2012 Toyota Prado VX

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thejazzpianoma, Sep 16, 9:32am
If it's like the Toyota Harrier one I fixed it's a complete and utter joke.
Toyota wanted hundreds of dollars for a replacement unit but offered a $75 kit which was nothing more than a $2 model shop motor.

To use the "kit" you had to cut the unit apart with a dremel and then glue it all back together somehow when you were done.

The design is beyond pathetic for three reasons:

1. It clearly isn't up to the task, you can see that just looking at the "quality" of the motor.

2.The unit is sealed to hide the patheticness so is not really serviceable.

3. Pricing of the replacement unit is absurd.

OP, if you take it out yourself please cut it open and show people how rubbish it is. The ONLY thing these Toyota's have going for them is their supposed longevity and affordable/available parts. Yet all I see from working on them is the complete opposite.

nz_stacie, Sep 16, 7:49pm
It's old now wear and tear

johotech, Sep 16, 8:19pm

frostidragon, Sep 17, 3:34pm
Bought from them 2nd hand

ceebee2, Sep 18, 12:40am
I had one clap out on my daughter's 2005 Accord . $380 ex Honda, so I pulled it to bits and matched one from Ali express for $10.00 delivered free to my door. It is still going 2 years later!

martin11, Sep 18, 8:11am
? Wifes Polo had to have both the door mechanisms replaced was only 6 years old . Plastics in the mechanism failed ,went brittle .
Just classed as wear and tear .

rodeorunch, Sep 18, 8:41am
Prado ?
D4D diesel injecter seals is common in Aussie
Toyota was fixing a lot over there free of charge.

thejazzpianoma, Sep 18, 9:03am
In fairness, Polo's were bad for that. However there are two key differences:

1. How much did your Polo cost vs the Prado New?
2. If it's the usual problem with the door locks you can buy a repair kit delivered to your door for. wait for it. Less than $4 (no I haven't missed any zero's).

I wouldn't have been so annoyed about the Toyota I did if a repair kit had been available for even 10 times that. Assuming it was a proper repair kit and the design of the mechanism wasn't sealed. What Toyota have done and the solution they offer is very poor.

martin11, Sep 18, 9:16am
From what I remember it was only about $80 for the lock to be fixed . Took about 3/4 of a hour for them to do it .

buyit59, Sep 18, 4:39pm
at #25. Also a problem on many Nissan Pulsar as well . Nothing lasts forever. unless its plastic bags floating in the ocean !

kazbanz, Sep 18, 5:03pm
5 year old vehicle with a fault like that should be a slam dunk. How long have you owned it?

johotech, Sep 18, 5:15pm
Geez. you've got a BS answer for everything - which only make sense in your warped mind.

The difference in price is because one is a real 4WD, and the other is a POS. It doesn't mean anyone spent any more on the door locks obviously - as they both can have faults.

And I guess the Polo gets a $4 repair kit because of economy of scale - they all break, so there are thousands of kits in demand - It's a pity they didn't bother to make the parts for $4 in the first place, instead of 40c

intrade, Sep 18, 5:22pm
i am sure you could get the microswitch for 4 bux somwhere
Rear door lock Lock 3D4839015A 7L0839015D 7L0839015E For VW Golf Mk5 NZD$46.53
for whole unit dont know how good but it probably as good as the $hit they built toyota with.

johotech, Sep 18, 5:34pm
So a search on Aliexpress for "VW door lock kit" comes up with a page and a half of Jazz's $4 repair kit.

The same search for Toyota or Prado door lock kit, comes up with basically nothing. Obviously very little demand.

intrade, Sep 18, 5:45pm
thats not the point, the point is toyota are as shit as vw or nissan or greatwall. etc
And when it fails you can fix a vw with more shit as with a toyota your stuck with expensive repairs and expensive shit .

thejazzpianoma, Sep 18, 5:49pm
Why always so rude?
If you had read and comprehended what I wrote in my posts in this thread you would realise that it's the Toyota part that is horribly under engineered. You can't make a proper "repair kit" for the Toyota either as the unit is sealed and has to be butchered apart with a dremel. VW also had a design issue but at least they built so it could be disassembled and reassembled.
Plus, yes of course there are economy of scale advantages to owning one of the most popular cars in the world. Another reason to choose VW product.

johotech, Sep 18, 6:09pm
The point is that the Chinese don't bother to tool up for Toyota parts, because there is so little demand that it's not even worth their while.

Search for VW repair kit - and there are dozens of different parts. Locks, electric sliding door kits, window regulators and many more.

Do the same search for Toyota repair kit - and pretty much everything is fuel injectors or fuel injector seals.

But the VW search shows very few fuel injections parts.

They only make what's in demand.

thejazzpianoma, Sep 18, 6:25pm
Yes, but that demand is not due to more VW failures but more VW's on the road. There are probably 50 Polo's made for every Highlander, the door fault affected Golfs and Jetta's as well so *educated guessing here) maybe 150 to one?

ema1, Sep 18, 7:09pm
Sounds like you go at both ends, bit like your Europhobe mate. your vocabulary seems to be limited somewhat to a "Brown" level !

kazbanz, Sep 19, 11:05am
The difference is that in a 6 year old Polo it is indeed fair wear at tear. The ready availability of replacement parts says its a common fault.
in a 5 year old Toyota prado it is NOT a common fault.

ema1, Sep 19, 1:54pm
Exactly. and in VW the parts are made of brittle plastic which becomes even more brittle in time=CRAP.
Built in short term obsolescence is exactly what it is, imagine in time say 20 years out from now when they run out of those replacement parts eh, well I won't own a VAG so I won't find out, but then no doub't they will have shite themselves big time before then and be trashed anyway. ha ha ha.

thejazzpianoma, Sep 19, 6:25pm
Actually, the parts in question are metal in the VW and predominantly plastic in the Toyota.

thejazzpianoma, Sep 19, 6:26pm
Pull one apart and tell me that (they are built like a $2 shop toy inside). The availability of parts is simply due to the number on the road. The Polo, Golf and Jetta (all use the same lock) are immensly more popular than the Prado.

henderson_guy, Sep 19, 6:55pm
Are you suggesting that the Prado uses a different mechanism to any other Toyota of the era?

thejazzpianoma, Sep 19, 7:18pm
Any other? Unlikely. Some others? Sure.
I went to look it up for a laugh and found something interesting. The Op's actuator should be the "uprated" version. Seems they ditched the horrible designed one like I dealt with, added screws so you can disassemble it and replaced teh nylon worm drive with a metal one. Well done Toyota! Just a shame it still failed.

That said, this one could likely be fixed DIY style if you wanted to OP. I suspect the weakest point will be the motor as with the one I replaced. Only thing is, with the metal worm drive you may have to get a genuine motor as it may not just push on and off the shaft like the nylon one did. No doubt someone has a tutorial on the net though.