2007 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER HYBRID Complaints

I HAVE OWNED A 2007 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER HYBRID FOR SEVERAL YEARS. I BOUGHT THE CAR USED AND WAS NEVER NOTIFIED OF A SAFETY RECALL WARRANTY EXTENSION FOR THE ANTILOCK BRAKING SYSTEM (ABS MODULE). THE KNOWN DEFECTIVE PART FAILED 6 MONTHS AFTER THE EXTENSION EXPIRED AND WAS NEVER NOTIFIED OF THE RECALL. LOCAL DEALER NOW STATES THE REPAIR WILL COST $2500 WHICH IS ABOUT WHAT THE CAR IS ACTUALLY WORTH. THIS IS MY HIGHSCHOOL DAUGHTER'S CAR AND THE LIABILITY OF THE ABS MODULE & BRAKES FAILING COULD BE SIGNIFICANT. THE CAR IS OTHERWISE DRIVABLE AND THE BRAKES WORK ALTHOUGH THE ABS MODULE CONTINUES TO LIGHT UP THE VSC WARNING LIGHT ON THE LED MONITOR IN THE DASH. MY HOPE IS TO FIND SOME GOODWILL THROUGH TOYOTA OR POSSIBLY THE PART MANUFACTURER, HOWEVER HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO DO SO TO THIS POINT.

THE ABS BRAKE PUMP LEAKS. IT'S A $2000 REPAIR. THERE WAS A RECALL, BUT I NEVER GOT THE RECALL LETTER. THE RECALL EXPIRED 8 MONTHS AGO AND TOYOTA WON'T HONOR IT, EVEN THOUGH THEY CONFIRMED THEY SENT THE RECALL LETTER TO THE FORMER OWNER, 17 MONTHS AFTER I PURCHASED THE CAR. THEY DID NOT SEND THE LETTER TO THE REGISTERED OWNER ON FILE WITH THE STATE, THEY SENT IT TO THE ADDRESS THEY HAD ON FILE WITH TOYOTA.

WHILE DRIVING UNDER NORMAL CONDITIONS, ALL DASH LIGHTS WENT ON SAYING CHECK VSC SYSTEM, ABS, BRAKE LIGHTS, WARNINGS AND TRACTION. TOOK VEHICLE TO SERVICE AT TOYOTA DEALER AND WAS TOLD THE ABS ACTUATOR ASSEMBLY HAS TO BE REPLACED, FOR NEARLY $2500. THIS IS A VEHICLE WITH UNDER 65,000 MILES ON IT AND THE ACTUATOR SHOULD LAST FOR THE LIFE OF THE VEHICLE. I JUST HAD THE RADIATOR REPLACED AND BRAKES REPLACED TWO MONTHS AGO. THIS PROBLEM WAS NOT DETECTED. BRAKES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN SOFT ON THIS VEHICLE. NOW THE BATTERY IS NOT CHARGING AND THE BRAKES ONLY SEEM TO WORK OFF AND ON. I HAVE TO PUMP THE BRAKES TO MAKE THEM WORK RIGHT. THIS IS A HUGE SAFETY PROBLEM AS ALL OF MY DRIVING IS IN THE CITY IN TRAFFIC. FROM READING ONLINE THIS IS A PROBLEM THAT OCCURS FREQUENTLY WITH THIS TYPE OF TOYOTA HIGHLANDER AND OTHER MODELS. I DON'T FEEL SAFE DRIVING IT AND I CAN'T AFFORD TO FIX IT. IT'S BARELY WORTH THE COST OF REPAIRING IT. IF THIS IS A KNOWN PUBLIC SAFETY ISSUE WHY DOESN'T TOYOTA RECALL THIS PART? THE SERVICE PERSON TOLD ME THE BRAKES MAY NOW FAIL AT ANY TIME, IN A DAY OR IN TWO WEEKS. HE TOLD ME TO AVOID OTHER VEHICLES ON THE ROAD!

CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON YESTERDAY WHILE DRIVING. WE WERE TOLD THIS MORNING THAT WE MUST REPLACE THE FUEL SYSTEM CHARCOAL CANISTER. THIS ITEM IS UNDER RECALL FOR MANY TOYOTA VEHICLES 2006-2015, BUT THEY DID NOT TELL ME THAT IT IS COVERED ON MINE. HE SAID THERE IS A CRACK AND WHEN THEY REPLACE THE CANISTER THEY NEED TO REPLACE THE FUEL CONTAINMENT VALVE AS WELL. CAN YOU PLEASE CONFIRM IF MY VEHICLE IS COVERED UNDER THE RECALL? MY VEHICLE IS ACTING PERFECTLY FINE.

MY BRAKE ACTUATOR BEGAN MAKING NOISES AND VIBRATING WHILE STILL COVERED BY THE SECONDARY WARRANTY. I TOOK IT INTO LOCAL TOYOTA DEALERSHIP, AND WAS TOLD THAT DESPITE THE SOUND AND VIBRATION THE CAR HAS TO THROW THE PROPER WARNING CODES TO BE COVERED. WHEN MY REAR WINDOW MOTOR OVERLOADED AND FAILED, IMMEDIATELY THE VSC/BRAKE/ABS WARNING LIGHTS ALL CAME ON THE DASHBOARD. I BELIEVE THAT THE BRAKE ACTUATOR HAS BEEN BAD FOR AWHILE, BUT ONLY AN UNRELATED ELECTRICAL SURGE CAUSED THE ECU TO TRIP THE BRAKE ACTUATOR ERROR CODES. I'M GRATEFUL THAT TOYOTA RESPONDED TO PREVIOUS COMPLAINTS BY EXTENDING THE WARRANTY -BUT THE DELAY IN TRIPPING THE ERROR CODE COST ME 6 MONTHS OF DRIVING WITH THE PULSATING AND POUNDING BRAKE NOISE AND ALLOWED MY SECONDARY WARRANTY TO EXPIRE.

"BRAKE ACTUATOR ASSEMBLY WARRANTY ENHANCEMENT" WHICH CAN CAUSE THE ABS AND VSC WARNING LIGHTS TO ILLUMINATE WITH CODES C1391, C1252, C1253 AND/OR C1256 MAY BE FOUND IN THE ABS ECU. TOYOTA HAD TWO WARRANTY ENHANCEMENTS FOR THIS ONE 6/12/2007 - 6/12/2017 AND THE SECOND ENDED 12/31/2017. WE HAD MIDAS AUTO SERVICE EXPERTS DO A BRAKE EVALUATION ON 11/25/2017, WHICH SHOWED CODES C1241, C1256 AND C1391. WE HAD THE EVALUATION DONE BECAUSE AFTER BREAKING THE CHECK VSC SYSTEM AND ABS AND BRAKE LIGHT CAME ON. WE HAVE THE PAPERWORK FROM MIDAS. IT WAS ALSO BROUGHT TO THE ATTENTION OF THE TOYOTA DEALERSHIP SALESPERSON THAT SOLD US THE CAR ON 12/20/17 AND HE DOCUMENTED IT ON HIS TOYOTA LAPTOP. THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT WAS ALSO CONTACTED BUT DID NOT REVEAL THERE WAS A WARRANTY ENHANCEMENT FOR THIS PROBLEM ONLY QUOTED TO REPLACE IT WOULD BE APPROXIMATELY $2500.00. THIS IS STILL A KNOWN PROBLEM AND THERE HAVE BEEN MULTIPLE CASES OPENED FOR THIS PROBLEM. I OPENED CASE 1801083723 ON 1/8/2017 AND ANOTHER 1804032206. TOYOTA TOLD ME BECAUSE THE CASE WAS OPENED AFTER 12/31/2017 AND THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT DID NOT RUN A DIAGNOSTIC ON IT THERE IS NOTHING THEY CAN DO UNDER THE WARRANTY ENHANCEMENT EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE PROOF FROM MIDAS (A THIRD PARTY) THERE WAS AN ISSUE ON 11/25/2017 AND THE TOYOTA SALES ASSOCIATE HAS NOTES IN REFERENCE TO IT AS WELL ON 12/20/17. THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS DUE TO NOT BEING ABLE TO STOP AND SINCE IT IS A KNOWN PROBLEM TOYOTA SHOULD OPEN UP ANOTHER WARRANTY ENHANCEMENT AND BE LIABLE TO REPAIR THESE VEHICLES AS THEY ARE BROUGHT IN. TOYOTA DID RUN A DIAGNOSTIC ON IT 3/28/2017 AND HAD THE SAME PROBLEM AS IT DID ON 11/25/2017 WHEN MIDAS RAN THE EVALUATION ON IT.

