I am writing to ask for help with my 2006 Toyota Highlander Hybrid. As a disclosure, I have also posted at GreenHybrid.com, but I was hoping to get some more ideas from the crowd here.
Pictures:
Highlander Water Damage
The story: For the past six months or so, I have noticed off/on this issue, though it is became more of an issue last month. Whenever the car gets wet--car wash or rain--the radio and NAV screen (the same system) will stay on even after I shut the car off and take out the key. At first, it would only be a few seconds or so.
Recently, I returned from Chicago to find my car dead at the airport. It was jumped and ran fine, but was dead again in the AM. I took it to the dealer and they found nothing. I took it back the next day for the same issue. They kept the car for 3 days and found nothing. Of course, by then it was all dry.
A couple of weeks ago, it poured over here in the NYC area and again the car in not shutting off. I have left it overnight in my garage with the hood up. I needed the car for the next few days so I can't bring it to the dealer immediately. It did not heal itself, so...
...3 1/2 weeks ago, I left it with the dealer. I asked them to call Toyota technical for assistance. After thinking about it for a few days, Toyota elected to replace the entire center console with the radio/NAV system. I asked how water on the outside of the car could affect something inside the car, but they could not explain that. Fortunately, this was fully covered by the extended warranty I purchased with the car.
After that was done, the dealer noted that the keyless entry did not work. To investigate that, they traced the wiring for the keyless entry to the area over the right rear wheel and they found standing water submerging the wiring and leading to damage. They need to replace the harness for a cost of $1700!!! $700 for parts. $1000 for labor!!!!! I could take it somewhere else to have them repair rather than replace the wires, but that would jeopardize my extended warranty.
Now how did the water get there? Toyota is stating that there is a missing nut on a bolt in behind the tail light (see photos.) This led to the tail light being loose and allowing water to drip into the car instead of onto the ground (see water testing below.) The original theory was that an accident led to it getting loose. However, the only accident I had was a very low speed collision with a tree backing up a dark driveway. This lead to a crack in the rear bumper. I had the bumper cover replaced nearly TWO years ago.
Toyota (the dealership) is claiming/theorizing that when the bumper cover was replaced, the tail light assembly must have been removed and then was re-assembled improperly.
Wait, it does not end, last Thursday, the dealer called and asked me to come down to look at the car. It seems the leak lead to water following a path to the front of the car. This lead to the matting of the interior carpeting being soaked. When I looked at it, water was dripping off the carpet matting.
I have spoken with the body shop dude (let's call him BSD) multiple times during this fiasco and he has said, 'Not my problem.' I offered him the opportunity to see the car. He said he was too busy.
Meanwhile, Toyota offered two options for the carpet:
1. Dry the carpet out and put it back
2. Buy a new carpet
The labor for both options is the same. However, the concern was that if the carpet starts to smell or gets moldy, then I will have to pay the labor again to replace it. I opted to replace it.
Monday, BSD calls and says 'I looked at a Highlander (not mine) over the weekend and you don't need to take the tail light off to replace the bumper cover.' We discuss the possibility that the person doing the work may not have known this. I ask if he knows who did the repair and he scoffs. He suggests that the dealer broke the tail light at some point, didn't tell me and failed to repair it properly. BSD also theorized that the leak was from somewhere else in the car.
Yesterday, I went to the dealer. Everything was out of the car in anticipation of re-assembling it with the new carpet. The mechanic and I climbed into the car and others sprayed the car down. You can see from the pictures that water is clearly leaking into the same location it had collected in previously.
I called BSD and told him. He said 'Not my problem.'
I should get the car tomorrow. FYI, the original bumper repair was under my deductible, so I did not go through insurance. Therefore, I am not going through insurance now.
So questions:
-Is it likely this is caused by the tail light assembly?
-Is it likely this is a result of the body shop work? Perhaps they opened the assembly before they realized they did not need to.
-Is this possibly a manufacturing defect?
-Any other ideas?
Thanks for sticking with this long post…
Highlander Hybrid water leak-LONG
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