2015 Toyota Highlander

The side mirrors are too large and located in a position that when the driver is turning left the driver's side mirror blocks the ability to see the crosswalk and also the center divider of the lane they are turning into and has almost caused me to strike a center divider and not see a pothole on a freeway on ramp causing damage to the left side strut and alignment. There were other multiple times I almost hit the smaller center dividers in town and the glare in the mirror causes glare that you can't see where you are going. terrible design

Repeated cracking of the windshield from even trivial impact from highway rocks/stones. Windshield replaced once by the Dealer service station with OEM glass at a cost of 1600 dollars out of pocket expense by the owner. Cracked again with another small rock hitting the windshield, directly in the line of sight. Inspected by the same dealer service center, advised to replace again at owners expense as Toyota does not cover glass damage. Multiple Toyota Highlanders and Sienna minivans all across the USA have had this issue of windshield cracking in the last few years . Suspect there is a design/manufacturing/ Quality control issue. NHTSA needs to look into this as it affects the safe operation of the vehicle.

THE VISOR WILL NOT STAY UP AND DROPS DOWN OBSTRUCTING THE DRIVERS VIEW OF THE ROAD COMPLETELY(IF TALLER THAN 5'9'). WHEN SWUNG TO THE SIDE IT OBSTRUCTS THE VIEW OUT THE LEFT WINDOW, AND DISTRACTS THE DRIVER BY SWINGING INTO THE LEFT SIDE OF THEIR FACE WHILE TURNING/CHANGING LANES WHILE DRIVING. THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH TOYOTA VEHICLES DUE TO A POOR DESIGN FRICTION MECHANISM THAT SHOULD HOLD THE VISOR AT ANY ANGLE OUT OF THE DRIVERS WAY. REPLACEMENT IS $300 DISCOURAGING PROPER REPLACEMENT AND CAUSING DRIVERS TO ENDURE THE SAFETY HAZARD. TOYOTA HAS PREVIOUSLY REPAIRED VISORS UNDER A TECHNICAL BULLETIN ON OLDER VEHICLES. DUE TO THE COST THERE ARE DOZENS OF REPAIR PROCEDURES AND REMOVAL PROCESSES RECORDED ON YOUTUBE TO ILLUSTRATE HOW WIDESPREAD 'TOYOTA VISOR WON'T STAY UP' JUST SEARCH ON YOUTUBE. REMOVED THE VISOR DOES NOT BLOCK THE DRIVERS VIEW BUT REMOVES SAFETY WARNINGS FOR THE AIRBAG AND SAFE OPERATION ROLLOVER WARNING. TOYOTA SHOULD ISSUE ANOTHER TECHNICAL BULLETIN FOR THIS SUPPOSEDLY IMPROVED VISOR MECHANISM AND REPAIR FOR OWNERS.

