2009 Toyota Highlander body problems

Filed Jun 6, 2019 · Body · 138,000 miles · FL

There has been a latching issue with the rear power hatch since we have owned the car. Toyota issued a repair recall in 2017 to fix the issue but it is broken once again. Either they are using defective parts or a design flaw, but it is very dangerous as we have had the rear door open while driving several times. They do not want to repair because they do not think it is a safety issue.

Filed Aug 12, 2018 · Body, Brakes · 101,601 miles · TX

I was sold over internet by vandergrift toyota of arlington,tx a falsely advertised 2009 toyota highlander,that was delivered to me in san antonio, tx in enclimate weather and while I was in a full body brace, I had told them of weather, and was in down pour when they delivered, I was unable to examine car in my condition and weather till next morning. Car had been wrecked, had silt in rear tail lights, I tried to have dealership fix it, by taking car back to them, I did not hv another car. The conditions of the car were never disclosed, I did not received a buyers guide, only a blank sales contract with my name, car make and model and VIN with price paid. I hv repeatedly tried to resolve matter, dealer has lied repeatedly and billigerent. I have called owners of dealership, berkshire hathaway, they defer to dealer, dealer has done nothing, I have tried to tell people at berkshire hathaway this is something a dealer has dropped on me, who are and represent the berkshire hathaway brand, I told bh, I would persue and seek to expose to authoritative entities, and press,they have done nothing. I have also filed a pending complaint with texas dmv. I also have according to use title 18 2511 (2)(d), recorded conversations with dlrships used sales mngr, general mngr/partner, and berkshire hathaway, and previous owner who told me when car traded in, dlr sd wold not keep do to miles and age, wd go to wholes auction. I also hv screen shot where dealer continued to advertise car for sale at reduced price 12 days after initial deposit and over a week after wire trnsfer, and 5 days after delivery. Other, problems included components advertised or options not included. Toyota tow pkg, turned out to be uhaul hitch bolted on, no wiring to even coonect to brakes, and no additional radiator/fans/ to aid in hauling /towing, and no stellite radio as advertised. Original ad photos faked

Filed Jan 20, 2016 · Body · 45,000 miles · TX

The power back door/liftgate does not close properly. The read door of the highlander would come within an inch of closing when you operated the powered close function and stop, requiring a physical nudge to completely engage the lock and close. This went on for about a year until one day there was a loud crunching noise when it was closed and would not open. After searching the internet for solutions and finding this is an extremely common problem (even several websites dedicated to forming class action lawsuits) including toyota issuing t-sb-0091-12, I called toyota's help line where I was very rudely told that since the warrantee was over, they would not cover any of it. We have a 1 year old baby and we got this car with that in mind. We currently have no access to the trunk and cannot fit her stroller in through the window. We are now faced with a several thousand dollar repair! I disassembled the part myself to find out that the metal gear about 1/2 an inch thick had sheared off and broken - exactly as shown in figure 2 of their official bulletin. Toyota tried to blame us for the failure saying we probably tried to close the door on cargo (we did not) and that this is not a known issue (why would they issue a tsb if this was not a frequent issue?). From research on the internet, there appears to be many many people with this problem and unfortunately for us, our occurred outside of the warrantee period so we are left with little recourse. I think it would be appropriate for toyota to extend coverage for this common issue since its failure makes the trunk unusable and because it has such a common occurrence. Tsb: http://media.fixed-ops.com/toy_servicebulletins/sb0091t12.pdf

Filed Oct 26, 2015 · Body, Electrical · 75,000 miles · TN

Liftgate will not close or open when automatic button is pushed either on the dash or the button on the liftgate itself. Stays open and have to force the liftgate down manually. At times liftgate will open by itself while stationary or vehicle is moving. Closing or opening the liftgate automatically problem has be ongoing for about 6 months. Brought to dealership and they could not repair, but I could take to body shop for repair. Currently a service bulletin has been issued, but should be a safety recall.

