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'22 Rav4 w/ leaky main seal on front transaxle

3801 Views 31 Replies 13 Participants Last post by  Big Daddy
Hello all. Been lurking for a number of months and finally decided to join - mostly prompted by my experience with my 5 month old XLE.

At 8500 km I found a leak beneath the car, that has subsequently been diagnosed by the dealer as a main seal leak of the front transaxle (output side).

Most frustrating is that 72 hrs before I found the leak, the Rav4 was in for Service 1, and was given an 'all good' by the dealer. A few days later, like many new owners of these modern Toyota engines, I did my first oil change. The moment I got under the car I noticed streaks of fluid on the underside of the oil filter/drain plug panel. After a quick inspection I determined that neither the drain plug nor the filter were the source of the leak.

As frustrating as it is to have a new Toyota with this sort of problem, more frustrating is the fact that having paid for Toyota's ESP, the technician/s who had the car on the hoist three days earlier did not have the presence of mind to raise a red flag when streaks of fluid were clearly present (on a new car). Imagine the mess and mechanical problems that could have been present if I did not change my oil when I did, and had waited another 8 thousand km to go in for Service 2 (which as you already know is the first oil change). Needless to say, the service work to repair the leak is being done by another dealer.

Curious, has anyone else experienced this sort of issue on a new Toyota?
What about dealing with incompetence at some dealer service centres?

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My issue is still ongoing. They have had the vehicle for almost 4 months. Supposedly the leak is fixed, changed out transfer case, but they had damaged the body and paint on 3 different occasions during repairs. During the last of those repairs, a parts rack fell over onto the rear passenger door and window. They never called to let us know. We received notifications on the Toyota App that there was all kinds of activity on the vehicle, I called and was given the run-around, so I drove up there. They apparently were not going to tell me and just try to fix it. That door and window was repaired and put back together a couple days ago. The car is ready for pickup today.
Good news is that Toyota Corporate has decided to offer a repurchase of the vehicle under the Lemon Law. Its been about 3 weeks since I sent them the info they requested. Its been all quiet since. Hopefully soon.
Been reading through this thread and hoooooly crap what a mess!! I simply cannot fathom the incompetence displayed by this dealer, and it kind of makes me not want to take my RAV4 there even for the complimentary service that I’ve got for the next two years!! I treat my car like it’s my baby. If I got it back from service with any sort of scratches, paint damage, or any kind of scuff mark whatsoever I’d be livid. Thanks for the nightmares! I hope they buy that car back and so you can get a new one. Again, what a terrible dealership.
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