BUYER BEWARE – 100% FAILURE OF 4RUNNER LIMITED X-REAS SUSPENSION UNDER 50,000 MILES. CONTACTED TOYOTA CEC. TOYOTA ACKNOWLEDGING FAILURES ONLY OFFERING $500 TOWARD $3866 REPAIR CLAIMING $500 COVERS COST OF BASE SYSTEM SUSPENSION, FURTHER CLAIMING NO DIFFERENCE IN RIDE BETWEEN BASE SUSPENSION SYSTEM AND X-REAS.
To begin, I don’t off-road! This is all City and Highway driving. I have a 2013 4Runner Limited and my wife has a 2015 Rav4. My 2013 4Runner Limited has just over 47100 miles, with suspension failure diagnostics at under 47000 miles. Diagnosis came during an early December 2018 alignment check when all 4 shocks were noted as “leaking”. This is additionally after a 10-11-2018, 45912 mile, regularly scheduled maintenance check at Mountain States Toyota (Colorado) which included Toyota’s “complimentary multi-point inspection” in which no suspension issues or concerns were noted.
Based on the above, Toyota wants me to believe that ALL 4 shocks, 100% of the system, failed simultaneously within 1000 miles. They further want me (and you) to believe that these X-REAS systems are reliable, lasting up to and through 150K miles, yet facts show differently. The X-REAS systems can only be considered reliable up to 50K miles at most. If you get more, consider yourself lucky.
To formally price out repair costs, I contacted Stevenson Toyota West (Colorado). Stevenson Toyota West asked me to bring it in, confirmed 100% failure, and recommending I contact Toyota’s CEC (Customer Experience Center). Ultimately, Toyota CEC’s representative acknowledges that these failures are far more common than Toyota cares for you to know stating, “For all of the customers that have this issue, the majority end up replacing with the standard base model suspension system”. So, while Toyota recognizes the cost to replace their proprietary system, and recognizes that failures are far more common than they would like you to believe, when the X-REAS systems do fail, Toyota expects you to downgrade your system from what you purchased and the ride you expect, to something very sub-standard. If you question this, just take vehicles with both suspensions for a test drive. The rides are completely different. In the end, the only reason that Toyota is saying this is because customers are forced into a situation where customers simply DO NOT HAVE THE MONEY TO REPLACE WITH LIKE. CUSTOMERS ARE FORCED TO SETTLE FOR SUB-STANDARD SUSPENSIONS.
But don’t worry, Toyota cares and is there for you (Sarcasm). Since you can’t afford the $3866 price tag to replace the X-REAS system with like, they will help you out, offering you $500 off the system replacement. Toyota CEC’s representative explained where that number came from. See, shocks for Toyota’s sub-standard base model suspension system only cost $500 (For all 4). BTW, the full cost of the sub-standard base model suspension system, furnish and install, is $1280. Now, by offering you $500, aren’t they generous?
Toyota is minimally skewing facts if not outright lying to customers. They tout their X-REAS suspension system as some revolutionary thing yet it is unreliable and will cost you dearly in the end. The only part you can rely on is it will fail and, when it does, Toyota will be happy to bend you over in one way or another. For note, I declined the $500. It is a complete slap in the face and now I can freely speak out.
Toyota … If you’re reading this, your response was a joke. Reference case number 1812132362. It’s time you stand behind your products. If such failures are so rare, as you wish people to believe, you should provide longer warrantees and, for these systems when they fail so early, replace them at your cost.

Save yourself some money and get Bilsteins instead. Xreas is too expensive to replace and it’s not worth it at all. Some people had their Xreas failed at 150K and some experienced failure at 50K,so it’s really hard to tell how reliable this system is.


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Considering your Limited model X-REAS suspension failed with under 50K and the base model suspension almost never fails that early, is it really the base suspension with conventional shocks that's sub-standard? I would also point out that X-REAS is rather much a complex answer to an engineering question nobody asked. Basically, what they're doing is using the opposite side cross-linked shock as a remote fluid reservoir so the hardest worked shock can have more fluid. The stupid part is that you can achieve better results with an actual remote reservoir shock or by fitting a shock that can hold more damping fluid in the first place.

Related reading: What is Xreas exactly?

