2008 Toyota Camry Visibility & Wipers Problems

Issue Description: Melting Dashboard Creating Driving Hazard I am reporting a serious safety hazard involving my 2008 Toyota Camry, which has developed a melting/sticky dashboard condition that significantly affects driver visibility and safety during daylight driving. Nature of the Problem: •The dashboard has become soft, shiny, and sticky to the touch, especially in warmer temperatures. •The melting material creates a high-gloss surface, which leads to excessive glare on the windshield. •This reflection severely impairs forward visibility, especially under sunlight or direct light conditions, such as during midday driving or on sunny days. •The dashboard’s condition is progressively worsening, becoming a constant distraction and hazard when driving. •The condition also poses potential chemical exposure risks, as the degraded dashboard material emits a strong odor and residue. Safety Concerns: •Visual impairment due to reflection: The dashboard acts like a mirror, reflecting sunlight directly into the driver’s line of sight. •Increased accident risk: The glare limits the driver’s ability to clearly see pedestrians, other vehicles, traffic signals, and road signs. •Heat-related degradation: The softening dashboard may also interfere with airbag deployment zones or deteriorate structural safety components over time. Request for Action: I respectfully request the following: 1.That this issue be formally investigated as a safety defect by the relevant vehicle safety authority. 2.That Toyota issue a recall or safety repair program for affected vehicles, if not already done. 3.That an evaluation be conducted to determine if the airbag function is compromised by the dashboard’s current state. Previous Attempts to Resolve: I have attempted to contact Toyota Customer Service and/or local dealerships, but have not received a resolution to date. The problem persists and continues to pose a daily driving hazard.

I am experiencing significant glaring on my windshield as a result of my melting dashboard reflecting on the windshield. This problem is making my car unsafe to drive. The glare becomes extremely intense with rain and night driving. After researching this issue today, apparently Toyota is well aware of this safety issue but did not notify me about a program to replace my dashboard. I am only becoming aware today that there was a program to fix this issue. I understand this same problem has been reported by many other Toyota Camry owners. I contacted Toyota today to report my concerns and requested assistance to remedy this safety problem. The Toyota rep. recommended I file a complaint here with NJTSA. Also Toyota will see if they can arrange for me to bring my car in to a Toyota Dealer for an inspection.

My Camry has the reflection from the dashboard causing vision issues looking out of the front windshield. Also the dash is very sticky and peels off if your finger nail hits it. I know Toyota had a TSB on this issue but when I reach out to them they said they knew about the issue but my car is out of the timeframe. If it is a safety issue it should not have a time limit, you need to be able to see out of the front windshield clearly? I have reach out to other dashboard repair companies and they will not touch this car due the TSB that was issued on the car. They say it is not repairable and I need a new dashboard.

Driver's side visor suddenly broke to the full down position blocking forward vision unexpectedly.

WHEN VEHICLE IS IN MOTION ON CITY STREETS OR OPEN HIGHWAYS ON SUNNY DAYS, DRIVER SOMETIMES BECOMES BLINDED FROM GLARE FROM "MELTING" SHINY DASHBOARD. THIS PROBLEM WITH "MELTING" DASHBOARD BEGAN MAYBE 5-6 YEARS AGO AND HAS KEPT GETTING WORSE. THE BLINDING REFLECTIONS ARE NOW SO BAD AT TIMES THAT WE ARE CONCERNED ABOUT HAVING AN ACCIDENT BECAUSE WE ARE SOMETIMES BLINDED BY REFLECTIONS FROM THE SHINY DASHBOARD.

Subject: Toyota I purchased a 2008 Toyota Camry many years ago. I still have the vehicle and there is a safety issue having to do with dashboard. There was extended product warranty coverage that ended in 2019 on the defect. I was not notified about this issue. When I contacted Toyota they said I "may" have been notified if I brought it to a Toyota dealer for service (which I did not). The issue is the dashboard starts to melt and gets sticky and causes glare on the windshield during the day when sunlight hits it and at night when vehicle lights are oncoming. I moved to Florida in late 2019 and noticed the safety issue at that time. If you google the issue (Toyota dashboard recall) it made the news etc. Toyota was able to make it a product issue and was able to then use the extended warranty rather than calling it a safety issue. The articles on the issue (even from Toyota state it causes glare). Can this be looked into or at a minimum have the laws changed so these safety concerns can't be listed as a product issue? I would have thought this would have been a class action lawsuit with the number of issues because of this safety problem. My understanding is safety recalls do not expire and in my opinion (and many others on line that have the same issue) this is a safety issue. I had contacted the AGs Office in Florida and they suggested I make contact with your office. Below is some information on the melting dashboards. In 2014 Toyota offered to replace dashboards in 3.4 million vehicles after owners in sunny states like Arizona and Florida reported that their dashboards were melting, causing a dangerous glare on the windshield. ... Toyota's extended warranty on dashboards expired in 2019. Thank you for your time.

