Problems with 2007 Toyota Yaris SUSPENSION

Strange sound comming from rear area. looked and rear passanger side tire leanning inward toward car. took to repair shop. the rear axle beam was rusted enough that the tire was getting ready to come off. the repair shop had never seen anything like this. i am the only owner of this vehicle. had about 214,000 miles when this occured. no, longer own car.

Driving down road and axle beam broke at seam. drivers side. was going straight at the time. heard noise. top of tire was leaning inward towards car.

Driving on the interstate. heard a noise that sounded like a blown tired. pull over and looked under car. the wheel was leaning and it appeared to me a bar was broke. towed it to garage and mechanic had never seen this axle beam broken at the seam. pictures attached.

Broken bolt for control arm of suspension. passenger side bolt head broken off, causing knocking during bumps/acceleration/breaking. recommendation to replace bolt & control arm for suspension on both sides to mitigate issue. research on this issue has shown that this is not uncommon for the toyota yaris control arm bolts. this is a serious hazard should the bolt break during use.

Poor handling when i go over 90 km per hour.

Tl* the contact owns a 2007 toyota yaris. the contact stated that while driving at approximately 10 mph and depressing the brake pedal, the vehicle hesitated and there was a loud noise coming from the vehicle. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that the lower control arm fractured. the vehicle was repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 131,000.

During rolling bumper to bumper traffic, heard a loud pop from the front end. afterwards the front end kept making a odd grind sound when i put on the brakes or went over a slight bump. took some time to figure out that one of the bolts that holds the passenger side a-arm was gone, looks like the bolt head just sheared off so now all the weight that was carried by 3 bolts is being managed by 2. i had just got off the highway too, glad that did not pop at 65 mph. *tr

I am experiencing a clunking noise coming from the front of the vehicle. the noise is most often heard under acceleration or deceleration. the bolts that secure the control arms to the sub frame are corroding and breaking off, causing separation of the control arm from the sub frame and loss of control of the car. *tr

I brought my 2007 toyota yaris into the dealership to get the brakes looked at as i was hearing a clunking noise going over uneven roads at slow speeds and i was feeling a sticking with the brakes. the dealership notified me that the brakes were fine but that a bolt in the front cross arm of the suspension had rusted and broken off. i was told that this was a design flaw in the 2007-2011 yaris and that there was a technical service bulletin that advised on replacing the whole crossmember with a new design. the warranty only covered the car up to 3 years or 36000 miles but my car is 3.5 years and 53000 miles. the cost of the parts and repair was over $2500 and since it was a safety concern i was not allowed to drive the car without fixing it. the dealership contacted toyota, who then agreed to pay for the parts. i was still responsible for paying the $848 in labor to repair something that toyota had designed incorrectly. i had to pay the bill in order to get my car out but the dealership encouraged me to continue to contact toyota directly as they agreed that this was an issue that toyota should resolve. i contacted toyota usa and was told that they "technically" didn't have to do anything since it's not a recall and that because they already paid for the parts, that was the same as me "agreeing" that they did not have to pay for the labor. toyota should be responsible for fixing problems associated with a design flaw in a major structural element of the car. a bolt shouldn't rust in less than 4 yrs, especially when it's a safety concern. i think that with time, more yaris owners will begin to experience this and it should be looked into further before someone is hurt or killed as a result of this failure. i have found numerous complaints online from other yaris owners for this same thing and the apa in canada is requesting toyota canada recall the problem (10/28/11). *tr

The problem had been developing for about a week. there seemed to be some clunking in the front end. when i would stop, the vehicle would lurch forward a little. my first thought was that something like a break part or tire was loose from the front, passenger side. on friday is seemed worse after pulling in to a driveway. i had the problem diagnosed at the dealer. they said the head of a bolt on the lower control arm had rusted/corroded/sheered off. their estimated cost was about $650. the vehicle was out of the manufacturers warranty. my extended 120k mile/ 96 month warranty covers upper and lower control arms, but they refused to cover this repair. having their refusal explained to me twice, i'm still not sure why. it seems that they make a practice of denying all claims regardless of what they are. (auto exam, houston, tx.) *tr

We have a 2007 toyota yaris the rear wheel hub bearings are failing and the parts are only available at the dealer at a very expensive price. apparently this is a very common problem and i feel that it may warrant a recall. it is impossible to find the part and distributors told me that the demand has exceeded availability for months. i would like to know if this is being checked into. thank you *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2007 toyota yaris. the contact stated that the vehicle exhibited an abnormal grinding when he would apply pressure to the brakes. he then noticed that the driver side e lower front control arm bolt was corroded and had fractured from the vehicle. the vehicle was taken to the dealer where they performed a diagnostic test and informed the contact that the sub frame would need to be dropped and the control arm bolt would need to be replaced. the manufacturer informed the contact that because the vehicle was not under warranty they could not offer any assistance. the vehicle was not repaired. the current mileage was approximately 60,000 and the failure mileage was 59,000.

This should be a safety recall. underneath the 2007 yaris there is bolts holding the control arm to the suspension. simply put the bolt has rusted out after only three years. this is not normal. it appears that when water splashes up under the car and gets caught there is no way for the water to drain. it just sits on the bolt. if/when this rusts out the control arm could separate from he suspension and cause the automobile to lose control. it is an obvious design flaw. i urge you and toyota to look into this and issue a recall immediately, as there is many other autos on the road with this same issue. it is a simple fix if caught up front. unfortunately for folks like me, who already had this happen to. it will cost hundreds. fortunately, nothing has happened to me me yet. but i cannot get someone to fix it until next week and i have to get to work. so i will cross my fingers that it doesn't get worse.

Dt*: the contact stated there was a grinding noise coming from the front driver side wheel while driving various speeds. the noise became worse when turns were made to either side. the vehicle was taken to a service dealer, however the dealer was unable to determine the problem. updated 03/30/07. *jb