Audited US model-year file

1998 TOYOTA 4Runner

Exact make, model and year evidence from official US sources. Recall campaigns, ODI investigations, complaint allegations and EPA estimates remain separate.

Model-year evidence is not a VIN check.

A campaign may cover only certain production dates, plants or equipment. A zero result here is not safety clearance. Use NHTSA’s official VIN tool for the individual vehicle.

Official VIN lookup ↗

01 · Safety actions first

4 NHTSA recall campaigns

Exact model-level NHTSA results for 1998 TOYOTA 4Runner. Campaign records are official safety actions; applicability to a particular car still requires its VIN.

01
NHTSA Recalls · US · received 2009-04-07

EXTERIOR LIGHTING

Campaign 09E012000
Summary

SABERSPORT IS RECALLING 16,270 COMBINATION CORNER AND BUMPER LAMP ASSEMBLIES OF VARIOUS PART NUMBERS SOLD FOR USE AS AFTERMARKET EQUIPMENT FOR VARIOUS PASSENGER VEHICLES. THESE HEADLAMPS FAIL TO CONFORM TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARD NO. 108, "LAMPS, REFLECTIVE DEVICES, AND ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT." THESE LAMPS DO NOT CONTAIN THE REQUIRED AMBER SIDE REFLECTORS.

Consequence

DECREASED LIGHTING VISIBILITY MAY RESULT IN A VEHICLE CRASH.

Remedy

SABERSPORT WILL NOTIFY OWNERS AND OFFER A FULL REFUND FOR THE NONCOMPLIANT COMBINATION LAMPS. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON MAY 11, 2009. OWNERS MAY CONTACT SABERSPORT AT 1-909-598-7589.

02
NHTSA Recalls · US · received 2006-05-24

EXTERIOR LIGHTING

Campaign 06E049000
Summary

CERTAIN CK MOTORSPORTS COMBINATION HEADLIGHTS, CLEAR CORNER, BUMPER, AND SIDE MARKER LIGHTS SOLD AS REPLACEMENT LAMPS FOR USE ON THE PASSENGER VEHICLES LISTED ABOVE. SOME COMBINATION LAMPS THAT ARE NOT EQUIPPED WITH AMBER SIDE REFLECTORS FAIL TO CONFORM TO FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARD NO. 108, LAMPS, REFLECTIVE DEVICES, AND ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT.

Consequence

WITHOUT THE AMBER REFLECTORS, THE VEHICLE WILL BE POORLY ILLUMINATED, POSSIBLY RESULTING IN A VEHICLE CRASH WITHOUT WARNING.

Remedy

CK MOTORSPORT WILL NOTIFY OWNERS AND REPLACE THE NONCOMPLIANT LAMPS FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON JULY 1, 2006. OWNERS MAY CONTACT CK MOTORSPORT AT 1-909-610-7211.

03
NHTSA Recalls · US · received 2006-03-23

EXTERIOR LIGHTING

Campaign 06E026000
Summary

CERTAIN PRO-A MOTORS CORNER LAMPS, TURN SIGNALS, AND HEADLIGHTS SOLD AS REPLACEMENT LAMPS FOR USE ON CERTAIN PASSENGER VEHICLES LISTED ABOVE. SOME COMBINATION LAMPS THAT ARE NOT EQUIPPED WITH AMBER SIDE REFLECTORS FAIL TO CONFORM TO FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARD NO. 108, LAMPS, REFLECTIVE DEVICES, AND ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT.

Consequence

WITHOUT THE AMBER REFLECTORS, THE VEHICLE WILL BE POORLY ILLUMINATED, POSSIBLY RESULTING IN A VEHICLE CRASH WITHOUT WARNING.

Remedy

PRO-A MOTORS WILL NOTIFY OWNERS AND OFFER TO REPURCHASE THE LAMPS. THE RECALL BEGAN ON APRIL 3, 2006. OWNERS MAY CONTACT PRO-A MOTORS AT 323-838-2988.

04
NHTSA Recalls · US · received 2002-01-18

SUSPENSION

Campaign 02V021000
Summary

ON CERTAIN 2-WHEEL-DRIVE (2WD) AND 4-WHEEL-DRIVE (4WD) 4RUNNER SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES, A COMBINATION OF HEAVY LOADING (SIMULTANEOUS LOADING TO REAR GROSS AXLE WEIGHT RATING AND GROSS VEHICLE WEIGHT RATING) AND SEVERE STEERING MANEUVERS COULD CAUSE THE 2WD 4RUNNER TO LOSE DIRECTIONAL STABILITY.

Consequence

THIS MAY RESULT IN A LOSS OF CONTROL AND COULD INCREASE THE RISK OF A CRASH.