BOUGHT THIS 2015 HIGHLANDER BRAND-NEW IN JANUARY 2015 FROM THE DEALER. IT HAD 476 MILES ON THE ODOMETER. WITHIN A FEW THOUSAND MILES, A STONE CHIPPED THE WINDSHIELD AND WITHIN DAYS THE WINDSHIELD WAS A SPIDER'S NEST OF SPREADING CRACKS ALL ACROSS UP AND DOWN THE WINDSHIELD. I HAD THIS SAME ISSUE WITH A BRAND NEW 2017 HIGHLANDER PURCHASED FROM THE SAME DEALER. I BELIEVE TOYOTA SLANTED THE HOOD OF THE VEHICLE DOWN FOR BETTER AIRFLOW AND RESULTING MPG INCREASE AND IN SO DOING, ALL ROAD DEBRIS SUCH AS STONES, ARE PROPELLED UP RIGHT ONTO THE WINDSHIELD AND THE STONES SMASH THE WINDSHIELD. WHAT ARE THE RANDOM ODDS THAT A BRAND-NEW, DEALER-BOUGHT 2015 AND 2017 HIGHLANDER WOULD BOTH GET A STONE CHIP THAT DESTROYS THE WINDSHIELD WITHIN THE FIRST FEW THOUSAND MILES OF DRIVING? THESE WINDSHIELD AREN'T CHEAP TO REPLACE- ABOUT $1400. THE DATE OF OCCURRENCE AND MILEAGE I HAVE STATED FOR THIS COMPLAINT ARE TO THE BEST OF MY RECOLLECTION AS THIS ISSUE OCCURRED IN 2015 AND I DID NOT FILE THIS COMPLAINT UNTIL 6-9-2017 WHEN I HAD THE EXACT SAME ISSUE OCCUR ON THE BRAND NEW PURCHASED 2017 HIGHLANDER, WHICH I FILED COMPLAINT # 10994221 ON. THESE TWO COMPLAINTS SHOULD BE CROSS-REFERENCED. I BELIEVE THE 2015+ MODEL YEAR HIGHLANDERS WILL DEMONSTRATE A STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT HIGHER RATE OF OCCURRENCE OF WINDSHIELD FAILURES OWING TO THEIR SLANTING THE HOOD ANGLE DOWN TOWARDS THE PAVEMENT TO ACHIEVE A LOWER WIND PROFILE AND HIGHER MPG. THE EFFECT OF THIS IS THAT ALL ROCKS AND DEBRIS FROM THE ROAD ARE THROWN UP ONTO THE WINDSHIELD VIOLENTLY RESULTING IN WINDSCREEN DAMAGE. I HAD A 2009 HIGHLANDER, ALSO PURCHASED BRAND NEW, THAT HAD NO SUCH ISSUES AS THE HOOD ANGLE WAS HIGHER AND MORE TRUCK LIKE.

IMPROPER APPLICATION OF REAR VIEW MIRROR MOUNTING PLATE TO WINDSHIELD INCOMPLETE (PARTIAL COVERAGE) OF EPOXY ADHESIVE APPLICATION TO THE WINDSHIELD MOUNTING PLATE. THE BLACK PLASTIC COVER AND MIRROR HOLDER EXPANDS IN HIGH INTENSITY SUN. THE EXPANSION INCREASES CONCENTRATED TENSILE FORCES BETWEEN THE MOUNTING PLATE AND WINDSHIELD, CAUSING THE MOUNTING PLATE TO TEAR FROM THE WINDSHIELD. THE RESULT IS A SIGNIFICANT REMOVAL OF GLASS FROM THE PASSENGER CABIN SIDE OF THE WINDSHIELD, AND LOSS OF THE STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY OF THE WINDSHIELD. MIRRORS WITH INTEGRATED ELECTRONICS THEN SWING FROM THE ELECTRICAL WIRED, THE MIRROR OBSTRUCTING VISIBILITY, AND BECOMING A DETACHED HAZARD WITHIN THE PASSENGER CABIN. THE EVENT OCCURRED IN A GROCERY STORE PARKING LOT, THE VEHICLE HAVING BEEN STATIONARY AND PARKED IN THE SUN (99.1 DEGREES AT THE TIME) FOR APPROXIMATELY ONE HOUR. TIME OF DAY: ABOUT 13:00 HRS. LOCATION: HTTPS://WWW.GOOGLE.COM/MAPS/PLACE/1733+E+PALM+CANYON+DR,+PALM+SPRINGS,+CA+92264/@33.7999482,-116.5284111,17Z/DATA=!3M1!4B1!4M5!3M4!1S0X80DB1B6804F844BB:0X2C7726C52C54599D!8M2!3D33.7999482!4D-116.5262224

THE VEHICLE'S SIDE MIRRORS ARE PLACED SO THAT THEY BLOCK VISIBILITY FOR A SHORT PERSON. I AM JUST UNDER 5'4" AND WHEN AT A FOUR WAY INTERSECTION, THE MIRRORS DIRECTLY BLOCK THE VIEW OF WHERE A CAR WOULD BE STOPPED TO THE LEFT AND TO THE RIGHT. I ACTUALLY WAS INVOLVED IN A MINOR COLLISION WHERE I DID NOT SEE THE OTHER CAR STOPPED AT THE STOP SIGN TO MY LEFT ALTHOUGH THEY CLAIMED TO BE. NOW I ALWAYS NEED TO MOVE MY HEAD TO GET A CLEAR VIEW OF THE ROAD AREA NEXT TO THE THE STOP SIGNS TO THE LEFT AND TO THE RIGHT.