Toyota RAV4 Hybrid High Voltage Wire Big Corrosion Problem

https://www.thestar.com/business/2022/0 ... -bill.html

The wire harness supplies power to the rear motor-generator. The connector seems to be susceptible to corrosion and is only covered in a 3 years/ 60,000 km warranty. According to the Automobile Protection Association (APA), they were told the cable is exposed to road spray and insufficiently shielded, resulting in dirt and corrosion at the connector. Price to replace range from $4,200 to $6,500.

In October 2020, Toyota USA issued a technical bulletin to dealers about this issue and mention they are investigating it. In March this year, Toyota Canda issues a technical bulletin board to dealers including the VIN of affected models mentioning an improved replacement part.

So people who own Toyota RAV4 Hybrid may want to make sure they take their car into Toyota Service departments to make sure they get this replaced with the improved part while still under warranty.

A known problem, the battery harness wire sits at the bottom of the car traps in moisture and corrodes quickly. This is not good news for anyone driving in the colder climates where salts are extensively used. The issue comes down to Toyota rejecting to fix it under the Hybrid system warranty and demanding upwards of $4k to fix. They claim this is wear and tear not covered by it. This harness should have been better protected in such a massively produced and high demand car. Disappointed in Toyota, seems their reliability records caught up with them.

Extrahard wrote: ↑ A known problem, the battery harness wire sits at the bottom of the car traps in moisture and corrodes quickly. This is not good news for anyone driving in the colder climates where salts are extensively used. The issue comes down to Toyota rejecting to fix it under the Hybrid system warranty and demanding upwards of $4k to fix. They claim this is wear and tear not covered by it. This harness should have been better protected in such a massively produced and high demand car. Disappointed in Toyota, seems their reliability records caught up with them.

you cannot say such things. Toyotas don't break and run forever.

ok so in the end, it wasn't so much the BATTERY that resulted in thousands repair costs for hybrid owners, it was in fact the battery CABLE... This is terrible because with the corroded cable the rear motor becomes inoperable, leaving the RAV with front wheel drive only

Surprised when I heard about this week last weekend. No clue why the big redesign opted to leave the wiring partially covered but still quite exposed to salt (liquid and solid).

On our 4th gen RAV4H, the wiring to the MGR seem to be way further up.

Could also be high pressure car washes during winter time when most locations use recycled water laden with salt. Much cheaper to recycle than pay municipalities 2x for water usage (usage + treatment). Toyota specifically in the owner's manual, asks owners to avoid high pressure washes of the underside.

One of the reasons why I was fine quitting my car wash group.

alanbrenton wrote: ↑ Surprised when I heard about this week last weekend. No clue why the big redesign opted to leave the wiring partially covered but still quite exposed to salt (liquid and solid).

On our 4th gen RAV4H, the wiring to the MGR seem to be way further up.

Could also be high pressure car washes during winter time when most locations use recycled water laden with salt. Much cheaper to recycle than pay municipalities 2x for water usage (usage + treatment). Toyota specifically in the owner's manual, asks owners to avoid high pressure washes of the underside.

One of the reasons why I was fine quitting my car wash group.

That's why I prefer keeping my ICE vehicle for a while. I don't mind paying the gas price (offset by buying oil related investments). Maybe in 5 years, there will be more EV's and hybrids to choose from and availability. I don't see supply sorting itself out for another few years.

jmc111 wrote: ↑ That's why I prefer keeping my ICE vehicle for a while. I don't mind paying the gas price (offset by buying oil related investments). Maybe in 5 years, there will be more EV's and hybrids to choose from and availability. I don't see supply sorting itself out for another few years.

$45K (low-end BEV) making 7-10% ROI is almost double what my household spends on fuel costs annually.

