One problem related to owners/service manual has been reported for the 2004 Toyota Highlander. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2004 Toyota Highlander based on all problems reported for the 2004 Highlander.
The passenger airbag indicator warning light came on while nobody was even in the passenger seat, while traveling on a California highway. A check of the Toyota owner's manual stated that the entire airbag system would not function if this light came on and stayed on for no reason at all. Since we live no where near a dealer, nearest dealer is 100 miles away, I let it stay that way for awhile. There was also a safety problem with defective headlights on this model, where the always on daylamps melt the front headlights and leave a visible melted bubble, that the dealer refuses to fix because they didn't manufacture the headlights and the vehicle year and mileage is out of warranty- but, we still have the vehicle- they should stand behind their product. Then, most recently, a shuffling sound from behind the instrument panel/ bezel cluster occurred and makes the weird sound for 3 or so minutes sometimes when the car is turned on. It doesn't happen every time, about every 2 times now. The sound used to make a clicking sound for only 1 minute- so, it's getting louder, and longer. We were also told by a mechanic that the suspension/rods/shocks are bad and will need replaced- that is an expensive fix.