Toyota defect petition DP23004
Electrical problems / No-start. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this defect petition about the 12v/24v/48v battery on 1 model year (2019). Opened Aug 30, 2023 and still open — 3.2 years so far, against NHTSA’s goal of four months for a defect petition. open
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedThe Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) received a petition dated June 7, 2023, along with several subsequent submissions from the petitioner, requesting an investigation of the vehicle CAN Bus vulnerability to external attack in the Model Year (MY) 2019 Toyota Yaris. The petitioner described multiple electrical symptoms including but limited to: multiple electrical instrument panel warning lights, inaccurate fuel gauge, inoperative key fob, no-start since late 2022, and enclosed references to cybersecurity articles and websites. This defect petition has been opened to evaluate the allegation and determine whether to grant or deny the petitioner's request. The petition can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under reference ODI number 11501206.
A Defect Petition is a petition from a member of the public asking NHTSA to open a defect investigation; the agency grants or denies it and publishes the reasons. The summary is the agency’s own text from its investigation file, unedited; the resumes carrying the full reasoning are linked below.
The paperwork NHTSA filed
Source: every document on this action, at nhtsa.gov- Opening resume — ODI’s own summary of why it opened this — the subject, what prompted it, and the vehicles in scope.
- Closing resume — ODI’s own summary of why it closed this, and what it concluded.
| Document | Code | Filed | At NHTSA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening resume | INOA | 2023 | |
| Closing resume | INCLA | 2023 | |
| Filed document | INCV | 2023 |
NHTSA’s two records disagree about this one. The agency has filed a closing resume for DP23004, but its investigation file still carries no closing date, so the status above reads open. We publish the status the file gives rather than inferring one from the document; the resume is linked above and says what ODI concluded.
These are NHTSA’s own files, served from the agency’s site — the resumes are what ODI wrote when it opened and closed the action, and the rest is the correspondence behind them, including what the manufacturer sent when the agency asked. They are linked, not copied: where a document names the people who wrote in, that redaction is the agency’s to make and its copy is the one you should read.
What owners had already reported
Source: complaints on file the day it openedWhen NHTSA opened this on Aug 30, 2023, owners had filed 35 complaints with the agency about the model years above, of which 7 named the electrical system NHTSA went on to investigate. Owner complaints are the agency’s main early signal, and more can be filed while an action is open.
This is what the complaint file held on that date, not a claim about which reports prompted the investigation — NHTSA’s complaint records carry no investigation number, so nobody can make that link from the data alone. The opening resume linked above names the reports ODI itself cited. Complaint records on this site begin with 2016.
What this means for an owner
Source: and what happens nextAn investigation is not a finding that a defect exists, and it puts no duty on anyone. NHTSA opens a Preliminary Evaluation when complaints and other reports suggest a condition worth asking the manufacturer about; it upgrades to an Engineering Analysis when the answers warrant testing; it closes either when it recommends a recall, when the manufacturer recalls on its own, or when no defect trend is found. The agency’s own goals are about four months for a petition, eight for a Preliminary Evaluation or a Recall Query and eighteen for an Engineering Analysis; many run longer.
This one is open. Nothing is owed on the vehicle today; if it becomes a recall, owners are written to and the repair is free. The moment to know is the day the campaign number appears — Recall Watch checks each VIN against every new NHTSA campaign and emails you when one lands, or take a free one-line alert by model year.
Model years it names
Source: as NHTSA filed themA vehicle page’s investigation list carries the same action; a name here is the scope NHTSA opened, not a list of affected VINs.
An investigation is not a recall. Yet.
If NHTSA’s questions become a recall, the campaign lands in the federal file first. Recall Watch checks your VINs against every new campaign the night it is filed.
Common questions
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects InvestigationIs DP23004 a recall?
No. A defect petition is NHTSA asking questions, not a recall. A safety recall carries an NHTSA campaign number and a duty to repair for free; this one has not produced one. Whether one particular vehicle has an open recall is a VIN question at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Is DP23004 still open?
Yes, as of NHTSA’s latest file: opened Aug 30, 2023, 3.2 years ago.
Which vehicles does DP23004 cover?
NHTSA opened it on 1 model year: 2019 Toyota Yaris. That is the scope of the inquiry, not a list of affected vehicles; a recall, if one follows, defines its own population by VIN.