Barn door broken???

[Hudson17 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Hudson17]

Has anyone had any problems with their Barn Doorns not aligning??? My GX prado 05 , has dropped out of alignment. The door has actually buckled near the hinges, The weld has cracked the whole way along the door and has a gap of an inch in some spots & the the door also now sits a good inch to where it should. I actually have to lfit the door to close it !!!!
Has anyone else had/seen this before??
I took it to Toyota , and they said never seen it happen before. The panel beater around the corner said Toyota send cars there all the time to be repaired for the exact reason.
Anyone???

[mkh Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mkh]

Try a search on "cracked rear door". Plenty of people have had it. Mines been cracked since I got it 3 years ago but the door still sits / aligns perfectly.

[Jatbula Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Jatbula]

Just had the problem this year with my 2008 GXL. The weld cracked as you described. Toyota in Darwin replaced the entire door with a minimum of fuss (for a car dealer). I'm convinced the problem occurred following a service in Shepparton (VIC) when I was down in December. I had booked the car in after the long drive from Darwin for a 60,000km service and also asked them to rotate all the wheels including the spare. Two days later at Leeton, I noticed the door had fallen. On my return to Shepparton a week later I went back to the dealer. They said they had not seen it on my model (2008), was fairly common in earlier years. They also failed to replace the lock for the spare wheel, but deny any liability. At around $160 to replace, I'm not happy.

[Hudson17 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Hudson17]

Thanks, for the info. Because the car is a Dec 05 , toyotawoulkdnt touch it . Now they have decided to pay half the cost of the door and I pay all labour , approx $1500. Not happy with that outcome at all. The spare tyre is a standard size and there is no reason why this should happen. I guess its why they have veered away from single doors and back to barn doors/ double doors.
Where to from here, anyone had any experiences with Melville Toyota??

[johna Member Find all posts View Profile Close johna]

Mr

Thanks, for the info. Because the car is a Dec 05 , toyotawoulkdnt touch it . Now they have decided to pay half the cost of the door and I pay all labour , approx $1500. Not happy with that outcome at all. The spare tyre is a standard size and there is no reason why this should happen. I guess its why they have veered away from single doors and back to barn doors/ double doors.
Where to from here, anyone had any experiences with Melville Toyota??

Toyota appear reluctant to own up to faults (see recalls and not notifying owners, here and in news papers), and have seen many complaints re rear door and inner guards cracking, which indicates a design fault.
Haven't had any cracking in my 2003 yet but keep a close eye on it.
With the recalls on brake booster fault and bullbar faults, I have only ever heard of them through this and other sites and NOT from Toyota. Have had the vehicle from new, and any dealer I went to knew my address and phone and postal address, so go figure.

Would suggest collecting info from internet sites etc (do a printout of all instances found) and put a claim through the Small Claims Court.

[jaywindy Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jaywindy]

Hi,
I had exactly the same problem you have,
The full story is that toyota KNOW that the rear doors of the prado were manufactured with a fault. The skin is actually glued onto the frame of the door and this is what fails, the glu used on the rear door gives way and causes the skin to move awat at the seal on the hinge side.

This is a known common fault but toyota wont own up to it easilly.

It took me 6 months to get them to agree to pay half the cost ( standard fess up when out of warranty). My car was a 2005 model and was 4 and a half years old when it was repaired.

I saved a lot of money by refitting the door myself, basically toyota supplied the door, I paid half cost ( which is probably still more than their cost price) I took the door to a panel beater, he paint matched and painted the door. I refitted the door and all the hardware. The painting cost me $400.00 which is far short of what toyota will charge you. All the hardware was reused, except i replaced the striker plastic part as this gets worn when the door is out of alignment ( they typically drop when they fail).

All up the refitting took half a day, not hard if you are handy with a set of tools, the only hard part ir removing the top brake light.
All finished its a perfect job .
BTW the replacement door they supply looks exactly the same . i questioned this because i thought there would be extra welding. stiffening, but the difference is the glue used between the skin and the door.

Regards

Thanks, for the info. Because the car is a Dec 05 , toyotawoulkdnt touch it . Now they have decided to pay half the cost of the door and I pay all labour , approx $1500. Not happy with that outcome at all. The spare tyre is a standard size and there is no reason why this should happen. I guess its why they have veered away from single doors and back to barn doors/ double doors.
Where to from here, anyone had any experiences with Melville Toyota??

[Hudson17 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Hudson17]

How much did toyota charge for the door in the end??

[jeff s Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close jeff s]

Hi Hudson.

our 05 prado had the door replaced for this reason. I know exactly when mine went, the car was parked on a hill, and my daughter opened the door, it flew open (gravity) and slammed out to its door stop, split the door down the seal, then if you opened the door, and put pressure trying to open the door more, you clould see the inner and outer skins moving.

that was about 2+ years ago, and got done under warranty.

They know about it, just playing dumb..