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.
2009 Toyota Highlander electrical complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 20 of 20, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Tl* the contact owned a 2009 toyota highlander. The contact stated that the vehicle caught fire on the front driver's seat. The fire department extinguished the fire. The vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and stated the vehicle was not included in the federal safety agency campaign number: 14v743000 (electrical system). The failure mileage was 110,000.
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
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).
Left driver's door actuator works sometimes when pressing remote control to unlock door. Left rear door works sometimes when pressing remote control to unlock door.
Rear door/hatch electric motor and latch/lock assembly failed. Several incidences of the rear electric hatch failing to seat/close occurred prior to the failure. The door would start down but would not close/latch. Toyota service department (dothan, al) said the door needed to be adjusted and did so. About one month later the door closed with a loud noise and would not open afterwards. Upon outside inspection, I saw the door was offset about a quarter of an inch toward the passenger side and seated about the same (1/4 inch) further in than normal. The door would not open at all at that point. The same service department initially accused me of damaging the car in an accident (untrue). They pried the door open, and recommended I disable the electric door motor and only operate the door manually. Later the same service personnel admitted there was a design problem with the door hinges that caused the failure.
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 toyota highlander. The contact stated that she attempted to accelerate but the vehicle hesitated, after a brief delay, the accelerator engaged causing the vehicle to lunge forward. Also, the contact stated that all of the lights on the instrument panel continuously flickered and the driver's side brake light was defective. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The technician stated that they were not allowed to touch the vehicle and contacted an investigator to diagnose the failure. The investigator was unable to diagnose the failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 800 and the current mileage was 26,500.
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 toyota highlander. The contact stated that the air conditioning unit failed four times. The contact stated the repairs were made by an authorized dealer and the unit would work for a short time before failing again. In addition, the door locks would fail intermittently. The dealer was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer due to the failure of the air conditioning unit. The vehicle was left with the dealer where the contact was awaiting repairs. The failure mileage was 4,624.. Updated 11/22/10 *bf the consumer stated the cd player, door and hatch locks failed. The consumer has since received a 2010 replacement vehicle. Updated 11/23/10
2009 toyota highlander was involved in the floor mat recall. When vehicle was taken to dealer and consumer was told there was nothing they could do because the floor mats were not toyota floor mats. *kb the consumer stated at times the vehicle would not start. The dealer performed a diagnostic test and stated the battery was weak.
2009 toyota highland had been drived for about 10 minutes, parked, locked at 7:25 am on jan 22, 2010. Approximately 20 minutes later a 6th ft high flames were discovered by the owner coming from the engine. Someone had already reported the fire and the fire department responded by 7:50 am.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2009 Toyota Highlander?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history