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Sound Problems with JBL-Greenedge Systems- Potential Class Action

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20K views 21 replies 15 participants last post by  fans792  
L
#1 ·
I own a 2018 Rav4 with the JBL/Greenedge "upgraded" sound system. When I got the car the JBL system sounded great. There was plenty of sound coming from the front dash speakers, front door speakers, rear door speakers and subwoofer in the cargo area.

I don’t know when exactly, but within the last year or so I noticed that the sound system had changed. 95% of the music was only coming out of the front dash speakers. You could barely hear any sound from the front door speakers, rear door speakers or cargo subwoofer. Quite frankly, the sound system went from terrific to terrible. I never would have bought the car with the sound it has now. I thought that for sure something had broken in the system.

I took the car for regular service on August 19, 2020 and told the service department about the change in sound. They inspected the car and told me that “the audio system was working normal, speakers are working at factory specs, no problem found”.

I’ve researched this issue online, and found numerous posts on the forums on Rav4world.com about the change in sound. From these posts, it appears that Toyota was receiving warranty claims from people blowing out their sound system by playing it too loud, so Toyota reprogrammed the firmware on the vehicle’s amp or headunit to reduce the sound to all speakers except the front. So, to save themselves money on warranty claims by people that have abused the sound system, Toyota changed the system for everyone by reducing the sound output to all speakers except the front dash, taking the sound from great to terrible.

So, long story short, it appears that Toyota has intentionally deprived buyers of the value of the JBL sound system to save themselves money on warranty claims. Or, alternatively, the original design of the amp/speakers was defective since it had to be changed.

I am considering a class action lawsuit against Toyota for this issue, and looking for a lead Plaintiff to join me. If you are interested in getting involved with this, please direct message me with the type of Toyota you have, the year of purchase, and what state you live in.

Regards,
Scott
 
G
#2 ·
Do they really sound that bad?
When I purchased my used 2013 limited I thought the sound was just 'okay', and definitely too loud from the front dash however after a $40 replacement of those fronts the whole system sounds great.

I do appreciate that people are willing to stand up to big corporations like Toyota when they've done something wrong - but in this case I can't help but think you'd be better off just spending the $40 and 30 minutes to get what you want, a much improved sound system.

If you do file the lawsuit, how can you prove that they've crippled the system other than hearsay on internet forums?
 
#4 · (Edited)
Agree 100% with greenmachine. JBL has been making top-notch speakers for as long as I can remember, which leads me to believe Toyota's configuration is to blame for the awful quality. Dash speakers run parallel with sub-woofer so when you try to up the sound in the rear, you're actually turning up the dash speakers too. May have looked good on paper but real-world not so much.

To the OP:
1) Try unhooking the dash speakers - pry up mesh, unscrew and disconnect. Dollars to doughnuts the sound is already much better.
2) Remove dash speakers and install these Crutchfield P-35B . For $30 the sound becomes what it should have been in the first place. The bass becomes so prevalent, you may have to equalize it down.

Most class-action results of this nature do not play out as shown by Toyota saying sound system is according to spec. Good luck.
 
#3 ·
Sounds like the JBL audio unit went bad, not Toyota's fault or that the Amplifier unit gone bad. No guarantee how long electronics will work. Just like a TV, microwave, Xbox since not manufactured by Toyota. Like a computer tower, several parts required such as CPU, Graphics Card, Power Supply Unit, Motherboard, Memory, anything can fail and make it less than operational.
The JBL system in the RAV4s were never good to start with. In my 2018 RAV4 Limited AWD just went with Premium that was factory standard in it. I don't spend hours in a car to listen to music, a home stereo system is better to spend money on. Very unlikely you will win any lawsuit unless the Entune system caught on fire and caused serious injury.
 
