[LowvybezNYC]

Hi I have a 2017 rav4 limited with the same issue truck only has 24k miles. My motorized shocks started to act up and freeze in cold weather two nights ago it left me stranded in a parking lot and my trunk wouldn't shut. I did bend the hinge my self trying to pull the trunk close but it wouldn't budge I ended up driving home with the trunk open since I wasn't far away. This what the passenger hinge looked like after. Apparently it's the same weak hinge that comes on the newer rav4 also. Went to the dealership today to buy my own parts and will replace the hinges and converting to manual shocks. I'm done with this motorized crap definitely don't wanna go through this again. 









 

[at1stpromise]

I heard back from Toyota corporate yesterday and they are siding with the dealership and refuse to do warranty repair on my misaligned hatch. It’s always been sluggish since I got the car then in March I noticed that it was misaligned. It would stop opening/closing randomly and have to be reset to get it closed. I’ve had no accidents to the car and nothing has been lodged in the door. Toyota dealerships stance on it is that I bent something even though they can’t pinpoint what is wrong. Toyota corporates stance is whatever the dealership says. I’ve tried to reference this forum multiple times but am always told that “Toyota does not accept outside information.” To be honest I’ll probably just trade the thing in and be done with it. I’m very disappointed with Toyota’s stance on this matter.

 

[FourRav]

It’s really sad Toyota treats it’s customers this way. My hinges were finally fixed about a week or so ago, and it is already not working again. It only worked for a few days. The hinges look fine, however when I open the truck it will unlock and pop open then stop and do a long beep. I have to push it closed, then it will open normally. It only seems to do this on the first time trying to open it. (This is exactly what happened before, and it gradually got worse until it wouldn’t open.) I’m really about done with this car. I might try to sell it or trade it and just be done with Toyota.

I heard back from Toyota corporate yesterday and they are siding with the dealership and refuse to do warranty repair on my misaligned hatch. It’s always been sluggish since I got the car then in March I noticed that it was misaligned. It would stop opening/closing randomly and have to be reset to get it closed. I’ve had no accidents to the car and nothing has been lodged in the door. Toyota dealerships stance on it is that I bent something even though they can’t pinpoint what is wrong. Toyota corporates stance is whatever the dealership says. I’ve tried to reference this forum multiple times but am always told that “Toyota does not accept outside information.” To be honest I’ll probably just trade the thing in and be done with it. I’m very disappointed with Toyota’s stance on this matter.

 

[LowvybezNYC]

Installed the manual shocks myself and replaced the bent hinge took about 2 hours and I love the truck again and also did JBL coaxial all around.

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[FourRav]

Installed the manual shocks myself and replaced the bent hinge took about 2 hours and I love the truck again and also did JBL coaxial all around. View attachment 177789 View attachment 177790 View attachment 177791 View attachment 177792 View attachment 177793

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Are the manual shocks bigger or stronger looking than the auto ones? I was thinking that might also be part of the problem with the hinges. How did you do the rivets for the hinge? Also it looks like you added sound proofing to the liftgate? I added a lot to the trunk, but barely any on the actual liftgate, that’s the only thing I can even remotely think maybe could slow it down, but realistically it’s not enough to.

 

[LowvybezNYC]

Mines started to get stuck in cold temperatures. Everything is nuts and bolts no rivets. The shocks are oem from dealer that comes on le and xle rav4s. Been using it everyday in cold weather for the past couple days lifts up now 123. I also do have a rx350 design is completely different (bigger hinges and different motor system) toyota definitely cheaped out on the liftgate

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[at1stpromise]

It’s really sad Toyota treats it’s customers this way. My hinges were finally fixed about a week or so ago, and it is already not working again. It only worked for a few days. The hinges look fine, however when I open the truck it will unlock and pop open then stop and do a long beep. I have to push it closed, then it will open normally. It only seems to do this on the first time trying to open it. (This is exactly what happened before, and it gradually got worse until it wouldn’t open.) I’m really about done with this car. I might try to sell it or trade it and just be done with Toyota.

I feel yah on that one for sure. I wonder if the struts were messed up due to the hinges being misaligned. I’m just waiting for new models to come out and it’ll be traded in and getting away from Toyota.
Do you happen to have any numbers I’d be able to reference to show Toyota that this has been fixed under warranty? If you’re able to share feel free to pm me that info. They won’t let me reference this forum so hoping I can show them that they’ve covered it before.

 

[Jargon]

Hi,
I have a 2020 RAV4 hybrid with the power lift gate.
I have had the same experience as described above and the passenger side liftgate hinge bent just as the pictures above show.
This started with the liftgate not wanting to close under power - it would start down and then just stop. At first, it could be manually closed and would latch, but over a few days it got progressively worse (presumably as the hinge bent further).

