahead long-term. But normal depreciation assumes normal reliability. Trucks with multiple open recalls and complaint patterns involving the electrical system, steering, and brakes don't always age gracefully in resale value. The fourth and fifth year are when the earliest failures start appearing in volume, right when the buyer in our example is crossing 60,000 miles and leaving the powertrain warranty.

The lessee walks away at 36 months. If the truck has been reliable, fine. If it's developed the electrical shutdown issues described in those NHTSA complaints, also fine. That's Toyota's problem now, not yours.

What we recommend

Lease the 2023 Tacoma if you want one. Don't buy it.

This isn't about whether Tacomas are generally solid trucks. It's about whether you want to own this specific model year past its warranty. The recall count and complaint distribution suggest Toyota had quality control problems during this production run. Some trucks are fine. Some throw multiple error codes and shut down on the highway eleven days after a dealer says they're fixed.

When you lease, you're renting the truck during the years it's most likely to be reliable and most fully covered by warranty. You're also renting it during the window when Toyota is most motivated to fix recall issues quickly, because they know the truck's coming back and they're the ones who'll eat the reconditioning cost if it's trashed.

When you buy, you're making a bet that your specific truck doesn't have the bad welds, the bad spiral cable, the bad axle assembly, or the electrical faults that caused the complaints. Maybe you win that bet. But if you lose, you're the one paying to diagnose it at month 50 when the electrical system starts throwing codes the dealer can't replicate.

The lease vs buy decision usually comes down to whether you keep cars a long time and drive them hard. This one comes down to whether you want to own the risk.

What would change our mind

If NHTSA data two years from now shows the recall campaigns actually fixed the problems and complaint rates dropped to fewer than 30 for the model year, we'd reconsider. If Toyota extends the powertrain warranty to 7 years or 84,000 miles specifically for 2023 models as a quiet acknowledgment of the issues, that would change the math.

If you're looking at a screaming deal on a leftover 2023 at $8,000 off MSRP, and you plan to pay cash, and you're comfortable doing your own diagnostics, then buying makes more sense. At that point you're being compensated for the risk. But at typical pricing, you're paying full freight for a truck with a subpar quality control record.

And if you already own one and it's been flawless, don't panic. The majority of these trucks are fine. Just make sure all four recalls have been completed, keep records of everything, and if you see patterns of electrical issues or steering symptoms, document them and file your own NHTSA complaint. That creates a paper trail if you need it later. Our sell or keep page walks through when to cut losses versus when to ride it out.

Bottom line

The 2023 Toyota Tacoma has 54 complaints, 4 recalls, and a pattern of electrical and steering issues that should make any buyer nervous about long-term ownership. Lease it if you want it, walk away if the lease numbers don't work, but don't buy it unless you're getting a significant discount that compensates you for the elevated risk of post-warranty failures. Toyota's reputation is built on trucks that last fifteen years, but this specific year hasn't earned that confidence yet.

Safety figures on this page come from the NHTSA public complaint and recall database for the 2023 Toyota Tacoma, retrieved 2026-10-04. Complaint counts reflect reports filed by owners and are not verified defect findings.