NHTSA Complaint #11539865 — 2010 TOYOTA CAMRY

My 2010 Camry has become incredibly unsafe to drive or be in due to the dashboard melting. There is an unbelievably unsafe glare caused by the dashboard reflecting sunlight and the more the dash melts the more intense the glare becomes. There is also a smell that renders the vehicle almost worthless on hot days and causes headaches. This is on top of not being able to clean the dashboard because you cannot touch it with anything. All bugs and any dust that land on the dashboard live there permanently. You cannot wipe it with anything. Your finger prints stay on the dash with the lightest touch and often it becomes so hot you cannot touch it without potentially burning yourself. The dash melting is a safety hazard to everyone on the roadways. There are likely millions of cars with this defective dashboard that have not been repaired. I have contacted Toyota several times, including executives and high ranking corporate employees, and they say that they will not replace or help with this defective and unsafe cheap component that they used in order to increase their margins. The problem has been acknowledged by Toyota but they failed to contact an incredibly high number of owners that are affected. I first noticed the glare in 2014 and it has gotten progressively worse. I took the vehicle to a toyota dealership twice (2016/2023) and they refused to fix the defective dash both times. They expect owners to pay $3,500-$5,000 for a dashboard repair on a vehicle that has 100k+ mile life left yet is only worth around $5,000. They are essentially totaling cars that owners have worked hard to maintain and get the most out of. Toyota is stealing 10+ years of vehicle life from many consumers and placing the burden of their profit margins increasing onto consumers that buy toyotas because of their longevity and reliability.