2021 Toyota Highlander rear hatch gate misaligment

We just got Highlander XLE with really good deal during end year sale event from Auto Nation Toyota Leesburg VA. We traded our Sienna as kids big enough to drive. All good its gray I have attached files. But Jan 2 morning when rain finally stopped I walk out to take look what we got as 31/1st...

www.toyotanation.com

May be considered "within tolerance". I know, not what you want to hear.

 

Yup. Unfortunately have to agree. I don’t see how they can shift the door to the RIGHT 1/16in over.

I would call Toyota and demand to know what the specs are for the rear hatch/door gap. Don’t tell them what you measured, as they wil, say that is w/in specs. Have them tell you and provide a PDF of the spec.

Sucks. Sorry.

 

Nevermind... I found the same thread whoa did.

 

I was surprised to see this being that today's automobiles are built by computer driven robotics. I would have expected Toyota to have a high quality precision assembly process & final quality control for their vehicles. My previous 3rd generation 2014 Highlander Limited rear door were 3/16" on both sides.
A neighbor of mine has a new Ford Explorer that the rear door gaps are 1/8" apart.
The rest of my new Highlander is really great. However, this gap difference in the rear cargo door does bug me as to how the factory quality control let this get by.

 

I feel for you. Where was it assembled? USA, Japan, Mexico? In theory it shouldn't matter b/c of Toyota's high quality control. But it does.

It's just like they say never buy a car that was assembled on a Monday or Friday.

 

Highlanders are all made in Princeton, IN, US and have been for many years. Very few Toyota products sold in North America are made in Japan; they're made in the US, Canada, or Mexico.

With today's process control and quality procedures, the location of the plant is really a non-issue. Any plant anywhere can make a great car or make a mistake. A lot of it would have to do with how the parts are designed, and not on the person putting it together.

 

I have the same issue and it annoys me so much. It would have been fine if the almost 1-inch gap was the same on both sides. The little adjustable tabs that they give on each side have already maxed out and there is nothing I can do to even out the gap on both sides. I have a 21 HiHy XLE.

 

I just purchased a ‘21 Highlander Platinum and I also have a noticeable gap on the passenger side rear gate especially on top by the spoiler. The driver side of the rear gate is pretty flush with body. I hope the passenger side of the gate doesn’t leak in water when the rains come or when washing the car.

 

If you move it to the side, you will hit in the bottom corners.

Panel and lid adjustments are like this. You have to worry more about it hitting than some gap somewhere else.

They have alignment points and sorry, there are tolerances.

They are not hand built low production master piece cars that are appreciated for their extra fine coachwork.

Be glad it seals, does not rub and works as it should.

Do you stare at this spot?

 

I agree. Sometimes the fix may actually make it worse.

 

I seem to be looking at it more frequently now that I know the gap is there and it does bother me. I will make an appointment with the Toyota service department sooner than later to see what they say.

 

Jesus Christ that’s a big ass gap, wtf

 

Anyone else have this same issue with rear cargo hatch door being out of alignment? My new 2021 Highlander Hybrid Ltd Platinum has a normal gap of 1/4" on left side and 3/8" on right side of rear cargo door.
Dealer says this is normal.

Is this affecting the performance or safety of your vehicle in anyway that you can prove?

If not don't worry about, it's like you spend the extra $10 and got yourself a Lexus.

 

IVE SEEN THIS HAPPEN, but not on a Toyota but the problem may be the same.

Carefully inspect the hinges for the hatch, see if the one on the side where the gap is larger and you might see evidence of the hinge shifting.
I believe this is due to the self opening hatch mechanism, It places a lot of stress on the area of the hatch and on the hinges, especially when it first opens, probably over a hundred pounds of pressure, which pushes the hinge out instead of lifting the hatch.
My next door neighbors new Chevy did EXACTLY what seems to have happened to the OP and probably every other one who owns a similar vehicle.
He went to the dealership and they told him it was done in an accident but no accident ever happened. They quoted him $600 to fix it, took me 30 minutes total including the diagnosis.

