2005 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER Complaints

MY TOYOTA HIGHLANDER 2005 WILL ACCELERATE BY ITSELF WHEN I START OUT AT A LIGHT MAKING IT REV THE ENGINE EXCESSIVELY. THIS HAPPENED ALOT WHEN I GOT THE CAR UNTIL LAST FALL I GOT FUEL SYSTEM CLEANED AND ALL CARBON REMOVED FROM LINES. IT WENT AWAY AFTER I GOT CARBON CLEANED OUT AND NOW IT HAS RECENTLY STARTED HAPPENING AGAIN. IT SOMETIMES MAKES MY FRONT TIRES SQUEAL. I HAVE ASKED THE JOE MEYERS TOYOTA IN HOUSTON, TX. ABOUT IT AND THEY SAY THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH MY CAR. I NEVER BROUGHT IT UP WITH THEM AGAIN. I NEED TO FIND OUT IF THERE IS ANY FIX FOR THIS PROBLEM ASAP SINCE THERE HAS BEEN ISSUES WITH THIS BEING WORSE AND CAUSING DEATHS. NOTE: AFTER BUYING THE CAR IN JAN 06 THE FLOOR MATS CONSTANTLY PUSHED FORWARD UPTO PEDALS SO I GOT MY HUSBAND TO USE A GROMMET ON THEM TO MAKE HOLES AND ATTACH VIA CLIPS FROM JOE MEYERS TOYOTA. NOW THEY DON'T MOVE. THIS WAS NEVER THE CAUSE OF THE ACCELERATION. IT WAS COMING FROM THE ENGINE - PEDAL WAS NOT STUCK. *TR

GOING UP HILL ON HWY 24 LEAVING GEO INTO TN IN RAIN AT 55 MPH AND TOOK FOOT OF GAS PEDAL IT DID NOT SLOW DOWN. I DRIVE A 2005 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER. *TR

2005 YEAR MODEL TOYOTA HIGHLANDER. THERE HAD BEEN A STEERING WHEEL "KNOCKING" SINCE ABOUT 5000 MI. IT COULD ONLY BE DETECTED WHEN GENTLY TURNING (WIGGLING) THE STEERING WHEEL. I TOOK IS TO TOYOTA DEALER SHORTLY BEFORE THE THREE YEAR FACTORY WARRANTY EXPIRED. THE WHOLE STEERING COLUMN ASSEMBLY WAS REPLACED. I WAS NOT TOLD WHAT THE PROBLEM WAS BUT IT COULD BE A SERIOUS SAFETY HAZARD IF THE CV JOINT IS DEFECTIVE. *TR

MY 2005 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER V6 4WD, WHICH I PURCHASED NEW, HAS BEEN EXPERIENCING A HESITATION/SHIFTING PROBLEM FOR NEARLY AS LONG AS I HAVE OWNED THE VEHICLE. WHILE THE PROBLEM DOES NOT ALWAYS OCCUR, IT IS QUITE PRONOUNCED WHEN IT DOES AND HAS RESULTED IN VERY DANGEROUS SITUATIONS. THE PROBLEM HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO THE DIRECT ATTENTION OF TOYOTA MOTOR SALES IN CALIFORNIA, AND THEIR RESPONSE HAS BEEN DISTURBINGLY POOR. THE TOYOTA DEALER THAT HAS BEEN SERVICING MY VEHICLE HAS BEEN VERY HELPFUL, BUT APPARENTLY CANNOT TAKE ACTION TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM WITHOUT CORPORATE AUTHORIZATION. HERE IS A SUMMARY OF THE PROBLEM: THE VEHICLE CANNOT ALWAYS DECIDE WHEN TO ACCELERATE FROM A STOP - THERE HAVE BEEN MANY INSTANCES OF INITIAL HESITATION/LACK OF ADEQUATE POWER UPON APPLYING THE GAS PEDAL. FOR EXAMPLE, I HAVE EXPERIENCED A DELAY OF A SECOND OR TWO WHEN APPLYING THE GAS PEDAL TO PROCEED. THIS HAS RESULTED IN SOME VERY CLOSE CALLS WITH ONCOMING TRAFFIC. ALSO, THERE ARE OCCURRENCES WHERE THE VEHICLE CANNOT SEEM TO DECIDE BETWEEN GEARS (IT WILL SOMETIMES JUMP UP/DOWN BETWEEN THE LOWER GEARS, SUCH AS 1ST TO 2ND GEAR AND/OR 2ND TO 3RD GEAR). FURTHERMORE, I HAVE NOTICED A GENERAL LACK OF ADEQUATE ACCELERATION/GAS PEDAL RESPONSE, ESPECIALLY DURING CITY DRIVING (IE. LOWER SPEEDS). MY LOCAL TOYOTA DEALER HAS RECORDS OF THE PROBLEM SINCE APPROXIMATELY 16,000 MILES (THE VEHICLE NOW HAS ABOUT 44,000 MILES). I BELIEVE THE ISSUE IS THE ECM, WHICH WAS REPROGRAMMED BUT THE PROBLEM RETURNED. BASED ON MY RESEARCH, I BELIEVE THE ECM MAY BE DEFECTIVE AND THAT REPLACING THE UNIT MAY SOLVE THE PROBLEM. TOYOTA WILL NOT REPLACE THE ECM. ABOUT A MONTH AGO, THE TOYOTA DEALER WAS ABLE TO VERIFY THE HESITATION PROBLEM DURING A SERVICE VISIT. HOWEVER, THEY COULD NOT DUPLICATE IT LATER WITH THE SCAN TOOL ATTACHED - THEY HAD THE VEHICLE FOR TWO DAYS TRYING TO GET A SNAP SHOT BECAUSE THE TOYOTA FIELD SERVICE TECHNICIAN TOLD THEM "NO REPAIRS ARE TO BE MADE UNTIL THE PROBLEM OCCURS MORE OFTEN." TW*

