Wiper Problems of Toyota Highlander - part 1

Driver side interior visor has failed and does not secure in place causing obstruction of view while driving.

See all problems of the 2017 Toyota Highlander 🔎.

The driver's side sun visor does not stay up against the roof of the car and falls down obstructing the driver's view. It will not stay up and falls down immediately when pushed up against the roof. We have resorted to tying the visor up but then are unable to use the sun visor while driving.

See all problems of the 2006 Toyota Highlander 🔎.

Side mirror (glass) shakes/rattles at speeds over 45mph. This affects the visibility of things in the mirror as well as becomes distracting to the driver. When on the interstate with smooth pavement it's impossible to ignore. . . It's just more noticeable then. Tried moving the mirror to verify and yes, it's loose. Just reporting it now that I became aware of this website but car has had this issue for at least 2 years.

I just bought this 2021 Highlander xse & the drivers side mirror vibrates above 30mph. I feel this makes it very hard to see properly especially on the interstate traveling 70mph & trying to get a clear view of the roadway & cars around me. I took the car to my local Toyota dealer & was told this is a common problem among the new design with the Highlander’s. I do not feel safe not being able to see properly.

See all problems of the 2021 Toyota Highlander 🔎.

This is a supplemental complaint to add more detail to a prior submission. I am the original owner of a 2021 Toyota Highlander with 10,000 miles at the time of the issue worsening to the point that I finally broke down and was forced to pay the Toyota dealership's hefty diagnostic fee. The air conditioning system has failed due to a refrigerant leak in the rear a/c lines, specifically near the exhaust area under the vehicle. The dealership diagnosed the issue and quoted me over $3,000 to replace “all necessary components in the rear. ” they offered no coverage or goodwill repair despite the vehicle’s age and mileage. Upon researching the issue for longer than a year at this point, I discovered far too many similar complaints from other Highlander owners (years 2019–2021) describing identical failures — typically rear a/c lines corroding, cracking, or leaking prematurely. In some cases, customers were told Toyota is aware of the issue but not issuing a TSB or recall. In other cases, dealers said no permanent fix exists. These repairs are prohibitively expensive and, in some reports, recurring due to poor line placement or dissimilar metal corrosion near heat sources. This significantly impacts safety in several ways: impaired visibility: the ac system is integral to effective defogging and defrosting of the windshield, especially in humid or cold conditions. Without it, visibility is severely compromised, increasing the risk of an accident. Driver impairment: in extreme temperatures, lack of climate control can lead to driver fatigue, distraction, and reduced concentration, posing an indirect safety risk. I am reporting it to request NHTSA monitor the trend. This seems to reflect a possible engineering or design flaw, and the number of similar owner reports suggests it may warrant further review by Toyota and NHTSA. Customers should not be facing multi-thousand-dollar repairs on near-new vehicles with basic systems failing. Thank you for tracking this issue.

Noticed side view mirrors vibrate at speeds above 25 mph and on highway speeds. Driver side mirror has much noticeable vibration when looking at it to make lane changes. Vibration makes it hard to focus and view other vehicles on the road and possibly a safety concern. When taken to dealership, technician could not duplicate the concern and did not found mirror to be loose. I also noticed that tapping from inside the front driver or passenger door creates similar vibration of side mirrors. Both side mirror assemblies need more structural strengthening due to it’s position on the door panel which is prone to vibrations from road and transmits it to the side mirror assemblies. This is a design defect that needs to be addressed.

See all problems of the 2023 Toyota Highlander 🔎.

The side view mirrors are very shaky at all speeds-- and worse over bumps/and/or at highway speeds. It causes a distraction in the peripheral vision of the driver, and does not provide a reliable, clear image in the mirror while the car is underway. The problem is worse on the driver (left) side, but it exists on both sides. This creates an unsafe condition where vision is not clear in the side mirrors.

See all problems of the 2020 Toyota Highlander 🔎.

November 7, 2023: while driving across the California desert at 70 miles an hour, temperature was 71°, and freeway traffic was light, without any other outside influences, the sun roof spontaneously exploded, blowing outward, as though someone had put an explosive between the glass and interior of the vehicle. It sounded like a shotgun blast. I pulled over and examined the vehicle; the remaining glass in the sunroof was blown out, arched above the roof of the vehicle, with a spray of shattered glass inside and on the roof of the car. There were no vehicles around me, no impact, and I’m returning home, I reviewed my dash cam looking for other signs (like a bird crashing into the roof). There was nothing. Upon searching this mystery, I found that many others have experienced the same thing. The car is now at the dealership. The car is well cared for, and the roof/glass, prior to the explosion, was undamaged.

