Recalls
| Campaign | Manufacturer | Manufacturing date | Type | # of units affected | Date Owner notified Mfg | Recall Initiated by | Manufacturers of recalled vehicles/products | Report Recieved Date | Record Creation Date | Regulation Part Number | FMVSS Number | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | ||||||||||||||||
| 11V342000 | TOYOTA MOTOR NORTH AMERICA, INC. | from 02/16/2005 to 08/29/2006 | V (Vehicle) | 82273 | 01/05/2012 | ODI | TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION | 06/29/2011 | 06/29/2011 | |||||||
| Defect Summary | Toyota is recalling certain model year 2006-2007 highlander hybrid and lexus rx400h passenger cars manufactured from february 16, 2005, through august 30, 2006. a module inside the inverter module may contain inadequately soldered transistors that during high-load driving, may be damaged by heat caused by the large current. if this occurs, various warning lamps, including the malfunction indicator lamp, slip indicator light, brake system warning light, and master warning light, will be illuminated on the instrument panel. | |||||||||||||||
| Consequence Summary | The vehicle may enter a fail-safe/limp-home mode that limits the drivability of the vehicle. it is possible that the hybrid system will shut down while the vehicle is being driven, causing the vehicle to stall unexpectedly, increasing the risk of a crash. | |||||||||||||||
| Corrective Summary | Toyota/lexus mailed an interim owner notification on july 19, 2011 to advise owners of this recall and the fact that they will receive a future notice when parts become available to complete repairs. toyota dealers will inspect the hybrid inverter production number to determine whether the inverter contains suspect transistors and replace the module free of charge. owners may contact toyota at 1-800-331-4331. | |||||||||||||||
| Notes | Owners may also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's vehicle safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (tty 1-800-424-9153), or go to http://www.safercar.gov . | |||||||||||||||
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | |||
| 03/13/2013 | 62687 | ||
| The vehicle did not start when the key was turned. the dashboard flickered, many lights were lit and then the flickering stopped after a few seconds and the check engine light came on. | |||
| 03/02/2013 | 106083 | ||
| I was exiting a parking lot onto the street. i suddenly lost power while i was waiting to merge into traffic. my car was in drive but i had my foot on the break when my car went dead. there were warnings flashing at me from my dashboard. i put my car in park. turned off the engine and restarted my car but the same thing happened plus i began to roll backwards do to the slight incline in the parking lot exit. i quickly put my car in park again, turned on my hazard lights, and waived the cars behind me to go around. i was able to put my car in reverse and back it up to a safe area in the parking lot. i called the toyota dealership in charlotte where i purchased the car at and continued having it serviced. they told me to have it towed to the nearest dealership immediately. i called the service department at team toyota mall of ga to let them know i was bringing it in. after their mechanic determined it was the faulty inverter in the transmission, i was told it would cost me $8,000 to fix it. i still owed $15,000 on the car. i found out about the recall on 2006-2007 highlander hybrids for the same faulty inverter. the dealership said my car was ineligible for the recall since the vin was not listed. i called toyota as advised and opened a case number. i received the worst customer service and constant run around from toyota. they offered to give me $1,000 towards the repairs or $2,500 for a new or toyota certified used vehicle. i'm still waiting to find out why my car wasn't included on the list though it met the criteria. i am truly shocked by the dismissive attitude i'm currently getting from toyota as if they didn't know about the faulty inverter. my car broke down on my way home to north carolina. now i'm trapped in georgia with no way of getting home to my husband and children. i'm still waiting on toyota's decision about my case, in ga. | |||
| 11/25/2012 | 130000 | 1 | |
| While driving on the highway, the lights in the vehicle all began flashing to check hybrid system. i was unable to use anything but the brakes as the gas pedal would not even work to decelerate or accelerate. i was able to veer out of traffic to safety. i had one other passenger in the car and we were scared for our lives as the whole car just shut down and could have been involved in a serious accident. eventually the battery also died and we were stuck on the road at night waiting on a tow truck. we had the car towed to a toyota dealership and have been working with toyota and corporate toyota for the past 6 weeks on a resolution. we were told the inverter needs to be replaced and the cost is $9000. we were also told by the serviceman at toyota that the car is not worth fixing as it still will not work properly after the part is replaced as it could have lead to transmission problems. this is a faulty part that was recalled in some of their 06 and 07 highlanders but not others. we were not part of the recall. i am without a vehicle and am still waiting for help. this part should be fixed by toyota completely as it is faulty or toyota should at least reimburse for what the car was worth before the incident. *tr | |||
| 11/25/2012 | 130000 | ||
| While driving on the highway, the lights in the vehicle all began flashing to check hybrid system. i was unable to use anything but the brakes as the gas pedal would not even work to decelerate or accelorate. i was able to veer out of traffic to safety. i had one other passenger in the car and we were scared for our lives as the whole car just shut down and could have been involved in a serious accident. eventually the battery also died and we were stuck on the road at night waiting on a tow truck. we had the car towed to a toyota delaership and have been working with toyota and corporate toyota for the past 6 weeks on a resolution. we were told the inverter needs to be replaced and the cost is $9000. we were also told by the serviceman at toyota that the car is not worth fixing as it still will not work properly after the part is replaced as it could have lead to transmission problems. this is a faulty part that was recalled in some of their 06 and 07 highlanders but not others. we were not part of the recall. i am without a vehicle and am still waiting for help. this part should be fixed by toyota completely as it is faulty or toyota should at least reimburse for what the car was worth before the incident. | |||
| 10/18/2012 | 123000 | 1 | |
