Steering Wheel Vibration

I was hoping for some advice on a steering wheel vibration I have been having with my 2003 Toyota 4-Runner SR5 - 2 wheel drive

Immediately after taking delivery I noticed a vibration in the steering wheel that over time and service has alternated between slight and severe at highway speeds. The vibration would be horizontal (left/right) at about 5-15 cycles per second if you were holding the steering wheel at the top. I have taken the vehicle in numerous times to have this issue serviced and repaired.

To make what is becoming a very long story short, the vehicle has now (a) been to two different dealerships, Atlanta Toyota and Legacy Toyota, (b) had numerous test drives by both dealerships, both of whom acknowledge a steering wheel vibration, (c) three different sets of new tires (d) a couple of “rotate and balances” and (e) at least one alignment, all in an attempt to fix this problem, yet the steering wheel vibration problem remains.

One “repair” to this problem, done by Atlanta Toyota over a year and 33,000 miles ago, was to replace the tires with a new set of the same brand of tires. After this tire replacement was completed, we brought the car back to them within 30 minutes; the repair had no affect whatsoever on the steering wheel vibration. They then replaced the tires yet again with a different brand. This helped the vibration problem significantly, but did not fix it.

I contacted Toyota Customer Experience (“TCE”), lodged a complaint and received a reference number. After I did this TCE supposedly called all the dealerships involved to figure out what was going on. The day after I contacted TCE I was contacted by Legacy Toyota who told me my car was fixed. Astoundingly, they charged me $110.00 for yet another rotate and balance along with an alignment, yet the vehicle had only 34,000 miles on it and as such was supposedly still under warranty for issues such as this. Needless to say, that invoice is going to be sent to Toyota attached to a rather nasty letter and the credit card company will be told not to pay the dealer because the charges are in dispute.

I guess I am running out of options. My wife likes the car and would like to keep it. However, I am beginning to think that Lemon Law is the only way out of this mess.

In closing, a couple questions.

1. What else might be done to fix the problem? I really just want the problem permanently fixed.

2. Is this typical for Toyota warranty service? It certainly wasn’t for GM’s warranty service.

3. Should I just Lemon Law the car and be done with it?


Thanks in advance.

I was hoping for some advice on a steering wheel vibration I have been having with my 2003 Toyota 4-Runner SR5 - 2 wheel drive

Immediately after taking delivery I noticed a vibration in the steering wheel that over time and service has alternated between slight and severe at highway speeds. The vibration would be horizontal (left/right) at about 5-15 cycles per second if you were holding the steering wheel at the top. I have taken the vehicle in numerous times to have this issue serviced and repaired.

To make what is becoming a very long story short, the vehicle has now (a) been to two different dealerships, Atlanta Toyota and Legacy Toyota, (b) had numerous test drives by both dealerships, both of whom acknowledge a steering wheel vibration, (c) three different sets of new tires (d) a couple of “rotate and balances” and (e) at least one alignment, all in an attempt to fix this problem, yet the steering wheel vibration problem remains.

One “repair” to this problem, done by Atlanta Toyota over a year and 33,000 miles ago, was to replace the tires with a new set of the same brand of tires. After this tire replacement was completed, we brought the car back to them within 30 minutes; the repair had no affect whatsoever on the steering wheel vibration. They then replaced the tires yet again with a different brand. This helped the vibration problem significantly, but did not fix it.

I contacted Toyota Customer Experience (“TCE”), lodged a complaint and received a reference number. After I did this TCE supposedly called all the dealerships involved to figure out what was going on. The day after I contacted TCE I was contacted by Legacy Toyota who told me my car was fixed. Astoundingly, they charged me $110.00 for yet another rotate and balance along with an alignment, yet the vehicle had only 34,000 miles on it and as such was supposedly still under warranty for issues such as this. Needless to say, that invoice is going to be sent to Toyota attached to a rather nasty letter and the credit card company will be told not to pay the dealer because the charges are in dispute.

I guess I am running out of options. My wife likes the car and would like to keep it. However, I am beginning to think that Lemon Law is the only way out of this mess.

In closing, a couple questions.

1. What else might be done to fix the problem? I really just want the problem permanently fixed.

2. Is this typical for Toyota warranty service? It certainly wasn’t for GM’s warranty service.

3. Should I just Lemon Law the car and be done with it?


Thanks in advance.


This run around routine sadly is quite common in dealerships (you lucky if you find a good one that can handle all your needs in situations like this and have the sense to farm it out to an independent that specializes)and if those idiot morons haven't the common sense and DECENCY to admit they don't know and refer you to an independent source more qualified and specializing in your paticular problem I would go all the way to the top and make them aware of your dissatisfaction and forget futher communication with those two dealerships.And I would demand a full refund of all money since they fixed nothing.This fits the requirements for lemonlaw but do you like the vehicle???


Sounds like it might be a problem related to loose/bad front suspension parts such as A-frame bushings,front shocks/bushings,wheel/rim defect(not tire as you already replaced those)or rack mount bushings even.


Have you tried taking it to an independent that specializes in alignments and suspension problems and have them check it out????

By the way you have a great case for lemonlaw and getting all money back as even one equally an idiot would realize those morons are clueless having replaced 3-4 sets of tires and not much else beside rotating and balancing tires and even more astondingly they did this once again last time...kind of reminds me of that commercial where the guy is riding the bus past place where his car sits waiting to be repaired ... calls the mgr. asking about how the repairs on his car is coming who says (after looking out and seeing his 3 fat stupid looking greasy mechanics sitting on car eatting lunch)..."yeah I got my 3 best guys on it right now as we speak"....LMAO

Thanks for the replies.

My wife really likes the vehicle, that is the reason I am still trying to get it fixed. I have not taken it to a speciality shop yet, so far I have been trying to get this resolved under warranty. With 34,000 miles on the vehicle, the urgency is becoming greater every day, as the warranty is about to expire. They haven't fixed it yet, and my hand will soon be forced (lemon law).

I just got a call from a lady at Legacy Toyota (the guys who charged me $110.00 for nothing). Evidently, complaining to Toyota Customer Experience is now having something of an effect. Notably, she did not mention me getting my $110.00 back. I don't get why this is such a problem; do they not know what is coming? They are going to look at this situation, and all the previous paperwork from both Atlanta and Legacy Toyota, again.

I really just want the car fixed.

What really scares me is the safety issues in regards to all the other steering/suspension stuff it could be. I bought this car new for my wife so she would have something safe to drive with all the new safety features. If I wouldn't have cared about her (or my) safety, we would still be driving my 87 S-10 Blazer with 200,000 + on the odometer. It might not have had ABS, Airbags for 15 years of accident survivability studies and engineering, but at least it rolled down the road straight without shaking anything on the vehicle.

Regardless, even if they now make it right, Toyota national will still be getting a letter. This should have been easy; it obviously isn't tires.

The dealership's are idiots and morons in such matters as yours...stop wasting time and try an independent (well established)suspension/allignment shop and ask them if they have any ideas if you want the problem resolved.....is there a Toyota America (public/consumer relations) or equivelent you can contact?I know Nissan has one that I had to contact to chew out the dealership I had problems with