Transmission hesitation and sudden downshifting create unpredictable and hazardous driving conditions on the streets (not highway).
2004 Toyota Highlander transmission complaints
Page 3 of 3: complaints 41 to 58 of 58, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Our new 2004 toyota highlander has hesitation problem when driving around 10-30 miles per hour. This is a very serious safety issue since there are a lot of situations that even a second hesitation can lead to accident, such as making a quick left turn in a busy intersection to avoid on coming cars. Here is how to reproduce the problem: drive the car over 25 miles per hour, then gradually slow it down to about 20 miles per hour. Press down the gas paddle very briefly, regardless how hard the paddle is hit, the car will not response.
2004 toyota highlander hesitates on acceleration as when trying to merge into traffic. There is no way to determine when this hesitation will occur making it very dangerous because there is no way to judge when it is safe to merge or when someone might rear end you.
Press the gas pedal and nothing happens leaving you stuck in traffic. Transmission and or gas kick in 2 seconds later.
Car lags when shifing whn cold. Toyota claims this is 'normal"
Hesitation upon acceleration. Happens each time air conditioner is on...not just an isolated case.
I purchased a toyota highlander in march 2004, largely on the merits of toyota's safety record and user reviews of driveability. Within the first few weeks of driving, I started to notice that there was a hesitation in the throttle upon acceleration at low speeds...as if the car had to "think about it" before deciding to respond. Took it in to dealer who found "nothing wrong"...needed break-in period, he said. Problem continued and resulted in at least two occurrences that caused concern: one making left hand turn in oncoming traffic and one attempting to merge onto highway. Hesitation was pronounced enough to cause moment of panic...kids in car etc. Took to another dealer who had explanation of use of drive-by-wire throttle technology used in fighter planes, said that toyota knew of issue but there was no way for them to calibrate. I then went to internet to see if could validate and found numerous others with same problem. I am filing complaint in hopes that toyota will press solution to avoid the inevitable accident.
I have a 2004 toyota highlander limited v6 4wd. I was merging on a highway entrance ramp slowing down to time the traffic when I saw a gap to merge. I pressed on the gas and the highlander hesitated and would not accelerate. I keep pumping on the gas and the hl would not accelerate, luckly for me the truck pulling a trailer that I was merging infront of moved to the next lane in time or he would have plowed me into a concrete bridge abutment.
Toyota 2004 highlander purchased new on 7/1/04 has transmission surging and drivetrain "clunk" when downshifting from 3rd to 2nd gear. Dealer has replaced transmission to no avail and claims it is part of "fly-by-wire" desing by manufacturer.
The vehicle has a constant minor hesitation and surging behavior in acceleration and deceleration situations. I don't know if it could be a true 'hazard' but it is quite annoying.
Our 2004 toyota highlander has consistent acceleration "delays" that not only make the vehicle a chore to drive but at times can be dangerous ex. Merging with moving traffic.
2004 toyota highlander hesitates on acceleration making driving in traffic extremely hazardous. It is impossible to merge into traffic and adds more risk to being rear ended. Toyota acknowledges the problem but has no fix. *jb after several attempts to have it repaired I was told there isn't a way to repair it, yet the dealer refuses to refund the cost of a 4 month old car with 5000 miles on it.
I purchased a 2004 toyota highlander in march. After a few weeks of driving I noticed that while braking at a light, sometimes the brake and the steering wheel would vibrate. When the dealer looked at my car he acknowledged the problem and said it was a "power surge" I don't understand what that means and why they didn't fix it, but the car still does it 3 months later. Also I noticed that the transmission hesitates as if it is about to stall when I try to accelerate to merge into traffic onto a highway. I haven't brought the car in for service re: the last issue but I expect the same writeoff answer that they gave me for the first problem.
Vehicle; 2004 toyota highlander limited, v6 engine, auto transmission. There is a definite hesitation/lag/delay in shifting and acceleration. This condition happens almost all of the time and creates a real safety concern. Moderate acceleration will produce this condition. Toyota is aware of this condition but is doing nothing to correct it.
I have owned a 2004 toyota highlander v6 4-wd vehicle since july 10, 2004. About two weeks ago I noticed there was some hesitation upon acceleration and on occasion the vehicle seems to down shift for no apparent reason. This is extremely dangerous when making a left-hand turn against traffic without a turn arrow or pulling out into any kind of traffic. Sometimes it will go - often times there is a 1-2 second delay. *ak I have also noticed on occasion that while driving on the highway, suddently the vehicle downshifts with no change in acceleration on the driver's part. This makes for a jumpy feel in what was originally a very smooth driving car. In addition, it is wreaking havoc on my mileage (am currently getting 17.1 mpg even on the highway). I can see these problems leading to accidents and I've had a couple of close calls already. I also have teenaged drivers and there is no way I can feel they are safe driving this vehicle. I have had the car in two times in the last week. I am told that the highlander has a "unique shift pattern" and the technician didn't notice any hesitation problems. Upon leaving the dealership, I noticed hesitation right away. I suppose they are choosing to ignore these problems. The suggestion was that I speak to my salesman and maybe they would offer me a good deal on another model since I have just 2,000 miles on the highlander. What kind of solution is that? Furthermore, I went to this dealer's website and found several low-mileage highlanders for sale. This leads me to believe they have had to satisfy other owners by trade as well. Aside from that, nothing was done to rectify the problems.
2004 toyota highlander with approx. 11,000 miles. 6cyl. 2w/d I have noticed a slight but consistent hesitation between pressing the accelerator and actually accelerating. I recently experienced that when accellerating heavily, as to pass another car, the highlander actually seems to pause, and to even momentarily slow down instead of acellerating. And then it suddenly accelerates. This delay is greater than 1-2 seconds and is significantly noticable. This is not a situation where the vehicle is droping smoothly into a lower gear to accellerate. The first time it occured to me I thought for a moment that the transmission had fully disingaged or otherwise failed. I had time to briefly consider how I was going to get safely out of traffic & onto the shoulder before it suddenly accellerated. Please understand, the engine in fact did rev in acceleration while the vehicle itself slowed before the transmission suddenly surged into connection at a high RPM. This is my wifes vehicle. She's described this "surging" before and I pretty much blew her off until it happened to me. No more. This is an accident waiting to happen. In the meantime toyota, or more accurately the mechanic at the toyota dealer, tells me they are aware of the issue as fairly common, but don't have a fix and have not entered a bulletin to their dealers. Again, this is an accident waiting to happen.
Bought a new '04 toyota highlander may 3. Within a few weeks driving it became dangerous because of hesitation upon acceleration. It is unsafe to drive in heavy/fast traffic. The dealership said they could find no problem until I insisted repeatedly. Then they 'found the problem' but there is no fix. This is dangerous because it will eventually cause someone to be killed. Why isn't toyota responsible for fixing this problem on a $30,000 vehicle??
The vehicle has a dangerous hesitation on low speed acceleration. When slowly rolling forward, and then accelerating, such as to pull out from a side street, the vehicle will often hesitate for 1 second or more. This sometimes results in almost getting into a side impact crash, as the vehicle will not pull across the lane out of the way of on coming traffic.
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