Toyota 4Runner Complaints

174 consumer complaints on file.

#11668391June 22, 2025
TIRES
Component: Tire – Dunlop Grandtrek AT20 P265/70R17 Vehicle: 2023 Toyota 4Runner (approx. 25,000 miles) After a standard tire rotation, I began experiencing severe steering wheel vibration (flutter) at highway speeds (55–65+ mph) and during braking. The issue started immediately after rotation and has not gone away, even after returning the tires to their original positions. The dealer replaced rotors and pads, but the vibration remained. There are no warning lights, and no visible tire damage. This condition has been reproduced by the dealer. Upon researching, I found that Toyota issued Tech Tip T-TT-0602-20 for this exact issue — citing steering vibration caused by Dunlop Grandtrek AT20 tires on 4Runner models. I also found similar complaints from other owners on forums and the NHTSA database. The issue appears to be related to internal tire defects (e.g., belt separation or out-of-round tires) which are not externally visible. This problem affects safety due to potential loss of steering stability at high speeds, and could worsen over time. Tires have not been replaced yet, but I plan to pursue road force balancing and a manufacturer warranty inspection. I'm glad that I was able to find this problem early before it cause tire explosion. Tire Size: P265/70R17 Tire Brand/Model: Dunlop Grandtrek AT20
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11667659June 18, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES
I've owned a 2025 4runner for 1 month. The brakes are screaming and squalling like a 20 year old car when the car is a cold start everyday especially in reverse. This cant be safe, and Toyota says there is nothing they can do. I hope this doesn't wear out the brake pads faster and cause an accident. We were told by Toyota we cant fix the problem, because it would void the warranty and there is no recall on this issue.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11667073June 16, 2025
AIR BAGS, SERVICE BRAKES
On [XXX] I was driving on [XXX] and was approaching my exit ramp and applied my brakes to slow down for the exit. My car began shaking and the brakes were vibrating very badly and not slowing down. I was either going to slam into the truck in front of me, or swerve and hit the highway retaining wall, which I ended up avoiding the truck and hitting the wall at 24 mph and my airbag didn't deploy. The vehicle was towed to a collision center and I submitted a case against Toyota that is still under review. No warning lamps, lights or sensors went off and the road was dry and no hazards on the road involved. Simply put, I applied my brakes and they failed which put me in severe risk of a big car crash and if I hadn't swerved and hit the wall it would of caused a larger accident. Toyota Case # [XXX] Toyota Customer Service Phone Number: 1-800-331-4331 Date of Incident: [XXX] Date of Toyota Inspection: 4/10/2025 INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
1
Deaths:
0
#11667006June 15, 2025
STRUCTURE:BODY:BUMPERS
Retaining clips / fasteners missing from front air dam causing the large plastic structure to become dislodged and tangled in steering brakes, suspension or causing unsafe road hazard for other vehicles particularly motorcycles. Many owners are reporting this issue and I have verified on my own vehicle missing hardware from recent purchase and vehicle currently has less than 2000 miles. The dealerships are not taking my owner complaints seriously and are refusing to honor warranty claiming that this issue is caused by road hazards when it clearly is not and is easily proven to be a defect or manufacturing issue. My air dam came loose on a interstate highway with 75 mph speed zones and became entangled in the undercarriage, further investigation revealed that several of the fasteners were missing and no evidence they were ever installed. The dealership tried to accuse me of removing or tampering with the hardware which is absolutely ridiculous and potentially criminal to make these unfounded allegations. The attached pictures were taken after temporary repairs were made on side of road but show the place where one of several fasteners should have been installed from factory but are clearly missing.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11666953June 14, 2025
POWER TRAIN, SUSPENSION
Vehicle begins to shake when speed reaches 60 to 70 MPH (issue has been happening since the vehicle left the lot). Shaking can be felt in the steering wheel, gas/brake pedals and front seats. Vehicle has been taken to a Toyota dealership three different times and after three realignments and tire rebalancing, the issue still persists. Several 4Runner owner forums are experiencing the same issue in this make, model and year; and suspect the issue might be stemming from a malfunctioning or broken needle bearing.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11666951June 14, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES
Brakes on the 4Runner are extremely loud when backing up braking. Drivers tend to avoid hitting the brakes properly to avoid the loud noise. Not using the brakes properly due to an abnomal loud noise is a safety hazard.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11666170June 10, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES
The 6gen 2025 4Runner brakes squeal VERY badly, to the point where it has changed my driving habits. I am concerned there is something wrong. There needs to be a TSB or a recall, it's really bad. Apparently a lot of people are also reporting that the brakes squeak really badly especially in reverse. I have found that if I slam on the brakes, the noise does not occur as much. In other words, if I drive and brake normally, the brakes scream. If I slam on the brakes, not as much noise. So now I drive differently in order to avoid the obnoxiously loud noise. Thanks Toyota!!!!
