On 01/02/02018 I took my 2010 Highlander to my dealer because my driver side visor was inoperable. The vehicle, VIN 5TDDK3EH7AS027450, has in in-service date of 5/21/2010 and has 88992 miles. I took it to the dealer because I had received Warranty Enhancement ZF1 where Toyota acknowledges an issue with the visors on this vehicle.

I was charged $204.94 to replace the visor because I was told the Warranty Enhancement ZF1 was only valid for 7 years so the coverage ended on 5/5/21/2017. I questioned the charge expecting the dealer and Toyota to stand behind their product and not charge the vehicle owner to repair a known defect. The said there was nothing they can or would do and I should take it up with Toyota. As I was taking the vehicle on an extended trip the next few days, I reluctantly paid the ridiculous price charged to replace the defective visor.

I communicated my experience to Toyota via email and received a call from them a couple of days later. Basically, they acknowledged the defect but because it was out of the ZF1Warranty Enhancement period they will not honor my request for them to stand behind their product and cover the cost.

I believe this repair should be covered by Toyota as it is a known and acknowledged factory defect. Just because the visor in my vehicle lasted longer than the arbitrary 7 years specified on Warranty Enhancement ZF1, I am out $204.94 for a factory defective visor.

My advice to all Toyota owners is if Toyota sends you a “Warranty Enhancement”, go to your dealer and demand your vehicle be repaired immediately because if the part with the a known and acknowledged factory defect fails one second after the “Warranty Enhancement” period you are stuck with the cost.

As this is the Toyota vehicle I have owned, having purchased it new, this is not the “Toyota Quality Experience” I expected. While some friends rave about Toyota and the quality and reliability of the Toyota, this single experience, where Toyota is not standing behind a known and acknowledged factory defect has changed my option of what Toyota quality means. I’m going to stick with General Motors for my vehicles as in all my years driving GM products, I never had an incident that GM did not stand behind their vehicles when there was a factory defect. #ToyotaFails

I called the dealer and was told that they would order the part to fix the sun visor and was notified of an appointment. When I called to confirm, I was told that they had not ordered to part. They said the email for the appt date was automatically generated by another company that they do business with. So is I had went to the dealer on Monday July 20 at 6:59 AM, I would have mad a trip for nothing since they never ordered the part for the sun visor or a new sun visor. Now they are telling me that it may be weeks before I could get another appointment and they still have not ordered the part. The Dealer is Price LeBlanc Toyota in Baton Rouge and the lady I spoke to is named, Marty.

Update from Jul 23, 2015: I had to call the Toyota Customer Service Hot Line to clarify whether or not the sun visor was a legitimate recall item and they had just declared that it was. The rep at Toyota Hot Line had to look it up and that's where the problem was discovered because the dealer wasn't completely aware of the recall. I am apologizing to Price LeBlanc Toyota of Baton Rouge and withdrawing my complaint. After Toyota notified the dealer that the sun visor was indeed a recall item, Price LeBlanc changed it for me at not charge. Hooray for honest and integrity with Toyota. Also they updated my software system with a needed software update and I was completely satisfied.