2021 TOYOTA VENZA — Problems, Recalls & Safety Data

Left side of my heated steering overheated and burned through the leather.

A large crack appeared on the windshield of my 2021 Toyota Venza. Due to this being a safety issue when driving the vehicle, so I looked into having it repaired by a local shop. When the Venza was taken to the repaired, the repair shop notified me that the issue didn't originate from a rock/chip. The issue was with the windshield or the windshield installation. After a quick Google search, it came to my attention that this is a frequent issue with this year and make. There are class action lawsuits about this issue. This needs to be addressed by Toyota.

Primary Control/Head Unit Failure - I can no longer access any of the electronic functions of the vehicle due to the computer screen failure. The back up camera works, but when the vehicle is in drive, it's nothing but a strobing light trying to connect. It's a safety concern most at night due to the constant strobe effect coming across the screen every 3 seconds. It draws your attention from the road and/or gives you the impression that something is coming to hit you from the passenger side. Yes, the vehicle has been inspected and diagnosed by Toyota. Toyota is unwilling to admit their head unit is faulty and want me, the consumer, to pay out of pocket for the parts and the labor. No, the failure happened without warning. One day it was working fine and the next it was frozen and then "dead" with this strobe effect.

Primary Control/Head Unit Failure - I can no longer access any of the electronic functions of the vehicle due to the computer screen failure. The back up camera works, but when the vehicle is in drive, it's nothing but a strobing light trying to connect. It's a safety concern most at night due to the constant strobe effect coming across the screen every 3 seconds. It draws your attention from the road and/or gives you the impression that something is coming to hit you from the passenger side. Yes, the vehicle has been inspected and diagnosed by Toyota. Toyota is unwilling to admit their head unit is faulty and want me, the consumer, to pay out of pocket for the parts and the labor. No, the failure happened without warning. One day it was working fine and the next it was frozen and then "dead" with this strobe effect.

This report covers 2 events for the same problem. The first occurred in the spring of 2025 and I did not document the date or time. The second one occurred on November 10, 2025 @ about 10:15 a.m. (1) Last spring my wife was driving the Venza up the street to our residence going a slow rate of speed. As she approached the house, she took her foot off on the gas and coasted toward the left curb so she could back into our driveway. At that point, car suddenly surged forward and accelerated toward the curb. My wife rapidly applied the brake and averted any problem. (2) The second event occurred on November 10, 2025 @ 10:15 a.m. My wife was starting to park at a parking lot in the Tanasbourne Town Center. She was going to back into a parking spot so she drove forward going slightly left. Then, with the car still in drive, the car surged forward. She quickly stepped on the brake and the car stopped abruptly. (She was angling the car and was about ready to stop and put the car in reverse when this happened) Again, with her quick response braking, she was able to avert hitting person or thing. As to which component or system failed, there appears to be a random malfunction of sensors or perhaps the CPU...something that is calling for full throttle when the gas petal is not pushed. The safety risk is possible harm to the driver, outside property, or the worse situation would be harm to pedestrians that might be in the way of the car. We have not been able to reproduce the problem. The same maneuvers have been repeated 100's of times without incident. As of this writing, the vehicle is being taken to the Toyota dealer to have the oil changed and at that time they will be asked to do a thorough inspection of the systems that might cause this, check for any recorded malfunctions, etc. To the best of our knowledge, there were no warning lamps or messages that appeared.