USED VEHICLE RESEARCH

2021 Toyota 4Runner

Is This A Good Car? organizes available NHTSA-derived research for the 2021 Toyota 4Runner. This page includes owner complaint records, safety recall campaigns, manufacturer communications, defect investigations, and information about the completeness of the available evidence.

DATA CONFIDENCE: Moderate

Owner complaints

34NHTSA records

Recall campaigns

1Year, make and model lookup

Manufacturer communications

0Matched NHTSA records

Investigations

0Matched NHTSA records

EVIDENCE AVAILABILITY — NOT VEHICLE RELIABILITY

DATA CONFIDENCE

Moderate

Data Confidence measures how much usable evidence CarIQ has for this vehicle. It does not measure how reliable the vehicle is.

Why this rating?
Owner complaint data
Available
Manufacturer communications
Available
Recall data
Available
Investigation data
Available
Production denominator
Unavailable
Complaint component completeness
100%
Mileage completeness
0%
Incident-date completeness
100%

DESCRIPTIVE ANALYTICS

DATA INSIGHTS

Derived from official NHTSA source records. These statistics are descriptive and are not a reliability score.

Complaint records analyzed
34
NHTSA complaints
Most reported component
Steering
35% of categorized complaint records
Top-three component concentration
59%
Records mentioning at least one top-three component
Median reported incident mileage
Not available from current source
0 valid mileage observations
Recall campaigns
1
NHTSA recalls
Most recent recall report
July 6, 2022
NHTSA recalls
Manufacturer communications
0
NHTSA manufacturer communications
Most documented component
Not available
NHTSA manufacturer communications
Top-three communication concentration
Not available
Share of categorized manufacturer communications

SOURCE COMPLETENESS

DATA QUALITY

Complaint records analyzed
34
Component classification available
100%
Incident date available
100%
Mileage available
0%
Structured outcome fields available
100%

Completeness describes fields present in the retrieved complaint records. It is not a data-quality grade or a vehicle assessment.

Learn about CarIQ methodology

PRODUCTION-ADJUSTED DESCRIPTIVE METRIC

NORMALIZED COMPLAINT CONTEXT

Production-normalized complaint data is not currently available for this vehicle.

This metric compares the number of NHTSA owner complaint records retrieved by CarIQ with NHTSA-reported production volume for the corresponding vehicle population.

It is not a vehicle failure rate. Complaint reporting behavior, vehicle age, time on the road, production definitions, and other factors can affect the result.

Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Early Warning Reporting, Light Vehicle Production Data. Read the methodology.

OFFICIAL NHTSA OWNER COMPLAINT DATA

OWNER-REPORTED COMPLAINTS

TOTAL COMPLAINTS34

COMPONENT CATEGORIES

Steering12 complaints
35%of categorized complaint records
Suspension10 complaints
29%of categorized complaint records
Service Brakes6 complaints
18%of categorized complaint records
Wheels4 complaints
12%of categorized complaint records
Electrical System3 complaints
9%of categorized complaint records
Exterior Lighting3 complaints
9%of categorized complaint records
Back Over Prevention2 complaints
6%of categorized complaint records
Forward Collision Avoidance2 complaints
6%of categorized complaint records
Unknown or Other2 complaints
6%of categorized complaint records
Visibility/wiper2 complaints
6%of categorized complaint records
Air Bags1 complaint
3%of categorized complaint records
Fuel/propulsion System1 complaint
3%of categorized complaint records
Power Train1 complaint
3%of categorized complaint records
Seats1 complaint
3%of categorized complaint records
Tires1 complaint
3%of categorized complaint records
Vehicle Speed Control1 complaint
3%of categorized complaint records
Visibility1 complaint
3%of categorized complaint records

A complaint may list more than one component and therefore contribute to multiple categories. Percentages show the share of categorized complaint records that mention each component—not the percentage of vehicles affected. Category percentages may overlap.

