Hey all...

The 2004 RX330 that we bought a few weeks back did not come with the tonneau cover. We were told on the lot, before making the purchase, that it didn't come with the car. Fair enough.

I bought one off of eBay and it arrived today. In trying to figure out what to do with the flaps, I googled and only now come to realize that it makes a difference as to whether or not my car was manufactured in the US or Japan, as the headrest posts between the two are different sizes.

Of course, the cover I bought, which is used but looks great overall, doesn't seem to be the proper cover for my vehicle. The clips on the flaps are way too large for the headrest posts.

Curious if anybody else has run into this and has any solutions? Are there perhaps adapters that I can buy that would go inside of the tonneau cover clips to help them stay attached to my inadequately thin headrest posts?

Thanks!
Charlie

 

It sounds like you purchased the wrong model year cover

 

Sorry, Charlie. No adapter clips. The Japanese built RX have different clips than the Canadian built RX. It is the thickness of the headrest posts. You have to purchase the correct tonneau cover to make sure it is the proper one for your vehicle. Many on eBay either do not know what they have, did not mark the VIN from the wreck the part was pulled from, or they are just labeled incorrect. Caveat emptor.

 

No, it's the correct model year. Just wrong origin, apparently Mine was manufactured in Canada. The cover I received is apparently from a model manufactured in Japan.

Yup, I take responsibility. In hindsight, not really sure what I could have done differently. There didn't seem to be a lot of literature out there that specified that the covers were different, but my responsibility to know what I'm buying.

It doesn't look terrible, but certainly could look better. Hm... wonder if I can hit some U-Pick type junkyards and possible find a tonneau cover from a Canadian manufactured model. Wouldn't even matter what color, would just need a way to attach the new clips. Pretty sure I could find a way to get that done...

 

You could try taking a heat gun to the clip and after it gets just a little pliable you could attach to the headrest post and using a pair of pliers pinch it together a little until it fits. Not too much as you might want to be able to remove it some time in the future.

 

Don' t be so hard on yourself CJG. We've all been in that kind of situation. Live and learn

 

If you can do a little sewing...You could sew a couple loops to the end and just put the headrests posts through the loops.

 

Thanks I know there was probably very little I could have done. Nothing I saw on ebay or craigslist or anywhere else mentioned the difference in the clips depending on manufacturing location. Just disappointing to have spent $200 and gotten the wrong piece. Don't really have the $ to try a second time either, so I'm stuck with it. But will make do.

Hm. That's a possibility. My mother-in-law is rather capable with a needle and thread. Only drawback would be that removal would be a little more of a hassle, what with having to fully pull out the headrests. But so far, we haven't had to remove it much. Just once so far for a trip to the lake...