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.
My son was leaving a ski resort at the end of a ski day with his friend. He pulled out from the main lot onto an access road, was going maybe 5 or 10 MPH when there was a loud BANG and the engine stalled. He rolled to the side of the road, and tried to start the motor again, which it did, but the transmission wouldn't engage drive. After he called me at home I told him to look under the car, and he discovered chunks of metal and transmission fluid everywhere. I organized a AAA tow to the closest Toyota dealer an hour and a half South of the ski mountain in New Hampshire. I drove 2 and a half hours North from MA into NH to pick up him and his friend, and the next day spent hours on the phone talking with that dealer as well as a few local Toyota dealers regarding the cost of a new transmission.
Toyota had several in warehouses in the area - there were crated remanufactured transmissions FROM TOYOTA. Clearly they had them stocked as this was a regular issue. My time on the phone was spent negotiating the best price for that unit. If my memory serves me correctly I saved around $800 making those calls! I learned that remanufactured Toyota transmissions are only built by Toyota as they wish to be in complete control of the rebuilding process instead of independent shops.
So this ordeal cost us a hefty price. After factoring parts, labor, the tow truck, my round-trip to pick up the kids, and my one-way bus fare to Bow New Hampshire to collect the repaired Highlander, the cost was a little more than $5,000!!! CRAZY!! Who buys a Toyota expecting you're ever going to have to cough up 50% of it's residual value at 165,000 miles to have to replace the transmission?? Nobody!!
The reason for the failure was a leaking main seal on the transmission, which you can see evidence of in the photos. Important fact! - We ONLY had our local Toyota dealer where we bought that Highlander do the factory service on it. To this day they still work on it with 236,000 miles!! The one sign this failure was eminent was a strange winding noise from the engine bay one day I had started the car the week prior to leave my mum's house in Maine to drive our family back to Massachusetts. It was bizarre, and worrisome, and I had checked all my fluids and couldn't make sense of it. This made me realize - after the whole ordeal -that I had been under the car many times over the years to fix things, change the oil etc and was aware there was oil seepage from something on the underside of the engine and transaxle. I would occasionally point that out to the dealer on service visits, and they would always minimalize that as normal age related seepage.
JERKS!! This failure SHOULD NOT HAPPEN! And honestly I feel like I should get some money back but Toyota at the time pretended I didn't exist as the car was well beyond its powertrain warranty. So much for bulletproof Toyota reliability and faultless factory service!! I've been untrusting of them ever since.
This is my first Toyota after a lifetime of Ford products. Ford failed to take responsibility for a problem and recall the Explorers. This issue plus the 'reported' durability of Toyota facilitated the move. My problem now is I bought a 2014 Highlander before my first one gave up the ghost at 260K miles. That is not suppose to happen with regular maintenance. Very disappointed in Toyota. Searching for a new durable long-lasting vehicle manufacturer.
- Bobby H.,
Thomson, GA, US
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My son was leaving a ski resort at the end of a ski day with his friend. He pulled out from the main lot onto an access road, was going maybe 5 or 10 MPH when there was a loud BANG and the engine stalled. He rolled to the side of the road, and tried to start the motor again, which it did, but the transmission wouldn't engage drive. After he called me at home I told him to look under the car, and he discovered chunks of metal and transmission fluid everywhere. I organized a AAA tow to the closest Toyota dealer an hour and a half South of the ski mountain in New Hampshire. I drove 2 and a half hours North from MA into NH to pick up him and his friend, and the next day spent hours on the phone talking with that dealer as well as a few local Toyota dealers regarding the cost of a new transmission.
Toyota had several in warehouses in the area - there were crated remanufactured transmissions FROM TOYOTA. Clearly they had them stocked as this was a regular issue. My time on the phone was spent negotiating the best price for that unit. If my memory serves me correctly I saved around $800 making those calls! I learned that remanufactured Toyota transmissions are only built by Toyota as they wish to be in complete control of the rebuilding process instead of independent shops.
So this ordeal cost us a hefty price. After factoring parts, labor, the tow truck, my round-trip to pick up the kids, and my one-way bus fare to Bow New Hampshire to collect the repaired Highlander, the cost was a little more than $5,000!!! CRAZY!! Who buys a Toyota expecting you're ever going to have to cough up 50% of it's residual value at 165,000 miles to have to replace the transmission?? Nobody!!
The reason for the failure was a leaking main seal on the transmission, which you can see evidence of in the photos. Important fact! - We ONLY had our local Toyota dealer where we bought that Highlander do the factory service on it. To this day they still work on it with 236,000 miles!! The one sign this failure was eminent was a strange winding noise from the engine bay one day I had started the car the week prior to leave my mum's house in Maine to drive our family back to Massachusetts. It was bizarre, and worrisome, and I had checked all my fluids and couldn't make sense of it. This made me realize - after the whole ordeal -that I had been under the car many times over the years to fix things, change the oil etc and was aware there was oil seepage from something on the underside of the engine and transaxle. I would occasionally point that out to the dealer on service visits, and they would always minimalize that as normal age related seepage.
JERKS!! This failure SHOULD NOT HAPPEN! And honestly I feel like I should get some money back but Toyota at the time pretended I didn't exist as the car was well beyond its powertrain warranty. So much for bulletproof Toyota reliability and faultless factory service!! I've been untrusting of them ever since.
- Bill H., Hanover, MA, US