See all problems of the 2019 Toyota Highlander 🔎.

The windshield has warps and creates blurry vision. Glass has been replaced 3 times so far from Toyota dealership and issue continues to be there. Car has been in service for a month now. Glass manufacturer: pilkington.

See all problems of the 2018 Toyota Highlander 🔎.

Vehicle windshield glass has a distorted and wavy quality that impacts visibility for the driver. I have contacted the dealership about this issue and there is not a current recall for the windshield. The windshield says Toyota pilkington laminated acoustic heated 43r-001398, dot15. I purchased this vehicle in the last week and did not notice the distortion on the short test drive. At first, I thought it was a reflection issue from the dash, but it is not. This should be investigated and remedied.

23 Toyota Highlander was in for a routine 10k mile oil change and additional key programming. When I was notified the vehicle was done and taking delivery the vehicle came into the delivery area with the drivers mirror folded away from the car damaged. I asked the delivery driver about it and she immediately called over a manager. Mike moffitt, service quality control specialist, came out and greeted me. He acknowledged the damage and documented the damage and said he would arrange a fix for in the next few days. The damage done causes my mirror to shake and vibrate while driving down the road. It makes it impossible to see out of the mirror while driving down the freeway or on moderately bumpy roads. The dealership tried to repair the mirror by first replacing the mirror and then having a Toyota specialist. The response has been "we compared to like vehicle, condition was similar in like vehicle, technician then contacted Toyota technical assistance and they stated it is a design characteristic of the driver side power folding mirror and do not advise any further inspections or repairs. Toyota's field technical specialist reviewed the case and advised no further action at this time. ".

The side view mirrors are positioned in a way that completely blocks visibility on the sides of the car, especially when making a left-hand turn. After owing the vehicle for several weeks, I collided with another car when making a left-hand turn. I couldn't see the car when turning until it was too late. I've been driving for 30+ years and have never had an accident before. I had another close call several weeks ago, and my husband almost didn't see a pedestrian because of the visibility issue. I looked up the problem online and see that many other have had this same problem. Please look into it. I called Toyota but they don't have a recall and said they couldn't help. I plan to change out my side view mirrors but wanted to bring this to your attention so that no one gets hurt by this issue. Thank you.

See all problems of the 2016 Toyota Highlander 🔎.

A rock hit my windshield and it got a crack in it several feet long. A few days later a rock hit the other side of my windshield and it cracked there about six inches.

We purchased 2021 Highlander in March 2021. Since the day we experienced some vibration in the driver side mirror and we first notice bad vibrations when we drove above 40 to 50 mph. We never bought this up with Toyota or the dealer untill may 5th 2023. When we created a case with Toyota, they directed us to the dealer. Once we scheduled the service they confirmed the vibration and replaced part number: 879400e351. After the replacement we noticed that the vibrations are getting bad even during lower speeds now. The mirror is vibrating during idle and any speed higher than 30/ 40mph. We scheduled another appointment with the dealer and the manager did test drive another Highlander 2022 model and confirmed that it is also vibrating. It was surprising to see that all the Highlanders have these mirror vibrations. They said eventhough theres is vibration, it'd be considered normal. I rive mostly during night. The driver side mirror is blurry, vibrating and is extremly difficult to drive the car and is scary that the image on the mirror is not steady and create confusions to the driver. Changing lanes or entering to highway is really challenging as the mirros are vibrating too much and extremely hard to concentrate. This may even can cause major accidents as the image is not clear. The vibrations (humps, dips, rumble strips) are even translated to driver side vibrations and is very hard to see. The dealer even agreed to it but said that it’s a Toyota flaw in design because all Highlanders have this… and after talking to them, they said the only way Toyota would even look at this issue or have an engineer take a look in to it is if they get enough complaints or see a pattern. This is why I am reporting this to NHTSA. I want to keep americans road safe and sound to all my fellow humans. They also said Toyota rav4 also had these issue and Toyota issued a TSB however there is nothing on Highlander. I humbly request NHTSA to seriously look in to this and assist us.

The windshield is chipping extremely easily, and long crack lines have developed as well no extreme weather has occurred.

See all problems of the 2022 Toyota Highlander 🔎.

While driving my 2021 Highlander on the road my driver side mirror shakes alot. It makes my visibility shaky when im trying to switch lanes. I took the car to Toyota and newer models are having same issue the Toyota dealer told me.

The glass from the panoramic sunroof detached from the vehicle while traveling approximately 60 mph.

See all problems of the 2014 Toyota Highlander 🔎.

