Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| SERVICE BRAKES | |||
| 01/10/2009 | |||
| The right front brake of my 2008 toyota highlander popped loudly when i backed up. it sounded and felt like the brake locked up. this problem seemed to have already existed since the day i purchased the brand-new vehicle in december 2008, and it got worse and worse. therefore, i took the vehicle to a toyota dealer for insepction and the they said, there is nothing wrong with the brake. it is normal and is just that the break is shifting. however, i asked them why the popping sound only came from the right front brake. they avoided my question and did not answer. as my concerns over the brake grew more and more, i took my vehicle to the same dealer again, but they said, my vehicle is out of warranty and i have to pay $45 to have it re-checked. i told them that when my vehicle was inpected for the problem the first time, it was still under warranty, and the problem never went away; instead, it became even worse. however, they still insisted that i had to pay in order to have it inspected again. i was so disappointed i left the dealership. at the time of this writing, the right front brake still makes a loud, annoying popping sound when i back up my vehicle, which makes me worry that the brake could malfunction anytime when i am on the road. | |||
| 08/10/2012 | 70000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2008 toyota highlander. the contact stated that while driving 55 mph and applying the brakes to avoid crashing into a deer, the brakes seized and the vehicle failed to respond. as a result, the contact lost control of the vehicle and crashed. the contact mentioned that none of the air bags deployed. as a result, the driver and a passenger sustained minor injuries. a police report was filed. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the contact was able to drive the vehicle away from the scene. the failure and current mileage was 70,000. pmb | |||
| 08/10/2012 | 70000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2008 toyota highlander. the contact stated that while driving at 55 mph some deers crossed in front of the vehicle and caused the vehicle brake control to not operate properly which lead the vehicle to crash. when the vehicle crashed none of the air bags were deployed. the driver and the front passenger were injured, but no one was taken to the emergency room. the police was not notified. the dealer was not notified. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the vehicle was drivevaible from the scene of the crash. the failure and current mileage was 70,000. lg | |||
| SERVICE BRAKES, ELECTRIC | |||
| 08/16/2008 | 80000 | ||
| I received a vsc error code, on a 2008 toyota highlander, not the hybrid model, but a limited top of the line model. the vehicle starts to accelerate by itself & then when you slam on the brakes to try to stop it, it fails to stop. in order to avoid slamming into the vehicle in front of me & to the right of me, i chose to turn left hard & run into the concrete divider. this was the 2nd occasion that this type of failure has happened to me. the 1st time was on december 15, 2010 & i also chose to turn left hard & strike the divider instead of rear ending the vehicle in front of or side swiping the vehicle to the right of me. on the 1st occasion, none of the airbags deployed & because of that i ended up striking my head on the either the drivers side glass or some hard object and losing my short term memory. the vehicle & then crossed 3 lanes of traffic, finally off of an exit ramp & came to rest after striking a fence pole. the 2nd time it happened was on august 16, 2010. i also chose to strike the concrete divider as opposed to striking the vehicle in front of me or to the right of me. then somehow i also crossed 3 lanes of highway & finally coming to rest after striking a light pole. the driver side curtain airbag did deploy this time so i did not lose consciousness nor did i lose my short term memory. it was at that point that i noticed that a 2nd error code also came up stating brake failure. | |||
| 03/01/2008 | 100 | 1 | |
| Our 2008 toyota highlander has had the same intermittent braking problem since we purchased it in 2008. when we brake for the first second or so of depressing the brake pedal the brakes will either not respond or there will be a slight surge in acceleration. after further depression of the brake pedal, the brakes will engage, but the initial engagement is not smooth. it feels like someone that has braked their vehicle too rapidly. this issue comes and goes. when we take it to the dealer, they say they cannot recreate the issue and say there is nothing wrong with the vehicle. *tr | |||
| SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC | |||
| 04/07/2011 | 53000 | ||
| Tl* the contact owns a 2008 toyota highlander. while driving approximately 25 mph and applying pressure to the brakes, the contact noticed that the vehicle continued to accelerate. the vehicle was towed to the dealer where they performed a diagnostic test which concluded that the brake booster had burst and would need replacing. the dealer performed the repairs and the manufacturer paid fifty percent of the repair costs. the approximate failure mileage was 53,000. | |||
| 04/07/2011 | 53000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2008 toyota highlander. while driving approximately 25 mph, applying pressure to the brakes, the contact noticed that the vehicle continued to accelerate. the vehicle was towed to the dealer where they performed a diagnostic test which concluded that the brake booster had burst and needed replacing. the dealer performed the repairs and the manufacturer paid half the cost of the repairs. the approximate failure mileage was 53,000. bw | |||
| 08/17/2010 | 23000 | ||
| I was involved in a car accident on 08/17/2010 while driving my 2008 toyota highlander that has 23000 miles on it. the accident caused me total damage to my car and put my life in danger due to failure in the break/acceleration system on the car. the car did not stop but accelerated even though when i was pressing the break which caused me to hit a truck that was passing in front of me. i explained to the emergency crew that the accident was because of failure of the break/and acceleration system on the toyota car and i explained the same thing to the police officer who was presented on the scene. i like to mention here that the toyota dealer sent me a note of defection about my car prior to the accident and i took the car to the dealer shop and spent 2 hours there to have it fixed. the car now is at the state farm insurance and i can email/send you the car pictures after the accident. | |||
