I try to start the car and it did not start. All light was on including vsc/hybrid system car was towed to toyota dealer. They bleed the brake and erased the code. Drive the car for the next 2 days. Car failed to start again all light on vsc/hybrid car was towed to toyota dealer. Diagnosis is failed inverter ask $8357.82 for repair because the recall is not launched and I call toyota motors canada tell me they will not repair recall for USA vehicle . Toyota motors USA will not authorize for repair in canada of safety defect (toyota safety recall 13v‑396) also refusing to repair in the USA if I bring the car to toyota car dealer in new york state because recall not launched. The car have been towed to my house.
2007 Toyota Highlander Hybrid electrical complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 28 of 28, newest first, as owners wrote them.
I was driving with my family on board on 680-s between walnut creek and san ramon. I was going around 65-70 MPH in the fast lane when there was a loud pop sound from the front and all the power from engine died down. I had to switch lanes with the emergency lights on as the speed kept decreasing with no acceleration. This was on a busy freeway with high speeds. We were lucky to pull over without being hit. I pulled off to the shoulder and tried to accelerate but could only go another 10 feet to a safer location. I had to get my vehicle towed to the dealership. There was no service available until today. I got a phone call from the dealership telling me that the inverter is the cause of this and will cost over $8,000 to replace. They also told me that even though there is a recall for the inverters of the 2006 and some 2007 highlander hybrids, mine was not on the list. I purchased my 2007 highlander in october 2006. I think the recall should extend to all 2007 highlanders as there is a growing number of these cars having the same issues this year as well as previous years.
I was driving on i15 near lake elsinore on the way home from a trip and the car lost power on the freeway in rush hour and big rig traffic. We were lucky to roll off to the right and escape death by a 40 wheeler crash. The car was towed to toyota carlsbad where all maintenance was performed per schedule since the car was purchased. The last service was at 108,800 on june 23, 2013. The cost of the repair is $8200 for the part plus labor. Toyota would only offer to pay 1/2 of the inverter cost but the car was not worth putting that kind of money into and I was forced to buy a new car. Toyota corporate has my case and they are terrible. They are offering $1000 "good will" and $500 for the towing. This is a highly danger defect and there should be government action against toyota.
While accelerating from a stoplight and driving in a 45mph zone, our 2007 highlander hybrid began to accelerate on its own. The engine revved as if someone were flooring the gas pedal. Neither my husband nor I knew what was happening. Then we heard a loud thud sound from the back seat and we lost power steering, power brakes, and we started to decelerate. Traffic was averaging 45-50mph around us. Thankfully, my husband was able to safely coast us into the right lane, then into a parking lot, and then into a parking spot. After that we were not able to start the vehicle and we had multiple error messages flash across the instrument panel: "check hybrid system" & "check vehicle stability". We were told by toyota that our error codes indicated that the inverter "blew up" & needs replacement. They did not mention anything about the recall which I found while researching. We are 13 VIN numbers after the recall for this same issue. We were told the part costs $10,000 before taxes & installation. Toyota won't honor the earlier recall and so I've towed the vehicle home. :(
Vehicle was traveling out of state when it suddenly stalled and loss all power. Fortunately was able to pull into a rest stop which was 100 miles from my home. Had the vehicle towed to toyota dealership in hattiesburg, ms and they stated the problem was with the inverter and it would cost approx. $8000 to fix. Toyota has had a recall on the exact same inverter for model years 2006 and 2007. I contacted toyota headquarters and they stated that the recall does not apply to my VIN number although in reading complaints by others online, my vehicle and description of the problem and diagnosis by the dealer all fit. Toyota knew it had a problem with the inverter system and I was never alerted to a potential problem with the system as I was not the original owner. I am lucky that my child was not in the vehicle at the time and also lucky that I was not involved in a crash as a result of this problem. They refuse to address my concerns or pay for the repairs for this defective system which they knew was defective when I purchased the vehicle.
Driving my beloved 2007 highlander hybrid (hh) home from work, I was on the freeway in the slow lane and heard a loud "pop" sound. I immediately saw numerous warning messages flash on the dashboard - "check hybrid system", "check vcs system", and "check power steering." thankfully my car did not stop immediately on the freeway as others have but I was able to get off the freeway and to my trusted mechanic before the system completely failed. According to the dealership that now has my car, the inverter has failed but this VIN number was not in the toyota recall of 2006/2007 hh cars. I have 146,000 miles and this part should not have failed. Though I purchased the car used just 2 years ago, I have maintained it exactly as directed and the carfax on the car showed that the previous owner had all of the required maintenance done at a dealership using the toyota maintenance schedule. Though the full extent of the damage will not be determined until after the inverter is replaced (it is believed that the power steering went out at the same time and there is the potential for other damage as well), the inverter issue on these vehicles continue to place people in very dangerous situations. I feel very fortunate that I was not in one of the fast lanes and that the car didn't stop working; I was fortunate to get off the freeway and to a safe location. I know that the nhtsb had a hand in the 2011 recall of the 2006/2007 hh vehicles and I believe that there are still vehicles on the road that were not included in the recall that probably should have been (mine included.) please continue to monitor this situation and hold toyota accountable for the poor design/manufacturing of their hybrid technology.
