2003 Toyota Highlander Exterior Lighting Problems
- 14
- 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.
What owners report
- brake light · 8 records
- side rear · 5 records
- right side · 5 records
- brake lights · 5 records
- safety issue · 4 records
- side brake · 4 records
Mileage in stored records
| Band | Records |
|---|---|
| 100–150k mi | 4 |
| 60–100k mi | 3 |
| 150–400k mi | 3 |
| 30–60k mi | 1 |
| 1–30k mi | 1 |
Complaint records
Owner-submitted complaint content, presented as stored.
Exterior Lighting · Seat Belts
Seat belt on drivers side is fraying on the edges. Spoke to other toyota highlander owners and they are experiencing the same problem. Contacted the dealership where we purchased the vehicle and they said we would have to pay for a new seatbelt and installation cost. I contacted a few other manufacturers and was told that due to this being a safety issue they would replace at no cost to the consumer. The seatbelt is…
ODI 11032815
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
Exterior Lighting · Service Brakes
Driver side rear lights stops working once in a while. The bulbs are fine have replaced them with the new one and the problem still persist. There has been quite a lot of complaint and nothing has been addressed. *tr
ODI 10615050
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
Exterior Lighting · Service Brakes
Like thousands of other 2003 toyota highlanders only the right side brake light will illuminate when the brake pedal is pressed. *tr
ODI 10574187
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
Exterior Lighting
The rear right brake light stopped brightening upon hitting the brakes at first. Then a few months later, neither brake light is lighting up at all. I also witnessed the same issue occur on another 2003 toyota highlander while stopped in traffic. *tr
ODI 10559714
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
Exterior Lighting
The left rear brake lights are defective. I've heard of people getting the entire electrical system replaced only to have the problem return a year later. See http://www.topix.com/forum/autos/toyota-highlander/t7h7ld934gsqlc6be now my vehicle is doing the same thing and toyota seems uninterested in a recall. *tr
ODI 10428192
Brake Lights · Exterior Lighting
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 toyota highlander. While parked, the contact noticed that the driver side brake light would not function when the brake pedal was depressed. The vehicle was not taken to dealer for diagnostics or repairs. The approximate failure mileage was 90,000. The consumer stated the driver side brake light bulbs intermittently failed. Updated 12/12/11
ODI 10434101
Exterior Lighting
Headlight lenses have become progressively translucent blocking significant light energy from vehicle to operate vehicle in a totally safe manner. (incident date and odometer reading not applicable in this case.) some internet web sites suggest drilling holes in the headlamp fixture to fix problem. I believe it is a safety issue and that the manufacturer should stand behind getting the problem resolved. This problem…
ODI 10313341
Catalog parts for this system
Catalog year/make/model rows for 2003 Toyota Highlander.
Catalog fitment does not by itself prove OEM-equivalent compatibility.