| 10/13/2008 | 10245 | ||
| Noted recently on mycarstats.com six complaints registered with nhtsa regarding 2008 highlander brake problems and five complaints registered with nhtsa regarding 2008 highland electric problems that involve brakes and electronic controls. i am submitting the following experiences with my 2008 highlander because they mirror many of the complaints. the brakes on my highlander have been an issue from the first weeks of ownership. i have taken the car to a local toyota dearlership and complained about the brakes. the dealership did adjust the emergency brake which they indicated was out of adjustment but have stated that the brakes are working normally. my specific complaint is brake response. there is roughly an inch of pedal travel before the brakes begin to respond. if one must make a hard emergency stop the vsc control will engage. on one occasion, while driving in town a car ran through a traffic light in front of me. i hit the brakes hard - the vsc light came on - and the car slowly stopped. there was no accident but it was extremely close. i have found that if i routinely press on the brake pedal until the vsc light comes on that the pedal travel is reduced. i took the highlander to aaa auto diagnostics and they confirmed the pedal/vsc. aaa was unable to read the highlander computer because they did not have the proprietary toyota computer interface. the local toyota dealer has stated that the depressed pedal and vsc light response is normal. i also noted complaints of sudden acceleration when putting the car into gear. i have never experienced a surge to the degree mentioned in the complaints referenced above, however, while putting the car into drive with my foot on the brake i have had the car surge forward. i now always have the emergency brake on while putting the vehicle into drive. the date listed below is that of my first complaint to the local toyota dealer. | |||
| 01/12/2010 | 30000 | 1 | |
| Recently i was involved in a minor rear-end accident. the impact speed was approx 10-15 mph and light to moderate damage was done to my vehicle, which is a 2008 highlander. prior to this accident i noticed my anti-skid braking system activated at a point i would consider to be premature. this premature activation limits the braking power of the vehicle when it is needed. this problem was brought to the attention of south county toyota in costa mesa, ca and they stated the vehicle was operating to specification. i am still concerned about the issue and would like to have it evaluated by a toyota motors rep while i am present. i do believe this premature activation of the anti-skid system was a contributing factor in my recent accident and it may have been prevented if the full braking power was available. at the time of the accident the streets were dry and it had not rained in several weeks. the vehicle suffered moderate front end damage which has since been repaired. toyota was notified of the accident and they have failed to correct the issue or admit there is anything wrong with the vehicle. as of right now i can duplicate the brake fade/ issue 100% of the time. *tr | |||
| 01/06/2010 | 29000 | 1 | |
| We have a 2008 toyota highlander with intermittent failure of the anti-lock brakes and vehicle stability control system (abs/vsc). for no apparent reason, the abs/vsc will malfunction and brakes operate incorrectly. it is an intermittent problem that comes an goes. we have almost had an accident in the snow in ohio. we have had the car into the dealer 4x without resolution since nobody knows what is wrong. it has been an ongoing issue since it started jan 2010. *tr | |||
| 12/15/2008 | 3 | ||
| I have toyota highlander 2008 from aug 2008. this car has a problem with braking. first winter it was unsafe to park car on shopping parking, because of close proximity to other cars. highlander was not stopping, it continued moving with my leg on the brake pedal. this car was not slowing down. i drove many different suvs from rental companies, like chevy trail blazer, gmc acadia, jeep two different models, but never had any problems with brakes. i went to the dealership three times and each time they told me they cannot do anything. i'm used to this car now, but braking still not good. it requires deep pressure on the pedal and car is stopping longer. *tr | |||
| 01/02/2010 | 10000 | 1 | |
| Left and right rear brakes stay engaged when applied and will not disengage for up to 2 minutes after released. i was told that the mechanism (apparently the calipers) was corroded. *tr | |||
| 01/23/2010 | 16144 | 1 | |
| Brake failure on 2008 toyota highlander: i turned car on & shifted into reverse to back out of parking space. there was no resistance on the brake pedal. car rolled backward & would not stop. i applied emergency brake and car stopped. when e-brake was on i tested to see if there was pressure on the brake pedal - there was none. at this point i put car into park and turned off engine, waited a few minutes and restarted engine. still no brake pressure and shifter would not come out of park position. i turned the engine off and then on again and released emergency brake. at this point the car shifted out of park and there was pressure in the brake pedal. i drove vehicle safely to nearest toyota dealership (where vehicle was purchased). computer check indicated no problem with brakes. manual/visual check revealed a gap leaking brake fluid between the master cylinder and the brake booster , both of which were subsequently replaced by the dealership. *tw | |||
| 09/27/2008 | 1 | ||
| Toyota 2008 highlander-braking system hesitates like the prius is described. it freezes up and doesn't react as quickly as it is pushed. this is ongoing. *tr | |||
| 09/09/2009 | 44000 | 1 | |
| No previous braking problems experienced. first heard an airy sound when braking then soft brake pedal and then almost complete brake failure. dealer found a vacuum leak in brake booster. repair was replacement of the brake booster. *tr | |||
| 03/09/2009 | 3799 | 1 | |
| Brake pedal spongy at low engine operating speeds. *tr | |||
| SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC - POWER ASSIST - VACUUM | |||
| 09/09/2009 | 44000 | 1 | |
| No previous braking problems experienced. first heard an airy sound when braking then soft brake pedal and then almost complete brake failure. dealer found a vacuum leak in brake booster. repair was replacement of the brake booster. *tr | |||