Highlander hybrid 2008 we were driving on a country back road. In idaho, we had just stopped at a stop sign and went to drive forward after going around 100-200 meters and the car lurched forward while I was driving and then the screen with all the warnings began going off. All of them saying pull over tot the side of the road and that all the systems were failing. All the warnings said things to take the car to dealer. We pulled over to the side of the road and then tried to get the car to move forward by putting it in drive and you could hear the car trying to do something but nothing happened. The car did turn on but that was it.
2008 Toyota Highlander engine complaints
Page 2 of 4: complaints 11 to 40 of 76, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 toyota highlander. The contact stated that while driving at 65 MPH, the engine oil cooler pipe ruptured without warning which caused the vehicle to stall. The contact pulled over, shutoff the vehicle and inspected the vehicle. The contact became aware that the oil was completely drained from the engine. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic to be inspected. The inspection confirmed the driver's assessment. The mechanic informed the contact of a manufacturer's extended warranty coverage on similar vehicles however, the warranty had expired on the vehicle. The contact stated that he was never notified of the extended warranty prior to the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 82,156.
Dear sir/madam the toyota highlander /camry and sienna have a oil cooler line which is made of rubber and explode due to the high temperature of the oil. All these vehicles have been causing oil to be leaked all over the roads of america with toyota not having issued a recall. Years 2008 - 2013 .this issue is dangerous.
While driving my car at approximately 55mph all the dashboard lights flashed and then the check hybrid system light came on and stayed on. It said that there was a problem with the hybrid system to pull over as soon as you could safety and to contact the dealer. Well the engine died abruptly and loss power immediately. Luckily I was on a one lane road with a shoulder and no one immediately behind me. The mechanic said that it was a lower end motor failure but really could not figure out what is wrong with it. In fact it is still at the mechanic's and they are still trying to figure it out. It appears that it may be the engine inverter but still not sure. This is a very unsafe situation and toyota should have address this. My car is a 2008 highland hybrid with 119,000 miles on.
The rubber oil cooler line (part number: 040004-29131) of our 2008 toyota highlander burst at 139,000 miles causing an oil spill and complete and irreversible engine failure due to oil starvation while vehicle was in high-speed motion in a congested highway during icy-and foggy conditions. Driver managed to remove the vehicle from the road, not causing any accidents, just before the engine irreversibly broke and shut down. Two days prior the incident, oil-change scheduled service was performed by a toyota-certified dealership showing no signs of engine/engine oil-cooling line abnormalities. Defective software displayed warnings on the dashboard of low engine oil/pressure seconds before the engine shut down. This defective part has been specifically acknowledged in the toyota's 2014 "warranty enhancement program, ze2" for repairs at no cost until january 31, 2016 or past that date for "10 years from the date of first use or 150,000 miles, whichever occurs first." toyota claims they mailed a letter for "several months" after "late july 2014" for ze2 to owners but the owner of this vehicle neither ever received such letter nor was notified by toyota corp./dealership. Vehicle has been under *consistent, scheduled, and regular car services* since its original and sole purchase in 2008. This should have been a recall to the federal safety agency upon *unreasonably dangerous design* for using rubber pressurized pipes in v6 engines instead of metal-based materials, defective part awareness, incident history, and the extent of the high hazard risk that involves this part failure: oil spill (not oil leaking as stated in ze2) can occur at high resulting in a non-opportunity to prevent vehicle loss and high probabilities of crash, injuries, fire, and/or fatalities. This is also exacerbated by the embedded defective software in terms of poor timing to display engine failure.
