2020 Toyota 4RUNNER

The contact owns a 2020 Toyota 4Runner. The contact stated while driving 60 MPH, she became aware that the electronic power steering was not functioning properly, requiring increased effort to maneuver the vehicle. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed a failure with the front timing cover and found that the part was leaking fluid. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 88,000.

The car shakes when going at speeds as low as 48 mph and as high as 68 mph that I know of. Typically, it shakes heaviest from the mid-50 mph range to the mid-60 mph range. I rarely Drive the full speed limit for energy conservation reasons, so I cannot tell you how much higher it goes on the range. The car has had the wheels rebalanced three times (installation, upon purchase from the dealer and on a take back to the dealership), the alignment has been checked twice and I have spoken to the tire manufacturer about the tires being the cause of this. I took the tires into an authorized retailer to no avail. With everything checked, including a road force balancing of the tires, my 4Runner still shakes disturbingly. I called a service advisor at another Toyota dealership today (they were not the seller). In describing the problem to him, he cut me off and said it is a known problem. He went on to share that the dealership had been in contact with Toyota Corporate. It is disturbing for me as a driver, my passengers and from an engineering standpoint; shaking can never be good. It could easily cause premature and unnecessary wear to drive, suspension and steering parts. It could lead to a serious and fatal accident over time. The shaking, I imagine, could also lead to a problem in less than ideal driving conditions such as rain, snow or ice as well.

Steering wheel shakes at highway speeds (58-64mph). Steering wheel has shaken as much as 1.5 inches back and forth, causing vehicle to shake while driving at high speeds. The problem has been confirmed by the dealer and has been in 6 times to try to fix it with no change. The problem started the second week we owned it. It gets progressively worse. Tires can be balanced and it comes right back a few days later. Toyota corporate states that it is a known issue and “is a characteristic of the vehicle” cause by “harmonics.” Tires have been road force balanced, tire/wheels swapped, driven with no drive shaft, driven with computer to turn off torque converter, drive shaft swapped- all with no change. Toyota would not agree to provide loaner car after requesting buyback arbitration. I was told it would take 30-45 days to get arbitration started, and was told to drive the vehicle during that time period. I was told to return loaner and drive 4Runner that was still shaking. I asked dealer to give me something in writing saying that the vehicle was safe and mechanically sound before I left, and they refused.