I was driving down a dirt road in Warmbaths, while it was raining, at approx 70km/h. My vehicle skidded in the slippery road, as I tried to pull the vehicle back on track I lost total control and it started rolling. Fortunately the body of the vehicle is strong and no one got seriously hurt. However if we didn’t have our seatbelts on it could have been fatal. I was really surprised that such a large vehicle that looks pretty stable rolled over so easily.

Ek wil ook graag my misnoe lewer oor my Fortuner. Ek ry ‘n 2007 3.0 D4-D. Kyk ek is baie gelukkig met my voertuig en geniet hom maar daar is wraggies fout met die bok springer.

Ek ry ook ‘n 2008 Toyota Hilux SRX 2.5 en my ou staatmaker 1993 Toyota Camry 220 SEI. Die Hilux hou ook van rond spring maar dit voel of jy het beter beheer het oor die outjie vergelyke met die Fortuner wat jy jou bestuur moet ken. Die Camry kan jy nie vergelyk nie, die ry soos ‘n droom al het dit al ‘n stoute 260 000 km op!

Ek het tans al 46 000 Km afgle met die Fortuner met geen meganiese of elektriese probleme nie. Dit is hoekom ek van Toyotas hou.

Ek het al gehoor van die probleme wat mense ervaar met hul Fortuners maar nie regtig veel ag daarop geslaan nie. Ek het toe onlangs so bietjie op die internet rond gekrap en op jou forum afgekom.

Op die hoofweg ry die outjie vir jou wraggies lekker maar vat jy grond pad of ‘n bietjie hobbelrige teerpad dan kry jy die bok spring effek. Ek het ook gevoel die stuurwiel is geneig om baie terug te skop as jy ‘n hobbeltjie slaan. Ek praat nou nie van ‘n slaggat nie.

Ek ry redelik baie grond pad en het al geleer om dit maar rustig te vat met die Fortuner, so ek het gelukkig nog nie ‘n nare ervaring gehad nie.

My voertuig, glo dit as jy wil het nog steeds sy oorspronklike bande op. Die Grabbers “all season” nogal. Ek sal een of ander tyd moet kyk na nuwe bande en is ‘n leuk met watse bande sal geskik wees vir die bok springer. Miskien kan jy dalk vir my meer inligting gee en dalk ook watse skokbrekers sal meer geskik wees aangesien ek op jou forum sien dat die probleem moontlik so opgelos kan word.

Ek persoonlik voel Toyota kan regtig ‘n poging aanwend om ons lojale Fortuner eienaars te gemoed te kom om die probleem reg te stel.

Ek wonder of die probleem reg gestel is met die nuwe 2009 Fortuners met die groter vellings en ander bande ens.

Bok spring groete

Camil suspension system for New Toyota Hi-Lux, Prado, Fortuner, the Nissan Navara and the Pathfinder.

Hierdie brief het einde Oktober al ingekom, maar vir ‘n hele ruk kon ek nie antwoord nie. Soos almal weet is daar dinge aan die gebeur agter die skerms, en het ek probeer om nie by te dra tot al die opgewondenheid wat aangaan op die Internet nie.

So, om die vrae te antwoord. Ek kan net uit persoonlike ondervinding praat, en dit is dat ek Camil skokbrekers opgesit het. Ek is ongelooflik gelukkig met hulle. Dit motor is ‘n nuwe kar nou, en voel ek dis ‘n uitstekende kopie!

Groete
KC

My husband travels regularly on a dirt road between jbay and st. francis bay, A few weeks back traveling at a low speed of just 60km/hr ,the back of our fortunner swung out, after hitting the corregation in the road, and the car skid across the dirt road, thank god there was no on coming traffic, and continued down the embankment and through a game fence. My husband managed to secure the steering without rolling the car, which was a huge probability. However the car’s damage did amount to close on R80000.00 worth, and my husband was lucky to get out alive, let alone seriously injured. Had it been myself, I am sure I would not have been so lucky, as my first instinct would have been to hit the brakes. Just the day before I was driving down the same dirt road with my 18month baby and daughter, 5 years of age and her best freind, 4 years of age. This is a serious issue which has to be dealt with in a serious capacity. We are very disillusioned over buying the vechile which we were so sold on, and am now afraid to travel any dirt road, which living where we do, is essential. Please advice on what is to be done about our vechile to ensure the safety of our children and ourselves. I look forward to hearing from you ASAP regarding this matter.