The engine oil cooler pipe on my 2008 highlander was defective and leaked at 124,000 mile/12 years (in feb 2020). Happened while I was on a highway & smoke in my cabin. Toyota has set a limit of extended limited warranty (lcs-ze2) to fix this defect but only if it occurs at < (or equal) 10 yrs or 150,000 miles. Many reports on the web indicate cars past the toyota arbitrary cut offs for time and miles. This is a serious safety defect/risk because all of the oil could leak out from a defective pipe & engine could catch fire or freeze. I had smoke in the cabin and a low oil pressure warning light. Of note, my car was serviced (oil change) and a multipoint inspection by toyota 3 weeks prior to oil leak (in jan 2020) and the oil leak was not noted. This means that the leak occurred recently and well past the arbitrary time interval/mileage limit set by toyota. At no time did my toyota dealer notify me regarding the extended warranty enhancement or that this could e a problem or nor did my toyota dealer specifically look for this problem on my car during inspection. A full scale recall is required for this defect, not a limited warranty enhancement letter. Attached are 1- the invoice to fix the oil engine pipe leak 2- the inspection from toyota dealer with no evidence of an oil leak (jan 2020) 3-warranty & webchat other owners complain of similar dangerous effects of the oil leak and expensive repairs that occurred past the toyota arbitrary limits 4. Invoice documenting the oil change (jan 2020) showing no evidence of a leak when toyota set the limits on the extended warranty of 10 years or 150,000 miles, they had no idea if that would be sufficiently in length to catch all the problems. Because toyota owners keep their vehicles for a long time, these arbitrary intervals are not sufficient. Therefore a full recall is required.
On my way home on saturday night, about 2 to 3 streets from my house, my dash started to say low fuel. I continued to drive home because I was so close. I get home and jumped out of the vehicle to listen to my car and everything sounded good. I shut the car off. On monday morning, I walked out and noticed all the oil in the car had leaked out of the car onto my driveway. I immediately called toyota and they said they would send a tow truck. The tow truck driver arrived and checked the oil with the dip stick. Since there was no oil in the vehicle, we did not start the engine. He towed the car to toyota (where I have all my work done including inspections-which the last one was done 3 weeks prior to this incident). The toyota mechanics looked at the vehicle. They called me and said a hose under the engine had cracked causing the oil to leak out. They had to order the part and it would fixed and ready by tuesday. The part didn't come in as expected and the car was not fixed until wednesday. I left work on my break to pick up the vehicle wednesday night when they called and said it was ready. I picked up the vehicle from toyota and drove back to work. On the way, I noticed a noise coming from the engine but assumed it was ok since it was just fixed. After my shift (thursday morning), I came out and started the car. Immediately after starting the vehicle, a loud banging noise came from the engine. I called toyota and had them tow the vehicle back to toyota. They looked at the car and called me and stated the engine had blown and that it would cost $7000 to replace. They said I could keep the vehicle there until I decide what to do.
On the highway at 75 miles/hour (with my 3 small children in the backseat), loss of engine oil pressure. Diagnosed as the engine oil cooler pipe, oil was everywhere without any in the engine. This is a known issue on many engines which was covered by toyota for a limited time/mileage with a limited extended warranty under a "customer support program (ze2)." we were never notified of this potential issue, as we would have elected to fix this prior to an oil blowout, to prevent a potential accident with loss of the engine while driving, particularly with our children in the vehicle.
2008 highlander, engine oil cooler pipe failed, dropped 4 qts of oil on the highway, which LED to a slippery situation, I pulled over but a car behind me skidded through the oil and rear ended the car in front of them due to the oil left on the road impacting their safe stopping distance. This failed part was a rubber hose holding hot motor oil next to the catatlytic converter, terrible design, toyota replaced this original rubber hose with part 04004-29131 that was metal pipes not hoses. This part was eligible for a toyota extended warranty coverage (toyota warranty enhancement ze2) till 2016 or so, but I was never notified via mail of the issue, therefore did not know about it until after my car broke down. There are many documented issues of this part failing, and also many documented issues of toyota failing to notify customers due to their inability to link VIN to mailing address prior to 2014. I feel that toyota didn't notify me properly, which caused an unsafe situation for me and other motorists. Had this been a recall, they would have been obligated to more formally notify customers and dealerships about this hazard, and would have to fix them all, vs. The relatively small number that they did fix. I called toyota motor corp cust service, and they told me they no longer had any financial or notification obligation for this design & safety defect as the 'warranty enhancement' had expired. Please require a recall! There are thousands of cars on the road today with this unsafe condition ready to cause problems!
