2015 Toyota Highlander

WE RECENTLY TEST DROVE SEVERAL NEW CARS. AFTER BEING IN EACH OF THE CARS FOR LESS THAN AN HOUR, WE HAD VERY STRONG HEADACHES. AS A RULE, WE DON'T GET HEADACHES, SO THESE WERE VERY OBVIOUSLY THE RESULT OF BREATHING THE AIR IN THESE NEW CARS. CAR INTERIORS ARE MADE USING PLASTICS, ADHESIVES, FIRE-RETARDANTS AND OTHER MATERIALS, MANY OF WHICH OFF-GAS HIGHLY TOXIC FUMES. I FOUND NO AGENCY WHICH CURRENTLY TESTS VEHICLES FOR THE PRESENCE OF THESE TOXICS. WE TEST DROVE A USED TOYOTA HIGHLANDER AND WE DID NOT GET A HEADACHE IN THAT VEHICLE, BUT WE COULD NOT FIND A USED ONE 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, EVERY DAY 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. ALTHOUGH I CAN STILL FEEL THE EFFECT OF THAT POLLUTED INTERIOR AIR, IT IS TOLERABLE AND IMPROVING WITH TIME. WE NOW KNOW THAT THIS OUT-GASSING PROCESS NEVER ENDS; IT ONLY LESSENS OVER TIME; AND, CONTRARY TO WHAT MANY STILL BELIEVE, IT IS ALSO KNOWN THAT LONG EXPOSURES TO EXTREMELY SMALL DOSES OF TOXIC MATERIALS CAN BE MORE DAMAGING TO HUMAN HEALTH THAN A LARGE, SHORT EXPOSURE. GIVEN THESE FACTS, I STRONGLY SUGGEST THAT OUR GOVERNMENT ADD PASSENGER COMPARTMENT AIR QUALITY TO ITS SAFETY RATING PROTOCOL. THE AUTO MANUFACTURERS CERTAINLY AREN'T GOING TO DO THIS OF THEIR OWN ACCORD.

VEHICLE NAVIGATION SYSTEM REBOOTS TO DEFAULT SETTINGS APPROX 1 - 3 TIMES A WEEK REQUIRING DRIVER ATTENTION TO RESET. UNIT HAS BEEN REPLACED BY DEALER WITH NEW UNIT. NEW UNIT HAS THE SAME REBOOT FREQUENCY. THIS REBOOT TYPICALLY OCCURS AFTER "NORMAL" START, THEN WHILE UNDERWAY FULL REBOOT ABOUT 30 SECONDS TO A MINUTE LATER, WHILE IN MOTION, ON THE ROAD. NO RECOLLECTION OF A REBOOT WHILE SITTING STILL ..(WARMING THE ENGINE WAITING FOR PASSENGER ETC) THIS REBOOT MAY OCCUR EITHER WITH OR WITHOUT A CELLPHONE PRESENT IN THE VEHICLE.

THE PRE COLLISION SYSTEM APPLIED BRAKES ON TWO OCCASIONS WHEN THERE WAS NO POSSIBILITY OF A COLLISION. I WAS DRIVING AT APPROXIMATELY 45-50 MPH APPROACHING A CONCRETE PAVED LOW BRIDGE/OVERPASS; THE EVENTS OCCURRED AT THE SAME SPOT AT TWO DIFFERENT TIMES. THE EVENTS WERE FRIGHTENING SINCE THE DASH FLASHED RED AND THE BRAKES WERE APPLIED VERY HARD FOR NO APPARENT REASON.

TAKATA RECALL-THIS PAST SUNDAY MY CAR HAD BEEN PARKED IN THE DRIVE WAY FOR A FEW DAYS AND WHEN I WENT TO DRIVE MY CAR AND THERE WAS A STRANGE NOISE UNDER THE HOOD, I BACKED OUT OF THE DRIVE WAY AND WHEN THE CAR SHIFTED FROM FIRST TO SECOND IT JURKED AND WAS NOT SMOOTH SO I PARKED THE CAR. I LOOKED UNDER THE HOOD AND THERE WERE MOUSE DROPPING ON THE ENGINE. I CALLED TOYOTA ON MONDAY MORNING AND THEY SAID TO HAVE IT TOWED SO I DID MONDAY NIGHT. TODAY WEDNESDAY THEY CALLED AND SAID THERE WERE A LOT OF WIRE DAMAGE AND SOMETHING ELSE BUT THEY STILL NOT ABLE TO FIND THE PROBLEM. THEY SAID AT THIS POINT IT WAS GOING TO BE $500 MAYBE MORE. AND NOT UNDER MANUFACTURERS DEFECT WARRANTY. WHICH I THINK IF THEY ARE GOING TO PUT SOMETHING IN THE WIRE CASING THAT RODENTS LOVE THEN THEY SHOULD CORRECT ANY PROBLEMS AS A RESULTS OF THE PRODUCT USED AT NO COST TO THE CUSTOMER. MY CAR IS A $45,000 CAR AND I HAVE ONLY HAD IT A FEW MONTHS. THIS IS BULL.

