Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| SERVICE BRAKES | |||
| 11/13/2010 | 33000 | 1 | |
| As i was driving traffic came to a sudden stop. i applied the brakes hard, however was not able to stop before hitting the vehicle in front of me. as part of the necessary vehicle repairs after the accident, to get the brakes to operate again properly, the brake load sensor - an electric sensor on the brake pedal that feeds back to the braking computer system how hard brakes are being applied was found to have failed, presumably at the time as a result of the impact. this malfunction trips a warning in the brake system, and affects operability of the brakes. recently on june 18, 2012 while driving on a local street at 25 mph, a vehicle passed a stop sign crossing in front of me necessitating i brake hard to avoid an accident. while an accident was avoided, immediately following this a brake malfunction warning came on, and the brake system stopped operating normally. the dealer found that due to the hard braking, the brake pedal became misaligned, and the brake load sensor failed again. this pattern leads me to believe that in instances of hard braking, damage to the brake pedal and/or load sensor can occur, causing a loss of brake power possibly resulting in an accident. *tr | |||
| 11/13/2010 | 33000 | ||
| As i was driving traffic came to a sudden stop. i applied the brakes hard, however was not able to stop before hitting the vehicle in front of me. as part of the necessary vehicle repairs after the accident, to get the brakes to operate again properly, the brake load sensor - an electric sensor on the brake pedal that feeds back to the braking computer system how hard brakes are being applied was found to have failed, presumably at the time as a result of the impact. this malfunction trips a warning in the brake system, and affects operability of the brakes. recently on june 18, 2012 while driving on a local street at 25 mph, a vehicle passed a stop sign crossing in front of me necessitating i brake hard to avoid an accident. while an accident was avoided, immediately following this a brake malfunction warning came on, and the brake system stopped operating normally. the dealer found that due to the hard braking, the brake pedal became misaligned, and the brake load sensor failed again. this pattern leads me to believe that in instances of hard braking, damage to the brake pedal and/or load sensor can occur, causing a loss of brake power possibly resulting in an accident. | |||
| SERVICE BRAKES, ELECTRIC | |||
| 02/13/2010 | 400 | 1 | |
| My wife and i have noticed that our new 2010 highlander hybrid limited has a delay from the time you push the brakes to the time the brakes respond. this occurs consistently, especially at low speeds like when parking or stopping at a stop sign. i would guess that this is the same issue that the prius has. this could be a real safety issue--especially for pedestrians since the car takes more distance to stop due to this gap. my wife actually experiences a small surge prior to the gap in braking. i just did a quick web search and saw dozens of similar complaints from other highlander hybrid owners. thanks. *tr | |||
| 02/03/2010 | 17 | 1 | |
| 2010 toyota highlander limited hybrid--braking problems. when the brakes are first applied, they are soft and mushy. if you slam on the brakes in an emergency, they stop, but in everyday stop and go traffic, the brake pedal goes down but doesn't seem to engage until you really put some weight on it. this has been going on since i bought the car 2 months ago. *tr | |||
| SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC | |||
| 11/13/2010 | 17019 | ||
| I was driving on a straight and level road, at approximately 30 mph. traffic came to a sudden stop and i applied the brakes in a hard and sudden manner, but the vehicle failed to stop in time, though i believe it should have. no airbags deployed. my vehicle struck the vehicle in front of me, also pushing that vehicle into the one in front of it. during repairs, it was discovered the brake pedal mechanism had failed at some point, requiring replacement. | |||
| 01/15/2010 | 1275 | 1 | |
| On december 2, 2009, i took delivery of a new 2010 toyota highlander sport model, with a v-6 engine and 2 wheel drive. this vehicle subsequently was identified in the january & february, 2010 recall notices as being one of the vehicles affected by the sticking gas pedal problem. however, preceding the recall notices, on january 15, 2010, i experienced a brake pedal fade while stopped on level flat ground at a red traffic signal. i pressed down on the brake pedal harder to ensure that i did not drift into the rear end of the car stopped in front of me. upon pressing down harder on the brake pedal, the hill assist warning buzzer sounded even though my wheels were not spinning or in danger of spinning. when the traffic signal changed to green a minute or so later, i removed my foot from the brake pedal and lightly depressed the accelerator to start moving forward. i found that i had to apply substantial ( greater than normal) pressure to the accelerator pedal to make the car move forward. this caused great concern because of the possibility of moving forward too quickly from a dead stop and hitting the vehicle in front of me. i took the vehicle to my selling dealer the following day to have the vehicle checked out. i was advised that the car's computer did not show any defaults and that all symptoms were normal. i was further advised to stop pressing on the brake pedal so hard. however, my concern is that whenever the hill assist system is engaged (i can engage it at any time at will), there is a distinct possibility that the extra pressure needed to start the car moving forward will cause me to accelerate into the vehicle in front of me. i have reason to believe that this condition is computer related and presents an imminent danger to both myself and other motorists driving a similar equipped toyota highlander therefore, i am requesting that an investigation be commenced immediately in light of toyota's massive recall problems. thank you.*tr | |||