Toyota RAV4 Interior Problems

kozial

I recently purchased a 2007 Sport 4wd V6 with the charcoal cloth interior. After four days, I had several catches in the material. One large catch ocurred when I was merely vacuuming the seat. Has anyone else had this problem? In all my 25 yrs of owning autos, this has never happened. Why would Toyota choose such a non durable fabric - especially for a sport SUV? God forbid if I put my dog on one of the seats, it would be ruined in a matter of minutes. The dealer immediately ordered two new backrest covers and a seat cover - of course they are backordered.

new2toy

Kozial-- I've had the same model and interior since mid-December '06 and have not had your problems with the fabric. Regularly take my two doxies for rides, and neither they nor the other "picky" stuff I toss onto the seats have lifted a thread.

outpostn

I also recently purchased an 07 Sport 4WD V6 with the charcoal cloth. No problems with the fabric - in fact, I rather like it. Perhaps you got a "bad batch" of cloth.

lessbs

I own a 2007 Rav4 Limited, V-6. The front door handle assemblies stick out from the door about 3 inches. They hold the buttons for the door locks and automatic windows and are covered with metal that comes to a point at their edge. I am 6' 3" and my leg rests against the pointed metal on long trips (it actually becomes quite painful). I called the Toyota Customer Service Line and they said that I am the first owner to bring up this issue and consequently they don't have a fix for the problem. I can't be the only one that doesn't keep my legs pinned together on long trips. Has anyone else had this problem and come up with any solutions?

Thanks for any help.

tidester

I don't know whether they are available but have you thought about aftermarket door handles?

tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper

lessbs

I thought about an after-market fix but can't find any. My Toyota dealer didn't know of any either. I was hoping somebody on this forum might know of one.

Thanks for the thought.

stever

Stuff like this is hard to pick up on with limited test drives. On some cars, my back may not start hurting until the second hour, and there's a little escutcheon that bangs my left knee on my Outback that I don't notice unless I'm on a longer trip.

I'd go talk to a body shop (or perhaps an upholstery shop) - they may be able to stick a shorter armrest on there that will hold the switches while you own it. Then when you go to trade, you can put everything back to the original set-up. The dealer may wonder why your several year old RAV4 has a pristine arm rest though.

bigdadi118

temporary fix .... if you can't find a better choice.

panty liners or velcro seat belt cushion (for the neck shoulder area) to the door handle

clearskyz

We bought the RAV with the charcoal cloth as well. Within the first 4 months we have had numerous pulls on the seats. The dealer is reluctantly replacing the covers on the seats, but not the backs. Seems like a problem to me.

rich1813

How did you convince the reluctant dealer to replace the seat cover. By back do you mean the cloth your back is against, or the backing material under cloth that gives the seat it's shape? I have the same problem. He's agreed to replace the bottom cloth cover, not the seat back cover. The bottom had the foam back behind the cloth separate and it caused a bunch up of the cloth. The seat back is fuzzing near the outside fabric on the outer side. Very frustrating since this is 4 inches away from the defective section. Dealer calls it normal, but I disagree. Friends of ours have 40K miles on their Rav, not such normal wear on the same seats. Similar with another guy. Not wiht our fawn colored seats though on the 08 limited.