The engine is emitting smoke, creates rattling sound. At start timing chain sounds scared kids. While driving you can hear knocking sound and if something can break while driving.
The car was traveling approx. 65 MPH on the freeway when suddenly I noticed smoke coming up from under the hood. I immediately pulled off the freeway and in the process noticed the engine sounding different and performance level quickly dropping. I then noticed the oil light come on, so I continued to find the first safe spot available to pull over. I then called aaa and they had to tow the vehicle because the car had evidently drained all of its oil, leaving a puddle. The car was then towed to neighborhood car care in mission viejo. It was noticed at the shop that the engine and compartment were covered in oil. I was told the engine oil cooler line had failed and would need to be replaced with an upgraded part. I was also informed that having the engine coated in oil is a fire hazard, and he told me I was lucky my engine didn't catch fire while on the freeway. He told me after the repair, that I would need to get the engine and compartment cleaned to avoid a fire. Out of concern of the potentially dangerous situation I was in, I contacted toyota. They were aware of the probable failure of the part, and said there was a warranty, but they don't inform customers unless they have a failure within the warranty period. Had I been informed of this potential danger, I would have had it repaired immediately, before putting myself and family at risk.
Vvt-I oil line failure causing complete loss of engine oil while driving at speed on a highway. Car had to be towed and repaired due to lack of quality parts used in the manufacturing process. Toyota identified this problem internally yet failed to take appropriate measure to identify all models equipped with substandard oil lines and, likewise, did not attempt in earnest to notify owners of affected models. The result of toyota's lack of appropriate effort in notifying owners resulted in oil line parts failures occurring outside of an extended coverage period instituted by toyota. Because toyota did not act in good faith, owners were not notified and were subsequently put at risk of oil line parts failures resulting in engine damage or even engine failure. Many of the affected models are still in operation and the drivers of these vehicles will have no idea until the part fails due to toyota's lack of appropriate action. Toyota offers no support for this defect outside of a warranty enhancement or limited service campaign which owners were not sufficiently made aware of.
Oil cooler pipe malfunction. While driving, the oil cooler pipe started to leak from a hole in the rubber section between the metal clamps. All the engine oil came out within a few minutes while driving on the highway. Toyota had a recall in 2011 for this equipment, but no longer allows repair or replacement under recall.
I recently learned it is a "known" issue by toyota that the oil cooler line could rupture. This happened to me as I was driving on a very busy 3-lane highway. My only indication was when the oil pressure light came on, indicating an urgent need for me to pull over. Luckily I was already in the right lane getting ready to get off at the next exit, however only 5 minutes earlier I was traveling at a high rate of speed, keeping up with the 3 lanes of traffic. I feel this issue is very unsafe because I barely had enough time to exit the road quickly and since this has the possibility to cease the engine, I feel it could have caused an accident. When my SUV was checked my the mechanic he informed me that I had very little oil left in my engine. I contacted toyota who stated they did not see how this was a safety concern. I disagree.
Driving down roadway when a loud noise was heard in the engine, followed by check oil light to illuminate shortly after. Drove to nearest automotive repair site for service fearing more damage to engine by driving farther. Mechanic discovered oil line (previously repaired under recall) had burst and emptied all oil onto roadway. Previous repair, done under specs of recall, didn't hold up and required another repair. Toyota dealership called due to recall being performed there prior. Because it was completed to specs, no further assistance was offered. Repair completed with metal (not rubber) tubing and paid for out of pocket by driver. Fire risk noted since oil sprayed underneath car, onto back of car and onto roadway.
Sudden loss of oil while driving causing me to pull over immediately secondary to loud engine noise, decreased power, and fear of causing more engine damage. Local mechanic discovered that the engine oil cooling tube burst and dumped all the oil. Serious safety issue when you are forced to pull over to the shoulder on a busy road and left stranded as well as the fire risk when all the oil now covers the engine/underbody/back of vehicle.
