2016 Toyota Highlander

I was traveling on an interstate going home from work. My speed was approximately 65mph. I noticed traffic slowing up ahead. I began to drop my speed (cost down), as I was approaching the traffic the car in front of me was applying their brakes; I had already began to apply mine. I was applying more pressure to my brakes to slow down more as the person in front of me began to slow more quickly. The person in front of me then had to slam their brakes on and I was not able to stop in time to avoid collision with the car in front of me. That driver did not come in contact with any other vehicle. The impact was at approximately 50mph. I was then very quickly hit from behind by the car behind me. The vehicle behind me hit of center and more on the right back corner of my car. My vehicle sustained significant front-end damage; the hood was folded, the grill was gone, the radiator was pushed back. As I looked up after the impact and saw my hood folded I then noticed that my air bag had not gone off. How could the air bag have not gone off in an impact such as that. My safety was compromised by the possibility of hitting the steering wheel or worse such as impacting the windshield if the crash had been worse. I do not remember if my vehicle had side curtain air bags as well. NO air bags deployed. Law enforcement was called by the driver of the car I rear ended as we agreed that she would. The driver of the vehicle that hit me I believe also called 911. Highway Patrol responded along with state incident response vehicles to protect the scene. I have filed a claim with my insurance, and the vehicle was looked at and deemed a total loss. It is not available for inspection and was taken to a salvage yard per the insurance company. I did not notice any lights on on the dash after. I also did not encounter any issues before this. I had the vehicle just over a year.

While driving down the road the panoramic moonroof section of the sunroof exploded. This included a lout shotgun like sound. The sound, in addition to not having sufficient roof coverage, resulted in a safety issue. Glass shards may have also been thrown to vehicles behind us. The dealer is closed today, but I will be contacting them in the morning to report the issue and to see if it is covered. I understand that this happens relatively frequently, but no recall has been issued. I have reached out to insurance and will likely be filing a claim if Toyota doesn't cover it. No party has inspected at this point. There was no warning to this.

After shopping, we went to open the trunk of our Highlander by pressing the button. As it opened, we heard a crunching sound from the top but the trunk continued to open. It then reached the point where suddenly the top spoiler was dislodged and the back window's glass exploded outward in a thousand small pieces all over my husband. At no point did a safety mechanism turn on to stop the trunk from opening. We had a few prior experiences with the trunk failing to stop if something was in its way, demonstrating that there is an issue with the sensor or there is no sensory system in the car that would prevent it from crushing something or someone. After contacting Toyota, they stated that this was not covered under the warranty of the vehicle.

HEADED TO WORK AT 5:35 AM ON WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2020, AT 55 MPH ON MY DAILY COMMUTE IN MY 2016 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER, WESTBOUND ON I-70 BETWEEN THE CENTRAL PARK AND 270 EXITS, AND MY SUNROOF EXPLODED. 22 DEGREES, CLEAR DAY, MODERATE TRAFFIC WITH STEADY FLOW, NO TURNS OR FREQUENT BRAKING, NO OBJECTS THAT COULD HAVE PLAYED A ROLE IN SITE, AND NO WARNING SIGNS OF WHAT WAS TO COME. SOUND REMINISCENT OF A GUNSHOT OCCURRED, AND AS I LOOKED AROUND I REALIZED THAT SHARDS OF GLASS WERE FALLING ONTO ME FROM MY PANORAMIC SUNROOF. THE FRONT PANEL OF MY SUNROOF IS BLOWN OUTWARD. 67,784 MILES ON THE VEHICLE WITH NO AFTERMARKET PARTS ASIDE FROM THE LED HEADLIGHTS. NO OTHER DAMAGE TO CAR OR MYSELF. AFTER SOME RESEARCH, I HAVE LEARNED THAT THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE WITH VARIOUS MANUFACTURERS, INCLUDING TOYOTA. I HAVE REACHED OUT TO TOYOTA AND AM WAITING FOR A RESPONSE.