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2021 Toyota 4RUNNER

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

Similar to other model years

Owner complaints for the 2021 Toyota 4RUNNER do not stand out strongly from the model-year median of 58.

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How this year compares

Owner complaints by model year

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Counts vary with age, sales and reporting. They are not failure rates.

What owners reported most

All reported categories

Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.

When problems were reported

Mileage at the reported incident

Limited mileage data: 3 of 36 reports include usable mileage. There isn’t enough coverage to show a useful chart.

NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.

What to inspect

Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.

  • Steering. Review the 13 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Suspension. Review the 10 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Service Brakes. Review the 6 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

3 crash reports1 fire reports1 injury reports

Exterior Lighting complaints

3 reports
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Mileage unknown · Jun 22, 2026
Exterior Lighting

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

NHTSA ODI #11745613

Mileage unknown · Mar 6, 2024
Exterior LightingPower Train

As the vehicle was traveling on a highway at 35 mph the vehicle shut off electronically three times and powered itself back on after 15 seconds or so of continuous cruising on the highway. Unable to accelerate or control the vehicle while the electronic component shut off in the vehicle. Three days later, a series of warning lig…

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As the vehicle was traveling on a highway at 35 mph the vehicle shut off electronically three times and powered itself back on after 15 seconds or so of continuous cruising on the highway. Unable to accelerate or control the vehicle while the electronic component shut off in the vehicle. Three days later, a series of warning lights and check engine lights turned on, which has occurred 6 other times, and has been brought to local Toyota dealer multiple times (over six times) and no fix has been conducted to repair the vehicle other than resetting the vehicles ECU. When all of the warning lights turn on, the vehicle loses 2nd gear and juts itself forward and becomes extremely difficult to control to the point where I have almost gotten into life threatening accidents over 4 times. Toyota has acknowledged that they do not know what is wrong with the vehicle and is unsure how to fix it. This is a safety concern that is not getting enough attention and needs to be rectified before someone or myself ends up killing ourselves

NHTSA ODI #11575725

Mileage unknown · Oct 2, 2021
Exterior Lighting

When carrying cargo, the cutoff of the LED low beam headlamps is shifted upward blinding on coming traffic and dazzling other drivers. This requires the driver to manually adjust the angle of headlight projection under the hood of the vehicle, as there is not automatic system to do so, or even a manual system inside the vehicle.…

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When carrying cargo, the cutoff of the LED low beam headlamps is shifted upward blinding on coming traffic and dazzling other drivers. This requires the driver to manually adjust the angle of headlight projection under the hood of the vehicle, as there is not automatic system to do so, or even a manual system inside the vehicle. As a result, it’s likely few drivers will do this. Also, it is not possible to manually adjust the headlamps every time the weight in the vehicle shifts. LEDs are particularly bright and affect oncoming traffic. If they are not perfectly aligned at least 50% of the oncoming cars flash their lights at me, many leaving their brights on, probably assuming I am doing the same. Therefore, it’s not just that my vehicle is blinding them, but there is also an element of road rage that comes into play with both drivers becoming dazzled. As such, basic visibility safety at night, should require LED headlamps to all have a self-leveling feature to account for the headlight cutoff angle changing when carrying cargo.

NHTSA ODI #11435203

Official recalls

1

22V480000 · Equipment:other:labels

Jul 6, 2022

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."

Consequence & remedy

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.

Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗

NHTSA investigations

0

No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.