Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| POWER TRAIN | |||
| 05/03/2010 | 139000 | ||
| Serious corrosion on rear differential casing at below fill bolt, leaking fluids. dealer unable to do anything because part is not a cover as in most vehicles. dealer only solution is to replace entire rear differential with all parts. this situation presents a serious threat to life as these components are severely and unusually rusted. | |||
| 06/01/2009 | 119000 | 1 | |
| Rear differential rust out, toyota using inferior metal in production resulting in thousands of dollars of repair for fluid leakage. *tr | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION | |||
| 05/25/2009 | |||
| While driving on the highway at the speed limit (60 mph), the vehicle surged/jolted forward pulling to the right. i was unable to regain control of vehicle causing me to merge into the direction of a tractor trailer. i tried to turn away from tractor trailer to avoid collision. my vehicle hit the rear tire of the tractor trailer and i began to swerve out of control. my brakes didn't seem to help either, they didn't function. this resulted in the vehicle rolling over 3+ times, the car was totaled. all passengers were hospitalized but no other vehicles or people were hurt from the accident. my concern is regarding the periodic engine surge and/or jolting and lack of brake control. this is a safety hazard that must be addressed in order to avoid future incidents. we were very lucky to have not been killed in this auto accident. *tr | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AXLE ASSEMBLY - BANJO HOUSING | |||
| 04/03/2008 | 104000 | 1 | 07/31/1997 |
| Rear axel housing rusted off of chassis requiring new axel housing. vehicle does not have much rust otherwise. *tr | |||
| POWER TRAIN - DRIVELINE | |||
| 02/15/2011 | 175000 | ||
| Rust through on rear axle differential cover to the point of leaking approx 6 oz per week of gear oil. this cover is welded on to the rear axle and there is no possibility of replacing seperately. | |||
| 09/06/2010 | 141944 | ||
| 1997 toyota 4runner rear differential rust through. i have just noticed that my 1997 4runner is leaking differential oil and am concerned that rust or foreign debris will get into the differential and cause a catastropic failure. i have removed the 4runner from operation until the defect is corrected. the rust is on the rear top of the differential. there are very large flakes of rust on the differential and the oil is leaking through some of the rust holes. it appears that the differential was not manufactured with adequate thickness in the metal housing and had inadequate corrosion protection. | |||
| 05/01/2009 | 170000 | 1 | |
| No crash or injury,but 1997 toyota 4runner differential is completely rusted through and leaks oil through numerous pinholes. it can't be patched and replacement is in the $1500 range. i can't take the vehicle on trips. i have found many instances of people complaining about this on the web - it seems to be a common problem. *tr | |||