NHTSA Complaint #10205636 — 2007 TOYOTA FJ CRUISER

THE INNER FENDERWELL APRON CRUSH ZONES ARE BUCKLING UNDER NORMAL DRIVING CONDITIONS - IT APPEARS THE FRAME HAS TOO MUCH FLEX AND IS CAUSING THE WEAK SPOT IN THE INNER FENDERWELL TO BREAK. THE BUCKLING ON THE PASSENGER SIDE HAS ALSO SHIFTED THE FENDER BACKWARD CAUSING A PINCH AT THE HOOD CORNER AND THE FRONT EDGE OF THE DOOR. I AM NO LONGER ABLE TO OPEN THE DOOR. I AM CONCERNED THAT BECAUSE THIS IS A SAFETY RELATED AREA OF THE BODY THAT THIS ISSUE MIGHT IMPACT THE STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY OF THE VEHICLE IN AN ACCIDENT, OR EVEN UNDER NORMAL OPERATING CONDITIONS. THE VEHICLE WILL BE TAKEN TO MY LOCAL DEALER THIS WEEK. I AM AWARE OF AT LEAST 150 OTHER SIMILAR VEHICLES WITH VARIOUS STAGES OF THIS IDENTICAL PROBLEM, SOME WHICH HAVE ALSO BEEN INSPECTED BY VARIOUS TOYOTA PERSONNEL. INFORMATION ABOUT THIS ISSUE HAS BEEN POSTED TO AN ON-LINE FORUM TO GATHER ADDITIONAL DATA - WWW.FJCRUISERFORUMS.COM - WHERE PICTURES AND DESCRIPTIONS OF THE VEHICLES, EQUIPMENT, AND BUILD DATE / MILEAGE HAVE BEEN GATHERED. *TR