December 2022 I was driving to my Toyota dealer which is about an hour away from my home for a routine 10k oil. Change. Air temperature here in minnesota was 20-25 degrees. After 10 minute of highway driving with front defroster activated, all windows including the front windshield had some fogging. The fogging continued to spread on all windows. I made several adjustments to the climate control settings but nothing improved the fogging. By 30 minutes into the drive frost was forming at the top of the windshield and side windows where hot air was not blowing directly on the windows. My wife and I pulled off the road several times to wipe moisture off of the glass and sometimes scrape frost. I reported the issue to my dealer in st cloud minnesota and inquired if there was something I was doing wrong with the climate settings. They made a couple of suggestions which I thought I had originally tried, but it didn’t seem to be something they were aware of as being a wide spread problem. I made the return trip home with no improvement of the fogging/frost conditions. The problem continued each time we drove the car. We did not use that car again until January 15, 2023 when we traveled to arkansas for a week. On the 650 mile trip down we had the same issues as before with defrost on high until the temperature rose to the 40s. Before our return trip home,I began researching my problem and found t-sb-0020-19 and t-sb-0024-22 which described my issues. The 650 mile trip was in temperatures from 28-32 and we needed to use the defrost during the entire trip. I scheduled an appointment with Toyota for February 1, 2023. Temperatures were now below zero and did not feel I could safely drive 1 hr to the dealer for the repair. Having extensive experience with auto repairs, I followed the instructions in the TSB and found the exact defect described. I completed the repair which fixed the problem. The 2022 Highlander is not listed in the TSB used for the repair nor any I could find.

On or about 12-01-2022 the windshield wipers stopped functioning. The result was an inability to drive the car in the rain and especially at night. It was impossible to see so we pulled over and waited for the rain to stop. After analyzing the issue the motor had failed. We contacted Toyota for a replacement motor. What we found: no wiper motors are available from Toyota, no aftermarket parts are available. We ordered a motor from gladstone Toyota but after a couple of weeks began calling. What I was told: no wiper motors are available and there is no release date for when they will be. I began calling around and found that some dealers (trd shop) have over 200 on back order and only 80 were released last time they made them. Where we are today: we have a vehicle made by Toyota that is unsafe to operate due to the fact the wipers don't work we replaced the wiper switch $232. 00 but that only allowed the rear wipers to function further inspection verified the front wiper motor failed in conjunction with the switch that controls the rear wipers. I contacted Toyota engagement center and reported the issues. Case #230106000756 they told us they would have a parts specialist contact us no later than 01-09-23 that never happened ans on 01-10-23 I contacted them to let them know we haven't heard anything. They have yet to reply or contact us regarding our back order. We purchased the vehicle new from gladstone Toyota all maintenance done there. Issue is the vehicle is unsafe to drive in oregon in the middle of winter, parts are not available to repair Toyota unwilling to reply or see what they can do for us using their online engagement website.

1. Climate control system failure to defrost windows during cold weather/winter conditions caused all windows to fog resulting 0 visibility while driving. 2. Occupants including myself, spouse, adult child and toddler grandchild , surrounding vehicles and their occupants were for 5 to 10 minutes exposed to potential multi-car crash, injuries and loss of life. 3. Online research revealed this climate control failure has been experienced by other Toyota owners and the issue has been resolved however not been reported to NHTSA. Two days after the occurrence the vehicle was taken to bud clary Toyota, moses lake, wa for inspection and repair. Note-without the detailed information from my online research the issue/repair/resolution wasn't determined by the Toyota service shop. 4. There are no warnings when this failure occurs. It happens only when outside temperatures drop below 40 degrees and severity increases with quick drops in temperature. The first occurrence was during first winter of ownership, 2020/2021 and reported to the next servicing dealership, peterson Toyota, boise, id. 5. The repairing dealership required customer pay and advised to follow up with Toyota customer service to report and request reimbursement. Follow up completed later in December 2022, Toyota denied warranty reimbursement however the customer service agent requested and obtained repair reimbursement and recommended reporting and requesting recall status to nhsta.

Wipers quit working. Available for inspection. Unable to see road because it was raining. Wipers haven’t been inspected. No messages or warning lamps. I was driving in rainy weather with the temperature slightly above the freeze point. .

Visibility for interior windows defroster/defogger is not functioning. Inside windows are fogging up and icing no matter what heating setting is used. This poses significant risk of visibility in all windows. I have had to try to defrost the inside of my windows just to see out of my side windows and see in my rearview mirror. I have not gone to the dealership, but do intent to. No warning messages present.

The windshield has developed a rapidly lengthening crack from the bottom to the top at the center of the glass. There is no evidence of an impact anywhere along this crack.

