Toyota and their cheap interiors UPDATE IN FIRST POST.

Any idea how the hole was made in the second photo?

 

Might be where the clip was.

 

lol so you are saying that toyota is making the japan built items stronger than the same part made in the usa?

as long as the item meets toyota specs, it doesnt matter where its made and where its installed (correctly). its the same part. who is installing it (correctly) has no bearing if the part fails or not as long as it meets toyota specs.

now there was an article where toyota has eased rejection criteria for parts that they use to reject for minor blemishes.

 

Like I said, who really knows. We all know how shady companies can be, Toyota is no exception. Japanese people are way more strict with their way of life. Everything has to be perfect. One could say that they aren’t as strict with products built out side of Japan. Their specs for Japan could be better than for the China made parts. Who knows. Anything is possible.

 

For all those who think Japanese standards are far and above those of the USA - please explain how in the hell Yoko Ono’s “singing” ever made it through their quality control process.

 

They are different, while the suppliers may be the same and parts have same SKU#, they often source it from closest facilities.

Plastic is one of them and as well as electronics.

 

Are you saying that if sourced from different facilities the quality could be

 

Yes, the same part, from same supplier, but from different location can have different quality, as long as they meet design requirement and cost goals, some places would exceed while some just meet the minimum requirement.

 

Jumping into this thread because I noticed a crack has developed in mine as well. I know it wasn't there through most of the year, but now that it's gotten cold...I hear it cracking when I get in & out. I've had my truck since Dec of 21, so almost a full year now.

I'm not gonna lie. I'm a big guy, but I do have Predator steps. I always use them getting in and out. Since I first noticed the crack, I've made a conscious effort to lift my damn a$$ up and not slide. haha. However, I've noticed the crack is still expanding. (No butt jokes please. )

I think the problem is that the piece is too high and when I sit down in the seat, the bolster pushes against it and flexes it. Nothing I can do about that. I can't "hover" in my seat.

I guess it's Toyota's subtle weight loss incentive. Either lose weight to spend $140 a year replacing that damn plastic panel.

 

the hole is where the problem started with a crack, then it busted out and there a hole then came the vertical crack which then spilt from the bottom up.

 

I bought my first truck when I was 14 a 1961 Chevy Apache 10, that was in 1980 and have been buying pick ups since.
I have bought plenty of used truck and new trucks and this is the only vehicle I have had to have this issue.

it is what it is cheap plastics

 

Gotcha, Rich.

 

This is all purely speculation on my part, but it seems to me that the trim component may have been made from a lower molecular weight polymer.

I have seen something similar to this happen in the industry that I work in.
We received a batch of polymer that met our specifications for molecular weight but the distribution of that molecular weight was very wide.
This meant that the average molecular weight of the batch was within our specification, but the distribution of that molecular weight resulted in an inferior extruded part.
We had to tighten our specification window and include a new spec for distribution.

When it comes to polymers no two batches of material are exactly alike, and different material manufacturers/distributors should be able to meet a given specification, but that doesn't mean both materials are the exact same.
The argument that Japan makes superior quality products makes total sense to me.

 

I have yet to own a vehicle that doesn't have that crushed foam on that side. I am a big guy, and its happened on trucks, on cars, on lowered cars, and SUV's. I will say though, that while researching this, I found that while its a consequence of people always getting in and out on the same side, thats not the main cause. The two main causes are 1) lack of proper maintenance of the leather (i.e. some lotion to preserve it and prevent it from drying out. Yes, seats take maintenance when they are leather), and not sitting properly in the seat. I found that unconciously I was favoring that side when I sat, especially on long drives and my left leg would always have my knee resting against the door panel, which puts that cushion constantly under compression.

 

In all seriousness, this makes a lot of sense.

 

Heaven forbid that the manufacturers account for people getting in and out of the seats thousands of times or sitting in them for long periods of time and design them accordingly...

 

I wouldn't be entirely shocked if they didn't account for that plastic panel.

