2017 Toyota 4RUNNER - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2017 Toyota 4Runner SUV 2WD has an overall safety rating of 4 out of 5. It performed well in side crash ratings, receiving 5 stars for both the driver and passenger sides. However, the front crash passenger side rating was slightly lower at 3 stars. The vehicle also received a 5-star rating for overall side barrier and side pole crash tests. It is equipped with standard electronic stability control, which enhances the vehicle's handling in challenging road conditions.

Although the Toyota 4Runner does not have forward collision warning or lane departure warning features, it still offers a good level of safety. In terms of complaints and recalls, there have been 29 complaints and 5 recalls reported for this vehicle. It is important for owners to address these issues promptly to ensure the continued safety and reliability of their Toyota 4Runner.

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Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

29

Recall Count

5

Investigation Count

1

Safety Rating

4/5

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Safety Features

2017 Toyota 4Runner SUV 2WD Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2017 Toyota 4Runner SUV 2WD

Electronic Stability Control (ESC)

ESC is an advanced safety feature in vehicles designed to help drivers maintain control during challenging driving conditions. By continuously monitoring various factors such as steering angle, vehicle speed, and individual wheel speeds, ESC can detect and reduce the risk of skidding or loss of control. It achieves this by automatically applying brakes to specific wheels to stabilize the vehicle.

Standard
Forward Collision Warning (FCW)

Forward Collision Warning (FCW) is a safety feature in vehicles that helps prevent frontal collisions by alerting the driver of an imminent collision with a vehicle or obstacle ahead. Using sensors such as radar or cameras, FCW monitors the distance and speed of vehicles in front, and if it detects a potential collision, it provides visual and/or auditory warnings to prompt the driver to take evasive action.

No
Lane Departure Warning (LDW)

Lane Departure Warning (LDW) is a safety feature in vehicles that alerts drivers when their vehicle unintentionally drifts out of its lane without signaling. Utilizing cameras or sensors to monitor lane markings on the road, LDW detects when the vehicle crosses these lines and triggers visual, auditory, or haptic alerts to notify the driver of potential lane departure.

No

2017 Toyota 4Runner SUV 2WD Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2017 Toyota 4Runner SUV 2WD Where possible we've included the ratings for the oldest and latest models of this car so you can compare how the safety ratings have changed over time.

Frontal Crash Ratings

Combines Driver and Passenger star ratings into a single frontal rating. The frontal barrier test simulates a head-on collision between two similar vehicles, each moving at 35 mph.

Test 2005 Score 2017 Score 2024 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating Not Rated 4 4
Front Crash Driver Side Rating 4 4 4
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating 4 3 3

Side Crash Ratings

Combines Side Barrier and Side Pole Star Ratings into a single side rating.

Test 2005 Score 2017 Score 2024 Score
Overall Side Crash Rating Not Rated 5 5
Side Crash Drivers Side Rating 5 5 5
Side Crash Passenger Side Rating 5 5 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Front Not Rated 5 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Rear Not Rated 5 5
Overall Side Barrier Rating Not Rated 5 5

Rollover Ratings

The Rollover Resistance test measures the risk of rollover in a single-vehicle, loss-of-control scenario.

Test 2005 Score 2017 Score 2024 Score
Rollover Rating 3 3 3
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result No Tip No Tip No Tip
Side Pole Crash Rating Not Rated 4 4

Complaints for the 2017 Toyota 4RUNNER

This chart show the number of complaints for each car component. A Higher number of complaints could indicate that this car might have a common fault. Something to look out for when purchasing one.

Component Complaints

Choose a component to see what complaints people have made about them.

