Buyer Research

2014 Scion tC — Should You Buy One?

Typical asking price: $8,000–$12,500. There is 1 high-severity known issue you need to know before handing over a check.

Deciding between model years? Compare the 6 Scion tC years we've written up →

Kestrel Take

Twenty complaints on this year, and brakes are forty per cent of them — but read the filings and most are owners chasing a recall on an optional TRD brake kit rather than owners describing a car that will not stop. One is worse than that: a driver rear-ended somebody at 20 mph after the pedal failed to respond, with the recall notice already in hand. Six of the twenty involve a crash and one a fire, which is a high share for a record this size and a reason to take the brake question seriously rather than nod at it. Away from that, the annoyances are door locks quitting one by one and an air-conditioning drain that soaks the passenger footwell. Check the VIN, check the carpet, then enjoy a well-built coupe.

What we checked

Reconciled against public records, 2026-09-25

NHTSA holds 20 owner complaints for the 2014 Scion tC, and 1 recall campaign.

A big number here usually means a lot of these were sold, not that it is a bad vehicle — popular models collect more complaints for the same rate of trouble. So the total on its own says little. What is worth reading is the shape of it. 40% of them are about one thing — the brakes. That much concentration is a genuine pattern rather than background noise, and it is the first thing to check on any example you look at.

One recall campaign covers this model year. Recalls are repaired free, for any owner, with no time limit on most safety campaigns — but only if someone books it in. Ask the seller to show it was done, or have any dealer check the VIN; it takes them a couple of minutes and costs nothing.

Counts come from the NHTSA complaint and recall database — free, public, and worth checking yourself.

Known Issues for the 2014 Scion tC

Ranked by wallet impact. These are documented, recurring problems — not freak accidents. How we decide that.

TRD accessory brake hoses can fatigue and burst (recall 18E091000)High — wallet impact

Recall 18E091000 applies to TRD brake kits Toyota sold over the counter for the 2011-2016 tC; the hoses in them weaken with age and can split, dropping braking performance without warning. Four of this year's eight brake filings are owners trying to get the recall performed or asking why their dealer says their VIN is not covered, and one is a driver who was notified, kept driving, pressed the pedal at 20 mph and hit the car in front. A fifth filing in this cluster is really a rear wheel that broke off at 60 mph. Look behind the wheels for TRD-branded calipers or braided lines and run the VIN on NHTSA's site before you take it out on the road.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the brakes (8); 1 NHTSA recall campaign on this model year.

Door locks failing one at a time and an air-conditioning drain that floods the carpetMedium

Four electrical filings and two clear stories in them. One owner watched the passenger door stop answering the fob and the switch, then the driver's door follow a few weeks later, until both had to be worked by hand — that is the actuator inside each door, and they go one at a time. Another found the air-conditioning condensate tube is narrow enough to clog, so the housing overflows and pours into the passenger footwell, soaking the carpet front to back. Press every lock switch from both doors, then kneel and press the passenger carpet hard with your palm and smell your hand. Damp or musty means a blocked drain and, eventually, corroded connectors under the seat.

Repair cost (estimate): $150–$400 per door lock actuator, plus $150–$300 to clear a blocked evaporator drain

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under electrics and electronics (4).

Airbag system switching itself off while the car is being drivenMedium

Three airbag filings this year. Two describe the system turning off at random with the warning lamp coming on mid-drive, which means that if you are hit in that moment nothing fires; the third is a crash into the side of a house where neither front bag deployed. On a car this age the usual causes of an intermittent SRS fault are the clock spring behind the steering wheel, a passenger occupant sensor in the seat, or a connector under a front seat disturbed by someone vacuuming. Watch the lamp at key-on, then drive for twenty minutes and look again — an intermittent fault will not show on a two-minute loop around the block.

Repair cost (estimate): $250–$1,100 depending on whether it is a connector, the clock spring or the control module

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under airbags (3).

Two wheel complaints on this year, both with a crash attachedMedium

Two owners filed under wheels and both crashed, one describing the rear passenger-side wheel simply leaving the car on smooth highway at 60 mph and never being found. Wheels almost never part company with a hub on their own; they do it after a tire shop leaves lug nuts loose, or after aftermarket wheels are run with the wrong seat or the wrong studs. The tC is a modified car more often than not, so this is worth your ten minutes. Look at the face of each wheel for the round chamfered lug seats matching the nuts fitted, check for elongated or bright wear around the bolt holes, and have the shop torque all four to specification.

Repair cost (estimate): $200–$900 to replace studs or a hub, more if the wheel and tire went with it

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under wheels and bearings (2).

Walk-Away Red Flags

✗TRD calipers or braided lines fitted with no recall record against the VIN
✗Damp or musty passenger carpet when you press it with your palm
✗SRS lamp that comes on partway through a longer test drive
✗Bright metal wear or elongated holes around a wheel's lug seats
✗Door that opens only by hand from one side

Good Signs

✓Recall 18E091000 confirmed closed on the NHTSA VIN lookup
✓Dry carpet on both sides after the air conditioning has run for twenty minutes
✓SRS lamp lighting at key-on and going out, and staying out for a long drive
✓A torque wrench used on the wheels at the last tire service, written on the invoice
✓Both door locks answering the key fob and both interior switches