Fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure on the 2003 Toyota 4RUNNER
When fuel tank, filler or evap failure gets reported
Owners of the 2003 Toyota 4RUNNER report fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure at a median of 160,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 100,000 miles and a quarter after 190,000 miles, from 13 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 88,000 miles. It is the 9th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 80,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 215,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 134,132 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
0% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80,868 miles | 100,000 miles | 162,352 miles | 189,156 miles | 215,000 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $250–$1,800 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 11 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2006, at a median of 50,000 miles, and latest on the 1999 at 200,000 miles.
By volume the 2003 is the worst of them, which makes this a problem of this specific year rather than of the model as a whole.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
We purchased the vehicle in 2008 for $14,000 from a local toyota dealer, with 84,000 miles on it. The transmission lines rusted out shortly after that, the steering rack has been replaced twice, and now the gas tank has fallen down, and there is nothing left to attach a new support to. An automobile that should have a value of $6,000 + is now worthless, and we cannot even drive it safely. This was a chronic problem that was addressed by toyota early on, but they managed to avoid repairing this vehicle. Is there anything that I can do, other than warn others against buying a toyota. "ask someone who drives one". *tr
I am the original owner of the 2003 toyota 4runner ltd. I always seen rust on the frame since I purchased the truck and had it serviced at a toyota dealership. They never told me the rust was bad or had through holes in the frame because they never looked. Recently I decided to request the dealership to look specifically at the frame for holes. They found may holes near the gas tank crossmembers and passenger side under bumper and driver side bumper. There are no campaigns or programs to cover under warranty for corrosion issues. However we know that toyota had a recall for 110,000 tundras and are performing undercoating for tacomas. (my brother is having this done on his 2006) I tow a boat with my 4runner and I am not sure if it is safe to tow anymore. I feel toyota is responsible for the frame rusting so bad and should fix the rusted parts like they did for the tundras or tacomas. *tr
2003 toyota 4runner has very excessive amount of rust and corrosion on the undercarriage. Took the vehicle to a local auto repair shop to have a rattling sound checked out. Turns out, the heat shield broke loose and was resting on the exhaust assembly. Also, a muffler hangar was ready to come loose. In addition to this, the mechanic informed me the gas tank supports were also rotted away. I've been doing some research on online forums and found that other toyota vehicles, such as the tacoma, have been recalled for this same problem. In the interest of safety, I think these issues merit further investigation. *tr
Also reported on the 2003 Toyota 4RUNNER
Other body or interior problem
Rust or structural corrosion
Other suspension problem
Control arm, ball joint or bushing failure
Other brake problem
Radiator or coolant leak
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 15 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does fuel tank, filler or evap failure happen on the 2003 Toyota 4RUNNER?
Across 13 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 160,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 100,000 miles and a quarter after 190,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is fuel tank, filler or evap failure on the 2003 Toyota 4RUNNER?
15 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.2 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed