2006 Toyota 4Runner
Complaints about this year name frame far more often than the other years of this generation — 50% 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 | 380 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 58 |
| Involving a crash | 28 |
| Involving a fire | 3 |
| Recalls | 5 |
| EPA combined | 16.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- frame — 49.7% of this year's complaints, against 17.7% across the other years of this generation (2.8×).
- rust — 29.5% of this year's complaints, against 11% across the other years of this generation (2.7×). Owners wrote it as: rust, frame rust, rust frame, excessive rust.
- holes — 6.1% of this year's complaints, against 1.9% across the other years of this generation (3.1×).
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 — 22% of complaints, 3× usual
- tacoma — 8% of complaints, 12× usual
What owners wrote
THE FRAME, HEAT SHIELDS, SKID PLATE AND REAR AXEL ARE SEVERELY RUSTED. WE'VE OWNED THE VEHICLE SINCE 2008 AND IT HAS BEEN GARAGED AND KEPT CLEAN. THE RUST IS REACHING A POINT WHERE WE'RE CONCERNED ABOUT THE SAFETY OF THE VEHICLE. WE'VE NOTICED IT COMING ON FOR…
DURING RECENT MAINTENANCE OF MY 2006 TOYOTA 4RUNNER WITH 115K MILES, A MECHANIC NOTIFIED ME THAT THE FRAME CROSSMEMBER IN FRONT WHICH ATTACHES TO THE CONTROL ARMS WAS COMPLETELY RUSTED THROUGH AND WAS A SIGNIFICANT SAFETY CONCERN. THE VEHICLE WAS BROUGHT TO TH…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 16V065000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 16V396000 SEATS 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 2006 Toyota 4Runner? What happened to yours?
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