23,216 visibility complaints across 1,486 vehicles. Visibility means windshield wipers, washers, defrosters, mirrors, and rear cameras. It also covers the famous Toyota Tundra and Tacoma rear backup camera recalls, the various Hyundai/Kia camera display failures, and a bunch of windshield delamination complaints on certain Honda and Nissan models. Wiper motor failures show up consistently across most makes — that's just how wiper motors fail eventually. Defroster grid failures (the heating element in the rear window) show up on Subaru, Honda, and Toyota at higher rates than expected. Backup camera failures are increasingly common as the original NHTSA mandate (all new cars 2018-plus required to have one) means those cameras are now aging out and beginning to fail in fleet. The vehicles ranked below have visibility problems as a dominant pattern. Repair costs vary widely — wiper motor is $200-$400, backup camera is $300-$700, windshield replacement is $300-$1,500 depending on whether you've got rain sensing, lane-keep cameras, or HUD calibration involved.
Visibility problems
23,216 owner complaints filed with NHTSA. 205 active recall campaigns.
Visibility problems by manufacturer 28 makes with aggregated detail
Drill into a single manufacturer's visibility record across all model years. Each page below carries data on the worst-affected year-models, active recalls, and editorial commentary from one of our contributors.
Worst-affected vehicles Top 25 by complaint volume
Most-recalled vehicles For visibility components
Recent owner reports 12 most recent in this category
You can't see clearly out the windshield while driving during the day or night due to dashboard reflection on the windshield. The defect is highly publicised on the internet and on Equinox EV forums. I was told it is an engineering defect due to the windshield's angle and cannot be fixed. I have asked Chevrolet to do a buyback because, even with…
1. Component/System Failure The rearview mirror became completely detached from its mounting on the windshield. The detached mirror is still available for inspection upon request. Subaru has declined my reasonable request to either repair it or reimburse me for the time and effort required to arrange and perform the repair. 2. Risk to Safety This…
Four cracks of varying lengths ranging from roughly one inch to four inches have spontaneously appeared on the drivers side of the windshield. These were first noticed when entering the car, not while driving. Cracks can be felt from the inside of the vehicle only. One crack appears to be jagged and looks black when looking through the windshield…
The windshield cracked with no obvious damage. The crack did not start at a chip. Cracked while not driving and no recent rock hits.
Driver side sun visor fell off hinge and was dangling from wire that powers vanity mirror. Plastic part holding it up seems to have fallen off. No screws there. Had to hold it in one hand until I could pull over and figure out how to stow it.
Sunroof shattered. We were traveling on I70 in eastern Colorado. The temperature outside was just below freezing and the temperature inside was set to between 72 and 78. We heard a loud bang and we were showered with broken glass. My wife, two sons and I received minor cuts. My wife possibly got some glass in her eye but seems to have gotten it…
Window Defrost and Passenger Heat /Air. While either in motion or while driving, no heated air exits the passenger side of the windshield defroster, nor the passenger window defrost, lower and center console vents. Heated air only exits the driver's side windshield and driver's side dash vents. Problem persists through all cabin air modes, and…
As with an overwhelming amount of other Ram trucks, my rear sliding window frame has cracked. This causes water to leak in through the crack when it rains. The water leaking in can damage the headliner and could cause an electrical short in the rear of the truck. An updated window with a metal frame would be much better than the OEM one and…
Visibility issues are nuisance until they're not. A backup camera failure isn't safety-critical until you're parking next to a kid you can't see.