I was driving in traffic and all of a sudden the information screen indicated there had been a brake malfunction and that I should pull over and call the dealer. I noticed the emergency brake light was lit so I thought I had somehow been driving with the emergency brake on. In kind of a panic I then pushed down the emergency brake about half way in an effort to turn it off. This caused the car to slow down precipitiously and we almost got into an accident. It turns out the problem was caused by corrosion in one of the wheel sensors that detects slippage. The emergency brake was never engaged. Toyota should not illuminate that light when this happens to prevent drivers from thinking their emergency brake is engaged when infact it is not. Toyota should recall the 2008 highlander to make sure there is no corrosion since the message on the informational display is so distracting to the driver.
2008 Toyota Highlander electrical complaints
Page 3 of 3: complaints 41 to 44 of 44, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Driving my new 2008 toyota highlander leased dec. 2008. On 4-5 separate occasions while driving with the cruise control on I accelerated and the vehicle immediately went to full race. Pedal was not stuck. Could not turn off the cruise control. Shifting into neutral caused uncontrolled maximum rpms. Turning the key off and back on numerous times did not fix the problem. Eventually after about 20-30 seconds the problem resolved, engine slowed with no sign there had ever been a problem. This has not happened again since spring 2009 but that spring the 4-5 episodes happened within a few weeks.
Using a highlander's power-adapter to power my iphone, a significant amount of noise is added to the music output. Toyota dealer has corrected my problem by installing some filters in line before the power adapter socket.
Toyota highlander 2008 limited can be put in reverse with no visible or audible warning that a door is open. Resulted in backing out of garage and causing property damage. *tr highlander has lcd screen to display warnings and other messages to the driver. Same screen is used to show rear camera image in reverse. When car is in reverse, rear camera image supersedes warning message giving the driver the impression that all systems are go and it is ok to back-up. Toyota needs to reprogram onboard computer so that if any door is open, or if any other warnings (perhaps seatbelts) are engaged the rear camera view does not show on the lcd screen so that the warnings car be displayed. Given the lcd screen and after having the car for only two months, it is clear that drivers will look to that screen for information and not so much use the instrument panel lights.
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