I took it to the dealer as its still under warranty. Had a very long discussion with the service manager and they just would not fix it under warranty. This ended with them saying my only option would be to take it directly to Toyota.
They gave me an estimate for fixing it and it was $1400! Lots of very detailed stuff in the estimate including replacing both hinges (even though one looked fine) and 4.1 hours of labor for painting (I guess they wanted to paint that new hinge very carefully).

I decided to give the hinge replacement a try myself and ordered the part from the dealer ($54). I figured if it turned out to be beyond me I could just take the car and hinge to our nearby body shop and let them do it. Hinge just came in today (took about 3 days).

I just finished replacing the hinge and it was surprisingly easy -- less than 2 hours going very slow.
Step by step...

• Took a bunch of closeup pics to document what the clearances were all around the hinge and tailgate.
• Pulled the 3 push pins holding the aft end of the headliner in place.
• Release the top of the trim panel around the passenger side rear window.
• The above two steps allow you to pull down the headliner enough to get access to the bolts holding the hinge to the body.
• Tied the liftgate to the tracks on my garage door to support the weight of the liftgate.
• Did not do anything to the lift actuators.
• Removed the two nuts holding hinge to body (12 mm). These are the bolts that look like rivets from the top, but are normal threaded bolts on bottom.
• Removed the two bolts holding hinge to liftgate (also 12 mm).
• Pulled the old hinge out and cleaned up the sealant around it with a chisel.
• Put the new hinge into the body holes and secured with with the old nuts - loosely tightened.
• I had cut some wood spacers to the gap sizes (vertical and horizontal) on the driver side hinge and I used these to position the passenger side of the lifetgate. I had to use a ratchet strap from back edge of liftgate to my roof rack to pull the liftgate forward so that spacing was the same as on the driver side and so that the two bolts holding the hinge to the lift gate could be inserted.
• I thought that some sort of alignment would be necessary to get the door lined up with the new hinge, but decided to just fully tighten all the bolts on the new hinge and just see how bad it was.
• Turned out it was fine with no adjustment - maybe just lucky. The door opens and closes and latches normally using the open and close buttons.

Just thought I would pass this on for others thinking about the DIY solution

Gary

Can you please post the part numbers? i am having this issue on my 2020 TRD

 

[wishk]

To everyone with cracked hinges, are there any of you in an area without snow?

I noticed today after a good hail storm that the space around the hinges was complete packed with snow and ice. Now the problem I see with the hatch design is that because the rotation axis (the pin of the hinge) is before top end of the hatch, the top part actually moves down into the gap when the hatch is opened. With the gap packed with snow, it makes a scary snow crunching noise and the plastic part bends, up to a point where enough pressure builds up to keep the hatch from fully opening. Given the short leverage involved (mere inches), that must be a LOT of pressure. 10 lbs at the end of the hatch could easily become 300 lbs at the hinges.

So I can't help but wonder if this could be a cause of cracked hinges. I haven't looked closely at mine yet but I definitely will when the crap melts a little. I'm also rather annoyed at such an obviously poor design.

 

[Jargon]

To everyone with cracked hinges, are there any of you in an area without snow?

I noticed today after a good hail storm that the space around the hinges was complete packed with snow and ice. Now the problem I see with the hatch design is that because the rotation axis (the pin of the hinge) is before top end of the hatch, the top part actually moves down into the gap when the hatch is opened. With the gap packed with snow, it makes a scary snow crunching noise and the plastic part bends, up to a point where enough pressure builds up to keep the hatch from fully opening. Given the short leverage involved (mere inches), that must be a LOT of pressure. 10 lbs at the end of the hatch could easily become 300 lbs at the hinges.

So I can't help but wonder if this could be a cause of cracked hinges. I haven't looked closely at mine yet but I definitely will when the crap melts a little. I'm also rather annoyed at such an obviously poor design.

i'm in Florida so definitely no weather issues here.

 

[Shalts13]

I just went through all of this. 2019 XLE, both hinges had that white crack and affected my hatch closing. It became misaligned as well as stopped opening all the way about 80% of the time.
It took me going to 2 different Toyota dealerships and both said the same thing… I did it.. long story short, I got them replaced for free. The hinges I have now are definitely a little bigger than the original ones. It was a battle to get it done though.

 

[at1stpromise]

I just went through all of this. 2019 XLE, both hinges had that white crack and affected my hatch closing. It became misaligned as well as stopped opening all the way about 80% of the time.
It took me going to 2 different Toyota dealerships and both said the same thing… I did it.. long story short, I got them replaced for free. The hinges I have now are definitely a little bigger than the original ones. It was a battle to get it done though.

Do you happen to have any numbers I’d be able to reference to show Toyota that this has been fixed under warranty? They won’t let me reference this forum so hoping I can show them that it is something they have done a warranty fix on. Glad to hear you found someone to take care of it. It baffles me that we have to fight so much for this.

