Body problems of the 2000 Toyota 4Runner - part 1

The frame is rusted almost in half a mechanic said it's not safe to drive it will kill someone. The car lot that is selling me the car said he can fix it but it's being held together by welds and c foam. He wants me to still pay for it. I've complained about not being able to drive over 45 without swaying badly and they keep doing stuff to it saying it's fixed and it's not. It's to dangerous to drive. I have a video of underneath but it won't let me upload it.

The frame rusted and is available for inspection. My daughter was driving our 2000 Toyota 4runner sr5 which I purchased new in 2000 when she noticed the truck started to wobble when she hit small bumps. I drove it to the garage the next day which is 2 miles from my house. It was doing the same for me. My mechanic went to put it up on the lift, he noticed that the frame rusted out. There was nothing he can do at this point. There are many complaints of the same issues with the 2000 Toyota 4runners with the frames rusting out. If she was driving on the highway, this could have been a lot worse and possibly someone seriously injured or death. There were no warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms of the problem prior to the frame rusting out. The only one to inspect it was my mechanic.

Frame on passenger side (front,left) is rotted. While I was driving on the highway I almost got in an accident because the frame gave out. Now I’m out of car and I don’t want to pay but I’m going to have to thousands of dollars to get the frame fixed. That’s money I don’t have as I am a recent college student trying to pay of his loans.

Traveling on interstate at 65 mph and heard a "pop. " vehicle started swerving badly -- total loss of control. Rear end wagging horrifically nearly hitting cars in other lanes. Managed to get to shoulder but couldnt see what was wrong. Got vehicle off at exit and to garage. Was told frame snapped and rear end control arm no longer attached rear end to frame. Frame rot extensive. Scary as hell. No other rust on vehicle. Thought vehicle would flip!.

As I started to accelerate at a busy intersection, my 4runner started to jolt and once it began moving it started a swerve motion. It became difficult to stop as well. No indicator light came on to warn me of any problem while I was about to enter the interstate highway. So I turned off the road. I brought the truck to my mechanic who stated the frame had broken loose. The mechanic also stated this was not due to wear and tear, but it was in his professional opinion a manufacturing rust defect. He said this should have never happened. I don't have images at the time I'm writing this report because my 4runner is at the service garage, however I can furnish images upon request.

Tl the contact owns a 2000 Toyota 4runner. While the vehicle was being serviced, the contact was informed that the subframe had excessive corrosion and was unsafe to drive. On some sections of the subframe, there were three inch holes. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer and dealer were not contacted. The approximate failure mileage was 201,000.

Frame is excessively rusty and severely cracked, rendering the vehicle unsafe to drive. It became apparent when vehicle began to sway dangerously while driving straight on the highway at a high rate of speed. Slowing down did not help reduce sway. Sway was so excessive that the keys in the ignition were forcefully banging against steering column, and stopping driving immediately was necessary to prevent the vehicle from rolling over. Frame is cracked on both sides, one side severely. Photos included.

This is a very well known issue, my frame on my 2000 4runner is completely rusted out, my shock mount rusted and broke while driving. There are many many many cases of the 3rd gen 4runners rusting out, a simple google search yields pages and pages of corrosion to frames. This needs to be addressed as other Toyota vehicles in this age grou has recalls for frames.

The frame where the lower control arm meets is rusting out at an alarming rate. It is going to be unsafe to drive in a few months when the rear lower control arms will be ripped off from the frame rail. There is almost no rust on the body of the truck and it spend most of its life in arizona out of the salt belt. In only 5 years the frame has started to desegregate and it has been cleaned reqularly. I've started undercoating it with petroleum based products and rust converters/ inhibitors and it is still just meting away. The rust hole has grown to over 2 times the size it was 2 months ago. I'm really disappointed that the frames are this bad, I had gm vehicles older and less maintained do better than this.

While in motion we noticed side to side movement in the rear of the vehicle which felt unstable. . The right rear spring arm broke loose from the frame. Upon inspection it was noticed that the inside of complete frame assembly had 1 1/2 in wide gap rusted away the complete length of the frame.

Vehicle has 180k on it. Its rusted out beyond repair on the frame at both driver and passenger side coil shackles. The tacoma had a frame recall, I believe we should to. My vehicle is only starting its life. Can go 500k plus miles. Something needs to be done.

Drivers side bracket holding rear wheel snapped off while stopped. Unable to drive vehicle as is.

The entire frame under the vehicle is rotting away the vehicle is unsafe to drive and will not pass the PA. State inspection.

Frame corrosion issues need to be addressed. Will cause bodily harm or death should failure occur.

Tl the contact owns a 2000 Toyota 4runner. While driving 70 mph, the rear driver's side trailing arm, which was connected to the frame of the vehicle, fractured. The contact was able to drive the vehicle home safely at a reduced speed. A representative from la crosse Toyota (800 3rd st s, la crosse, WI 54601, (608) 793-7000) inspected the vehicle and took several pictures. The contact was informed that someone would be in touch with him. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The approximate failure mileage was 211,000.

