2002 Toyota 4RUNNER

EXTENSIVE RUST THRU ON DRIVERS SIDE OF FRAME, REAR SUSPENSION LINK RUSTED TO THE POINT WHERE COMPLETE FAILURE IN COMING SOON. LAST TWO FEET OF FRAME COMPLETELY GONE. DOUBT IT WILL PASS ANOTHER SAFETY INSPECTION WITHOUT SIGNIFICANT REPAIR. REAR DIFFERENTIAL RUSTED TO THE POINT GEAR OIL LEAKS. THIS IS COMMON ON ALL 4 RUNNERS AND SHOULD BE RECALLED JUST LIKE THE TACOMAS. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 TOYOTA 4RUNNER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE REAR AXLE WAS CORRODED AND CAUSED THE FRAME TO DETACH. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALER. THE TECHNICIAN DIAGNOSED THAT THE FRAME AND REAR END NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 86,000.

2002 TOYOTA 4RUNNER RECALL ID FROM NHTSA: 05V225000 AUTO RECALL DATE: 05/17/2005 VEHICLE COMPONENT: SUSPENSION:FRONT:CONTROL ARM:LOWER BALL JOINT ESTIMATED VEHICLES AFFECTED: 768379 2002 TOYOTA 4RUNNER DEFECT SUMMARY: ON CERTAIN SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES, DUE TO A MANUFACTURING ISSUE IN THE FRONT SUSPENSION LOWER BALL JOINT, THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT THE SURFACE OF THE BALL OF THE JOINT MAY HAVE BEEN SCRATCHED. THE BALL JOINT MAY EVENTUALLY EXPERIENCE EXCESSIVE WEAR AND LOOSENESS, RESULTING IN INCREASED STEERING EFFORT. DEFECT CONSEQUENCE: THE LOWER BALL JOINT MAY SEPARATE FROM THE KNUCKLE CAUSING LOSS OF STEERING CONTROL AND A CRASH COULD OCCUR. *TR

RECENTLY PURCHASED THIS VEHICLE AND STARTED CLEANING IT, AFTER I DROVE IT HOME AND PRESSURE WASHED UNDERCARRIAGE, PIECES OF THE REAR DIFFERENTIAL STARTED FLYING OFF AND GEAR OIL STARTED RUNNING OUT OF HOLES. I HAVE A 1971 DODGE CHALLENGER WITH ORIGINAL REAR END THAT HAS NEVER BEEN IN GARAGE AND HAVE NEVER SEEN A REAREND RUST LIKE THIS. I'M REALLY WORRIED ABOUT HOW STRONG THE AXLE HOUSING STRUCTURE IS AND IF IT COULD POSSIBLE BREAK IN HALF WHILE DRIVING VEHICLE. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 TOYOTA 4RUNNER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE REAR AXLE WAS LEAKING FLUID. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT REPAIR SHOP WHERE THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE REAR AXLE WAS SEVERELY CORRODED AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. AS A RESULT, FLUIDS WERE LEAKING THROUGH THE REAR AXLE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGES WERE 152,000.

VEHICLE IS NOT HANDLING RIGHT; BODY FEELS VERY LOOSE AND UNSTABLE GOING OVER BUMPS IN THE ROAD. TOOK IT TO A TOYOTA REPAIR SHOP WHO INDICATED THAT FRONT, RIGHT LOWER BALL JOINT WAS LOOSE, WORN AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THAT BALL JOINT WAS ALREADY REPLACED BY THE DEALER WHEN PURCHASED IN 8/05 AS PART OF THE MANUFACTURER'S RECALL. TOOK VEHICLE BACK TO THE DEALER WHERE THE WORK WAS ORIGINALLY DONE AND AFTER 3 HOURS THEY CONFIRMED THAT THE BALL JOINT DID NEED REPLACING. HOWEVER THERE IS ONLY A 1 YEAR WARRANTY ON THE REPLACEMENT AND THEY WANTED OVER $400 TO REPLACE IT. SO YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT I GET OVER 4 YEARS ON AN ALLEGEDLY DEFECTIVE BALL JOINT BUT ONLY 2 YEARS ON THE SUPPOSEDLY GOOD ONE? *TR UPDATED 09/28/07. *JB

I RECEIVED A SAFETY RECALL NOTICE FROM TOYOTA CONCERNING A DEFECT WITH THE FRONT SUSPENSION LOWER BALL JOINT IN 2002 TOYOTA 4RUNNERS (REF NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER : 05V225000). I CONTACTED TOYOTA ON 9 MAY 2006 TO BEGIN THE PROCESS TO REPLACE THE DEFECTIVE PARTS. MY SITUATION IS UNIQUE. I'M IN THE MILITARY AND CURRENTLY STATIONED IN SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA. THERE ARE NO TOYOTA DEALERSHIPS IN SOUTH KOREA, HOWEVER, LEXUS (OWNED BY THE SAME PARENT COMPANY) IS LOCATED IN SEOUL. IT TOOK THE TOYOTA CUSTOMER SERVICE FOLKS TIL AUG TO NOTIFY ME THAT MY ISSUE HAD BEEN FORWARDED TO TOYOTA HQ IN JAPAN FOR RESOLUTION. IN SEPTEMBER I FOLLOWED UP SINCE NO ONE HAD CONTACTED ME ABOUT THE SITUATION. I WAS TOLD BY TOYOTA THAT TOYOTA HQ HAD UP TO 4 MONTHS TO WORK THE ISSUE. TOYOTA WOULD ALSO NOT PROVIDE THE CONTACT INFORMATION FOR THE OFFICE IN JAPAN HANDLING THE ISSUE AND ALSO WOULD NOT PROVIDE THE CONTACT INFORMATION FOR THE VENDOR THAT WOULD ACCOMPLISH THE RECALL WORK. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE AS I'M DRIVING MY WIFE AND ONE YEAR OLD CHILD IN THIS VEHICLE WITH AN IDENTIFIED DEFECT IN THE FRONT SUSPENSION. ANY ASSISTANCE YOU CAN PROVIDE TO HAVE TOYOTA QUICKLY RESOLVE THIS MATTER WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. *NM