2010 Avenis Tr Tourer 1.8 V-Matic Radio Reception Problems

[soundghost]

Is anybody else experiencing any radio reception problems with their factory fitted SatNav Radio/CD combos in the 2010 Avensis TR Tourer?

When I first bought my new car in March 2010 I had a few problems with my local FM radio station skipping off the mark every now and then. And I know this sounds crazy but certain songs when played on the radio would cause my Speakers to crackle or hiss. CDs or MP3s play fine by the way. But the radio reception seems really poor. At first my local Toyota dealership wouldn't believe me and probably thought it was all in my head. But I eventually convinced one of their service engineers to sit with me in the car while we drove on a nearby motorway for about 10 minutes. Even the engineer seemed embarrassed when the problem happened right in front of his eyes and ears. My local Toyota dealership has had my car in and they replaced the radio unit and aerial, but I'm still having the same problems. Now I've just heard from my local dealership that the Toyota head office technical squad have acknowledged that it is a "feature" of some of the newest models. Something to do with the aerial and interference from the car itself. But that was all they said. No plans to do anything about it, apparently. Well, after Toyota's cheesey advertisements about "caring about every little thing" I'm not impressed. I'm thinking of taking it up with the press.

[Mstock3]

Is anybody else experiencing any radio reception problems with their factory fitted SatNav Radio/CD combos in the 2010 Avensis TR Tourer?

When I first bought my new car in March 2010 I had a few problems with my local FM radio station skipping off the mark every now and then. And I know this sounds crazy but certain songs when played on the radio would cause my speakers to crackle or hiss. CDs or MP3s play fine by the way. But the radio reception seems really poor. At first my local Toyota dealership wouldn't believe me and probably thought it was all in my head. But I eventually convinced one of their service engineers to sit with me in the car while we drove on a nearby motorway for about 10 minutes. Even the engineer seemed embarrassed when the problem happened right in front of his eyes and ears. My local Toyota dealership has had my car in and they replaced the radio unit and aerial, but I'm still having the same problems. Now I've just heard from my local dealership that the Toyota head office technical squad have acknowledged that it is a "feature" of some of the newest models. Something to do with the aerial and interference from the car itself. But that was all they said. No plans to do anything about it, apparently. Well, after Toyota's cheesey advertisements about "caring about every little thing" I'm not impressed. I'm thinking of taking it up with the press.

[Mstock3]

Hi,

I have a 2010 T4 Avensis tourer fitted with the premium Sat/Nav audio system and found the radio reception to be fine, where the signal is poor on a particular station you do get the ususal distortion.

In respect of taking the issue further, going to the press should be a last resort, have you tried contacting Toyota Customer relations? (01737 367600) The Toyota CR team act as an interface between the dealer, Toyota technical and us the customer. Please remember that the majority of dealers i beleive are franchise operations and Toyota have a vested interest in the product and services that they provide on Toyota behalf so going to the press will have by-passed an opportunity to get your issue resolved. As per the handbooks supplied with the car, one of them identifies the complaints procedure should an issue arise that cannot be resolved to your satisfaction but i am sure this entails calling the Toyota CR team.

I found that having experienced a similar issue with statements made by a dealer regarding a fault that could not be resolved, but was recognsed by Toyota technical that Toyota CR were able to enlist the help of both Toyota technical and the asscoiated help of Toyota employed region technical engineers. This is my case resolved the issue, but it took time, patience and lots of telephone calls.

Best of luck.

[soundghost]

Hi,

I have a 2010 T4 Avensis tourer fitted with the premium Sat/Nav audio system and found the radio reception to be fine, where the signal is poor on a particular station you do get the ususal distortion.

In respect of taking the issue further, going to the press should be a last resort, have you tried contacting Toyota Customer relations? (01737 367600) The Toyota CR team act as an interface between the dealer, Toyota technical and us the customer. Please remember that the majority of dealers i beleive are franchise operations and Toyota have a vested interest in the product and services that they provide on Toyota behalf so going to the press will have by-passed an opportunity to get your issue resolved. As per the handbooks supplied with the car, one of them identifies the complaints procedure should an issue arise that cannot be resolved to your satisfaction but i am sure this entails calling the Toyota CR team.

I found that having experienced a similar issue with statements made by a dealer regarding a fault that could not be resolved, but was recognsed by Toyota technical that Toyota CR were able to enlist the help of both Toyota technical and the asscoiated help of Toyota employed region technical engineers. This is my case resolved the issue, but it took time, patience and lots of telephone calls.

Best of luck.

Thanks, that is sound advice. I will try the Toyota CR route.