Door crack on 2012 Avensis Tourer!!

[estate]

Just checked the doors on my 2012 Avensis Tourer and I think there's signs of the dreaded crack appearing on the drivers door.

I've attached a photo and would appreciate if anyone whose had experienced of this problem would add a comment. I was under the impression that they had solved this problem and it only happened on earlier Avensis.

The car is booked in for a service next month, so will point this out to them and get their opinion.

[Heidfirst]

You are in warranty so if you do have a crack you'll get a new door ...

[estate]

Thanks for the reassurance Scott. 

I also have an extended warranty in place, does anyone know if this covers the cracks on the doors, just in case the passenger door starts cracking as well. 

As this looks like a major manufacturing problem, I'm surprised that Toyota hasn't resolved the problem, or have they? 

[FROSTYBALLS]

As far as I'm aware, extended warranties don't cover bodywork. See the Overview section on the following:  https://www.toyota.co.uk/caring-for-your-toyota/warranty/extended-warranty.json

[Heidfirst]

is your car a facelift or a late registered original T27?

[estate]

Yes Mike it does look like its not covered on the extended warranty and Scott, its the facelift 2.2 D-4D T Spirit Nav, built in March 2012.

I will update this post when I've had the car inspected and as I think Toyota are well aware of the problem, and they continue to manufacturing vehicles knowing that it will fail on what is a relatively new car, there will be some sort agreement in place to resolve it, I hope.

[Heidfirst]

Same car as mine then just that mine is older (early production facelift). There doesn't seem to be many complaints of door cracks on facelifts so far (tbh compared to how many cars are out there there aren't many on the original either - it must be a miniscule %) so will be interesting to see how you get on. At least get your possible complaint registered before the original warranty ends.

[estate]

The complaint will be registered in Dec when I take it for its 40K miles service and I'll be keeping a close eye on the passenger door as well. Will keep you up to date Scott.

[teddybear]

My 2011 Avensis had both doors crack in January this year. Listers Coventry claimed had not seen before. Photos where taken and sent to Toyota UK. They agreed with no persuasion to replace both doors. New doors sprayed good match, sprayed the rear doors as well and blended the wings. Was in 10 days. Good job just shame had to be done.

[Heidfirst]

1 hour ago, teddybear said:

My 2011 Avensis had both doors crack in January this year..

facelift or original?

[estate]

Update:

Had to go to the Toyota dealership this morning as the central locking was playing up and I couldn't lock the doors with either the key fob (used both key fobs), door handle sensors, boot switch, toggle switch on drivers door and also the key in the lock itself. However on the way to the garage I continued to try locking the doors with the door toggle switch, no luck until I was about 1/2 mile from the garage and while waiting at the traffic, tried again and it locked. I decided to call in anyway and reported the crack in the door now. Picture taken and a report will be sent to Toyota, may get an answer in 2 days, but can take up to 2 weeks apparently. The Service manager wasn't aware of any problems with the doors cracking and he mentioned it maybe because the door is being pushed opened to its full extent. Will wait and see what Toyota have to say but reading Simon's reply above gives me a bit more reassurance. 

[teddybear]

Hi my car is a 2012 11 Plate T27 so first Generation T27 not the slightly face lifted version. Mine has been fine since the Spray job and new doors, may have a minor wind leak on the front quarter light window. Not sure if dealer was being honest with saying they knw nothing. But Toyota UK kept its word and paid for it all. I never even signed a bill. Paint job is good and was nice to get rid of all those trolley scratches etc even if only for a bit.

Mind you I had a new steering column under warranty as well when it was only 6mths old as the steering went heavy intermittently while parking, never done that since. Also had a sheared suspension mount bolt which took a while to find and fixed under warranty. Other than that it is a great car. Still better than citroens I have had before.

[Heidfirst]

20 minutes ago, teddybear said:

Hi my car is a 2012 11 Plate T27 .

Just for clarification - afaik it can't be a 2012 11 plate. An 11 plate (March to August incl.) would be a 2011 model year or a late registered 2010. A 61 (Sept to Feb incl.) plate could be a 2011 MY or a 2012 MY (facelift, like mine).

[SAM LOVERS HER TOYOTAS]

Just adding my few cents to this topic...ive had a hard look at our vehicle around the side of the doors and inner sections of all joints and hinges and cant see any signs of any cracking. It doesnt appear to have this issue. Yet it is a 2010 t27. Unless it did previously and was repaired whist under a previous owner. Touch wood i hope it doesnt happen to ours. Otherwise our vehicle seems to be issue free...other than averaging 31mpg during these cold days...dropping a notch on my fuel indicator almost daily....3 notches covering 120 miles short runs admittedly. But we still love the quality and comfort of this particular model!