INCIDENT REPORTS BY YEAR

2020
1
2021
13
2022
4
2023
4
2024
4
2025
5
2026
3

Grouped from complaint records with a valid incident date.

RECENT OWNER COMPLAINTS

Exterior Lighting

Owner-submitted NHTSA complaint · ODI 11745613
Read complaint narrative

The interior of both headlights have the interior coating peeling in the first 20k miles

Steering

Owner-submitted NHTSA complaint · ODI 11741081
Read complaint narrative

I just had the tires road force balanced on a haweka with lug-centric balance, and the steering wheel persists shaking from 55-65 mph. From what I have seen is this is a design flaw on this generation of 4 runners called the shimmy. For a newer vehicle this is not only dangerous, but unacceptable to not be considered for a recall when it is this widespread.

Service Brakes

Owner-submitted NHTSA complaint · ODI 11722616
Read complaint narrative

Today while I was driving home from work, in a snow storm, suddenly a low braking power notification and ABS malfunction popped up on my console with loud beeping and my brakes completely stopped working. In order to avoid hitting the car in front of me I had to swerve to the shoulder and come to a stop.

Back Over Prevention

Owner-submitted NHTSA complaint · ODI 11712755
Read complaint narrative

My backup camera does not work consistently. It will sometimes come on and show objects behind me; other times it is a black screen. I have read where Toyota models from 2022 to newer, but not including the 4 Runner, are having major issues with the back up camera and are under recall. I believe this recall should include the Toyota 4 Runner, as mine seems to be having issues which affect my safety and others. I called the nearest Toyota dealership to verify if my car was under recall and they said no. I have not taken the vehicle to be inspected by the dealership. This issue started about 6 -8 months ago. No lights or warning messages appear on the dashboard. I thought maybe my camera was dirty, but wash the car and it still is inconsistently working. It fails more than it works.

Back Over Prevention

Owner-submitted NHTSA complaint · ODI 11707218
Crash reported
Read complaint narrative

Rear backup camera has been failing or intermittently working, it is available for insp[ection upon request. This has created a situation upon reversing in driveway where I expect it to be on and dont see a vehicle or trailer behind me. I have hit a parked car because I was expecting it to work as I check rearview mirrors. This is now a habit and I did not realize it wasn't working at the time until i collided with the vehicle. The dealership will not confirm it or inspect it unless payment is rendered. No one has inspected it except for Virginia. Which I am unsure that is even something they inspect. They may have just inspected other things that allow for use on highway. No lamps or other warnings when it began in april 2023. I have not tried to get it fixed as this is a new vehicle and I wasn't willing to pay the dealer to diagnose and most likely decline my warranty coverage.

Fuel/propulsion System

Owner-submitted NHTSA complaint · ODI 11704362
Read complaint narrative

Vehicle was diagnosed from a mechanic with no fuel pressure due to not starting. Vehicle has approximately 135,000 miles and had no warnings or indications of problem. It appears when VIN was ran on gov. recall that Honda had issues with fuel pump. Vehicle will be inspected by Toyota dealer.

Electrical System

Owner-submitted NHTSA complaint · ODI 11702645
Read complaint narrative

Several door lock actuators have prematurely failed. The first to do so was front passenger door in summer 2024; front driver door lock failed a few months after. Most recently, approximately 4 months ago, the lock actuator for liftgate failed. This poses safety hazard in easily exiting vehicle and/or entering it if in dangerous situation. I have been communicating with local Toyota dealership for months about repairing these defective items, They have acknowledged awareness of an issue with the actuators, but have offered no help. I have read there is a class action lawsuit pending about this issue. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Electrical System · Air Bags · Seats

