2008 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER Complaints

TL* THE CONTACT OWNED A 2008 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER. WATER LEAKED INTO THE VEHICLE'S CABIN ON THE DRIVER'S SIDE CAUSING THE RUGS TO BECOME DRENCHED AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC DETERMINED THAT THE VEHICLE'S DRAINING SYSTEM FOR THE SUNROOF WAS CLOGGED THE CONTACT WAS CONCERNED ABOUT HER SHOES GETTING WET AND APPLYING THE WRONG PEDAL WHILE DRIVING, CAUSING AN ACCIDENT THE CONTACT OPENED THE DRIVER'S SIDE DOOR AND NOTICED THAT THE CARPET WAS DRENCHED. THE VEHICLE WAS PURCHASED IN JANUARY 2020. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO THE DEALER, BUT AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC THAT DETERMINED THAT THE WATER WAS ENTERING THE CABIN THROUGH THE SUNROOF. THE CHANNEL THAT DRAINED THE SUNROOF WAS CLEARED, BUT THAT DID NOT CORRECT THE ISSUE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 144,450.

I HAVE TOYOTA HIGHLANDER HYBRID 2008. MY CAR IS GIVING A SOUND UNDER THE HOOD WHENEVER I HIT THE BRAKE. NO MATTER THE CAR IS HALT OR MOVING. INITIALLY TOYOTA SERVICE GUYS SAID THAT THE SOUND IS EXPECTED AND NOTHING WRONG MY CAR. YESTERDAY THEY WERE TELLING THAT THE "ABS ACTUATOR" IS BAD AND HAS TO BE REPLACED NOW OR LATER. THE ESTIMATED COST TO FIX THE PROBLEM IS $3000. I HAVE READ ONLINE ABOUT THE SIMILAR CASES. I REQUEST TO TOYOTA TO RECOGNIZE THE ISSUE AND ISSUE A RECALL TO REPLACE THE PART "ABS ACTUATOR ASSY". THE ATTACHED URL DESCRIBE THE SIMILAR ISSUE AND AT YOU CAN HEAR THE SOUND IN THE YOUTUBE URL: HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=WVFUMDZLE4Y&FEATURE=YOUTU.BE

RECENTLY WE'VE GOT A BUNCH OF WARNING LIGHTS ON THE DASHBOARD OF OUR CAR INDICATING A BRAKE SYSTEM MALFUNCTION AND URGING US TO STOP THE VEHICLE IN A SAFE LOCATION. THE BRAKES WERE STILL WORKING AND WE WERE ABLE TO CAREFULLY AND SAFELY DRIVE HOME. AFTER SCANNING THE CAR FOR ABS ERROR CODES AND DOING A QUICK ONLINE SEARCH, I REALIZED THAT THE BRAKE BOOSTER PUMP ASSEMBLY AND ACTUATOR ASSEMBLY FAILED IN OUR CAR.

SRS AIRBAG WARNING LIGHT ON VEHICLE MONITOR ALARMS ONCE THE CAR IS STARTED AND REMAINS ALARMED AT ALL TIME.

BRAKE ACTUATOR ASSEMBLY AND BRAKE BOOSTER PUMP ASSEMBLY (PROBLEM KNOWN TO TOYOTA FOR THIS AND OTHER MODELS,) FAILED, LEADING TO DASH MESSAGES: MASTER WARNING, ABS WARNING, BRAKE SYSTEM WARNING (BRAKE MALFUNCTION: STOP THE VEHICLE IN A SAFE PLACE IMMEDIATELY AND CONTACT A DEALER), SLIP INDICATOR. BRAKE PEDAL FUNCTION SEEMS LIMITED, AND DANGEROUS. ALL WARNINGS COME BACK UPON SHUTTING OFF AND RESTARTING VEHICLE.

THE DRIVER SIDE SUNVISOR WILL NOT STAY UP OUT OF PLACE WHEN NOT NEEDED. WHEN DRIVER IS DRIVING ESPECIALLY IF BRAKES ARE USED THE VISOR FALLS BLOCKING VIEW AND IS QUITE DANGEROUS. VISOR WILL NOT STAY UP.

