2004 Toyota Highlander: jerking or lurching

Filed Jul 26, 2012 · Acceleration, Brakes · 86,000 miles · MN · crash

I was pulling into a parking space in a parking lot, going less than 5 miles per hour. As I turned into the spot, the car lurched ahead, so quickly, that slamming on the brakes still caused me to slide a bit. I ended up hitting a car parked in the spot in front of me, and causing $1400 worth of damage (to my front bumper and the other cars rear bumper). I had a friend in the car with me who vouched for this. I have never had an accident before, and was completely baffled by what happened. After googling this, I see that this car has had several similar incidents, and I am now worried about the safety of my car. I am unsure how to proceed, as I have read that mechanics seem unable to duplicate the event that occurs where it seems to accelerate rapidly. Very embarrassing- I have never had a car accident before!

Filed Jul 9, 2010 · Acceleration · 85,000 miles · FL

I own a 2004 toyota highlander. I have had an occasional problem with the vehicle hesitating and then lurching upon acceleration since I purchased the vehicle. The problem is becoming more frequent as the vehicle ages. I have mentioned it on several occasions when the vehicle was take in for service but the mechanic was not able to duplicate the problem. I have been using an independent mechanic for the last couple of years for my regular service on the car (the car has been a very good car other than the acceleration issue and has not needed anything other than regular service). I mentioned the problem to him on different occasions and at first, he was not able to duplicate the problem either. My husband mentioned it again when we took it in for the last service. This time when the mechanic drove the car he was able to feel the hesitation and subsequent lurching. He then put it on an analyzer which showed voltage spikes in the throttle body. He said to call toyota. We called toyota and were told that the vehicle needed to be taken to a toyota dealer. We took it to a dealer this morning and were told that they could not duplicate the problem again. I called toyota and filed a complaint (10070906470 and 1007090670 were the numbers I was given). They told me there was nothing they can do until a toyota dealer can duplicate the problem. I have since found hundreds of complaints online about the same issue by other 2004 highlander owners. I don't know where else to turn for help.

Filed Mar 3, 2010 · Transmission · 35,000 miles · CA

2004 toyota highlander v6 - auto (2wd) since we've purchased the t-highlander, the car will occasionally suddenly jerk forward uncontrollably when shifting from 2nd to 3rd gear and when the shift takes place between 2,000 and 2,500 RPM when in 2nd gear. We have brought this in to the toyota dealership on numerous occasions only to be told this is a "programming" issue and the car is trying to figure out how to shift based on different drivers. I've looked online and on forums and other owners have the same problems. I think it's toyota trying to save $$. My concern since we've brought the car in to the toyota dealerships is the same concern that I want the federal safety agency to be aware of now and that is, there is a problem with the car and there is a potential for an accident here due to something that is clearly defective with the transmission and/or the "programming" of how the computer shifts. This complaint is being filed because all of the other toyota problems that have surfaced have reaffirmed what I've known all along, that there are problems with toyotas and in our case, not having complete control of the vehicle when driving. However, I was made to feel that I had no basis for my complaints when in fact, I do. I hope that even if nothing is done to fix my t-highlander as I have given up on it (short of legal action, which might be worthwhile now) that the federal safety agency does do something to ensure that no one is injured as a result of this "programming" issue.

Filed Feb 25, 2009 · Driver assistance, Steering · 53,217 miles · NJ

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.

