I have a 23 RAV4 with a melted and now damaged roofline and am unable to open the hatch. Toyota claims “solar convergence” and refuses to fix and now insurance says it’s not covered under the policy. Any ideas on how to go about getting Toyota to fix? We also have other areas on the car that are melting.
If you do an internet search for "toyota melting plastic" you'll find it's a pretty common problem. For example:
https://www.rav4world.com/threads/trim-melting.328383/
This has also been discussed by Scotty and previously on this forum. About all you can do is put on the gorilla suit and complain to Toyota.
@chucktobias we have and they still refuse. Three times they’ve claimed “solar convergence”. First they blamed my house and houses around me and then the windows around us which are mostly blocked by trees.
@snash It's nonsense, they must be using crappy plastic. I drive decades-old vehicles which are out in the sun and none of them have melting plastic trim.
@chucktobias no you misunderstand. They're saying that the sun converges ONLY on their cars. That's why they give them names like "Corona" 🙂
Scotty adressed melting problem 2 years ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHYoYAwgZhw
@imperator talked to local dealership who escalated to the gulf states rep and also Toyota corporate. All say that this doesn’t fall under the warranty
scumbags
Toyota quality has been on decline in the last several years. The use of cheaper materials and poor quality control is what's causing all the problems. Due to high inflation, all OEMs are looking for ways to cut the cost and end up with crappy product and all kind of problems. It's a new reality we live in now and it's happening all over, not just cars. Whether manufacturers save money with all of the recalls and class actions suits is a big question though.
