We have a 2019 RAV4 adventure, the power liftgate started closing a little on aligned, each time it would open and close it would get more and more and aligned, now it won’t close flash, you can hear air whistling when you drive, it doesn’t seal shut, and it won’t open more than 6 inches. Now we have to open and close it manually. We had someone look at it in the hinge is about to break off of the entire frame. Toyota thinks this is our fault and wants to charge us to fix it.
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Anyone else having lift gate problems?
LMTrent
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We have a 2019 RAV4 adventure, the power liftgate started closing a little on aligned, each time it would open and close it would get more and more and aligned, now it won’t close flash, you can hear air whistling when you drive, it doesn’t seal shut, and it won’t open more than 6 inches. Now we have to open and close it manually. We had someone look at it in the hinge is about to break off of the entire frame. Toyota thinks this is our fault and wants to charge us to fix it.
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10 Posts
i have the same issue and they're fighting me on it. Snow builds up in the hatch area and the struts / motors are too overpowered for it. I believe any manual open / closing is causing this issue. In either case, there are likely hundreds of people with this issue. Going to another dealership this week to try and open a claim again (ECP Coverage) The body / build quality of the Gen5 is not amazing...
Rear Liftgate Hinge
Just purchased a 2020 RAV4 and within the first 400 miles of ownership... the passenger side Liftgate hinge broke... the body shop says they've never seen or heard of this happening. They're convinced that something was put in the car that was too big or kept the door from shutting... I...
www.rav4world.com
I own a 2020 Rav 4 TRD off road and had this same issue. When I took it in to the dealership I purchased from, oregon, they said they had 3 other cars being repaired for the same hinge issue. Luckily I didn't have to fight them on the issue, they said they'd take care of it with no charge. My liftgate was shifted so far towards the driver side that it was rubbing the tail light whenever you opened it. Long story short, my whole trunk had to be replaced so the repairs took over month since there were so many backorders. I've had the car back since July, and haven't had any issues with it since.
I hit my hinges with some white lithium grease spray last night in hopes it might help prevent this from happening. Wonder if lack of lube in there could be contributing? But ultimately I think cheap material and undersized hinges are probably the main culprit.
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9 Posts
I had the same thing happen! I posted my pictures on here too. We’re you able to get yours fixed?
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89 Posts
If you look at the geometry between the liftgate hinges and struts there is a tremendous amount of force applied to the hinges, especially when just opening.
Its simple weld is breaking. The only reason this would happen is if there is more force exerted on it than its designed for under use.
Hatch should be designed to be lifted or closed manually with no issues. Also if you need to manually stop it.
This would all be normal use.
Obviously there is a issue with design.
Unless you add accessories onto your hatch, would be the only out.
Hatch should be designed to be lifted or closed manually with no issues. Also if you need to manually stop it.
This would all be normal use.
Obviously there is a issue with design.
Unless you add accessories onto your hatch, would be the only out.
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89 Posts
I don't think it's a weld, the hinges are through bolted and caulked before painting. What you are seeing is the caulking cracking, pulling away when the hinges are
bending under pressure.
bending under pressure.
Then the hinge is not strong enough for the force exerted on it or thru it causing it to bend.
Still would come down to a design issue.
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33 Posts
It's mostly struts issue, they are not able to handle the heavy liftgate, altho looking at the hinge is low quality garbage as well.
I at first thought they welded all around the hinge and knowing that it would be susceptible to this issue but I'll have to look at it more closely and see if it is indeed just caulking, but nonetheless the hen should have four bolts in the bottom part instead of just two.
I at first thought they welded all around the hinge and knowing that it would be susceptible to this issue but I'll have to look at it more closely and see if it is indeed just caulking, but nonetheless the hen should have four bolts in the bottom part instead of just two.
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9 Posts
I have a 2019 and had the same problem. Toyota does try to blame the consumer. It is well known that this is an ongoing problem I was told this bay a Toyota employee. I had to fight to have mine fixed it went on for almost 2 months. Finally my sales man who I bought 8 vehicles from spoke to the sales manager and got it fixed. Not the service department they were not helpful! I just had mine fixed and it did not cost that much and my lift gate couldn’t even shut because of this issue. It is the struts from what I was told and then the hinge pulls out too. Good luck but way over priced on the estimate to repair!
What do you mean "it did not cost that much". I thought you meant they covered it all for you. Some people here have been quoted over $6k to fix this issue.
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33 Posts
I will post the $6k+ estimate to fix hinge issue as soon as I can scan it. It is not from Toyota itself our local big Toyota dealerships since all their body work out to a collision repair company and only one company in the area.
We do have another estimate from a big reputable body shop in the area for $600 to fix it. So yea what a high/low spread.
Also I can buy two hinges from Toyota at $35 a piece and swap them out myself in less than an hour, hoping only the hinges were bad and no actual roof structure they were bolted to.
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89 Posts
I would ask that they put hefty flat washers both underneath and on top of the fasteners. Should help.
How is everyone opening and closing their liftgate? I tried closing our RAV 4 Hybrid liftgate a couple times manually and it just seemed too heavy to overpower the motors to push it down. From now on I will use the buttons (or just kick my foot under the car for the automatic opening).
In comparison I would switch between manually closing or using the liftgate motor on our Highlander for almost 10 years with no problems.
In comparison I would switch between manually closing or using the liftgate motor on our Highlander for almost 10 years with no problems.
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