2024 Toyota RAV4 - Leaks - Too soon!

Interesting they got rid of the LE trim.

No, still there, those aren’t all the trim levels.

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Thanks, I was just too lazy to research the trim levels.

I can say from my own perspective what concerns me is the technician doing the work is likely under the gun to complete it in an unrealistic amount of time. Shortcuts may be taken or things overlooked. At least that has been my experience, even with something so simple as a defective windshield wiper motor. That car came back with loose and missing hardware.

Imagine my concern after that experience when a different car had a porous casting and the manufacturer paid to have the case replaced rather than exchanged with a new transmission. Exchanging all the internal and external parts… Fortunately, I never detected any issues after that repair but I was certainly very concerned about it.

Anytime something is disassembled for repair under warranty, I am concerned. The car is built with hardware that has integral locking features- most likely pre-applied loctite. That hardware is removed and reinstalled. Will the technician take the time to apply locking compound again? Will not doing so lead to loose hardware and noises down the road? Just one example.

Given enough time and money allocated to the repair, I am sure the technician could do as good (or better in many cases) a job as was originally done when the car was first assembled. But I don’t envision that happening most of the time due to the policies in place for warranty work. And the more complex the work, the more risk IMO…

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No he will not. Most manufacturers have addressed this issue by replacing hardware at every service. Service procedures now require techs to discard the old fasteners and replace them with new ones that come with loctite applied.

That becomes an issue when the dealer only has 3 of the 5 bolts required to put a wheel hub back together. Not wanting to hold up a car for 2 days for a simple brake job, I have instructed techs to clean the old threadlock off and apply new and get this car out of here today.

At least it looks like the OP’s problem can be solved just by dropping the oil pan, unless it’s the rear seal. The dealer likely will also check if it’s oil dripping down from the valve cover gasket.

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Ya gotta figure the folks on the assembly line are performing a limited operation with all the proper tools and jigs etc. then onto the next station. So it’s pretty hard to duplicate that in the field.

I remember being quoted $2200 for a new Gm transmission or $1600 to overhaul. Stupid me didn’t take the brand new in the crate trans.

This is a good point. Just b/c there’s oil dripping from the oil pan doesn’t necessarily imply the actual leak is caused by a faulty oil-pan seal or crankshaft seal. Could well be a minor and easy to repair oil leak above. Oil filter, valve cover gasket, oil pressure sender, etc.

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Multiple quality control issues…

Below is a 4 cylinder Toyota engine with rear main crankshaft seal leaking, repaired during the warranty period.

I’ve owned 3 camrys (2 - 1994s and a 2005). Now have a Rav 4 (2015). Only one of the 1994 camrys leaked. the oil pan gasket (RTV sealant??? that black liquid goop, not a cork or rubber gasket) had to be done like 5X at a shop before it stopped leaking. I see toyota goes to a rubber gasket now on the oil pan. My wife’s Optima 2016, burns about a qt after 1500 to 2000 miles. It’s a nice car with a lot of extras for what we paid for it but it burns oil. Just changed those plugs. The 2 outside ones were lightly black with the 2 middle ones having carbon on them. Now it rides way better but they will get dark too with time. The origonals were NGK iridiums. I put NGK iridiums in the car now too. As for your problem, they’ll put a new gasket on and it should be fixed.

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the base is LE. The next is XLE. then the limited is the top of the line rav and camry models.

no, LE is base. Limited has all the bells and whistles.

Exactly. I’ll take a new car today then a new on made in the 70’s, 80’s or even 90’s. Far more reliable.

In every single vehicle ever manufactured, there have never been 100% of their cars made perfectly. There’s always some percentage that will have problems. The good manufacturers have lower percentages then the not-so-good ones. Check with other Rav4 owners and see if they are having issues also.

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