Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| STRUCTURE - BODY | |||
| 09/11/2012 | 250864 | ||
| Tl* the contact owns a 1996 toyota 4runner. the contact stated that the vehicle was taken to the dealer who confirmed corrosion of the frame on the rear passenger side of the vehicle. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 250,864 and the current mileage was 250.884. | |||
| 09/11/2012 | 250864 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 1996 toyota 4runner. the contact stated that the vehicle was taken to the dealer who confirmed corrosion of the frame on the rear passenger side of the vehicle. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 250,864 and the current mileage was 250.884. kmj | |||
| 09/11/2012 | 250864 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 1996 toyota 4runner. the contact stated while the vehicle was with the dealer the dealer confirmed corrosion of the frame on the rear passenger side of the vehicle. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 250,864 and the current mileage was 250.884. rds | |||
| 05/26/2012 | |||
| I had a mechanic replacing rotors on brakes and when i went to pick it up today, he told me the entire underside of my vehicle was rusting away. he advised me to avoid hitting any holes or bumps in the road since the frame supporting the gas tank is very damaged from rust. he stated that he would not trust driving it very far distances since things were going to start falling off underneath. | |||
| 04/08/2012 | 171000 | ||
| The frame on my 96 4 runner limited is rusting from the inside out approximately 1 foot long on the drivers side by the gas tank where the rear body mount and trailing arm meet the frame. both inside and outside frame rails are rotted through. my 4 runner body is in perfect condition with no rust. the rest of the frame is in good condition with only minimal surface rust. without periodic inspection it would never be known that a problem existed because the rest of the vehiclee is near perfect condition. | |||
| 12/03/2011 | 193000 | ||
| My 4 runner has an extremely rotted frame that renders the vehicle unsafe to drive. the rest of the vehicle is in excellent condition. toyota says their sorry but this problem doesn't warrant a repair or recall. just a little investigating indicates that their are many unhappy 4 runner owners with the same exact problem. i know that their tacoma truck was recalled for frame rot problems and mechanics have told me that both frames are very similar. | |||
| STRUCTURE - FRAME AND MEMBERS | |||
| 10/01/2008 | 100000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 1996 toyota 4 runner. while parked the contact noticed the rear bumper and the frame of the vehicle was completely rusted. the vehicle was taken for inspection where the inspector stated the frame was severally corroded and had many holes in the mid section. the vehicle was not able to pass inspection. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer for repairs. the manufacturer was not contacted. the approximate failure mileage was 100,000. ds | |||
| 02/01/2010 | 116000 | ||
| I contacted toyota about a recall on my 1996 limited 4runner. there was a rear coil spring recall. i took my 4runner to the local toyota dealership to have the springs replaced and was informed by their mechanic that the frame was so rusty with holes that they would not work on it and it was unsafe to drive. they stated that they needed to have a service rep look at this issue. i was told to bring the 4runner back at a later date. i was not given a loaner car even after i was told it was unsafe to drive. a few weeks later i drove the 4runner back to the dealership for inspection by a toyota service rep and was told the same thing. he stated that the 4runner was unsafe to drive and toyota was not going to do anything about it. they then preformed the coil spring recall after they stated it was unsafe to drive. over the next few weeks i made many calls to toyota with no help. to stop me from calling they stated they would give me $1000 towards a new or used toyota purchased from a toyota dealer. much documentation was done on this problem and no one from toyota has ever contacted me about my unsafe 4runner being removed from service because of the rust holes in the frame. | |||
| 08/06/2009 | 188000 | ||
| Tl*the contact owns a 1996 toyota 4runner. the contact stated that the frame on the vehicle was rusting from the inside out. the contact took the vehicle to a local mechanic to have the vehicle inspected who stated that the frame was rusting just like the toyota tacoma recall. the contact is concerned that his year, make and model vehicle was not a recall since both vehicles share the same structure. the failure mileage was 188,000. | |||
| STRUCTURE - FRAME AND MEMBERS - UNDERBODY SHIELDS | |||
| 12/03/2012 | 250225 | 1 | |
| The rear end of the frame broke on the drivers side back by the rear wheel going at a speed of 60 mph. upon applying the brakes the rear end of the vehicle started to sway out of control. to make matters worse there was an on coming semi & another one following behind me, way too close of course. this scared the hell out of me for i thought for sure that there was going to be a serious accident. i have taken excellent care of my 4runner from the day i bought it new in 1996 & prided myself for it looking like new. all the scheduled maintenance had been performed over the years. it does not leak any fluid or burn any oil with 250,230 miles on it. in fact i receive compliments regularly on it's excellent condition. no door dings, keep it polished & in the winter rinse the under body at least once a week to keep the salt off. i had planned on driving this vehicle for at least another 100,000 miles. after escaping a near death accident i nursed it over to the toyota dealership for i could not see anything wrong by simply looking under the vehicle. once i arrived at the dealership they put it up on the lift & asked me to come look at it. i was in disbelief at what i had saw. a portion of the frame that kept the drivers side rear wheel in place was completely separated. when i asked them what could be done they suggested a new frame. i said can you tell me how much that would cost he said he would check & come & get me. he came back several minutes later to tell me it would be a minimum of $10,000.00. even in excellent condition the vehicle might be worth $3,000.00. not only do i not have $10,000.00 to fix & if i did, would i? i don't know a lot about replacing frames, but i know it's no small job. would it be worth it? i bought a toyota because they're supposed to last forever. now i'm left with no vehicle & i have nothing to trade in! will toyota stand behind it's product? *tr | |||