2020 4runner shifting issues

sorry to hear about your problems with your new 4Runner, i hope you get it resolved soon so you can begin to love with it.

 

Sounds like we are pretty close to each other, any chance it's Classic that your taking it to? They try pretty hard to figure stuff out. Coming from a couple of new 8 speed Silverados, I got very familiar with hard shifts and had to adjust how I drove to smooth things out. Sometimes it felt and sounded like I was rear-ended with those things and my 2006 work truck can feel like the bottom fell out sometimes. My daughter's 2019 Camry is no peach either as far as shifting refinement.

Do you know if they have checked the trans fluid level or replaced the fluid?

Some things I've noticed with both of our 2020s, the engine braking is very noticeable. I can let off the gas coming off the highway and it will darn near stop the vehicle for me. Nose dive is also extreme, if I tap the brakes on and off it looks like the 4Runner is head banging lol. There are also some situations that will create a hard / confused shift. One turn down by my job will do it every single time if I'm not gentle. That turn is just the perfect combo of brake time vs accelerator +speed to create a hard shift.

Part of why I like the 4Runner is because it reminds me of and drives like an old truck (because it is). It actually kind of blows me away that so many people buy them with how un-refined and old school it is.

Not saying you don't actually have an issue or anything, just wanted to point out that occasional rough shifts happen and it takes nothing to create a bit of nose dive. By comparison, my boss has a new Jeep Wrangler and when we went to lunch the other day, it shifted much smoother and had vastly less nose dive. It felt like a much more modern vehicle.

 

Get a carfax report on your 4Runner. The "dealer should have" reported any work they did.
Not sure how much they cost though.

 

I believe you can also log into Toyota's customer portal put in your vehicles info and see the history reported to Toyota. I'm not sure what all is reported, but this is how I checked up on my old FJ60 - I saw that the previous owner did a certain TSB repair.

 

I sure hope they gave you a loaner during all of this...

 

Very sorry this is happening to you. Keep good records of this. And research your stare’s lemon law. It’s probably similar to 4 attempts to fix the problem within 2 years, or 30 days out of service within 2 years, or a serious safety issue. In your case it may be open to the dealer’s interpretation since they can’t duplicate the problem yet. Keep after them, good luck.

 

This vehicle only had 750 mile on it when this issue started so definitely a issue from build but having hard time pin pointing the problem

 

The dealership definitely has Toyota owes me a new one because they have absolutely never seen a Toyota act like this 2 more trips and it is a lemon they are definitely helping in this area!

 

Yes it is Classic!! They have been great! I will tell you that Toyota is involved and running a lot of data from the computer and the techs are having to drive it with the computer hooked up we are waiting on Toyota to make the call but it has faults that they can not exactly pin point but Toyota has said some safety features are glitching. Also it is not constant, but once the hard shift starts it doesn’t stop until you shut the vehicle off long enough to reset the computer. But when you shut it off long enough to set the data it doesn’t save anything error code wise which is why Toyota is stumped because it should and also with it is doing dash lights should be coming on per Toyota but nothing. So all you 2020 4Runner owners if you experience anything like this take it in Toyota is looking at the problem (recall maybe warranted due to safety hazard). The engine braking is very noticeable but the one is like the gears a slipping but the technician is clueless (and cringed when we went on the test drive when it happened and also perplexed at the fact no code came up on reasoning) and has turned to Toyota and now Toyota is having trouble trying to ping why it is having errors. All I know is the other day the day I took it back in I was driving down the road going about 30mph and it slammed on the breaks when I was trying to accelerate! So I have been in a loaner off and on for as long as I have been in my 4Runner

 

You can be sure that info is stored on a drive somewhere in Toyotaland.

 

Similar issue on my 2020 TRD Off Road this weekend. The trouble light indicator for the radar had been on 20 minutes earlier, then went off and the cruise appeared to be working normal for about 10 minutes. Cruise Control was on when the car downshifted for no reason and the engine RPMs rapidly increased to maintain speed. There were not any cars ahead of us. I shut off cruise, transmission went back to normal and was OK. Cruise back on, repeat of problem again with 20 seconds. This was in driving snow in the Keweenaw Peninsula this past weekend. I stopped the car, shut off the engine, cleaned slush off of the radar and no problems in the snow or in the 400+ mile drive home. I am chalking it up to the slush on the sensor, but don't understand why the car was downshifting instead of braking if it thought there was a car ahead. I wonder if it was applying the brakes and trying to maintain the speed at the same time.

 

Well after a case was opened with Toyota and my vehicle was drove by the dealership for a month and lots a data a calls between dealership and Toyota I am finally getting a new transmission! This Toyota 4Runner I purchased had a faulty transmission! Just my 2020 covid luck

 

Sorry to hear that man. But, hope the transmission swap fixed it so you can enjoy your 4Runner trouble free as you’re supposed to.

