2015 Toyota Highlander

SUNROOF GLASS EXPLODED. I WAS DRIVING DOWN AN INTERSTATE HIGHWAY AT 70 MPH IN 4 LANES OF HOLIDAY TRAFFIC. WE HAD BEEN IN THE CAR FOR ABOUT 20 MINUTES WHEN WE HEARD A LOUD BANG (IT SOUNDED LIKE A SHOTGUN WENT OFF IN THE CAR) AND GLASS WAS FLYING EVERYWHERE. I LOOKED UP AND THERE WAS A HOLE ABOUT 4" BY 2" IN THE SUNROOF AND THE BALANCE WAS ALL SHATTERED. AFTER PULLING ONTO THE SHOULDER OF THE HIGHWAY AND LOOKING FROM THE OUTSIDE, THE GLASS EDGES OF WHAT WAS LEFT WERE PROTRUDING UP. THIS HAPPENED ON A SUNDAY, SO I HAD TO BUST AS MUCH OF THE REMAINING GLASS OUT THAT I COULD TO DRIVE IT HOME. THE TEMPERATURE WAS 85 AT THE TIME. I HAVE HAD MY VEHICLE FOR 3.5 YEARS AND I HAVE 60,000 MILES ON MY CAR. THIS SHOULD NOT HAPPEN! TOYOTA WILL NOT ADMIT ANY FAULT AND TOLD ME TO SEND A CLAIM TO MY INSURANCE.

SUNROOF GLASS EXPLODED. MY FAMILY AND I WERE GETTING ON THE INTERSTATE, NO OTHER VEHICLES AROUND US AND WE HAD BEEN TRAVELING ALL AFTERNOON WITH NOT TEMPERATURE VARIANCE. RIGHT WHEN WE HIT 80 MPH WE HEARD A VERY LOAD BANG LIKE A GUN HAD GONE OFF IN THE CAR. THEN WE HEARD THE WIND NOISE COMING FROM THE SUNROOF. THE COVER WAS CLOSED SO WE COULDN'T SEE WHAT HAPPENED. I PULLED OFF AT THE NEXT EXIT. WHEN I LOOKED AT THE SUNROOF IT WAS COMPLETELY SHATTERED. THE GLASS THAT WAS STILL IN PLACE AROUND THE RIM OF THE SUNROOF WAS PROTRUDING UP AWAY FROM THE VEHICLE SO I KNEW NOTHING HIT IT TO BREAK IT. THE BANG WAS REALLY LOAD AS WELL SO I AM EXTREMELY DOUBTFUL THAT IT WAS CAUSED BY ANY KIND OF EXTERIOR OBJECT. VERY LUCKY THE COVER WAS CLOSED OR WE WOULD HAVE HAD GLASS ALL OVER US.

FUEL DOOR WOULD NOT OPEN BY PRESSING THE INTERIOR BUTTON OR THE EMERGENCY LATCH. HAD TO TAKE IT TO THE DEALER WHO ALSO COULD NOT OPEN IT AND THEY REMOVED THE PART UNTIL IT COULD BE FIXED. I DROVE WITH THE GAS TANK DOOR OPEN UNTIL THE PART WAS REPLACED. WE DISCOVERED THE ISSUE WHILE PARKED AT A GAS STATION. WE COULD'VE BEEN STRANDED.