Complaint:
"failed brake master cylinder, this is still a rather new vehicle and the mechanics said this is unlikely in a new low mileage vehicle. i did research and this has only happened a few times, seems like a safety recall should be put in place."
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2023-05-02
Complaint:
"while driving at full speed on the freeway, another vehicle stopped suddenly in front of me. my brake pedal was soft and went down almost to the floor. rapid pulsing of brakes, as would be expected with the abs (antilock brake system), did not occur. i pulled around to the shoulder and barely managed to stop in time to avoid a collision, which was quite a frightening experience. i have had a few similar incidents since then, and have noticed that the brake pedal is a bit soft until pumping the pedal a few times. a local dealer diagnosed the problem and said the "abs actuator assembly" has failed and needs to be replaced. the part itself costs >$2900, making this with labor a ~$3800 repair. (please see attached) 1. this part is not subject to normal wear and tear. 2. although beyond the 3/36 warranty, this vehicle is relatively new (2019) with only ~55k miles on it. this part should not fail after so relatively few miles. 3. failure of this abs part causes the entire brake system to fail, since the abs is tied in to the brake system. 4. failure of this part represents a severe hazard, risk, and safety concern, with significant potential to cause injury or death of driver/passengers/pedestrians, or persons in other vehicles. 5. the cost to repair this is not trivial and represents a major expense. i feel that in light of the above, toyota should accept responsibility for failure of this part. thank you, [xxx] san diego information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6)."
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2023-03-09
Complaint:
"in motion, from street turning into store parking lot, brakes faded completely to the floor. lifted off and applied pedal to stop. no leaks, plenty of fluid. i will check with another dealer. there are quite a few cases of this on the t4r forums. dealers can not duplicate. this is very dangerous to not have an answer for. opinions are electrical antilock issues.? (there is no air in lines, no leaks and no codes)"
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2018-10-10
Complaint:
"when you apply the brakes with full force while driving; the brakes lock up for a short period of time on one side of the vehicle, causing the vehicle to swerve uncontrollably. this is extremely dangerous vehicle when the brakes are applied with hard force at speeds at around 35 mph or higher. luckily i am a very experienced driver and car handler and was able to react quick enough to control the vehicle one time when i had to apply the brakes hard at highway speeds when a car swerved in front of me suddenly. i have since done many tests on this vehicle myself and concluded that one wheel on the left side of the vehicle is locking up which is causing the vehicle to quickly and violently swerve. the test i did was to apply the brakes very hard and suddenly while driving on a flat grassy field at 35 mph. the grass in the field had been cut a few days earlier and was at a height of about 4 inches and dry, the air temperature was 82 degrees f. after applying the brakes hard, i would stop the vehicle and go back and look at the path of the vehicle where the brakes were applied. there was clearly a patch of ground the same width as the tire, exposed down to about one inch below surface with no grass, where the one wheel that locked up, skidded and ripped the grass and dirt up. i have done this test multiple times and based on my results have concluded that one wheel on the left side is locking up. i did not that if i repeat the test several times back to back, the problem seems to correct itself at times. but always on the initial test, the lock up occurs. i have had it to two different toyota dealers and they both told me that the brakes are working as designed. if yes, this is a very dangerous design and i don't feel safe at all, and i also noticed that there are several other complaints about the brakes for this 4runner model years."
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2018-06-03
Complaint:
"vehicle bought new 8/2017. has approx. 7,000mles. this is the 3rd or 4th similar incident but the most severe. driving on i-95, approx. 60 mpr, today, when i applied the brakes they seemed to lock and although my first thought was that the car also accelerated it may have been only my expectation of slowing down and that wasn't happening. the brake pedal only seemed to compress about 2-3". luckily i was able to pull over and the car did stop. i continued on without incident but like i said this was the 3rd or 4th time and the most severe."
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2019-08-04
Complaint:
"approaching an intersection on city streets i experienced temporary brake failure. when applying the brakes to slow down the pedal went all the way to the floor and did not slow down the vehicle. after rolling through the intersection without incident i pumped the brake pedal a few times which returned the brakes to an operational status. this has happened 3 times in 2 days. other toyota 4runner owners have also reported the same or similar issues in the last 12months."
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2019-09-03
Complaint:
"i pulled up to a stop light and applied the brakes. i stopped but while i was sitting with the brakes applied, my 4runner started rolling forward. i had to push the brake peddle to the floor to a point i could barely reach to get it to stop again. i took it to the dealership and they agreed the brakes were not acting right. they could see on the computer that something was wrong as well. they said i would need a new master cylinder on the 4runner. the vehicle is only 2 1/2 months old with 2500 miles. when i picked up the vehicle, they said they talked with toyota and it was only the 2nd case of this happening in the us. the morning it happened it was around 30 to 35 f outside. when the dealership tested it they said they applied the brakes to stop and it slowly started moving forward after a few seconds like had happened at the stop light. they replaced the master cylinder and when i picked it up everything seemed to be working ok."
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2018-01-12
Complaint:
"re: complaint 11043597. experienced complete loss of brakes. no warning light. brakes were reset? after vehicle arrived at dealer. ecu did not download any warning codes. based on this, toyota will not repair/replace corresponding brake components and want me to drive the car. this was a complete brake loss with pedal to the floor and no brakes. used parking brake and transmission to stop car. checking the net, there are other 5th generation 4runners with similar brake failures and similar no action from toyota"
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2019-02-10
Complaint:
"brake failure. approaching 4 way stop. went to apply brakes, heard-felt a pop and pedal went to floor and lost all braking power. this is a new vehicle. had to use parking brake and transmission to slow to stop. fortunately only going 30mph........still rolled into center of 4 way intersection. thank god no cars in front of me or there would have been an accident."
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2019-02-10

