Owner-reported complaints naming the exterior lighting system, filed with NHTSA
Data refreshed
Reports naming headlights, tail lights, turn signals and other exterior lighting. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2002 Toyota Highlander submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 11 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.
Shown in the owner’s own words, exactly as filed
REAR-RIGHT BREAK LIGHT NOT WORKING. REPLACE BULB AND DID NOT WORK. CHECKED SOCKET AND ALL IS FINE BUT BREAK LIGHT STILL NOT WORKING. I HAVE RESEARCH THIS FOR A WHILE AND NO SOLUTION. THESE SEEMS TO BE A VERY COMMON PROBLEM AND TOYOTA DOES NOT HAVE A SOLUTION. DEFINITIVELY A SAFETY ISSUE. I ALREADY GOT A TICKET FROM POLICE FOR NOT HAVING THESE LIGHTS IN WORKING CONDITION.
PASSENGER RIGHT REAR BRAKE INTERMITTENT. TOOK THE CAR TO MY LOCAL TOYOTA DEALER, THEY COULD NOT FIND THE PROBLEM. BULB, LIGHT SOCKET, WIRING, FUSE ALL CHECKED GOOD. THE ISSUE HAS NOT GONE AWAY. TODAY I WAS STOPPED BY A POLICE OFFICER BECAUSE OF MY PASSENGER BRAKE LIGHT NOT WORKING. I TOLD THE OFFICER ABOUT WHAT I DID TO RESOLVE THE ISSUE AND THAT I TOOK THE CAR TO THE TOYOTA DEALER AND THEY COULD NOT FIND OUT THE PROBLEM. AFTER EXPLAINING WHAT I DID TO RESOLVE THE ISSUE, THE POLICE OFFICER EXPLAINED TO ME THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE AND THE BRAKE LIGHT NEEDS TO BE FIXED. I GOOGLED THE PROBLEM THIS EVENING AND FOUND 10 WEB SITES ALL HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM WITH THE PASSENGER RIGHT REAR BRAKE INTERMITTENT OR NOT WORKING. I FOUND ONE COMMON THREAD WAS THAT THE MAJORITY OF THE COMPLAINTS WAS ON THE 2002 MODEL AND A FEW ON 2003. *TR
TOYOTA HIGHLANDER BRAKE LIGHTS. RIGHT SIDE/PASSENGER SIDE BRAKE LIGHTS GO OUT OFTEN AND EVEN WITH NEW BULBS DON'T ALWAYS WORK. FAULTY DESIGN. DUE TO ALL THE POSTS ON THE INTERNET ABOUT THE SAME ISSUE I'M ASSUMING THIS IS A COMMON AND UNSAFE PROBLEM WITH HIGHLANDERS. *TR
PASSENGER SIDE BREAK LIGHT FAILURE ON 2002 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE WHEN OTHER DRIVERS CANNOT SEE YOU BREAK PARTICULARLY FROM THE RIGHT ANGLE. THIS IS AN ISSUE THAT HAS HAPPENED TO MANY DRIVERS OF THE SAME MODEL YEAR. SEE THE WEB POSTS AT HTTP://WWW.TOPIX.NET/FORUM/AUTOS/TOYOTA-HIGHLANDER/T7H7LD934GSQLC6BE I AM CONVINCED IT IS A DEFECT IN THE 2002 MODEL AND AS SUCH SHOULD BE RECALLED. I HAVE BROUGHT TO THE TOYOTA DEALER IN MANCHESTER NH 5 TIMES REPLACING LAMP SOCKETS AND OTHER ATTEMPTS AND IT STILL DOES NOT WORK. I HAVE TO BRING IN AGAIN. THERE SHOULD BE A STANDARD WAY TO FIX IT.
