All Rav 4's Built Between Nov 2005 & Nov 2009 Recalled

February 14, 2010

As you know I don't actually have RFTs on my RAV although I have always felt sympathy for those that do when the mechanism for dealing with a puncture or tyre replacement seems so variable. I have suggested a meeting with TGB to try to establish some predictable guidelines over this issue as it is clearly an emotive issue that isn't going to go away.

Despite all that is going on I have been invited to go into TGB and if that is as far as it gets I really appreciate that opportunity. I am not after "Brownie points" but the reason for doing this is as a service to TOC members as a moderator but more importantly to try to discuss a way forward.

In the first instance I suggest I go on my own and I will report back to you. I must stress that this gesture has come from an individual in TGB and it would be unfair to expect anything more than for him to discuss the matter with his colleagues. However, what I would really like to happen eventually is that we as a club can open up periodic dialog to discuss ongoing issues so that TMC (Toyota Motor Corporation) can benefit from our feedback and we can benefit from any engineering programs/solutions etc. I don't know at this stage if it is workable but I rather fancy that the guys in the other forums would also like such a relationship with TGB and we can have all models discussions. What I am not prepared to do is to go to TGB and ask them to examine individual cases as they have a procedure through the dealers for this. This can only be more generic topics which will in turn hopefully result in less failure to understand each other as we do on occasions. In my eyes we can't go wrong as we are all potential ongoing customers.

Let's just see what happens and whether we can develop this relationship as I am sure we and TGB want to. We may be in a unique position where eventually we become part of the development team. Please keep an open mind, be patient and don't expect miracles. TGB don't like poor relationships any more than we members don't - we are all on the same side.

Regards.