2015 Toyota Highlander

I have a 2015 Toyota Highlander XLE. Last winter I began noticing a burning smell which I believed to be electrical inside the vehicle. I was able to determine it was the driver seat heater and the burning smell continued even with the toggle switch turned off. I stopped at a local Toyota dealership, Koch Toyota, who refused to show me which plug under the seat to unplug to disconnect power. They tried to insist that I drop the car off and let them check it. Due to past negative experiences with that Toyota dealership I refused. I was able to speak to my own mechanic who instructed me to remove the fuse for the driver's seat heater which I did and the smell stopped however the seat heater is not functioning now. Upon recent research online it appears this is a common problem especially in 2015 Toyota Highlanders. I found a couple other owners of the xle models on a website called Toyota Nation who experienced similar problems where their vehicles actually caught fire and melted the center consoles after the burning smell was misdiagnosed. I believe this is a huge safety concern and have recently filed a report with Toyota Corporate in hopes to get the issue rectified. There were no warning messages or lights that came on to advise that there was an issue.

The contact owns a 2015 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the vehicle stalled, and the steering wheel became difficult to turn. The check engine warning light and several other unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact was able to pull into a parking lot. The contact was able to restart the vehicle after 45 minutes. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The dealer was notified of the failure and charged a fee for diagnostic testing. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 18E107000 (Electrical System, Visibility); however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 193,000.

SPONTANEOUS VEHICLE FIRE: While driving approximately 20-30 miles per hour, with no other symptoms or advance warning signs, a message suddenly appeared on the dashboard saying "Engine Failure - Turn off Ignition". The temperature gauge was firmly in the normal range; the car had been inspected a few months prior, and had recently had routine maintenance. There was no indication that anything was amiss before this incident. 30 seconds after the sudden warning message appeared, smoke began pouring from the hood and I immediately pulled over to the side of the road and exited the vehicle with my young daughter. The smoke continued and the entire front section of the vehicle quickly caught ablaze. Police and the fire department arrived on the scene to assist and extinguish the fire. The vehicle was towed and determined to be a total loss by insurance. Our safety was put at risk because our vehicle spontaneously caught fire with no early warning signs; if we had been driving on a highway or a road without space to quickly stop the vehicle and safely exit, we would have certainly faced injury or possible death given the speed and ferocity with which the fire erupted. After we contacted Toyota several times, they sent an inspector to look at the vehicle, and reported: "The inspector observed extensive fire damage to the engine compartment and interior of the vehicle. The inspector also observed that there was no oil registered on the dipstick. There were no arc marks on the wiring in the engine compartment when inspected. The inspector did not observe any oil leaks when inspected. The battery hold down bracket was in the proper location. The cause of the fire was undetermined, and there was no evidence from the inspection to indicate that this incident was a result of a vehicle defect." Toyota has shown a complete lack of curiousity as to determining what could have caused the fire and has only focused on avoiding liability, thereby putting customer safety at risk.

The contact owns a 2015 Toyota Highlander. While stopped at a gas station with the engine on, the contact's wife smelled an abnormal, burning odor coming from the vehicle without warning. Upon inspecting the vehicle, the contact's wife saw flames shooting from the dashboard near the infotainment system; the contact's wife and children immediately exited the vehicle. The fire department was called to the scene and extinguished the fire. The contact's wife suffered minor burns on her right hand but did not seek medical attention. The contact had the vehicle towed back home where it remained in the contact's possession. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a claim was filed. The vehicle had yet to be diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 104,000.

My Highlander had a strange burning smell and we couldn’t find where it was coming from. We took it to a shop where they checked everything over and suggested that the smell was our brakes. They lubricated the brakes and replaced my tires and struts. When I went to pick up the vehicle I still noticed the strange smell, and I had the mechanic come out and check. He suggested that it was the leather conditioner that our detailer had used. I left and headed for home and in about 5 miles the control for the drivers heated seat started smoking and about 30 seconds later the plastic around the control began to melt and flames were coming out of the area next to the control. I was able to use a fire extinguisher to put the fire out. All of the heated seat components were original and we haven’t had any work done to it. The obvious safety concern here would be fire in the cabin of the vehicle while in motion. The fire and sheriffs departments showed up to the scene and the incident report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a shop where we are awaiting insurance adjuster to look at it. There were not any warning lights or signals of any kind; only the smoke very shortly before the visible flames.

We have a 2019 Toyota Highlander. VIN: [XXX] . There are two issues with this vehicle... 1) Our bumper fell down after an uneventful car wash. We didn't hit anything. Reported it to the car wash place (Ollie's Car Wash in Walker, LA) after we noticed it fell. We had to tie-strap it back up because the clips no longer worked right. This happened August 12, 2023. We have pictures of the damage. 2) A second issue is totally separate from the first. This one has to do with the back lifting door. It often gets stuck to where we have to manually force it closed. We have to reset the button often. Sometimes it gets stuck open and sometimes it won't open at all. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The contact owns a 2015 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the steering became firm. The steering wheel independently moved to the left and to the right. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.