To:

All Toyota Dealer Principals,
Service Managers, Parts Managers

Subject:

Warranty Enhancement Program – ZF4
2006 – 2012 RAV4 4WD vehicles
Extension of Warranty Coverage for Rear Differential Coupling Growl Noise

In our continuing efforts to help ensure the best in customer satisfaction, Toyota is announcing a
Warranty Enhancement Program to extend the warranty coverage for Rear Differential Coupling Growl
Noise on 2006-2012 model year RAV4 4WD vehicles.
In some of these vehicles, Toyota has received some reports that the vehicle may exhibit a growl type noise
from the rear differential coupling when driving due to contamination of the front bearing.
Although the Rear Differential Assembly is covered by Toyota’s New Vehicle Limited Powertrain Warranty for
5 years or 60,000 miles (whichever occurs first), we at Toyota care about our customers’ ownership
experience. Toyota is now extending the warranty coverage for Rear Differential Coupling Growl Noise in the
covered vehicles. Please see the Warranty Enhancement Program Details for additional information.
The following information is provided to inform you and your staff of the program notification schedule and
your degree of involvement.
1.

Owner Notification Letter Mailing Date
The owner notification will commence in early January, 2015 and will be mailed over several months.
We have attached a sample owner letter for your reference.

2.

Warranty Enhancement Program Details
This Warranty Enhancement Program provides a Primary and Secondary coverage to the vehicle’s
“New Vehicle Limited Powertain Warranty” as it applies to the Rear Differential Assembly. The
specific condition covered by this program is Rear Differential Coupling Growl Noise.
•
•

The Primary Coverage offers warranty enhancement until April 30, 2017, regardless of
mileage.
After the Primary Coverage, the Secondary Coverage is applicable for 9 years from the date
of first use, regardless of mileage.

Please note:
• This coverage is for warranty work performed at an authorized Toyota dealer only.
• Damage incurred from abuse, an accident, vandalism or non-warrantable causes are not
covered by the New Vehicle Limited Warranty or this Warranty Enhancement Program.
3.

Number and Identification of covered Vehicles
There are approximately 670,000 Vehicles covered by this Warranty Enhancement Program.

4.

Model Name

Model Year

Production Period

RAV4

2006 – 2012

Late July 2005 to Late September 2012

Warranty Claim Processing Instructions
Please refer to the Warranty Policy Bulletin (Bulletin No. POL15-04) for warranty claim processing
instructions. All parts replaced for this repair are subject to warranty parts recovery.

Warranty Enhancement Program ZF4 – D – Page |2
5.

Technical Instructions (Repair Procedures)
Technical Instructions for this warranty extension program can be found in T-SB-0080-13.

6.

Technician Training Requirements
The repair quality of covered vehicles is extremely important to Toyota. All dealership technicians
performing this repair are required to successfully complete the most current version of the E-Learning
course “Safety Recall and Service Campaign Essentials”. To ensure that all vehicles have the repair
performed correctly; technicians performing this repair are required to currently hold at least one of the
following certification levels:
•
•
•
•

Drivetrain Certified Technician
Drivetrain Expert Technician
Master Technician
Master Diagnostic Technician

It is the dealership’s responsibility to select technicians with the above certification level or greater to
perform this repair. Carefully review your resources, the technician skill level, and ability before
assigning technicians to this repair. It is important to consider technician days off and vacation
schedules to ensure there are properly trained technicians available to perform this repair at all times.
7.

Parts Ordering
As this is an extension of the warranty, most customers will only request reimbursement from TMS for
past replacements; dealers should not increase their stock of related repair parts. As always, if a
customer experiences the condition described, dealers should conduct appropriate diagnosis and
order the applicable parts.
Refer to Warranty Policy Bulletin POL15-04 for detailed parts ordering information.
Dealers are requested to only order parts for vehicles experiencing this condition. DO NOT ORDER
FOR STOCK. The parts have been placed on Dealer Ordering Solutions and will be systematically
released daily. Please see the weekly manual allocation report for additional details.

8.

Customer Reimbursement
Please refer to the attached owner letter for reimbursement consideration instructions.

Please review this entire package with your Service and Parts staff to familiarize them with the proper stepby-step procedures required to implement this Warranty Extension.
As part of our dedication to continuous improvement, changes have been incorporated in the production
process to ensure the highest quality products are provided to our customers.
Thank you for your cooperation.
TOYOTA MOTOR SALES, U.S.A., INC.