Is dashboard cracking simply inevitable?

[Steamdonkey]

My '04 with ~110,000 miles suddenly developed a dashboard crack starting at the upper left corner of the glove box, running 12" toward the windshield. I'm pissed! I've kept it out of the sun since day 1 (except when driving) and always have a thin thin coat of 303 Aerospace Protectant on it. What more could I have done? Does every 4Runner this old have a cracked dash? :rant: Damn it!!!!!!!!!

 

[Bumbo]

It's a known problem... and they had a recall on the 4th gen dash a few years back and I took advantage of it.

Toyota put in a brand new dash at zero cost at 200k miles. Damn near feels like a new car again haha.

 

[southern_runner]

My '04 with ~110,000 miles suddenly developed a dashboard crack starting at the upper left corner of the glove box, running 12" toward the windshield. I'm pissed! I've kept it out of the sun since day 1 (except when driving) and always have a thin thin coat of 303 Aerospace Protectant on it. What more could I have done? Does every 4Runner this old have a cracked dash? :rant: Damn it!!!!!!!!!

Pretty much. They obviously used some bad materials for these 4th gens dashboards. I can live with mine, but their are a few options for covering it when it gets bad; I like the look of the Coverlay cover.

 

[SurferUK]

I ordered some of this in the hopes it will condition the plastic and keep it supple

Buy Swissvax Protecton Plastic Conditioner | Slim's Detailing — Slims Detailing

 

[Flesh Eater]

Are you out west?

We don’t have enough sun out here in Pennsylvania to crack dashes. I rarely see cracked dashes, except for old vehicles from the west.

 

[ads2539]

Are you out west?

We don’t have enough sun out here in Pennsylvania to crack dashes. I rarely see cracked dashes, except for old vehicles from the west.

I’m in Chicago, and my dash cracked after the recall ended. For now, I just live with it. It has been parked outside for twelve of the fourteen years that I’ve owned it.

 

[Steamdonkey]

Are you out west?

We don’t have enough sun out here in Pennsylvania to crack dashes. I rarely see cracked dashes, except for old vehicles from the west.

Yeah southern Idaho, plenty of sun and hot weather. Most days I bike to work and when I have to drive I park in a covered garage. At home it's always garaged. If I do have to park in the sun I use a windshield shade. It made it 17 years, not too bad I guess.

 

[chrisbagnell]

Are you out west?

We don’t have enough sun out here in Pennsylvania to crack dashes. I rarely see cracked dashes, except for old vehicles from the west.

I have a 04' lived its whole live in South east PA and the dash has been cracked for years, I was unaware of the recall until it was too late

 

[riverwolf]

It wasn't limited to 4Runners...it was a problem with the new "soft touch" dash material. Toyota actually refused us initially since I think we experienced it before other models...I think when it started happening to the Camry lineup (many more sold than us low volume T120s) and the Lexus crowd, Toyota probably decided the PR nightmare for those models was going to be too much and issued an extended warranty that included the first few years of 4th Gens...presumably the dash pad material was changed at some point during the production run.

From the description in Toyota's documents, it sounded like it was probably a combination of heat and humidity that caused the stress cracks...with those of us in the Southeast and Gulf Coast regions seeing the brunt of it. Probably why it took so long for OP's to happen.

FWIW, I seem to recall that VW also had some problems when they introduced similar "soft touch" dash materials. There may be others brands as well since most manufacturers are probably sourcing the actual materials from someone else who developed the chemistry.

IIRC, the dash pad itself is around $600ish. Supposedly the techs doing the extended warranty replacements had it down to less than 2 hours. From looking at the FSM, I'm guessing they worked out a technique that had quite a few shortcuts in it. There's at least one DIY around here where someone did the replacement themselves prior to the extended warranty from Toyota coming out.

Good luck!

 

[Syr4RinNC]

No issues with my 03 at 170k. The frame rust ensured that it wasnt inevitable with that issue

No issue with my 08 at 150k currently

 

[CookieRoe]

Are you out west?

We don’t have enough sun out here in Pennsylvania to crack dashes. I rarely see cracked dashes, except for old vehicles from the west.

Chester county here, oh, I beg to differ. Mine has begun cracking about 1-2 years ago. Hasn't gotten worse, but I know there is the coverlay product when the time comes.