The car blew the engine oil cooler pipe leaking profusely I drove it at night came home and there was a 12 x 12 oil leak in my garage. I pulled it out of the garage with the motor running and there was another 12 x 12 oil spill on my drive way. I have a line all the way down my street of the oil spewing out of the engine . I had to get the car towed the following day to toyota who knew about the part and offered an extended 10 year warranty to fix this problem. There was only 2 quarts of oil left in the crank case. No low oil light came on. I would have blown my motor for sure if I was on the highway. There is a video from toyota about the engine oil cooler pipe leaking and that they changed the part from rubber hoses to metal. Why was there not a recall on this part. It is not a matter of if it will fail but when. This could have caused a serious situation!
Driving on a rural 2 lane road the car started knocking and the light for the vsc came on. It said to bring to the dealer. Got home and checked the oil and there was not one drop on the dip stick. (my oil was changed at the dealer two weeks prior). The oil was however sprayed under the entire undercarriage. The part that is the problem is the oil cooler line.
Purchased this 2008 toyota highlander hybrid new from greentree toyota in danbury ct. We selected the hybrid version to save on gas. Little did we know our savings in gas would be sucked up in oil consumption. I need to carry a case of oil in the car at all times. Asked toyota service in danbury ct to investigate and they conducted the same oil test others speak about. Although they say our highlander passed the test I end up adding about 2 quarts of oil between every oil change. This car was serviced in exact compliance with the recommended service schedule. The toyota service department in danbury ct just says that it is normal for a car with 135,000 miles on it to burn oil. This was a huge investment. I would expect at least 200k miles on a car before experiencing this sort of problem. Very disappointing. I would have expected toyota to stand behind their product. Instead we get a well orchestrated don't admit any wrongdoing response. Toyota should be held accountable for producing a substandard product.
The primary issue of concern is regarding the vehicles valve springs. As a result of the valve spring which was in place, the vehicle in which I drove, stalled multiple times while in motion on a highway, before I was able to get it checked. In order to rectify this it cost over $2,000.00 in repairs. This issue is of grave concern, as a faulty valve spring, if it were to happen on a highway, could result in the death of a driver, passengers, and other vehicles. This issue is similar to the 2010 valve spring issue which affected lexus vehicles. In that 2010 issue, toyota admitted fault and recalled issues for 2006 to 2008 lexus models. Given that the issue happened to other brands owned by toyota the dot should see whether the issue is more widespread, and whether my vehicle falls under this issue as well.
Engine oil cooling (rubber) hose burst while driving and dumped all of my oil ... Toyota has since repaired this part with a series of metal pipes, which suggests to me that they realize that this is a defect but it is not acknowledged as a recall
I recently noticed a rattling sound out of the engine area that occurs intermittently. It typically occurs after the vehicle sits for a couple hours after it has been driven up to operating temperature. The sound happens for less than 2 seconds. The toyota dealer in our area diagnosed the issue as a failure of the intake cam gear per toyota technical service bulletin 0094-09. The service advisor stated that if the issue is left unaddressed, it could lead to complete engine failure. He also stated that the updated cam gear made by toyota does not fit the existing camshaft. This means that all 4 cam gears and two camshafts would have to be replaced which dramatically increases the labor and parts costs. I was given the following quote for the repair: part's $3748.00 labor $2137.00 tax $348.00 total $6233.00 I took the vehicle to another toyota to confirm the diagnosis and they confirmed the issue and quoted me at a similar price to do the repair. Message boards all across the internet describe a similar phenomenon. After discussing the matter with toyota corporate, they agreed to cover 50% of the parts cost, but I believe this to be unfair because their updated part intrinsically and dramatically increases the labor and parts costs. Even though only one cam gear failed, the replacement of all 4 cam gears is now necessary.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 toyota highlander. The contact stated that the air condition tube failed while driving. The contact inspected the vehicle and discovered that the air condition tube was exposed to the motor ventilator causing the tube to overheat and explode, spilling the coolant. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The VIN was not available. The approximate failure mileage was 113,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 toyota highlander. While driving 50 MPH, the contact smelled burning oil. The contact pulled over and found a leak in the motor oil cooling hose. The vehicle was towed to a dealer to be repaired. In addition, the mechanic found an issue with the cam shaft of the vehicle. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was 126,000.
