Second owner of this SUV that I have owned for 12 years. Frame rust issues have proceeded to the point where one month ago, the left rear lateral axle link bracket broke free from the frame. The car is now unsafe to drive because the rear axle is not tied to the frame on the driver's side. Mechanic told me it might be able to be fixed/welded, but the rest of the frame is so bad there isn't much to weld to. I have found numerous other complaints online about this generation 4runner and its frame rust issues. I also found many cases where the exact same issue with the axle link bracket has occurred. This really seems to be a broader issue that toyota has not remedied for 4runner owners. Disappointed that I'm not able to keep this longer like I'd planned.
1996 Toyota 4RUNNER body complaints
Page 2 of 3: complaints 11 to 40 of 42, newest first, as owners wrote them.
1996 toyota 4runner will not pass pennsylvania safety inspection due to frame rust and deterioration. Extent of damage may inhibit repair without total frame replacement. Vehicle is not operable without inspection.
I have owned my 4runner for 26 years and I have meticulously cared for it. One of my shocks gave way and I brought it in for my technician to inspect it. Upon my his inspection I was notified about the extensive rust on the frame and other parts under the truck such as the gas line. I was informed that my engine runs strong with 209k on it. My technician would not do any repairs to this frame because of how coors ice it was. He showed me several fingers going through a stress point near the rear axel. The truck looks beautiful and is now useless with the rusty frame. I live in salty ct and believe the frame was not properly conditioned from the frame factory. Vin number: [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
Frame broke due to rust by the lower control arm going straight down the road doing about 30mph almost causing me to go off the road. Had it towed to a local garage to find out it was rusted through in several places and the mechanic told me it was a common problem with this year of 4runner. If this had happened going down the highway it could of costed me my life or someone else's and being as common of a problem as it is I feel it should be addressed there's no reason a frame should rust as bad and as quick as this considering it has been undercoated every year of its life
Tl* the contact owns a 1996 toyota 4runner. While driving 40 MPH, the vehicle began to wobble uncontrollably. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the frame on the driver side had completely rusted and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 224,000.
Hi, the frame is extremely rusted. It had a small tear on a weld. Now it has a large tear in the frame. It appears that it is rusting at all the weld points at a accelerated rate and or the frame itself is not thick enough. I have read of hundreds of others that own this car and the frame has rusted through. I know that the tacoma has been recalled and it has the exact same frame-------please advise as this car is not even 20 years old......the car is in great condition otherwise and in no way should be ready for the junk yard........
I recently bought my 1996 4runner at the beginning of 2015. There was some rust on the frame but no noticeable damage from the outside. Now, six months later I had it looked at because the exhaust system became increasingly loud. The mechanic looked at the frame while looking at the exhaust system and he found that the frame had rotted from the inside out. He recommended I do not drive it anymore as it is unsafe. He said he would never attempt to repair damage such as my 4runner has. My vehicle only has 166,000 miles on it. There is no reason the frame should be as damaged as it is or to have it rusted from the inside out.
I have extreme frame rust.
My son was driving vehicle and hit a pothole causing damage to the vehicle. After further inspection the frame had broke into because it was rusting from the inside out.
I was driving down the highway with my son in the car when I heard a loud noise coming from the passenger side of the truck and immediately followed with a loss of control. Luckily it was in the afternoon and rush hour had yet to hit so the nearest cars/trucks were able to avoid me. I limped to the side of the highway and looked under the truck only to see that the frame rail on the passenger side had completely snapped in half. Upon further inspection it had clearly rusted from the inside out. I have kept the truck in excellent shape, regular maintenance, etc and even checked for rust since I knew this was an issue. However since it rusted from the inside out, I had never even noticed. Got it towed to the dealer who would proceed to inform me that the only fix for it was a new frame. Perfect 4runner, low miles, with excellent care taken to make sure it would last 300k, and now its worth less than a rotten banana. Talk about a punch to the face. Im just thankful my family and I were not hurt in this mess. I've read about the constant rust issues with these trucks and I pray that it doesn't hurt an entire family somewhere in the future other than their wallet.
Tl* the contact owns a 1996 toyota 4runner. The contact stated while driving approximately 45 MPH, an abnormal noise emitted from the rear passenger side of the vehicle. The contact discovered that the frame was rusted and detached off the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The technician diagnosed that the frame needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 260,000. The VIN was unavailable.
The frame on my 1996 4runner is rusted beyond repair. A place with significant rust had bend and would break off at any moment. The vehicle is unsafe to drive and completely useless at this point.
