2006 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER Complaints

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2006 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER. WHENEVER THE CONTACT ATTEMPTS TO APPLY THE BRAKES AT LOW SPEEDS, THE BRAKES BECOME UNRESPONSIVE, AND THE STOPPING DISTANCE INCREASES. THERE WERE NO WARNING INDICATORS PRIOR TO THE FAILURE. THE INTERMITTENT FAILURE WAS DIAGNOSED BY THE DEALER, BUT STILL PERSISTS. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 52,000 AND FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 46,000.

DURING ROUTINE MAINTENANCE OF MY VEHICLE, I WAS ADVISED THAT THE TIRE TREAD WAS SEPARATING AND THAT ALL OF THEM NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE MILEAGE ON THE TIRES WAS LESS THAN 16,000 MILES. THE TIRE MODEL IS TOYO TRANSPATH A11. *TR

FRIDAY EARLY MAY 2008, I CARRIED MY HIGHLANDER FOR IT'S 30K SERVICE AT 28K, DUE TO HESITATION, LURCHING, BACKFIRING AT TIMES AND POOR GAS MILEAGE. AT THE SERVICE, I WAS TOLD THEY CLEAN THE ACCELERATOR SENOR. THE VEHICLE RAN FINE GETTING 28 MILES PER GALLON, BUT NOTICE A CHANGE IN THE VEHICLE GROUNDING. I COULD HEAR THE ENGINE NOISE THOUGH THE RADIO SOMETIMES IN THE MORNING. THE ENGINE NOISE WAS ADDED FEATURE. I NOTICED THE ENGINE SHIFTING WAS SMOOTH UNTIL THE FOLLOWING TUESDAY. IT WAS RAIN TRAFFIC MEDIUM DRIVING 65 MPH. THE HIGHLANDER CONSUMED A QUARTER OF A TANK WITHIN 20 MILES. MY HIGHLANDER IS KEPT IN GARAGE NIGHTLY AND MOST OF THE DAY. I MAKE AN APPOINTMENT TO MY NEAREST TOYOTA DEALER ON 16MAY08 31K. THE LOCAL DEALERSHIP RESET MY VEHICLE?S COMPUTER BY CONNECTING THE BATTERY AND RECONNECTION. I WAS TOLD 2 WEEKS BEFORE HAND AT THE DEALERSHIP IT WAS A POSSIBLY OF VEHICLE ?S COMPUTER SOFTWARE NEEDING UPGRADING WHEN THEY CLEANED THE ACCELERATOR SENOR. TODAY, THE VEHICLE DOESN'T HAVE THE SMOOTH ACCELERATING POWER. FOR THIS VEHICLE, RIDING IN TRAFFIC CAUSES SERIOUS PROBLEMS DUE LACK OF POWER LURCHING, POOR GAS MILEAGE OR THE POSSIBLE OF LOSING CONTROL. NO COMPUTER TEST WAS COMPLETED. I CHANGE GAS STATION TYPES AND VARIOUS GAS TREATMENTS, IT ?S NOT THE GAS. I HAVE DRIVING AND WORKING ON CARS SINCE 1978 FROM ENGINE, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM AND BRAKES. I EVEN NOTICED WHEN THE HIGHLANDER IS FULL WITH GAS. THE VEHICLE SOMETIME COUGH OR DELAY. IS THERE A LEMON LAW THIS? *TR

VEHICLE STARTED TO LOOSE BRAKE PRESSURE WHEN GOING DOWN HILL OR MOVING AHEAD SLOWLY AS IN A FAST FOOD REST LINE. THE BRAKES WOULD HOLD AT FIRST THEN LOOSE PRESSURE TO A POINT WERE YOU HAD TO PUSH HARDER ON THE PEDAL TO MAKE THEM WORK. THIS WOULD HAPPEN ON A HILL WHICH WOULD TAKE YOU BY SURPRISE AND CAUSE THE CAR TO BE OUT OF CONTROL UNTIL YOU PUSHED HARDER ON THE BRAKE. IF A CAR WAS COMING FROM ANOTHER INTERSECTION YOU WOULD NOT HAVE TIME TO STOP YOUR CAR AND COULD CAUSE A ACCIDENT. WHILE IN A LINE AT THE DRIVE THRU THE BRAKE PRESSURE LET GO AND MY CAR HIT THE CAR IN FRONT THERE WAS NO DAMAGE AND THE OTHER DRIVER WAS NICE ENOUGH TO FORGIVE ME BUT THAT MIGHT NOT ALWAYS BE THE WAY. THE CAR WAS GOING IN FOR SERVICE THE NEXT DAY OR SO AND I EXPLAINED THE PROBLEM TO THE DEALER. THEY SAID IT WAS A NORMAL CONDITION OF THE HYBRID. THIS WAS AFTER THE TECH. PERSON DROVE THE CAR AND SAID HE FELT IT, HE ALSO DROVE ANOTHER HYBRID AND HE SAID THE SAME THING HAPPENED WHICH TO ME PROVES MY POINT. I CALLED TOYOTA THEY AND THE DEALER SAY THEY CANNOT FIX THE PROBLEM AND WILL DO NOTHING ABOUT IT. I TOLD THEM IT DID NOT DO THIS WHEN I FIRST BOUGHT THE CAR IT ONLY STARTED ABOUT 2 MONTHS AGO WHICH PROVES IT IS NOT A NORMAL CONDITION. *TR

DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY AT A SLOW SPEED DUE TO TRAFFIC, AROUND 20 MPH. THE CAR IN FRONT OF ME UNEXPECTEDLY CAME TO A COMPLETE STOP. I HAD 2 CAR LENGTHS AND PUT ON THE BRAKES, BUT THE CAR NEVER "GRABBED"--I JUST SLOWED AND COASTED INTO THE BACK OF THE CAR AHEAD OF ME. BECAUSE THE ABS ON A HYBRID DOES NOT KICK IN UNTIL THE CAR REACHES 25 MPH, MY CAR WAS BUSY REGENERATING POWER FROM THE BRAKES RATHER THAN DOING A QUICK, EMERGENCY STOP. NOW I AM LIABLE FOR THE DAMAGE TO THE CAR AHEAD OF ME THAT I REAR-ENDED, AND I AM CONCERNED THAT I WOULD NOT STOP PROPERLY IF A CHILD RAN IN FRONT OF ME ON A NEIGHBORHOOD STREET. THIS HAS BEEN SUBMITTED AS A PROBLEM WITH THE TOYOTA PRIUS AS WELL ON HYBRIDCARS.COM FORUM. *TR

COMPLETE BRAKE FAILURE WITHOUT WARNING ON THREE SEPARATE EPISODES IN THE PAST TWO MONTHS. BRAKE MASTER CYLINDER REPLACED BY DEALER. BRAKES AGAIN SERVICED BY DEALER, BUT I AM NOT AWARE OF WHAT WAS DONE. BY LUCK ONLY, THE FAILURES OCCURRED IN LOCATIONS WHERE TRAFFIC COULD SWERVE TO AVOID HITTING US, OR WE HAD ROOM TO GO OFF OF THE ROAD AND HIT A SNOW BANK OR COAST TO A STOP. *TR

2006 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER 4WD. THE TRANSMISSION IS A 5 SPEED AND IT CONTINUOUSLY DOWNSHIFTS EVEN ON THROTTLE WHEN UPHILL AND ON FLAT ROAD HIGHWAYS THE VEHICLE IS CONTINUOUSLY GEAR HUNTING. WHEN I NEED IT TO MOVE WITH FULL THROTTLE IT SEEMS EVEN TO SHIFT INTO HIGH GEAR AND ALWAYS GET A FEELING I MAY GET REAR ENDED. IF THE THROTTLE IS PUSHED FURTHER THE VEHICLE BUCKS INTO HIGH GEAR MAKING IT VERY UNCOMFORTABLE AND UNPREDICTABLE AS TO THE RESPONSE TO HIGHER THROTTLE. *TR

THE STEERING WHEEL SUDDENLY PULLED TO THE LEFT IN THE DIRECTION OF ONCOMING TRAFFIC, THEN TO THE RIGHT AND LEFT VERY QUICKLY. MY HUSBAND HAD TO STEER WITH HIS ARMS BRACED AGAINST HIS KNEES TO DRIVE IT DOWN TO THE DEALER, WHERE THEY TOLD HIM THAT THE STEERING ASSIST MOTORS WERE NOT GETTING THE INFORMATION FROM THE DRIVER PROPERLY AND SO WERE PULLING THE CAR IN RANDOM DIRECTIONS. IF SOMEONE WITH LESS UPPER BODY STRENGTH (LIKE ME) HAD BEEN DRIVING, THE CAR WOULD HAVE GONE RIGHT INTO ONCOMING TRAFFIC. THE HIGHLANDER WILL BE AT THE DEALER FOR A WHILE; THEY CAN'T TELL US HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE TO FIX IT. WE ARE HOPING THAT THE REPLACEMENT ASSEMBLY WILL NOT DO THE SAME THING. *TR