THE POWER LIFTGATE CLOSED ON MY HEAD WHEN I WAS PUTTING STUFF IN THE TRUNK. IT WAS OPEN LIKE NORMAL, BUT THEN IT SUDDENLY DROPPED WITHOUT WARNING. BEFORE THIS HAPPENED IT WAS HAVING PROBLEMS CLOSING COMPLETELY. IT IS STILL HAVING THESE PROBLEMS. I TOOK IT INTO THE DEALERSHIP TO GET FIXED AND THEY "RESET" THE SYSTEM BUT THAT DIDNT FIX ANYTHING. IT IS STILL NOT CLOSING COMPLETELY SOMETIMES. IT WILL SEEMINGLY OPEN FINE (ALTHOUGH IM AFRAID IT WILL FALL ON MY HEAD) BUT WHEN I HAVE TO CLOSE IT WILL SOMETIMES CLOSE AND IT WILL SOMETIMES CLOSE ALMOST ALL THE WAY AND THEN IT WILL BEEP TWICE AND OPEN A BIT AGAIN AND SIT THERE. I WILL HAVE TO HIT IT TO OPEN AND CLOSE AGAIN AND HOPE THAT IT WORKS. SOMETIMES I GET IT IN 2 TRIES AND SOMETIMES IT TAKES 4 OR 5 TIMES TO GET IT TO CLOSE.

ON JULY 15, 2015, MY WIFE AND I BOUGHT A NEW 2015 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER XLE FWD FROM A TOYOTA DEALERSHIP. WE SPECIAL-ORDERED THE EXACT CAR WE WANTED. WE HAVE NOW OWNED THE CAR FOR 2 YEARS AND PUT ABOUT 12,000 MILES ON IT. BEFORE BUYING, WE TEST DROVE A HONDA ODYSSEY, A HONDA PILOT, A TOYOTA SIENNA, A TOYOTA HIGHLANDER, A NISSAN PATHFINDER AND A JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE. AFTER TEST DRIVING EACH OF THE CARS NOTED ABOVE FOR LESS THAN AN HOUR I HAD A VERY STRONG HEADACHE. AS A RULE, I DON'T GET HEADACHES, SO THESE WERE OBVIOUSLY THE RESULT OF MY BREATHING THE AIR IN THESE NEW CARS. CAR INTERIORS ARE MADE USING PLASTICS, ADHESIVES, FIRE-RETARDANTS AND A LONG LIST OF OTHER MATERIALS, MANY OF WHICH OFF-GAS HIGHLY TOXIC CHEMICALS. SO WE FIRST TRIED TO FIND A USED HIGHLANDER, BUT COULD NOT FIND A RECENT MODEL YEAR THAT WAS EQUIPPED THE WAY WE WANTED. SO WE ORDERED A NEW ONE. AFTER WE TOOK POSSESSION OF THE CAR, I DROVE IT HOME, WITH ALL THE WINDOWS DOWN, THE MOON ROOF OPEN AND THE VENTILATION FAN RUNNING AT FULL SPEED. I THEN PARKED THE CAR IN OUR DRIVEWAY AND LEFT IT IN THE SUN ALL DAY, EVERYDAY FOR A MONTH. I HAD THE WINDOWS DOWN JUST SLIGHTLY AND A SMALL FAN IN THE CAR WHICH STIRRED THE AIR. I ALSO PUT A LARGE TRAY OF ACTIVATED CARBON IN THE CAR, CHANGING THAT MATERIAL EVERY FEW DAYS. AT NIGHT, I MOVED THE CAR INTO OUR GARAGE, ROLLED DOWN ALL THE WINDOWS AND HAD AN EXHAUST FAN RUNNING, WHICH CHANGED THE AIR IN THE GARAGE SEVERAL TIMES AN HOUR. AFTER A MONTH OF THAT ROUTINE I WAS ABLE TO DRIVE THE CAR WITHOUT GETTING A HEADACHE, THOUGH AFTER TWO YEARS, I CAN STILL FEEL THE EFFECT OF THAT POLLUTED INTERIOR AIR. OUR GRANDDAUGHTERS ARE VISITING US THIS SUMMER AND, THOUGH I NEVER MENTIONED MY EXPERIENCE TO THEM, THEY BOTH HOLD THEIR NOSES WHEN THEY GET IN THE CAR, UNTIL THEY CAN ROLL DOWN A WINDOW. PLEASE ADD INTERIOR AIR QUALITY TO YOUR SAFETY RATINGS.

