2019 RAV4 Wipers Smearing

[Tomfromfife]

So I had my windscreen replaced this morning.

It now does not smear or leave a lattice pattern across the drivers view 

But, the fitter broke a trim piece at the bottom offside of the screen. The clips have all been broken off the back of it. I despair at the quality of these people, not that he accidentally broke the part but didn’t own up to it before I saw it.

So, if you have the screen replaced check these parts are still intact...

you ca see the offside part is detached.

[Tomfromfife]

Could I ask a favour please. After the windscreen was fitted, I noticed this space where the offside bonnet hinge is. I don’t remember how it looked before but it looks like there should be something to fill the space.

Is this how it looks on your 2019 RAV4 looks?

 

[satts67]

It looks like the windscreen scuttle has not been replaced correctly possibly due to forcing it down on broken clips. Raise a complaint with them and they will send out a higher level technician to investigate it.

[Tomfromfife]

It gets worse. Driving home I now have bad rattling from the dashboard where it meets the windscreen. Lightly thumping the dashboard it rattles badly and feels loose. What the hell has this fitter done to my car. It used to be rattle free.

At a guess I would say that the fitter has left out a seal across the bottom. I cannot believe I am having all these problems. 
I know where the screen and other parts were ordered from, which is the same dealership as where I bought the car but different location, so I will find out what parts were ordered and tackle the windscreen fitting company this morning.

 

[Tomfromfife]

On 11/28/2020 at 7:19 AM, Tomfromfife said:

It gets worse. Driving home I now have bad rattling from the dashboard where it meets the windscreen. Lightly thumping the dashboard it rattles badly and feels loose. What the hell has this fitter done to my car. It used to be rattle free

Between the dashboard and the screen there is a foam strip called a cushion. They have fitted it to low so there is a gap. I’m not having them take the screen or the dashboard top to fix that so have asked them to order me a new foam strip and I will fit it in the gap. Tiresome !!

[Terry10]

I feel very sorry for you mate. You spend a small fortune on a new car and some untrained ( or lazy )  botch it artist comes along and ruins it for you.

If you stand over them they don’t like it and if you leave them to it they mess it up.

So called professionals .

I had a service done at a main dealer on a previous car a couple of years back and they managed to dump a filter housing full of diesel over my alternator. Then denied it and wanted £750 for a new one.!!!!!
Till I went over their head to the manufacturer. All ok in the end but it should not have happened.

Good luck with it.

regards Terry

 

[Tomfromfife]

OK, they replaced the broken trim piece, and gave me the foam cushion for the joint from the dashboard to the winspdscreen.
The foam has an adhesive edge with peel off paper strip, so I left that on and pushed the foam into the gap neatly.

The saga ends here I hope. I hope all the information from my experience has been helpful to others.

if anyone has a smearing patch across the drivers view then get a professional to check the glass for distortion.

[Kerr]

On wipers but slightly different. 2016 Rav wipers have been fine. Use toyota service. Recently used My Car (KMart Auto) for a service let them change the blades and once checked there was a gap near the bottom of the windscreen 20cm by 5 at the base where the wipers finish or back. took it back staff member said not Toyota blade would get some. Didnt contact me. I went back again and his boss said they all have a gap its normal will burn out parts if blades overlap, whats my problem... this gap wasnt there before they touched it. After yelling a bit (him) he agreed to get toyota blades insisting it wont make a difference. 

Question is there a gap thats not covered in a windscreen 2016 Rav when properly fitted? 

[182_blue]

15 hours ago, Tomfromfife said:

OK, they replaced the broken trim piece, and gave me the foam cushion for the joint from the dashboard to the winspdscreen.
The foam has an adhesive edge with peel off paper strip, so I left that on and pushed the foam into the gap neatly.

The saga ends here I hope. I hope all the information from my experience has been helpful to others.

if anyone has a smearing patch across the drivers view then get a professional to check the glass for distortion.

Interestingly my patch has been fixed purely by fitting different Wiper Blades. 

[PMW]

4 hours ago, 182_blue said:

Interestingly my patch has been fixed purely by fitting different wiper blades. 

Can I please ask if you went for Toyota blades or for some other brand? Thank you.

[182_blue]

9 hours ago, PMW said:

Can I please ask if you went for Toyota blades or for some other brand? Thank you.

I went for the Bosch Aerotwin's,  I always fit these to my cars but usually to stop juddering and noise issues, not sure why I didn't think of it alot earlier tbh. 

