The "Cracked Seat Panel" MEGA Thread

Just curious if anyone else has had cracks in the plastic at the base of the seat where the seat controls are? I have 2 cracks and there is no evidence that anything hit it to cause the cracks.

 

This has happened twice now to my 22 Tundra Limited. Dealer fixed it for free last time. It just happened again so I'll find out when I take it in next week if they are going to hassle me about it.

UPDATE: Part on backorder but they are doing under warranty. I'm guessing when the warranty runs out my luck runs out. Someone needs to come up with an after-market replacement.

 

Dealer just fixed it! Faulty/under-engineered part

 

I've owned a 2008 and 2015 Tundras, and put roughly 150K miles on both. I never got a crack on the seat panels on either one.

I am 6'4, however, so I can slide in and out without putting my full weight on the edge of the seat.

I sure hope I have the same luck with my 2023 1794 that I just drove home with a few days ago.

 

Havent had a chance to make my “new member” post and my passenger seat plastic is failing lol 1k miles. Not too worried about it seeing the prevalence of it. We’ll see what happens when i take it in for the 5k service and ask them to fix it.

 

mine just cracked about a week ago. under 8 months old.

good news: my local dealership has the part for $78.
bad news: they charge $107 shipping.

 

Folks, folks...listen to me. You're going about this all wrong.

You can't fight the crack. You've got to EMBRACE the crack. And, you can quote me on that.



I've lived with this for probably 8 months now.

You don't see it when the door is closed and I'm the only one who ever sees it anyways. I don't even notice it anymore.

I know, I know..."it's a $50k/$60k/$70k/$80k truck and this [insert issue here] shouldn't be happening." I agree. However, unless Toyota changes the design of the part, I'm not going to burn a "goodwill" repair on this with my dealer. I'll save that "credit" and use it on something else down the line. It'll just crack again with the replacement part. I prefer solutions, not bandaids. Unless the design changes, any replacement part is just a bandaid fix until it cracks again.

 

Do you have another dealer nearby? Mine will never charge me for shipping since it comes straight from a warehouse with their other daily parts. Maybe not every dealer can do that. In addition they're always willing to price match with the other online dealers.

 

Seriously, the design is flawed, there will be no fix and replacing the part continuously will get expensive. Better off investing in a Amazon plastic welder and getting creative with it.

FGRSRZ 200W Plastic Welder, Plastic Weld Kit with 1200PCS Hot Staples+78PCS Plastic Welding Rods, 3-IN-1 Plastic Repair Kit, Plastic Welding Gun For Car Bumper/Kayaks/Toys(Yellow)

https://www.amazon.com/-Plastic-Aut...022479&sprefix=plastic+welder,aps,159&sr=8-30

Looks like the one I got months ago, surprising useful. Get a variety pack of plastic filler rods, cut one of your kids toys up for spare plastic panels and reinforce the shit out of it. Helps if you match the plastic types, should be a recycle/plastic code printed on the parts somewhere.

 

Lol...lol....lol...fix a new 70k truck yourself. News alert "that is exactly why the manufactures can get away with it". You people accept this crap!

 

Just noticed my driver's seat side panel started cracking, local dealer is replacing it free under warranty, still no updated part yet. Has anyone looked into augmenting the strength of the part with fiberglass/epoxy on the back side?

 

Why is everyone talking about the cost of this? Shouldn't it be covered by warranty?

 

Three months and the first "crack" has appeared.

 

I looked down today and saw this exact crack. Did the “oh it’s just a dog hair” and to my surprise im part of the club now. Truck built November 2021.

 

This has been a Tundra problem pretty much since... Tundra. Warranty only lasts so long. Definitely get it warrantied while you can, but since issues with the trim piece seem to be more common in your 3rd gens, consider some preventative maintenance modifications.

So if you aren't going to accept the crap, what are you going to do when your free replacements run out? Keep us posted on how much you spend... it will be entertaining, or you can do what everyone else on this forum does, learn how to do something yourself and learn from other Tundie enthusiasts, i.e. "us people"

 

The funny thing is Sweers made such a big deal about Tundra previous-gen seat durability on one of those long Youtube videos where he discusses the million mile truck they examined. The owner of the million mile truck weighed over 300 lbs, and the seat, aside from barely noticeable wear on the fabric upholstery, was completely intact and functioning as-new. I guess they decided to fix what was definitely not broken.

 

My small crack turned into a giant piece breaking off over time. Truck was bought in Feb 2022. Progression of the crack seat panel.

First sign of cracking was in September 2022:


Toyota denied warranty repair back then saying it’s just a scratch. Showed them it’s actually a crack, but say it’s not enough for warranty.
Then took it back in June 2023 looking like this:


Toyota now willing to replace under warranty, but parts back order for a long time. Dealer will call me when part comes in.
Crack as of today Aug 2023:


The front of panel actually hooks on to the seat and that part started to come off as well.

 

you need some conditioner on those seats, lol.

ok, Ill go back in my OCD hole now

 

Looks like he has the Softex seats, so they really should just need to be cleaned/wiped down occasionally. No real need to condition the Softex like leather.

 

Has anyone replaced this plastic trim panel themselves?

 

I took my truck to the dealership today. They are going to cover it under warranty (10 Months and 6K miles)
BUT, they need to order the part

 

The gaslighting over this part on the Facebook page is phenomenal

 

Took the truck in for oil change. Asked the service advisor about my cracked seat panel. He said “they all do it, I’ll order you a new one under warranty ”

This will be the 3rd one. Truthfully it’s not that big of a deal and I’m over it, but if they give new ones, I’ll take ‘em.

 

I dropped mine off at the dealership yesterday for other repairs (window not rolling down). I'm currently at 37K miles. They acted like they would replace the cracked seat panel this one time only because I reported it before the 36K mile factory warranty was up. I did buy a bumper to bumper 120K warranty.

Is Toyota not going to fix this issue after trucks hit 36K miles?

 

Mine actually cracked and separated completely. It's at a dealer right now - it sounded like they would warranty it but I'm not getting my hopes up. I'll update once I hear back.

 

That seat trim plastic looks awfully thin. I hope your dealer does the right thing and gives you a replacement. I would then check what the thickness of that replacement part is and compare it to the original. If the same I would then bond a small metal plate on the backside along that entire area to strengthen it from behind using JB Weld because odds are it going to happen again.

 

I have the same issue with my 22 Tundra. dealer said it is a common issue. I can get new ones under warranty but I was told they will keep breaking. Seems to me Toyota should find a permanent fix. What happens when it is not under warranty…?

 

How difficult is this to remove? Seems like some metal reinforcement on the inside and a plastic welder would greatly reduce the issues. Mine just started cracking. 8k purchased March 31st.

 

I've had my truck for 11 months and this is the 2nd time the dealer is having to replace this (I'm fighting for them to replace the 2nd time!)

I had sidesteps installed to prevent this from happening, but, it still cracked. I'm hoping I can find a replacement part online, so that I can order in bulk, because it seems like this is going to be a recurring issue.