So... my husband and I purchased a new Toyota RAV4 last February. Haven’t even had it a complete year yet. In the summer after buying it, we began to smell a musty smell, but didn’t think a lot about it... just figured it would go away. But it kept getting worse, especially when you first got in. I did all sorts of things to cover the smell. And I washed down stuff, but knew it wasn’t anything I did, as it’s just my husband and me primarily in my car and I am a cleanliness freak. So, in December I decided to run it through a car wash as I thought maybe a mouse or something had gotten up underneath and died. I mean, pretty normal to take a car through a car wash, right???

Although I seldom do it because fear of paint getting scratched. So oddly after doing that, the smell intensified.

So, I had a 20,000 mi tire rotation and oil change that was due in January and when I called to make an appointment, I asked them to please check and see if they could find anything. I even started thinking because we live in a wooded subdivision, maybe the cabin filter had mildewed, so I asked them to check.

I waited on it and they came out to tell me they found the problem. At first they couldn’t find the body plug underneath, but found out it had gotten pushed up in the vehicle. I will say the girl in service department said in her 14 years there, and also the service manager said, they had never encountered this problem. So they put me in a rental car while they set up a time for a rep from the manufacturing plant to come look at it, as they perhaps, like myself, saw that it could well be a defect in manufacturing. I mean people in manufacturing are human and make errors, too. Anyways... the rep came, “supposedly” came and looked at it and said it was pushed up into car by some force....most prob a car wash (which I had mentioned I had gone through) and thus to remove the smell by drying it out, replacing plug and needing to replace carpet was not their fault and not covered by warranty.

A $28,000 less than a year old car... and they are going to do nothing???

So, I kindly thanked them and asked for a telephone # of someone higher up in customer service. I have literally spent hours talking to individuals within Toyota Co who handle these things and basically got nowhere. I have had case managers who didn’t really have an answer, but sent me to next in command. The final “higher up person” at corporate in Texas basically said they can’t do anything and she knew I didn’t agree with their synopsis of the issue, but for me to file a claim with my insurance company to or I could hire an attorney to get it fixed as it’s not their problem. So because they are claiming it was probably the car wash... I asked her if SHE took her car through the car wash?? She said...”we are talking about you, not me”.

Lol. Really???

I told several of them that if that were the case (and I don’t for a minute think so), it should CLEARLY state in your owners manual...do not take through car wash!! But it’s not in there.

I asked 3 of the 6 individuals that I spoke to why they couldn’t even consider that it might be a manufacturing defect from the plant. And again, no response. I posted it on my FB and had 56 comments...3 from respected mechanics who def said it is a defective vehicle and we are all very disappointed that Toyota is just shrugging it off. Sadly, our entire family are Toyota people...my husband has 2 Toyota trucks, our son has a Toyota truck, his girlfriend, a Toyota truck and our daughter has had 2 Toyota Camrys and a Lexus and we have had 2 other Toyota Camry’s prior to our RAV4. Apparently, our business means nothing to them🙁

A mechanic friend of ours who has actually worked at new car dealerships is very familiar with the mechanics of cars AND the checkpoints that should be done prior to a sale. He feels whomever put the car together in manufacturing either didn’t put it as tight as it should have been, the hole may have been bored a bit too big for the plug so it didn’t fit tightly, maybe the wrong size plug was used. But no one wants to think about that. It’s easier just to push it over to an insurance company (thankfully, mine is great). It just makes me mad they just want to make it my fault.

The plugs are generally painted over, so for a plug that was correctly installed, it would have been a pretty hard feat. I also asked Toyota service today if I got it fixed and cleaned, there was a guarantee that it wouldn’t happen again and of course he couldn’t... so I am not happy paying for a new car that has suffered water damage and no guarantee the plug won’t come out again if I am made to keep it.

I do realize we can get a lawyer... but we aren’t that kind of people and have never done that in our life. But I'm not saying totally we wouldn’t. But we just don’t feel we have the extra money to do it... so ANY and all help will be greatly appreciated❤️