CSR

Toyota · NHTSA safety record

2023 Toyota 4Runner

Every safety complaint, recall and defect investigation the US government holds on this vehicle.

30

Complaints

6

Crashes

1

Fires

5

Injuries

0

Deaths

Owners of the 2023 Toyota 4Runner have filed 30 safety complaints with NHTSA between February 2023 and May 2026. The most complained-about system is the exterior lighting, named in 3 of them (10%). The typical failure was reported at 9,000 miles, the median across the 5 complaints that gave an odometer reading.

NHTSA has issued 1 recall covering this vehicle.

Recalls (1)

EQUIPMENT:OTHER:LABELS

23V680000 · October 12, 2023

The defect
Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC (SET) is recalling certain 2023 Toyota 4Runner vehicles. The load carrying capacity modification label states the incorrect load carrying capacity, which can result in an overloaded vehicle. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 110, "Tire Selection and Rims."
The risk
An overloaded vehicle increases the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC will mail a new modified label, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed December 1, 2023. Owners may contact SET's customer service at 1-866-405-4226. SET's number for this recall is SET23A.

Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC · up to 13 vehicles across all model years covered

What owners report

Complaints naming each system. One complaint can name several, so these add up to more than 30.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER 12 40%
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 3 10%
TIRES 3 10%
AIR BAGS 2 7%
BACK OVER PREVENTION 2 7%
ENGINE 2 7%
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 2 7%
POWER TRAIN 2 7%
SEAT BELTS 2 7%
SERVICE BRAKES 2 7%
STEERING 2 7%
SUSPENSION 2 7%

When the complaints arrived

By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2023 at 11.

2023 2026
2023 to 2026, the last of them a part year

In owners' own words

Quoted from NHTSA's complaint file. These are unverified accounts by the people who filed them, not findings of fault.

SEAT BELTS

4 injured · fire · crash · towed · 10,000 miles

The contact owned a 2023 Toyota 4Runner. The contact stated that while her father was driving under 30 MPH on a side road, the driver swerved to miss a deer. The vehicle drove off a hill, rolled over and landed on its top, and all the seat belts simultaneously unbuckled, causing all the passengers to hit their heads against the roof simultaneously. Additionally, the contact noticed an abnormal fuel odor. The contact stated that she was unable to exit the vehicle. The contact's brother assisted the contact in exiting the vehicle, and all passengers were able to exit the vehicle. The vehicle then caught on fire. The fire department arrived at the scene, but it was unknown whether the fire was

NHTSA complaint 11715551, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SERVICE BRAKES

1 injured · crash · towed · 9,000 miles

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.

NHTSA complaint 11551453. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS

crash · towed

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 .

NHTSA complaint 11565631. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS

crash · towed

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.

NHTSA complaint 11626731. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SERVICE BRAKES
New, strange noise started in Dec'25 (41K miles; 2yrs 9 months). No warning lights. Diagnosed as failed brake accumulator (first at an independent shop, later at the dealer). Apparently the accumulator is part of the full master cylinder assembly which must be replaced. Toyota has quoted $3,200 to complete this repair and is telling me it must be out of pocket.

NHTSA complaint 11739260. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

STEERING
I was driving the vehicle and suddenly the steering wheel started to getting hard to turn it and the dash board doesn’t show any failure I went right away to dealership close by they inspected the vehicle they states there is a power steering failure but the car never showed any failure on dashboard or safety system

NHTSA complaint 11721837. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

VISIBILITY/WIPER
Windshield cracked approximately 2” from the bottom all the way across while using the defroster to clear ice from it. I was still parked at the time. I am unsure how long it will stay water tight or become worse. One concern is the crash avoidance and the automatic high beam sensor are both attached to the windshield and don’t want them to fail. I also don’t want the entire piece of glass to shatter and land in my lap while driving. The dealer refused honoring the repair under warranty. They only use one particular repair shop (which I suspect they own) and even quoted me a price for replacing the ruined glass. In addition to paying for that I would need to pay the dealer to recalibrate

NHTSA complaint 11716332, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER
the rear manual tailgate has opened 3 times while the vehicle was at highway speeds and the doors would be locked. the latest incident happened on 1-30-26, at highway speed (70mph) the tailgate opened completely without warning. the indicator on the dash did light up and an alarm did sound. I had been on the road approximately 10 miles without incident before that. this was the third time this happened, although the first two the door did not completely open, only became unlatched but stayed shut. all three times were mornings that were extremely cold. (below -1 F) each time i made sure there was no ice or snow or other object in the way of securely closing the tailgate. even if there were,

NHTSA complaint 11714444, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Started driving on the freeway when we heard something on the roof of the car and when I opened the moonroof cover from inside the car I could see that the entire moonroof had shattered. All the glass was flying off the car and onto the freeway.

NHTSA complaint 11682974. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Compare

Other years of the Toyota 4Runner

Model year Complaints Recalls Deaths
2025 54 1
2024 8 1
2022 39 3
2021 34 1
2020 31 1
2019 64 4
2018 58 5
2017 36 5
2016 78 8
2015 86 9
2014 77 7
2013 36 6
2012 96 8
2011 163 10
2010 145 12

Other 2023 Toyota models

Every Toyota on this site — 272 vehicles, 370 recall campaigns and 3 open investigation s.

If this is your car and a dealer keeps failing to fix it, your state's lemon law may require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. What each state asks for , read from the statutes.

Where these numbers come from

A complaint is one owner's account and has not been verified by NHTSA or by us. A vehicle with more complaints is not necessarily worse: models that sold in larger numbers collect more of them. How this is counted.

Compiled and maintained by
Independent developer and analyst