Filed Jun 29, 2006 · Acceleration, Transmission · 8,902 miles · VA

Let me start by saying I am a die-hard toyota owner, my current vehicle being the 3rd toyota we own. I own a 2004 toyota highlander, v6, 5 speed automatic with awd. This vehicle has a very serious hesitation problem which is dangerous. Upon acceleration from a stop or at speed, there is a very serious lag in throttle response. Many times leaving a stop or accelerating from a slow speed I.e. Parking lot driving, the vehicle will lag with no response, then lurch & accelerate suddenly. Merging into traffic, safe passing, starts at lights and safe driving in parking lots and around pedestrians can be hazardous. Thousands of owners across the nation are affected by this defect. From my recent research it apparently is not restricted to the highlander, but affects many toyota vehicles with "drive by wire" as opposed to mechanical transmission & throttle linkage. I took the vehicle back to the dealer right after my purchase in november of 2004 and was told they could find nothing wrong, now recent research tells me they were well aware of the problem at that time. I love toyota but there methods of dealing with problems like this is deceptive at best and just short of criminal at worst. Please "google" toyota highlander hesitation problem and also visit tundrasolutions.com for more evidence of what I am talking about. Toyota has not devoted enough resources to this problem or a permanent fix would have already been developed. Please contact toyota and urge them to take care of this matter with all the thousands of owners across the u.s. That are having to deal with this matter. I will be following this matter with keen interest to see if anything is being done and am advising aaa of the issues as well as my state and federal representatives. Toyota commands a premium price for what are otherwise exceptional vehicles and their customers and the nations drivers deserve a better more responsible response from toyota.

Filed Feb 6, 2006 · Transmission · 200 miles · HI

I have a 2004 toyota highlander with a 3.3l v6 automatic transmission. Within the first week of driving the vehicle that was purchased new from the manufacturer, I noticed that the transmission seemed to hesitate when accelerating at low speeds. The problem persisted and I took the vehicle in for service. The dealer said they could not reproduce the problem or find anything wrong. Now the car has almost 20,000 miles on it, I've taken the car back to the dealer a few times as the hesitation has gotten worse and they continue to tell me there is nothing wrong with the car. I rarely drive the car now since I have come very close to having a major accidents numerous times. In each case, I will try and merge onto a freeway. Going up the ramp (or down) and accelerating to get up to speed, the transmission will delay for 2-3 seconds. I then push the gas pedal down a bit more and the RPM's will shoot up, the car will jerk, and speed ahead. If I don't apply the extra gas, it leaves me in a situation where I might be hit from behind by other cars. When the car jerks ahead, I've come close to slamming into cars ahead of me. I've done some research on the web and have found numerous other toyota owners with this same exact problem. I hope no one has been killed or injured from this defect that toyota is unwilling to address, and that the federal safety agency will investigate this before anyone is killed or injured.

Filed Nov 14, 2005 · Acceleration, Engine · 37,000 miles · IL · crash

Dt: the contact stated while pulling into a parking slot heard a grinding noise followed by the vehicle lurching into another parked vehicle. He took the vehicle to the dealer. The dealer could not duplicate the sudden acceleration. The dealer replaced the mass air flow sensor, oxygen sensor, and reprogrammed the ecu. The dealer could not determine what caused this problem.

Filed Nov 6, 2005 · Transmission · 10,000 miles · WA

2004 toyota highlander limited developed a hesitation after around 10,000 miles. The hesitation is followed by a head-jerking surge. This situation is very hazardous when attempting to make a right or left-hand turn, or fast acceleration merge, in high traffic situations. I am very concerned about my 15-yr-old twins who are learning to drive in this vehicle. I don't understand why this issue has not been addressed by the federal safety agency considering the very large number of complaints about this issue, here and on the web. Are you waiting for a death? My dealer says there is nothing they can do.

Filed Dec 7, 2004 · Visibility · CA

While driving 30 MPH, the driver heard a loud squeaking noise coming from both passenger and driver rear windows. Suddenly the vehicle jerked. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection. The mechanic was unable to duplicate the problem at this time. Please provide further details. *jb the consumer stated that she almost looses control due to the noise. The noise from the window not only changes the air pressure while driving 30 MPH or faster it hurts both the driver and the passengers ears. The consumer is unable to hear emergency vehicles as they approach.

Filed Sep 30, 2004 · Acceleration · 2,000 miles · TX

I purchased a new 2004 toyota highlander on 3/26/2004 and after about 2 months started noticing a problem with hesitation when accelerating from a stop or when passing. The car feels like it dies for 1 to 2 seconds and then lurches forward. This is very dangerous when making a left hand turn at a light with oncoming cars from the opposite direction. This also causes problems when trying to merge with highway traffic or when passing. This occures every day and when it was reported to toyota service they stated it was a known issue with no fix or technical bulletin.