Literally no car maker has made a hydraulic or pneumatic suspension system of any kind that's as consistently reliable as conventional shocks. It's a constant problem in the industry and has been for over forty years; I don't say that Toyota couldn't have dealt with this better because obviously they could and should have done, but anyone buying a car with a non-conventional suspension who didn't get an extended warranty kind of deserves what they get because ALL of those systems are stupid expensive to replace with dealer/factory parts and they all have weird failure records. Look at the Jaguar XJ self-leveling rear suspension fitted from 88-94, Mercedes AirMatic and more. More directly in the current world market, the Land Rover models that compete with the 4Runner all have air suspension that fails at interesting times, in interesting modes and costs boatloads to fix. Every manufacturer bills their non-conventional suspension system as the latest most revolutionary thing since sliced bread so that's not a Toyota specific issue either.

Most people with X-REAS failures report that fitting Bilstein conventional shocks results in a much better ride and handling package than X-REAS on its best day. As advised by another above, fit Bilstein and call it a day.

That can't be right. Toyotas never fail. What you described sounds like a Jeep experience.

Sarcasm / joking aside, I would feel the same way you do. They should do more to step up on a known issue. A $4k repair from normal use in less than 50k miles is totaly unacceptable. Maybe at 150k, but even then... this ain't no damn Ferrari!

Though I understand you wanting to be made-whole here, I agree with the above suggestion. I think the Bilstein suspension in mine is great, though I have not driven a limited. Simpler is usually better, the point of a 4Runner.

So, you could use same springs and add bilstein 5100 after failed xreas is removed?

Correct.

Sorry to hear of your troubles, but 99% of the members on here already know that the XREAS is a stupid setup. I have YET to see a factory hydraulic/AirBag/Air/Whatever suspension that actually is trouble free. ALL OF THEM, I don't care what manufacture offers them, are crap. Anyway, I have it, had the XREAS shocks replaced a few years ago and WANTED to replace the entire XREAS system in the future with a new one, but it's sooo not worth it. So far with my replaced shocks, no leaks, but I have noticed I have a strange ride, I can't help but feel it could ride better with 4600s or KYBs (I won't go with the stiffer 5100s).

Back in 1991 when my father got his LS400, he was offered the optional air suspension. Was told it would ride better, add value to the car and whatnot. I told him to forget it and just get the standard suspension. Luckily he listened to me. Had that car for 18 years, it rode great until it was traded in. Meanwhile, I hear from time to time, owners of said LSs going through hell trying to have their cars repaired with those air suspensions.

It's a shame the Limiteds come standard with them.

As mentioned above, yes. Or 4600s if you want a more compliant ride.

Yup - air suspension was all the rage in the 90s as was hydraulic; both systems have recently come back into vogue again. Unfortunately, it's pretty much a case of the below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KTB3t1t7dk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryAO8Zmv4ag

None of them worked well, as I mentioned in my previous post, but I've got an even better example. Sitting outside is a 1994 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham that belongs to a friend of mine. It's in pretty good shape but when he got it a couple years ago, the rear air suspension (which is actually fairly simple) was broken. At some expense, we replaced the entire rear air suspension system with new, uprated and improved GM Delco factory parts.

The replacement parts failed within 10K.

They have since been replaced with conventional KYBs and the car has never rode or handled better. And they didn't fail within 10K of install.

Am I understanding this right? Your suspension needs to be replaced, and you’re upset your expired warranty doesn’t cover it but that Toyota still offered to give you $500 towards the repairs? Unless I’m missing something that seems very reasonable, I’d even say generous.

For what it’s worth I use and abuse my 2011 Limited and the suspension lasted like 90K miles until I spent to much continuous time at higher speeds on washboard rutted unpaved road and overheated the dampeners to the point of smoking as they started to leak.

Instead of spending the money for stock XREAS replacements I pulled it all out and replaced the system with 2.5” bodied remote reservoir extended travel Kings with Icon rear springs and JBA upper control arms.

and yet he calls the non-XREAS suspension, a "sub-standard base suspension". OP might want to reconsider this idiotic statement.

I agree, Toyota offering $500 is very reasonable.

I have 160k on stock xreas, still no issues. Just throwing it out there, they all don’t fail ...

I've got 281k miles on stock XREAS. If it fails, I would just go with Bilsteins.

Sure glad homey joined just to spam useless posts so he could start a thread just to complain and never come back.