ON MY WAY HOME ON SATURDAY NIGHT, ABOUT 2 TO 3 STREETS FROM MY HOUSE, MY DASH STARTED TO SAY LOW FUEL. I CONTINUED TO DRIVE HOME BECAUSE I WAS SO CLOSE. I GET HOME AND JUMPED OUT OF THE VEHICLE TO LISTEN TO MY CAR AND EVERYTHING SOUNDED GOOD. I SHUT THE CAR OFF. ON MONDAY MORNING, I WALKED OUT AND NOTICED ALL THE OIL IN THE CAR HAD LEAKED OUT OF THE CAR ONTO MY DRIVEWAY. I IMMEDIATELY CALLED TOYOTA AND THEY SAID THEY WOULD SEND A TOW TRUCK. THE TOW TRUCK DRIVER ARRIVED AND CHECKED THE OIL WITH THE DIP STICK. SINCE THERE WAS NO OIL IN THE VEHICLE, WE DID NOT START THE ENGINE. HE TOWED THE CAR TO TOYOTA (WHERE I HAVE ALL MY WORK DONE INCLUDING INSPECTIONS-WHICH THE LAST ONE WAS DONE 3 WEEKS PRIOR TO THIS INCIDENT). THE TOYOTA MECHANICS LOOKED AT THE VEHICLE. THEY CALLED ME AND SAID A HOSE UNDER THE ENGINE HAD CRACKED CAUSING THE OIL TO LEAK OUT. THEY HAD TO ORDER THE PART AND IT WOULD FIXED AND READY BY TUESDAY. THE PART DIDN'T COME IN AS EXPECTED AND THE CAR WAS NOT FIXED UNTIL WEDNESDAY. I LEFT WORK ON MY BREAK TO PICK UP THE VEHICLE WEDNESDAY NIGHT WHEN THEY CALLED AND SAID IT WAS READY. I PICKED UP THE VEHICLE FROM TOYOTA AND DROVE BACK TO WORK. ON THE WAY, I NOTICED A NOISE COMING FROM THE ENGINE BUT ASSUMED IT WAS OK SINCE IT WAS JUST FIXED. AFTER MY SHIFT (THURSDAY MORNING), I CAME OUT AND STARTED THE CAR. IMMEDIATELY AFTER STARTING THE VEHICLE, A LOUD BANGING NOISE CAME FROM THE ENGINE. I CALLED TOYOTA AND HAD THEM TOW THE VEHICLE BACK TO TOYOTA. THEY LOOKED AT THE CAR AND CALLED ME AND STATED THE ENGINE HAD BLOWN AND THAT IT WOULD COST $7000 TO REPLACE. THEY SAID I COULD KEEP THE VEHICLE THERE UNTIL I DECIDE WHAT TO DO.

I SENT A LETTER TO TOYOTA MOTOR SALES USA AFTER BEING REFUSED SERVICE AT A LOCAL DEALER TO RESOLVE A SAFETY ISSUE, WITH NO REPLY. WHILE PRESSING BRAKE WHEN STARTING I GOT A COUPLE OF ERROR MESSAGES THAT SAID TO CONTACT A TOYOTA DEALER. I DID SOME VERY DETAILED RESEARCH INTO THIS PROBLEM AND WHAT OTHERS HAD ENCOUNTERED. I FOUND THE ERRORS WOULD ONLY SHOW WHEN THE 12 VOLT BATTERY WAS GETTING LOW ON CHARGE. THE BRAKE BOOSTER PUMP IS ONE OF THE SUSPECT ITEMS DRAINING THE BATTERY BECAUSE IT CONTINUES TO RUN LONG AFTER THE VEHICLE IS PARKED. SINCE I DON'T HAVE THE TOOLS TO CHECK THE CURRENT DRAW ON THIS OR IF IT IS EVEN SUPPOSED TO RUN LONG AFTER THE VEHICLE IS SHUT OFF, I WANTED MY TOYOTA DEALER TO CHECK THIS. THERE IS A " CUSTOMER SUPPORT PROGRAM NOTIFICATION - ZKC" RELATED TO THIS FOR THE BRAKE ACTUATOR ASSEMBLY AND BRAKE BOOSTER PUMP ASSEMBLY. I SPECIFICALLY REQUESTED THAT THEY CHECK OUT THE ELECTRICAL COMPONENT OF THE BRAKE BOOSTER PUMP EVEN IF NOT COVERED BY WARRANTY. I ALSO TOLD THEM ABOUT THE ERRORS ONLY OCCURRING ON A LOW 12 VOLT BATTERY CHARGE. THEIR DIAGNOSIS SHOWED AN ERROR CODE OF POAA6 AND ONLY THE WARNING LIGHTS AND ERROR MESSAGE IN THE CAR DISPLAY. THEY NOT ONLY DECIDED THIS WAS NOT COVERED BY WARRANTY BUT ALSO IGNORED MY SPECIFIC REQUEST TO TEST THE BRAKE SYSTEM AT MY EXPENSE. NO ATTEMPT AT CHECKING BRAKES OR 12 VOLT CHARGING SYSTEM. I WAS TOLD THEY WOULD HAVE TO OPEN THE INVERTER TO CHECK THAT WITH THE KNOWN OUTCOME THAT THIS INVERTER IS NOT REPAIRABLE BUT WOULD HAVE TO BE REPLACED AT A COST OF $10,000.. NEW 12V BATTERY INSTALLED. COMPUTERS CAN MALFUNCTION IF NOT GIVEN THE DESIGN OPERATING VOLTAGE! I HAVE TROUBLE BELIEVING THAT THERE IS A "HYBRID BATTERY VOLTAGE SYSTEM ISOLATION FAULT" DUE TO THE FACT THAT THE ON BOARD COMPUTER DOES NOT REPORT THIS MESSAGE WHEN OPERATING ON A FULLY CHARGED 12 VOLT SYSTEM - IN OTHER WORDS OPERATING UNDER NORMAL CONDITIONS.

