2003 Toyota Highlander Electrical System Problems
- 13
- Owner complaint records in our dataset
Records are owner complaints, not a measured failure rate.
Owner complaint recordsComplaint records reflect reports in our dataset and do not measure how frequently the problem occurs across all vehicles.
Among these 13 stored complaint records:
- 0 indicate a crash
- 0 indicate injury
- 1 indicate fire
What owners report
- side rear · 4 records
- right side · 4 records
- brake lights · 4 records
- brake light · 4 records
Mileage in stored records
| Band | Records |
|---|---|
| 100–150k mi | 5 |
| 60–100k mi | 5 |
| 150–400k mi | 2 |
Complaint records
Owner-submitted complaint content, presented as stored.
Electrical System
Check engine light keeps reporting an issue and despite takata recall - spending thousands of dollars on coded repairs, the light comes back on. I have spent numerous dollars to replace cat converter, 2 sets of injectors, fuel pump, on and on......within 2 days, the light is back on. I saw a service campaign release 12/6/2006, but my 4 cylinder highlander vin does not show up on your list. Next would be a class…
ODI 10985048
Electrical System · Exterior Lighting · Service Brakes
Driver side rear brakes will not illuminate after you depress your brakes. Replaced bulb and socket that houses bulb and will not work. Check online for similar issues and read reports of 2002-2006 highlanders having either left or right side rear not working. *tr
ODI 10661004
Electrical System · Exterior Lighting · Service Brakes
Driver side rear brake lights will not illuminate even when you depress your brakes even after you replace bulb and light socket. Right side rear is ok. I have looked online and it appears other 2003-2006 highlanders are having similar issues. Some on right side and others on left like myself. *tr
ODI 10661001
Electrical System · Exterior Lighting
Parking light is not functioning, will not be able to drive at night. Safety issue. *tr
ODI 10621582
Electrical System · Exterior Lighting · Service Brakes
Right side (passenger) brake lights do not light bright when brakes are applied, driver of another car almost hit our vehicle when turning right on to main road. Our car was stopping, but other driver did not see our brake lights on the passenger side as they were not working... The left (drivers) side works fine, but was not visible to the other driver. This seems to be an on going problem with 2002-2007 toyota…
ODI 10605937
Electrical System
My daughter had parked her car at the school parking lot on 5/27/2014 at 7:02 am , she went to school stayed the whole day at school , she went to dance practice after she got out at about 3:30 pm she headed to the parking lot to go home, she said as she was approaching the vehicle she hit the alarm to open the door but the alarm did not go off, so she contined to get closer to the car and she could smell something…
Fire reported
ODI 10595013
Defroster/Defogger/Hvac System · Electrical System
Clarification from previous submission (10/21/14)....... Heating system blows cold air intermittently when the heat is on. The system was cleaned, worked well to a short time. Within two weeks the problem returned. The mechanic noted this was a common problem with the heating control panels of the early model toyota's. Safety factor: this is hazardous in the winter, as the windows become foggy resulting in the…
ODI 10649560
Electrical System · Exterior Lighting
We have had unreliable operation of the driver-side brake light for some time (approximate incident date above was for most recent incident). Web search turns up numerous complaints with same symptoms - one example is at www.topix.com. Several reporting this problem replaced major components of taillight assembly only to have problem recur. A call to toyota asking about tsb or recall yields nothing. *tr
ODI 10559474
Electrical System · Exterior Lighting
The rear left brake light does not work despite having replaced the bulb and fuse. *tr
ODI 10569410
Electrical System · Exterior Lighting · Service Brakes
I have a 2003 highlander. When i press the brake, only the driver side of the tail/brake light becomes brighter. When the lights are on, the bulbs illuminate on the passenger side but they do not get brighter when the brake is pressed. When the lights are off, the brake lights do not illuminate on the passenger side. I saw the same problem today on a highlander just like mine. *tr
ODI 10524625
Electrical System · Engine
While driving on the highway, the temperature gauge went above the half way mark and within 15 minutes of stopping and starting it approached the red but never actually went into the red zone. No dashboard lights ever went on to alert me to an engine problem. When stopped, it went above the half way mark and when driving it went down to the halfway mark. I got home ( 20 minutes later), i parked the car and drove it…
ODI 10465975
Electrical System · Service Brakes, Hydraulic
BRAKE LIGHT BULB BURNS OUT PERIODICALLY
ODI 10416132
Electrical System · Visibility
Temp (hot/cold) dial electrical short. Temp setting continuously fails to hold set temp & blows opposite of setting. Fear of electrical fire plus unable to defrost windshield for good visibility. Feel there should be a recall or some help on this item as after investigating i found that one dealership replaced 1,100 last year and has replace several already this year. I wouldn't have a problem except the failed…
ODI 10256854