RoadVitals

2021 Toyota Corolla Visibility Problems

Owner-reported complaints naming the visibility system, filed with NHTSA

Data refreshed

Visibility reportsComplaints are reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a complaint does not establish that a defect exists. Volume is influenced by how many of a vehicle were sold, how long it has been on the road, and how much attention an issue has received.
15
Latest May 27, 2026
Share of all reportsThis category as a share of every owner report on file for this model year. One report can name more than one component, so the categories overlap.
8%
of 184 total
Crash or fire reportedReports in this category whose submitter recorded that a crash or a fire occurred. The reporter's own answer on the NHTSA form, not a verified finding.
0
Injuries or deaths reportedTotals the submitters entered on their own reports in this category. Not verified by NHTSA and not a casualty statistic.
0

What this page shows

Reports naming windshields, glass, wipers, defrosters and mirrors. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2021 Toyota Corolla submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 15 reports on file name it.

Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.

Owner reports naming visibility

Shown in the owner’s own words, exactly as filed

Visibility
Filed May 27, 2026

During the lower interval settings, wipers will not work in proper order. Sometimes you may get three quick wipes and them the wipers will stop in middle of windshield for about 5-8 seconds. Sometimes the wipers are inconsistent with proper timing and will not properly work all the time.

NHTSA ID
11740462
Incident
May 1, 2026
ElectricalSteeringVisibility
Filed Oct 22, 2025

The problem of windshield wipers going off either once, or at varying speeds has not been able to be reproduced by my Toyota dealership. It goes off right when I turn the car on 50% of the time and is very inconsistent. Wipers typically go off after using the turn signal, making long turns (such as into a parking spot), and driving on long curved roadways. It has been inspected and nothing has been found. There are no warning lights or messages.

NHTSA ID
11695133
Incident
Sep 12, 2025
Visibility
Filed Mar 5, 2025

When the windshield wipers are set to intermittent they would swipe as if they were set to lo and then they would come to a complete stop at a 45° angle sometimes starting up again but other times I would need to turn the windshield wipers off then back on for them to go again.

NHTSA ID
11646629
Incident
Mar 2, 2025
Visibility
Filed Feb 26, 2025

windshield wipers stopping randomly mid-wipe at 45 degree angle, only resume if i continue turning on and off

NHTSA ID
11645186
Incident
Feb 23, 2025
Visibility
Filed Feb 9, 2025

Wipers randomly stop midway while on the intermittent setting, then continue working. Also if I spray water for cleaning the windshiels or clean light rain it stops and stays there until I move the wiper level to other function.

NHTSA ID
11641563
Incident
Jan 7, 2025
Exterior lightingVisibility
Filed Dec 9, 2024

Front Windshields of the vehicle has more tinting to be within compliance. The same vehicle has tendency to follow certain vehicles all the time as per what I have experienced or see.

NHTSA ID
11629704
Incident
Dec 9, 2024
Visibility
Filed Aug 7, 2024

Yes the car can be inspected. Yes took to dealership today and they don’t know what’s causing it but what between $855 - 1,100 to fix. When it rains the front wipers automatically come on as they should. Then without warning, they stop working and on three occasions a wiper flew off and my teenager had to stop and run into middle of road to get the wiper. She was on a rural highway and could not see well without the wipers working. I replaced the wipers, but when it down poured rain again, like before they just stopped working with no warning. She had to drive 25 mph on a road that was ranges 45 -55 mph. She had a very hard time seeing and could have wrecked. This could have caused an accident had she been on the freeway going 70 mph. A Google search shows others have experienced this issue with their car. The only person who has inspected the issue / car is the Toyota dealership today. They said they don’t know what’s causing it and would cost more money to try and diagnose, but they said it appears if you run the wipers at the very slowest speed it does not malfunction. I don’t have the money to fix it right now, so we are going to try and not drive in rain and if caught in a storm while driving, like before, we will try running wipers at lowest speed as they suggested. First incident was April or May 2024. Most recent incident was July 2024. Sorry I don’t have exact dates.

NHTSA ID
11607147
Incident
Apr 22, 2024
Visibility
Filed Jul 18, 2024

Windshield wipers stop working intermittently. It can be anywhere from 1 second to 15 seconds. It is very dangerous in inclement weather and could be life threatening as wipers are basic safety features. I have gotten them checked out by multiple Toyota service centers and the issue cannot be found. There are many comps into across the internet. Please look into this issue. This has been happening since 30,000 miles. I’m currently at 47,000. It is getting worse and I believe they will fail in the next year at 4 years old. This is immature for a new car.

NHTSA ID
11603205
Incident
Jan 1, 2023
Visibility
Filed Jul 11, 2024

Los wipers (limpia parabrisas) no funcionan de forma correcta, ya que se quedan arriba cuando estan prendidos, los pones en funcion baja y van rapidos, los apagas y ellos se quedan encendidos por largos segundos y cuando apagan lo hacen arriba o amitad de cristal.

NHTSA ID
11601294
Incident
Apr 30, 2024
Driver assistanceVisibility
Filed May 23, 2024

Glare in the cluster panel during the day. This causes me to not be able to see what is being shown on the cluster panel such as speed, engine temperature, or any other warning lights. I believe not being able to see the speed I am going because of this design error is very dangerous.

NHTSA ID
11590475
Incident
Dec 4, 2021
Visibility
Filed Feb 1, 2024

The rear back up camera continues to adhered road salt and sand debris that blocks the camera's ability to project a clear view in the dashboard monitor every winter season here in upstate New York from early November through last snow in Spring (April-May). I addressed with Toyota office ( I 800-331-4331) at least four times and told to go back to the area Toyota dealer as I previously had done that previous 3 years. I get strange looks as to why their going to resolve this safety concern as the maintenance manual on page 240 of the owner's manual states on right top page,: "If dirt or foreign matter ( such as drooletsz,snow, mud etc.) is adhering to the camera, it cannot transmit a clear image. In this case, flush with a large quantity of water and wipe the camera lens clean with a soft and wet cloth." This cleaning procedure doesn't work in subfreezing temperatures and only causes the water to freeze to this area of the rear hatch area and to the floor or driveway! This is a serious safety flaw having to rely on a dirty camera monitor when backing up which every time I leave my single lane driveway going directly to the avenue I reside. Besides with water and wet soft cloth leaving road grit debris on the camera will further risk to scratching up the view lense cover! So where's the safe solution to this repeated issue every winter now for the 3rd year?

NHTSA ID
11569324
Incident
Mar 29, 2021
Visibility
Filed Nov 20, 2023

At around 0750 AM on 20Nov2023, the sun roof exploded while turning roughly 15 MPH onto an onramp of a highway. Nothing hit the car from the outside. The sun roof glass shattered and fell onto the sun roof cover. Glass could have fallen inside as well as onto me and could have obstructed my vision, causing a crash. No pot holes or noticeable bumps were struck prior to or after the malfunction. Car was at a red stop light for a minute or so prior to the malfunction. The temperature was around 45 degrees Fahrenheit when the malfunction occurred. The heat was not turned on in the car at any point. When speaking with the dealership service center, they said no on else has come in with this issue. When doing a quick google search, up to 5 individuals from 2022 have had the same issue with varying toyota models and years, including 2020 SUVs. The car will be taken into the dealership for inspection tomorrow, 21Nov2023. No warning lights related to the problem appeared.

NHTSA ID
11556067
Incident
Nov 20, 2023
Visibility
Filed Dec 23, 2022

came out and windshield was cracked. Toyota makes defective cheap windshields

NHTSA ID
11498697
Incident
Dec 22, 2022
Exterior lightingVisibility
Filed Dec 30, 2021

I purchased this vehicle new in June 2021. It is the hatchback model. Prior to that I drove a motorcycle since 2015. I noticed right at the beginning that the headlights don't illuminate far enough ahead at night for what I consider safe. My ability to see off into the distance ahead of the vehicle is far less than what I would get from my motorcycle, which doesn't make any sense to me because this car has LED headlights which are supposed to be better. I live in Washington, DC and have family in New Jersey that I visit regularly. There are two ways I can go. The first is Interstate 95 which has a speed limit of 65 but I set my cruise control at 60. When I come to an area where there is no street lighting and there are no other cars around which are helping illuminate the roadway, I am overdriving my headlights. This is not safe. The second route is taking Route 50 to the Annapolis Bay Bridge, then getting on Route 301 North towards Middletown, Delaware and then New Castle, Delaware, over the Delaware Memorial Bridge and then Route 295 towards Burlington County where my family lives. Route 50 is 65 mph until you get to Annapolis where its reduced to 55, then stays 55mph all the way to Route 301, and then Route 301 is 55 mph, until the Delaware Memorial Bridge. When I get to Route 301 North there is very little other lighting on the road other than my headlights. There are far fewer cars than on Interstate 95 so I get very little illumination from passing cars. Even if I reduce my speed to 50 mph, I am still over-driving my headlights. There has to be something wrong with how the headlights have been positioned. They are not shining for any reasonable distance ahead of the car. I have gone to the Toyota dealer in Bethesda, MD where I purchased it, Jim Coleman Toyota three times to tell them about it. Each time they have told me that there is nothing wrong with the lights. But I don't know what they did to check them.

NHTSA ID
11445594
Incident
Dec 30, 2021
Visibility
Filed Sep 18, 2021

Windshield wipers are not fast enough the motor isn't fast enough to keep up with moderate to Heavy Rain and occasionally wipers will just stop

NHTSA ID
11433453
Incident
Aug 4, 2021

Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.

Other components reported on this vehicle

Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own

Elsewhere on this vehicle

Data sources

Data on this page last refreshed .