Driver side mirror vibrates and gets worse on the interstate and windy days. It does not give clear, steady view. Night time all you see is shaking headlights. It’s highly distracting and discomforting to eyes and causes headaches. Taken it to dealership plenty of times. It was replaced one time and still same issue. Dealership contacted Toyota about the issue and still no solution.

Toyota 2022 Highlander xle awd has a safety issue with the drivers side mirror. The issue is that the mirror vibrates when driving over small bumps or imperfections in the road. It is especially hazardous when driving at night and the following vehicles headlights flicker the reflection back in your face. It is very distracting to the driver. Toyota has similar vehicles (rav4) that have TSB's for the same problem. Also many Lexus vehicles have similar TSB. I hope nhsta will convince Toyota that the Highlander with mirror vibration problems need to be addressed similar to the rav4 and Lexus models.

The contact owns a 2022 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated that there was an obscuring and milky pattern that appeared on the windshield while driving under certain weather conditions, which significantly reduced the visibility of the road way. The dealer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 3,000.

There is a splotchy glare that appears on my windshield that makes it extremely difficult to see out the windshield in the rain. It is not fog, I have cleaned the inside and outside of the windshield, changed the wiper blades, tried the heated windshield feature, defrost, and seriously done everything and it does not go away unless direct sunlight is on it. Forget driving in the rain at night, I was unable to see the lines in the road and it's worse when headlights are facing your direction. I ran off the road and had to park my car until the rain passed. This is absolutely dangerous. The guys at the dealership were stumped as well. It happened to be raining as I was leaving after service and I showed him and he had no idea. It is across my entire windshield. Sometimes it depends on how light is shining on it. This needs to be a recall before someone is seriously hurt.

Drivers side mirror vibrates during car operation and limits visibility. This is extremely hazardous during lane changes on multiple lane roads. I have reached out to Toyota multiple times about a resolution but their continued response is that they are aware of the issue but do not seem to be concerned.

Drivers side mirror shakes causing visibility to be blurred. The shaking makes me dizzy when trying to change lanes. Toyota has this same issue on their rav4 model and there is actually a fix. They need to make the car safe and not have mirrors that shake while driving.

On the driver side windshield, there is an inside crack/defect that keeps spreading causing glare while driving. The Toyota dealer has been notified and they are working on paperwork to fix it. It appears to be in between the glass windshield. Pictures cannot show because of the glare from the reflection.

While driving in the rain, the visibility through my windshield is reduced significantly which has caused me to have to pull over due to not being able to see other cars or lines on the roadway and gets worse if lights are shining toward me while it's raining. It almost looks like a waxy coating over the entire windshield. I took it to the dealer and they didn't know what it could be. Windshield is clean, wipers have been changed, and nothing has been applied to the car. Even passengers in the 2nd row pointed out how difficult it was to see out. This happens in all types of rain heavy or light and is not visible in dry conditions. I thought I was the only one with this problem until I was reading through the other 149 reports for a different issue and realized others are having the same issue. I hope that with multiple reports we can get the issue resolved. I am afraid to drive in the rain and do not wish to risk my safety. This isn't normal.

I'm reporting this problem as follows. Drivers side mirror (glass) at speed exceeding 20 miles an hour vibrates causing issues with me seeing traffic coming up beside me on the drivers side. This problem with vibration only gets worse at highway speeds. This is a known problem to Toyota. When I took my new Toyota to the dealership I was told that both the dealership and Toyota were aware of the problem with the mirror but could do nothing to correct the issue. My conversation was with clyde sanders service manager at riverside Toyota. I was told this issue goes back about two years starting with the 2020 year model. There are numerous post on Toyotas forum talking of this issue. This is not a one off issue but is tied to all Toyota Highlanders. I'm reporting this issue because I believe it is a safety issue that needs to be corrected.

I was driving down the highway at 11:30am mst going between 55-60 mps and my sunroof just popped and broke. Nothing hit us, there were barely even any cars around us at the time. It spontaneously combusted. Providing screenshots of the video I took immediately after it happened. You can even see how the glass is bowed out instead of inward, if it were hit by something.

I was driving and I started to lower my sun visor and something broke and visor went all the way down and I could not see and had to pull over and remove the visor from the arm. I have been told Toyota had a problem before but they are not willing to fix the problem ( they should replace the whole sun visor.

While driving at highway speed of about 60 mph, the moonroof burst and shattered in to thousands of pieces. There was no warning, no indication of stress or wear before the incident. Hundreds of others have had similar occurrences as discussed on internet forums.

See all problems of the 2015 Toyota Highlander 🔎.