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2005 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER. WHILE ENTERING A PARKING SPACE, JUST BEFORE APPLYING THE BRAKE, THE VEHICLE ACCELERATED INTO A CONCRETE STEP. NO ONE WAS INJURED DURING THE CRASH BUT THE VEHICLE SUFFERED DAMAGE TO THE FRONT END. HE CALLED THE MANUFACTURER AND THEY COLLECTED ALL THE INFORMATION REGARDING THE INCIDENT. HOWEVER HIS VEHICLE WAS EXCLUDED FROM RECALL 09V388000 (VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL:ACCELERATOR PEDAL). THE CURRENT AND FAILURE MILEAGES WERE 40,892.

2005 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER 4X4 V6. THE STEERING BECAME JERKY WHEN TURNING AND ESPECIALLY WHEN GOING OVER BUMPS. THE INTERMEDIATE SHAFT ASSEMBLY HAD TO BE REPLACED TO FIX THE ISSUE. THE TECHNICIAN RESEARCHED IT AND THERE HAVE BEEN TWO TECHNICAL BULLETINS PUT OUT BY TOYOTA AND THEY HAVE REDESIGNED THE ORIGINAL PART SO THAT IT IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE AND HAS A NEW PART NUMBER. THE TOYOTA DEALERSHIP ALSO STATED THAT JUST LUBRICATING THE ASSEMBLY DOES NOT WORK. MY MECHANIC STATED THAT HE HAS FIXED A NUMBER OF THESE ON HIGHLANDERS, RAV4S, AND AVALONS. IN MY OPINION THE OLD PART ADVERSELY AFFECTS THE STEERING AND SAFE HANDLING OF THE VEHICLE AND SHOULD HAVE BEEN RECALLED BY TOYOTA WHEN THE PART WAS REDESIGNED. *TR

THE DRIVER'S SIDE SUN VISOR ON OUR 2005 HIGHLANDER IS FAILING TO HOLD POSITION FOR THE SECOND TIME. THE DEALER REPLACED THE VISOR AFTER THE FIRST FAILURE BUT HAS NOT REPLACED THE SECOND FAILING VISOR. THE VISOR FALLS TO THE FULL DOWN POSITION AND BLOCKS A SIGNIFICANT SHARE OF THE DRIVER'S FIELD OF VISION. *TR

DRIVER SIDE VISOR IS BLOCKING THE VIEW OF DRIVER. THE VISOR OF MY 2005 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER IS MALFUNCTION WHICH IS RESULT OF FLIPPING DOWN ALL THE TIME AND BLOCKING THE VIEW OF DRIVER, SPECIAL DURING THE NIGHT TIME OR RAINING. THIS FAULTY IS CAUSING US OF NEAR ACCIDENT SITUATIONS. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2005 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER HYBRID. WHILE APPROACHING A RED LIGHT, THE VEHICLE ACCELERATED TWICE BEFORE COMING TO A COMPLETE STOP. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALER BUT THE ISSUE HAS NOT BEEN REMEDIED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THE FLOOR MAT RECALL #06V253000. THE CONTACT IS AWARE OF THE SAFETY RISK SINCE HE COULD HAVE INJURED SOMEONE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 86,000.

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2005 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER. WHILE DRIVING 53 MPH SHE EXPERIENCED UNINTENDED VEHICLE ACCELERATION. SHE WAS ABLE TO DECELERATE. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER, AND A TECHNICIAN CONCLUDED THAT THE PLASTIC PANEL BEHIND THE AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM FELL OFF AND SUBSEQUENTLY FELL BETWEEN THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL; WHICH CAUSED THE PEDAL TO STICK. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGES WERE 23,000.