[Phill111]

I had the same issue on my 2017 RAV4. Every service (I do high mileage so 3-4 a year) I asked for it to be sorted. All they ever did was replace the Wiper Blades and the problem remained. In the end I fitted Bosch Aerotwin to the drivers side and it fixed the problem, until the next service when the buggers removed it and fitted the original ones. 
 

Now the same smearing has started to appear on my 2020 RAV4. Had the wipers changed last week on the 20K service so I will soon see if the problem remains.

[roadster-rav]

My car was OK from new after I cleaned the screen the first time. Then it had its first service and the dealers cleaned it, not having very much else to do I suppose! They obviously got something on the screen which left a film and it took quite a while to get the glass clean again to stop the smearing. Next time I'll tell them not to clean it. The irony is that they went to great lengths to insist that I had the special cleaning treatment on the new car even though it was not charged for as such.

[rav4x4man]

On 12/16/2020 at 9:18 PM, 182_blue said:

I went for the Bosch Aerotwin's,  I always fit these to my cars but usually to stop juddering and noise issues, not sure why I didn't think of it alot earlier tbh. 

Hi,

I also have the smearing windscreen problem.

Where did you purchase your Bosch Aerotwins? I've been looking around online for them but none of the stockiest I've found list the Mk5 RAV4.

Does simply ordering by correct blade length suffice?

Thanks.

[182_blue]

On 3/18/2021 at 10:28 PM, rav4x4man said:

Hi,

I also have the smearing windscreen problem.

Where did you purchase your Bosch Aerotwins? I've been looking around online for them but none of the stockiest I've found list the Mk5 RAV4.

Does simply ordering by correct blade length suffice?

Thanks.

Sorry my computer has been away for repair !, these are the ones I ordered

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BOSCH-Wiper-Blade-Pair-Aerotwin-Retro-26-16-650mm-400mm-AR141S-3397014141/192983779228?hash=item2ceebac79c:g:0IEAAOSwVLVdJbln

[Blackfoot]

I’m in South Africa and have a 2020 RAV 4. Driver side wiper smears on the return stroke. 3rd set of blades. Toyota has applied a nano guard to the windsrcreen which had sufficient time to cure and this has just made the problem worse.

There is obviously something wrong and there should be a recall? This is a serious safety issue. I had to pull off the road a couple of times during rain showers as it got so bad....

[roadster-rav]

On 4/28/2021 at 1:25 PM, Blackfoot said:

I’m in South Africa and have a 2020 RAV 4. Driver side wiper smears on the return stroke. 3rd set of blades. Toyota has applied a nano guard to the windsrcreen which had sufficient time to cure and this has just made the problem worse.

There is obviously something wrong and there should be a recall? This is a serious safety issue. I had to pull off the road a couple of times during rain showers as it got so bad....

Smearing in one direction may be because the blade angle is wrong. When the blade changes direction it should flip over so that the edge trails the blade centre line in both directions and with approximately the same angle relative to the screen. It used to be possible to freeze the wipers in any position by turning off the ignition at the critical moment but I doubt that modern electronics allow this so its just a matter of careful observation or perhaps taking a video and pausing it. Modern blade assemblies can sometimes lack the built in sloppiness that allows the blade to flip over. Simple steel wiper arms could easily be tweaked to get a matching angle but it might not be so easy now. 

[Russell Stuart]

Greetings from Brisbane and thanks for this interesting thread. My 2020 Rav4 Cruiser has had the same main issue since day 1..., now 16 months old,  a smear at arm level, on return, on drivers side.

Toyota agreed to the issue when I videoed the wipers while driving. At the time they admitted that "the bosses Hilux had the same issue" 

I asked if they could test the spring tension for comparison and/or replace the spring (maybe a bad batch?) but all they wanted to do was swap the motor out; which they did, but did not solve the issue. 

I note that a deformed screen could be the issue and I will check that aspect out; but my gut feel is that if deformed it should impact both ways, not just on return?

If anyone has had any further updates then I would be interested in hearing. I will also update anything from my side.

Russell

Brisbane

[PMW]

I recently switched to Bosch Aerotwin, and, as 182_blue reports above, this has addressed the problem. A problem that I have found not just irritating but on a few occasions a real safety hazard as well.   

[ernieb]

I’ve used the Bosch Aerotwin blades on the last few cars and rate then very highly.  I also use RainX on the front and rear windows, this does make a massive difference when the screen is dirty and damp rather than wet.