Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| STRUCTURE - BODY | |||
| 02/01/2013 | 87000 | 1 | |
| Toyota advises that frame is rusted through. car is unsafe to drive. car will not pass inspection. should not happen to a 14 year old car with 87,000 miles. *tr | |||
| 02/01/2013 | 87000 | ||
| Toyota advises that frame is rusted through. car is unsafe to drive. car will not pass inspection. should not happen to a 14 year old car with 87,000 miles. | |||
| 11/16/2012 | 83680 | ||
| Vehicle started shaking and clunking. i was near home and able to get it back to my driveway. upon towing to the mechanic, it was discovered that the rear control arm had rusted out and detached from the frame. frame rot was discovered on the side rails. car is considered undriveable and should be totaled. | |||
| 12/01/2010 | 140000 | ||
| I own a 1998 toyota 4 runner with a safety issue. the frame is rusted out where the front portion of the rear leaf spring bracket is welded to the frame. this was pointed out to me by an auto body repair person who's father had a tacoma that rusted out in the same spot. his vehicle was granted 1.5 times over kelly blue book value and the vehicle was seized from him at the time due to safety. my 4 runner is only 13 years old with a kelly blue book value of 6500.00. it looks and runs great. but obviously this vehicle is not worth that now and cannot be sold due to the seriousness of the frame. it also cannot be repaired. eventually this will result in a failure and depending on what speed the vehicle is traveling at the time will tell how serious the accident will be. it appears that toyota has very little to do with my concerns. i sent three certified letters to toyota expressing my concerns with safety. the letter sent to the president yoshimi inaba that was not forwarded to him, was returned due to an erroneous address so it appears he is being sheltered. i was offered $500.00 reimbursement on service, parts or accessories or a 1500.00 'gift' based on toyota's 'goodwill offer' towards a new toyota. this gift was offered by an executive analyst with toyota customer experience whom apparently doesn't want the top executives to receive customer complaints. based on comparisons that the tacoma and tundra owners received, i don't feel the so-called goodwill of being a toyota customer. it seems there must be litigation to get toyota's well-bragged-about customer care. safety is #1 at toyota if they are going to make a new sale! safety for old customers is out the window if the sale is from the past. looks like toyota does not really back their products unless there is a death. | |||
| 09/12/2011 | 98000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 1998 toyota 4runner. the contact stated that the frame was rusted near the driver side rear tire. the rust caused the frame to fracture completely. the contact took the vehicle to the dealer and was told that the vehicle was unable to be repaired. the contact believed the failure was a manufacturing defect because both the toyota tacoma and tundra were recalled for the same issue. the failure mileage was 98,000. kmj | |||
| 09/12/2011 | 98000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 1998 toyota 4runner. the contact stated the frame rusted though on the driver side rear tire. the rust caused the frame to crack all the way through. the contact took the vehicle to the dealer and was told the vehicle was unable to be fixed. the contact feels this is a manufacturer defect, because the tacoma and tundra were recalled for the same issue. the failure mileage was 98,000.rl | |||
| 02/01/2009 | 150000 | 1 | |
| My mechanic (jay shiel of fine tunes, middletown, ct) informed me that i had an unusual amount of rust under my vehicle. he said he knew that toyota had problems with insufficient rust protection on the tacoma's, but he hadn't heard anything about the 4runners. he said we should contact toyota and ask to have a rep look at it. we did and toyota declined. *tr | |||
| STRUCTURE - BODY - BUMPERS | |||
| 01/20/2007 | 1 | 11/15/1997 | |
| Rear bumper has a design flaw causing it to accumulate dirt on inside lip. if not cleaned out properly, which is impossible to do, rust will start to eat through the bumper from the inside out. this causes an unsafe condition because the integrity of the bumper is compromised leading to a lack of protection from the rear, not to mention one ugly sight. *nm | |||
| STRUCTURE - FRAME AND MEMBERS - UNDERBODY SHIELDS | |||
| 09/15/2010 | 170000 | 1 | |
| I got the 4runner in like 2006 or 2007 at a used dealership in great condition. didn't look good at the underneath at the time. around 6-7 years later, the vehicle started swaying when i would drive on the main road. got it checked out and the frame was rusted so bad that i was lucky to not have the entire bottom fall out when driving down the road. got some welded to last awhile longer and a year later, the other side broke from rust. it is a shame because the body and interior, exterior, engine, etc. is in great condition! even the back bumper and hitch is rusted out bad now. i think since the tacoma has a recall for the rust on frame, the 4runner should as well because i am losing money from my 4runner & just letting it go to scraps. it would cost more to find an entire newer frame than to just find another vehicle. something needs to change because it is very dangerous for people to drive these models when the rust is soo bad! *tr | |||
| 11/01/2012 | 1 | ||
| 1998 toyota 4-runner. consumer writes in regards to frame rust. *smd the consumer stated the rear support bracket snapped off the main frame of the vehicle. | |||