2007 Toyota Highlander Hybrid stability control problems

ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC)

I REPLACED MY BRAKES AFTER SEVERAL WARNING LIGHTS AND CODES KEPT POPPING UP ON MY DASH. HAD THE ROTORS TURNED. BUT WHEN I RETURNED TO DRIVING MY CAR AFTER I THOUGHT IT WAS FIXED THE BRAKES WOULD ALL OF A SUDDEN JUST GO OUT THE HYDRAULIC PART WOULD GO COMPLETELY TO THE FLOOR. THE CAR WOULD MAKE A HIGH PITCHED NOISE AND THEN NO BRAKES. TOOK IT TO TOYOTA IN CLINTON TN. SAID MY ABS BRAKE ACTUATOR WAS FAILING. WOULD COST ME 2200 DOLLARS TO FIX. THIS CERTAIN PART ON YOUR CAR IS SUPPOSED TO LAST YOU A LIFETIME. I DONT HAVE MONEY LIKE THAT NOW IT WAS TAKE ME A LIFETIME TO SAVE UP FOR THE REPAIRS. VERY SCARY. THIS WOULD HAPPEN TO ME RANDOMLY AS I WAS DRIVING NO MATTER WHERE OR HOW FAR THE TRIP I WAS TAKING. DIDN'T KNOW IF I WAS GOING TO BE ABLE TO MAKE IT HOME SOMETIMES. YOU JUST NEVER KNEW WHEN. SOMETIMES IT WOULD BE FINE AND OTHERS IT WOULD BE ABSOLUTELY SCARY.

NHTSA complaint #11234591 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC)

WHILE DRIVING UNDER NORMAL CONDITIONS, ALL DASH LIGHTS WENT ON SAYING CHECK VSC SYSTEM, ABS, BRAKE LIGHTS, WARNINGS AND TRACTION. TOOK VEHICLE TO SERVICE AT TOYOTA DEALER AND WAS TOLD THE ABS ACTUATOR ASSEMBLY HAS TO BE REPLACED, FOR NEARLY $2500. THIS IS A VEHICLE WITH UNDER 65,000 MILES ON IT AND THE ACTUATOR SHOULD LAST FOR THE LIFE OF THE VEHICLE. I JUST HAD THE RADIATOR REPLACED AND BRAKES REPLACED TWO MONTHS AGO. THIS PROBLEM WAS NOT DETECTED. BRAKES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN SOFT ON THIS VEHICLE. NOW THE BATTERY IS NOT CHARGING AND THE BRAKES ONLY SEEM TO WORK OFF AND ON. I HAVE TO PUMP THE BRAKES TO MAKE THEM WORK RIGHT. THIS IS A HUGE SAFETY PROBLEM AS ALL OF MY DRIVING IS IN THE CITY IN TRAFFIC. FROM READING ONLINE THIS IS A PROBLEM THAT OCCURS FREQUENTLY WITH THIS TYPE OF TOYOTA HIGHLANDER AND OTHER MODELS. I DON'T FEEL SAFE DRIVING IT AND I CAN'T AFFORD TO FIX IT. IT'S BARELY WORTH THE COST OF REPAIRING IT. IF THIS IS A KNOWN PUBLIC SAFETY ISSUE WHY DOESN'T TOYOTA RECALL THIS PART? THE SERVICE PERSON TOLD ME THE BRAKES MAY NOW FAIL AT ANY TIME, IN A DAY OR IN TWO WEEKS. HE TOLD ME TO AVOID OTHER VEHICLES ON THE ROAD!

NHTSA complaint #11101290 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC)

FAULTY BREAK SYSTEM THIS WOULD BE 2 TIME TO GET FIX IN LESS THAN 1 AND 3 MONTHS

NHTSA complaint #11021215 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC)

ISSUE WITH ABS ACTUATOR CAUSING LOSS OF VSC FUNCTION

NHTSA complaint #10892941 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC)

ABS ACTUATOR IS PUMPING TO PRIME BRAKES EVERY 15 SECS. DEFECTIVE AND NEEDS TO BE REPLACED. TOYOTA SAYS $2300

NHTSA complaint #10836954 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC)

THE VSC SYSTEM WARNING APPEARS AND IT SMELL LIKE THE BRAKE IS IMGAGE OF ATTACHED LIKE A BURNING METAL SMELL.

