I am the owner of a 2004 toyota highlander 2wd. This vehicle is in excellent condition, low mileage (about 40,000) and has never been in an accident. On april 19, the vehicle stability control/anti-slip buzzer sounded. The icon lit on the dashboard, and the vehicle started to break as if the car was slipping. The road was dry, our speed was extremely low (about 15mph), and there was no reason for this to happen. Thankfully, we were just out of our driveway and could turn safely around though the problem persisted. On april 20th, we phoned toyota of keene to make an appointment to bring in our vehicle. We weren't thrilled with the prospect of driving under these conditions, but figured if we kept to low speeds we should be able to make it safely. We took down the tow company's number just in case. On april 21st, my husband set out for the appointment for repair in keene. About 10 miles from home, the problem suddenly went away. The skid warning light went out and the vehicle stopped breaking automatically. My husband made it the rest of the way to toyota of keene without any issues. After a test drive, the technician stated, 'that was the scariest test I've ever experienced,' as the problem had returned while he was on the road. But by the time he returned to the shop and hooked up the car to diagnostic computers, the problem had again ceased. Toyota of keene has had my vehicle since april 21st, and has been unable to repair it or offer any solution to this issue. They claim that they can't repair it if they can't replicate the problem while the vehicle is hooked up to computers. Though I understand this explanation, it does nothing for the safety of my family, as well as anyone else on the road. I contacted the toyota complaint center and they opened up a case number but were essentially useless in assisting me. I did some research on line and found a technical service bulletin as well as customer complaints about this very issue.
2004 Toyota Highlander driver assistance complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 18 of 18, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Wife was driving on clean dry road. Suddenly, the vcs light and traction lights came on the dashboard while alarm sounding came on as well. Car suddenly braked, brakes made a grinding sound, and car jerked to the right. Tried to drive forward and it would not go over 10mph. If the car did, the above happened again. Car was not drivable, and was towed to the nearest toyota dealership. The situation was very dangerous, as the behavior of the car, not controlled by my wife, the driver, could have easily caused an accident. Turns out, the dealership stated the steering angle sensor went on the car. First...the car only has 53k miles on it. This is not a 'wear and tear' part. This part should never go with only this many miles on it. Garbage. Second, the failure of this part causes a very dangerous situation on the road, as once it goes, the driver basically has no control over the car until it slows down to under 10 miles an hour. Toyota needs to stand behind their product, focus on the safety of the public, and issue a recall for this problem. I've researched this on the internet and there are many, many complaints and documented cases of this same problem happening on toyota vehicles. The dealership fixed the part for $700. Rip off.
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 toyota highlander. While driving 5 MPH, the contact experienced unwanted traction control activity, which caused the vehicle to brake excessively. He took the vehicle to a local repair shop and the mechanic reprogrammed the PCM memory, which remedied the failure. The dealer could not determine the cause of the failure. Currently, the failure has not resurfaced. The failure mileage was 49,450. Updated 01-26-09 *bf updated 01/27/09.
The car's vsc (vehicle skid control) system activated on a dry straight road. The brakes went on and reduced the speed to about 5mph, making the car undrivable. Glad this didn't happen in traffic. The car was turned off, and restarted, and I could get it to about 10mph, and then it would apply the brakes quickly and reduced power no-matter what the throttle position was, and the car was limited to about 5mph. Once this happened the car has not been able to be driven, unless the fuses for the anti-lock brakes are removed. I did this just to get it to the dealer... It had buzzers and warning lights going off. The dealer looked at it and thought that it was the anti-lock brake & vsc "ecu", which was going to cost $2,400, but there could be extra sensors that needed to be replaced too. This seemed very excessive so I didn't have the work done. Now the car is sitting. I've heard there is a service bulletin out on this but I haven't been able to find it. I've heard that it can be the steering angle sensor, or the wheel rotations sensors, or the g-center (accelerometer). Each one is several hundred dollars apiece. A failure in the skid control system should just stop working and not cause the brakes to be slammed on, leaving the car undrivable. And the repair cost should not be $2,500 to over $4,000. This is ridiculous.
Vsc system activated and started applying brakes when the auto was on dry roads. System has no disconnect switch in order to disable system. Drove auto home at about 10 miles an hour because system would not dis-engage. The auto only has 25,000 miles. Happened once before at 4,000 miles.
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 toyota highlander. While driving 40 MPH, the vehicle stability system activated on dry surface and attempted to steer the vehicle. The failure affects the steering and occurs every few feet. Since that time, the system attempts to activate automatically while driving 15-20 MPH. The vehicle stability system activates at full speed when driving at highway speeds. The dealer stated that the failure was in the microtrip that controls the vehicle stability system. The dealer is currently attempting to have it reprogrammed. The purchase date was unknown. The current and failure mileages were 39,000.
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 toyota highlander. While driving 25-40 MPH, the traction control warning signal illuminated and the brakes pulsated. The traffic control light should have illuminated when there was wheel slippage. The contact stated that the failure occurred during dry road conditions and especially when turning at low speeds. The dealer was unable to duplicate the failure. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was 60,000 and current mileage was 70,700. Updated 03/10/08. *ljthe driver side windshield wiper stopped working.
On 3/17/05 I drove my toyota 2004 highlander, 2,025 mileage, onto a main street at about 5 MPH. A beeping sounded, the slip indicator light blinked slightly, and horrible crunching and clanging sounds occured underneath the front of the vehicle. It felt like the front brakes locked up. I tried to slowly resume driving several times, but the car was inoperable and the dealer sent a tow truck. They said it was a problem within the vehicle stability control system which interacts with the yaw and steering angle sensors, and the brake system. There is also suppose to be a g-sensor according to toyota's web site glossary. (the dealer never heard of the g-sensor). They said it was a bad steering angle sensor and had seen this problem several times. The sensor was replaced at the dealership and since I've only driven it a few miles, I don't know if it's okay. What if the replacement sensor is also bad? I often drive in the mountains alone, and am extremely worried about it. I am retired and bought the vehicle for safety and security, relying on toyota's expertise, or so I thought! The vsc situation is very serious and should be a recall issue. I now wish I had bought a honda pilot.
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