2023 Toyota 4Runner Recalls, Ratings & Complaints

Incident: October 14, 2026 · Filed: October 14, 2026

Vehicle Component: Solid Rear Axle Assembly / Rear Suspension GeometryDefect Summary: The vehicle exhibits a factory manufacturing defect causing severe rear axle misalignment. At approximately 350 miles from new, an official dealership Hunter alignment report documented out-of-spec rear alignment parameters (-0.16° rear total toe) on a non-adjustable, factory solid rear axle assembly. Safety Risk & Impact: A misaligned solid rear axle compromises vehicle stability, introduces rear thrust angle deviation, and impairs predictable vehicle tracking and emergency evasive handling at highway speeds. Because a solid rear axle has no factory adjustment points, this indicates a bent or improperly manufactured axle housing or mounting structure. Due to this ongoing uncorrected factory alignment defect, the vehicle has required close to 10 alignments and is already on its 4th set of tires due to severe, premature tire wear and scrub. Verification & Status: The defect was documented on official dealership alignment equipment at 350 miles. The vehicle and all supporting alignment/service records are available for inspection upon request. The manufacturer executive offices have been formally notified but have refused to dispatch a Field Technical Specialist (FTS) to inspect or rectify the structural factory defect.

Incident: November 28, 2025 · Filed: September 4, 2026

The contact owns a 2023 Toyota 4Runner. The contact stated that the driver's side door failed to lock using the key fob or the buttons on the door. The doors had to be manually locked and unlocked. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was confirmed to be a known issue, and the locks were replaced. Shortly after the vehicle was repaired, the failure reoccurred. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, and the failure was confirmed; however, the warranty coverage only provided a repair for the driver's side door. The failure had occurred on the passenger door and the rear driver’s side door, and the repairs were not covered under recall or warranty. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The manufacturer referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 77,000. The VIN was not provided.

Incident: July 11, 2026 · Filed: August 25, 2026

Purchased size 265/70R17 tires (Michelin Defender LTX M/S2) exhibiting severe highway vibration immediately post-installation. The vibration persisted continuously for two years across every rotation, posing serious handling and steering risks. For two years, local shop staff gaslit the customer, claiming an "out-of-round" tire or casing defect was impossible to avoid warranty obligations. During a visit in front of store management, staff repeated the claim in front of management. The customer then presented real-time technical data from Google on the spot, forcing staff to admit casing defects happen. Despite this, management cleared the driver to leave, assuring the vehicle was safe to operate with an infant inside. To obtain objective proof, an authorized TOYOTA dealership inspected the vehicle. The dealer verified steering, suspension, and alignment were completely sound and documented the root cause in writing: "Found front left tire has casing deformation." When escalated to corporate executives—including Robert Moyer and top management—an internal email chain revealed local shop management and corporate leadership actively placing profit over safety, contradicting logs and technical facts to deny warranty coverage. Confronted with dealer documentation and caught in their deceptive paper trail, the company fully refunded all tire replacement and balancing costs. Internal casing deformation is a critical safety hazard; belt/casing failure at highway speeds creates extreme risk of sudden tread separation or blowout. Dealership diagnostic documentation and the deceitful Executive email chain are available upon request. I also have video of shaking while on the freeway with my infant child in the car moments after Costco management assured me we were safe.

Incident: December 28, 2025 · Filed: May 21, 2026

New, strange noise started in Dec'25 (41K miles; 2yrs 9 months). No warning lights. Diagnosed as failed brake accumulator (first at an independent shop, later at the dealer). Apparently the accumulator is part of the full master cylinder assembly which must be replaced. Toyota has quoted $3,200 to complete this repair and is telling me it must be out of pocket.

Incident: February 23, 2026 · Filed: March 3, 2026

I was driving the vehicle and suddenly the steering wheel started to getting hard to turn it and the dash board doesn’t show any failure I went right away to dealership close by they inspected the vehicle they states there is a power steering failure but the car never showed any failure on dashboard or safety system

Incident: January 31, 2026 · Filed: February 6, 2026

Windshield cracked approximately 2” from the bottom all the way across while using the defroster to clear ice from it. I was still parked at the time. I am unsure how long it will stay water tight or become worse. One concern is the crash avoidance and the automatic high beam sensor are both attached to the windshield and don’t want them to fail. I also don’t want the entire piece of glass to shatter and land in my lap while driving. The dealer refused honoring the repair under warranty. They only use one particular repair shop (which I suspect they own) and even quoted me a price for replacing the ruined glass. In addition to paying for that I would need to pay the dealer to recalibrate the crash avoidance and headlight sensor. I have yet to report the damage to my insurance. As of yet there are no warning lights showing.

Incident: December 28, 2023 · Filed: February 4, 2026

The contact owned a 2023 Toyota 4Runner. The contact stated that while her father was driving under 30 MPH on a side road, the driver swerved to miss a deer. The vehicle drove off a hill, rolled over and landed on its top, and all the seat belts simultaneously unbuckled, causing all the passengers to hit their heads against the roof simultaneously. Additionally, the contact noticed an abnormal fuel odor. The contact stated that she was unable to exit the vehicle. The contact's brother assisted the contact in exiting the vehicle, and all passengers were able to exit the vehicle. The vehicle then caught on fire. The fire department arrived at the scene, but it was unknown whether the fire was extinguished by the fire department. The origin of the fire was unknown. A police report was filed. It was unknown whether the air bags deployed. The vehicle was towed and deemed a total loss. The contact sustained neck and back pain, bruises and headaches. The contact stated that the headaches could be due to an impact on the brain cyst in the back of the contact's head. The contact's son sustained neck pain, back pain and bruises. The contact's brother and father sustained unknown injuries. All the passengers went to the hospital the following day and were still receiving medical assistance. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 10,000.

Incident: January 30, 2026 · Filed: January 30, 2026

the rear manual tailgate has opened 3 times while the vehicle was at highway speeds and the doors would be locked. the latest incident happened on 1-30-26, at highway speed (70mph) the tailgate opened completely without warning. the indicator on the dash did light up and an alarm did sound. I had been on the road approximately 10 miles without incident before that. this was the third time this happened, although the first two the door did not completely open, only became unlatched but stayed shut. all three times were mornings that were extremely cold. (below -1 F) each time i made sure there was no ice or snow or other object in the way of securely closing the tailgate. even if there were, the door would not be closed from the onset and the dash warning should have indicated the door was not completely latched.

Incident: August 25, 2025 · Filed: August 25, 2025

Started driving on the freeway when we heard something on the roof of the car and when I opened the moonroof cover from inside the car I could see that the entire moonroof had shattered. All the glass was flying off the car and onto the freeway.

Incident: August 13, 2025 · Filed: August 13, 2025

After adjusting the vehicle lock sound level in the settings, it completely disabled my key fobs and the panic function on the key fob. Had to take to dealer to fix. Dealer had never seen the issue before. Been reported online many many times. Dealers and Toyota refuse to acknowledge a known issue.