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18 Highlander trim melting


MikeSmith065

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Our '18 Highlander is white with some black accent trim around the doors. In the last year two of the trim pieces have shriveled up and deformed, both on the passenger side. Toyota wanted to know if the vehicle had been near a heat source, which it has not. They replaced both pieces. Three months later, same thing again. This time Toyota says not our problem. Anyone ever seen this before?

Mike

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  • 2 weeks later...

  • 2 months later...

Do you have any pictures you can post to see exactly what you see? 

 

Had an 2018 highlander and on the door on the driver's side where my elbow would rest as I drove, it was kind of wore out a bit.. 

I do not have it anymore and do not have a picture I can upload though. 

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I am having the same exact problem as MikeSmith065. The first time I had this issue was with my 2017 Highlander. Toyota gave me such a hard time with replacing the parts. I am now driving a 2019 Highlander and its to the same exact thing again. The window molding on the passenger side is starting to warp. Toyota is now refusing to correct the problem and told me it would cost me $1100.00 to replace. Could someone please let me know what I should do. I love my Highlander but I cannot keep going through this.

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Damn I have a 2019 but have not noticed any warpage and our Highlander sits in the Mojave desert sun so I'm just musing here, perhaps a bad batch of trim? Exposed to detergents, chemicals?

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Electrical source running underneath the trim that is shorting out and causing heat?

Agree with Wanderer. It's probably some kind of factory defect.

I owned a Mustang where the paint started peeling on the very front of the hood after about 8 years. My guess is someone at the factory closed the hood with their greasy hands, then it was painted and eventually it caused the paint to separate from the metal so moisture caused it to rust. Game over.

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I have a 2018 Highlander, pearl white with black mold trimmings.  Warpage is on the driver side.  Wonder if it is due to the white and black in addition to CTE (coefficient of thermal expansion) mismatch that causes this.  This would be a design issue and Toyota needs to do something about it.

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  • 4 weeks later...

There aren't many addons on the platinum, as the majority of it comes standard. Because we live in Wisconsin, we chose weathertech mats and roof rails for kayaks or a cargo bin. In terms of other dealer-specific extras, we chose carbon steel, a protective windscreen film that prevents rock and chip damage and functions similarly to rain-ex.

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