2003 RAV 4 Dash Rattle!

Its a problem that won't go away. My niece had hers into the dealer numerous times, never really fixing it. They finally told her it's a production glitch and that she's better off living with it.

I find this unacceptable, and refuse to buy cheap vehicles on that basis.

I just got a 2004 Tacoma reg cab, and I've got a nasty little ticking/rattle coming from the driver's side seat belt post. I've taken off all the molding and seat belt parts, but the noise is still there. I haven't called the dealership yet because I'm afraid that I'll get as far as everyone else. The noise is coming from inside the post, behind the seat belt anchor.

To cure your dash rattles you will need to take apart all of the plastic dash molding you can, then use the 3m rattle reducing tape on all of the clips, then put it back together again. If you can make the noise when you are driving (certain speed or torque or whatever) you or someone in the passenger's seat can listen to and try to locate the noise. If putting your hand on the dash causes the noise to go away, that is the area you should concentrate on.

I had to take a good bit of the dash apart to install the stereo, and now that I have a good understanding of how it goes together, I wouldn't hesitate to track down dash rattles myself. I have a feeling that the last thing a dealer wants to see is a customer coming in with a rattle that needs to be fixed. It can cost tons of man hours to track down a rattle. It seems like the mechanic would have to commute with your car for a few days to listen to and locate the noise. It's not their fault that the trucks rattle. It's a combination of design flaw, poor qc, and a compromise on cost/materials. When a mistake like this is made it ends up costing much more than if the proper steps had been taking during development and manufacturing to avoid it.

Go to this site,excellent detailed instructions, and it works... Had the same problem with my 03 Rav4