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11665762June 9, 2025
STRUCTURE:BODY:BUMPERS
While driving on the highway yesterday I noticed a vibration and worsening noise. I exited the highway and pulled over into a parking lot. I observed the front air dam/lower valence had come undone. Upon further inspection I saw that 3 of the 9 10mm bolts securing the piece had apparently fallen out. I belong to a Toyota 4Runner forum [XXX] ) and searched for tis issue there and it is apparently occurring for a number of owners. As a precaution I had to remove the piece to prevent further damage to my vehicle or to others on the road. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11663553May 28, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES
Loud brake squeal, Toyota and Dealer not willing to perform any repair. It seems like brakes are not functioning properly, especially when cold
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11663545May 28, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES
The brakes are horrible loud. Mostly in reverse but it happens going forward also. The brake noise is so loud that I’ve been noticing my driving is affected in a way that I trying to stop the sound by not applying the brakes when backing up. This could cause an accident. It’s not on purpose it’s subconsciously your reversing hear the loud noise and release the brake. driving safely is affected
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11663054May 27, 2025
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The car just accelerated while during into parking lot. I used brake but did work and hit on to the pole. It accelerated pretty fast. The parking lot store has a video of me coming in slow and the the car accelerated.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11662787May 23, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES
The contact owns a 2025 Toyota 4Runner. The contact stated while reversing at an undisclosed speed, there was an abnormal sound while the brake pedal was depressed, and the vehicle shuddered. No warning lights were illuminated. The failure had occurred on several occasions. The vehicle was taken to a dealer to be diagnosed; however, the cause of the failure was not yet determined. The dealer made the contact aware that the failure was a known issue. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The vehicle was taken to another dealer, Servco Toyota Honolulu (2850 Pukoloa St #200, Honolulu, HI 96819); to be diagnosed; however, the cause of the failure was not yet determined. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 5.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11662768May 23, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Camera system, rear, from, 360 degree all are distorted and makes hard to see yellow and white painted lines, pedestrians, and other obstacles while parking. System is defective and do not work as it should.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11659600May 7, 2025
STRUCTURE:BODY:BUMPERS
I recently purchased a 2025 4Runner and currently have approximately 1,000 miles on it. On Sunday, as I was driving from Sedona to Phoenix on Interstate 17, I heard an odd sound from the driver’s front tire area. Upon inspection, at least one screw/bolt was missing on the front spoiler and it was hanging loose and rubbing against the tire. The edge had been rubbing against the front tire as I drove down into the valley. I searched online for this issue in 6th generation 4Runners and found that the front spoiler falling off at high speeds is indeed a problem – please visit 4runner6g.com to see multiple reports and photos that echo mine.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11652843April 4, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES
I bought this 2025 toyota 4runner on March 3rd. Less than a week the brakes have been no stop making noise. It's loud and noisy. I'm scared that my brakes or rotors will mess up. We taking it to the dealership but they said they can't do anything unless Toyota places a recall on that certain part or issue. I believe this is a serious is for someone especially for my family and anyone's family as I'm driving on the road. I'm very disappointed as much money as I spent on this new vehicle. I just want to be safe.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11648905March 18, 2025
ENGINE
My vehicle is rear-ended by a large earth mover branded as a Kenworth. My vehicle was then pushed into another. After the initial impact, my engine went racing above 5,000 RPM. It was disengaged from the transmission. I switched my car into neutral, shut my car off and the engine was no longer racing when I restarted the car. Because of an engine racing, I am concerned about the potential that somebody's transmission would be engaged and it could cause serious further injury.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11643552February 18, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES
My brakes and rotors are requiring replacement after less than 10,000. I purchased my vehicle used with less than 15,000 miles. My brakes and rotors have been replaced three times in the last 45,000 miles. The dealership denies any malfunction or error with the breaking system. I have seen multiple complaints online from other 4Runner owners with the same issues. My vehicle has less than 60,000 miles and I commute 5 miles a day to work on surface streets. I do not take it off Roading. I do not tow. I drive 5 miles to work and 5 miles home. I have been driving for over 30 years and have never had to replace brakes and rotors every nine months. Right after we purchased the vehicle, we brought it in saying the brakes did not feel right. My husband thought they needed to be adjusted. We were told the brakes are hydraulic brakes and do not require adjustment. But the brakes have felt off since we first got them. Toyota service insist that they have inspected the vehicle fully and have found no issues.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11630469December 12, 2024
POWER TRAIN
The Front differential need to be replaced. The dealership where we purchased the vehicle replaced the differential. When we got the vehicle back we still had the same problem. The car was making a groaning sound while turning to the right above 35 mph. And the whole car would shake and my wife said it felt like the car was going to fall apart. The vehicle also needed new sway bar bushings my guess is that is because the shaking caused by the bad differential. A car shaking that bad and the axle loose inside the differential seems like a huge safety issue. Also I found a tsb online for this exact issue. I found that our vehicles vin was part of the tsb. I sent that information to the technician that has been working with us and he was unaware of the tsb. And was upset that he replaced the front differential and was not made aware of the tsb from Toyota. For some reason he couldn’t see it I believe he said it was because the dealership is in the process of changing there computer systems. But from my understanding the tsb is just to put a damper in the differential so you can no longer hear the noise coming from the differential. This in my opinion is not fixing the problem with the differential the axle will still be loose inside the differential causing the vehicle to shake and probably wear out suspension components and tires. We also had 3 different sets of tires installed on our vehicle because of the issue with the differential. When we would take the car to the dealership they said that everything looked good and would tell us that if the car was shaking we should take it back to les Schwab and have them balance the wheels and it never seemed to fix the problem. In my opinion this poses safety issues if the axle fails while driving. Especially in our situation because we live in the mountains where we have many roads that don’t have guardrails and because a lot of the roads were we live are in canyons that fallow rivers and creeks.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11627454November 26, 2024
AIR BAGS
Neither the curtain airbags or steering wheel Air bags deployed after a very bad car accident. Super upset because this is the reason parents spend so much money to keep their kid safe. She banged her head on steering wheel and on window which should have been prevent by air bags on 2022 4Runner bought brand new
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
1
Deaths:
0
#11626731November 21, 2024
AIR BAGS
We had made collision accident with a brand new 4runner as it appears in the uploaded pictures, the airbags didn’t deploy and never show any notification on the dashboard that there is a problem in the airbag system,after the accident a notification came to the screen that the airbag system malfunctioned and i have to visit dealer And now the insurance company wants to fix that car and give it bag to me however i don’t feel safe anymore to drive that car again.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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