2004 Toyota 4RUNNER

Typical pattern

6.5% of complaints about the 2004 Toyota 4RUNNER came in the first year, which is unremarkable for a 2004 vehicle — around the middle of the 236 model-years on record. The median complaint arrives at 13.3 yr in service. The most-reported system is structure (310 complaints), typically at 15.0 yr or about 137,000 miles.

Complaints: 907
Median age at failure: 13.3 yr
Median mileage: 120,000 n=611
Crash / fire / tow: 5.5% of reports
Safety recalls: 2

When each system is reported — middle 50% of complaints

System

0y2y4y6y8y10y12y14y

Structure

310 reports · 137,000 mi

15.0 yr

2.3%

Other

116 reports · 144,000 mi

15.2 yr

Suspension

113 reports · 138,000 mi

15.3 yr

2.7%

Service brakes

57 reports · 137,000 mi

12.3 yr

10.5%

Power train

37 reports · 70,000 mi

6.7 yr

2.7%

Air bags

37 reports · 78,000 mi

9.1 yr

40.5%

Steering

32 reports · 102,000 mi

12.3 yr

12.5%

Speed control

28 reports · 89,000 mi

8.1 yr

10.7%

Engine cooling

27 reports · 2,000 mi

10 mo

Service brakes, hydraulic

23 reports · 66,000 mi

6.7 yr

8.7%

Electrical system

21 reports · 121,000 mi

10.7 yr

9.5%

Engine

18 reports · 138,000 mi

12.2 yr

Safety recalls — NHTSA campaigns

16V065000 2016-02-05

Air bags:side/window

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain model year 2003-2006 Toyota Land Cruiser and Lexus LX470, 2005-2006 Toyota Tundra and Sequoia, 2004-2006 Toyota 4Runner and Lexus GX470 vehicles equipped with side curtain-shield-air bags. The affected vehicles have an air bag control module that may be improperly programmed, causing the side curtain-shield-air bags to deploy inadvertently.

If the side curtain-shield-air bags deploy unexpectedly, it can increase the risk of occupant injury.

11V113000 2011-02-24

Vehicle speed control:accelerator pedal

TOYOTA IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2008 THROUGH 2011 LEXUS LX570, 2003 THROUGH 2009 TOYOTA 4RUNNER, AND 2006 THROUGH 2010 RAV4 VEHICLES. THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL CAN GET STUCK IN THE WIDE OPEN POSITION DUE TO ITS BEING TRAPPED BY AN UNSECURED OR INCOMPATIBLE DRIVER'S FLOOR MAT.

A STUCK OPEN ACCELERATOR PEDAL MAY RESULT IN VERY HIGH VEHICLE SPEEDS AND MAKE IT DIFFICULT TO STOP THE VEHICLE, WHICH COULD CAUSE A CRASH, SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH.

In owners’ own words

Service brakes, hydraulic 8,000 mi 2 mo in service

THE DRIVER TOOK THE VEHICLE IN FOR MAINTENANCE. THE MECHANIC NOTICED THE BRAKES AND OTHER PARTS NEEDED REPLACING BECAUSE THEY WERE RUSTED AND CORRODED. *PH *CB *JB

Service brakes, hydraulic 80 mi 1 mo in service

BREAK PEDAL VIBRATES EVERY OTHER TIME IT IS PRESSED DOWN. IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE HOW HARD YOU PRESS. IT GOES AWAY AFTER FEW SECONDS. IT IS NOT AN ABS RELATED VIBRATION. *LA

Service brakes, hydraulic 1,000 mi 10 mo in service

CONSUMER COMPLAINED THAT TRACKING SENSOR WAS DEFECTIVE. VEHICLE STALLED, AND SOMETIMES WHEN PRESSING THE ACCELERATOR VEHICLE GOT NO POWER AND STOPPED IN MID STREAM. CONSUMER TOOK VEHICLE TO DEALER, AND CONTACTED MANUFACTURER. SINCE PROBLEM OCCURRED INTERMITTENTLY DEALER CLAIMED THERE WAS NOTHING THEY COULD DO UNLESS IT HAPPENED WHEN THEY WERE EVALUATING IT.*AK

Engine cooling 200 mi 2 mo in service

STEERING WHEEL AND PEDALS VIBRATE IN 1600-2000 RPM RANGE AT VARIOUS SPEEDS. *LA

Other 4RUNNER model years

How to read this

This is what owners reported, not a reliability rating. People file with NHTSA about alarming failures, not routine ones, and complaint volume tracks how many cars were sold.
Failure ages come from the incident date on each complaint, populated on about 83% of records. Mileage is shown where reported — NHTSA’s 2021 system change cut mileage capture to roughly 15%, so it thins out sharply after MY2020.
Every rank compares this vehicle only against others of the same model year. A 2025 car has not had time to accumulate five-year failures, so comparing early-failure share across years is meaningless.
Fourteen make-months distorted by media storms and mass recalls — Toyota in February 2010 ran 11× normal volume across 33 models — are excluded.
Recalls are manufacturer actions and authoritative; complaints are not. A recall listed here may already have been performed on any individual car. Check a specific VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.