Fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure on the 2003 Toyota Tundra
When fuel tank, filler or evap failure gets reported
Owners of the 2003 Toyota Tundra report fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure at a median of 110,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 55,000 miles and a quarter after 130,000 miles, from 25 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 88,000 miles. It is the 4th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 40,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 152,500 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 112,200 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
8% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 39,200 miles | 55,000 miles | 110,500 miles | 129,000 miles | 151,400 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $250–$1,800 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 12 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2017, at a median of 45,000 miles, and latest on the 2004 at 140,000 miles.
By volume the 2000 carries the most reports, with 56; the 2003 has 33. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
There is a flawed design of the fuel filler tube causing an intermittent check engine light. This is a known problem that toyota has with its 2003-2004 tundras. The problem affects fuel vapor emissions from the gas tank. They offer no support once one is out of warranty even though they are aware of their faulty design/build of this part. *nm
Fuel tank filler was giving as the reason of my trucks problem before it was looked at by a technician. I was told that this was a common problem with these trucks. The fault would cause the emissions system to fail and therefore would also be a hazard because it could cause a fire at the time the truck was being filled or from escaping vapors. The part was (is) being replaced and is costly to the consumer. *nm
I took my 2003 toyota tundra in to toyota motors, guam because I had a check engine light. Toyota then sent a message to my vehicle service contract, warrantech automotive inc and they said that the fuel filler neck hose assembly was not covered. Reading information on the internet indicates that this is a common problem with the 2003 toyota tundra due to a "out of round" gas filler tube. There should be a recall on this part. Please assist consumers like myself for toyota motors to investigate this defect with the 2003 toyota tundra. The word needs to get out. *nm
Also reported on the 2003 Toyota Tundra
Other body or interior problem
Rust or structural corrosion
Differential or transfer case failure
Control arm, ball joint or bushing failure
Airbag inflator rupture
Other suspension problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 33 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does fuel tank, filler or evap failure happen on the 2003 Toyota Tundra?
Across 25 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 110,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 55,000 miles and a quarter after 130,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is fuel tank, filler or evap failure on the 2003 Toyota Tundra?
33 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.5 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed