2023 Toyota 4Runner Owner Complaints

4runner windshield makes a loud snapping, metal on glass crunching/tapping sound when temperature drop and is very distracting. The dealership heard it some the first visit and placed limited tape on the edge of the cowl lip facing the engine.sound got louder and drowned out the radio. On the second visit it had warmed some. Dealership did not inspect the windshield seal or check for loose components under the cowl as suggested.

4/11/2023

Poor image quality of backup camera. Very grainy and sometimes dark image makes it difficult to see what’s behind you when backing up. A small child or pet could easily be missed when backing up due to this poor image quality. This is an accident waiting to happen. Prior model years and noticeably better image quality

4/24/2023

When using the low beams, there is a distinctive shadow or blotch that is evident on the driver's side only in the 2023 4 Runner Limited. I understand from others that it is due to the LED anti glare technology mandated to be used by the government. This shadow or blotch is NOT visible when using the high beams. When using the low beams the shadow is ALWAYS in the periphery or in front of the driver....but it is there at ALL times. As a driver, my eyes are drawn to it, taking my eyes off of the traffic or road ahead. On several occasions I have thought that it was an animal or something. I have had passengers in my vehicle who immediately noticed the same thing and thought that it was a terrible design and would pose a safety hazard. This shadow is NOT visible on the passenger side. I have notified Toyota USA and have visited the dealership several times. I have had the headlamp replaced with no resolution, so I went back to have the headlight adjusted up and it is still there. I have been told by Toyota USA and dealership that this is a 'characteristic' of the vehicle and has been designed this way and they will not do anything to resolve this issue. I have done quite a bit of research and understand other Toyota owners are experiencing the same thing. Here are a few other websites where owners are complaining of the same thing: [XXX] and [XXX] and [XXX] ). I feel that this characteristic is a defect or flaw that poses a safety risk since the driver's eyes are drawn to this 'spot' while driving at night using the low beams. I did not experience this issue with my previous 2014 Toyota 4-Runner. I really appreciate someone looking into this as I am contemplating selling my brand new vehicle because of it. I have video as well. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

8/30/2023

The headlight pattern of the low beam lights has a large dark area at the 10 to 11 O'clock position that appears in the oncoming traffic lane when driving at night. This dark area is very distracting while driving at night. The area is approximately 1 to 2 meters in diameter when seen on the driving surface. It appears the headlights to not meet the photometric requirements for headlights. This pattern was first noticed when the vehicle was delivered by the dealer. I have contacted multiple dealers with no remedy. The dealer states that "pattern is by design."

9/27/2023

The contact owns a 2023 Toyota 4Runner equipped with Nitto Tires, Tire Line: Ridge Grappler, Tire Size: 265/70/R17, DOT Number: 737079K4222. The contact stated while driving 58 MPH, the steering wheel was vibrating. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was determined that the tires had caused the steering wheel to vibrate. The dealer referred the contact to the tire manufacturer. The vehicle was not repaired. The tire manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was opened. The vehicle manufacturer was also made aware of the failure and advised the contact to take the vehicle back to the dealer for assistance from the Service Manager. The failure mileage was approximately 3.

11/17/2023

The contact owns a 2023 Toyota 4Runner equipped with Falken Tires, Tire Line: WildPeak, Tire Size: 275/70/R17, DOT: (N/A). The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel and driver's seat began to vibrate violently, prompting the contact to dramatically reduce the speed of the vehicle, but the failure persisted. The vehicle returned to normal functionality, but the failure became a regular occurrence. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed a failure with the four tires. The independent mechanic found an abnormally heavy spot on all four tires, preventing the tires from being properly balanced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and a case was opened; however, the manufacturer provided no assistance. The failure mileage was 23,000.

8/15/2024

November 2023, my 13 year old daughter and I were involved in a car accident. A vehicle made a left hand turn in front of us and we collided (t-boned) the passenger side of the other vehicle. There were no warning lights, notifications of car crossing in in front of us, the assisted brake system did not activate, the air bags did not deploy, the on car assistance showed no accident reported. Other than the seat belts in the vehicle, no other safety features engaged. We have not been able to locate anyone who can confirm why no of the safety features did not work. Why did none of the safety features work and who can I contact. We no longer feel safe in this vehicle .

1/15/2024

We had made collision accident with a brand new 4runner as it appears in the uploaded pictures, the airbags didn’t deploy and never show any notification on the dashboard that there is a problem in the airbag system,after the accident a notification came to the screen that the airbag system malfunctioned and i have to visit dealer And now the insurance company wants to fix that car and give it bag to me however i don’t feel safe anymore to drive that car again.

11/21/2024

November 2023, my 13 year old daughter and I were involved in a car accident. A vehicle made a left hand turn in front of us and we collided (t-boned) the passenger side of the other vehicle. There were no warning lights, notifications of car crossing in in front of us, the assisted brake system did not activate, the air bags did not deploy, the on car assistance showed no accident reported. Other than the seat belts in the vehicle, no other safety features engaged. We have not been able to locate anyone who can confirm why no of the safety features did not work. Why did none of the safety features work and who can I contact. We no longer feel safe in this vehicle .

1/15/2024

The car just accelerated while during into parking lot. I used brake but did work and hit on to the pole. It accelerated pretty fast. The parking lot store has a video of me coming in slow and the the car accelerated.

5/27/2025

On [XXX] while driving approximately 60 mph on a straight smooth highway only about 4 miles from my home my 4 Runner started violently shaking. The whole vehicle was shaking like the wheels were going to fall off. The steering wheel was shaking and I was shaking due to the amount of vibration. I did not depress the brakes for fear it would flip and crash. I let off the accelerator to slow down carefully and find a spot to pull off the highway. As I got slower I checked the onboard tire pressure which indicated all tires were holding correct amounts of air. About 3/4 to a mile from the time the shaking started it stopped shaking and about a quarter mile later it did it one more time for a few seconds. After that it did not occur again. After making a couple stops along my day I was driving at about 40mph when the big red box that reads BREAK came on while the vehicle made a loud beeping noise over and over until the light went off. There were no vehicles in front of me to cause the anti collision alert to deploy. As of [XXX] Toyota of Fayetteville, Arkansas has my vehicle to check this issue. They are also replacing my front facing camera that has finally arrived after months of waiting for it to be delivered. It was found to be defective shortly after purchase August or September 2023. I only had the vehicle for a few weeks when the camera stopped working. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

2/29/2024

Vehicle begins to shake when speed reaches 60 to 70 MPH (issue has been happening since the vehicle left the lot). Shaking can be felt in the steering wheel, gas/brake pedals and front seats. Vehicle has been taken to a Toyota dealership three different times and after three realignments and tire rebalancing, the issue still persists. Several 4Runner owner forums are experiencing the same issue in this make, model and year; and suspect the issue might be stemming from a malfunctioning or broken needle bearing.

6/14/2025

We purchased our vehicle new September 2023 from a Toyota dealership. Engine oil dipstick Toyota part 15301-50140 was installed in vehicle and was verified by 50140 stamped on dipstick. I wanted an extra oil dipstick so ordered a replacement through Toyota. The original dipstick part 15301-50140 is no longer available and has been superseded by Toyota part 15301-0P060. I ordered the new dipstick part number and received it from Toyota. It is verified by 0P060 stamped on the dipstick. The safety concern is the two dipsticks are not the same length and each one requires a different quantity of engine oil to reach the Full mark. The new dipstick -0P060 is 1/2 inch shorter than the old, no longer available dipstick -50140. Most importantly the Low and Full marks are also both 1/2 inch higher up or closer to dipstick handle on the new dipstick than the old one. It takes approximately 0.9 quart more of engine oil to reach Full on the new dipstick than on the old one. One of these dipsticks is correct for my vehicle and one is not. The original dipstick is no longer available and the new dipstick is not the same as the original. The difference of 0.9 quart more or less of oil in the engine is significant and important. Too much or too little oil can damage an engine or contribute to a shorter engine life. Both of these dipsticks cannot be correct for our vehicle. I have talked to the Service Managers at two Toyota Dealerships and they do not have an answer for why these dipsticks are different. I have spoken to Parts Department people at two additional Toyota Dealerships, called Toyota Motor North America and no one has any idea why these dipsticks are different or which one I should be using. I also wrote a letter to Toyota Motor NA Headquarters over two months ago and have received no response to date. I have both dipsticks available for inspection. Toyota needs to let owners know if they should replace their old dipsticks or not on these vehicles.

