CarComplaints.com Notes: Although the 2003 model year is the "worst" model year for the 4Runner, it's not really bad at all -- mainly it's just that the other 4Runner model years are even better. Howver the 2003 model year has no major problems & no unexpected problems for a 17-year old vehicle. We award the 2003 4Runner our Seal of Awesome, since overall versus other comparable models of the same age, it's very reliable.
Initially the 4th generation (2003 - 2009) 4Runner didn't earn our top "Seal of Awesome" rating because it received poor crash test ratings for rear impacts. However it's proven to have one of the lowest driver death rates out of all vehicles (not just SUVs), so we've bumped it back up to our top award.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
4 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
2 / 0
Average Mileage:
69,101 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
I purchased a brand new 2003 Toyota 4runner in May 2003. In one cold morning of Jan. 2005, I was driving it in highway that was still covered with some snow. All of sudden, an engine check light on the dashboard was automatically turned on, followed by vsc lights, indicating that a vehicle skid control function was automatically turned off. At that point, I could not drive the car beyond 50 mph, no matter how hard or frequently I pushed the accelerator pedal. I pulled over, restarted, and re-entered the highway but had the same results. I managed to drive the car to a dealer for inspection the same day. The dealer could not find a cause and simply reset the computer controller. This seemed to have resolved the problem at that time. However, the engine check and vsc light issues resurfaced about two years later. The difference this time was that there was no acceleration issue. No inspection was made. The dashboard lights were automatically turned off after driving for about a month. In Jan. 2010, those lights reappeared and have remained turned on. No impact on acceleration has been observed.
Sudden acceleration of 2003 Toyota 4 runner as my wife was pulling into parking space. The vehicle jumped over a flower bed and struck two parked cars. The front end sustained approximately $2,000 in damages.
2003 Toyota 4runner V6 sport. On Saturday I floored the gas pedal and when I let up the vehicle continued to accelerate. I pumped the brakes but acceleration continued. I applied strong continuous force to the brakes and after a few seconds the acceleration disengaged. Yesterday's announcement of other non-4runner Toyota models being recalled for exactly the same problem has me very concerned. Is it possible that the 4runner has the same issue and should also be recalled?
- Virginia Beach, VA, USA
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- Jersey City, NJ, USA