I watched the Mike Sweers with the guy from Pickup Truck & SUV Talk where they discuss the Million Mile Tundra. It shows some clips of their seat testing. Granted, that video is not meant to be an all encompassing video of Toyota's testing protocols, but everything in that video shows them testing the seat frame, springs, and fabric longevity. I didn't see any testing protocol that would mimic someone "sliding" in and out of their truck. They just seem to test an "up" & "down" motion of someone sitting down and getting up. Even people who don't "slide" per se don't put the force 100% vertically. I wonder if they test the seats with more lateral force (i.e. at an angle)?

 

You want a cheap interior? Check out the seats in the C5 and C6 Corvette.

 

The previous Gen has a cheap interior as well.
It scratches just by looking at it.



I've replaced that seat trim part in my 2014.
The clips on the inside, which are molded into the part, weaken over time and break off.
And yes, I do slide in and out of the seat and will continue to do so..
I shouldn't have to pamper the seat trim on a truck.

It's pretty crappy of them not to replace that part on a new truck.
I got four years out of my first one..

I don't remember having these interior issues with my 97 4-Runner or my 05 Tundra.

 

My 06 Silverado work truck is still rocking a pristine side bolster & plastics and she gets ABUSED. Wife’s first year 21 Japan made “also sold in Japan” Venza is at 15k and not a single issue. We have no choice but to aggressively slide in and out of that seat due to the design of the vehicle. Long semi tall step out with a tall bolster & low roof line.

The new Tundra reminds me of the 2012 Civic. Honda cut a lot of corners with it, later apologized and did a quick quality control refresh 1-2 years later. Doubt Toyota does the same with Mike running things but hopefully they are paying attention. Of course if they can get away with denying claims then I guess why not brush it off…

automotive press recently had a video on why we still aren’t getting a new 4Runner anytime soon. He said while talking with Toyota of Japan, they don’t put priority on North America only vehicles and they don’t understand the mindset of wanting large body on frame trucks. Makes me wonder how much of a hand they play in the development and explains a lot if it’s simply left to corporate US penny pinchers these days.

 

I think you’re spot on. Last year I posted similar thoughts on Toyota not giving a rats ass about the NA light truck market.

They don’t, and it shows.

 

I just spent an hour today resolving my front door panel rattles, figured I’d be happier with my own work, didn’t take much I had to secure a wire harness in the driver door that had a tag that would flutter with the slight bass, also had to use a small piece of dynamat on each door panel where it contacted the metal door skin right behind the window switch.

I still have my center console lid that rattles, not quite sure what I’ll do for that yet

 

Put your elbow on it as you drive..

 

no joke I’d lean my knee against the driver door panel

 

I am looking hard at GM again.

 

From someone that has owned 2 of the current gen, skip new GM trucks. Or check out Ford / RAM but I don't keep up with those enough to know their present day issues. Every new truck right now is about picking your poison, Toyota is just equal with them now rather than being better IMO.

I LOVE Silverados but common issues are lifter failure, lifter failure, lifter failure...... oil cooler line coming off, hard shifts on the 8 speed, rear window leaks on the sliding rear window, powered brakes going out "this one isn't as common since the recall", camera issues, random electric gremlins etc. I had to put lifter failure 3 times because GM hasn't even tried to address this issue and it's been an issue this whole generation along with leaking rear windows for people that have the slider. People with replaced lifters/windows have had them fail again, it's ridiculous. It can happen with older models as well due to the AFM/DFM but wasn't as common. Plus add in that GM is omitting features such as heated seats and giving people IOU's on them which it sounds like still aren't being installed currently.

Good luck with whichever direction you go.

 

JULY??? and this happened from sliding out the edge of the seat. I would raise holy hell at the dealership.
I would assume when you first noticed it cracking the dealership has record of that complaint.

July - if my fancy math is correct, little over 4 months? so i guess 3yr 36k miles dont apply on the new 22's.
Really hope you can get them to correct this, not right man.

 

Driving over trees is not normal wear and tear. And driving next to a tree doesn't involve touching it.