According to the following website, there is a known issue with a cheap part on the toyota v6 engines. There was even a recall for the part, however, I"m told my car wasn't on the recal list. Https://sites.google.com/site/toyotav6oillinescandal/ the issue at hand is the car has been to the dealer for all maintenance, so its not a neglect issue. The rear bank vvt-I oil line used in prior to 2008 (mine has this issue as well) is metal with a rubber host connecting the two. The hose ruptures, dumps all of the oil, which squirts onto the passenger wheel, in the brakes, etc. It can not only cause a fire in the engine bay (which it did not in this case), but it could also lead to an inability to steer or brake (neither were the case here). Lastly, 6 quarts of oil drained out in less than 60 seconds, and the engine could have seized. This is a seriour issue for a $35.00 part.
When you start up car there is a engine grinding noise for a few seconds. This has been reported by many people on the internet, just google 2008 toyota highlander start up engine noise and you will get a better look at what it sounds like. This could lead to severe engine damage . It is a defect in the engine.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 toyota highlander. While attempting to accelerate, the vehicle hesitated and the check engine light illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The technician diagnosed that the fuel pump needed to be replaced. The technician stated that the fuel pump failing was a known issue. The vehicle was then put through a stress test and the service department kept and drove the vehicle. The service manager stated that the failure was not the fuel pump and that there was an issue within the system once the vehicle warmed up that caused the vehicle to lose power. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 90,000.
I purchased a qualified pre-owned 2008 toyota highlander sport from rice toyota in greensboro, nc in february of 2013. Since that time, I have properly serviced the vehicle and retained all service records. On or about march 31, 2015, while I was driving home from work on I-40 (65 MPH interstate highway), the engine in my highlander suddenly stalled and the check engine light came on. I coasted into a rest area (luckily) and was towed to a service station in greensboro. A complete diagnostic was performed and it was determined that the engine failure was due to a faulty engine valve spring. Every mechanic I have spoken with have indicated that a valve spring should not break on a 2008 toyota with around 100k miles. I searched online and found that toyota has recalled hundreds of thousands of certain lexus models, including models from 2008 with the same 3.5 liter v6 engine as is in my highlander, for faulty valve springs that result in sudden engine stalling. Rice toyota has refused to provide any assistance, as has toyota corporation. Further, toyota corporation has refused to provide me with any information regarding the manufacturer of the valve spring in my vehicle and/or any indication if the same valve spring was in the recalled lexus modes. I have seen class action law suits filed against toyota for concealing issues with valve springs. This defect can be very dangerous as the vehicle stalls suddenly and without warning. I need assistance to motivate toyota corporation and rice toyota to correct a clear design and/or manufacturing defect that caused a potentially dangerous engine stall in the middle of a major interstate highway.
Engine oil leaked almost empty. When I picked up kid from school parking on the driveway on that rainy day, saw a leak line on the wet ground. Next saturday I filled a qt oil to the level and drove to repair shop. The technician said almost all 5.5 qt oil was leaked out. Turned out it was timing chain covers silicon sealer broken. I am the person always check around my car before going out, if not checking, things could be very bad.
After parking the car at the airport for a couple of days and upon return started the car and started hearing grinding noise from the passenger side of the engine and would not be audible at the highway or freeway driving speeds (> 40 miles). Took to the dealer to get 2 outstanding recalls (spiral cable and software update for brake pedal override) and was told that the water pump is failing. Cost could be around $800 and was not happy to hear as the quality of these parts consistently been deteriorating and had to replace on earlier toyota's that I owned.
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