THE TOYOTA MELTING DASHBOARD IS HORRENDOUS. MY DASHBOARD IS SO GOOEY AND SHINY THAT ON ANY DAY WITH MILD SUN IT IS HARD TO SEE OUT THE WINDSHIELD BECAUSE OF THE REFLECTION/SHINE. I AM VERY WORRIED THIS WILL LEAD TO AN ACCIDENT. THIS IS NOT A COSMETIC ISSUE, IT IS A VERY SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE THAT TOYOTA NEEDS TO ADDRESS.

DRIVER SIDE VISOR FAILED CAUSING IT TO HANG DOWN AND OBSTRUCT VISIBILITY. I HAVE TO MOVE THE VISOR TO THE SIDE WHICH OBSTRUCTS MY VIEW OR I HAVE TO HOLD IT UP WITH ONE HAND.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 TOYOTA CAMRY. WHILE DRIVING VARIOUS SPEEDS, THE SUN VISOR FELL DOWN AND OBSTRUCTED THE CONTACT'S VIEW OF THE WINDSHIELD. ADDITIONALLY, THE SUN VISOR FAILED TO SECURE IN PLACE. THERE WERE NO WARNING INDICATORS ILLUMINATED. THE DEALER WAS NOT CONTACTED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS CONTACTED AND REFERRED THE CONTACT TO NHTSA. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 200,000.

THE DRIVERS SIDE SUN VISOR HAS FAILED. THE INTERNAL CLIPS MECHANISM IS BROKEN CAUSING THE VISOR TO FALL DOWN WHILE DRIVING AND BLOCKING MY VISION TO SEE THE ROAD AND OTHER DRIVERS. . THIS IS DANGEROUS AND COULD CAUSE AN ACCIDENT. I HAVE 3 YOUNG ADULTS IN MY HOME WHO REFUSE TO DRIVE THE CAR BECAUSE OF IT. TOYOTA CLAIMS TO HAVE SENT A RECALL FOR THE PART THAT I DID NOT RECEIVE ALTHOUGH I HAVE RECEIVED OTHER RECALL POSTCARDS FOR THIS CAR. THEY ARE STATING THE RECALL IS NO LONGER VALID BUT THE PROBLEM IS KNOWN TO THEM AND HAS CONTINUED IN THE FOLLOWING YEARS MODEL CARS AND YET THEY WILL NOT COVER IT. I FEEL THIS QUALIFIES FOR A CLASS ACTION SUIT.

The issue is with the 2008 Toyota Camry dashboard that is melting shining reflective light straight into my eye. Toyota is not treating this as a recall matter, and only did a Customer program to get it repaired for a short time.

THE DRIVER SIDE VISOR WILL NOT REMAIN IN CORRECT POSITION. THE VISOR DROPS WHILE VEHICLE IS IN MOTION STARTLING THE DRIVER AND TEMPORARILY IMPAIRING VISION.

VEHICLE WAS STATIONARY, I LOWERED MY VISOR TO LOOK IN MY MIRROR, ONCE I WAS DONE I TRIED TO RETURN MY VISOR TO ITS UP RIGHT POSITION AND IT WOULD NOT STAY. NOTHING LOOKS BROKEN BUT CLEARLY SOMETHING IS WRONG IF IT WONT STAY UP AND NOW IT IS IN MY LINE OF VISION FOR DRIVING. VERY DANGEROUS, IT BLOCKS MY LINE OF SIGHT, I CANNOT EVEN PUSH IT UP AGAINST THE WINDOW(YOU KNOW LIKE YOU DO WHEN IT IS SUNNY OUT) FOR IT DOESN'T STAY AND FALLS BACK DOWN BLOCKING MY ABILITY TO SEE OUT THE WINDSHIELD.

