[GaVaHokie]

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, personally, think it's a poorly made hinge.

The biggest item we've had in this so far was a boxed trampoline that was about 200 lbs (well below payload) and we put the seats down and the liftgate shut on it's own. Even if the box shifted and pressed against the rear door, the hinge should be able to withstand the pressure of a 200 lb box.

Looking closely at the picture below... does the whiteness of the break look typical of steel, or does that seem more of an "alloy" characteristic?

 

[JFox562]

Unable to tell for the picture. Is this the drivers side outer side of the hinge bracket? If so, it's strange that only one side of the hinge lifted. It as if something got stuck between the door and the body. You know, between that side of the hinge and the outer part of the vehicle. Maybe during manufacturing. Otherwise, the hinge bracket would be bent in a U shape. Basically lifting on both side of those rivets. I would say that something got between the upper part of the door opening between the lifted area and the outer edge of the car. If it was lower, the lift would be top and bottom of the hinge. You said that it closed by itself, so I'll assume it's a power lift gate. There is a lot of leverage in my scenario location of having something jam during closing, but the power lift gate would have either stopped or reversed its travel due to the strain.

Anyway, to your question, since they riveted (bolted) the bracket in place, the white material is probably a sealing paste of some kind. It can't be a structural weld since they have rivets or bolts securing the hinge.

 

[GaVaHokie]

This is the hinge on the passenger side that the Liftgate swivels up and down on... connecting the liftgate to the roof... and yes, it was cracked on both sides of the one hinge and is a power liftgate.

 

[JFox562]

This is the hinge on the passenger side that the Liftgate swivels up and down on... connecting the liftgate to the roof... and yes, it was cracked on both sides of the one hinge and is a power liftgate.

So as if something got under the hinge as the gate closed on it prying both ends up.

Did the body show say those are rivets or studs with nuts on the inside where the whole hinge can be replaced?

 

[GaVaHokie]

So as if something got under the hinge as the gate closed on it prying both ends up.

Did the body show say those are rivets or studs with nuts on the inside where the whole hinge can be replaced?

That's what you would expect, but there is no evidence that anything got under the hinge... it was studs with nuts... the body shop (that ultimately fixed it) said there was no sign that the nuts were loose. No evidence of anything getting trapped between the hinge and the gap. We looked it over thoroughly... we even checked the computer history to see if there was any 'failure' codes... nothing. They said it would have to take significant force for the hinge to do what it did, and any example I could come up with (that I also gave Toyota) they said couldn't possibly of been the reason. They were shocked that Toyota didn't absorb the cost and just fix it... it was only a $315 repair at a local shop (which Toyota quoted me $771).

Believe me... if I knew it was something I did, I'd just have it fixed and not bitch and complain. I just want this discussion out in the World in case it happens to anyone else.

 

[JFox562]

That's what you would expect, but there is no evidence that anything got under the hinge... it was studs with nuts... the body shop (that ultimately fixed it) said there was no sign that the nuts were loose. No evidence of anything getting trapped between the hinge and the gap. We looked it over thoroughly... we even checked the computer history to see if there was any 'failure' codes... nothing. They said it would have to take significant force for the hinge to do what it did, and any example I could come up with (that I also gave Toyota) they said couldn't possibly of been the reason. They were shocked that Toyota didn't absorb the cost and just fix it... it was only a $315 repair at a local shop (which Toyota quoted me $771).

Believe me... if I knew it was something I did, I'd just have it fixed and not bitch and complain. I just want this discussion out in the World in case it happens to anyone else.

Out of curiosity, could you tell what the bent hinge is made of. Is it aluminum and relatively easy to bend/deform like that? I looked at mine that last time I had the hatch open and they do look quite small. The reason I ask is since weigh loss seemed to have been Toyota's goal for this vehicle, small and aluminum would cause this to be a weak spot for the hatch door.

I had a theory just go through my head. Could this deformation have been caused when the door was closed. You said it was on the passenger side, what if that corner of the vehicle was lifted excessively with the door closed. There would be signs at the bottom edge of the door and the top of the rear bumper where the door would have contacted. Basically pushing the door upward while it was closed. I'm trying to think of how this would naturally have been done, but all would be out of the ordinary situation if not on purpose. I'm not saying you did it but maybe during a previous test drive.

Oh, I got one, a tight right-hand turn into a high sloping driveway where that tire would be pushed way up into the wheel well (or is it a left-hand turn?). It can only go so far and once it stops, the vehicle would then take the brunt and start to twist from the weight. Once the door corner contact the rear bumper, the door would be pushed upwards straining that hinge.