TOYOTA JUST DENIED OUR CLAIM FOR THE REIMBURSEMENT FOR THE BRAKE ACTUATOR ASSEMBLY CUSTOMER SUPPORT PROGRAM (MALFUNCTION OF THE BREAK ACTUATOR ASSEMBLY IN 2008 HIGHLANDER HYBRID). SUPPOSEDLY THE REPAIR PERFORMED ON OUR VEHICLE "DOES NOT MEET THE CRITERIA FOR REIMBURSEMENT". INTERESTING. PROBLEM WITH OUR VEHICLE WAS EXACTLY WHAT THE CUSTOMER SUPPORT PROGRAM ZKC IS FOR. THEY HAVE BEEN PLAYING GAMES WITH US FOR ALMOST 3 MONTHS. WE SENT THEM THE COMPLETE DOCUMENTATION SEVERAL TIMES (THEY TRIED TO CLAIM SOMETHING WAS ALWAYS MISSING). NOTHING WAS MISSING. WE ARE THE ORIGINAL OWNERS OF THE VEHICLE AND HAVE KEPT EVERY RECEIPT, EVERY DMV DOCUMENT, EVERY CREDIT CARD STATEMENT... WE KEPT RE-SENDING THEM THE DOCUMENTS; SOME OF THEM AS MANY AS 4 TIMES. INTERESTING, WHEN I CALLED THEM, THEY HAD THE DOCUMENTS ON FILE. THEY JUST DO NOT WANT TO PAY; WAY TOO OBVIOUS. TOYOTA REPS ARE HORRIBLE ACTORS... WE ARE NOT GIVING UP. WE WILL BE CALLING AND E-MAILING THEM UNTIL THEY REIMBURSE US. IF THEY DO NOT, WE (AND OTHER PEOPLE IN OUR VERY EXTENDED FAMILY) WILL NOT BUY A TOYOTA VEHICLE AGAIN. SO SHORTSIGHTED BY TOYOTA: SAVE $3700 BUT LOSE SEVERAL CUSTOMERS... THE WARNING LIGHT CAME ON IN DECEMBER 2015. IT TOOK TWO TRIPS TO TOYOTA DEALER (AND $3700) TO HAVE THIS FIXED.

UPPER STEERING COLUMN DETACHED FROM STEERING SHAFT WHILE VEHICLE WAS IN MOTION, IMMEDIATELY AFTER DRIVER ADJUSTED THE TILT FEATURE. VEHICLE WAS ON INTERSTATE HIGHWAY TRAVELING 70 MPH WHEN INCIDENT OCCURRED. DRIVER WAS ABLE TO SLOW VEHICLE DOWN AND REATTACH STEERING WHEEL. NO CRASH OR INJURIES RESULTED. AFTER INCIDENT, DRIVER VISITED TWO DIFFERENT TOYOTA DEALERSHIPS TO INQUIRE ABOUT ANY BULLETINS OR NOTICES REGARDING THE ISSUE. BOTH DEALERS COULD NOT FIND ANY BULLETINS OR NOTICES. VEHICLE APPEARS TO HAVE PREVIOUS FRONT-END DAMAGE FROM PREVIOUS CRASH, AS EVIDENCED BY MISALIGNED FRONT BUMPER COVER.