Engine Bay Body Rips - Page 124

**w5wi** · 09-18-2007, 04:13 PM

Quote:

irich previously said:

Hello

I am a noob to the forum.

I was looking to buy four of the 2007 model FJ Cruisers as site cars here in the Middle East.

The fatigue/stress cracking of the engine bay spars as reported here has me holding off on any purchase.

I cannot find any statement from Toyota on this matter.

Is this problem widespread and have Toyota done anything to correct this on the current model?

Or are they doing the usual corporate avoidance thing that is so common these days?

Any feedback gratefully received. Feel free to PM me if you prefer anonymity.

R

My thoughts are: Toyota appears to be working to fix the problem and has "reinforced/revised the inner fender. It's being handled on a case by case basis, but so far, Toyota is being very responsive.

Would I buy a new one knowing that there is a problem with primarily the '06 builds ( I say primarily because there have been reports of '07 build problems but no proof has been provided as of yet...) and if you read this whole thread and I suggest you do it, you will see that there is a problem and it is being worked on!

cheers,

dale

***LandCruiserSteve*** · 09-18-2007, 04:19 PM

Still no word back from my Toyota rep. I left another message on his voice mail this afternoon.

DEEZUS · 09-18-2007, 04:43 PM

Quote:

w5wi previously said:

You do mean your build date is 11/06 don't you?????? Since it's only 09/07...

Oh, I forgot to tell you guys. I got the "new" SE. It's called the mall crawler edition.. It's totally white is lowered 3" and has 24" wheels and low profile R compound tires... kidding!

Jeez.. yes. 11/06 is correct. my bad!

LEGEND · 09-18-2007, 07:39 PM

hmm, was looking to buy an FJ, and decided to do some research online before buying one to see if there are any problems. Reading through the Problems section of this forum really put my plans of buying one on hold. Called Toyota headquarters today to see if they are doing anything at least about the bulges and rips and was told they are not aware of any issues. I told the representative that I am looking at an fj cruiser forum thread where hundreds of people complain to have a problem, he told me again that they are not aware of any issues but if there will be a problem that they will stand by their vehicle and fix it. Doesn't help my confidence in the car much though knowing that a 30k new vehicle might start ripping apart.

**cruiserlarry** · 09-18-2007, 08:15 PM

Quote:

LEGEND previously said:

hmm, was looking to buy an FJ, and decided to do some research online before buying one to see if there are any problems. Reading through the Problems section of this forum really put my plans of buying one on hold. Called Toyota headquarters today to see if they are doing anything at least about the bulges and rips and was told they are not aware of any issues. I told the representative that I am looking at an fj cruiser forum thread where hundreds of people complain to have a problem, he told me again that they are not aware of any issues but if there will be a problem that they will stand by their vehicle and fix it. Doesn't help my confidence in the car much though knowing that a 30k new vehicle might start ripping apart.

People are still getting ahead of themselves here...Toyota sales personnel and service personnel, unless they have direct experience with this issue, will not know anything about it yet - that's normal. Toyota is researching this issue, and has not released any official statements regaring the problem, either in-house or publicly. Until they do, most service people will be unaware...and salespersons are probably unaffected, as they are selling '08 models, which have not been shown to be afflicted by this issue at all - in fact, it seems to be affecting only early - mid year '07 models. So, don't purchase an FJC if you are nervous, or if you don't like the car - but, IMO, I think the vehicles affected by this situation are already out on the road, and not available at the dealership (except used...).

edadis · 09-18-2007, 09:34 PM

To begin with, I have been driving for 40 years and have never owned an "American" vehicle. I have, however, owned a number of Toyotas.

In my judgment, people are giving Toyota far too much credit for caring about its customers and for having the ability/willingness to do anything meaningful about this issue.

Unless directed by the government to issue a recall, I believe that Toyota will proceed on a case by case basis and will do as little as possible to call attention to the problem.

By the way, how long has the Prado been around? From I hear and under-stand it suffers from the very same design flaw. If Toyota isn't (wasn't) aware of the problem on FJs, they were surely aware of it on the Prado. Yet, they went ahead and produced another vehicle with the same problem.

