2005 Toyota Highlander: jerking or lurching

Filed Nov 11, 2015 · Transmission · SC

Have documented transmission problems since the purchase of the vehicle. Contacted toyota with my concerns, no help was provided. Transmission failed. Provided toyota with complaint on oct.14,2015. And many times before then. Afraid for my life to drive it. Turning, jerking, hesitation in take off. Etc.

Filed Nov 26, 2014 · Acceleration, Engine · 6 miles · KS

I'm the original owner & sole driver of the vehicle & ever since I test drove it the day I purchased it this car's had issues with "jerky/delayed" acceleration. During the test drive I was told that the car adjusts to how I drive & it'll get better. This happens pretty much every time I accelerate the vehicle after it's been stopped or the speed slowed substantially. Each & every time I try to gently accelerate the vehicle from a stop, there's a tiny delay in vehicle response from what I am inputting to the accelerator pedal. Then after the delay, it's like the vehicle tries to suddenly catch up with where it was supposed to be in the acceleration process & suddenly jerks forward with a lot of acceleration. This poses a safety problem when trying to pull out into traffic & needing the vehicle to respond to the gas pedal inputs that I'm giving it immediately as I'm giving them & not with even a small delay. That delay in response by the vehicle's acceleration has caused several near-misses with other traffic. I have tried taking it into my dealer at least a couple times to have the issue addressed but the technicians just wanted to brush it off saying they didn't notice it or blame it on the transmission & when I told them this isn't a transmission problem they just blew me off treating me like a dumb female who didn't know anything about cars, not knowing that I'm an engineer. Both of these times were within my warranty period, but it's obvious they didn't want to spend the time & effort to diagnose this issue. My safety was clearly not important to the people at my local toyota dealership. So I continue to have this problem every single time I accelerate from a stop and most times I re-accelerate after having slowed down substantially. After having this issue for the past 9 years, the jerkiness of the acceleration probably has caused other problems with the vehicle.

Filed Oct 17, 2014 · Acceleration, Engine · 25,000 miles · CO

I am the original owner of the vehicle and throughout my ownership since 2/2005 when it was bought this car has issues with acceleration. It usually occurs when you are sitting at a stop and try to accelerate the vehicle. The car does not recognize when you are pushing the acceleration pedal and has a delay when it finally responds. There have been numerous incidents where I have tried to cross a busy intersection or pull out into traffic and the vehicle hesitates when trying to accelerate, ending with a jerk of the vehicle. I have almost been t-boned a few times trying to cross busy intersections and the car doesn't want to move. I have brought this to the dealership numerous times and the only response they have is that the car adjusts to different drivers and it then programs itself based off your driving habits, so they reset the coding on it. Still have the issue, didn't fix anything and now I am reading where others have had issues, I just think they brushed it under the rug to not have to honor my warranty that was in place on the vehicle. I have also have had issues from day 1 on this car with the transmission pan leaking, they have had to replace the transmission pan gasket numerous times on the vehicle; claiming it just went bad. Really, that many times it just goes bad, I don't think so.

Filed May 21, 2014 · Acceleration · 101,513 miles · TX · crash · 1 injury

My car was decelerating in the far right turn lane of a busy intersection. The brake had been applied approximately 1000 ft from the intersection as there were 3 vehicles stopped ahead of me. I was traveling at 10 MPH and I increased the pressure to the brake pedal as the car approached a stopped vehicle approximately 100 feet ahead of my vehicle. The engine revved to the highest RPM reading and lurched forward as I continued to apply full pressure to the brake pedal by adding my left foot to the already stationary right foot. I steered the vehicle to the right and drove on the sidewalk and grass between a burger king and autozone parking lots to avoid hitting the cars in front of me. I shifted the gear shift to neutral and the accelerator did not disengage. I was nearly standing on brake as the car continued to accelerate with the engine screaming from the high rpms. I straightened the car's path to avoid a parked vehicle in the autozone parking lot. I jumped a curb onto grass and continued to accelerate until crashing through a cinder block wall supporting the autozone sign. The driver side airbag deployed upon impact which engaged the engine kill switch. While still standing on the brakes, my car traveled another 25-30 feet before coming to rest. The driver behind me can confirm that I was decelerating and the brake lights on as the car "took off" on its path toward the autozone sign. The car was totaled and I received neck, shoulder and chest injuries from the impact. I was able to exit the car on my own.

