2008 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER Complaints

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER HYBRID(NA). HE EXPERIENCED PREMATURE TREAD WEAR ON THE TIRES. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED, AND HE WAS ADVISED TO REPLACE HIS SET OF TIRES. HOWEVER HE SPECULATES THAT THE FRAME OF THE VEHICLE WAS CAUSING THE TIRES TO FAIL. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 14,000. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 10,000

I OWN A 2008 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER LIMITED. AFTER DRIVING 25K MILES, I NOTICED A VIBRATION IN MY STEERING. I THEN NOTICED MY TIRES TREAD ON ALL 4 TIRES WORN DOWN TO ALMOST 2/32" OF TREAD DEPTH REMAINING. I HAVE ORIGINAL TIRES: OPEN COUNTRY A20 P 245/55R19 103S. I CALLED TOYO TIRE CONSUMER RELATIONS DEPT. AND THEY SAID THERE IS NO MILEAGE WARRANTY ON THE ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT. THEY OFFER 30% DISCOUNT ON NEW SET OF TIRES INSTALLED AT TIRE DEALER CENTER. NEW TIRES, AFTER DISCOUNT WILL COST ABOUT $900, BUT THEY ON THE BACK ORDER AND BECOME AVAILABLE ONLY BY THE END OF DECEMBER 2009. I FORCED TO KEEP DRIVING MY CAR WITH BAD TIRES.THEY DON'T OFFER ANY REPLACEMENT TIRES FOR THIS ODD SIZE, MANUFACTURED ONLY FOR THIS CAR. THESE TIRES CREATE A HAZARD TO ME, MY FAMILY AND PUBLIC SAFETY, ESPECIALLY DRIVING IN THE NORTH-EAST AREAS. I HAVE NEVER HAD A NEW VEHICLE THAT NEED NEW TIRES WHEN IT IS BARELY TWO YEARS OLD. I TRY TO REPLACE THIS TIRES BEFORE I HAVE AN INCIDENT. I HAVE NOTICED NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS ABOUT THESE TIRES ON VARIOUS WEB SITES. ALL TOYOTA HIGHLANDER OWNERS VERY DISAPPOINTED AND LOST. MANY TRY TO CHANGE TIRE SIZE TO MORE COMMON USED, WHICH WILL VOID POWER-TRAIN WARRANTY AND COULD CREATE MORE OF SAFETY PROBLEMS. I HOPE YOU FIND THIS SITUATION VERY DISTURBING AND POTENTIALLY SAFETY HAZARDOUS AND WILL LEAD TO YOUR INVESTIGATION AND CORRECTION. *TR

WE HAVE LEASED A 2008 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER FOR 22 MONTHS. THE TOYO A 20 TIRES ARE SO WORN WITH NORMAL DRIVING THEY WILL NOT PASS STATE INSPECTION. NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS APPEAR ONLINE REGARDING THIS MATTER. NO ONE WANTS TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS MATTER. THERE IS OBVIOUSLY A DEFECT WITH TIRE OR CAR. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER. WHILE DRIVING IN REVERSE OUT OF A PARKING GARAGE, THE ALL-WEATHER FLOOR MAT SHIFTED UNDER THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL AND CAUSED IT TO STICK WHICH CAUSED HIM TO CRASH INTO THE GARAGE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A COLLISION CENTER AND REPAIRED AT AN ESTIMATED COST OF $4,000. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 4,957. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS UNKNOWN.

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN, ON SEPTEMBER 11TH, 2009 WE DROVE FROM ORANGE COUNTY TO KERNVILLE FOR A WEEKEND TRIP. 120 MILES INTO OUR JOURNEY WE WERE O IN THE MOJAVE DESERT ON HIGHWAY 395 WHEN I OVERTOOK ANOTHER CAR AT APPROXIMATELY 75MILES PER HOUR. AS I GOT BACK INTO LANE, I ATTEMPTED TO DEPRESS THE BRAKE TO SLOW BACK DOWN BUT THE CAR CONTINUED TO ACCELERATE. MY WIFE WAS SITTING BESIDE ME. PERPLEXED, I LOOKED DOWN AT THE PEDALS AND TOLD MY WIFE THE CAR WOULD NOR SLOW DOWN, AS I CONTINUED TO TRY AND DEPRESS THE BRAKE PEDAL. AT EACH ATTEMPT TO DECELERATE THE ENGINE WHINED ALARMINGLY BUT THE CAR CONTINUED TO ACCELERATE. I TRIED SEVERAL TIMES TO PRESS AND RELEASE THE ACCELERATOR FOLLOWED BY RETURNING MY FOOT TO THE BRAKE. AT NO TIME DID THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL APPEAR TO BE HINDERED OR RESTRICTED IN ANYWAY. THE CAR CONTINUED TO ACCELERATE. AT 95MILES PER HOUR I FORCED DOWN BOTH THE BRAKE PEDAL AND THE EMERGENCY/ HAND BRAKE AT THE SAME TIME FORCING THE CAR TO SLOW DOWN, ALL THE WHILE THE ENGINE CONTINUED TO REV UP. AS WE APPROACHED STOPPING SASKIA PUSHED THE GEAR STICK INTO PARK AND WE BOUNCED AND SHUDDERED TO A HALT. IT WAS TERRIFYING. THE CHILDREN DID NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT WAS GOING ON AND WERE COMPLETELY PANICKED BY THE SITUATION, SCREAMING AND CRYING AS WE TRIED TO STOP THE CAR. BOTH SASKIA AND I WERE VISIBLY SHAKEN. WE TOOK A SHORT BRAKE AND THEN GINGERLY ATTEMPTED TO MOVE FORWARD AGAIN. THE CAR APPEARED TO BE WORKING AND WE SLOWLY ACCELERATED BACK ON TO THE HIGHWAY ATTEMPTING SEVERAL TIMES TO STOP AND BRAKE TO MAKE SURE THAT THE CAR WAS WORKING PROPERLY. IT WAS IMMEDIATELY APPARENT THAT THE BRAKES WERE NOT WORKING PROPERLY THOUGH STILL FUNCTIONAL. THEY WERE TAKING LONGER TO STOP AND THERE WAS A GRINDING SOUND AND SHUDDERING VERY TIME WE TRIED TO SLOW DOWN. WE WERE MUCH CLOSER TO OUR DESTINATION THAN TO HOME AND DECIDED IT MADE SENSE TO CONTINUE AND HOPE THAT WE COULD CALL THE DEALER THE NEXT DAY. *TR