This was received from a D4D owner.

Had car less than a year - experiencing same problems as others on the website-bumpy and unstable suspension. Purchased car with new tyres-car bumpy and unstable on tar road @80km/h - car moves from one lane to the next lane - frightfull experience. Spoken to all 4X4 experts all over SA and they are telling me that they are fitting new shocks and springs to Toyota Fortuners like it is going out of fashion. Why is Toyota stating that it is a tyre problem when guys are fitting shocks and springs. What must we do to solve this problem? Mentions of taking Toyota to court in articles - this seems to be going on for ever - will anything ever be done and what must we do? Very dissapointed and scared driver.

I also had a Fortuner D-4D 4×4 that I purchased in October 2008. At the stage I asked the Toyota dealer if the instability problem was sorted out and I was told that there are no problems on the Fortuner. The Toyota dealer fitted a Toyota tow bar to the Fortuner as I told them that I will be towing a caravan. I even fitted a Toyota supplied drop plate to the tow bar. I also bought a trapezium stabilizer to make absolutely sure that I am correctly rigged. I felt from the start that the Fortuner was not very stable on the road without even towing anything. I thought at first that it was my impression as I had a Toyota D-4D 4×4 double cab before the Fortuner. I could never tow the caravan above 90km as it felt like if you are on a rough see with a small boat. When the Fortuner went in for its 20000km service (5 October 2009), I complained about the swerving saying that it feels if the shocks are gone. The Toyota dealer then informed me that I had the wrong batch of General tyres
on the Fortuner. Looking at the batch of tyres, the new batches were already available 4 months before I purchased the Fortuner and still Toyota fitted the wrong batch, putting the life’s of myself and my family in danger. Toyota insisted that I should replace the tyres with the new General or else they will not pay for the reminder of the km left on the tyres. At that stage, I had no confidence in the General tyres and fitted BF Goodrich A/T tyres. On 5 November 2009 I went on leave with my wife and grandson (2 ½ years old) to the Kruger Park towing my caravan. I could feel that there was a difference in the handling but still it was an afford to keep the Fortuner on the road. In Caroline I stopped to make sure that every thing was still ok with the caravan, checking tyres, see that nothing shifted in the caravan etc. At about 10km outside of Carolina towards Baberton, the Fortuner just started fish tailing at 86 km/h. It was a strait road with a downhill (not very stee
p) I tried to accelerate to straighten the caravan, but this just worsened the problem. We started swaying all over the road and I just felled that I could not control the Fortuner any more and I tried to get the speed down as far as possible before swaying into the armco barriers overturning the Fortuner and caravan. Luckily no one was seriously injured.

The bad about the situation is that I drove 15 Toyotas already. I could not come in contact with any of the Toyota management (I was refused to speak to management). The best I could do was to talk to the Customer Service department or the local Toyota dealer. Toyota did not even want to allow me to be present when they inspected the Fortuner and accident scene. Toyotas conclusion is that nothing braked before the accident that could cause the accident and that I was driving with non Toyota approved tyres. (BF Goodrich A/T) Toyota can say as much as they want, but my feeling is that the suspension of the Fortuner is at fault. How many accidents must there be or lives lost before they admit it? At my question to Toyota as to why they did not recall the Fortuners with the faulty tyres in the first place, their answer was that if I do not phone them, then I don’t have a problem.

That’s the sad part. The good part of the story is that the new car seem to be brilliant on the road, and off the road. Even Andrew St. Pierre White seems happy, and that’s a first!