| When starting after stop at the end of a freeway exit ramp a loud noise was heard in the front of the vehicle. the vehicle then lost all power and i was able to coast to the side of the road. the check hybrid system and check vsc system error lights were displayed and the car would not restart. the car was towed to a toyota dealership and diagnosed with failure of the inverter. my car was not included in the 2011 recall for this problem. the cost of repair was quoted as $8000 and after speaking with toyota corporate they offered a $1500 customer appreciation rebate. based on online research this seems to be a known problem with this model. another local toyota dealer said they have repaired 4 of these in the past week. toyota can not assure us that the problem with this inverter has been solved or if the new one will be more reliable. this is a major safety concern. the car had always performed well and gave no warning before this complete failure. if my car had failed 60 seconds earlier i would have been on i-81 going 70 mph surrounded by tractor trailers and would probably be dead. have not decided whether or not to proceed with the repair. *tr | |||
| 10/18/2012 | 123000 | ||
| When starting after stop at the end of a freeway exit ramp a loud noise was heard in the front of the vehicle. the vehicle then lost all power and i was able to coast to the side of the road. the check hybrid system and check vsc system error lights were displayed and the car would not restart. the car was towed to a toyota dealership and diagnosed with failure of the inverter. my car was not included in the 2011 recall for this problem. the cost of repair was quoted as $8000 and after speaking with toyota corporate they offered a $1500 customer appreciation rebate. based on online research this seems to be a known problem with this model. another local toyota dealer said they have repaired 4 of these in the past week. toyota can not assure us that the problem with this inverter has been solved or if the new one will be more reliable. this is a major safety concern. the car had always performed well and gave no warning before this complete failure. if my car had failed 60 seconds earlier i would have been on i-81 going 70 mph surrounded by tractor trailers and would probably be dead. have not decided whether or not to proceed with the repair. | |||
| 08/12/2012 | 106000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2007 toyota highlander hybrid. the contact stated that while driving 20 mph the vehicle stalled and failed to restart. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the hybrid inverter failed and needed to be replaced. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and current mileages was 106,000. pmb | |||
| 08/12/2012 | 106000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2007 toyota highlander hybrid. the contact was driving 20 mph when the vehicle stalled. the vehicle failed to restart. the vehicle was towed to a private mechanic. the mechanic confirmed the hybrid inverter failed and needed to be replaced. the manufacturer was contacted. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and current mileages were 106,000 . rds | |||
| 04/26/2012 | 113990 | ||
| Tl - the contact owns a 2007 toyota highlander hybrid. the contact stated while driving 5 mph the vehicle stalled. the check vsc warning and power steering warning lamps illuminated immediately after the failure occurred. the vehicle was taken to a dealer who diagnosed that the inverter was defective and needed to be replaced. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure and did not offer any assistance. the vehicle was repaired. the failure mileage was 113,990 and the current mileage was 114,000. rvk | |||
| 04/26/2012 | 113990 | ||
| Tl - the contact owns a 2007 toyota highlander hybrid. the contact stated that while driving 5 mph the vehicle stalled. the contact mentioned that immediately after, the check vsc warning lamp and power steering warning lamp illuminated. the vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that the inverter was defective and needed to be replaced. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure who did not offer any assistance. the vehicle was repaired. the failure mileage was 113,990 and the current mileage was 114,000. pm | |||
| 04/18/2012 | 124000 | ||
| While driving this vehicle on rt 138 in newport ri, i was accelerating and suddenly experienced a complete loss of power and was able to coast the vehicle out of the travel portion of the roadway. vehicle required a flatbed tow truck to bring it to balise toyota in warwick ri. service department informed me that the inverter had failed and that the repair estimate would be approximately $9400. after researching on the internet i found that this was a fairly common problem with the 2006 and 2007 models and that there had been a recall for certain models. my vehicle's vin does not fall under the recall and the inverter. i have contacted toyota's coroprate office regarding this problem, neither corporate nor the dealer offered up the information that nearly 100,000 of these vehicles had been recalled for this issue. i asked the people in service if there was a chance that my vehicle was affected by the recall. they looked up the part number for my inverter p/n g9200-48031 s/n ph09ym084 and told me that it was not a recall item. the failure mode resembles the multitude of failures that were covered under the recall which leads me to believe that the recall was not broad enough in its scope. i have yet to hear back from toyota on what if anything they are going to do to absorb this out of control repair cost. | |||
| 08/30/2011 | 127000 | ||
| Driving on the 94 freeway west, the check hybrid system warning light came on. car suddenly died unexpectedly. was able to coast to the nearby exit - nearly hit by numerous vehicles. at the exit, the car was blocking traffic. people helped push the highlander to the side, where i called aaa. the highlander was towed to the toyota el cajon dealership for repair. toyota informed me the inverter had died. it would cost $9600.00 to repair because out of warranty. toyota head office refuses to help. at 3.5 years old, the repair is worth more than the car. other highlander hybrids from 2007 were recalled for the same problem. the car cost $40,000.00 new at purchase in 2007. it should last more than 3.5 years. the inverter problem could have had deadly consequences. | |||
| 05/19/2011 | 55000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2007 toyota highland hybrid. while the contact was driving 20 mph, the hybrid system warning indicator illuminated with a sudden loss of power. the vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer who detected an accumulation of water within the hybrid battery. the technician stated the water originated from the rear sub frame area; as a result of the failure the frame exhibited two cracks and two holes. the vehicle had not been repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the defect. the failure mileage was 55,000. js | |||