THIS VEHICLE WAS SUBJECT TO A CUSTOMER SATISFACTION PROGRAM BECAUSE DRIVER-SIDE SUN VISORS WOULD STOP STAYING UP AND DROP DOWN WITHOUT WARNING. WE HAD OUR HIGHLANDER VISOR REPLACED UNDER THIS LATE 2012 PROGRAM. IT WAS AN EXTREME SAFETY HAZARD. NOW THE CAMRY WHICH IS OUR CREAM PUFF HAS THE PROBLEM AND TOYOTA SAID THE CSP HAS EXPIRED. THEY TREATED IT AS A COSMETIC ANNOYANCE BUT IT'S A HUGE SAFETY ISSUE FOR DRIVERS 6' TALL OR MORE. THIS HAPPENS IN MANY SITUATIONS BUT IS MOST DANGEROUS ON THE HIGHWAY. NOTE THERE ARE 70 OTHERS GRIPING ABOUT THIS ON FACEBOOK. WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/TOYOTA/POSTS/10151608872184201

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 TOYOTA CAMRY. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE SUN VISOR MALFUNCTIONED AND WAS UNABLE TO LATCH. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE SUN VISOR NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 105,000.

WHILE DRIVING, MY SUN VISOR WILL FALL DOWN WHEN I HIT A BUMP, AND SOMETIMES FOR NO REASON. IT CAN BE VERY STARTLING AND OF COURSE DANGEROUS.

TOYOTA HAD A RECALL 'FIX' FOR THE VISOR ON DRIVERS SIDE BRAKING AND FALLING DOWN BUT THEY ONLY FIXED THE LEFT DRIVERS AND NOT THE RIGHT PSGRS SIDE WHICH THEY SHOULD HAVE REPLACED BOTH AT THE TIME. NOW MY RIGHT SIDE IS BROKEN AND INHIBITING MY ABILITY TO VIEW ANY TRAFFIC ON THE RIGHT SIDE DUE TO IT'S HANGING DOWN AND WON'T GO UP AT ALL.

THE SUN VISOR ON 2007 TO 2011 TOYOTA CAMRY ARE DEFECTIVE. THEY DROOP AND EVENTUALLY FALL OFF DUE TO USAGE. THE VISOR HAS NOW FALLEN OFF TWICE. TOYOTA KNOWS THERE IS A PROBLEM AND EXTENDED THEIR WARRANTY FOR THIS PROBLEM 7 YEARS BUT IT CONTINUES TO FAIL OVER AND OVER. BAD DESIGN, BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE.

THE DASHBOARD IS MELTING AWAY. THE GLARE CURRENTLY IS SO SEVERE I HAVE DIFFICULTY SEEING THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD ON A SUNNY DAY. THE DASH LOOKS AS IF SOMEONE SPRAYED GLUE ALL OVER IT AND FEELS THAT WAY. I WAS AT THE DEALER IN JANURARY AS TOYOTA HAS A SAFETY CAMPAIGN CURRENTLY WHICH DOES NO GOOD IF THEY HAVE NO PARTS.

DASHBOARD HAS BECOME SO STICKY TO THE TOUCH THAT IT CAN LONGER BE CLEANED. IT IS OMITTING SOME SORT OF AIR POLLUTANT THAT IS CAUSING THE WINDSHIELD TO BE HARD TO LOOK THROUGH. IT ALSO CAUSING A STRONG GLARE WHEN SUN IS OUT MAKING IT DIFFICULT TO SEE THE ROAD AT CERTAIN ANGLES TO THE SUN. CALLED TOYOTA OF ORLANDO (866-945-0493) AND SPOKE TO ASHLEY IN THEIR SERVICE DEPARTMENT ON OR ABOUT 11/03/2015 AND SHE CONFIRMED THERE WAS A RECALL ON THE VEHICLE AND SHE SAID THEY WOULD ORDER THE DASH THE FOLLOWING MONDAY. HAVE CALLED NO LESS THEN SIX TIMES TO FOLLOW UP ONLY TO BE TOLD THE PART HAS NOT ARRIVED YET. IT HAS BEEN SIX MONTHS NOW SINCE THE REQUEST FOR SERVICE WAS ORIGINALLY PLACED.