 

As others said, keep detailed records. If this problem persists, contact a lemon law attorney. The process is quite easy and I ended up having a manufacturer replace a vehicle with a newer/upgraded model....it was not a Toyota product though.

Hope you can enjoy your truck finally.

 

Thankfully the service manager has done everything possible to make things right for me! I purchased my vehicle from another dealership further away as the vehicle I purchased was quite the “unicorn” to find and had a dealer hold so my local dealer could not trade for it so I drove 3 hours to purchase didn’t even have the dang thing a week when problems started I called the dealership and it was rather small like really small dealership and got nowhere so took it into my local service 20 minutes away from me and they have gone the extra mile for me!! I will never go anywhere else for any of my needs as they have truly done everything possible to get things right and even tried dealing with the original dealership!

 

Ok final verdict on the 4Runner: the transmission has been replaced they drained the fluid found metal shaving and when the transmission was fully pulled well as you can guess one jacked transmission! So 8 weeks, fully flushed, serviced and Toyota replaced transmission later I have my 4Runner back!! I hope this is the end of my trouble with this

 

Aw man, what a mess! Sorry about the bad luck on your 4R, but it definitely sounds like they did their best to take care of you which unfortunately isn't always the case.

 

exactly the same as I had.
when drive by foot it stays gear 5 (1500rpm), however, using cruise control it easily downshifts to 4(2200rpm) or even 3(3000rpm) to keep the speed, and stays in the lower gear for a very long time.
it happens every time climbing up, nothing about radar/detection. no any load/towing on the car.
seems very common but I didn't find a solution yet

 

^ Pretty sure that just cruise-control doing its thing. It can't see the road ahead as well as you can so it's preparing for more hill. 3000 RPM isn't high so it'll be fine. I do suggest not using cruise-control for a smoother ride, especially with hills. The gearing seems a little off IMO on the 4Runner, but that's what Toyota went with.

 

This actually annoys the shit out of me. It's like Toyota somehow has figured out exactly when to downshift and accelerate and has then built the cruise control to do it at the worst possible time. Invariably, the truck lugs up a hill and then right before the crest it downshifts and accelerates, so as you crest the hill you are now going faster than you wanted and have to apply brakes. Maddening. I generally deactivate cruise, drop it into 4, and use the gas pedal to maintain speed up a hill, then reactivate cruise once over the crest.

 

Funny thing is I rented a Corolla for a driving vacation this summer and it did this exact same thing... It would downshift going uphill then stay in that lower gear over the crest and over-rev without shifting back up. This was with radar cruise. Must be a thing with the Toyota algorithm...

 

.. and, frankly, under-powered motors..

 

We have a 2022 4Runner TRD Off Road Premium with 10,000 miles having the exact same issue. Do they ever render a diagnosis for you vehicle or just replace the transmission?

Appreciate any info.

 

@Lpjohn last seen on the forum November 2020 unfortunately.

 

Thanks for letting me know. This was the only report of my exact issue I have been able to find anywhere online. It is so weird that I have to imagine it’s the exact same issue I starting having at 8,000 miles.

 

@Army Mom May I ask if it downshifts when you release the gas pedal to let the car coat? I owned 2 4runners (2020 and 2021) and they both acted the same way when I release the gas pedal. The 2020 4runner actually worse than the 2021. I at first thought it was just how the 4runner is since both of the cars I have acting the same way, but now, I'm kind of curious.

 

It does tend to downshift pretty aggressively on a pedal release but I don’t think they is an issue. Both of mine do that but only one has the problem described above.

 

Yes. Hardly a vehicle on the road that a 4Runner will keep up with on a grade at elevation. That gas pedal is just a suggestion to that ECU. A gradual push of the pedal will hardly make a difference. A stab will result in a downshift for a while but it’s a sure thing the engine will be back to struggling in high gear too soon. Thank God for S.
I almost wish for a turbo 4 like Chevy has. My Chevy turbo 4 company truck works great! Strong, quiet, and shifts very sensibly. Mileage is not better however. Power comes from burning gasoline.

 

I hope they will keep the same engine on the 4runner, instead of adding turbo like the tacoma or tundra, for awhile so I can get another one (

 

I have read your thread. I do not know if it's the car's character since I own 2 off-road and they both act the same way. It's just 2020 is worse than 2021, but it's still bearable. I do not know how harsh it is on yours, but at this point, I would record it every times it acting up and contact straight Toyota headquarter and see how they respond cuz most likely, your dealership will do nothing, but create an open case with Toyota. After 3 times without the problem being addressed, I will claim it as lemon with the video record as the evidence. Just my recommendation.