Toyota Highlander Hybrid power steering loss problems

Filed Jun 15, 2019 · Steering · 140,000 miles · VA

My 2006 highlander drove just fine. Parked in my usual spot and the next time I start it my p/s light is on and I have no steering. I searched online and it seems to be a common problem for it to just quit working on people. I'm curious as to why this issue hasn't been addressed by toyota yet. Thank god I wasn't driving like others were when it happened.

Filed Jan 20, 2016 · Steering · 170,000 miles · CA

Power steering failure. Car was in motion turning when ps light came on and no power since then

Filed Sep 21, 2015 · Steering · 45,100 miles · MN

I apologize for the delay in filing this complaint. I just learned of the complaint process. We took delivery of the vehicle on 12/7/09 from burnsville toyota in burnsville, mn. On 12/10/09 while traveling from eagan, mn to omaha, ne the power steering went out on the vehicle. We were able to get the power steering repaired in bellevue, ne on 12/12. I felt fortunate to have repairs made as it was a saturday and the vehicle is a hybrid. The bellevue dealership made the repairs at no charge and informed me of the open recall on the power steering. Upon returning home I contacted the dealership. They apologized and offered a free update on the GPS. I also later contacted toyota corporate. My notes from that contact indicate a reference number of 1001108638. Upon learning of the complaint process I also learned that it is illegal for a new car dealership to sell a vehicle with an open recall. I do not know if that was the case in 2009. I am pleased to be able to submit this complaint as I have always felt consumers should be protected from purchasing products with known defects

Filed Apr 17, 2015 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · 49,936 miles · PR

I was driving on a straight highway between 45 -50 MPH. Sudden a bunch of lights and warnings came up in the dashboard. I lost power steering and motor propulsion too. I pressed the accelerator and nothing happened. Although I had the ability to brake, it seemed that the braking was also impaired. However because I was going up an incline I did not need strong braking. I managed to coast over to the breakdown lane. Luckily there were only a couple other cars near me so it wasn't too difficult to maneuver by them and coast to the other side of the road where the breakdown lane was. Once I was completely stopped I shut the car down completely and restarted in the normal hybrid startup manner. The car propulsion and steering came back but now the message was alternating between "maintenance needed" and "check vsc system", and the check engine light and symbol was on. I shut off everything electrical to minimize electrical drain. I was able to drive the car another 8-10 miles to get home but I was constantly looking to see where I could pull over if the car stopped again. I made it home. Tomorrow bring it to the toyota dealer. Significantly, I recently had the brake actuator replaced at a cost of around $2700, specifically because they warned me that I could lose braking and other electronic facilities unpredictably. I thought that expensive repair would avoid this. Unfortunately it appears that what they were predicting could happen did happen, but after the repair! I was on a highway when the car died but with not much traffic and an easy access breakdown lane. Had it been 10 minutes later I might have been on a much busier highway in a place where a breakdown lane is much harder to reach. That would have been a dangerous situation. Had it been daytime and in a safer area I would have stopped and called for a tow truck.

Filed Apr 4, 2014 · Steering · 107,732 miles · DE

Started vehicle, power steering fault indicator came on. No power steering. Does steer while in motion but extremely hard to turn, impossible while standing still.

Filed Jul 16, 2013 · Electrical · 58,000 miles · CA

We had just passed through a tollbooth on a freeway and were accelerating to merge with traffic when the car shuddered and slowed and steering became difficult. A number of warning lights came on telling us to stop driving the car immediately and to call the dealership. There were three warning lights which were something like: 'check hybrid system', 'check brakes' and 'check vsc'. We were close to the median and were luckily able to pull off into it and turned off the car. When we turned it back on the car would not move forward or backward and we had to have it towed home. We have since had it towed to the toyota dealership and they have told us that we need a new inverter battery. We understand that toyota has had problems with this part in the past for the 2006 and 2007 toyota highlanders and wanted to report the problem because ours is a 2008 toyota highlander.

Filed Jul 9, 2013 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · 154,579 miles · VA

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. :(

Filed Jun 22, 2013 · Electrical, Steering · 146,000 miles · CA

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.

Filed Feb 5, 2013 · Acceleration, Electrical · 160,000 miles · CA

My 17-year-old daughter was driving on I-5 in northern california. She had cruise control set at 70mph and was traveling up hill when cruise control suddenly popped off and car went dead. She had no power, and power steering went out. She managed to coast to the crest of the hill and down the other side to pull off the road, but was in a very dangerous situation near truck weigh station with big rigs pulling on and off highway. Car had to be towed to dealership. We were informed that hybrid inverter was dead and would cost $8,000.00+ to repair. Contacted corporate and was informed that since the car was out of warranty they would offer no assistance in repair costs. Have since heard other similar stories regarding 2006 toyota hybrids.

Filed Nov 5, 2012 · Electrical, Transmission · 102,056 miles · PA

My wife went to move the car and backed it up where it died. Car started rolling back the drive and stopped half on half off the drop off of our driveway. She had no steering and no brakes. I checked out the car and it said hybrid error call dealer. The car would not run. I had it towed to dealer and he called me to tell us the power inverter needs to replaced at the cost of 8,600.00. I understand toyota had a problem with their 06 - 07 highlanders for the same issue. Nothing on a car should cost $8,600 to fix without being in a major car accident. We should have been told up front how much this would cost to fix in the event of failure. Luckily she wasn't on a highway when this happened.