not suprising at all
from my experience id much rather have a ford focus or mondeo than the equivalent toyota
we have a rav4 t5 or something like that.... its not that its not nailed together proper, it is, but the quality of the interior plastics is woeful.
theres plenty of small rattles n squeaks as the shoddy plastics rub. they feel hard and brittle and because they have been solidly put together every bump in the road is transmitted through the whole interior and it almost sounds like your riding in a van. and you will feel the bumps because the suspension is rock hard.
the 2.0 VVTi engine isnt particularly refined either, it feels like its suffocating and engine noise intrudes into the cabin quite alot, tho this is masked my the horrendous road noise.
add to that it took the dealer nearly 2 weeks to sort out a dodgy ECU and i have to say the Rav4 is one of the worst cars my dad ever purchased.
even the renault scenic RX4 was better, despite the whole power steering frame thing getting cracked. (mum used to hold the wheel on the stops, so the PS pump kept pumping and eventually put a stress crack in the frame work)
i think with the growing popularity of lexus....toyota are trying to ween customers off of their normal cars an on to the more prestiguous and profitable luxury cars and theyre doing this by making a car renowned for its engineering feel cheap so that next time, Mr jones who wants more quality will buy a lexus instead.