2020 TOYOTA TUNDRA — Complaint #2168178
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about SEATS:FRONT ASSEMBLY:SEAT HEATER/COOLER filed January 20, 2026
NHTSA complaint #2168178 (ODI reference 11712203) concerns a 2020 TOYOTA TUNDRA and was filed on January 20, 2026. The owner reports the failure occurred on January 6, 2026. The report was geocoded to Florida based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as seats:front assembly:seat heater/cooler, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: yes, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. A complaint that flags a crash, fire, or fatality is escalated on NHTSA's internal review queue and factors more heavily into any Preliminary Evaluation decision on this make and model. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same TOYOTA TUNDRA cohort independently describe similar seats:front assembly:seat heater/cooler failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2020 TOYOTA TUNDRA shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
The contact owns a 2020 Toyota Tundra. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, the contact discovered that there was smoke inside the vehicle. The contact opened the front passenger side door and discovered that the front passenger seat was burned and had melted. The contact stated that the front passenger seat had caught on fire and extinguished itself prior to the contact discovering the smoke. The origin of the fire was from the front passengerâs heated seat function. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was unoccupied during the fire. Neither a Fire nor a Police Report was filed. The vehicle remained at the residence. The dealer was contacted, and the contact was informed that the front passengerâs seat heater needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact also mentioned that the insurance company declined coverage since they deemed it to be a manufacturer's defect. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 2168178 |
| ODI Number | 11712203 |
| Date Filed | January 20, 2026 |
| Failure Date | January 6, 2026 |
| VIN | 5TFUY5F12LX |
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.