If they knew how to correct it, they would have. Why do they need to study Bernd's and MudLoving's trucks? They have had plenty of Prados.

vinay · 09-19-2007, 01:38 AM

i leave in east africa (Rwanda), this is where i use my FJ. Been using it since june, got it new from california. i have the same problem of cracks in the engine bay, both sides, about 6-10 inches forward from the rear firewall.
vehicle has not been jumped but driven hard, multiple times suspension has been bottomed out. vehicle has OME suspension / lift kit, ARB bumper with winch, 285/70/17 BG goodrich's.
i will be making the repair myself since i have my own body shop. will take detailed picks of repairs and post them.

**cruiserlarry** · 09-19-2007, 01:57 AM

Quote:

edadis previously said:

To begin with, I have been driving for 40 years and have never owned an "American" vehicle. I have, however, owned a number of Toyotas.

In my judgment, people are giving Toyota far too much credit for caring about its customers and for having the ability/willingness to do anything meaningful about this issue.

Unless directed by the government to issue a recall, I believe that Toyota will proceed on a case by case basis and will do as little as possible to call attention to the problem.

By the way, how long has the Prado been around? From I hear and under-stand it suffers from the very same design flaw. If Toyota isn't (wasn't) aware of the problem on FJs, they were surely aware of it on the Prado. Yet, they went ahead and produced another vehicle with the same problem.

If they knew how to correct it, they would have. Why do they need to study Bernd's and MudLoving's trucks? They have had plenty of Prados.

Well, you've made a couple of assumptions here that may not be correct. First, while the FJC is based off the Prado chassis, they are not identical or interchangable, and are being driven on different continents under different conditions. Second, while we assume that Toyota is aware of the Prado's similar problem, we don't know that they didn't address it with the FJC - only that if they did, it was unsuccessful with the early build units. I'm not trying to toot Toyota's horn with these posts, only trying to keep people aware of the complexity of this situation. It is very unlikely that Toyota knew about the problem on a previous model, redesigned a new vehicle on a modified version of that platform, and never addressed the issue, hoping that no one would ever notice the inner fender wells coming apart. More likely is they tried to rid the platform of the problem, albeit without success, and are now looking to find a solution before this becomes a larger, public headache. Of course they will initially deal with it on a case by case basis - the best way for them to see the extend of the problem without raising any red flags to the buying public is to inspect vehicles as they come into the dealership, whether for service or complaint, and institute a resolution. I don't see Toyota volunteering to rebuilt the front body assembly of every FJC that has been sold, when only a small percentage may be affected. This is why they are checking to find the cause - if its a defective design, that's a big issue. If it's due to a small run of inferior inner fender well panels from a supplier, they can isolate the VINs and address those vehicles directly, and so on...

I'm as anxious as anyone to have my FJC repaired and to see the problem solved, but I'm a realist and know its not going to happen overnight. THat doesn't mean Toyota isn't going to deal with the situation, IMO.

edadis · 09-19-2007, 08:57 AM

oddly enough, if I had bulges and rips, I'd be less concerned than I am without having them. I have a 03/06 build with lift and no evidence of bulges. But at 32K miles, I'm starting to get anxious. Another couple of months and I'll be beyond the warranty period. Then what?

Kansas Law Dog · 09-19-2007, 01:19 PM

Quote:

edadis previously said:

oddly enough, if I had bulges and rips, I'd be less concerned than I am without having them. I have a 03/06 build with lift and no evidence of bulges. But at 32K miles, I'm starting to get anxious. Another couple of months and I'll be beyond the warranty period. Then what?

I see your point. As a suggestion, maybe you should go to the service department and explain that you ARE just starting to see evidence of a slight bulge and want to document it in the Toyota computer. Even if the service manager says he cannot see the bulge, you should insist they record of your complain in the system. This way if a bulge/tear does appear later, you can refer to your earlier documentation and try to connect the inner fender damage to a pre-expiration date warranty claim.

I agree with the current members and believe Toyota will correct the problem on new production models very quickly. I think Toyota will correct major damage to inner fenders under warranty. I'm not so confident that Toyota will take it upon themselves to issue a recall for all the early model (without government intervention). I think Toyota will deal with the inner fender only when the problem is evident, and not be too proactive to those that have problems after the warranty expires at 36,000 miles. I truly hope I'm proven wrong by Toyota.