So looking at this video, it appears that the twisting theory might not be an issue and it might be a left-hand climbing turn

 

[jimbrayjr]

I have a 2019 rav4 hybrid bought in sept 2019, with 40,000 miles on it and for the last month my tailgate has been going up and stopping, but I can reset it ,so I asked them to take a look at it a couple of times, and they were always able to do the same, except this last time ,so they made an appointment.they checked all sensors and found both hinges bent, and was not covered by extended warranty.i will be having it fixed for $217,provided the door is not bent.the body man said the hinges are to small for the size of the door.

 

[Spaceballs]

😧

 

[crazyhorse]

I looked at my liftgate hinges today. They really do look undersized so I'll be mindful of this from now on. And I'm glad that I have the powered liftgate so I'll be less tempted to manhandle it when I over pack the rear storage area.

 

[Miku]

Wow, I was curious after reading this post and went out and checked on my Rav4. Gads. Those have got to be the wimpiest little hinges I've ever seen for a heavy rear tailgate. Funny the little things you don't notice when you buy a car. The ones on my old Subaru were beefy. I also took out with me a small super-magnet. The hinges ARE made of steel, although the stuff is way too thin and undersized for the application. Cripes, all Toyota would have had to do was make the hinges a little wider and thicker instead of tapering them down to a finger shape almost as narrow as the hinge pin itself. I mean, that's cutting corners at this point. It also makes me wonder what happens to them during body flex like JFox562 pointed out because I'm willing to bet that torquing what's causing the failures, not the owner's open and close use. In fact, if you look at GaVaHokie's pics, the failure LOOKS like a twist failure. Off road use kind of scares me now. Now I'll have to keep watch on those things to see if they bend or crack. 😕

 

[JFox562]

Miku, it is possible that Toyota stating that they stiffened the chassis on the redesign of the RAV4 could account for the weak/small hinge. The video link I attached earlier shows that there doesn't appear to be much twisting at all with one of the rear tires pushed as far as it will go into the wheel well. I watched pretty closely at the gap between the bumper and the lower edge of the door in the video and saw no reduction in the gap. That was impressive. It is also possible that the design of the struts on the door are taking most of the weight of the door while opening and the hinges are just pivot points with not a whole lot of weight on them. What is strange is how only one of the hinges on the OP's vehicle got bent. This would only would happen in a non-normal situation since opening and closing would cause the same impact on both hinges. I wonder if the same hinges are used across the trims or is different on the power lift gate.

 

[jimbrayjr]

And as Paul Harvey says now the rest of the story, I had the hinges replaced, and the lift gate would still only go up about 2-3 inches at a time, so the body man put the Snapon scanner on it with the latest and greatest software.Nothing doing, my car laughed at it and said try again, so the body man called the local dealer and was told disconnect the battery. Again nothing happens, so I was told to take it to the dealer for a reinitiate. Nothing , so they called Toyota, and Toyota said after 2 1/2 hours there to replace both struts, so I will have a car with 40,000 miles on it with new hinges and new struts and a gas tank that goes to 11 gallons . The next to go wrong is I will hit 2 buttons by mistake and get ejected out the sunroof ? But like this car

 

[jimbrayjr]

Also, to stiffen the hinges ,I was told to have someone weld one the back side from where bracket bolts are to to just before the wider bracket pin starts

 

[JFox562]

I remember reading a thread on this forum for a Toyota procedure to reset the up and down for the windows but for the life of me, I can't find it. I wonder if there is a procedure like this for the rear gate. There is a process for clearing the opening high setting but I believe you said you cleared this with no results.

OK, I wasn't dreaming. I found the window reset thread. Not sure if it would help but it's a good resource

Window sensors lose track of window position

I've noticed on occasion that the sensors that keep track of where the windows are in terms of being completely closed occasionally lose track of the window position. When this happens, the motor does not shut off when the window closes completely, and you can see the door panel near the glass...

www.rav4world.com

 

[Miku]

Miku, it is possible that Toyota stating that they stiffened the chassis on the redesign of the RAV4 could account for the weak/small hinge. The video link I attached earlier shows that there doesn't appear to be much twisting at all with one of the rear tires pushed as far as it will go into the wheel well. I watched pretty closely at the gap between the bumper and the lower edge of the door in the video and saw no reduction in the gap. That was impressive. It is also possible that the design of the struts on the door are taking most of the weight of the door while opening and the hinges are just pivot points with not a whole lot of weight on them. What is strange is how only one of the hinges on the OP's vehicle got bent. This would only would happen in a non-normal situation since opening and closing would cause the same impact on both hinges. I wonder if the same hinges are used across the trims or is different on the power lift gate.