Filed Aug 10, 2015 · Body, Electrical · 87,473 miles · KS

Lift gate and power door motor broke. The door stocked and could not be opened or locked. I was lucky that my toddler was not around. I am horrified what would happened if his hand stock in it and the door could not be open. We took it to molle toyota. They told me that beside the lift gate and motor the whole rear door and hinge has to be replace. They said that if I don't replace the doors I will have same problem few months later. They said that toyota modified the new rear door that they are aware that the door in my vehicle causing problems. They refused to pay for the door because it's outside warranty. The cost of motor and lift gate repair is $1500 the cost with new door is $3500. I don't understand why toyota does not pay for door that they are aware that are defective and needed to be modified. I also think that there should be a recall on this part because someone can get injured.

Filed Aug 4, 2015 · Body · 22,612 miles · TX

Rear door hatch made a loud popping noise when door was lowered. Door no longer opens or closes. Dealer states cost to repair $4,700 to $5,400. Toyota has a technical service bulletin covering this problem but denies responsibility if vehicle is beyond 36/36,000 warranty. Updated 9/15/15

Filed Apr 18, 2015 · Body, Electrical · 91,650 miles · TX

The power tailgate will not open and close automatically. You have to force it to open manually and force it to close manually because the motor gets stuck in one position. We called the toyota to see if there was any recalls after reading similar complaints on the internet and few lawsuits against toyota for the same problem, and toyota said no there are no recalls for the tailgate motor. The motor itself costs about $1200 and only the toyota has it, plus the labor to replace it which could amounts up to $1500 if you find an outside mechanic/body shop to do it for you. In addition, you might need to change the rails and shocks that hold the tailgate to the body of the car. If you take it to the toyota, it could cost close to $5000.00. Since this has occurred with too many consumers, we believe there should be a recall for this problem because it could cause some injuries if someone gets trapped between the tailgate and the rear bumper/cargo area.

Filed Mar 31, 2015 · Body, Electrical · 100,500 miles · TX

The tailgate motor unexpectedly malfunctioned and closed the door in an unbalanced way causing the breaking of the tailgate hinges / arms. The tailgate stopped / froze and remained ajar about 1 inch on right passenger side of the door and latching on driver's side of the door. The door would not manually or electronically open back up. Had to have the door physically removed by toyota dealership and replaced entire tailgate hatch, motor and hinges. Costing me in the neighborhood of $5,000 for parts, labor, and a rental car for 12 days to repair as my insurance with progressive insurance declined coverage under my comprehensive insurance as they related back to wear and tear. Potential severe crushing injury or fatality could have resulted from what occurred. Since the door continued to close after malfunctioning and froze in place (unable to physically open), had someone's hand or body part been caught under could have resulted in being caught / trapped between the door and the latching area. Quick search on the internet shows that this is not the first time that this has occurred. All showing similar cost associated with repair and all with the same life altering or severe injury consequence. Would like to get toyota to recall the highlander and fix the faulty motor before someone gets hurt or worse, killed by this default

Filed May 2, 2014 · Body, Electrical · 53,275 miles · IL

Liftgate does will not open. Schaumburg toyota reported the following on their service report the following: "found auto open & close motor seized. Need: to go to bodyshop - replace l/hinge, motor-door". Toyota schaumburg is speculating (pure speculation) that the car was bumped into and therefore the distances (which distances ?) are skewed. We (owners) believe that no such incidence happened. We e-mailed toyota (case # [xxx].) who referred us back to [xxx]. [xxx] did call but offered no proof of their speculation (that the car was bumped into), neither did [xxx] provide the misalignment numbers. [xxx] did mention that toyota has known about this problem but they will honor the problem only within 3 months/36,000 miles. The power to my liftgate is now disabled and I would like for toyota to acknowledge that they have known about this problem and therefore make the liftgate fully functional (power connected) for me. We (owners) are honest when we say that the care was not bumped into from rear-side and we should not be paying for these repairs. I have tried my best to work it out with toyota corporation and schaumburg toyota, however, both are trying to deflect the responsibility away from themselves. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).

Filed Apr 23, 2014 · Body · 45,000 miles · CA

The vehicle is a 2009 toyota highlander. The power arm broke off of the rear power liftgate when closing. The driver side hinge on the rear power liftgate bowed and would not allow us to close the door. This hatchback/liftgate support device issue occurred march 2013. We filed a formal complaint to toyota who would not accept responsibility but with just a google search you will find hundreds of people with the same complaint. The safety issue here is that door can close on a small child and not be able to release because the part that becomes bowed makes it stick in position.