2022 Toyota Tacoma

In March, 2022, we had ice that coated the car and the driveway of my residence that led to schools being closed. The next day conditions were better, and on my way home from work I noticed that the passenger side view mirror had developed a strange crack that at first made me think that a sticker had been placed on the mirror. When I examined it closer, I found it to be a crack in the mirror that I tend to think was the result of the icing from the previous day. My concern is that the crack will spread and make the mirror unusable. I discussed this with my service advisor at Wilde Toyota in Milwaukee on 4/11/22 and told him that I felt the crack was a manufacturers defect. The advisor told me that they would not cover the damage as a defect, but that he had taken photos and sent the information to Toyota for consideration. The paperwork provided to me did not confirm or state that anything had been sent to Toyota.

I purchased my vehicle (Toyota Tacoma TRD PRO) on September 23, 2022 and identified issues with all of the exterior cameras immediately. I scheduled an appointment with Toyota to inspect the problem with blurry cameras on September 29, 2022, but they advised that all 2022 vehicles have similar blurriness issues. I also own a 2018 Toyota Highlander that has a much more crisp image, so I know Toyota has a problem with the cameras. Fast forward to approximately November 20, 2022 when my first problem occurred. I was backing into a parking space that had a shopping cart that was left on the sidewalk behind my parking space. Knowing that I was clear to park, I proceeded to back into the space, but as I started to back up, the already blurry camera flared up because of the direct sunlight and I could not observe anything. It so happens that the shopping cart started to roll towards my parking spot and hit the bumper of my truck, because of the high tailgate I was not able to observe this moving cart in my mirrors. Because of the flared and blurry camera image, I could not see the cart and the minor collision occurred. There was no damage to either my truck or the cart, but this could have been a child or animal and could have resulted injury or loss of life. As I have learned, this particular camera cannot be relied upon for the safe viewing behind the vehicle as it was intended. As my vehicle is equipped with multiple front, side, and rear cameras and they are all blurry, I would presume the problem lies somewhere with the computer or image controlling board that the cameras are attached to. This issue has not been inspected by the police or insurance company as no loss occurred and there were not faults indicated on the vehicle. Toyota did state that this was the normal operation for all 2022 vehicles and I presume this is a widespread issue what will inevitably have dire consequences down the road. Please evaluate and encourage Toyota to produce a fix.