Other powertrain problem on the 2005 Toyota 4RUNNER
When other powertrain problem gets reported
Owners of the 2005 Toyota 4RUNNER report other powertrain problem at a median of 100,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 80,000 miles and a quarter after 145,000 miles, from 8 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 92,000 miles. It is the 11th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 50,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 205,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 158,890 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.
13% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 48,460 miles | 77,950 miles | 101,500 miles | 143,375 miles | 207,350 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 $400–$4,500 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 17 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2019, at a median of 500 miles, and latest on the 1999 at 190,000 miles.
By volume the 2006 carries the most reports, with 20; the 2005 has 12. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
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.
1. Happened since about 15-20k miles on my 2005 4runner (I'm the first and only owner). 2. Occurs when coming to a stop, large clunk sound and vehicle jolts forward right after a full stop. 3. Nothing has been done to correct the failure. Each time the toyota dealer service tech takes it for a ride they cannot replicate it, I went once and was not able to replicate it at that time. However, there are numerous online forum discussions about the issue (see this one: http://www.tundrasolutions.com/forums/4runner/53302-4runner-v8-clunk-in-drivetrain/). Apparently a recall fix for the lexus 470 (same as a toyota 4runner like mine) has been provided for lexus owners but not for toyota owners. The parts to solve the issue are identical. Toyota dealer service department stated unless toyota motor corp. Actually issues a recall and provides details on a fix, they are not able to do anything since we cannot replicate it when they are servicing my 4runner. *tr
I am writing today to alert you to a potential accelerator problem with the 2005 toyota 4runner SUV. In mid-december, my husband and I were driving on the highway when the car inexplicably accelerated, going from approximately 40 MPH to about 60 MPH within a matter of seconds. My husband, who has had professional driving instruction, put the car into neutral and was able to slow the car down, at which point the accelerator (which was moving towards the floor without a foot on it) popped back up and the brakes began working again. However, within this same journey, this same accelerator program occurred two additional times. We immediately took the SUV to toyota of alexandria in virginia and explained what happened. They notified us that our car was not subject to a recall for accelerator problems but, based on our concerns, agreed to examine the SUV. To their credit, they did call in a corporate inspector to examine the dissembled drive train who in turn determined that an accumulation of oil in the differentials caused the cars computer to misread acceleration and deceleration information. Despite this diagnosis -- and subsequent…
When coming to a stop vehicle tends to shift into first gear late, right at stopping and it feels like a bump or someone hitting you from behind. This depends on how fast the vehicle is stopped. If stopped faster, the vehicle never shifts into first gear at stopping. After the brake is released the vehicle feels as if shifting from second to first gear. Manually down shifting the vehicle in all gears feels normal except from second to first. There is a hesitation between these gears, the vehicle coast as if in neutral for about two seconds then shifts into first gear. This website also describes the "bump" feel from other owners, search for "bump" http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f0dacc5/175. *tr
Also reported on the 2005 Toyota 4RUNNER
Other body or interior problem
Rust or structural corrosion
Other suspension problem
Control arm, ball joint or bushing failure
Other visibility problem
Other speed control problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 12 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 other powertrain problem happen on the 2005 Toyota 4RUNNER?
Across 8 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 100,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 80,000 miles and a quarter after 145,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other powertrain problem on the 2005 Toyota 4RUNNER?
12 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.1 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