Another dash crack victim w/pics

SolRayz

SolRayz

New member
This has been driving me batty for a few days now. I have read so many posts all over the net on this issue and I am convinced that this is a material and design flaw on the part of Toyota, yet they will not recognize it as so. I think everyone who owns a 4th gen will encounter this sooner or later regardless of the care you put into your interior. Soon we will have ten posts a day on this subject, and more the better. Toyota needs to hear from us, recall, and replace this crap.

I am the second owner of my '03 Limited and at first I thought the crack over the driver side air vent was a factory seam (see 1st pic). The "seam" then travels along the leading edge over the gauge cluster. It has now creeped and halted over the radio cluster. My fear is that it will spread across to the passenger side, leaving an overall immaculate 4Runner with a nasty cracked dash from hell. The previous owner attempted to stop the crack from spreading over the passenger side air vent, where I assume it all started. That was a complete failure, leaving only a gooey mess.

I filed a grievance with Toyota, and their response was 3yr/36K mile warranty on dash...sorry. Total bs...because i can point to them endless post and several pics across the web of the exact same cracking pattern shown in my pics. Really pathetic for a car with only 92K miles and garage kept.

So what are my options...

Deal with it...ummm no
Dash cover...ummm no
Buy and install dash assy myself: $852.00 plus shipping
Stealership install will cost me well over $1K

Those that have this issue, please contact Toyota and raise hell and post pics where you can. If this affects every owner, we may have a case here. If anyone has any suggestions please share. Thanks.

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Yikes, hasn't happened to me............ yet

I've seen so many with cracked dashes. I hate to say it, but almost everyone here automatically knows that Toyota won't do a thing about it. Luckily, there are companies that repair them for ABOUT $300. When/If mine cracks bad, I'm going to have them (3rd party company) repair it and cover it in leather. I wouldn't want another OEM dashboard......... that one will eventually crack too. ........ food for thought.
 
Do you (or did the previous owner) use ArmorAll religiously? Many people don't know but these products force out the natural oils contained within the synthetic material used in today's automotive industry, leading to cracks and tears. Mind you, I've never seen one this extensive.
 
Ya this is bullcrap! I know if enough people reported the issue to the same department at corporate they would resolve the issue globally.
 
My crack goes completely over the gauge cluster on the leading edge of the "sun extension", for lack of a better term. :banana:
 
Levinz11 said:
My crack goes completely over the gauge cluster on the leading edge of the "sun extension", for lack of a better term. :banana:
Click to expand...

It will continue further like mine I would assume. The question is how far will it go. If you mess with it will continue cracking in that direction.

And yes the smudge is where the previous owner attempted to fix. Someone in a different thread posted about a repair job and the horror story that ensued. It resulted in a dash full of this gooey mess. I believe he got a new dash out of it

I avoid Armor All like the plague. Whether the previous owner did, that I am not sure. In the first picture the crack looks like a natural seam to me. Very odd. I am wondering if the foam is expanding with heat and tearing the vinyl material at its weakest points. That is why many are experiencing the same result.

I think we will hear more about this as the later model 4th gens experience this. Unless there was some re-engineering done on the newer dash, all 4th gens may be susceptible.
 
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i wonder if it is the humidity?..i use 303 aerospace protectant on all my stuff, its a UV protectant as well..never had a problem, and it does get in the 100's here..
 
mine is cracked in almost the same location as yours. I even have a 3/4" chunk missing above my cluster.....my dash also i cracked on the passenger side similar to yours but it goes all across the airbag...looks like a map of some rivers.....it also goes up and around the radio bezel....i will see if i can get any pics
 
When did they change the dash material in the 4Gs? I have an 08 and my dash doesn't look anything like that.
 
e10pvmt said:
mine is cracked in almost the same location as yours. I even have a 3/4" chunk missing above my cluster.....my dash also i cracked on the passenger side similar to yours but it goes all across the airbag...looks like a map of some rivers.....it also goes up and around the radio bezel....i will see if i can get any pics
Click to expand...

Yes pictures please! I think we should document this as much as possible. I've owned many cars and never seen anything this bad. Remember our '03 are not that old! Mine hasn't even hit 100K miles.


Husker Z said:
When did they change the dash material in the 4Gs? I have an 08 and my dash doesn't look anything like that.
Click to expand...

Who said they changed material? I'm not sure they did.
 
Mines the exact same way, except the crack(s) are longer.

I have used 303 for the life of the truck, an 03 that is garage kept.
 
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