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CarComplaints.com Notes: 2008 is the first year of the 2nd generation Highlander, & it may be a model year to avoid as Toyota most likely worked out some production quality issues with the new model.

The 2009 Highlander is the has far fewer complaints.

1.9

hardly worth mentioning
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
84,600 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

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.

2008 Toyota Highlander fuel system problems

fuel system problem

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2008 Toyota Highlander Owner Comments

problem #8

Nov 042022

Highlander

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The Hybrid inverter failed on the car instantly stopping the car without any sort of warning what so ever. Car did not have a limp mode or any way to get the car off to the side of the road. It stopped in the traffic lane and had to be pushed out of harm's way. A search shows like it's becoming a common problem, $12,000 to fix it is another problem.

- Sandy, OR, USA

problem #7

Jul 242022

Highlander

  • miles
No nothing has been inspected I didn-??t even know it had a recall all my lights on my truck are on now

- Daly City, CA, USA

problem #6

Jan 192021

Highlander

  • miles
On January 19, 2021, after driving for about two hours, I suddenly started to hear an unusual knocking noise from the engine. I slowed down, but I was unable to pull over immediately because I was driving on a very dark two lane highway, with no safe shoulder. After the same noise continued for about five to ten minutes, a light began to flash indicating extremely low oil pressure, and warning that the car should stop immediately. At that point, fortunately, I was able to pull over at a gas station, where I discovered that oil was gushing from my engine onto the ground. I checked my oil dipstick and noted that the car had no oil, and was thus inoperable. I was extremely concerned that the engine had been damaged while being driven with little to no oil. In 2014, Toyota issued a notice of a Warranty Enhancement Program -?" ZE2, related to extending warranty coverage for repairs related to a leaking or seeping engine oil cooler pipe. I never received any owner notification of this issue in 2014. Toyota refused to pay for the repair in 2021, and now in November 2021, the engine has quit due to the damage incurred in January 2021. The engine oil cooler pipe is defective and my family could have been seriously injured or killed by its catastrophic failure.

- Portland, OR, USA

problem #5

Sep 112020

Highlander

  • 151,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

2008 Highlander hybrid limited check engine light came on and showed code P0A1B - drive motor 'a' control module, the code was cleared manually and the check engine light went off, the next day the light came back on after driving about 3 miles then parked. The next day the light went off on its own as we took it to the Toyota dealership and has not been back on since driving it there and back, the dealership said they drove around a little and the light never came on, we brought it home and have driven about 7 miles without the light coming on. According to the local Toyota dealership and corporate Toyota there are no recalls for our VIN but it is showing all signs of the inverter assembly recall that affected 235,000 vehicles in the recall. Toyota quoted the repair at $9000+ and even though it has the symptoms of the recalled vehicles they will not fix it because it is not on the recall list and there is nothing they can do. The repair cost is more than the value of the car.

- Bountiful, UT, USA

problem #4

Jul 062020

Highlander

  • 160,000 miles
Highlander hybrid 2008 we were driving on a country back road. In Idaho, we had just stopped at a stop sign and went to drive forward after going around 100-200 meters and the car lurched forward while I was driving and then the screen with all the warnings began going off. All of them saying pull over tot the side of the road and that all the systems were failing. All the warnings said things to take the car to dealer. We pulled over to the side of the road and then tried to get the car to move forward by putting it in drive and you could hear the car trying to do something but nothing happened. The car did turn on but that was it.

- Star, ID, USA

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problem #3

Sep 292016

Highlander

  • 115,800 miles
While my wife was driving the vehicle straight (she believes she was traveling under 25 mph as she came to a red light) on a busy road the vehicle made a beeping alert sound and the display rotated through the following messages: " (!) check brake system- have your vehicle checked by a dealer, brake brake malfunction- stop the vehicle in a safe place immediately and contact dealer, ABS check ABS- have your vehicle checked by a dealer, check vsc system- have your vehicle checked by a dealer." Luckily she was within a mile or two of my home and was able to get it there safely. She took photos of the warning lights with her cell phone. They are attached. We drove it to a local Toyota dealership and they informed us that the ABS accumulator/actuator was internally leaking and needed to be replaced. We drove it home where we parked it for several weeks. In the meantime, I called Toyota's customer service and explained the issue and that I had seen recalls online for the previous two year models and asked if the replacement would be covered on our 2008. The Toyota representative agreed to submit information to the local dealer to cover $1000 of the cost as a warranty service. They informed me that if there were many complaints and a recall issued that we could later be reimbursed for the remaining amount. I understood that my informing them of the issue would be passed on to those who investigate these matters to determine what would become a recall item but we now see that our complaint is not listed on the NHTSA website, thus the slow reporting of this issue. The repair cost was $3273.78 for parts (after the $1000 assistance discount) and $490.50 for labor, plus a $40 enviro fee and tax.

- Albuquerque, NM, USA

problem #2

Apr 142017

Highlander

  • 160,000 miles
It was raining and the interior of the car was taking in water. Toyota claimed from cracked tail light but tail light had not been leaking before. Water in back of car ruined hybrid battery and transitors. After looking up issue. Found others who have had same problem. The car just shut off after the dash warning lights came on. Lucky my wife had just pulled into a parking lot.

- Dixon, CA, USA

problem #1

May 042015

Highlander

  • 90,000 miles
The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Highlander. While attempting to accelerate, the vehicle hesitated and the check engine light illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The technician diagnosed that the fuel pump needed to be replaced. The technician stated that the fuel pump failing was a known issue. The vehicle was then put through a stress test and the service department kept and drove the vehicle. The service manager stated that the failure was not the fuel pump and that there was an issue within the system once the vehicle warmed up that caused the vehicle to lose power. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 90,000.

- Parker, CO, USA

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