NHTSA Complaint #763369 — 2003 TOYOTA COROLLA

I JUST BOUGHT THIS CAR, AND UNFORTUNATELY CAN'T RETURN IT. THE REAR HEADRESTS ARE HUGE, BLOCKING ABOUT 1/3 OF THE VIEW OUT THE REAR WINDOW AND MAKING BACKING UP AND LANE-CHANGING RISKY. SIMILAR COMMENTS ARE FOUND BY OTHERS ON INTERNET CAR REVIEW SITES. RELYING EXCLUSIVELY ON MIRRORS SHOULD NOT BE REQUIRED. CAN THEY ISSUE SMALLER REAR HEADRESTS? I AM VERY CONCERNED ABOUT HITTING SOMEONE. IF I HAD A BIG BOX IN MY REAR VIEW AREA, BLOCKING A SIMILAR SPACE, I PROBABLY WOULD GET TICKETED BY THE COPS FOR A SAFETY VIOLATION. WHY IS THIS NO DIFFERENT? I ALSO WONDER IF, BECAUSE OF THIS VISIBILITY PROBLEM, I WILL BE ABLE TO UNLOAD THIS CAR ON ANYONE BUT A TOYOTA DEALER WHEN I SELL IT . (ANOTHER PROBLEM: THE "A" PILLAR (BETWEEN WINDSHIELD AND LEFT WINDOW) IS HUGE, BUT I MAY GET USED TO IT, AS I SUSPECT MY PROBLEM IS DUE TO HAVING DRIVEN AN OLDER CAR FOR MANY YEARS. SOME LEFT-SIDE TRAFFIC (E.G., CYCLISTS, CHILDREN) THAT MIGHT FALL INTO THIS "BLIND SPOT" AND THE VIEW WHEN MAKING LEFT TURNS TYPICALLY ARE OBSCURED BY THE THICKNESS OF THIS AREA. IF I WERE TALLER, PUTTING THE SEAT BACK WOULD HELP, BUT UNFORTUNATELY THAT PUTS ME TOO FAR FROM THE PEDALS. THOUGHT I'D MENTION THIS, IN CASE OTHERS HAVE TROUBLE WITH IT.*AK