MANY TOYOTA HIGHLANDERS ARE EFFECTED BY A CONSISTENT BUZZING NOISE IN THE CABIN. THIS PROBLEM HAS BEEN DIAGNOSED TO A FAULTY AIR SERVO MOTOR. AT FIRST GLANCE, YOU MIGHT SAY THIS BUZZING NOISE ISN'T A SAFETY ISSUE, HOWEVER I BEG TO DISAGREE AS MANY HAVE ATTESTED THAT IT IS A DISTRACTION TO THEIR DRIVING. SOME HAVE GONE SO FAR AS TO SELL THEIR VEHICLES BECAUSE OF THIS ISSUE. WHAT IS THE BURDEN OF PROOF FOR THIS TO BE A SAFETY ISSUE? A DISTRACTED DRIVER HAVING AN ACCIDENT AND ATTRIBUTING IT? TOYOTA HAS NOT ISSUED A SERVICE BULLETIN TO DATE TO ADDRESS THIS ISSUE. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME. HTTP://WWW.TOYOTANATION.COM/FORUM/333-3RD-GENERATION-2014/1077937-WEIRD-VIBRATING-BUZZING-NOISE-15.HTML

POPPING SOUND COMING FROM RIGHT FRONT SIDE WHEN BREAKING TO A STOP AT ALL SPEEDS. THE PROBLEM WAS FIRST NOTICED AT AROUND 2500 MILES AND THE CAR WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER AT AROUND 2900 MILES. DEALER INSPECTED IT AND COULDN'T FIND WHAT THE PROBLEM WAS. THEN AS INSTRUCTED BY TOYOTA REPLACED THE RIGHT FRONT STRUT ASSEMBLY BUT THAT DIDN'T FIX THE PROBLEM. THE CAR WAS RETURNED TO ME AND I WAS TOLD THERE WERE NO SAFETY CONCERNS AND THAT TOYOTA WAS SENDING ONE OF THEIR TECHS TO TROUBLESHOOT, BUT THAT MAY TAKE A COUPLE OF WEEKS. IN THE MEAN TIME THE PROBLEM SEEMS TO BE GETTING WORSE.

THE NAVIGATION SYSTEM IS A HAZARD.. WHEN YOU FINALLY GET THE VOICE COMMAND TO WORK IT ONLY GIVES YOU ABOUT 15 SECONDS TO MAKE A DECISION WHICH COULD CAUSE AN ACCIDENT AND ALSO THE NAVIGATION DOES NOT WORK WELL.. IT ONLY HAS ABOUT 1/2 OF THE TOWNS IN EACH STATE IF THAT! IT DOES NOT ALWAYS TAKE YOU THE SAFEST WAY.. I HAVE HAD IT UPDATED AND CHECKED OUT.. I ENDED UP HAVING TO GO BACK TO USING MY GARMIN AND MY PHONE FOR DIRECTIONS.. IT IS A VERY CHEAP SYSTEM AND NOT WORTH THE EXTRA COST OF HAVING IT IN MY HIGHLANDER. MISSING ADDRESSES: TO BE PERFECTLY HONEST, THIS PROBABLY ISNT MY LAST COMPLAINT. IVE BEEN ANNOYED BY THE INABILITY OF THE TOYOTA NAV SYSTEM TO FIND CERTAIN ADDRESSES WHICH IS NEEDED FOR MY TRAVELS.. THERE HAVE BEEN (AT LEAST) A DOZEN CASES IN RECENT MONTHS WHERE IVE TRIED TO PROGRAM IN AN ADDRESS, BUT WASNT ABLE TO DO SO. THE SYSTEM USES A PREDICTIVE TEXT INTERFACE THAT RESTRICTS THE AVAILABLE KEYBOARD ENTRIES TO MAKE TYPING EASIER. AND THIS IS JUST HERE IN MY LITTLE DELAWARE CO. NY IVE HAD INSTANCES WHERE, FOR EXAMPLE, I NEEDED TO ENTER A FOUR DIGIT ADDRESS AND THE SYSTEM ONLY ALLOWED ME TO ENTER THREE DIGITS. ITS AS IF THE NAV MAPS DIDNT INCLUDE THE FULL RANGE OF ADDRESSES ALONG THE ROAD IN QUESTION. AND THIS INCLUDES SEVERAL STATE I HAVE BEEN INTO AND HAVE TRIED TO ENTER ADDRESSES.. AND THIS A DISTRACTION IN MY DRIVING ESPECIALLY WHEN I AM TRYING TO FIND A MOTEL.. FOR EXAMPLE I WAS ON RT 90 IN NY AND WANTED A HOTEL AND ASKED PLEASE FIND ME A MOTEL ALONG MY ROUTE AND IT INSISTED NO MOTELS ALONG MY ROUTE.. I WAS HEADED TOWARD SYRACUSE, NY.. DOES THAT MAKE SINCE? I AM NOT THE ONLY PERSON WITH THIS PROBLEM PLEASE CHECK OUT THIS SITE. HTTP://WWW.LANDERFAN.COM/ARCHIVES/COMPLAINTS-ABOUT-THE-TOYOTA-HIGHLANDER-NAVIGATION-SYSTEM/ YOU WILL FIND SEVERAL COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS SYSTEM..