NHTSA Complaint #11597940 — 2021 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER

THE ENGINE COVER ASSEMBLY DETACHED FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY CAR WHILE DRIVING. SIMILAR TO THE EXISTING RECALL FOR THE FRONT LOWER BUMPER COVER ASSEMBLY. While pulling out of a parking lot, I noticed that there was a scraping noise under my car. Prior to parking at Jones Beach State Park, I was traveling on Ocean Parkway at a high rate of speed (50-60MPH) and it was a very windy day. I did not hit any obstructions or scrape the bottom of my car on anything. There was nowhere for me to pull over and as I sped up, the noise went away. When I got off the highway, the noise returned. When I got home, I looked under my car and there was a plastic piece dragging just in front of my front tires. I remembered I had received a notice about a Toyota recall related to the lower front bumper cover assembly and looked that up - it felt very similar to what I had experienced. When I got to the dealer, they told me it was not subject to the recall and the repairs on this would be $200 diagnostic plus $529.88 parts and labor. I was told I must have hit something to make it detach. I did not hit or scrape anything. My car has pretty good clearance, it would have had to be HUGE for me to hit or scrape it. I would have known.