Filed Nov 2, 2013 · Transmission · 90,000 miles · MA

Bought the car used with 49k miles approximately. Did not do this for the first 1.5 yrs we owned this now problems with the tranny and dealer told us it is suppose to do that. I dont think so by other people in the toyota highlander forums. There are thousands of owners with this tranny problem and toyota has no fix but to replace the tranny for $5000.00 wife's 2005 highlander is not shifting correct when she slows down and then tries to speed up or when she goes around a corner slow and speeds up the tranny has a delay and then shifts kinda hard. When starting from a dead stop shifts fine no problems just slowing down and then accelerating it will delay then shift. It kind of jerks the car and makes you wonder what is going on. Car has been doing this for about 6 months. This is very dangerous when in traffic with the delay shifting trying to merge in stop and go traffic. Many close calls of getting into an accident. Been on many forums and many people have been told by the toyota dealers that this is normal which I feel is a bull crap story just to get rid of the person/complaint. I'm putting in this complaint because it is a safety complaint in my judgment and toyota needs to fix these tranny problems. Thanks

Filed Oct 5, 2013 · Engine, Transmission · OH

Engine/transmission is very jerky and on again off again with acceleration and deceleration. This has almost caused me to have several accidents, and I am considering getting rid of the car. It seems that toyota has known about this problem with highlander for some period of time. And I feel that they should honor the hard working citizens that buy their vehicles and provide a recall to repair the afore mentioned problems.

Filed Jan 12, 2011 · Transmission · 29,000 miles · AR

Tl*the contact owns a 2005 toyota highlander. While the contact shifted the gear into the park position, the transmission began to jerk with hesitation. The failure occurred intermittently. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 29,000.

Filed Feb 3, 2010 · Engine · 95,000 miles · MD

On numerous occasions this vehicle stutters when merging on to traffic. On this specific instance I was merging from turn in lane. The throttle was slow to respond after depressing the accelerator pedal 3/4 of the way. Then it jumped/lurched forward. I was nearly hit but the traffic coming up from behind. This has occurred on multiple occassions in the past, beginning with 20000 miles on the car. Had brought it to the dealers attention in the past and was told that this is a "design feature" of the electronic throttle. They seemed to be aware of the problem but could not offer any solution. The ECM was reprogrammed once under warranty but that also did not solve the problem.

Filed Dec 10, 2009 · Steering · 56,500 miles · OH

2005 toyota highlander 4x4 v6. The steering became jerky when turning and especially when going over bumps. The intermediate shaft assembly had to be replaced to fix the issue. The technician researched it and there have been two technical bulletins put out by toyota and they have redesigned the original part so that it is no longer available and has a new part number. The toyota dealership also stated that just lubricating the assembly does not work. My mechanic stated that he has fixed a number of these on highlanders, rav4s, and avalons. In my opinion the old part adversely affects the steering and safe handling of the vehicle and should have been recalled by toyota when the part was redesigned.

Filed Aug 23, 2007 · Transmission · 15,000 miles · CA

2005 v6 toyota highlander - transmission update flash - does not resolve lag issue as intended, and later makes transmission stutter and jerky - not resolved after transmission fluid change and inspection. Two dealers stated: could not replicate issue. Family and friends have driven and ridden in vehicle and state they feel it drives like an old car or worse - makes noises and is not smooth, also can be dangerous if a quick response is necessary.

Filed Jun 14, 2006 · Acceleration · 13,500 miles · PA · crash

I drove up hill, slowed, turned, and pulled behind truck to park off the side of the road. This was also uphill. The car was stopped, I went to put my foot on the brake to shift into park, and the car for some reason accelerated wildly (loud roaring of engine). It then lurched forward very fast and slammed into the truck that was in front of me. I had no power to stop it. This incident was completely out of my control. I have had problems in the past with this vehicle with severe hesitation. I have also had a hesitation, followed by extreme acceleration. I did file a complaint previously. This is a very dangerous condition. It could have been a child I hit instead of a truck!. The dealer says they can't find a problem with my car. This is a sporadic occurrence, but it shouldn't happen at all.

Filed May 4, 2006 · Transmission · NC

I have made numerous complaints about the functioning of the transmission in my 2005 toyota highlander. It began one month after I purchased the new car. The problems have progressively grown worse and are more frequent. The dealership indicates that the hesitation and jerking of the transmission is normal and a result of the electronic controlling of the transmission. Even after the dealership updated the software, the transmission continues to have problems. The dealership nor toyota have not offered any solutions.