See the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eGC4sbXDVc

I have some information regarding Carte Blance exposes etc, which I can’t talk about at this stage. This leaves me in a position where I cannot really respond to all the comments I receive, but I will still publish them as they are received.

KC

Hi Kaptein,

Has the story about the Toyota Fortuner Rollover problem been aired on Carte Blanche yet? (KC: Not yet.)

I rolled our Toyota Fortuner on the 5th July 2009 on a dirt road I travel frequently doing between 80 and 90k’s when the back of the vehicle swung out when I went over some corrugations in the road. The vehicle rolled over once and thankfully landed back on its wheels.  My two year old son was with me in the vehicle and miraculously he was not injured. We were both wearing our seatbelts but I however broke my pelvis in 4 places, shattered by knee and shin. I had two big operations to reconstruct my pelvis, knee and shin.  I am confined to a wheel chair for the next 3 months and it will be 6 months before full recovery.  This experience left both myself and my husband very dissappointed in Toyota.  My husband contacted Toyota and asked them to do a technical investigation into the accident since he felt there was a serious problem with these vehicles.  My husband is a farmer and he travels extensive areas on dirt roads in his Toyota Hilux bakkie on a daily basis  Over the past 14 years he has owned various Toyota vehicles and never experienced what he did in the Fortuner.  He contacted Toyota when our vehicle had 30 000 k’s on the clock to complain about its unstability.  He was told all we needed to do was replace the tyres which they did for us at 50 000 k’s and I then rolled the vehicle at 57 000 k’s.

The technical investigation findings on our vehicle was that we drove the vehicle with tyres in an under inflated state and that could cause stability problems.  When my husband contacted them again to explain that the vehicle had been towed for 8 k’s on a dirt road and a futher 2 k’s with a scew suspension and flat tyres and that that is what caused the damage to the tyres, they were arrogant enought to tell him the case was closed and that was their final stance in this regard.

This experience has cost us both emotionally and financially and has left us hesitant towards purchasing another Toyota even though it is the only vehicle we have ever considered before…

I have decided to remove the form from the top of my site, but it’s still available if you wish to try your luck. Toyota is clearly not interested in working with the community, and I’ll be damned if they use my credibility to make up for the lack of theirs.

Out of 8 posts, I received two acknowledgements from them, and to date ZERO responses to sort the problem out.

I have no idea whether this story is true or not, as I don’t know the person who sent it in to me. As the owner of a Toyota Fortuner that used to feel really unsafe (before I spent R11000 to upgrade the tires, shocks will have to wait) on gravel roads, I can certainly see how this story can be true.

I first received a comment from him on one of the complaints I received.

I rolled my Fortuner approx. a year ago on a dirt road when the tail
broke loose at a corrugated section.Was travelling at about 90km/hour;
this after a Isuzu overtook me and continued over the same stretch of
road. Travelled the same road before in Colt Rodeo @ approximately
110km/hour without any incident.
Toyota can defend as much as they want to, but this vehicle is
DANGEROUS on gravel roads; especially if you do not reduce tyre
pressure. On tar roads it is an absolute pleasure to drive

I wrote back, and he gave me more detail.

This was the first accident I was involved in and it was nearly fatal.
I was too thankful that I survived to even go to Toyota, although most
people advised me to take it further.At this stage I am extremely angry
as I initially blamed myself by thinking that I lost concentration and
that was the cause of the accident. I’ve been driving on gravel roads
for the better part of my life and those who know me said I must have
been driving too fast, which was not the case. The worst part was that
I had to walk for over 2 hours to get help as I was uncertain of the
extent of my injuries. Am still affected by this entire nightmare and
like I say, I am so angry!

His second last sentence left me cold. It’s one thing to be in an accident on town, but it’s another thing when you are out in the sticks with your family, enjoying and trusting your 4×4, and then something like this happens.

I had to walk for over two hours to get help…

Damn. I asked him to sent me the photo’s, which he did…