KNOWN DEFECTS OF TOYO TIRES ON 2008 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER. TIRES SHRED TREAD IN LITTLE PIECES. TOYOTA DEALER HAS A SHEET DESCRIBING THE DETAILS. TOYO KNEW THE TIRES WERE DEFECTIVE. THEY WAITED UNTIL THE OWNER NOTICED AND COMPLAINED. THE TIRES WEAR OUT VERY QUICKLY. THE TIRES SHOULD HAVE BEEN RECALLED AND REPLACED. INSTEAD TOYO APPLIED THEIR WARRANTY. WITH 80% CREDIT, MY COSTS WERE$252.25 SINCE THE TIRES WERE KNOWN TO BE DEFECTIVE, THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN REPLACED AT NO CHARGE TO ME. *TR

I PURCHASED A 2008 HIGHLANDER BY TOYOTA. AFTER DRIVING 20K MILES , I NOTICED A VIBRATION IN MY STEERING. I THEN NOTICED MY TIRES BELTS WERE SEPARATING AND THE TREAD ON ALL WAS WORN DOWN TO ALMOST ZERO. I TOOK MY CAR TO THE DEALER WHERE IT WAS PURCHASED AND THEY SAID THERE IS NO MILEAGE WARRANTY. YET MY UNDERSTANDING WAS 60 MONTHS. WHEN I READ IT AGAIN IT SAID 60 MONTHS OR THE AMOUNT OF TREAD LEFT. NEW TIRES $900. THESE TIRES ARE A HAZARD TO PUBLIC SAFETY. I HAVE NEVER HAD A NEW VEHICLE NEED NEW TIRES WHEN IT IS BARELY ONE YEAR OLD. THE TIRES WERE REMOVED BEFORE I HAD AN INCIDENT. I HAVE NOTICED NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS ABOUT THESE TIRES ON VARIOUS WEB SITES. *TR

NO PREVIOUS BRAKING PROBLEMS EXPERIENCED. FIRST HEARD AN AIRY SOUND WHEN BRAKING THEN SOFT BRAKE PEDAL AND THEN ALMOST COMPLETE BRAKE FAILURE. DEALER FOUND A VACUUM LEAK IN BRAKE BOOSTER. REPAIR WAS REPLACEMENT OF THE BRAKE BOOSTER. *TR

WHEN THE FRONT OF THE CAR IS ON A DOWNWARD SLOPE AND IT IS SHIFTED INTO REVERSE IT WILL ROLL FORWARD THE SAME AS A MANUAL TRANSMISSION WILL DO WHEN THE CLUTCH IS DEPRESSED. THE BRAKE HAS TO BE APPLIED WITH ONE FOOT WHILE THE OTHER FOOT IS PRESSING ON THE ACCELERATOR. THE COULD CAUSE INJURY AND OR PROPERTY DAMAGE IF PARKED CLOSE TO PERSON OR PROPERTY. THE SLOPE ANGLE DOES NOT HAVE TO BE A STEEP INCLINE FOR THIS TO OCCUR. THE TOYOTA DEALERSHIP WAS NOTIFIED OF THE ISSUE AND STATED THEY WERE NOT AWARE OF THIS AS A PROBLEM AND IT WAS A NORMAL OCCURRENCE FOR THE CAR TO ROLL FORWARD. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER HYBRID. THE VEHICLE WAS PURCHASED NEW IN DECEMBER OF 2008. THE CONTACT NOTICED PAINT CHIPPING FROM THE DRIVER'S SIDE DOOR AND REAR DOOR. SHE ALSO NOTICED CORROSION UNDERNEATH THE PAINT. SHE TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER AND THEY STATED THAT THE CORROSION WAS CAUSED BY BRAKE DUST. THEY STATED THAT THEY COULD GIVE THE VEHICLE AN ACID WASH. THE CONTACT WILL NOTIFY THE MANUFACTURER. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 1,300 AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 15,000.