All it took to turn Bobby’s Toyota Highlander into a mess was a gust of wind. The incident damaged the door’s functions, but Toyota has determined that the vehicle isn’t covered under warranty because the damage was caused by outside forces.

Bobby writes:

I own a 09 Toyota Highlander. One day I opened my car door (here in Brooklyn, not Chicago) a gust of wind blew the door open which damaged the door checks. It took Toyota dealer three visits to figure this out. Then they decided to call the local Toyota Field Technical Specialist to inspect the car. Well he decide that the door check were not made to withstand a gust of wind therefore it is not under warranty.

Toyota’s response to Bobby:

On behalf of Toyota, I sincerely apologize for the concern and dissatisfaction you experienced with the door of your 2009 Highlander.

I have thoroughly reviewed your concern. [redacted], Field Technical Specialist, responsible for Toyota inspected your vehicle and found that the door was excessively forced open due to a wind gust causing the door check to exceed its threshold. This caused the body of the door to become deformed as a result of the force.

The warranty on your vehicle will cover repairs and adjustments needed to correct defects in materials or workmanship of any part supplied by Toyota. The warranty will not cover damage or failures relating to outside forces.

The decision rendered by [redacted] was made on behalf of Toyota as the manufacturer. As [redacted] has been trained by Toyota and is an employee of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. and not the dealership, the decision rendered represents Toyota’s final position.

Toyota recommends contacting your insurance company to file a claim to see if they will assist with any needed repair costs.

I again apologize for this unfortunate situation.

Have you ever had a natural occurrence break your car and deny you warranty coverage?

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