prado dash cracking

[mikestar]

Hello to all just wondering if anyone has come across prado dashboards starting to split. I have an 03 Prado Grande and the dash is splitting in the vinyl right above the instrument cluster. sent photos to toyota and they said they haven't seen this happen before. but since its out of warranty wont do anything about it. not sure what to do. any info would be muchly appreciated.

[eviltwin]

dash mate will cover it thats about all unless you want to get it recovered

[mikestar]

dash mate will cover it thats about all unless you want to get it recovered

its cracked right in front of the dash mat so you cant hide it spewin otherwise that would work for a bit

Edited January 29, 2009 by mikestar

[robie]

as its not in warranty any more id be looking up vynile restorers i think theres 1 call new finish or something like that

im sure they could fix for less then the cost of a new upper dash pad

[maba]

Hello to all just wondering if anyone has come across prado dashboards starting to split. I have an 03 Prado Grande and the dash is splitting in the vinyl right above the instrument cluster. sent photos to toyota and they said they haven't seen this happen before. but since its out of warranty wont do anything about it. not sure what to do. any info would be muchly appreciated.

Hi Mikestar,

Toyota expressing that they have not heard of this issue is UNBELIEVABLE especially when Toyota has already offered to pay half the cost for this exact issue on another Prado.

Regards,

Maba

Edited February 25, 2009 by maba

[kdeito]

Hi Mikestar, I have experienced exactly the same problem. See Kdeito dashboard crack just under your submission.

It is my understanding that these are not isolated instances and I believe Toyota should be responsible for correcting the problem FOC regardless of warrantly expiry as it appears that the fault does not surface for about 4-5 years after manufactured. Even with toyota footing half the bill, the price to fix is quite substantial considering the age of the car.

[mikestar]

Hi Mikestar, I have experienced exactly the same problem. See Kdeito dashboard crack just under your submission.

It is my understanding that these are not isolated instances and I believe Toyota should be responsible for correcting the problem FOC regardless of warrantly expiry as it appears that the fault does not surface for about 4-5 years after manufactured. Even with toyota footing half the bill, the price to fix is quite substantial considering the age of the car.

Hi kdeito

what did you to to get toyota to pay half. I am going to write a letter direct to toyota with pictures and see if i can get any response. I went to a toyota dealer and they sent pics to toyota in the eastern states through the warranty dept but they just seemed to brush me off into the too hard basket with saying its out of warranty too bad. so i'll see how i go and let let you know. even some advise on what to do to fix it would be helpfull so i'll see what they say.

[kdeito]

Hi Mikestar, I have experienced exactly the same problem. See Kdeito dashboard crack just under your submission.

It is my understanding that these are not isolated instances and I believe Toyota should be responsible for correcting the problem FOC regardless of warrantly expiry as it appears that the fault does not surface for about 4-5 years after manufactured. Even with toyota footing half the bill, the price to fix is quite substantial considering the age of the car.

Hi kdeito

what did you to to get toyota to pay half. I am going to write a letter direct to toyota with pictures and see if i can get any response. I went to a toyota dealer and they sent pics to toyota in the eastern states through the warranty dept but they just seemed to brush me off into the too hard basket with saying its out of warranty too bad. so i'll see how i go and let let you know. even some advise on what to do to fix it would be helpfull so i'll see what they say.

Hi Mikestar, contact Customer Service phone No. out of service manual and they will refer you back to your local dealer (Ask your local dealer to research the defect history through toyota countrywide, or refer them to this website). Local Dealer offered half and I appealed and was refused, so I accepted the offer under protest. I then registered my disappointment with Customer Service who refused to reconsider the decision. I have now lodged a grievance plus pictures with the Toyota overseas email address. Keep posted/posting.

[Kciv]

I have a 2003 Prado (120 Series), travelled 130,000. The dash has cracked in two places. There is a crack that extends from the passenger side air vent across the face of the dash (about 30cm), and a crack over the instrument panel, similar to the picutres posted by Mikestar 29/01/09.

Motorama 4X4 in Brisbane advised me to lodge an "out of warranty" claim, only to be told by Toyota that my car ws "out of warranty". Toyota would not comment on the problem. I have been advised by numerous auto repairers that there is no permant fix, other than to replace the dash. There are numerous blogs on the same issue at Pradopoint.com

[maba]

Hi,

Keep persisting with TMCA,

Maba,

Edited February 25, 2009 by maba

[kdeito]

Hi Mikestar, how did you go with TMCA? I got the brush off from Teresa Lawson on the grounds that the car is outside warranty, and that I accepted their offer to pay half (this was under protest). There is an honesty and integrity thing not happening here. I believe TMCA should be replacing defective dashboards FOC that are showing up a couple of years after the warranty has expired and also advising all owners and dealers of the problem. It has certainly turned me off buying another Toyota, and is a story worth telling. Hey Maba, what do you reckon.

Rgds, Kdeito

[maba]

Hi Mikestar, how did you go with TMCA? I got the brush off from Teresa Lawson on the grounds that the car is outside warranty, and that I accepted their offer to pay half (this was under protest). There is an honesty and integrity thing not happening here. I believe TMCA should be replacing defective dashboards FOC that are showing up a couple of years after the warranty has expired and also advising all owners and dealers of the problem. It has certainly turned me off buying another Toyota, and is a story worth telling. Hey Maba, what do you reckon.

