You're kidding, right? Is Toyota responsible for someone reaching in behind your grille, popping your bonnet and stealing your battery? How about jacking the car up and stealing your alloy wheels? What about a tailgate-mounted spare wheel? By all means claim it through your insurance company (that is what car insurance is for, afterall), but in no way is Toyota to blame, and they are more than entitled to laugh in your face if you go into a dealership and ask for financial compensation. Seems like a reasonable reaction to me Hiro and obviously you haven't had your spare stolen ..yet!. Toyota have got to be kidding, firstly for poor design and then having the hide to charge over $2000 for a replacement rim and tyre..!! Seems a bit expensive wouldn't you think ..? Why isn't there a locking mechanism on the spare..?? What happens when my $2000 replacement tyre is stolen again..?? My Toyota service centre have said that numerous cars have had their spare tyres stolen recently ...so its happening on a regular basis. Despite the current problem I actually love the Kluger and would definitely buy another. A change in design is definitely required. No, I don't have an external spare tyre so have never had it stolen (my car was broken-in to twice when my dad owned it though). I understand your annoyance at it being taken, and it sucks, but cursing Toyota for a poor design and expecting compensation are two completely different things. No car is perfect, and when you buy a car you accept certain facets about it, especially a 4WD with an externally-mounted spare tyre (regardless of where the mechanism is). No car is theft-proof, and very few external components of the car are either. Sure, it is something that Toyota could address in their next design planning meeting when they sit down to discuss the new Kluger, but it isn't a recall-worthy issue and may barely even warrant a TSB, so at the end of the day why should they bother? Obviously they are aware of the problem already, so if nothing has been done so far then there is a decent chance it will stay that way. As for the replacement cost, OEM alloy wheels (I'm assuming it was a full-sized alloy spare at that price) are always hugely expensive compared to aftermarket wheels, regardless of the manufacturer. Factory wheels are often made to more exacting standards and tolerances than an aftermarket wheel, they are usually designed SPECIFICALLY for that car, not just a generic range, and being a 4WD wheel they have to be bigger, tougher and stronger than normal. Are they _worth_ $2k to most people? Hell no, not even close (people sell second-hand sets of stock wheels for tens to hundreds, not thousands), but that is the price to buy a brand new one from Toyota. Since you should be putting this through an insurance claim, why are you even worried about the cost? Let the insurance company sort it out, that is what you pay them $100 a month for. Its not $100 a month. There is access also involved. $650/per insurance claim If somebody goes through the effor of stealing a tyre after opening a bonnet then i can understand and is unfortuante. The thing that makes me sad is there is no way to secure them. Some of the spare tyre which is externally mounted at the back can be secured using a specific nut.... You feel so helpless in this case. Take it from a guy who got the tyre stolen twice in a matter of few weeks.