BRAKE ACTUATOR ASSEMBLY ENHANCER/ABS MODULE WENT OUT IN 11/2017. TOYOTA HAD A WARRANTY ENHANCEMENT ON THIS THAT ENDED IN 12/31/2017. THIS WENT OUT IN 11/2017, BUT WAS NOT DIAGNOSED AT A TOYOTA SERVICE DEPARTMENT, BUT THE SVC DEPT WAS CALLED ABOUT IT.. IT WAS DIAGNOSED AT MIDAS. A CASE WAS OPENED WITH TOYOTA ON 1/8/2018. TOYOTA IS SAYING THEY WILL NOT HONOR THE WARRANTY BECAUSE IT IS PAST THE 12/31/2017 DATE. THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE WITH THESE TYPE OF VEHICLES AND SHOULD BE FIXED BY TOYOTA.

MY AIRBAG ON THE DRIVERS SIDE HAS JUST STOPPED WORKING. I CALLED TOYOTA AND THEY JUST SAY ITS A 10 YEAR OLD CAR AND AIRBAGS STOP WORKING. THIS IS A HUGE SAFETY CONCERN. ALSO MY HORN IS AFFECTED BY IT TOO, BECAUSE THAT HAS STOPPED ALSO. THESE THINGS HAVE STOPPED OVER A YEAR AGO. BEING THAT MY VEHICLE IS A BATTERY POWERED CAR, PEOPLE DO NOT HEAR THE ENGINE MUCH AND THE PROBABILITY OF A ACCIDENT IS HIGHER.

CAR WAS PARKED IN DRIVEWAY AND WAS STATIONARY. WARMING CAR UP TO GET RID OF FROST ON WINDSHIELD. THE CAR STARTED ON FIRE - TOTAL LOST. 3 TO 4 FEET FLAMES COMING OUT OF ENGINE.

THE GAS TANK FELL PARTIALLY OFF AND DRAGGED ON THE ROAD. I WAS DRIVING ON CITY STREETS, TURNING RIGHT AT 5 MPH WHEN I HEARD A LOUD POP/SNAP SOUND AND THEN A TERRIBLE SOUND OF SOMETHING DRAGGING UNDER THE CAR. FORTUNATELY, I COULD PULL OVER AND STOP WITHIN 50 FEET. THE GAS TANK WAS NOT DAMAGED SIGNIFICANTLY (IT PASSED A PRESSURE TEST AT THE DEALERSHIP). THE GAS TANK IS ATTACHED WITH TWO STRAPS, FORE AND AFT. THE RIGHT SIDES OF BOTH STRAPS SNAPPED VERY CLOSE TO WHERE THE STRAPS ARE BOLTED TO THE MAIN BODY IN A PLACE THAT COULD NOT HAVE POSSIBLY BEEN DAMAGED. THE FLAT BED TRUCK DRIVER WHO DELIVERED THE VEHICLE TO BERKELEY TOYOTA NOTED THAT THERE WERE NO SIGNS THAT THE VEHICLE HAD BEEN ABUSED IN ANY WAY. HE ALSO ARGUED THAT HAD THIS HAPPENED ON THE FREEWAY AT HIGH SPEED, IT COULD HAVE BEEN QUITE DANGEROUS.