2018 door panel insert lifting

I’m rarely on the passenger side of my Tacoma. But today I went to take something out and noticed the door panel vinyl on my drivers door is lifting where the panel bends. Pictures attached. Also attached the passenger side for reference. Both panels looked the same when I got it. I noticed alittle bit of pulling earlier this year but thought nothing of it until I noticed it has gotten worse today.

I’ve never heard or seen of this with 3rd gens. Anybody else have similar issues? If I could replace the insert itself I would ride it til it falls but seems like these are built into the panel.

This isn’t my first Toyota but it’s the first one where things falls apart like a Ford. What happened to the quality smh

 

looks like not enough adhesive applied at the factory?
guess you can order just the light gray piece?

 

Sorry to see that.

Maybe find a interior shop that could find a way to reattach it, or looks like the only way it to get the entire panel.

 

This is a bit backyard engineering, but in another life I read about this happening to Corvette door panels. People would drill small holes in the plastic behind the affected material, squirt in fabric adhesive (3M 77 maybe?) and then put a vacuum cleaner hose against the holes to pull in the material.

At the time people were having decent luck with that method, if a bit on the uncouth side.

 

Don't bother trying to re glue it, the foam is rotting 99% of the time and it will only stay down temporarily. I suggest either buying a new door panel or find an upholstery guy to remove it, scrape the foam, re-foam and reattach

 

3 year old car with only 16k miles. There’s no penetration on the vinyl rather just pulling itself off. I don’t think the foam is rotting rather they just didn’t put enough adhesive on from the factory.

too bad my 36/36 warranty expires in September. I really don’t care to make a trip out of this as they’ll probably tell me it’s normal, and I won’t have my Tacoma for 2 days. Going to pull the panel this weekend to see if I can rig this thing together.

 

can’t find the insert by itself Toyota only sells the whole door panel.

going to pull it tomorrow and see if maybe I can pull it and possibly do custom upholstery. Main thing I don’t want to do is start pulling the panel apart and taking away it’s structural rigidity. I’ll post my findings.

 

It's either the foam is rotting, which is common in hardboard headliner applications or the vinyl is shrinking take your pick. One could attempt to re-glue it, but I have found that it's rarely successful in the long term. Welcome to the FCA playbook 3rd gen, I don't even think the material ever fell off the 1st gen door panels.

 

The same happened on my 2018 OR on three of the four doors. Dealer replaced the door panels under warranty.

 

Most likely scenario is water got behind or into the panel somehow and got to the glue. The adhesive glue some manufacturers use is water soluble. Caused the fabric to release from the panel. If the panel was rottIng you could feel it by pushing on the material. Look at every late 90’s early 2000 Camry headliner in a humid environment by the back glass. The headliners are always sagging

 

how bad was it for them to decide it was under warranty? I’ve never had luck much when it came to stuff like this under warranty. They always tell me it’s normal.

 

I pulled the door panel real quick just to see what I’m working with. Damn connectors on the window switch are impossible to pull, otherwise the vinyl would be fixed by now.

The insert is riveted on to the main door panel. I suppose I can drill it out, pull the vinyl completely, and reupholster it with new material - or just pull and reglue if it’s salvageable, then use JB weld to set the insert back on.

I’ve seen this on some luxury cars that use genuine leather on top of hard plastic. The materials don’t expand at the same rate so they eventually separate. Although I’m not sure why it would happen in a Toyota as both are synthetic based. Bad engineering on Toyota’s part.

 

Mine is pulling but not as bad. 18k warranty up in aug. I noticed it awhile ago and it’s IMO not properly adhered (low adhesion or not properly pressed/pressure). I also have my headlights clear coat peeling on the top top portion. I need to do a thorough inspection and make a list and take it in (not sure I expect much to be done)

 

For what I learned from my service writer, it depends how they enter the warranty claim to Toyota. I’m not sure what he said in my case but he took pictures of the door panels and ordered new ones. You are right about them saying “it’s normal” all the time but this time they actually said the opposite and that it wasn’t normal and that’s why they didn’t hesitate.

 

The same thing happened to my wifes 2015 RAV4..The panal was replaced under the 3yr warranty

 

Well it's not even Toyota that says it's normal. It's the SA/tech that looks at it and they tell me it's normal so they won't even look into it, then I waste a whole day or two taking it to the dealership.