general problems of the 2006 Toyota RAV4 - part 2

The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Rav4. The contact received three recall notifications related to NHTSA campaign id number 13v383000 (suspension), however the part needed was currently unavailable to perform the repair. The dealer was not able to provide an expected date for the recall part to become available. The manufacturer was not notified of the problem. The contact had not experienced a failure.

1/30/14 recall part - rear lower suspension arm repaired by handy. Shortly after (1-3 months) I noticed swerve/sway during hard right turns. I suspected bad or underinflated tire on drivers side rear. Checked all tire inflation and lug nut tightness but the swerve/sway continued. On 10/16/14 I had (4) new snow tires installed at sumner tire in newport/derby, vt. I thought it would eliminate the problem but the swerve/sway continued. On 10/21/14 I had local mechanic perform a four wheel alignment. The mechanic could not make the adjust but confirmed drivers side rear was out of alignment. On 1/16/15 I made an appointment at handy to resolve this and other issues. Handy offered free labor if I paid $309. 43 for parts to replace the failed recall. Within a few days I contacted national Toyota customer service and spoke to karen. Ref #can't be entered as it flags as a ss number. Karen called back to state that handy should be contacting me by end of the week concerning this issue. Received a on-line survey only in which I made clear that I should not have to pay for a failed recall item that was not fixed properly. I called national c. S. Again two weeks later to report that I have not received any contact from handy. After that call, still no contact was received. I called handy (3) times asking to speak to the service manager, joe luneau, who was always busy. I finally received a call back from a service technician, nate, with a lower offer for the cost of the parts to fix the recall of $226. 03. I called handy back stating that I felt their offer was not acceptable and that I would be filing a complaint with the bbb for assistance. My point in all of this is that Toyota issued a recall for this part and the recall failed and should not be repaired at the consumer's cost. This is a safety concern of mine as well and limits the use of my vehicle for long trips.

Front left clunking noise when going over bumps, told by dealer issue is in the electronic steering. Dealer did not sound confident when stating it was safe to drive. Have read about multiple 2006 Rav4 owners having defective steering.

1/30/14 recall part - rear lower suspension arm repaired by handy. Shortly after (1-3 months) I noticed swerve/sway during hard right turns. I suspected bad or underinflated tire on drivers side rear. Checked all tire inflation and lug nut tightness but the swerve/sway continued. On 10/16/14 I had (4) new snow tires installed at sumner tire in newport/derby, vt. I thought it would eliminate the problem but the swerve/sway continued. On 10/21/14 I had local mechanic perform a four wheel alignment. The mechanic could not make the adjust but confirmed drivers side rear was out of alignment. On 1/16/15 I made an appointment at handy to resolve this and other issues. Handy offered free labor if I paid $309. 43 for parts to replace the failed recall. Within a few days I contacted national Toyota customer service and spoke to karen. Ref #can't be entered as it flags as a ss number. Karen called back to state that handy should be contacting me by end of the week concerning this issue. Received a on-line survey only in which I made clear that I should not have to pay for a failed recall item that was not fixed properly. I called national c. S. Again two weeks later to report that I have not received any contact from handy. After that call, still no contact was received. I called handy (3) times asking to speak to the service manager, joe luneau, who was always busy. I finally received a call back from a service technician, nate, with a lower offer for the cost of the parts to fix the recall of $226. 03. I called handy back stating that I felt their offer was not acceptable and that I would be filing a complaint with the bbb for assistance. My point in all of this is that Toyota issued a recall for this part and the recall failed and should not be repaired at the consumer's cost. This is a safety concern of mine as well and limits the use of my vehicle for long trips.

The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that NHTSA campaign number: 13v383000(suspension) had surpassed a reasonable amount of time for repair. The dealer stated that the part was not available. The manufacture was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact had not experienced a failure.

Driver side read tie rod end rusted through and snapped causing loud noises and handing issues.

Saturday, October 12, 2013 when my wife and two young daughters (ages 2 & 4) were coming home from shopping. Our vehicle experience catastrophic failure, endangering the lives my wife and my two young children. She heard a loud bang from the rear of the vehicle and she lost control. Luckily, she was not moving very fast and was able to stop quickly and pull to the side of the road. The failure occurred on the on-ramp to an interstate 71 with a posted speed limit of 70 mph and the car was not drivable. Had the failure occurred 20 seconds later, my family would have been traveling at a high speed in a rav 4 with absolutely no control. We cannot even fathom the potential outcome if that failure had occurred on a busy highway with trucks etc. We took the rav into the local Toyota dealership and they deemed the accident to be caused by the rear lower suspension arm. The rear lower suspension arm was recalled in the fall/winter of 2012, where we took it to the dealership to be fixed in Nov. 2012 with the so called "clip".

The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that NHTSA campaign number: 13v383000 (suspension) had surpassed a reasonable amount of time for repair. The dealer stated that the part was not available for repair. The manufacturer was alerted of the failure however, declined to provide part availability information. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact had not experienced the failure described in the recall.

