There are 9 owner-reported body & structure complaints for the 2008 Toyota 4Runnerin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
Lots of rust on frame and body. This is certainly an excessive amount. Many other owners of the 4runner between 2003-2009 are experiencing the same problem.
ENTIRE UNDERBODY OF CAR IS RUSTING OUT, TAIL GATE ALREADY HAD 2 BODY REPAIRS BUT KEEPS RUSTING OUT. MANY PARTS AT JUST 150K WERE ALREADY REPLACED DUE TO SEVERE RUST- MOST SUSPENSION PARTS, TRANSMISSION COOLING LINES, EXHAUST , SKID PLATES ALL FAILED. BRAKE CALIPERS FAILED 4 TIMES IN IN 6 YEARS.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 TOYOTA 4RUNNER. WHILE DRIVING VARIOUS SPEEDS, THE CONTACT HEARD A RATTLING NOISE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHO STATED THAT THE FRAME WAS RUSTED AND THE TOP CONTROL ARM POST WAS MELTED. ANOTHER INDEPENDENT MECHANIC STATED THAT A MOUNTING PLATE NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE MECHANIC STATED THAT THE VEHICLE COULD NOT BE DRIVEN BECAUSE THE CONTROL ARM COULD DETACH AND STRIKE THE FUEL TANK. THE LOCAL DEALER AND MANUFACTURER WERE NOT CONTACTED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 162,000.
VEHICLE'S FRAME IS VERY CORRODED OVERALL AND IT HAS MORE THAN 15 INCH LONG HOLE IN THE FRAME ON THE PASSENGER FRONT FRAME RAIL. IT HAS BEEN CHECKED BY TOYOTA DEALERSHIP AND DETERMINED UNSAFE TO DRIVE. VEHICLE HAS ONLY 90,000 MILES AND IT IS OVERALL IN EXCELLENT CONDITION.
I HAVE NOTICED A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF RUST ON THE FRAME OF MY VEHICLE. THE RUST IS APPARENT IN MANY PLACES ALONG THE FRAME, INCLUDING PARTS THAT ARE INTEGRAL TO THE CHASSIS, SUCH AS THE DIFFERENTIAL. I HAVE READ ON MANY FORUMS THAT THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE WITH THIS MAKE AND MODEL VEHICLE. I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW MY OPTIONS FOR REPAIRING THIS ISSUE WHICH IF LEFT UNATTENDED WILL DAMAGE PARTS (E.G. DIFFERENTIAL) THAT ARE CRITICAL TO THE NORMAL FUNCTIONS OF MY VEHICLE,
BACK HATCH UNLATCHES ITSELF WHEN HITTING A BUMP AND FLIES OPEN. THIS HAS OCCURRED MULTIPLE TIMES, OBSERVED BY SEVERAL FAMILY MEMBERS.
I'm experiencing major frame rust mainly at the crossbeams and all over the frame. Metal is literally crumbling away if I touch if. I don't even want to remove the rust to prepare for anti-rust coating since there may not be much metal left. Its only at 150k miles and shouldnt be crumbling away this fast. Just recently had to replace muffler and tailpipe since the muffle connection literally rusted away. Tacomas were able to have their frames replaces. The 4runner has a similar if not identical frame due to them sharing the same underlying platform. This should be pretty obvious that 4Runners need to be a part of that recall.
FRAME IS EXTREMELY RUSTED AND TOYOTA NEEDS TO ADDRESS THIS PROBLEM. I ALSO HAVE VARIOUS SMALL PIN POINT RUST SPOTS ALL OVER THE 4RUNNER ON THE PAINT.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 TOYOTA 4RUNNER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE FLOOR OF THE VEHICLE WAS COMPLETELY RUSTED. THE CONTACT CALLED A LOCAL DEALER WHO REQUESTED THAT THE VEHICLE BE BROUGHT TO THE SHOP FOR PICTURES. AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC ADVISED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS UNSAFE TO DRIVE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE AND STATED THAT THERE WAS NO RECALL. THE FAILURE WAS REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 92,000.
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 26, 2026