2005 Toyota 4Runner
Complaints about this year name frame far more often than the other years of this generation — 51% of them, about 3× the usual rate of 17.3%.
Generation 1 of the Toyota 4Runner, which began in 2003 and ran to 2009. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 424 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 58 |
| Involving a crash | 19 |
| Involving a fire | 3 |
| Recalls | 5 |
| EPA combined | 16.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- frame — 50.7% of this year's complaints, against 17.7% across the other years of this generation (2.9×).
- rust — 29% of this year's complaints, against 11.5% across the other years of this generation (2.5×). Owners wrote it as: rust, frame rust, rust frame, rust corrosion.
- tacoma — 15.1% of this year's complaints, against 4.5% across the other years of this generation (3.3×). Owners wrote it as: tacoma, frames, tundra, sequoia.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- rust — 29% of complaints, 3× usual
- rusted — 20% of complaints, 3× usual
- tacoma — 9% of complaints, 14× usual
What owners wrote
FRAME HAS RUSTED SIMILAR TO TACOMA AND SEQOUIYA RECALLS AND DO NOT SEE WHY THEY HAVE NOT BEEN RECALLED.
FRAME RUST - PROBLEM IS THE SAME AS WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO SAME YEAR TOYOTA TACOMA PICKUPS. THESE VEHICLES SHOULD ALSO BE RECALLED AND HAVE THE SAME FIX APPLIED TO THEM AS WAS APPLIED TO THE TACOMA PICKUP. PURCHASED VEHICLE USED IN OCTOBER AND HAD SHOP PUT IT UP…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 16V396000 SEATS Fixed free of charge.
- 16V065000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 11V113000 VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
- 10V035000 EQUIPMENT Fixed free of charge.
- 10V036000 EQUIPMENT Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Toyota 4Runner was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2005 Toyota 4Runner? What happened to yours?
Loading comments…