I tightened the hinge after breaking it loose enough to move the hinge back where it was originally.

Tightened the heck out of it and it has never happened again.

This is a design defect, but can be resolved by greater torque when tightening the hinge.

Its a simple solution but you need to be capable of giving it some real torque, compared to how much it takes to get the hinge screws loose. Use a quality tool to do the tightening so you don't strip out the place where the tool goes. His was a torx drive.

 

I just got a 2021 Toyota Highlander XLE and I have the same bigger gap in the passenger side.

For those people that didn’t fix the gap, did they have any leaks or issues?

 

Not yet so far

 

Make yourself feel better and go look at the front and rear door handles on a Model S.

 

My 2021 highlander xle also had the same problem too. Took it to the dealership but they didn’t do anything to it.

 

I am having the same issue as you all with the rear cargo hatch. It is pulled in on the left side and has a larger gap on the right side. Honestly, it looks like sh!t and the car having 3,500 miles on it and being a platinum does not make me terribly happy. I just was told by the dealership that they couldn't do anything and that I would need to submit a claim with Toyota corporation... WTH is this about? We had a 2018 that never had this issue... (I know, different body, but you would think things would improve, not get worse...)

 

Looking at my 2022 Highlander, the panel gaps in general seem a lot wider than in previous Toyotas that I've owned. I don't really mind the gaps in the rear hatch- as they are pretty consistent on both sides. The gaps that stand out the most to me are the gaps between the headlight and the hood on both sides- those things are massive... large enough to stick your finger through.

The gap between the hood and the headlight is huge- much larger than the gap between the hood and front fenders. Someone even approached me at the gas station warning me that the hood was open... it wasn't.

I've started looking at other 4th Gen Highlanders- and some seem to have this issue while others seem to have much smaller gaps. If this is the worst problem with the vehicle, I'll live with it.

 

I've hung a bike rack on the rear of my 2020 RAV and it has totally torqued the liftgate out of alignment. The dealership declared that it was subject to abuse and not covered by the warranty. This is just not acceptable for a vehicle that touts adventure chops. Bad design. Bad customer service. Last Toyota I buy.

 

Sounds to me like the lift gate on the RAV4 is not designed to hold a bike rack. Most of the bike racks I have seen for the RAV4 hook onto the receiver hitch, not the lift gate. I wouldn't necessarily say its Toyota's fault your bike rack torqued the liftgate out of alignment.

 

+1

The rear hatch has no weight bearing specification, like a hitch. @Imartindc was too cheap to buy the proper equipment. A hitch and hitch bike carrier aren’t cheap.

The static weight of the bike(s) on the exterior hatch rack is one thing. But vehicle movement, pot holes, speed bumps, etc, that’s a lot of additional stress on the hatch hinges and locking mechanism. Of course problems will result; call me a rocket scientist.

Next SUV, don’t be cheap and skimp on a proper hitch mounted bike carrier.

 

Anyone else have this same issue with rear cargo hatch door being out of alignment? My new 2021 Highlander Hybrid Ltd Platinum has a normal gap of 1/4" on left side and 3/8" on right side of rear cargo door.
Dealer says this is normal. View attachment 333499 View attachment 333500 View attachment 333501

Just discovered the same issue with a 2022 Highlander Hybrid we bought last October
Going to take it back to the dealer to see what they have to say.
I'm guessing it will be within some sort of tolerance metric of some kind and we'll just have to live with it. Now that I've noticed the difference, it bugs me that it's NOT the same on both sides!!
Also wondering how we missed this for the past 4 months??

 

Update . . . .
Dealership referred me a body shop down the street from them they use for all their body work
Body shop had a technician take a quick look at it.
He was bale to make and adjustment of some kind, and the gap on both sides of the liftgate is exactly the same!!

 

Coming from a Japanese built 2008 HL - the new ones made in the US just don't have the same quality from materials to assembly.