"How reliable is the 1990 Toyota 4Runner?"

"Based on 95 NHTSA complaints, the 1990 Toyota 4Runner has a median complaint mileage of 150000 miles. The most common issue is Engine."

"What are common problems with the 1990 Toyota 4Runner?"

"The most frequently reported component in NHTSA complaints for the 1990 Toyota 4Runner is Engine, accounting for a significant portion of the 95 total complaints filed."

1990 Toyota 4Runner: Reliability Data

Source: NHTSA — 95 complaints

Total Complaints

150,000mi

Median Mileage

Engine

Top Issue

Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

Distribution of NHTSA complaints by vehicle mileage at time of report.

133,965 25th Percentile

150,000 Median Mileage

209,000 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

Engine

Automatic Transmission

Gasoline

Pedal/Hand Lever(Motorcycle)

Engine And Engine Cooling

Door

Vehicle Speed Control

Antilock/Traction Control/Electronic Limited Slip

Cooling System

Tread/Belt

Severity Assessment

Crashes

Fires

Injuries

Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"REPLACED ENGINE BELTS."

"REPLACED BOTH ENGINE HEAD GASKETS. *AK"

"THE ENGINE HEAD IS BAD . TT"

Source: NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Names and identifying details omitted.

When Were Complaints Filed?

Number of complaints by the year the issue occurred.

When Does Each Component Fail?

Median mileage at complaint for top components.

Engine 27 complaints

25th: 52,250 mi Median: 72,006 mi 75th: 103,224 mi

Where Are Complaints Coming From?

Top states by complaint count.

CA: 36 TX: 5 NY: 5 WA: 5 WY: 4 AZ: 4 VT: 4 OH: 3 MA: 3 UT: 3

Who Files Complaints?

20%

Original Owners

80%

Second+ Owners

Toyota 4Runner — Other Years

See how this model compares across different model years.

Year	Complaints	Median Mileage	Top Issue	Crashes
1991	55	164,000	Engine	3
1992	73	143,000	Engine	8
1993	58	150,000	Engine	6
1995	52	135,000	Engine	3
1996	92	182,000	Body	7
1997	200	175,000	Suspension	25
1998	168	170,000	Body	9
1999	312	170,000	Body	17
2000	520	147,031	Body	18
2001	205	125,094	Body	8
2002	261	136,000	Body	15
2003	718	128,000	Body	22
2004	846	124,800	Body	33
2005	550	113,000	Body	25
2006	518	103,000	Body	34
2007	204	77,000	Body	9
2008	134	59,000	Power Train	15
2009	33	23,000	Automatic Transmission	8
2010	175	54,300	Air Bags	11
2011	180	41,320	Air Bags	4
2012	111	44,415	Air Bags	7
2013	46	74,100	Unknown Or Other	1
2014	89	50,000	Electrical System	6
2015	116	38,977	Air Bags	15
2016	101	25,000	Electrical System	8
2017	47	13,000	Unknown Or Other	2
2018	74	20,000	Steering	11
2019	82	15,000	Unknown Or Other	6
2020	41	9,000	Unknown Or Other	8
2021	52	637	Steering	5
2022	54	200	Unknown Or Other	5
2023	41	9,000	Unknown Or Other	10
2025	44	-	Service Brakes	2

Data source: View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov | NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Public domain.

Methodology: Complaint counts and mileage distributions are computed directly from consumer-reported NHTSA complaints. This data represents reported issues, not failure rates — vehicles without complaints are not represented. Full methodology.

Data through: 2026-03-28