I received notification of the recall and took my vehicle to the dealer in October 2013. The dealer determined my car needed the recall part fixed. I was notified that due to availability of parts the recall could not be done until mid-February 2014. I called the dealer and Toyota on 2/10/14 who both tell me it would be "mid-February. " it was mid-February but they didn't know when the parts would be received. I called today, 2/26/14, and now being told that it would be between "mid-February and mid-March" but they don't know when the dealer would receive the parts to fix it. In the meantime, the car continues to make the grinding sound. Toyota continues to give the run around on this repair. This is not acceptable when I took the car to the dealer in October!.

The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated NHTSA campaign number: 13v383000 (suspension) had surpassed a reasonable amount of time for repair. The contact took the vehicle to be serviced and the dealer stated that they did not have the lubrication available to perform the repair. The manufacturer was alerted about the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact had not experienced a failure.

On Wednesday, January 30th, around 6 p. M. Est, I was driving home from work, going approximately 40-45 mph, when suddenly I lost control of my vehicle (2006 Rav4, standard not sport). Fortunately, I was able to get the car off to the shoulder after about 30 seconds of swerving and inability to control the car. There was no physical damage to my person, car or anyone else, but as you can probably imagine, I was – and continue to be- very shaken up over what happened, and how much worse it could have been had I been on a more congested highway, going at a faster speed. A woman, who was driving behind me, stopped and helped me out and witnessed how out of control my car was. She thought I had hit a deer (it was very dark, foggy and rainy, as well). Ironically, I had just received a recall notice from Toyota not even a few days earlier. I was away the previous week and it arrived while I was out of town. I had the recall in my physical possession for a total of 4 days, one of which was not a business day. I had had my tires changed and aligned over a year ago (I’d have to get back to you on the exact date, but I’m fairly certain it was Dec. 2011 or January 2012). At this time, according to the Toyota recall notice, an additional step needed to be taken in order to prevent backlash at the threaded portion of the arm, followed by rust. If this occurred, thread would wear, causing the arm to separate, which could result in the loss of the vehicle. The same night of the incident, I had my car towed to the dealership where I purchased it and the next morning, January 31st, they confirmed that what had happened to my car was indeed because of the recall. This means that I had been driving my car around to my own detriment for over a year, without any idea that there was a potential safety hazard to myself or my six year old daughter.

The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Rav4. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 mph, the rear of the vehicle began to shake intermittently. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the vehicle was repaired under NHTSA campaign id number 12v373000 (suspension). The failure persisted after the repair was performed. There was a second recall related to the failure under NHTSA campaign id number 13v383000 (suspension) however, the vehicle was not repaired because the manufacturer informed the contact that there was not a remedy yet available. The approximate failure mileage was 45,000. The VIN was unavailable.

The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Rav4. The contact experienced excessive wear on the rear tires. Prior to the failure, the vehicle was taken to the dealer and repaired per NHTSA campaign number: 13v383000 (suspension). Prior to the recall, the vehicle operated normally. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that once the vehicle fell out of alignment, the tires could not be adjusted due to the epoxy. The rear suspension arm needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 225,000.

The contact owns a 2006 Toyota rav-4. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 mph around a bend, the driver's side rear wheel separated from the vehicle. The vehicle was later towed to an independent mechanic for diagnosis where they advised her that the tie rod end was fractured, causing the wheel to detach from the vehicle. The vehicle was repaired by welding the tie rod into place. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 106,000. The current mileage was approximately 107,000. The VIN was unavailable.

This is an inquiry not a complaint I had my car checked for the suspension arm recall nothing was done to my car I given a repair estimate for tires and a alignment my concern is if there was nothing done now what happens if this suspension arm causes a problem next week or next year can I be certain that a quick check is all that is needed to ensure safety no clips or caution labels were mentioned am I driving a safe vehicle.

Right rear suspension rod broke. Took it to mechanic, had it welded till new part arrived. Had it replaced. Toyota issued a recall and had work done on February 13, 2013. On March 18 the driver side arm broke.

Steering wheel "clunks" at relatively low speeds - clunking increases over time. Concern is if steering fails as a result. Toyota's fix is to replace intermediate driveshaft and an alignment. Apparently this is a pervasive problem on a number of Rav4 model years (based on hundreds of postings on internet discussion sites, at least one of which claims failed steering resulting in multicar crash). Per these online discussions, some Toyota dealers have stated it is a serious safety issue, some have not. Given this problem has existed for a number of years (Toyota has two service memos issued on the problem and even developed new replacement parts), if the NHTSA has investigated this issue and determined there is no consumer safety issues, is that conclusion available to the public? would appear this would be proper to disclose, as consumers get very concerned with a potential loss of steering and its potential crash ramifications.

My 2006 Toyota Rav4 was supposedly repaired under the rear suspension arm recall (c0j / g0v), but the rear tie rod ends still have yellow stickers reading “this is a recalled part” and no epoxy on the bolts. A Toyota dealer refused to inspect the vehicle and relied solely on the VIN record. The car now rides roughly, and I believe additional suspension components have been damaged due to the unresolved recall. I am concerned for my safety and request NHTSA investigation.