This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
On the Freeway off ramp, during the slow down- and down shifting-process the vehicle appeared to block the wheels and to skid for a short time. Also, the vibration feature that indicates loss of traction got activated for that time and the -€œslip indicator-€ warning light lit up (I do not know for how long). During the incident I felt not in control of the vehicle. Once the incident passed I retained control of the vehicle, yet the automatic transmission started to act very peculiar and frequently failed to downshift in a normal way which could only be achieved by intentionally taking pressure of the gas pedal, and only after the downshift had happened, more power cold be applied. Another brief and less pronounced perceived jolt happened on the short remainder of the drive home. Once parked at home I realized that the car would not engage when the lever was put in -€œreverse-€, but would engage when put in -€œdrive-€. I plan to have the vehicle towed to my Toyota service station and have it inspected/fixed.
When trying to merge with traffic at an onramp, the vehicle will frequently refuse to downshift to match traffic speed when doing 35-50mph. This has resulted in several close calls under these circumstances and I never know when this will happen. This forces a manual downshift that cannot always be in time. This same problem has been reported on numerous forums and some have reported having to "trick" the transmission into downshifting
When driving my Highlander the following error messages appeared, error keeping the start button pressed will cause an emergency stop. I dismissed this. Then it popped up a message that car cannot drive while brake and accelerator are pressed simultaneously. I lost ability to accelerate so tried to pull of busy road, pressing the brake pedal restored acceleration. Then when I stopped in traffic or at lights the car shut itself down and had to be restarted. These error messages kept coming on while I drove to the dealer. I switched off the car at the shop and it wouldnt repeat the problem, no codes have been recorded by the vehicles computer because the check engine light never came on. Toyota and the dealership want to wait until it happens again. Since it happened before, also while it was driving I am uncomfortable as it is a safety concern. I don't want it to happen on a busy highway. I believe the intelligent power module of the car is shorting out and causing the car to go into failsafe mode and shut down creating hazardous driving conditions.
The transmission has a flutter when trying to shift up or down to different gears. It causes a hesitancy in the performance of the vehicle. It has been documented by the caldwell Toyota dealership in conway, ar usa and I have also been told that it is in other Highlanders. I request a recall to have this fixed. Thank you
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- San Diego, CA, USA