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What 96 owners told NHTSA about the 2012 Toyota 4RUNNER Hybrid

These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.

All (96)Crash / fire / injury (7)Airbags (70)Brakes (7)Electrical system (6)Engine (5)Fuel system (5)Steering (5)Body & structure (2)Speed control (2)Suspension (2)Electronic Stability Control (esc) (1)

1 of 96 complaints match · Engine · crash/fire/injury only · clear filters

Jan 14, 2015EngineFire

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 TOYOTA 4RUNNER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AT AN UNKNOWN SPEED, AN ABNORMAL SMELL EMITTED INTO THE VEHICLE AND IT BECAME EXTREMELY HOT AROUND HIS FEET. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE MADE A LOUD POP NOISE AND AFTER MERGING TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD HE NOTICED FLAMES COMING FROM THE FRONT PASSENGER SIDE OF THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO A DEALER. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 49,000.

NHTSA ODI 10672541

Working with the data? Download all 96 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 21, 2026

How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the full 2012 Toyota 4RUNNER Hybrid verdict →