Recalls for the 2017 Toyota 4RUNNER

Component Recalls

Choose a component to see what recalls people have made about them.

Recall:
"southeast toyota distributors, llc (set) is recalling certain 2017-2019 toyota 4runner vehicles that set modified to be equipped with a trd wheel package. the gross vehicle weight rating (gvwr) on the certification label may be incorrect, possibly resulting in the vehicle being overloaded. as such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard (fmvss) number 110, "tire selection and rims.""
Consequence:
An overloaded vehicle can increase the risk of a crash.
Remedy:

SET will notify owners and mail them corrected certification labels, free of charge. The recall began November 28, 2018. Owners may contact SET customer service at 1-866-405-4226. SET's number for this recall is SET18A.

Component(s) Involved: EQUIPMENT > OTHER > LABELS
Date of incident: 2018-10-25
Recall:
"toyota motor engineering & manufacturing (toyota) is recalling certain 2017-2018 toyota 4runner and tundra, 2018 toyota highlander, rav4 and lexus gx460 and 2017 toyota sienna and tacoma vehicles. these vehicles may have incorrect load carrying capacity modification labels. as such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard (fmvss) number 110, "tire selection and rims.""
Consequence:
An incorrect load information label can result in the operator overloading the vehicle and increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy:

Toyota will notify owners and provide them with corrected labels, free of charge. The recall began on January 23, 2018. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's numbers for this recall are H0Z for Toyota vehicles, and HLF for Lexus vehicles.

Component(s) Involved: EQUIPMENT > OTHER > LABELS
Date of incident: 2017-12-20

TOYOTA Overall Complaint Ranking

This table shows the ranking of car manufacturers when it comes to most complaints and recalls. The manufacturer with the most complaints is at the top. However this doesn't necassarily mean they should be avoided. Some manufacturers might just have more popular or affordable cars which a lot of people have bought. Which means there's more scope for a complaint to be made. Use the ranking table below as a part your wider research into buying a car.

TOYOTA ranks 3 out of 44 in the complaints ranking table.

Manufacturer Complaint Count Recall Count Ranking
FORD 208,358 3,259 1
CHEVROLET 111,306 2,082 2
TOYOTA 81,019 1,852 3
HONDA 61,937 1,268 4
NISSAN 56,226 930 5
DODGE 45,756 827 6
HYUNDAI 44,150 649 7
GMC 34,441 1,410 8
KIA 29,832 501 9
CHRYSLER 27,698 254 10
TESLA 26,230 730 11
BMW 24,890 1,877 12
VOLKSWAGEN 23,125 829 13
MERCEDES-BENZ 19,066 2,925 14
SUBARU 18,513 703 15
MAZDA 10,599 364 16
PONTIAC 10,430 138 17
CADILLAC 9,434 444 18
AUDI 7,865 1,093 19
BUICK 7,851 279 20
SATURN 7,672 84 21
MERCURY 7,374 135 22
LEXUS 6,373 408 23
LINCOLN 5,897 423 24
ACURA 5,722 382 25
MINI 5,585 366 26
INFINITI 4,000 187 27
MITSUBISHI 3,912 397 28
VOLVO 3,875 727 29
PORSCHE 2,646 1,231 30
SUZUKI 2,272 123 31
FIAT 2,205 80 32
SAAB 1,536 76 33
JAGUAR 1,195 198 34
SMART 528 17 35
GENESIS 436 42 36
ISUZU 249 37 37
ALFA ROMEO 161 37 38
MASERATI 76 46 39
BENTLEY 46 159 40
POLESTAR 42 2 41
LUCID 14 6 42
CODA 4 2 43
MAYBACH 0 0 44

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