I ACCELERATED TO AVOID A COLLISION AT LOW SPEED IN AN INTERSECTION. THE CAR HESITATED ABOUT 2 SECONDS AFTER I PRESSED THE GAS PEDAL, THEN LURCHED FORWARD, SPINNING THE DRIVE WHEELS. THE LENGTH OF DELAY OR HESITATION IN RESPONSE TO ACCELERATOR INPUT IS FREQUENTLY THERE, BUT IS SOMEWHAT UNPREDICTABLE, MAKING STOP-AND-GO TRAFFIC PERFORMANCE DANGEROUS. POOR PERFORMANCE OF THE CRUISE CONTROL FUNCTION IS PROBABLY RELATED TO THIS DEFECT. THE CAR WAS RETURNED TO THE DEALER FOR SERVICE AT 1500 MILES. THE DEALER DID A THOROUGH CHECK OF THE EQUIPMENT AND FOUND NO DEFECTIVE PARTS. DEALER STATES THAT THERE ARE NO SERVICE BULLETINS FOR THIS PROBLEM, IN SPITE OF THE FACT THAT TOYOTA HAS ACKNOWLEDGED THIS PROBLEM AND PROMISED TO FIX IT SINCE DECEMBER 2004. THIS IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM. HAD THE PAVEMENT BEEN WET, I COULD HAVE LOST CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE. FORTUNATELY, IN THE INCIDENT DESCRIBED, THE OTHER DRIVER WAS ABLE TO AVOID A COLLISION. NEXT TIME, I MIGHT NOT BE SO LUCKY. *TR

LAST SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2007, I WAS DRIVING MY 2006 HIGHLANDER HYBRID AT HORMIGUEROS, PR (ZIP CODE 00660), WHEN SUDDENLY THE VEHICLE'S STEERING GOT REALLY STIFF. IT ALL HAPPENED AT A CRUISING SPEED OF 40-45 MILES PER HOUR WHEN SUDDENLY THE VEHICLE'S TURNING WHEEL GOT HARD AND IT GOT REALLY DIFFICULT TO CONTROL. I SURELY GOT THE SCARE OF MY LIFE. I EXPERIENCED SOME DIFFICULTIES WHILE TRYING TO STOP THE VEHICLE AND PARK IT IN A SAFE PLACE. THE VEHICLE'S CONTROL PANEL INDICATED THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE: VERIFY THE HYBRID SYSTEM. WE TOOK IT THE SAME DAY TO THE NEAREST DEALER (THE ONE THAT I ALSO BOUGHT THE VEHICLE) TOYOTA DEL OESTE, LOCATED AT HORMIGUEROS, PR (00660). MY VEHICLE HAS RECEIVED EVERY SERVICE RECOMENDED BY TOYOTA SINCE I BOUGHT IT. IN OCTOBER 19, 2007 TOYOTA DEL OESTE GAVE ME A QUOTE (NUMBER PQ2105) FOR $5,957.45 FOR THE REPAIRING COSTS OF MY VEHICLE. THE QUOTE SPECIFIED A TRANSAXLE ASSY FOR $4867.71, PLUS $700 FOR 14 LABOR HOURS AND A LOCAL TAX OF $389.74. THE DEALER INDICATED THAT ONCE THE TRANSAXLE WAS REPLACED IT WILL HAVE ONE YEAR ONLY WARRANTY. THEY ALSO INDICATED THAT THE TRANSAXLE ASSY WAS NOT PART OF THE HYBRID SYSTEM SO THE WARRANTY CAN NOT COVER THE REPAIR COSTS (MY VEHICLE HAD APROX. 66,000 MILES. ACCORDING TO TOYOTA, WARRANTY FOR HYBRID COMPONENTS IS 8 YEARS / 80,000 MILES). MY CONCERNS: 1) HOW I, AS A CONSUMER, MAKE SURE THAT TOYOTA IS NOT MAKING ME PAY FOR A DEFECT THAT MY VEHICLE MAY HAVE FROM THE FACTORY? 2) HOW I AM GOING TO BE SURE THAT IF THEY REPLACE THE TRANSAXLE ASSY I WILL NOT BE EXPOSED AGAIN TO AN UNSAFE SITUATION RELATED WITH A SIMILAR PROBLEM (REMEMBER THAT A LARGE PERCENTAGE OF ROADS ACROSS THE ISLAND OF PUERTO RICO ARE BUILT OVER MOUNTAINS). 3) HOW DO I REALLY MAKE SURE THAT THE DEALER IS TRULY MAKING ME PAY FOR A COMPONENT THAT IS NOT PART OF THE HYBRID SYSTEM AND CAN NOT BE COVERED BY THE WARRANTY (REMEMBER THAT, ALTHOUGH OTHER MANUFACTURERS MAYBE AVAILABLE, HYBRID TECHNOLOGY IN PUERTO RICO IS DOMINATED BY TOYOTA. *TR