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Bad wheel bearing

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16K views 42 replies 18 participants last post by  PalaciosOMP25  
#1 ·
Welp, 19,554 miles in (US-spec XSE, purchased in Dec 2020) and the passenger front wheel bearing needs replacement. Started hearing bearing noise in the last couple days and scheduled my 20k service and had them check it out. Part ordered and probably be 2-3 weeks before it comes in. Last wheel bearing I replaced was on my 2002 RAV4 L with around 180k miles. I guess when it happens so early on, that's what the warranty is for...My search in this forum seems to indicate I'm the only one, or at least I'm the only one writing about it.
 
#7 ·
Agreed, hopefully just a faulty part/fluke. I'm pretty sure the only way I heard it so early is because EV mode is so quiet. I don't think I would have caught it that early if I had an engine running all the time, in fact, I know I would not have, because I can't hear it when the ICE is running.
 
#5 ·
Out of curiosity, what tire pressure were you using and was it over-pressure upon delivery?

The reason I ask, there is a old wives tale of rail car transport causing wheel bearing damage due to the split in the railroad track rails. Now this could be way back in the day.
 
#9 ·
Last wheel bearing I replaced was on my 2002 RAV4 L with around 180k miles.
I'm going to hazard a guess that in pursuit of greater sales margins, Toyota started building cars to last until the warranty expired . . . as opposed to building cars that just, lasted.

It's expected that they'll cut corners too far from time to time, and have to splurge a little on higher quality parts. There's a recall on power steering pumps in models that have the 5.7L V8: mind you the recall isn't for the factory OEM pumps, but instead the power steering pumps they replaced the OE pump with, ie. a lower quality unit.
 
#10 ·
It's expected that they'll cut corners too far from time to time, and have to splurge a little on higher quality parts. There's a recall on power steering pumps in models that have the 5.7L V8: mind you the recall isn't for the factory OEM pumps, but instead the power steering pumps they replaced the OE pump with, ie. a lower quality unit.
Are you saying Toyota will replace the defective OEM bearing with even lower quality bearing? You seem to have a lot of knowledge on this matter. Can you help me to check these sources?
 
#18 ·
It's funny this forum seems to be full of the biggest bellyachers in the world. The priuschat forum wasn't anything like this.
Sounds like this Rav4P is the biggest POS toyota has made.
  • a wheel bearing went bad devolves into toyota uses crap parts
  • light switches not backlighted appears to be one of the most egregious blunders a car manufacturer has made in last 20 yrs. must be 50 to 100 threads on this alone.
  • the gas refill light comes on with 2 or 3 gal still in thank... the horror
on and on, surprised toyota sells any of these. Probably only to buyers who don't come here first to see all the complaints.
 
#19 ·
It's funny this forum seems to be full of the biggest bellyachers in the world. The priuschat forum wasn't anything like this.
Sounds like this Rav4P is the biggest POS toyota has made.
  • a wheel bearing went bad devolves into toyota uses crap parts
  • light switches not backlighted appears to be one of the most egregious blunders a car manufacturer has made in last 20 yrs. must be 50 to 100 threads on this alone.
  • the gas refill light comes on with 2 or 3 gal still in thank... the horror
on and on, surprised toyota sells any of these. Probably only to buyers who don't come here first to see all the complaints.
LOL - I can see how one might see it that way. The intention of my post was to inform other owners of the issue I ran into. I believe it’s a fluke that the bearing is already bad. I’ve had an overwhelmingly good experience with my R4P. Nothing’s perfect (except my wife, of course 😄). I don’t let perfect get in the way of great, and I think the R4P is great.
 
#20 ·
Amazing ! OP posts, not to complain but just document, he had a bad wheel bearing and the usual suspect's pop off. 1.5m 4.5's on the road and the OP can't find another that had the same problem. Obviously a massive defect. Lets start a class action lawsuit and create massive recall to rectify this injustice. Bad bearing = All Toyotas are a POS.
 
#26 ·
Bad bearing = All Toyotas are a POS.
I understand you must be taking the most uncharitable viewpoint of any criticism. If it could be said that Toyota factually uses crap bearings for RAV4 Primes, there still exists a mountain to climb to prove that all Toyotas are sh*t. Criticism is one of the constructive tools buyers have to continually push the manufacturer towards delivering a better product.

The "Bad bearing = All Toyotas are a POS" would be an extraordinarily reductionist, simpleton mindset. I personally own two 17 year old RAV4s so I clearly don't espouse that sentiment.
 
#35 ·
Wow some of you guys should own a GM product so you can see how fast wheel bearings go... A friend of mine bought a 2013 Chevy Impala when it was like 1 year old, he still has it. He's gone through lots of wheel bearings and had oil leaks and VCT solenoid failures, his mechanic removed something for the EGR too. I think he's done at least 3-4 wheel bearings now. I don't know the mileage off-hand but I think it's probably around 100K miles.
 
#36 ·
Just to circle back here - the ~ $550 bill for replacing the front passenger wheel bearing was covered under factory warranty. My R4P is once again quiet (minus the usual electronic ruckus from the speaker behind the grill) and smooth. 👍🏻 Paperwork states: “Cause of failure is roller bearings inside of bearing/hub assembly wearing pre-maturely and causing noise / having play.”
 
#37 ·
Yeah, honestly this forum has some of the most whining people in it in any forum I have ever seen. If you take your time to listen to the informed experts, Toyota builds one of the best and most reliable cars anywhere. If you just listen here you will hear the opposite, from just a few pretend experts.
 
#39 ·
I’m not sure how this discussion turned into this, however, if you read my original post, you’ll see it had nothing at all to do with whining/complaining, but simply documenting my (what I consider unusual) experience for others here. I think the R4P is a fantastic vehicle, and a marvel of engineering. I have not once regretted my purchase.
 
#38 ·
Well, there's been more whining about Toyota build quality over on the Prius forum lately too, I'd venture to say. What I do believe is not so much that Toyota has intentionally done anything to lessen the design life of their vehicles, but instead, they are really designing around fuel economy and affordability. Today's vehicles are SO MUCH more complex than some of the famed Toyota vehicles that were more bulletproof. And making a part, say a bearing, a few ounces heavier than necessary, adds up like a thousand drops of water and suddenly, the fuel economy has taken a hit once all those little ounces add up.