While drive down the high way at about 65 MPH I was driving and all of a sudden I heard a loud clunk under my truck. I didn't hit anything in the road I just heard a loud clunk and after that my truck would sway and drift to the left dramatically to the point I almost couldn't control what direction my truck was going I had to slow down to 20 MPH and pull over. After taking it in to the mechanic they told me that frame as completely rusted through and snapped entirely. The truck is amazing truck engine runs like its brand new but the entire frame rusts way to easy. And something needs to be done on the 96-99 4runner frame. Before some one gets in a accident. Or is that what toyotas waiting for before they do anything about this major issue that happens to all 3rd generation 4runner.
Rust on frame. Advised that it may not be safe.
Tl* the contact owns a 1996 toyota 4runner. The contact stated that the frame was damaged to the point of deterioration. The affected area was near the rear passenger side in front of the rear wheel. The contact took the vehicle for a routine inspection by an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the frame needed to be replaced. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who offered an interim fix to coat the extensive rusting and the deterioration of the frame. The authorized dealer did not provide the remedy to replace the frame. The vehicle was scheduled to be repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure several times to no avail. The approximate failure mileage was unknown.
Tl* the contact owns a 1996 toyota 4runner. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 MPH, an abnormal noise was present from the driver side rear wheel area. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who advised that the metal bar that held the rear axle was rusted and became detached from the frame. The contact was informed that the defect was not repairable. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 186,000.
Due to a tremendous amount of rust the frame broke while the vehicle was in motion. Luckily the breakage did not cause an accident, but it did cause the vehicle to swerve side to side uncontrollably. If the breakage had occurred at a higher rate of speed or if the breakage (causing increased torque/pressure in other areas) had spawned additional breakages in the many other rusted thin locations, I feel sure an accident would have been unavoidable. A quick search of the internet shows numerous complaints of serious rust problems on 4runners....and toyota has already recalled many of their truck frames for similar excessive rust problems. This is a serious issue that could have easily caused a fatal accident and 4runner owners all over the us are at risk. I hope my complaint is the one that finally forces toyota to acknowledge the problem and correct it before more people have to experience a near-miss (or worse).
As I know other people have posted, I have the classic 4runner rear differential seepage. Mine is a 1996. Seems to be due to a bad casting from factory. Never have I run into this before. Vehicle was regularly washed, hardly any rust on entire vehicle, but for the rear differential casting to be rusted through/porous enough to seep gear oil through the interstices while maintaining structural integrity (safety issue?!!!!!) is a major failure for toyota as far as I'm concerned and should be redeemed by company. I see from reading online blogposts that I am 1 of many that have experienced this problem. I've had many other older vehicles, one in my possession now (1989 ford f-150 which has been used in winter but sat all last summer, and hasn't been washed in years) that has no problems remotely like this related to the rear axle. Somewhere along the line toyota put out faulty rear axle housings, and I'd like to see them stand by their product and fix these---as I'm seeing through investigation that this is a common problem with many toyota owners. Same problem. Toyota has failed to address the issue, and I'm afraid they will lose many customers (including myself) if they continue to ignore the issue. Too bad. The truck still runs and looks great otherwise. Seems like a large price to pay as far as loss of business for toyota, but to not address a simple mistake like this and make the customer happy?-----their choice. If you can address this issue with toyota and make them repair their mistake, I would greatly appreciate it, as I'm sure many formerly happy toyota customers would agree. Thank you for your time, a concerned consumer.
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?
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.
As I was merging onto the garden state parkway, I increased my speed to 60 MPH. After going over an uneven surface on the road, the vehicle started to sway back and forth almost uncontrollably to the point where it felt as if it were going to roll. I immediately slowed down to the breakdown lane where I checked to see why the vehicle was doing this. To my surprise the rear control arm on the left side of the vehicle completely broke off of the frame due to what my opinion was rust. After receiving a more detailed inspection by an individual shop, the whole frame was shown to have holes due to rust. After this discovery they informed me that the vehicle was unsafe to drive and that I should inform toyota about the incident and see if they would be willing to help in any way. When I did call toyota they told me that there was nothing that they would do.
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.
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.
The vehicle right rear veered to the right because lower control arm detached (broke) from frame (strut rod fastened to the frame). I lost control of vehicle but regained, narrowly missing a little girl on her bike. Toyota has had recalls on tacoma, tundra, and some sienna for prematurely rusted and broken frames. I called toyota in local town and they said my VIN number has had no recall. To my research, the 4-runner has the same frame and build as the tacoma with numerous recalls. Mechanic stated the break should never have happened. I have kept this vehicle within all manufacturer's suggested repairs and maintenance. I trusted toyota as a vehicle that was safe and dependable.
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.
Tl* the contact owns a 1996 toyota 4 runner. The contact stated that the rear bumper and frame was completely rusted. The vehicle was taken for inspection where the inspector stated that the frame was severely corroded and exhibited many holes in the midsection. The vehicle was unable to pass inspection and was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted in regards to the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000.
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 performed 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.
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.
Design of vehicle does not allow for the installation of inside teather strap.
Automatic power locks failed.
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