munster

After emailing my dealership and telling them that they had failed to honour my warranty back when they originally failed to fix it, I eventually was told that Toyota would provide the updated part at no charge "as a gesture of goodwill" and that my dealer would fit it free of charge. A couple months later and they called me to tell me the part was available, I had it fitted on Wednesday, and the clunk has disappeared. It seems to drive better but that could be psychological. I'm picking up a new Mazda BT50 next week so it's no longer my problem, but one of my employees wants to buy my Kluger. I hope the fix is permanent for his sake.

Toyota Australia customer service rang me back last night to tell me that they had been in contact with my dealer and confirmed that they can not (will not) do the repair under warrranty. I said that's fine, but now explain why Toyota failed to honour the warranty I purchased with the vehicle, as they didn't repair my steering shaft fault when it was reported while under warranty. She noted that down, we'll see what happens. From my warranty and service book: "Within the Warranty Period Toyota will repair or replace, at its discretion, any original equipment Toyota components found to be defective under normal use and operation in Australia". They categorically failed to do that. I understand they didn't know how to fix it at the time, but they kept telling me Toyota was working on a fix - I trusted them to follow through with the repair when it was available. Instead they let it go until my car was out of warranty, at which point it's no longer their problem. My next step is an email to the owner of the dealership.

My Kluger went in for it's 180k service today, and I again reported the clunking problem. I've posted earlier in this thread, but it was originally reported at about 20k, they replaced the shaft with the same unit, same problem at about 40k. I reported again at pretty much every service, they acknowledged the problem and said Toyota was working on a fix. The service manager now tells me that they have the new part, they can fit if for me today, and it will only cost me $680.... I informed him I reported it multiple times while under warranty, and that they tried to fix it but couldn't. I also pointed out that since Toyota had modified the new part, they were effectively admitting the original part was of faulty design. After several minutes of discussion, he settled on the argument that they can't replace it since it's a 2008 vehicle. I countered that it was a warranty issue right from the start and that they knew there was a problem, and recorded it multiple times. We just kept going back and forth in this manner until I gave up. I rang Toyota Aust (Billie took my call, very friendly and professional) but they are simply going to report my call to the local service manager.... I'm currently shopping for a replacement vehicle but don't want to have to sell the vehicle as it is (would you buy a car with that clunk in the steering?). I won't be getting another Toyota.

I was talking to the dealership in Mildura VIC, so probably not local to many folks on here. I need to reiterate that this was just the service guy telling me this, I haven't actually had it fixed yet - your response from Toyota head office makes me a little suspicious that they are just leading me on so I keep getting my Kluger serviced there....

I had my Kluger serviced last week, and the service guy told me Toyota have given up on the existing design which apparently has a ball bearing arrangement (supposedly to reduce binding when turning??), to an old fashioned spline arrangement. I haven't seen an exploded parts diagram but that seems to make sense. Mine is on the list for replacement when they get the parts in.

I just got off the phone to my local Toyota service desk. I've had this steering clunk since early on in my 2008 KX-R 2WD Kluger's life (I first reported it at about 30-40k from memory), it's had the shaft replaced once (so they tell me), but at 160,000km the noise is now clearly audible to the front seat passenger. He says they have recently received a note advising them of an upcoming "field fix", and that since I reported it before the warranty ran out it "should be covered". He also mentioned the word "recall" but I wouldn't bet my house on that just yet. Despite this issue, and an absolutley useless Bluetooth microphone, I would buy another Kluger without hesitation if this was the type of vehicle that suited my needs. It's been an excellent vehicle overall, it still impresses me with the interior space and comfort considering I only have the base model (optioned with KX-S sound system and 3rd row seats). Edit: mine does it when turning right, particularly when accelerating at the same time - eg taking off into a roundabout with the wheel partially turned right - I can replicate it every time in this situation. I zip through 9 small roundabouts morning and night on the way to/from work, it will clunk when running straight through just as I accelerate out of the roundabout (ie with the wheel partly turned).

Does anyone know how to disable the seat belt warning chimes and/or the key in ignition chime? I regularly drive around the orchard at slow speeds (getting in and out checking on young trees), but if I nudge it over 25kph with no seat belt on the chime starts going off and won't stop - very annoying. Since it has a decent sound system it's also nice to play a cd while sitting down by the river - I'd like to leave the door open to let some sound out, but then the ignition key alarm goes off. I can wind the window down yes, but it would be better not to have it - you can't lock the car with the key in the ignition anyway so what purpose does it serve?

Well, I'm coming from a 2005 Navara dual cab to a Kluger KX-R, so it's like I've stepped into a luxury vehicle! All relative. Love the car so far but done less than 2000k's, engine and gearbox great, plenty of grunt on the highway (I live in a country town), fuel economy good on a longish trip, quiet, heaps of room front and rear. My biggest problem (and I've mentioned this in a different thread) is I paid over $700 to upgrade the stereo to the 6 stacker from the KX-S and it's rubbish! I wish I'd kept my cash and went for an aftermarket head unit instead. I mainly wanted the bluetooth link to my phone as I make a few calls from my vehicle going to and from work, but I assumed it had features that it doesn't, like actually having acceptable sound quality on a call. I can hear the caller ok, but everyone is complaining they can't hear me and there is noise on the line. I also assumed, like aftermarket units, that it would link to phone numbers in my phone (it doesn't, it can only save 6 manually entered speed dial numbers) and that it would stream audio from my phone so I could play playlists from the phone memory card through the stereo (it doesn't). Sound quality isn't much better than the Navara, and that's saying something. Very disappointed. But other than the stereo, great car!

While I am very happy with my Kluger KX-R so far (only done 1400k's) I have to say I am disappointed with the stereo. I paid about $740 to have the KX-S 6 stacker sound system put in, mainly because I wanted the integrated bluetooth. I mistakenly assumed it would have features similar to aftermarket bluetooth stereos, but: - almost everyone I've spoken to using the bluetooth phone link complains about the quality - someone said it was like an am radio slightly off channel. This isn't the professional image I want to portray in my business. When I booked it in for the first service the service guy complained he couldn't hear me very well, so that was a good time to notify him of the problem! - it doesn't integrate with the phone book from your phone, you have to manually enter in a very limited 6 speed dial numbers (unless I'm missing something). - you can't play music from your phone via bluetooth on the stereo (again unless I'm missing something). - the music quality isn't that good, acceptable, but not worth $700 - the manual states something like "when playing cd's in random play the same song may be played twice in a row - this is not an error it is normal". Sorry fellas, that's just bad design. I have complained to the dealer and am going to try to get my money back for the stereo upgrade because the bluetooth is unusable IMO, but I don't like my chances. If you are considering it I would recommend you seriously consider other alternatives - I'm about to start looking. Tim BTW, I'm using a Nokia 6120, always fully charged, no other bluetooth devices in the vehicle, phone works fine with other bluetooth devices at home and around the office.