1997 Toyota 4RUNNER Vehicle speed control Problems
- Complaints
- 11about this part
- Share
- 4%of 261 total for the year
- Median mileage
- 107,038miles
- Trend
- Not enough dataFewer than 15 complaints, too few for a reliable trend.
NHTSA recorded 11 complaints about the vehicle speed control of the 1997 Toyota 4RUNNER, 4% of the 261 complaints for this model year. Where a mileage was given, the median is 107,038 miles. 6 of these say a crash was involved, according to the filers.
Fewer than 15 complaints name this part, so treat the figures as a rough indication only.
Example complaints
Selected from NHTSA records; personal details are removed. They are consumer reports, not findings.
“1n august of 2004 I owned a 1997 toytoa 4 RUNNER. It accelerated on its own to 95 miles per hour. I had it towed to a toytoa dealership after 2months there they told me it was caused by amlfunction ib the cruise control even though the cruise control was not on the repair cost me over 15oo dollars. The same thing happened again 6 months latter I then brrought it to a local service station where the mechanic stated that it was again caused by a malfunction of the cruise control. …”
NHTSA complaint #10313515, filed 2010-02, 95,000 miles“I was on highway 101 driving home recently in my 97 4runner with 200,000+ miles on it after a full servicing at Toyota of santa cruz and my accelerator stuck, idling at 3-4k RPM. After the panic mode of not being able to stop and realizing the brakes will not stop a revving engine, I put it in neutral and slowed the vehicle as the engine revved. I put it back in drive and it seemed to be ok. I got to an area where I could test it out safely and the same thing happened and I had to put it neutral again. …”
NHTSA complaint #10346957, filed 2010-08, 210,000 miles“The gas pedal on my wife's 1997 Toyota 4runner ltd stuck, and almost caused her to crash. She was driving between 30 and 40mph when all of a sudden the vehicle did not slow down when letting off the gas pedal, instead it sped up after letting off of the gas pedal. She tried the brakes, they grabbed, but the vehicle still continued to speed up. She then applied the emergency brake, again, the vehicle did not slow down. Finally she put the transmission into park and the vehicle continued to move until she turned off the vehicle. …”
NHTSA complaint #10003284, filed 2003-01, 96,300 miles“My car was racing when I was at a stop light. Also, I was going through my gas pretty quickly. I brought it to the dealer and they replaced the electronics - they said I had to have this replaced, I could not drive off the lot because it was so dangerous. I no longer have this car but I wanted to report this because it is a Toyota 4 RUNNER and they have not been recalled. Vin number attached for maintenance lookup.”
NHTSA complaint #10313442, filed 2010-02“The contact owns a 1997 Toyota 4runner. The contact was driving approximately 35 MPH, approaching a stop sign. While depressing the brake pedal the vehicle surged forward. An opposing vehicle crashed into the front driver side causing the vehicle to enter the median and roll over. The driver involved in the roll over crash was air lifted to a hospital. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer. The vehicle was completely destroyed. The failure mileage was 210,000.”
NHTSA complaint #10319011, filed 2010-03, 210,000 milesRelated service bulletins
- 10244113Aug 17, 2023TSB: Replacement certification labels (the vinyl label installed on the driver door or door post) and VIN plates (the metal plate riveted to dashboard) (see Figure 1) for most…
Vehicle speed control: other model years
| Year | Complaints | Share of year |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1 | 3% |
| 2022 | 3 | 8% |
| 2021 | 1 | 3% |
| 2018 | 2 | 3% |
| 2017 | 2 | 6% |
| 2016 | 3 | 4% |
| 2015 | 8 | 9% |
| 2014 | 1 | 1% |
| 2013 | 2 | 6% |
| 2012 | 2 | 2% |
| 2011 | 3 | 2% |
| 2010 | 8 | 5% |
| 2009 | 1 | 5% |
| 2008 | 16 | 17% |
| 2007 | 21 | 14% |
| 2006 | 17 | 4% |
| 2005 | 29 | 7% |
| 2004 | 34 | 5% |
| 2003 | 29 | 4% |
| 2002 | 11 | 5% |
| 2001 | 5 | 3% |
| 2000 | 9 | 2% |
| 1999 | 6 | 2% |
| 1998 | 8 | 3% |
| 1997 | 11 | 4% |
| 1996 | 5 | 3% |
| 1994 | 3 | 5% |
| 1992 | 6 | 11% |
| 1991 | 1 | 2% |
| 1990 | 5 | 6% |
Other parts of the 1997 Toyota 4RUNNER
95 complaintsBody and structure
76 complaintsBrakes
29 complaintsTransmission and drivetrain
25 complaintsOther or unknown
21 complaintsTires
18 complaintsEngine cooling
14 complaintsSteering
14 complaintsAir bags
9 complaintsEquipment
7 complaintsElectrical system
6 complaintsSeat belts
5 complaints
← All problems reported for the 1997 Toyota 4RUNNER
About this data. Data from NHTSA (ODI) complaints, recalls, TSBs and investigations, updated Oct 31, 2026. Complaints are unverified consumer reports and may be duplicated or inaccurate.
To check a specific vehicle for open recalls, use its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls. Methodology