Exterior lightingVisibility
Filed Mar 29, 2018
THE HEADLIGHT LENSES ARE COMPLETELY FOGGED AND IMPAIRS DRIVING AFTER DUSK. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE AND A RECALL SHOULD BE ISSUED
- NHTSA ID
- 11081973
- Incident
- Mar 1, 2013
- Mileage
- 100,000 mi
2003 Toyota Highlander Exterior lighting Problems
Owner-reported complaints naming the exterior lighting system, filed with NHTSA
Data refreshed
Exterior lighting 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 Mar 29, 2018
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.
6%
of 258 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 headlights, tail lights, turn signals and other exterior lighting. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2003 Toyota Highlander 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 exterior lighting
Shown in the owner’s own words, exactly as filed
Exterior lightingSeat belts
Filed Oct 10, 2017
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 NOT MEANT TO WEAR OUT AND THEY SAID THAT IT WAS A MANUFACTURER DEFECT THAT SHOULD BE ADDRESSED. THE SECOND ISSUE HAS TO DO WITH THE BRAKE LIGHTS. REPLACED BULBS, FUSES AND CHECKED WIRING NO PROBLEMS YET THE BRAKE LIGHT DO NOT WORK. TOYOTA'S IS AWARE OF THE ISSUE AND STATES THAT THE CONSUMER CAN PAY $400 TO HAVE IT CHECKED AND IT STILL DOES NOT WORK.
- NHTSA ID
- 11032815
- Incident
- Mar 11, 2015
BrakesElectricalExterior lighting
Filed Nov 25, 2014
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
- NHTSA ID
- 10661004
- Incident
- Nov 3, 2014
- Mileage
- 215,000 mi
BrakesElectricalExterior lighting
Filed Nov 25, 2014
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
- NHTSA ID
- 10661001
- Incident
- Nov 3, 2014
- Mileage
- 215,000 mi
ElectricalExterior lighting
Filed Aug 11, 2014
PARKING LIGHT IS NOT FUNCTIONING, WILL NOT BE ABLE TO DRIVE AT NIGHT. SAFETY ISSUE. *TR
- NHTSA ID
- 10621582
- Incident
- Aug 9, 2014
- Mileage
- 136,500 mi
BrakesExterior lighting
Filed Jul 21, 2014
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
- NHTSA ID
- 10615050
- Incident
- Jul 21, 2014
- Mileage
- 60,000 mi
BrakesElectricalExterior lighting
Filed Jun 25, 2014
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 HIGHLANDERS, DEALER SAID NO RECALL WAS ISSUED? THIS IS A REAL SAFETY ISSUE THAT COULD BE FATAL. NOT TO MENTION THE COST OF A TICKET FOR HAVING A DEFECTIVE BRAKE LIGHT. THERE ARE MANY OTHER TOYOTA HIGHLANDER OWNERS THAT HAVE EXPERIENCED THE SAME PROBLEM WITH NO RECOURSE FROM TOYOTA. JUST GOOGLE "TOYOTA 2003 HIGHLANDER BRAKE LIGHT PROBLEM" TIME TO ISSUE A RECALL FOR SAFETY ISSUES. *TR
- NHTSA ID
- 10605937
- Incident
- Jun 17, 2014
- Mileage
- 64,699 mi
BrakesExterior lighting
Filed Mar 22, 2014
LIKE THOUSANDS OF OTHER 2003 TOYOTA HIGHLANDERS ONLY THE RIGHT SIDE BRAKE LIGHT WILL ILLUMINATE WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL IS PRESSED. *TR
- NHTSA ID
- 10574187
- Incident
- Mar 19, 2014
- Mileage
- 158,455 mi
ElectricalExterior lighting
Filed Mar 14, 2014
THE REAR LEFT BRAKE LIGHT DOES NOT WORK DESPITE HAVING REPLACED THE BULB AND FUSE. *TR
- NHTSA ID
- 10569410
- Incident
- Jul 6, 2013
- Mileage
- 90,000 mi
Exterior lighting
Filed Jan 13, 2014
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
- NHTSA ID
- 10559714
- Incident
- Nov 13, 2013
- Mileage
- 130,000 mi
ElectricalExterior lighting
Filed Jan 11, 2014
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
- NHTSA ID
- 10559474
- Incident
- Jan 1, 2014
- Mileage
- 145,000 mi
BrakesElectricalExterior lighting
Filed Jul 13, 2013
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
- NHTSA ID
- 10524625
- Incident
- Jun 10, 2013
- Mileage
- 124,000 mi
BrakesExterior lighting
Filed Nov 3, 2011
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
- NHTSA ID
- 10434101
- Incident
- Jan 1, 2010
- Mileage
- 90,000 mi
Exterior lighting
Filed Oct 2, 2011
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
- NHTSA ID
- 10428192
- Incident
- Oct 1, 2011
Exterior lighting
Filed Feb 23, 2010
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 IS NOT EXCLUSIVE TO TOYOTAS AS I HAVE OBSERVED OTHER BRANDS OF VEHICLES WITH THE SAME SAFETY PROBLEM AND MAY BE RELATED SPECIFICALLY TO A HEADLIGHT FIXTURE MANUFACTURER SHARED BY OTHER VEHICLE MANUFACTURERS. THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE HEARD. *TR
- NHTSA ID
- 10313341
- Incident
- Jan 1, 2005
- Mileage
- 1 mi
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
- NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation — owner-reported complaints and the components recorded on them
Data on this page last refreshed .