THE RIGHT BRAKE LIGHT REAR PASSENGER SIDE DOES NOT WORK. I HAVE CHANGED ALL BULBS AND CHECKED FUSES. ALL OTHER LIGHT IN THE ASSEMBLY WORK JUST FINE TAIL,BACKUP,RIGHT BLINKER BUT WHEN YOUR PRESS ON THE BRAKE PEDAL THE LIGHT DOES NOT COME ON. THERE ARE MANY COMPLAINTS TO THE NHTSA ABOUT THIS PROBLEM. DIRECT ACTION IS NEEDED TO FIX THIS PROBLEM BEFORE AN ACCIDENT OR SOMEONE IS PULLED OVER FOR A PROBLEM THAT IS NOT FIXABLE ON THE CUSTOMERS END. *TR
THE RIGHT BRAKE LIGHT ON MY 2002 HIGHLANDER KEEPS GOING OUT, DESPITE THE NUMBER OF BULB CHANGES I'VE DONE. THERE IS A LARGE NUMBER OF HIGHLANDER OWNERS THAT HAVE FILED THIS SAME REPORT ONLINE VIA BULLETIN BOARDS, ETC. *TR
RIGHT REAR BRAKE LIGHT CONNECTION IS BAD. I HAVE CHANGED THE BULBS AND ALL OTHER LIGHTS ON THAT SIDE WORK. THE TAIL LIGHTS, HAZARDS, REVERSE AND TURN SIGNAL LIGHTS ALL WORK. THE ONLY LIGHT THAT CONTINUES TO NOT WORK IS THE BRAKE LIGHT LIGHTING UP WHEN THE PEDAL IS PUSHED DOWN. OBVIOUSLY, THIS IS A SAFETY HAZARD. THIS HAS BEEN AN ONGOING ISSUE FOR A YEAR NOW AND WITH ONLINE SEARCHES, I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE WITH THE SAME PROBLEM. *TR
BRAKE LIGHT ASSEMBLY IN TOYOTA HIGHLANDERS 2001 AND BEYOND FAIL. THEREBY CAUSING THE BRAKE LIGHTS NOT TO WORK. THE LIGHTS AND FUSES ARE NOT BROKEN. THERE ARE 16 POSTINGS MADE SINCE 2007 AT HTTP://WWW.TOPIX.COM/FORUM/AUTOS/TOYOTA-HIGHLANDER/T7H7LD934GSQLC6BE THAT REPORT THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM. *TR
BRAKE LIGHT ASSEMBLY IN TOYOTA HIGHLANDERS 2001 AND BEYOND FAIL. THEREBY CAUSING THE BRAKE LIGHTS NOT TO WORK. THE LIGHTS AND FUSES ARE NOT BROKEN. THERE ARE 16 POSTINGS MADE SINCE 2007 AT HTTP://WWW.TOPIX.COM/FORUM/AUTOS/TOYOTA-HIGHLANDER/T7H7LD934GSQLC6BE THAT REPORT THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM. *TR
I HAVE A 2002 TOOYOTA HIGHLANDER, AFTER A HEAVY RAINSTORM IN JULY OF 2004, I NOTICED THAT THE HEADLAMP ON MY FRONT DRIVERS SIDE HAD MOISTURE AND WAS FOGGY ON THE INSIDE OF IT. IT WENT AWAY IN ABOUT A WEEK OR SO. AFTER GOING TO A CARWASH I NOTICED THE SAME PROBLEM AND THE AREA WAS WIDER. I NOTIFIED LEE'S TOYOTA IN QUEENS NY. I WAS TOLD BY THE CUSTOMER SERVICE REP. JASON THAT IT WAS NORMAL AND THE HEAT FROM THE LAMP WILL EVENTUALLY MAKE THE MOISTURE EVAPORATE BECAUSE IT WAS MADE THAT WAY. AFTER SEVERAL EPISODES AND THE AREA OF MOISTURE SPREADING EACH TIME IT RAINS SNOWS OR I GO TO A CAR WASH. I NOW HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE VISION ON MY DRIVERS SIDE ESPECIALLY AT NIGHT. THE AREA IS BEING OBSTRUCTED BECAUSE OF THE FOG IN THE HEADLAMP. I ALMOST HAD 2 ACCIDENTS BECAUSE OF IT.I NOTIFIED LEE'S TOYOTA ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS, AND WAS TOLD THEY COULD DO NOTHING UNLESS I PAY FOR IT. I AM DISABLED, MUST WEAR CORRECTIVE LENSES WHILE DRIVING AND NOW I HAVE A PROBLEM THAT HINDERS MY VISION. I READ THE CAR MANUAL AND THERE ARE NO ARTICLE ABOUT THIS. MY NIECE HAS THE SAME SUV AND SHE DOES NOT HAVE THIS PROBLEM, I CONTACTED TOYOTA MOTOR CORP. AND WAS TOLD THAT I SHOULD HAVE NOTIFIED THEM BEFORE AND I TOLD THEM I DID NOTIFY THEM WHEN I BECAME AWEAR OF THE PROBLEM. TOYOTA MOTORS TOLD ME THAT THEY WILL PAY TO HAVE IT FIXED BUT I MUST FIX IT AND PAY FOR IT FIRST AND THEY WILL REIMBURSE ME. I FEEL THAT IT IS A DEFECT AND THAT TOYOTA SHOULD FIX THE PROBLEMAND PAY FOR IT BEFORE I HAVE A ACCIDENT OR SOMETHING. PLEASE LOOK INTO THIS SITUATION. I AM ON A FIXED INCOME AND CAN'T AFFORD IT AT THIS TIME.
WHENEVER MY VEHICLE IS LOADED UP THE HEADLIGHTS BLIND ONCOMING DRIVERS.I DREAD GOING ON VACATION WITH THIS VEHICLE.TOYOTA DEALER SAID A FIX WAS NOT AVAILABLE.I TOW A 15 FT BOAT 1200LBS.ALTHOUGH THE VEHICLE IS RATED FOR 3500LBS TOWING CAPACITY THE HEADLIGHTS WHEN TOWING BLIND ONCOMING TRAFFIC I ASSUME TO POOR SUSPENSION DESIGN.*AK
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.
Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own
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