Problems with 2005 Toyota Highlander VISIBILITY

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 toyota highlander. the contact stated that the front headlight lenses were deteriorating. there was a presence of a spot that was spreading across the plastic, which may be intermittently melting. the contact indicated that the spot was increasing on the front headlight lense and could impact the contact's visibility upon the use of the low or high beams. the vehicle was taken to the authorized dealer who diagnosed that both headlight lenses needed to be replaced. the vehicle was to be repaired by an authorized dealer. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 82,000.

There are 2 malfunctions happening on this vehicle:1) the door lock on the drivers side stop working with keyless about 4 months ago, it works if you do it manually. 2) both visors-driver's and passengers visor has gotten progressively looser, there are no adjustment screws, what makes this such a hazard, if you hit a bump and you're in speeding traffic sometimes the visor just drops down and blocks your line of sight. *tr

Both power rear windows came out of their pwr window tracks. this allows the window to fall to the fully open position. when this happened it caused severe air buffeting inside the vehicle. it's so severe that it feels like the vehicle is vibrating apart. this extremely loud painful sound causes panic as to what happened and sever ear pain. the only way to stop the buffeting is to quickly pull off the road and stop. the open window also exposed occupants and pets in the rear seat area to falling out. according to the dealer this is a common defect as the track on the bottom of the window that connects to the power window motor arm migrates slowly along the bottom of the window each time the window is operated until the motor arm falls out of the track. then the window is free to fall down and cannot be closed until the vehicle is stopped. there is no service bulletin covering this. i received a chuckle from the dealer as he told me about this common $250 per window fix. *tr

This problem was for the heating and a\c. this website tells of the problem in the manufacture of the vehicle: www.devalcourt.com/2010/03/fixing-2004-toyota-highlander-ac-and-heat-issue/ . the way toyota made the wiring (too short for the dial) was faulty in that, after repeated use (who doesn't use their heating and a/c regularly?) the wires would break off causing a short. whenever we drive over a bump in the road, the a/c shifts to heat or the heat shifts to a/c. we used to remove the cover of the knob and tighten the hex nut there, but now that doesn't work. this is especially worrisome in the winter when the defrost shifts to a/c and the front window starts to "fog" up. this makes for extremely dangerous driving and inhibits your ability to see clearly and navigate the roads. this should be considered a design flaw by toyota and should be recalled. please note, on the website mentioned above -- there are many more year models (2001, 2004 were also mentioned) that are affected by this. thank you! *tr

I have a 2005 toyota highlander and the sun visor on the driver side keeps falling out of its place and obstructing views . i took it to the dealer and they want more than $400.00 to fix it. the visor falling down is dangerous and distracting. in my able opinion toyota has to recall this defective product. *tr

On 11/9/2011, while driving on interstate 80 near auburn, ca., the rear window on my 2005 toyota highlander spontaneously exploded/shattered. i took it to a toyota dealer/bodyshop where they replaced the tempered glass at my expense ($468). they claimed they had never seen anything like it. two weeks later on 11/28/2011, while driving on interstate 80 near rocklin, ca., the right rear passenger door window spontaneously exploded/shattered sending shards of glass into the vehicle and out. the car is getting repaired at my expense ($408). toyota claims they know nothing about this type of problem. this is a safety hazard worthy of investigation. during the second incident, a passenger would have been severely injured had they been sitting next to the exploding glass. if the window had been the driver-side window, it would have caused a serious crash. as it was, the car behind me had to take evasive measures to avoid the flying glass. the fact that there has been 2 incidents within two weeks involving 2 separate oem glass suggests a possible defect. *kb

02/28/11, i own a 2005 toyota highlander and the sun visor (with lighted mirror) on the driver's side will not stay up. when i drive it causes a visibility issue. this definitely creates a dangerous driving condition on the road because part of the visibility is blocked. i cannot believe that my car is barely 6 years and i am already having issues. i have never had these kinds of problems with other vehicles. *tr

Driver's side sun visor keeps coming down creating a safety hazard while driving in heavy traffic. *tr

2005 toyota highlander. erratic temperature control from heater. when set on cool will suddenly blow hot air and vice versa. on-line complaints indicate this is a common problem resulting from defective control unit in this and other toyota vehicles over several years. the control know comes loose and then the wiring behind it breaks from the circuit board resulting in erratic air temperatures. i also have concern that this electrical failure could cause other electrical shorts or problems. dealer recommends replacement of entire control unit at prices ranging from $500 to $1500. on-line consumers report fix only requires resoldering the 3-wire contacts at a cost of a few dollars. it is obvious toyota knows about this issue and the relatively easy fix documented with pictures on-line but continues to deny that it is their problem. it is a manufacturing defect that should have been dealt with several years ago, but charging owners huge fees for replacing a simple component seems to be what toyota feels is the appropriate solution. *tr

The driver's side sunvisor does not stay up in my 2005 toyota highlander. it flips down frequently blocking driver's view while driving and creates dangerous situations. i went online and discovered many many same complaints on message boards - only on driver's side. this needs to be looked into. *tw

2005 toyota highlander hybrid. driving to work in a blizzard on 12/11/09 all dash board lights went on. dealership found that the sunroof housing failed causing $3,977.16 worth of damage. being out of warranty the dealer agreed to pay 2,000.00. toyota customer service another 1,500 and we paid 477.16. we picked up the car on 12/24/09. on 2/2/10 we returned it after noticing a burn spot on each of the plastic head light covers. the dealer found both highbeam bulbs melted,and suggested i had overused them causing the intense heat that did the damage. i am concerned it could be a result of delayed water damage showing up. our concerns with this car(which we purchased new in nov. of 2005)goes back to 9/7/06 when the cruise control did not slow the car going down hills. on 2/28/07 we had brake and wiper blade issues. on 4/20/07 the blades locked during a downpour on the 5 freeway. i had to pull over in a panic. on 7/12/07 the cargo clip had to be replaced. on 9/10/07 that parking brake did not hold properly and there was a rattle from the right rear. on 11/6/07 we complained of squeaky brakes. dealer tightened ...

Driver side visor is blocking the view of driver. the visor of my 2005 toyota highlander is malfunction which is result of flipping down all the time and blocking the view of driver, special during the night time or raining. this faulty is causing us of near accident situations. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2005 toyota highlander. the contact stated that the rear windows had been falling off track since may 2009. the rear driver side window and rear passenger side window had been replaced three times. the dealer stated that the cause of the failure was within the mechanism that lowered and raised the windows. the vehicle had not been repaired. the vin was unavailable. the failure mileage was approximately 50,000 and the current mileage was approximately 71,000.

Heater runs erratically--blowing fine and then switching to cold air and then if i "jiggle" the control can get heat again. had the dealer repair in fall of 2009 (about $95), but it has started acting up again. *tr

I have a toyota highlander 2005 .the driv err s side sun visor will not stay up.it is a safety hazard we hole driving.toyota, though this is a problem for many highland err own err 3rd will not fix or replace it. *tr