If the Canadian Premier and his advisers want BEVs to comprise 20% of each car manufacturer's sale starting 2026, we'll most likely have more choices to choose from by then. If each manufacturer has to make sure 20% of sales are BEVs, they'll be forced to compete via features or price or both. Just imagine convincing you and I to buy BEVs. It will be a tougher sell though my next car purchase will be a BEV. Just not sure when I'll bite. Those low-hanging fruits would have already bought BEVs since the second gen Leaf of Tesla Model 3 came out in 2017/2018 and most will not need another BEV from 2026 and beyond, seeing how satisfied they are with no to low-maintenance (their words, not as per recommended maintenance schedule) and Li-ion batteries likely lasting beyond 10 years easy (tick tock tick, even batteries on Toyota HEVs typically die 12 years later but some have lasted 15 years it seems).

This chip shortage (likely additional programming and testing for next gen chips) and supply chain mess will get sorted out in a few years with interest rate slowly creeping up.

I took a chance with a '16 RAV4H, not knowing the full benefits and disadvantages of the 3rd gen Toyota hybrid system, but so far it's been quite reliable. Will probably have to inspect the underside cabling when I swap back to winter tires in December. Will have a friend inspect the car at at Toyota dealership before the 7 year 120,000 km extended warranty expires in January for some peace of mind.

Bought a '12 CT200h from a friend in early 2020 for less than $6,000 not really understanding head gasket and EGR valve / cooler issues and so far it's been a very good purchase. Some think it could be batch issues and not design issues as many 3rd gen Prius get by 200k miles with none of those issues. My friend did confirm she has not experienced those heavy vibrations on cold starts or accelerations from standstill and her car was Lexus dealership maintained ($$).

After reading horror stories on Prius, CT200h, Accord ownership (but not having experienced most of those issues because I bought new), I think buying used outside the warranty period is very risky unless a mechanic and the buyer have a good idea what the top ten issues are for that particular model and verify they're non-existent on that particular vehicle. I tend to agree that many complaints online are coming from used car buyers who thought they got a deal only to find out the used car was cheap for a good reason.

Class action lawsuit started for this issue
French: https://www.lapresse.ca/affaires/chroni ... ective.php

Does this problem affect hybrid Sienna?

Will I have to worry when I get my 2022 Rav4 prime? Has Toyota fixed the issue with newer models?

aett258 wrote: ↑ Will I have to worry when I get my 2022 Rav4 prime? Has Toyota fixed the issue with newer models?

I believe in the newer models there is a cut out in the sleeve to let any water that accumulates in the jacket to drain out so there's less risk of the corrosion issue.

@alanbrenton (@internalaudit), saw your posts on RAV4WORLD.

spyhero wrote: ↑ @alanbrenton (@internalaudit), saw your posts on RAV4WORLD.

Haha. I am not trying to mask my posts or online presence lol.

After the lawsuit, people stopped posting. Strange.

alanbrenton wrote: ↑ Haha. I am not trying to mask my posts or online presence lol.

After the lawsuit, people stopped posting. Strange.

I enjoy reading your posts on RFD and RAV4WORLD.

rvs007 wrote: ↑ I believe in the newer models there is a cut out in the sleeve to let any water that accumulates in the jacket to drain out so there's less risk of the corrosion issue.

IMHO, not a good solution....... it drains water out yes, but the salt would be a lot easier to be sprayed inside the sleeve and will accelerate corroding the stainless braidings easily

I'm not really into cars but had previously heard good things about Toyota's hybrid technology and we are happy with our current Rav4... So we were prepared just to get a Rav4 Hybrid...

Would you folks suggest looking in a diff direction now? Seems like this Rav4 Hybrid is still very popular based on some other threads.

Edit: We plan to drive the car into the ground... Our current Rav4 is > 10 years old and we are happy with it.

poorwingman wrote: ↑ I'm not really into cars but had previously heard good things about Toyota's hybrid technology and we are happy with our current Rav4... So we were prepared just to get a Rav4 Hybrid...

Would you folks suggest looking in a diff direction now? Seems like this Rav4 Hybrid is still very popular based on some other threads.

Edit: We plan to drive the car into the ground... Our current Rav4 is > 10 years old and we are happy with it.

Watch this :

aett258 wrote: ↑ Will I have to worry when I get my 2022 Rav4 prime? Has Toyota fixed the issue with newer models?

I'd be more worried about the near-200ft that turd takes to stop from 70 MPH.