Welp, I can't see just lifting and closing the tailgate causing fractures. Those hinges are steel, albeit undersized. I do see them fracturing if there is a side to side load put on them, if for example someone yanked sideways as they were closing the gate manually. I wonder if perhaps one of the struts is out of sync with the other and causing some stress on the hinges during operation. But hey, I'm just speculating.

 

[Shader]

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, personally, think it's a poorly made hinge.

The biggest item we've had in this so far was a boxed trampoline that was about 200 lbs (well below payload) and we put the seats down and the liftgate shut on it's own. Even if the box shifted and pressed against the rear door, the hinge should be able to withstand the pressure of a 200 lb box.

Looking closely at the picture below... does the whiteness of the break look typical of steel, or does that seem more of an "alloy" characteristic?

View attachment 152114

I would think this would be covered under the warranty. Did you push back when they told you it wasn't covered? If I buy a $30k+ car, I'm not letting them refuse a warranty repair without some type of escalation.

 

[Cleego313]

That's what you would expect, but there is no evidence that anything got under the hinge... it was studs with nuts... the body shop (that ultimately fixed it) said there was no sign that the nuts were loose. No evidence of anything getting trapped between the hinge and the gap. We looked it over thoroughly... we even checked the computer history to see if there was any 'failure' codes... nothing. They said it would have to take significant force for the hinge to do what it did, and any example I could come up with (that I also gave Toyota) they said couldn't possibly of been the reason. They were shocked that Toyota didn't absorb the cost and just fix it... it was only a $315 repair at a local shop (which Toyota quoted me $771).

Believe me... if I knew it was something I did, I'd just have it fixed and not bitch and complain. I just want this discussion out in the World in case it happens to anyone else.

I am having the same issue. Left hinge is cracked like yours. Mine is a 2019, purchased in Feb 2020. Same generation. Toyota is saying we did something but I agree it is a hinge that is too weak. Made of cheap white metal. I am going to fight this with Toyota because this is faulty material. Wish I had a manual liftgate

 

[Pearl White]

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, personally, think it's a poorly made hinge.

The biggest item we've had in this so far was a boxed trampoline that was about 200 lbs (well below payload) and we put the seats down and the liftgate shut on it's own. Even if the box shifted and pressed against the rear door, the hinge should be able to withstand the pressure of a 200 lb box.

Looking closely at the picture below... does the whiteness of the break look typical of steel, or does that seem more of an "alloy" characteristic?

View attachment 152114

Hi there: I just came back from Toyota and have this exact same issue. I will post pictures shortly. Same issue as if, the hinge got ripped out of the body. No signs of big pieces that got jammed in there. The dealer sent me to the autonomy shop as well and did not think it was something they could do a warranty claim on.

How did you make out with your repair? I just got the quote and it's not too bad, but if it is a defect in the weld, I think it should be addressed by Toyota.

 

[Pearl White]

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, personally, think it's a poorly made hinge.

The biggest item we've had in this so far was a boxed trampoline that was about 200 lbs (well below payload) and we put the seats down and the liftgate shut on it's own. Even if the box shifted and pressed against the rear door, the hinge should be able to withstand the pressure of a 200 lb box.

Looking closely at the picture below... does the whiteness of the break look typical of steel, or does that seem more of an "alloy" characteristic?

View attachment 152114

So this is the lift gate hinge on my 2020 Rav4 Hybrid XSE. Absolutely NO marks at all from the claimed "big piece" that I supposedly, may have tried to jam in my car. That was the Toyota Service comment. there was a slight discolouration in the plastic cover, but even if I had jammed something in there, for this hinge to break, wouldn't the plastic piece crack, or even dent the roof line somewhere?

I do agree that this may be a weak point in this hinge. There is a lot of torque on that hinge when the motor tries to close, and perhaps the weak spot is the weld or the rivet. Just got a quote from the body shop and they have already ordered the part. Quote was for under $500, so I am going to get this fixed. I am thinking if two of us are affected, there cold be others that may not have manifested itself yet. I just noticed that my tailgate would try and close and would stop, so I forced it to close as it was raining and noticed that the light was hitting each other, since the gap on the driver's side was quite a bit narrower than the passenger side. The tail gate will not CLOSE all the way, so my concern is water ingress. I just parked in the garage until I can take to body shop tomorrow morning.

 

[marokero]

I’m no expert, but in that second image it looks like a weld failure.