1993 Toyota Land Cruiser: common problems

Owners of the 1993 Toyota Land Cruiser filed 8 complaints with NHTSA, most often about service brakes and vehicle speed control. Details by component below, with sources.

Key figures

Owner complaints: 8
involving a crash: 2

What fails most often

1 Service brakes 50% of all complaints
2 Vehicle speed control 25% of all complaints
3 Visibility 25% of all complaints

Circle size and colour show each component’s share of NHTSA complaints. Schematic only, not a drawing of the exact model.

Service brakes: 4 complaints (50% of all).
Vehicle speed control: 2 complaints (25% of all), 2 of them with a crash reported by the owner.
Visibility: 2 complaints (25% of all).

Engines and transmissions

US-market versions per EPA. On the right: how many NHTSA complaints name this engine or transmission type.

4.5 L · petrol · 6 cyl
automatic, 4-speed

Drive: AWD

Symptoms owners describe

How many of the 8 NHTSA complaints mention each symptom (automatic count from complaint text; one complaint can mention several).

knocking, grinding or other noise2 · 25%
windows, sunroof2 · 25%
brake failure1 · 13%
unintended acceleration1 · 13%

Components owners complain about

Component	Owner complaints	involving a crash
Service brakes	4	0
Vehicle speed control	2	2
Visibility	2	0

What owners report

Short excerpts of NHTSA complaints in the original wording. These are owner statements not verified by NHTSA; personal data removed.

1993 toyota land cruiser with unintended acceleration causing a crash. (the consumers wife experienced the failure) the consumer stated after completing the turn towards the garage, she placed her foot on the brake to place the gear into park, when suddenly the vehicle went out of control.
Vehicle speed control · crash · 2010-03-10 · NHTSA complaint #10316530
The vehicle continued to travel forward and knocked the garage door down. She tried to shift to reverse, but the vehicle jumped and started to head backward. The vehicle hit the fountain located diagonally from where she originally planned to park.
Vehicle speed control · crash · 2010-03-10 · NHTSA complaint #10316523
L/r window came out of window regulator chanel and fell intodoor.
Visibility · 2003-02-07 · NHTSA complaint #10005482
Power window failures: the right front window has fallen two times, due to "faulty bottom glass runs and window regulator" causing the door to open (once in town at 25 mph, and once on the freeway while going 65 mph). The left rear window has fallen twice, due to faulty glass runs, but the door did not open.
Visibility · 2001-02-12 · NHTSA complaint #740401
Experiencing constant brake rotor warping and premature pad wear. Tt
Service brakes · 1995-09-13 · NHTSA complaint #972014

When owners complained

NHTSA complaints by filing year. The peak shows at what age the problems show up most.

19952
19971
19991
20011
20031
20102

Comparison

By complaint count this model year ranks 11,896 of 36,656 model years in the NHTSA data (top 32% most complained about).

On average one model year of the Land Cruiser has 7 complaints (43 years in the data). This year has 8, above average.

What to check before buying

Service brakes. Pedal feel, ABS operation, leaks, discs and hoses.
Vehicle speed control. Accelerator pedal, cruise control, throttle codes.
Visibility. Wipers, mirrors, defrosters, cracked glass.

Other years of this model

Questions and answers

What are the most common problems with the 1993 Toyota Land Cruiser?

Owner complaints to NHTSA most often mention: service brakes, vehicle speed control, visibility. Total complaints: 8. The most frequent symptoms in complaint texts: knocking, grinding or other noise (25%), windows, sunroof (25%), brake failure (13%).

How many service bulletins (TSB) were issued for the 1993 Toyota Land Cruiser?

NHTSA lists 0 manufacturer service bulletins for this year. A bulletin tells dealers how to diagnose or fix a known issue; it is not a recall.

Should I buy a 1993 Toyota Land Cruiser from a US auction?

Owner complaints describe defects, not crash damage. Before bidding, check the components listed above and review the lot photos: VinWind builds a report of visible and hidden damage by VIN.

Other 1993 models

Read also

Sources: public NHTSA data (USA): service bulletins and owner complaints; YouTube: links to videos credited to their authors. Complaints are owner statements not verified by NHTSA, and describe defects rather than crash damage. Data updated 2026-11-05.