Tl* the contact owns a 2011 toyota highlander. The contact stated that the check engine warning light illuminated constantly and the engine exhibited an abnormal roaring noise. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer several times for the failure who advised the contact that nothing was wrong with the engine and the noise the engine was exhibiting was a normal occurrence. The contact stated that in august 2012 while driving 65 MPH, the vehicle made a clucking noise and the vehicle stalled without warning. The contact was able to place the gear into reverse and into a parking area. The vehicle was towed to the dealer who located the failure as the transmission solenoid clutch assembly. The transmission solenoid clutch assembly was replaced however, the failure was not corrected. The vehicle would not accelerate and the abnormal noise persisted. The failure mileage was 3,467 and the current mileage was 20,896. Updated 10/03/12*lj updated 10/3/2012
2011 Toyota Highlander transmission complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 16 of 16, newest first, as owners wrote them.
At low speed, the auto has a serious delay when you press down on the gas pedal to enter a lane of traffic such as entering an interstate from an entrance ramp. After the delay the auto then surges into the traffic lane. Toyota officials claim it is caused by a communication problem between the computer and the transmission. They told me that it cannot be corrected. I feel that the delay and surge is not safe.
I only have 7k miles in my car I own the car for only 1 year. I notice that the steering wheel is not balance at all. At least 5-10 degree to the right. I have my car service every 6 months with toyota it should be balanced and done the tire rotation??? Also the transmission occasionally stall about 1-2 second when I accelerate to 30-40 MPH. I am afraid that the transmission will have problem within this 2-3 years. Like honda transmission failure on odyssey.
The following email/report was sent to the toyota dealership from whom I had purchased this new vehicle: I am writing to report an abnormal incident, which may or may not be related to the stall problem I had encountered, and which you inspected during my last visit. In this incident, I was very gently trying to move the car into my garage from a stationary position (there is a small 10 to 15 degree grade over a 3 ft distance before the garage floor became level again). As I slowly pressed down on the accelerator, the car started to move slowly in a normal fashion, but after moving half way into the garage, it suddenly accelerated, almost at full throttle... I had to slam on the brake as hard as I could react, missing a crash by only a few inches. As I tried to analyze what happened, the only thing that I can think of is that as I was moving slowly enough where most likely only the electric motor was moving the car, but then very suddenly that electric motor sourced its absolute full power to accelerate the wheels ---almost as if the sw decided to ignore my very soft pressure on the gas pedal and source maximum power. Please advise when your toyota engineers will be visiting you again so that they may review this latest abnormality. I am also forwarding this message to the national auto safety department, since I am now quite concerned about safety.
Vehicle makes a very noticeable, irritating whine or whistle noise when accelerating at 40mph. Stops when gas pedal is released. Very constant and annoying. Did not happen when car was first purchased. Have been told by toyota that it was the transfer case, which they replaced. Did not fix the problem. Now they tell me it is normal. Test drove another vehicle from their lot of the same exact year, make, model. No noise at all. This is not normal. Toyota knows about the problem, but they are denying it. Other toyota vehicles (I.e. Rav4, tundra) had/have the same problem. Forums tell me it is the transmission. Waiting on appointment for a field tech from toyota to examine it.
Tl*the contact owns a 2011 toyota highlander. While the vehicle was parked the contact stated that it started moving on its own. The gear shift does not have to be in park in order to turn the vehicle on since it was turned off by pressing a button. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the technicians stated that there were no repairs needed and that was the way the vehicle was designed. Updated 3/22/11 *cn updated 04/25/11
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