Owners have filed 768 complaints on the Toyota 4-Runner, covering 1994–2005. The system named most often is Engine And Engine Cooling (197 reports). Worst years by volume: 2003, 1995, 1997; cleanest: 2005, 2001, 2002. 90 reports describe a crash, 6 a fire, 5 a death. On average the car was 2.8 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Toyota 4-Runner
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 768 4-Runner complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Engine And Engine Cooling 197 Read
Rear vehicle fire near catalytic converter. Tt
I have a 2005 toyota 4runner sport and there is a horrible sulfur smell that is emitted into the cabin while reaching RPM's of approximately 3000 - 5000
Dt: the contact stated that there was a rotten egg odor in vehicle. The service dealer referred the consumer to the manufacturer, and they stated that the odor was coming from the fuel that was being used in the vehicle because new england fuel had a higher rate of sulfur
Service Brakes 95 Read
On sunday, july 25, 2004, I was pulling from a driveway to a tar road and when applying my brakes the vehicle did not slow down and made a very loud ticking noise in the rear of the car. I assumed it was my ABS system making the noise. I was not going more than 2 miles an hour and was able to just accelerate and go on…
When pulling my 2000 limited 4wd 4 runner back onto the highway over a 1inch piece of asphalt my entire wheel came off, causing my vehcle to flip. In addition, that 4runner and the replacement 2000 4wd 4runner's antiskid/anti lock brakes failed and locked when depressing the brakes while hitting a small bump in the…
I was driving around a curve at about 25 to 30 miles per hour speed on a slightly wet road. When I applied brakes, the vehicle skidded out of control and hit the divider wall on the passanger side and rolled over
Tires 81 Read
Pe 020; while traveling on highway, heard a noise. Rear right tire tread separated. Firestone, wilderness, at p225/75r15 (no mention of DOT #). *ak
2 front replacement tires failed after less than 5 months of use - separation. *ak (DOT number: 8xhl tiresize: 235/75/r15) (DOT number: 8xhl tiresize: 235/75/r15)
Driver was exiting a freeway off ramp and lost comtrol of the truck after the front tire blew out on a curve doing 30mph. *ak( DOT number: n/a tire size: 225 75r/14 )
Suspension 67 Read
April 28, 2005, no injuries. Contact states he was wearing a seat belt. It was rainy. And while driving 45 mph vehicle lost control and veered to the right. Tried to steer left, but steering wheel would not go left. Applied brakes, and they failed. Then, hit semi trailer truck on left side. Contact has regular…
Front end failed vehicle got out of control and hit the wall toyota 4 runner yr 2002
I was driving on the highway at about 45-50 mile per hour in slight rain. All of the sudden the vehicle starts to slide to the left and hit the middle guard rail and and rolled over. This was not happened for the first time. It has happened before when the vehicle only a month old(1500 miles). I took back to the…
Power Train 57 Read
No summary listed for abov evehicle
Rear axle broke causing vehicle to rollover 3 times. Mr
My wife was traveling north on I-395, exiting off at d street when the right rear axle broke and the wheel came off the vehicle. The 4-runner bounced off the median guard rail, flipped over on its right side then righted itself then came to a stop. My wife sustained tissue damage, but no broken bones. This vehicle had…
Fuel System 36 Read
I purchased a brand new sports edition 2003 4 runner in july of 2003. There is a sulfur smell emanating from the vehicle at all times. When I complained to toyota I was told the odor was caused by the gas I use. I have never had this problem before and toyota just washes their hands of it. I was given a paper which…
2003 4 runner..... 12,000 miles, running on amaco sliver gas, still smells as rotten as ever...been through hell with the scott clark toyota in charlotte and gaston (north carolina).....they are all liars!!!! Saying it's the first they ever heard of such a thing.....filed reports and contacted owners..called…
The consumer contacted the dealer to make an appointment for a recall # 03V146000 repairs concerning fuel pulsation damper. Consumer went for the appointment on may 27,2003 and the parts were not available. Dealer was suppose to call when the parts became available. As of today the parts were not available
Air Bags 31 Read
Involved in accident,air bags did not deploy,seat belts did not hold resulting in hitting stearing wheel and fracturing my stearnum. Collision repair center replaced computer that controls air bag and seat belts
Vehicle was hit with significant impact on front driver's side. Driver sustained facial lacerations, restrained child sustained shoulder/clavicle injury. Minimum estimated damage to vehicle is $7000, neither side curtain or front airbags deployed. Front airbags would have likely prevented injury to driver
In october '02 I was involved in a frontal collision with another vehicle that was turning from south to west as I was travelling north. My vehicle ended up colliding with the other vehicle at its passenger front axle and my driver side front end. As contact occurred, I had my wheels turned hard to the right thusly…
Steering 29 Read
While turning the vehicle the power strerring became unstable (hard to turn - then lose) causing the SUV to hit a pole, damaging the corner right bumber
While turning the vehicle the power strerring became unstable (hard to turn - then lose) causing the SUV to hit a pole, damaging the corner right bumber
While making a lane change(from lane 3 to lane 4), I suddenly lost control of my 2001 4runner on the freeway, and ended up hydroplaning across the freeway towards the center divider. I was some how able to stop my car mostly in lane 1 and partially in lane 2 but before I could attempt to straighten out my car I was…
4-Runner years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 2004 | Air Bags,seat Belts | 4 | — | |
| 2003 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 2002 | Air Bags,seat Belts,tires | 4 | — | |
| 2001 | Electrical System | 2 | — | |
| 2000 | Air Bags | 16 | — | |
| 1999 | Air Bags | 13 | 3 | |
| 1998 | Air Bags | 9 | 2 | |
| 1997 | Air Bags | 16 | — | |
| 1996 | Air Bags | 12 | — | |
| 1995 | Air Bags | 8 | — | |
| 1994 | Engine And Engine Cooling | 5 | 1 |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 448 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.7 |
| Worst single series | 10 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 2.8 years |
A model average of 1.7 hides a worst series at 10. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
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- No ads, no tracking — and much more
How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the 4-Runner?
By complaint volume, 2003, 1995, 1997 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which 4-Runner years are the cleanest?
2005, 2001, 2002 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Toyota 4-Runner have?
768 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1994–2005. Of those, 90 describe a crash and 6 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.