Remedy

DEALERS WILL REPLACE REAR SUSPENSION PARTS. ALTHOUGH THE 4WD 4RUNNERS DO NOT EXHIBIT THE HANDLING CONDITION, TOYOTA WILL RECALL THESE VEHICLES TO AVOID ANY PUBLIC CONFUSION AS TO WHICH VEHICLES SHOULD RECEIVE THE REPLACEMENT PARTS. OWNER NOTIFICATION BEGAN FEBRUARY 28, 2002. OWNERS WHO TAKE THEIR VEHICLES TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER ON AN AGREED UPON SERVICE DATE AND DO NOT RECEIVE THE FREE REMEDY WITHIN A REASONABLE TIME SHOULD CONTACT TOYOTA AT 1-800-331-4331.

02 · Owner allegations

267 NHTSA complaints

Counts are not adjusted for sales, vehicle age, mileage, publicity or reporting behavior. They are allegations, not defect findings or a reliability score.

Crash mentions
19
Fire mentions
6
Injuries reported
21
Most-reported component labels
STRUCTURE80
SUSPENSION60
TIRES34
SERVICE BRAKES18
HYDRAULIC17
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING16
Complaints across nearby Toyota 4Runner model years

Totals for the same nameplate, scaled against its highest year here. They are not adjusted for how many were sold, how old they are, how far they are driven, or how much publicity a fault received — an older or better-selling year will usually carry more reports. This shows where the reporting sits, not which year is better.

  1. 1611996
  2. 2611997
  3. 2671998
  4. 3301999
  5. 4832000
  6. 1852001

A dash means NHTSA holds no complaint record for that exact year, make and model. See all 4Runner years with specs and fuel economy →

03 · Agency review

0 NHTSA ODI investigations

An investigation means ODI reviewed a possible safety issue for this exact model-year identity. Opening one is not a defect finding; closing one does not by itself clear a vehicle.

VERIFIED EMPTY IMPORT SNAPSHOT

No exact NHTSA ODI investigation row was matched.

The checked bulk snapshot returned zero investigation action numbers for 1998 TOYOTA 4Runner. That is source coverage, not proof that no issue exists or will be investigated later.

04 · EPA configurations

Fuel economy & specifications

FuelEconomy.gov records are summarized as ranges where this model name has multiple engines, drivetrains or trims.

EPA configurations
7
Combined economy
16–19 mpg/MPGe
City / highway
15–18 / 18–22 mpg/MPGe
Engine displacement
2.7–3.4 L
Cylinders
4–6
Fuel type
Regular
Drive
4-Wheel or All-Wheel Drive · Rear-Wheel Drive
Vehicle class
Special Purpose Vehicle 2WD · Special Purpose Vehicle 4WD
Annual fuel-cost estimate
$3400–4050

05 · Evidence strength

Exact identity. Explicit limits.

No opaque score. Evidence strength is expressed through source availability, exact match method, jurisdiction and honest empty states.

exact match

Recall campaigns

4 exact US model-year records in this bounded view.

exact match

Complaints

267 exact US model-year allegations; narratives and VIN fragments are omitted.

verified empty

ODI investigations

0 exact US model-year action numbers in the approved import snapshot.

canonical only

Model aliases

Only the exact NHTSA vPIC model name is published; unverified aliases are not merged.

not published

Manufacturer ownership

No rights-reviewed official ownership record is joined to this exact model-year.

PUBLIC EVIDENCE PASSPORT

Identity, freshness and provenance.

The canonical URL is this file’s permanent public identifier. Source IDs and timestamps show exactly what was matched and when; they do not turn the evidence into a verdict.

Permanent public ID
https://modelyearfacts.com/vehicle/1998/toyota/4runner
NHTSA make ID
448
NHTSA model ID
2216
Match key
1998 · TOYOTA · 4Runner · US
Live evidence requested
EPA publication catalogue
Complaint matrix snapshot
Imported safety snapshot
nhtsa-investigations · verified empty

NHTSA ODI investigations

Action number, component, subject and open/close dates from the approved bulk import; long summaries omitted.

Open official source ↗
US-market boundary

Only NHTSA vPIC, NHTSA ODI complaints and investigations, NHTSA recalls and FuelEconomy.gov contribute to this vehicle claim. CPSC equipment notices are searched separately and never joined to vehicle fitment. UK MOT, Canadian, New Zealand and European records are not merged into this US claim.

06 · Research paths

Diagnose first. Confirm fitment.

These are transparent searches, not diagnoses or endorsed parts. Recall remedies come before purchases; exact part fitment requires VIN, trim, powertrain, production date and OE number.

Offers status: held

Awin US and R2 affiliate inventory are not published until a US programme, merchant and exact-fitment projection are approved. No offer currently has both merchant approval and exact vehicle fitment, so commercial links never count as evidence.