2022 Toyota Highlander

The only door that will lock or unlock using the fab key or the master lock button on the drivers armrest is the drivers side rear door. My vehicle is not able to be locked unless I do it manually and can not be unlocked unless i use the rear drivers side door. This has been reproduced by the dealership. There were no warning lamps or messages and no other symptoms. This has been going on for a month. I am being told by the dealership service department that 3 actuators failed at the same time. My lift gate also malfunctioned this year. Dealership diagnosed it with needing new struts. Not sure if this is related. Lift gate would not open or open only a small amount. This was using the inside button and the outside one as well.

Motorized struts to lift and close the rear lift gate have failed. The struts do work to open the lift gate but they do not work to close it. Manually closing the lift gate is extremely difficult because of the electric motors inside of the struts. A known problem by Toyota as they have issued a TSB. Toyota’s solution is to replace the struts at a cost of $1200. My concern about this being a safety issue: Closing the lift gate after accessing the spare tire is extremely difficult. If my wife would inadvertently open the lift gate, which does work, after leaving the grocery store to put all of the groceries in the back, she would not have the strength to manually close it. Obviously, the vehicle cannot be driven with the open tail gate. This is not any different than if any of the doors could not be closed due to defective hinges. The premature failure of motorized struts is a fairly common problem with Highlanders. ToyotaNation, which is a Toyota sponsored forum for owners to communicate with other owners about issues/problems, contains numerous posts about the failure of motorized struts on the rear lift gate. Your attention to this matter is greatly appreciated. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Vehicle: 2022 Toyota Highlander Limited Mileage at failure: ~60,000 miles The driver seat began moving rearward without any driver input while the vehicle was being driven. The movement was intermittent and occurred multiple times over several days. In one incident, the seat moved rearward while my wife was driving, causing her to lose proper reach to the brake pedal and nearly lose control of the vehicle. The seat would sometimes move to the full rear position and continue attempting to move past the mechanical stop. The problem also occurred during vehicle startup and shutdown cycles. This condition creates a significant safety risk because the driver’s seating position can change unexpectedly while driving. In attempting to mitigate the problem, I tried to disable the power seat by removing the fuse. However, the power seat fuses on this vehicle are not clearly labeled and are mounted on the side of the interior junction block under the dash, making them inaccessible to the driver without removing interior panels. As a result, the malfunctioning system could not be quickly disabled. The vehicle required replacement of the driver seat control/track assembly at a cost of approximately $1,600. Uncommanded movement of the driver seat while driving appears to be a safety-related defect and should be investigated for potential recall or service campaign

The entire head unit in the center of the front console went crazy and started going blank, glitching out, and basically made it impossible to use any of the features associated with that screen unit. The 2022 Toyota Highlander's head unit controls infotainment (radio, streaming, navigation, phone) and integrates with vehicle settings for climate (auto AC, seat heaters/ventilators), lighting, door locks, and driver-assist features like Road Sign Assist and Parking Support Brake, with over-the-air updates available for connected models. It manages multimedia, Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, Wi-Fi, and vehicle alerts, offering deep customization for audio, display, and connectivity. We promptly took the car into the Toyota Dealer and they determined it was a bad head unit and I had to pick up the car and they made us drive the car for about 1 1/2 weeks broken, while the part was in transit. After the part arrived, we scheduled visit for that part replacement. They later called and said that it was causing the same issues and had to do a further diagnostic and determined that the integragation control sub assembly computer (the cpu for the head unit?) was actually the bad part. The 2nd part was ordered and installed, and ultimately repaired the issue. We had limited control over the heater and keeping the ice off the windows and other issues with no navigation and other systems during this 1 1/2 week period. This is also the same screen that gives us the backup camera, and the 360 degrees camera views. Wow, not happy that such a major part failed with the car being so new. We bought the car brand new with just a few miles on it, and have bought every service and insurance package that Toyota offered when we purchased the car and have kept and maintained the car in excellent shape doing all maintenance exactly on schedule.

Vehicle Issue Description (Rear Liftgate): The rear power liftgate intermittently fails to operate and presents a safety concern. The liftgate often will not open at all. At other times, it opens only partially (approximately one-quarter of the way) and then stops. When this occurs, the liftgate frequently will not close properly and sometimes fails to latch securely. This issue has been ongoing for approximately two years and has progressively worsened. It has now reached the point where the rear liftgate is no longer usable. If the liftgate does not open in an emergency, occupants may be unable to exit the vehicle through the rear, which could be dangerous in the event of an accident. Additionally, when the liftgate fails to latch securely, there is a risk it could open while driving, potentially causing cargo loss, reduced visibility, or allowing exhaust fumes to enter the cabin. Numerous Toyota Highlander owners report the same issue on public forums such as Reddit, indicating this is a widespread and known problem. According to these reports, dealerships are commonly diagnosing the failure as a failed liftgate strut, with quoted repair costs of approximately $1,500. I reported this issue to Toyota directly today and was told that Toyota does not issue recalls and that concerns should be reported to NHTSA. I am frustrated that this appears to be a known issue that has existed for years without corrective action. Component/System Failed: Rear power liftgate system (including latch and power operation components). Available for inspection upon request. Safety Risk: Risk of liftgate opening while driving and inability to exit through the rear in an emergency, potentially trapping occupants. Dealer Confirmation: Not formally confirmed. A reset was recommended during a prior service visit, which worked temporarily for one day. Resets no longer resolve the issue. Inspected by Others: No. Warnings Prior to Failure: No warning lamps or messages.

When turning on the heated steering wheel and about 5-10 minutes, it seems there is smoke coming from the steering wheel leather and it’s very hot that almost burnt my hand and forced me to take my left hand off. I immediately turned the heated steering wheel and stopped. There is a burning spot left on the steering wheel also. The heating option still can be enabled and the same situation repeats (like no fuse was broken)