Progressive severe rear frame corrosion leading to structural failure.

Driving in mild winter condition (light wet slush) on a maintained highway my 4runner began to fish tale. When an attempt was made to correct the fish tale no control input from the drive would correct the sliding motion. This caused the vehicle to slide toward the shoulder of the road. On the shoulder of the road the vehicle began to slow to almost a stop, however, the rear end was far enough off the shoulder that it began to be pulled by gravity down hill. While it slid down hill the rear wheel hit a rock causing the axle to snap near the contact point of the wheel. This caused the vehicle to roll one and a half times endangering four lives. The air bags failed to deploy however none were injured. The car was destroyed and not able to be driven.

Just recently bought my 4runner from a dealer. Began swaying at highway speeds and producing a faint clicking sound. The swaying was noticeably prevalent when engaging and disengaging the accelerator, driving over small terrain features (railroad tracks, road seams etc. ) switching lanes and coming to complete stops. Upon inspection found the left rear control arm had completely separated from the main frame. This could potentially have caused serious fatalities. This is an issue that needs to be addressed, it appears that 17 years was the magic number.

Frame of the vehicle is corroded and I almost lost my life. I was driving on the highway when I was picking up speed, I lost control of the steering.

Major rust/corrosion on inside right frame rail extending from front section of vehicle's frame to rear frame. The frame supports near transfer case and the right rear control arm pose a serious risk of detachment. Rear right control arm failure could result in serious crash or injury at city or highway speeds. Rust has eaten through most of the right frame rail with large holes. No action being taken by Toyota, no shop wants to repair.

The truck began to feel funny while driving on a city street,I took it in for inspection,and the frame has separated from rust,making the vehicle unsafe,and a possible death trap for the motorist.

Fail safety inspection doe to a very bad rost frame complete unsafe to useless.

The contact owns a 2000 Toyota 4runner. While driving 50 mph, the vehicle began to shake violently. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the frame rails were severely rusted. The vehicle was not repaired. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 76,000. The VIN was unavailable.

I have a complaint. . What I thought was sway bars turned out to be a frame problem. Ian very disappointed at Toyota that there is no recall on these frames. They are the same as the tacoma frames. Very upset. Could have been killed by this mistake . .

I have only had this truck for 2 months. The frame is rotten so bad that the metal CO netted to the real trailing arm has fallen off the frame. . . The car is unsafe to drive. This is a 17 year old car but there is no way the frame should be rotten this badly. It seems that this is a very common problem for the Toyota's of these years and Toyota had a recall on tacoma but not 4runners. . . . . . I have a Honda that is 5years older and doesn't have any frame for like this. . . . Toyota can do a recall on tacoma and tundra then they can fix the 4runners too!!!!!!.

Severe blowout of frame , engine only has 130 thousand , this issue should be recalled along with the others that have been , its a bad d grade metal that makes up the frame its garbage.

Frame rot beyond repair.

I reported a serious safety issue several years ago with a defective frame weld on my 2000 Toyota 4runner, which caused my rear differential support to separate from the frame while driving at 55-60 mph. This caused a severe, unexpected swaying of the vehicle back and forth and almost complete loss of control.

This is what broke on my truck.

Tl the contact owns a 2000 Toyota 4runner. The contact inspected the vehicle and found that the frame was corroded with holes. The contact also found that the rear control arm was corroded. The contact was unsure if the vehicle could be repaired. The dealer and manufacturer were not conctacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was 194,000.

The frame corroded, making lot of holes in the frame at the bottom of the truck.

The steel frame is rotting through on my 4runner. I have owned a lot of cars and have never seen a frame rot problem like this.

The frame of my car has completely rusted- to the point where parts of it are breaking off. The rest of the body/engine are in great condition. I have done research and there are thousands of other complaints with the same issue on the 3rd generation toytoa 4runners (years 1998-2002). Toyota did a recall on the 1998-2002 tacoma frames which are identical to the 4runner. The car in unsafe to drive and Toyota will take no accountability for this problem.

The contact owns a 2000 Toyota 4runner. While driving 25 mph, the contact heard an abnormal noise and the vehicle moved side to side. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was diagnosed by an independent dealer who diagnosed that the frame was fractured, rusted, and the trailing arm anchor was rusted and fractured. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 111,000.

I took my 2000 4runner into a Toyota dealership for a service check and to have all fluids changed, and as soon as they had the car on the lift they called to inform me that an extensive portion of the passenger side frame rail was rotted. I went to the dealership to inspect the rust and rot under the car and to take photos. I asked if this problem was seen a similar models of my truck and I was told that Toyota has replaced other truck frames under recall, however there are no recalls for the 4runner at this time. I asked how the frame could be repaired, and the service manager told me that they couldn't help me and that I would have to seek another shop, and they sent me on my way. They didn't warn me of any safety concerns nor did they recommend a local shop that could help with the specific repair.