NHTSA complaint #10783187 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC)

FIRST NOTICED ON DATE ABOVE, BUT OCCURS AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK. WHEN SLOWING DOWN, AND BRAKES ARE APPLIED, IF A BUMP, POTHOLE, AND TRACTION IS LOST FOR A SPLIT SECOND THE BRAKES STOP WORKING AND THE CAR SURGES,COASTS, DISENGAGE. FIRM PRESSURE ON BRAKES IS USED TO COMPENSATE FOR THE LOSS OF BRAKING POWER. AS A RESULT STOPPING DISTANCE IS INCREASED. THIS LOSS OF BREAKING POWER LASTS FOR 1/2 TO 1 SECOND. PERHAPS ITS RELATED TO THE HYBRID REGENERATING SYSTEM. NEVER THE LESS IT IS VERY DISCONCERTING TO LOSE BRAKES, EVEN FOR A SPLIT SECOND

NHTSA complaint #10722110 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC)

WHILE ACCELERATING FROM A STOPLIGHT AND DRIVING IN A 45MPH ZONE, OUR 2007 HIGHLANDER HYBRID BEGAN TO ACCELERATE ON ITS OWN. THE ENGINE REVVED AS IF SOMEONE WERE FLOORING THE GAS PEDAL. NEITHER MY HUSBAND NOR I KNEW WHAT WAS HAPPENING. THEN WE HEARD A LOUD THUD SOUND FROM THE BACK SEAT AND WE LOST POWER STEERING, POWER BRAKES, AND WE STARTED TO DECELERATE. TRAFFIC WAS AVERAGING 45-50MPH AROUND US. THANKFULLY, MY HUSBAND WAS ABLE TO SAFELY COAST US INTO THE RIGHT LANE, THEN INTO A PARKING LOT, AND THEN INTO A PARKING SPOT. AFTER THAT WE WERE NOT ABLE TO START THE VEHICLE AND WE HAD MULTIPLE ERROR MESSAGES FLASH ACROSS THE INSTRUMENT PANEL: "CHECK HYBRID SYSTEM" & "CHECK VEHICLE STABILITY". WE WERE TOLD BY TOYOTA THAT OUR ERROR CODES INDICATED THAT THE INVERTER "BLEW UP" & NEEDS REPLACEMENT. THEY DID NOT MENTION ANYTHING ABOUT THE RECALL WHICH I FOUND WHILE RESEARCHING. WE ARE 13 VIN NUMBERS AFTER THE RECALL FOR THIS SAME ISSUE. WE WERE TOLD THE PART COSTS $10,000 BEFORE TAXES & INSTALLATION. TOYOTA WON'T HONOR THE EARLIER RECALL AND SO I'VE TOWED THE VEHICLE HOME. :(

NHTSA complaint #10523860 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC)

THE HYBRID ABRUPTLY STALLED WHILE DRIVING, LIGHT AND ALARMS ALL AROUND. DEALER STATES ITS THE POWER INVERTER, HE MENTIONED IT WAS A RECALL, BUT NOT COVERING MY CAR. THE SYMPTOMS ARE IDENTICAL.

NHTSA complaint #10504681 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC)

VEHICLE BECAME UNSTABLE AND WOBBLING, ALMOST CAUSED ACCIDENT WITH LOSS OF CONTROL, WHILE IN MOTION AND DISPLAYED WARNING MESSAGES FOR BRAKE AND VEHICLE STABILITY CONTROL WITH CODE P0A7A AND POSSIBLE OTHER CODES. VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO TYSON'S TOYOTA WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED AS HAVING A DEFECTIVE HYBRID INVERTER AND REQUIRES $8000+ IN REPAIRS. WE CONTACTED TOYOTA AND 2 DAYS LATER THEY CONCLUDED THAT THIS IS NOT A DEFECT AND NO ASSISTANCE WILL BR PROVIDED FOR THE REPAIRS. THIS ISSUE IS SIMILAR/IDENTICAL TO ANOTHER TOYOTA RECALL NUMBER 11V342000.

NHTSA complaint #10437944 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

TRACTION CONTROL SYSTEM

I HAVE A 2007 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER HYBRID WITH FRONT WHEEL DRIVE WHICH IS EQUIPPED WITH TRACTION CONTROL. ON TWO OCCASIONS I HAVE BEEN IN SITUATIONS WHERE THE TRACTION CONTROL HAS ENGAGED DUE TO AN UNSTABLE TRAVEL SURFACE. IN BOTH INSTANCES, THE VEHICLE HAS "SHUT DOWN" AND WOULD NOT ACCELERATE FORWARD DUE TO THE TRACTION CONTROL NOT ALLOWING THE VEHICLE TO DO SO. I CONTACTED MY LOCAL TOYOTA DEALER. THEY INDICATED THAT THIS WAS NORMAL TO "PROTECT" THE CVT FROM DAMAGE ON UNSTABLE SURFACES. THEY COULD NOT PROVIDE A REMEDY FOR THIS SITUATION. LIVING IN THE CHICAGO AREA, MY FEAR IS THAT WE MAY COME ACROSS AN ICY WINTER ROADWAY THAT WILL CAUSE THE TRACTION CONTROL TO INITIATE THE "LOSS OF POWER" TO THE DRIVE TRAIN. HAVING NO ACCELERATION CAPABILITY, THE POSSIBILITY EXISTS THAT AN APPROACHING VEHICLE FROM THE REAR WILL STRIKE OUR "DISABLED" VEHICLE. THIS POSES A TREMENDOUS SAFETY RISK. PLEASE HELP ME WITH THIS SITUATION AS TOYOTA HAS NO SOLUTION. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.

NHTSA complaint #10277384 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.