Rgds, Kdeito

Hi Kdeito, I am convinced that you and many others should not fork out any cash for a factory fault.

Regards,

Maba

Edited February 25, 2009 by maba

[tnew]

Mikestar

I am dealing with Local distributor with the same problem .Have a quote of $2500 to correct.But am pressing them to follow through with Toyota Aust.

Tnew

[mikestar]

Hi Guys

sorry I haven't replied for a while. I am sending letter of this week so will let you all know what comes out of it

will be in touch

mikestar

[maba]

Hi Guys

sorry I haven't replied for a while. I am sending letter of this week so will let you all know what comes out of it

will be in touch

mikestar

Hi All,

To put a long story short I was offered by TMCA 50% off parts only to rectify my blown engine which equated to almost $8,000 through TOYOTA. I had the engine done for $4,300 complete and satisfied with the outcome at the local mechanic with 12 months warranty. I persisted with TMCA & TMC to the point where Teresa handed over the case to the operations Manager George who basically tried to bully me away which didn't work. I had already made my decision and arranged for my vehicle to be rectified prior to that call. Its absolutely discusting that Toyota is taking advantage of customers in that manner especially when in my case it was identified by their team that the cause of my engine blowing up was due to a component failure and in your case its a factory fault. I would love to park my vehicle in front of a Toyota dealer (outside their boundaries) with a Lemon banner over it and start handing out flyers of my thead to potential customers. If I had the time I would do it...

Anyhow I just blew off some steam . GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR ISSUE!!!

Maba,

[wannawodka]

Here's some light reading for you. Keep pushing hard and prepare to take legal action... this will blow right open next year I suspect. I understand the national media are doing their homework on this issue too!

Click Here

[matt_kluger]

This is crazy for cars this old. Can I ask what you or Toyota think caused it? (i.e. parked in sun, cold, screws too tight etc).

I want to try and make sure this does not happen to my car, although it looks like its mainly prados at this stage. We have a work prado, next time I'm in it I will have a look to see if there is any sign of a crack forming.

Cheers

Matt

[CROCO]

HI EVERYONE

Has any still having problems with their cracking dash. Its been a while since anyone replied to this post, i was wondering how you got on with getting it fixed and how you got on with toyota. Im also wondering what year model prados are affected,as previous prado owner i was curious.

my prado was a 2005 prado gxl and there wasnt even the slightest bit of cracking on my dash my dash had a dash mat on it all the time and was cleaned with a interior cleaner protector once a month.

[VX04]

Well I noticed a few weeks ago that my dash has some small cracks in it My Prado is a 2004 VX. Now a friend of mine had his dash replace on his 06 Grande last year as it only has 60 000 k's on it so Toyota would cover the dash. My Prado has nearly 200 000k's on it and is always kept out of direct sunlight when parked or the sunshade is up to protect it from direct sunlight.I also fitted a dash mat as well..But Toyota won't touch it. The cracks are small ones around the vent on the Drivers side of the instrument panel but I suppose they won't fix themseleves so its a cost I will need to look at later.

[CROCO]

Thanks mate for the reply, did you get a quote on how much it would cost to repair , I wonder do they replace the whole dash or do they repair your exsisting dash.

I was reading in prado point web site that it seems to be a common problem, its a shame though because the prados are such great cars, the prado was the best vechicle I have ever owned.

[VX04]

Apparently its about $1500 to $2000 and its a new Dash thats why its so expensive...Money I cant really justify for that type of repair. :)

Edited August 31, 2012 by VX04

[CROCO]

Thanks mate, sorry been so long to reply,I forget to come over on the prado forum to check replys, I have to admit thats the sort of money I espected to replace the dash, but its still a lot of money to shell out for, especially when the dash should last the life of the car and you shouldnt need to replace the dash, I heard so many different things that could be doing it Im not sure whats causing the problem, have a look on prado point about the same problem its worth a read.

[VX04]

I had forgotten to check this post just been too busy with life but thanks will look into this further and see what I can come up with and i will have a look on Prado Point and read up on what they say cheers

[Michael Gerada]

Hi although my Prado is from 2004 and its 16 years old now, we should all get together and others around the world and demand Toyota either to replace or repair our dashboards. It is clear that it is a manufacturers fault. All dashboards cracks, I would prefer a repair that guarantees it will never crack as a new one will crack again as they are faulty. Toyota had to rectify for free many Toyotas front headlights after many year out of warranty as they went blurred. If we unite with this we would legally win this

[Tony Prodigy]

On 1/26/2021 at 10:09 PM, Michael Gerada said:

Hi although my Prado is from 2004 and its 16 years old now, we should all get together and others around the world and demand Toyota either to replace or repair our dashboards.

Yeah, good luck with that. If there was a recall then different story. Dash cracks can be caused by too much sun and Toyota has no control over how people maintain their vehicles, so i'd say it would be very difficult to get them to even raise a brow over this.

If you're really fussy, locate a good second hand one and swap it out.