The federal safety agency action number : pe11005 exact same situation. This issue kills the car immediately with no time to prepare. I was very lucky as I was just entering onto the freeway. I drifted over to the right median. If I was in the middle or far left lane this would have been a major safety concern. There are more highlanders hybrids in my VIN range that are coming of age and should have these defective inverter assembly parts replaced asap.
The hybrid abruptly stalled while driving, light and alarms all around. Dealer states its the power inverter, he mentioned it was a recall, but not covering my car. The symptoms are identical.
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.
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 brake 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.
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.
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.
Driving on the interstate at 55 MPH the car, without warning, died. No power, lights, brakes, steering, nothing worked. At side of road tried to restart. All warning lights came on, would not restart, everything then went dead. Car was towed to dealer. It was claimed to be a coil pack, however upon further investigation, I found out it was actually the power inverter that converts 12vdc to AC to power the electric motors on the car. When the inverter shorted out, it killed the entire electric battery system, the hybrid batteries and the gas engine battery causing all systems to shut down. The car is a death trap. Toyota knew this would happen when they sold me the car and did not tell me. I found out that this has happened to hundreds of highlander hybrid owners, mostly 2006, 2007 and some 2008. If the car is over 7 year/100,000 warranty toyota will not fix it. It cost owners $10,000 to $15,000 to fix. This is a major problem that will, may have, killed the driver and occupants. The problem usually occurs over 40mph, which is usually highway driving. That's what happened to my wife. On the highway at 55mph in the center lane. Car dies without warning. She was fortunate to get to the side of the road without an accident. No brakes and no steering. Toyota needs to recall these cars; they have a design flaw that will kill someone if it hasn't already.
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 corporate 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.
Vehicle became unstable and wobbling, almost caused accident with loss of control, while in motion and displayed warning messages for brake and vehicle stability control with code p0a7a and possible other codes. Vehicle was taken to tyson's toyota where it was diagnosed as having a defective hybrid inverter and requires $8000+ in repairs. We contacted toyota and 2 days later they concluded that this is not a defect and no assistance will br provided for the repairs. This issue is similar/identical to another toyota recall number 11v342000.
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 and 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.
I own 2007 toyota highlander hybrid 4wd car would not start 56,300. Mls vsc lite on -put in park (was in park) 12v battery dead when researching have found known problem,my car has lexus engine, known problems, most people told battery dead..real problem bad inverter,some have almost died happened when driving some may have toyota looking other way, tell people bad battery ..hm last toyota battery I had in dif car lasted 7 yrs,people need to know I will be in afight with local toyota dealer , please check this out I am a nurse and people could die with this defect!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have a 2007 toyota highlander hybrid. On 1/26/2009 I was stopped at a light, behind another vehicle, waiting for the light to change. I hadn't been doing anything but sitting there, waiting for the car in front of me to start moving, when my vehicle went forward (lurched) and I rear-ended the car in front of me! I have never done that in my life. My car hit the vehicle - a minivan, in front of me very hard, (felt like 10-15 MPH) causing a lot of damage to the rear cargo door. However, because the event was so odd, and happened so fast, (and this happened before toyota ever recalled anything except the prius), I assumed I must've done something to cause it. So when the police got there, I told them maybe I wasn't paying attention, and maybe I accelerated before the light changed (but even at the time, it didn't make sense to me, because I wasn't first in line at the light, I was waiting, patiently, behind another vehicle). In fact, I don't even remember looking at the light, I was just waiting for the vehicle in front of me to move, as I usually do - did. I went in to my toyota dealer a few month ago (march 2010) and told them what happened, and the service advisor told me that because my vehicle is a hybrid, sometimes, when you're stopped at a light, it switches from the electric motor to gas, and if you don't have your foot on the brake petal hard enough, it can lurch forward. Please can you look into this further, it was quite scary. I bet allstate and other insurance companies have many claims where a toyota highlander rear-ends other vehicles, and people assume it's their fault, not assuming the vehicle might have a problem.
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