Hi there folks..Has any body noticed their dash splitting around the Passenger airbag? Look at he airbag cover (02-06models) from outside thru the windscreen at he top seam...to see if it has split. This is a problem that Toyota does not want to know about..Mine split open at 33000miles. I could see the dash foam thru the split...brand new car..thats not supposed to happen to a Toyota.(car was shaded from the sun).I took it to the dealer and they said it was normal...OH YEA?? NO WAYYY. anyway eventually with alot of pressure they had to replace the entire dashbord. I have looked at alot of 02-04 models and they have almost all split open...dont know if they fixed it on the later models...kindly let me know your findings...MILO

 

u wanna post some pic....how bad is it....

 

I should have som pics somwhere if i can figure how to upload here.The 02-06 Toyota camry Passenger airbag In my opinion is a stupid cheap design.The airbag cover has a failure seam around it which allows the airbag to burst thru the dash.What actually happens is that the cover shrinks opening up the gap which stretches the failure seam until it splits open exposing the foam. The dash then distorts and starts to look ugly. As mentioned before i have seen this on countless Camrys down here in Florida. When the car is new one cannot insert a creditcard in the seam ..thats how tight it is..When the cover shrinks i have seen the gap open up to almost 3mm all around.The seam then splits open...Mine was changed just b4 the warrenty expired 36000 miles 3 yrs.

 

Hi there Folks..Here are some pics of the airbag cover split. I do hope It helps in identifying the problem..You can clearly see the split between the top seam. The Dash foam is exposed and the dash starts to lift up and get deformed...Very poor design...Thanks.

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i think your problem is heat exposure. you need a heatshield. that's definitely a good bet.

 

Haaa heatshield??? That would not help...i have seen many cars with the same problem. With my expierience with Toyotas i am sure it is a design flaw. Earlier models and other manifacturers, with all the heat in the world..dash does not split ..go figure

 

I doubt its heat exposure the car should be designed to with stand heat exposure!

 

I know this is 7 years later but I was searching the web for this problem and found this site. My entire right dashboard is apparently shrinking according to my dealer. I took it in because the airbag cover was shrinking and we could see the foam. My service rep took pix and said the right vent and right side of the stereo console were also shrinking. I keep a sun shade on my dash and until now (160,000 miles and 9 years old) it looks new. I live in California, the other coast and mine is shrinking on the right side. Toyota says it is the sun heat and they will see if they can get me a discount. I am going to mention this site to them. I think this is a material flaw and they should consider this a recall. They told me it is NOT a safety issue that the airbag will not come out on its own.

 

Both my mother and I purchased 2003 Camarys. Both of our dashes have split at the top of the airbag. How should we proceed to get this fixed at the expense of Toyota? I agree that it should be made a recall item.

 

It has to be a safety issue!