WHILE DRIVING THE NAVIGATION/RADIO WILL FREEZE AND BECOME UNRESPONSIVE. THE RADIO WILL THEN REBOOT AND RESET ALL SETTINGS BACK TO DEFAULT. THIS IS VERY DISTRACTING FOR THE DRIVER AND THE PASSENGER IN THE AUTOMOBILE AND COULD LEAD TO AN ACCIDENT. THERE ARE NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS ON VARIOUS FORUMS. I ASKED TOYOTA FIX THIS ISSUE AND THEY OFFERED TO UPDATE THE FIRMWARE FOR $70. THIS IS NOT A PART THAT BROKE OR DEGRADED FROM WARE, THIS RADIO DOESNT WORK AND TOYOTA IS TRYING TO MAKE MONEY OFF OF THIS. I CONTACTED ENTUNE TO SEE IF I COULD GET THE FILE TO UPDATE THE SOFTWARE MYSELF AND WAS TOLD NO. I WAS TOLD IF I HAD LESS THAN 36000 MILES I COULD GET THIS FIXED FOR FREE AS IT WOULD BE UNDER WARRANTY. THIS ISNT A MAP UPDATE, THIS IS A FUNCTION THAT DOESNT WORK. I PAID FOR THIS PREMIUM AUDIO PACKAGE THAT DOESNT WORK. WHY WOULD MY MILEAGE PLAY ANY PART TO MY RADIO NOT WORKING?

I WAS DRIVING 80 MPH ON THE INTERSTATE WHEN THE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND A "CHECK AWD" DISPLAY APPEARED. AT THAT SAME MOMENT I LOST THE ABILITY TO STEER AND TO ACCELERATE. I MANAGED TO GET THE CAR OFF OF THE INTERSTATE. THE CAR CAME TO A STOP. I DID NOT SEE ANY SMOKE, OR SMELL ANYTHING AND THE ENGINE TEMP GAUGE SHOWED MID COOL SO I DECIDED TO START THE CAR AGAIN. WHEN I TRIED TO START THE CAR, THE ENGINE LIGHT AND THE "CHECK AWD" DISPLAY CAME ON AGAIN, AND THEN SECONDS LATER A TEMPERATURE LIGHT CAME ON WITH A LOUD ALARM. SMOKE STARTED COMING OUT OF THE FRONT LEFT HOOD. I SHOUTED FOR MY DAUGHTER AND HER FRIEND TO GET OUT OF THE VEHICLE. I GRABBED MY PHONE AND RAN TO HER DOOR TO HELP HER AND HER FRIEND GET OUT. BY THE TIME WE WERE RUNNING AWAY, FLAMES WERE COMING OUT OF THE HOOD. WITHIN MINUTES MY CAR WAS COMPLETELY ENGULFED IN FLAMES.

TOYTOTA HIGHLANDER LIMITED 2015 GPS CONSISTANTLY OFFERS WRONG DIRECTIONS. EVEN ON A.STRAIGHT AWAY SUCH AS US RT 1 IT WILL TAKE ME AROIND THE BLOCK ONLY TO BE PUT BACK ON THE SAME ROAD. ITNHAS TAKEN ME OFF HIGHWAY RAMPS AND SENT ME THROUGH NEIGHBORHOODS ONLY TO PUT ME BAXK ONTO THE HIGHWAY. I CONTACTED TOYOTA CORPORATE WHO INDICATED THEH WERE SORRY BUT THIS IS NOT COVERED INDWR WARRANTY AS IT IS CONSIDERED AN ASSESSORY. THE DEALER SAID IT MAY NEED MAP UPDATE WHICHNIS 175 FOR THE SOFTWARE LOAD PLUS $ 75 SERVICE FEE. MY CHEAP $100 GARMIN PROVIDES FREE LIFETIME MAP UPDATES AND I HAVE HAD TO USE IT TO ENSURE I REACH MY DESTINATION. TOYOTA HAS MISREPRESENTED THE VALUE OF THE USELESS GPS.