Door lock actuators, yes it is available for inspection. Doors cannot be locked or unlocked with a remote key fob or the interior power door locks. Lock defect poses a significant safety hazard in that a single or multiple doors may not lock at any time, whether the vehicle is on or off and despite actions or commands by the driver. The alleged defect is dangerous to passengers as it can cause unintentional door openings while a vehicle is in use, result in inoperable doors during emergency situations, and leave a vehicle and any contents therein more vulnerable to theft. This poses serious safety concerns, for example when vehicles are involved in vehicular accidents because the occupants may become entrapped when the Door Actuator Defect prevents an occupant from unlocking the doors. Furthermore, this defect jeopardizes the safety of vehicle occupants given that not all doors are capable of being manually unlocked from the exterior. Since owning my highlander I've taken it to the dealership several times for this issue. The front door driver and passenger were replaced and a lock switch however dealership claimed they could not recreate the issue for all doors yet the issue continued and is noted several times in service history. Even when under warranty they refused to change the parts despite multiple service notes and verbal compilations due to their claim of not being able to recreate the issue. There were no warning lights or messages or other symptoms prior to failure. I've had this car since 2019 and it's been an issue notably since 2021. I fear the safety of myself, my family and other passengers are compromised every time we enter the vehicle.
2015 Toyota Highlander: doors won't lock, open or latch
16 of the 193 complaints about the 2015 Toyota Highlander describe doors won't lock, open or latch.
- owner complaints
- 16
- of this car's complaints
- 8%
- typical mileage
- 65,000
- recalls
- 0
Doors won't lock, open or latch by model year
What owners say
The door locks have stopped working one by one. First I noticed the driver door not unlocking or locking with the key fob, with the touch system on the door handle, or with the button on the inside panel. Then I noticed my back door on the driver side not locking or unlocking with the key fob OR with the button on the inside panel. Both of these locks are now manual only. And the front passenger door lock only works sometimes, so I imagine it will stop working altogether soon as well. This puts the safety of my belongings, myself, and my children at risk. I don't know how long this had been happening before I noticed it, so I very easily could have been unknowingly leaving my car unlocked all over town. I am unable to enter my car quickly because I have to take the key fob apart and use the manual key to enter the driver door, and then my son has to wait for me to manually unlock his door before he can get in. My daughter sits on the other side so he can't just switch to the side that works. Well he could but then my daughter would have the same issue. If it was an emergency situation and we had to get into the car quickly it's just not possible. Also in traffic or in parking lots when we are inside the car I feel like we are left vulnerable with the doors unlocked and I can't lock them without reaching and manually doing this for each door. Which I do, but shouldn't have to. A quick internet search has made it clear that I am FAR from the first person this has happened to with these vehicles. It is clearly an extremely common issue with Highlanders and other Toyota vehicles and it 100% should be a recall.
The contact owns a 2015 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated that the front driver’s and passenger’s side doors failed to unlock while using the keys. The contact stated that there was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where it was diagnosed with the door lock actuator needing to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.
[xxx]. 2015 toyota highlander, 70,000 miles. While parked, vehicle was stationary. Driver side door will not open from outside when unlocked via keyfob or the manual key. Occurred several times with 2 different key fobs on several occasions this month. Opens fine from the inside after crawling across the seats to activate door latch from inside handle. Parts of this document have been redacted to protect personally identifiable information pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
Door actuators on both rear passenger doors have stopped working. Door locks do not respond to power door lock switch nor the key fobs.
The door lock actuator failed on the drivers door. Within two months all of the actuator door locks failed on all of the doors. The cost to repair is very expensive for a fix and from what I have been reading they may fail again. This should have been recalled since there were many other people with the same complaint.
In 2016, 1 year after I purchased the car, the door locks started to intermittently stop opening and locking with the key, and internal and external lock buttons. This is a safety hazard to children in the back seat, as parents cannot control the locks. Additionally, it's a safety issue to all passengers, as passengers cannot enter or exit the car easily and/or quickly as the locks don't consistently respond when using the internal or external button electronic key.
Driver side door lock mechanism worked only intermittently. Had to crawl through passenger side to unlock door manually by pulling on the door handle. Replaced door lock mechanism at dealership. Now the left rear door is starting to malfunction. Sometimes passenger is unable to open door from inside of car and the door has to be opened from the outside.
Three of the door lock actuators failed on this vehicle at the same time. My wife cannot unlock the car doors without going to the one door that is working when she pushes the unlock button on her remote. This is a major safety issue and there are thousands of articles and message board posts on the internet related to door lock actuators failing on toyota vehicles. Toyota is providing some financial assistance to repair the issue but it is not near enough to cover it all and I am out of pocket for a large amount of the repair. Due to the scope of the issue I believe this should be handled through a recall.
Driver-side door does not lock/unlock when using the key fob, door handle, or the switch inside the vehicle. Issue was sporadic at first but now occurs almost every time we (try to) lock/unlock the doors. I believe the issue to be the door lock actuator, which I intend on replacing.
Tl* the contact owns a 2015 toyota highlander. While attempting to open the rear driver's door to remove his daughter from the car seat, the contact stated that the door would not open. The contact had to go around and open the rear passenger door in order to get the infant out of the seat. Additionally, during the second week of february of 2018, the front driver's side door actuator had to be replaced because it did not open. At the end of february, the front passenger door actuator had to be replaced. The contact stated that this would be the third door that experienced actuator failure. The dealer (lugoff toyota in lugoff, north carolina) diagnosed the vehicle with door lock actuator failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failures. The vehicle was repaired by the owner the first two times. The vehicle had not been repaired a third time. The approximate failure mileage was 65,000.
When the car had 20k miles the brakes would shake when going down hill, took it in but they found nothing wrong. I have since had the rotars turned brakes replaced and when braking the brakes shake really bad its scary. I have also had too many electrical problems with the door locks one goes out then next week another, the outlets have never worked and now the stereo is going to be replaced because it blacks out and restarts constantly.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the 2015 Toyota Highlander door locks
Is doors won't lock, open or latch a common problem on the 2015 Toyota Highlander?
16 of 193 owner complaints about the 2015 Toyota Highlander (8%) mention doors won't lock, open or latch. The model year with the most reports is 2015.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 2015 Toyota Highlander?
There is no recall or service bulletin for this area of the car on record.
Other symptoms on the 2015 Toyota Highlander
Screen failure 10Sunroof shattered 10Stalling 7Check engine light 6Engine failure 6Fire or smoke 6Key fob 6No deployment 5
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