Owner-submitted NHTSA complaint · ODI 11674658
Read complaint narrative

Saturday morning July 12th after starting my vehicle, a warning was presented “SRS AIRBAG SYSTEM MALFUNCTION”. I immediately took it to the dealership where they ran diagnostics. The service advisor admitted he nor his mechanic had ever seen anything like that before. They were unable to detect the issue that day. We planned to return the vehicle Thursday July 17. I dropped it off at 10am and never heard from the dealership again that day. Friday, July 18th I contacted the service advisor around 10 am to get an update in which he said they were looking into it. Friday afternoon, I received a call from the service advisor letting me know that the front passenger Occupant ECU had malfunctioned, costing approximately $1000. After researching this, I learned that Toyota has issued many recalls on this issue with other models. I called Toyota headquarters to see how they would rectify this but ended the conversation with no solution other than it is the consumer’s liability. This is a safety issue that should fall back on the manufacturer, especially given the history of recalls issued on this specific defect.

NHTSA complaints are reports submitted by vehicle owners and other consumers. Complaint counts do not represent the percentage of vehicles affected and do not by themselves establish that a safety defect exists.

A higher complaint count can partly reflect how many vehicles were sold, vehicle age, and other factors. CarIQ does not yet normalize complaint counts by vehicles sold.

Data provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). This site is not endorsed by NHTSA.

OFFICIAL NHTSA MANUFACTURER COMMUNICATION DATA

MANUFACTURER COMMUNICATIONS

TOTAL COMMUNICATIONS0

No NHTSA manufacturer communication records were returned for this year, make, and model.

Manufacturer communications include service bulletins and other technical information submitted by manufacturers to NHTSA. The existence or number of communications does not establish how often a condition occurs or whether an individual vehicle will experience it.

Some manufacturers may issue more detailed service documentation than others, so communication counts should not be used alone to compare vehicle reliability.

Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration manufacturer communications

NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION

NHTSA DEFECT INVESTIGATIONS

TOTAL INVESTIGATION RECORDS0

No applicable NHTSA defect investigation records were returned for this year, make, and model.

NHTSA investigations evaluate potential motor-vehicle safety defects. The existence of an investigation does not by itself establish that a safety defect exists, and the absence of an investigation does not establish that a vehicle is problem-free.

Open and closed describe NHTSA's process status, not a CarIQ reliability judgment.

View official NHTSA investigation data ↗

DESCRIPTIVE SOURCE OVERLAP

CROSS-SOURCE VEHICLE DATA

CarIQ compares categories appearing across independent NHTSA datasets. Overlap can help identify areas with more available documentation, but it does not establish defect frequency or prove that an individual vehicle will experience a problem.

ComponentOwner complaintsManufacturer communicationsRecall campaignsNHTSA investigationsOfficial sources containing records
Steering120001 of 4
Suspension100001 of 4
Service Brakes60001 of 4
Wheels40001 of 4
Electrical System30001 of 4
Exterior Lighting30001 of 4
Back Over Prevention20001 of 4
Forward Collision Avoidance20001 of 4
Unknown or Other20001 of 4
Visibility/wiper20001 of 4

Displayed first by the number of source categories containing the component, then by owner complaint count, then alphabetically. This is a presentation rule, not a vehicle ranking. Complaint reports, manufacturer communications, recalls, and investigations describe different events and are never added into a combined total.

complaint
Available
communication
Available
recall
Available
investigation
Available
production
Unavailable

OFFICIAL NHTSA SAFETY RECALL DATA

SAFETY RECALLS

1 recall campaign found

01EQUIPMENT:OTHER:LABELSCampaign 22V480000July 6, 2022

Summary

Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC (SET) is recalling certain 2020-2022 4Runner vehicles equipped with 20-inch Black Gunner Wheels. The load carrying capacity modification labels are incorrect. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 110, "Tire Selection and Rims."

Safety Consequence

An incorrect label may lead to unintentionally overloading the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy

SET will mail replacement labels to owners, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed September 4, 2022. Owners may contact SET's customer service at 954-429-2000. SET's number for this recall is SET22A.

Additional Notes

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.nhtsa.gov.

Recall results shown here are based on year, make, and model. A specific vehicle may or may not be affected. Check the vehicle's VIN with NHTSA to confirm open recalls before purchasing. Data provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

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