What’s Mike working on today? “Probably the Death Trap Award Winner of the Month.” He’s a mechanic at Royalty Auto Service out of Georgia and has a 2014 Toyota RAV4 on his lift. And this one’s raising eyebrows.

Toyota RAV4 presents with multiple complaints

The dash is lit up like a Christmas tree: “Check engine light, ABS light, red brake light…” It’s all illuminated.

On top of that, the power steering is “kind of wonky.” And the cherry on top that every mechanic loves to hear: the customer’s buddy attempted to replace the right front wheel bearing assembly…and broke a bolt instead.

But wait, there’s more!

After reading the symptoms, Mike gets the RAV4 up in the air to perform a visual inspection.

Sure enough, he quickly spots the hub bolt in question. It’s definitely nice and loose, but Mike’ll have to try to remove it all the way to confirm the situation there. In any case, it sure isn’t doing its job in the hub as-is.

Next, he brings us over to the left front side of the RAV4. There, he locates a lower brake caliper bolt that doesn’t look quite right. Indeed, it’s not. The upper one seems appropriate and more secure, but the lower one is much too small for spec. The caliper assembly wiggles back and forth like crazy when Mike touches it.

The worst part about this RAV4, though, happens next

Mike stands under the middle of SUV, reaches both arms to the insides of each front wheel, and jiggles the tires back and forth.

For context, folks, this shouldn’t result in any component movement. In other words, the wheels and all else should stay still and firm.

Wellp, that’s not what happens. The wheels and axles rattle like it was built on a Playskool workbench.

“I’m sure it’s been making noise for a while,” Mike proposes.

In the end, he’s confident that replacing both front wheel bearings will take care of that extra wiggle-waggle and even turn off the dash lights. The hubs, which come with the bearings pressed inside, also have a sensor built into them. If something’s awry, and the ABS light needs to turn on, a Toyota will often turn on all the other lights on the dashboard.

The RAV4 brakes are about down to metal, too.

“We’re gonna address any other issues we find doing these repairs,” Mike asserts. 

Positively, the team posted that the front hubs fixed all the RAV4’s front-end play. The left front caliper got a new bolt and slide pins, according to a reply in the comment section.

Speaking of…

The comments came in with hot words for the RAV4 owner

“This is the definition of ‘I know a guy that can do it cheaper.’”

“just cuz it’s a Toyota doesn’t mean it doesn’t need to be looked after.”

“I’m pretty sure the noise has been the hysterical screaming of the passengers”

“A severely neglected vehicle. This can even happen to Toyotas. Rare but it can happen.”

“How do you guys get a 2014 car in that state is beyond me.”

MotorBiscuit reached out to Royalty Auto Service via email for comment.