#5 ·
My fiancé and I both bought 18 rav4 limited with the JBL sound system. Previously I had a 13 Camry Le hybrid with the standard sound system and it was much better than the rav jbl. For $1000 or so more that the standard system I would expect some decent sound. It is terrible. I must crank up the volume high to hear it . This is certainly sub par performance. Has anyone gotten anywhere with Toyota or are we stuck. Are there any fixes. Are you still interested in a class action, you might have two more named plantiffs
 
#7 ·
Hi Scott, I have a 2019 Corolla Hatchback with upgraded JBL sound system (additional $1,600) with the same problem--Sounded great when I bought the car only to have the rear speakers stop working thereafter, even when fade is to the rear only. I took it to the dealer--first visit they verified the problem but could not fix it; second visit (after the technician contacted Toyota for help) they returned my car to me in the same condition without fixing it telling me according to Toyota, the sound system is functioning as designed??? I called Toyota Customer Service and was told they would get back to me--almost 2 months later I had to call back only to find out Toyota is "washing their hands" of the problem and was told to follow the directions of my warranty packet. This directed me to file a claim with the National Center for Dispute Settlement, which is where I'm at right now. This experience has turned Toyota Customer Service into an oxymoron!!! I will update with a post after my hearing...
 
#9 ·
MynameisBob said:
Hi Scott, I have a 2019 Corolla Hatchback with upgraded JBL sound system (additional $1,600) with the same problem--Sounded great when I bought the car only to have the rear speakers stop working thereafter, even when fade is to the rear only. I took it to the dealer--first visit they verified the problem but could not fix it; second visit (after the technician contacted Toyota for help) they returned my car to me in the same condition without fixing it telling me according to Toyota, the sound system is functioning as designed??? I called Toyota Customer Service and was told they would get back to me--almost 2 months later I had to call back only to find out Toyota is "washing their hands" of the problem and was told to follow the directions of my warranty packet. This directed me to file a claim with the National Center for Dispute Settlement, which is where I'm at right now. This experience has turned Toyota Customer Service into an oxymoron!!! I will update with a post after my hearing...
Update: Toyota was ordered to replace my rear speakers, which they did and it fixed my problem--ridiculous that I had to have a hearing to get Toyota to fix my problem when car was under warranty!
Click to expand...
 
#8 ·
Hi, i have experienced the same with my 17 rav4 limited with jbl green edge amp. What happen with your case?

Also, after spending countless hours i believe i have figured out a hack to add an amp to the jbl green edge system that allows me to run a jl audio 250 amp to the stock sub box and a replaced jl sub, while still allowing rest of stock system to work as normal. I am posting this as im curious if it will work in other cars... Thinking of maybe selling as a cheap kit to anyone else who feels trapped by their crappy jbl green edge system. Hit me up if interested as I'll share what i did for free to anyone who will invest about 2hrs to copy what i did. Thanks
 
K
#11 ·
Rav4jblsux said:
Hi, i have experienced the same with my 17 rav4 limited with jbl green edge amp. What happen with your case?

Also, after spending countless hours i believe i have figured out a hack to add an amp to the jbl green edge system that allows me to run a jl audio 250 amp to the stock sub box and a replaced jl sub, while still allowing rest of stock system to work as normal. I am posting this as im curious if it will work in other cars... Thinking of maybe selling as a cheap kit to anyone else who feels trapped by their crappy jbl green edge system. Hit me up if interested as I'll share what i did for free to anyone who will invest about 2hrs to copy what i did. Thanks
Click to expand...
I am very interested
 
S
#15 ·
I only have sound in front. Took to dealer, they told me problem was probably related to water leaking, would only fix free if it also affected things like tire inflation lights (1 apparently they have had issues with it and have extended the warranty) it sounds to me like they have been aware of the problem for a long time. Im past original warrantee . I was told could cost over $1,000 and there was no guarantee they would fix it. How can I contact you?
 
#20 ·
I recently had the same issue with my 2018. I read through all the comments here and started to suspect something was wrong with my amplifier. I finally decided that maybe I should check the fuses as a first step. I pulled both the fuse for the radio and the amp. They both seemed fine, so I put them both back in. When I restarted the car, the radio rebooted. After that, the sound from the back speakers and subwoofer was back to normal. I'm not sure why at all this worked for me. Maybe this reset something in the radio or amplifier. I can't guarantee this will with for everyone, but it's certainly an easy thing for people to try before getting a new amp or buying new front speakers.
 
#21 ·
That maybe a forced restart
Ok is there a hidden eq setting?

The pulling of the fuses
Could to have reset a setting

Some modern radios have a 1 farad cap built in to save memory when power is removed from the memory power

I reset by:
turning on the head lights
Disconnect the battery for 1 hour
Turn off the head lights reconnect the battery
That should reset the ecm and the radio
 
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