After only 64,000 miles, the transmission on my 2003 toyota highlander started skipping. When I accelerated, the car would jump/skip. This could have easily caused a wreck.
2003 Toyota Highlander transmission complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 13 of 13, newest first, as owners wrote them.
2003 toyota highlander, 4 cyl , auto trans. Between 25 and 45 MPH, when you apply the brake on the auto and then press the gas to resume your forward travel, there is a kick (like a looseness in the transmission and drive shaft) followed by the motor revving as it should and the transmission down shifting. I went to the dealer who told me yes, there is a looseness caused by the fact that there is a lot of rubber connectors holding the differential and drive shaft assembly to the vehicle frame. Over time they had fatigued (31000 miles). The dealer took no action. I have a registered a complaint with toyota (200508090110). A final end result would be the differential and attached drive shaft falling off the auto while it is in motion causing a serious injury or fatal crash.
Dt: the contact noticed while stopping at a red light she reached over to get something and hit the gear shift with her hand and with her foot on the brake the vehicle shifted from drive to neutral without pushing the button on the gear shift. Her concern is that if the car is in low drive, second gear or neutral it can be shifted, this defect can cause an accident. Contact called toyota, and they said this was a safety feature which was meant to do that. Consumer was never told by dealer that this was a feature of vehicle. She believed that this was very dangerous and was a safety issue.*ak consumer states vehicle does not shift into reverse without pressing the button.
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