I purchased this vehicle a week ago. It appears the dealer themselves never inspected the vehicle prior to my purchase. If they had, they would have know it was an unsafe vehicle to drive due to the amount of rust to the suspension, frame, and everything underneath. Just today, a toyota mechanic had told me that it is unserviceable. If I had owned this vehicle for years, that finding wouldn't be as painful to hear. But having owned the vehicle for a week, this has made me very angry. It only has 88k miles on it. I am now afraid to drive the vehicle.
2003 Toyota 4RUNNER body complaints
Page 6 of 11: complaints 131 to 160 of 284, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Rusted frame , looking very dangerous and not safe
I was driving my 4runner at about 20 miles per hour when it suddenly jerked to the right. I stopped and got out to see the frame had rotted apart and one of the suspension bar mounts had dropped. Luckily no one was hurt. I contacted toyota and they said there was nothing they could do for me.
Frame broken
Frame rust thru.documented by the dealer. Nourse in chillicothe,ohio
The frame is completely rusted out making the vehicle unsafe, undriveable and unfixable with only 60,000 miles. We cannot find a frame or anyone to fix it.
I was driving the vehicle and normal highway speed on the interstate. When I let off the accelerator, the vehicle lurched to one side, causing the vehicle to cross into the other lane. When I applied the accelerator again, the vehicle lurched in the other direction, requiring me to apply corrective action to maintain control. Upon inspection, the passenger side rear suspension link support had mostly separated from the frame due to rust. I can bend it back and forth with my hand. I have not driven the vehicle since due to safety concerns. It is difficult to control the vehicle, especially a highway speed.
Severe rusting of frame
Vehicle has excessive rust and holes in the frame, while only having about 100,000 miles.
Frame rusted recall : I am the original owner of this 4runner and I am told that I cannot pass inspection because the frame is rusted out. There are a number of areas of the frame that has holes rusted out and I feel the saftey of the vehicle is very much jeopardised now and toyota should recall the frame or give a credit towards a new toyota 4 runner. I would be interested in that. I can upload pictures of my frame if necessary. I created a toyota customer compliant record a few years ago and was told that toyota rejected being responsible. Seems very unfair that toyota is replacing frames from tacomas, tundras and sequioas around the same year as my 4runner and they say they are not responsible for my 4runner and anyone else's as well.. I can provide this toyota compliant # if needed.
I purchased my 2003 4runner brand new. The vehicle has 70,000 original miles. Never in an accident. The truck is garaged. Always maintained by toyota. Not a scratch on the truck. Interior looks brand new. However the frame has excessive rust. Found a few spots that will eventually needs to be addressed. Toyota needs to step up and fix the rust problems
I have had this vehicle for many years and I "know" it. I noticed that he steering wheel had a vibration albeit slight, this was something new as well as a noise I could hear under the car. I brought it home complained to my husband - he looked under the car & was appalled - the frame is so rusted he was able to stick his finger through the failing frame! I am afraid this vehicle will kill me! What if it decides to completely break at an axle or part of the undercarriage. Do I drive it and take the chance of getting hurt or killed before someone will order a recall. We can send photos if necessary as this will most certainly add validity to the concern.
Currently the frame rust is very severe and is getting to the point that I am becoming hesisitant to have it out on the road. There are areas around suspension components and axles that are very rusted which could potentially lead to casualties if the mounts were to fail.
Frame rusting out
Frame holding/securing radiator, skid plate is rotting away. Took too dealer/service dept.( kool toyota) and they took several pictures to add to the hundreds theyve already taken and submitted.
We have owned our 2003 4runner in our family since new. It has always been incredibly well taken care of, weekly washes etc.. Now at 106,000 miles our frame has significantly more rust than expected of a car of this age and condition. We are very concerned that toyota has addressed many corrosion incidents within tacoma frames and not addressed the frames in the 4runner especially based on the condition of our frame and many others I see on the road. This is a serious safety concern and needs to be investigated as I believe it is an issue with the vast majority of 4runner frames from this generation vehicle.
The frame on my SUV is very rusted and causing continuous problems. I've had to replace numerous parts underneath my car (sway bars, tie rods). Just the other night while driving home in a snow storm, I completely lost my brakes. Two of the main brake lines were completely corroded. A new frame would solve a lot of my problems. They've recalled tacomas and sequoias, wondering what the hold up is on the 4runner recall?
Everything about my toyota 4runner is in great condition except when I brought it in for an inspection I was devastated to find out that my car was no longer safe to drive due to the rust corrosion on the frame. Ever since I purchased this car at the dealership in 2003, I've always taken my car to toyota dealer services for all maintenances and yet they have failed to tell me about this rust corrosion problem until now that due to the rust is eating through the main frame and will not even pass the inspection. For the safety please have it recall and get it done the right way as for tundra and sequoia recall
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 toyota 4runner. While the vehicle was in the process of a state inspection, it was discovered that the subframe was severely rusted and corroded. The vehicle was deemed unsafe to drive. The failure was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer and local dealer (bairel toyota, 19045 perry hwy, mars, pa 16046) were notified. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 107,000. *tt
Premature corrosion of frame vsc light on atrac system permanently disengaged
Frame is showing excessive rust. Remainder of the vehicle is in excellent shape. Engine runs great, but the frame is now in a dangerous state. Gas tank support is completely gone.
The frame is very badly rusted also to the point of being unsafe to drive
My entire vehicle is rusted out completely and is not in driveable condition.
Frame has significant rusting issues. Failing connectors, heavy rust scaling of frame with one area at 3/4 failure of box frame.
My 4runner frame is showing excessive rust. The rest of the vehicle is in excellent shape and I am diligent in keeping the vehicle in good condition. Please consider my 4runner as a frame replacement candidate.
I took my vehile to ispection the frame has rust perforetion the vehicle is unsafe. That the dealers makers infection also differential housing is rusted badly/scaling.
The passenger side frame rail has rusted so badly that it has split and cracked. Absolutely crazy that the 4runners weren't included in the pervious frame recall with the tacoma's.
Had a mechanic look at it and pointed out a few holes in the frame of the vehicle.
My 2003 4runner has a ton of rust and the frame is rusting badly. I do not feel this vehicle is safe to drive.
The frame of my 2003 toyota 4runner v8 demonstrates excessive and concerning rust damage. The body is in extremely good condition and has almost zero rust, a stark contrast against the frame. The frame has rust damage heavily on the lower radiator support, a 8" long spot on the bottom of the frame directly behind the transmission crossmember on the passenger side, and by the driver's side rear lower trailing arm mount. These areas of rust damage cause me to be concerned for the safety of the vehicle in the long term. The vehicle has only 180k miles, which should leave many years of enjoyable toyota ownership for me, if only the frame was still in half as good of shape as the body. I understand that toyota has recently done frame replacements for other similar vehicles, and I do not understand why they would not do at least something for the 4runner. Living in michigan I always expect some rust on a 15 year old vehicle, but this is certainly excessive. I have started to use por15 rust coating to hopefully slow the rot so that the vehicle may remain safe to drive for a few more years, but I am highly disappointing none the less. I had expected this on my previous vehicle, a nissan with open recalls for excessive rusting, but I had faith that this toyota 4runner would not have these issues since toyota has historically been good about making things right where rusty frames are concerned. Clearly not in this case. This does genuinely have an impact on my likelihood to purchase a new toyota in the future, as rust is a nightmare to deal with and I don't intend to risk having to again, unless I see some signs that toyota will help where there was clearly some kind of mistake.
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