2018 Toyota 4RUNNER problems
The 2018 Toyota 4RUNNER has 80 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (15%) concerns steering. Next are fuel system (11%) and air bags (10%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 80 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Steering 15% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 11 and 1
- Injuries and deaths
- 2 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 21,000 miles 48 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 23 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 19 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 5 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 0 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 1 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 0 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 0 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 48 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 20,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 11 complaints mention a crash; 1 complaint mentions a fire; 2 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2018 ranks 18th most-complained-about out of 35 model years of the Toyota 4RUNNER with enough data (61 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 5 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
My vehicle was in a collision at 55 miles an hour. Hit 3 grown cows in the highway at nighttime. Totaled my vehicle in the airbags, never deployed period Turn off.
Vehicle has constant transmitted engine vibration in steering wheel. Vibrations are causing tingling, numbness and joint pain. Vibrations are worse with increased engine RPM. Vibrations have been constant since car was purchased new in april, 2018. Car has 2400 miles on it currently, 5/23/18. Long trip (900 miles) was first time there was tingling and numbness which were unbearable at the 450 mile mark and the return trip was quite distracting and uncomfortable to say the least.
I do not know what component or system failed. I was at an appointment with my son when the receptionist informed me that my car alarm was going off and there was smoke coming out of it. I went out to investigate and it sounded like the engine was attempting to start continuously. My key fob would not unlock the car. The engine continued to attempt to start and i was certain the car was going to start fire. We called 911 and went back inside to avoid anyone being hurt.
The rack & pinion or steering does not return to a "home" position. Simply put, if you turn around a corner, the steering wheel does not easily return to "straight". If you are driving down a straight path and turn the steering even one degree, let go of the wheel, it will continue that path until the vehicle runs off of the road. This car has 2100 miles on it. The dealer has checked the camber, the tow, the numbers on the electronic actuated rack & pinon.
We purchased a new 2018 toyota 4runner with VIN [xxx] in late 2017. In october of 2019 we noticed that the bumper kept separating from the body of the vehicle. At that time the vehicle had 31k miles. Jim hudson toyota tried to fix it. The bumper is held on by small clips that come loose while driving. They said it was a known defect but not a recall and the design was changed for the 2019 model, so it is unique to the 2018 model. Toyota gave the dealership 3 ways to fix this issue.