2009 Toyota RAV4: ball joint or control arm failure

Filed May 4, 2026 · Suspension · WI

Repairs of the control arms indicated on recall the federal safety agency 16V‑596 were never done on my vehicle after the recall was issued in 2016. Smart motors Toyota in Madison confirmed that the replacement of the control arms was never done on my vehicle, but they are showing no open recalls on my vehicle in their system due to this being a re-recall. From what I've read many vehicles were incorrectly marked "complete" after the 2012 inspection, but the 2016 update (G0V) was issued specifically because those earlier inspections were found to be insufficient. I am entitled to this repair through Toyota due to this recall as Toyota has confirmed my vehicle was recalled and this repair was never completed. My rear control arms are showing signs of failure consistent with the re-recall.

Filed Jan 16, 2024 · Suspension · MA

My son was looking to get his new tires aligned, and was informed by the mechanic that he would need to replace both side rear lower control arms, as Toyota had performed a safety recall GOV, resulting in the arms being epoxied, and therefore cannot be adjusted/ aligned. I contacted Toyota customer experience center (800 331 4331 - 1/16/2024) and she could not even call up the original recall. My question is: How can Toyota permanently remove a vehicle feature (adjustability of the suspension arms), and then require car owners to bear the brunt of re-installing the arms when you need to align your tires? This "solution" is totally unfair. I just purchased a new set of tires, and based on Toyota's "solution" I need to pay out of pocket to replace the control bars and/or damage my tires and have to replace them early. I was not able to find any other information on this issue on the web, and was wondering if Toyota had done anything to address this issue?

Filed Nov 4, 2017 · Suspension · VT

Heritage toyota s.burlington vt repair job find after did a comprehensive alignment in which vehicle out of alignment then put two none adjusting rear tie rods on my rav4 and saying it is ok, will not fix problem.

Filed Mar 1, 2017 · Suspension · 89,000 miles · OH

In 2013, toyota issued a recall on the rear lower suspension arms. This vehicle was taken and had the recall work done on 7/19/14. One arm was replaced, and one was coated with an epoxy coating. The car began pulling to the left while driving and was taken to firestone for an alignment, at which we were told that the rear toe was out of alignment and needed to be looked at by the dealer. The recall work done in july 2014 involved applying an epoxy that made this part no longer adjustable. On 2/25/17, the vehicle was taken the toyota dealer, which failed an alignment check at the rear toe. We were told that they could no longer perform a rear alignment due to this recall "fix" that permanently sealed it into one place. We were told that in order to get the car back into alignment, we would have to replace the entire rear toe bar for a cost of 600 dollars. We contacted the corporate office and were offered a 10% discount to get the work done. My car was manufactured with an adjustable rear tie rod, and toyota's solution to an engineering flaw is to make the rear tie rod no longer adjustable, thus costing the consumer hundreds of dollars to fix a simple alignment issue. It is not feasible or fair to expect the consumer to pay hundreds of dollars for an alignment issue, when toyota created the issue with their "fix" instead of creating a replacement rear toe that is adjustable like the car was manufactured with when I purchased it. The car pulls to the left significantly when going at highway speeds, and this is a safety issue to me and my two young children.

Filed Sep 24, 2016 · Suspension · CA

We have taken it to the toyota dealer twice and had them replace the tie rods twice and it won't stay in alignment. I have called the dealer multiple times to schedule it to be fixed and called corporate and they won't do much and it won't stay in alignment and they won't fix it right. The car is very scary to drive with it being out of alignment and no other mechanic will touch it because they have a sticker saying it can only be adjusted by toyota because they glue the tie rods in place. Toyota said if we have replaced by an outside source because the dealer won't call us back they will not help cover it. They won't allow us to go to another dealer as well.

Filed Jul 16, 2014 · Steering, Suspension · 70,000 miles · PA

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 toyota rav 4. The contact stated while driving at 65 MPH, the vehicle started to make popping noises and started to spin out of control. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic. The technician diagnosed that the rear lower arm tie rod had fractured. The contact had received a recall notification for recall the federal safety agency campaign number: 13v383000 (suspension). However, the part was not available to do the repairs. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 70,000.