 

[Shalts13]

Do you happen to have any numbers I’d be able to reference to show Toyota that this has been fixed under warranty? They won’t let me reference this forum so hoping I can show them that it is something they have done a warranty fix on. Glad to hear you found someone to take care of it. It baffles me that we have to fight so much for this.

I can see if I can get ahold of them and get a copy of my paperwork. I don’t recall getting any when I picked up my car but I may have stuffed it someplace. It was not easy at all. Both places didn’t want to cover it what so ever. I’ll see what I can come up with. The brackets are definitely different than stick issue.

 

[at1stpromise]

I can see if I can get ahold of them and get a copy of my paperwork. I don’t recall getting any when I picked up my car but I may have stuffed it someplace. It was not easy at all. Both places didn’t want to cover it what so ever. I’ll see what I can come up with. The brackets are definitely different than stick issue.

That would be great if you’re able to find and share that. Gives me some ammo to point the finger back at them for the hinges.

 

[tagheuer]

How widespread is this?

I can't believe this is still going on, I had a double hinge failure on my 2011 Highlander

There was eventually a TSB and the warranty cost was thousands of dollars

Same problem, undersized hinges

 

[Jargon]

since im at 55k miles on my 2020, it was out of warranty, i didnt bother going to a dealership for repairs, the hinge was $56 shipped to my door, and it took me all of 20 minutes to install, i did order a spray can of paint matched lunar rock to make the repair seamless, it was incredibly easy to replace.

 

[tagheuer]

since im at 55k miles on my 2020, it was out of warranty, i didnt bother going to a dealership for repairs, the hinge was $56 shipped to my door, and it took me all of 20 minutes to install, i did order a spray can of paint matched lunar rock to make the repair seamless, it was incredibly easy to replace.

Is the part revised?

I don't get why Toyota is booking such high warranty costs if it is a DIY job at $56 per hinge.

 

[Jargon]

Is the part revised?

I don't get why Toyota is booking such high warranty costs if it is a DIY job at $56 per hinge.

Part didn't really look much different to me, yea the hinge is dirt cheap $35-46 depending where you order from per piece before shipping.

here's one of the links

BACK DOOR LOCK & HINGE. 2020 Toyota RAV4 | Toyota Parts Center Online

2020 Toyota RAV4 BACK DOOR LOCK & HINGE

parts.toyota.com

 

[toofastforyou]

I heard back from Toyota corporate yesterday and they are siding with the dealership and refuse to do warranty repair on my misaligned hatch.

I had the exact same reply from my local Toyota dealer. Our Rav 4 was sold new at another dealer more than 2 hours away and Toyota replied that if I wanted them to fix the rear hatch hinges issue to go back to the dealer where the car was originally sold. We bought the vehicle used and according to our local dealer, there was some "work" done about this problem on our vehicle in the past and it was botched and since Toyota refuses to address the problem they won't touch it.
So I said "ok", I'm going to take care of this myself and I brought the vehicle to a reputable body shop (who had previously done work for me) and they called me back to ask who the h**l touched the hinges? I explained that we bought the vehicle used and that Toyota refuse to fix it so I'm on my own. Fine, I'll have it fixed properly at my expense with two brand new hinges and after that, I might put it up for sale or give it as a trade-in on a smaller but more refined Lexus UX250H. I already found a beautiful blue one with light grey seat inserts!
Claude.

 

[at1stpromise]

Decided to post an update to my misaligned hatch. For back story I noticed my hatch struggling to open since I received the car. It was brought up to toyota a few times and they claimed that because I drive on dirt roads the dust was causing the issue. Fast forward a bit and I noticed the gaps on either end of my hatch are uneven with one side’s light protruding. Brought this up to the dealership and they say I need to go to a body shop and that I must have jammed the hatch or tweaked my car’s frame. I reached out to Toyota corporate and they were no help since they side with the dealer. I noticed the driver side hinge was pulling up and was probably bent.

I ordered part# 68810-0R032 from BAM wholesale and decided to replace it myself. It took my dad and I about 45 minutes to remove the old hinge, cleanup the caulking and to put the new hinge on. Total of four bolts/nuts that are a 12mm socket. You also need to remove three plastic retainer clips from the rear headliner to get your wrench in there. Long story short it fixed the problem. I now have even gaps on both sides and no more binding. Total cost was $40, some silicone and some time. Suffice to say I am really disappointed in Toyota and how they handled this situation. They never let me reference this forum to show that people are having issues with these hinges and blamed me every step of the way for a poorly designed part.
Moving forward I can’t wait till my Ford gets built soon can trade in the rav and be done with Toyota. This car has been riddled with issues for me and doesn’t really hold up to the Toyota name that we all pay a premium for. Hope this helps someone out.