Tarago defect?

[Jonathan]

I’ve owned a few Toyota’s such as a 1973 RT81 Corona, 1972 SL1900 Corona and recently a 1986 Tarago GLi. A problem I noticed in the Tarago is with the body work. As a mechanic I viewed many of these vans and found this reasonably consistent acquired defect around the roof line mostly in the vicinity of joins (but not on the joins themselves) that are covered by the side sliding door and the tailgate. With the moon roof where were also similar cracks in corners of those areas. It is more common in the models with high tops and/or sun/moon roofs where these structural cracks occurred.

With my Tarago I returned to the Toyota dealer where I purchased the vehicle and asked them if this was a common complaint. They said “no” but they took photos and appeared to take interest but nothing was done.

I sold the vehicle after about two years and the cracks always bothered me but didn’t seem to get worse. Apart from surface rust in those areas there was little more that was remarkable.

About two years ago I sent an email inquiry too Toyota Australia and asked them if this was a common fault. I received a phone call within a few days from a manager in the engineering department who gave the typical dismissive response but contained an element of threat in his tone of voice.

My concern regarding this alleged fault is that this would weaken the vehicle’s ability to maintain the occupant’s safety in a motor vehicle accident. Although I’m not an automotive engineer, it is my guess that the vehicle’s roof would peal off allowing the vehicle to crush into the shape like a banana and further expose the occupants to injuries from external intrusions.

I have not seen this issue within the media and I would hope that this issue would be addressed in any vehicles manufactured since then. I’ve noticed that other vehicle manufacturers do have a similar problem but nowhere near as prevalent as in the Tarago range. I noticed that the Liteace range also had a similar issue but the Hiace seems to have missed out generally.

Jonathan

[Rosegum]

I’ve owned a few Toyota’s such as a 1973 RT81 Corona, 1972 SL1900 Corona and recently a 1986 Tarago GLi. A problem I noticed in the Tarago is with the body work. As a mechanic I viewed many of these vans and found this reasonably consistent acquired defect around the roof line mostly in the vicinity of joins (but not on the joins themselves) that are covered by the side sliding door and the tailgate. With the moon roof where were also similar cracks in corners of those areas. It is more common in the models with high tops and/or sun/moon roofs where these structural cracks occurred.

With my Tarago I returned to the Toyota dealer where I purchased the vehicle and asked them if this was a common complaint. They said “no” but they took photos and appeared to take interest but nothing was done.

I sold the vehicle after about two years and the cracks always bothered me but didn’t seem to get worse. Apart from surface rust in those areas there was little more that was remarkable.

About two years ago I sent an email inquiry too Toyota Australia and asked them if this was a common fault. I received a phone call within a few days from a manager in the engineering department who gave the typical dismissive response but contained an element of threat in his tone of voice.

My concern regarding this alleged fault is that this would weaken the vehicle’s ability to maintain the occupant’s safety in a motor vehicle accident. Although I’m not an automotive engineer, it is my guess that the vehicle’s roof would peal off allowing the vehicle to crush into the shape like a banana and further expose the occupants to injuries from external intrusions.

I have not seen this issue within the media and I would hope that this issue would be addressed in any vehicles manufactured since then. I’ve noticed that other vehicle manufacturers do have a similar problem but nowhere near as prevalent as in the Tarago range. I noticed that the Liteace range also had a similar issue but the Hiace seems to have missed out generally.

Jonathan

My mum's 87 has big cracks where the handle for the rear tailgate is. on both sides at the top of the indented section no major cracks round the roof line but the external seam is very soft and is probably rusting from the inside out.