7/20/2024

My vehicle is rear-ended by a large earth mover branded as a Kenworth. My vehicle was then pushed into another. After the initial impact, my engine went racing above 5,000 RPM. It was disengaged from the transmission. I switched my car into neutral, shut my car off and the engine was no longer racing when I restarted the car. Because of an engine racing, I am concerned about the potential that somebody's transmission would be engaged and it could cause serious further injury.

3/18/2025

The Front differential need to be replaced. The dealership where we purchased the vehicle replaced the differential. When we got the vehicle back we still had the same problem. The car was making a groaning sound while turning to the right above 35 mph. And the whole car would shake and my wife said it felt like the car was going to fall apart. The vehicle also needed new sway bar bushings my guess is that is because the shaking caused by the bad differential. A car shaking that bad and the axle loose inside the differential seems like a huge safety issue. Also I found a tsb online for this exact issue. I found that our vehicles vin was part of the tsb. I sent that information to the technician that has been working with us and he was unaware of the tsb. And was upset that he replaced the front differential and was not made aware of the tsb from Toyota. For some reason he couldn’t see it I believe he said it was because the dealership is in the process of changing there computer systems. But from my understanding the tsb is just to put a damper in the differential so you can no longer hear the noise coming from the differential. This in my opinion is not fixing the problem with the differential the axle will still be loose inside the differential causing the vehicle to shake and probably wear out suspension components and tires. We also had 3 different sets of tires installed on our vehicle because of the issue with the differential. When we would take the car to the dealership they said that everything looked good and would tell us that if the car was shaking we should take it back to les Schwab and have them balance the wheels and it never seemed to fix the problem. In my opinion this poses safety issues if the axle fails while driving. Especially in our situation because we live in the mountains where we have many roads that don’t have guardrails and because a lot of the roads were we live are in canyons that fallow rivers and creeks.

12/12/2024

Vehicle begins to shake when speed reaches 60 to 70 MPH (issue has been happening since the vehicle left the lot). Shaking can be felt in the steering wheel, gas/brake pedals and front seats. Vehicle has been taken to a Toyota dealership three different times and after three realignments and tire rebalancing, the issue still persists. Several 4Runner owner forums are experiencing the same issue in this make, model and year; and suspect the issue might be stemming from a malfunctioning or broken needle bearing.

6/14/2025

The contact owns a 2023 Toyota 4Runner. The contact stated that while the vehicle was shifted into reverse, the back-up camera displayed a distorted screen. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 700.

2/7/2023

On 2/21/2023, my parents jumped into the backseat of my parked car and began putting on their seatbelts. They were met with resistance and were unable to retract their seatbelts. This was very arcane because I seldom have any backseat passengers and I don't load any heavy cargo into my car. Moreover, I went into my backseat and retracted the rear seatbelts, except for the middle backseat, slowly enough to expose the part of the belt webbing that was torn. On both sides of my rear seatbelts, the webbing of the belts is torn. This is perplexing because I never utilize my rear seatbelts, I don't load any type of heavy cargo that would put pressure on the seatbelts, and my car is brand new. I bought my brand new 2023 Toyota 4Runner TRD Pro on 9/23/22. There were no warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure. I first noticed the problem on 2/21/23. My safety and the safety of others were at risk because my capricious rear seatbelts could have malfunctioned at any given moment. I'm thankful that I discovered the insidious problem while parked in my driveway. I have contacted my local dealership at Longo Toyota in El Monte, CA about this safety issue and they don't know anything about this problem being reproduced or confirmed. I have not had my vehicle inspected by a Toyota Dealership because they quoted me $175 for inspection and consultation, which I thought was an avaricious price. Also, I work 12-hour shifts as a Registered Nurse in the Cardiac ICU and it's difficult to arrange an appointment because of my work schedule. I believe this is a manufacturer's issue. I believe that the seat belts were manufactured with an incorrect component, which caused the seat belts to "bunch" and eventually lead to the tearing of the seat belts' webbing. Very similar to this prior safety recall on Toyota Siennas. https://pressroom.toyota.com/toyota-is-conducting-a-safety-recall-involving-certain-toyota-vehicles-6/ Thank you, [XXX] INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION

3/28/2023

Poor image quality of backup camera. Very grainy and sometimes dark image makes it difficult to see what’s behind you when backing up. A small child or pet could easily be missed when backing up due to this poor image quality. This is an accident waiting to happen. Prior model years and noticeably better image quality

4/24/2023

The contact owned a 2023 Toyota 4Runner. The contact stated that while the husband was driving approximately 35 MPH, the brake pedal was depressed but the pedal became stiff and did not slow down as intended. As a result, the contact collided with two vehicles. The air bags deployed. The driver sustained shoulder, back, and forearm injuries. Medical attention was needed. The contact stated that the two other vehicles involved needed medical attention. A police report was filed. The vehicle was taken to a wrecking lot. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 9,000.

10/23/2023

November 2023, my 13 year old daughter and I were involved in a car accident. A vehicle made a left hand turn in front of us and we collided (t-boned) the passenger side of the other vehicle. There were no warning lights, notifications of car crossing in in front of us, the assisted brake system did not activate, the air bags did not deploy, the on car assistance showed no accident reported. Other than the seat belts in the vehicle, no other safety features engaged. We have not been able to locate anyone who can confirm why no of the safety features did not work. Why did none of the safety features work and who can I contact. We no longer feel safe in this vehicle .

1/15/2024

On [XXX] while driving approximately 60 mph on a straight smooth highway only about 4 miles from my home my 4 Runner started violently shaking. The whole vehicle was shaking like the wheels were going to fall off. The steering wheel was shaking and I was shaking due to the amount of vibration. I did not depress the brakes for fear it would flip and crash. I let off the accelerator to slow down carefully and find a spot to pull off the highway. As I got slower I checked the onboard tire pressure which indicated all tires were holding correct amounts of air. About 3/4 to a mile from the time the shaking started it stopped shaking and about a quarter mile later it did it one more time for a few seconds. After that it did not occur again. After making a couple stops along my day I was driving at about 40mph when the big red box that reads BREAK came on while the vehicle made a loud beeping noise over and over until the light went off. There were no vehicles in front of me to cause the anti collision alert to deploy. As of [XXX] Toyota of Fayetteville, Arkansas has my vehicle to check this issue. They are also replacing my front facing camera that has finally arrived after months of waiting for it to be delivered. It was found to be defective shortly after purchase August or September 2023. I only had the vehicle for a few weeks when the camera stopped working. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

2/29/2024

I was driving down the highway when suddenly I heard a loud noise that resembled a gunshot, and shattered glass started flying all around the front of my vehicle. It turned out my sunroof had unexpectedly exploded. It was like the car was under pressure and it was relieved through the sunroof. I had my air conditioner on and my windows up. My sunroof cover was open and broke glass managed to be scattered everywhere. This resulted in glass fragments coming into contact with my face and arms, leading to a painful burning feeling on my skin. Luckily, a Toyota dealership was 2 miles away. I immediately drove to the dealership so my vehicle could be repaired. The replacement part was not available for my vehicle so I had to stay in a hotel until my vehicle could be repaired. This incident caused me a great deal of anxiety and I don’t know if I can trust this will not happened again.

5/17/2024

I was driving down the highway when suddenly I heard a loud noise that resembled a gunshot, and shattered glass started flying all around the front of my vehicle. It turned out my sunroof had unexpectedly exploded. It was like the car was under pressure and it was relieved through the sunroof. I had my air conditioner on and my windows up. My sunroof cover was open and broke glass managed to be scattered everywhere. This resulted in glass fragments coming into contact with my face and arms, leading to a painful burning feeling on my skin. Luckily, a Toyota dealership was 2 miles away. I immediately drove to the dealership so my vehicle could be repaired. The replacement part was not available for my vehicle so I had to stay in a hotel until my vehicle could be repaired. This incident caused me a great deal of anxiety and I don’t know if I can trust this will not happened again.

5/17/2024

The car just accelerated while during into parking lot. I used brake but did work and hit on to the pole. It accelerated pretty fast. The parking lot store has a video of me coming in slow and the the car accelerated.

5/27/2025

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.

8/13/2025