[Konrad C]

29 minutes ago, SAM LOVERS HER TOYOTAS said:

Just adding my few cents to this topic...ive had a hard look at our vehicle around the side of the doors and inner sections of all joints and hinges and cant see any signs of any cracking. It doesnt appear to have this issue. Yet it is a 2010 t27. Unless it did previously and was repaired whist under a previous owner. Touch wood i hope it doesnt happen to ours. Otherwise our vehicle seems to be issue free...other than averaging 31mpg during these cold days...dropping a notch on my fuel indicator almost daily....3 notches covering 120 miles short runs admittedly. But we still love the quality and comfort of this particular model!

Off topic but your diesel car is worse than my petrol, even accounting for driving conditions/situations! I do short journeys too, and my current average is 35-36 mpg.

The door cracks on various cars tell me that usage, paint and metal quality could be the difference. I have said this before, the metal flex can cause the paint to crack. I have greased the door strap, so that there is slightly less resistance over the two intermediate stops. It still holds on those settings, just less force which means less flexing. I had to take this action since my car is outside the warranty. Another solution is to fabricate some way to reinforce to metal, where the strap is bolted on the door, to stop the flexing. My other plan is to repair the area using paint that copes with the flexing and put some metal inside. The problem is that the area of the door is not flat, so any metal placed in that area has to be shape to match. For now I am trying larger washers, on top of greasing the door strap.

[FROSTYBALLS]

This weeks Auto Express (w/c 30/11/16) has an Avensis featured in the Watchdog section with cracked doors. 2010 model and Toyota service history.

Toyota declined to replace the doors or offer a goodwill contribution. Quote from Toyota - "The pictures supplied show no perforation or corrosion from inside, and it appears this is a stress related crack".

Presumably as the car was outside the new car warranty, and from their quote, consideration was given under the corrosion warranty. However as there was no evidence of corrosion, assistance was denied.

[estate]

Interesting article in Auto Express Mike, just a shame about the outcome.

Toyota stated that although they have admitted improvements to the Avensis door mechanism were made in 2011, very few cases that have been raised by customers and even those have invariably turned out to be high or incorrect usage. So if there wasn’t a problem with the door mechanism why improve it!!

[FROSTYBALLS]

Think as it is a bodywork issue, it falls between types of warranty.

If within the new car warranty (in the UK 5 years/100,000 miles), the issue would be covered, as it is bodywork.

If outside the new car warranty, it doesn't count under the corrosion warranty, as it isn't corrosion.

Extended warranties don't cover bodywork.

[Heidfirst]

I am sure that if it had been raised within the car's original warranty that it would have been fixed foc. It's most likely (I haven't seen the article) even outside the Sale of Goods/Consumer Rights Act limits.

There has to be a cut off - manufacturers can't be expected to support everything indefinitely.

[Heidfirst]

we can now add my car to the list. 

With it's 5th birthday of registration coming up at the start of January & the car booked in for an MOT today (passed with no advisories )  I had a prior look around it for anything that might need to be reported & found early signs of a crack on my driver's door (the passenger door is hardly used, so no signs) as per estate's photo (not quite as developed yet though). 

Duly mentioned to dealer, bodyshop manager seemed to know about it (I gather that they have had a few), photos taken & sent to Toyota. My car is babied so definitely not abuse.

I could happily live with it as it is but it's the thought of what it may be like in 2-3 years & potential cost to fix then ...

[estate]

Not good news Scott especially when it was believed that Toyota GB had resolved this problem way back in 2011. I wonder how many more cracked doors are out there, still in warranty but soon to expire. The only way I was made aware of this problem, was being a member of this group and I very much doubt if it would have been pointed out to me during an annual service carried out by a Toyota dealership, because as I found out some service managers are not aware of the problem and it is difficult to spot unless you specifically look were the crack starts. 

The latest update on my car is the wrong information was given to me apparently its not, "Toyota normally get back to the dealership within 2 days but can take 14 days" , it's now can take up to 28 days before they get back to the dealership. 

[yossarian247]

I had a good look at ours last night, its October 2012 registered with 60k on the clock, and no sign of any cracks as far as I could see. There's a part of the paintwork near the strap on the driver's door that has a very slight rough feel to it if you run a finger tip over it, but nothing to actually see. Hopefully that's not a crack starting under the paint!

[Heidfirst]

mine is just where it is in estate's photo - where the flatter metal meets that slight bulge.

Dealer was back in touch today saying that Toyota want paint thickness measurements - has anybody else had this? Anyway, taking the car back in next week so that this can be done.

[estate]

By the quick response you got from Toyota it looks you have a good dealership up your way. Still waiting for Lindop of Queensferry to contact me with Toyota response.

Paint thickness test!!  I would have thought it would be door skin thickness test they would be wanting to be carried out, but there must be a good reason for this, that is above our heads. I wonder if they increase the thickness of the door skin to get over the problem of cracking.

[estate]

Car booked in for door replacement in early January next year. No mention about them wanting a paint thickness measurement Scott.