2018 Toyota Highlander

Approaching a stop light brakes didn’t work. The automatic system activated and the car stopped right before I rear-ended the car in front of me. I took it to a Toyota dealership and they diagnosed a faulty brake booster pump with a price of $2500 to replace. I see this isn’t a unique problem for the 2018 Highlander but after talking with Toyota they denied any coverage since my vehicle has 48,000 miles and is out of warranty.

MY 2018 Toyota Highlander XLE had a break malfunction April 15, 2022. The Brake light illuminated, "low brake power" flashed briefly and the pedal became stiff and unable to press for braking. I swerved to avoid rear ending the car in front of me. Brought it in to Toyota and they want $2000 to fix the break booster vacuum, and said it is not covered by warranty. My car only has 46k miles! This part is clearly faulty and Toyota should replace it. Accordingly to Toyota vehicle Maintenance Schedule, the vacuum pump for the brake booster needs to be replaced as a regular maintenance or "wear" item every 120,000 miles. This is a very expensive maintenance item (>$600 in parts, ~$2000 including labor and shop materials), that needs to be performed by a Toyota certified technician. In addition to being very expensive, what will discourage many vehicle owners from performing this service, one may expect that many owners who perform their own vehicle maintenance or use independent mechanic shops will simply miss this service altogether. Being a safety critical item, the vacuum pump should be designed to last the entire lifespan of the vehicle (just like other brake system components: ABS pump, vacuum booster, master cylinder, etc.). The short lifespan of the vacuum pump and the requirement to replace it on a regular basis is indicative of a defective or deficient design. Making the replacement of the vacuum pump a scheduled maintenance item is a just way for Toyota to avoid liability due to premature failures of a substandard safety component, especially in light that other brake system components are designed to last for the entire life of the vehicle, and are not considered wear items in the maintenance schedule (except for brake pads, of course). Toyota should redesign the vacuum pump to increase its lifespan in-line with the rest of the brake system components, and perform the replacement under a safety recall or service campaign, at no cost to vehicle owners.

Just like the other complaints with the brakes, I also received the error message "“Braking Power Low, stop at a safe place”. Also like the other complaints here, I went to the dealership where I purchased the car and they told me it is not covered and considered as a recall for my vehicle. EVEN though the same problems have been identified for the same make and vehicle under recall #18V211000. I also called the Toyota Corporation and they said since my VIN number wasn't specifically affected, it's not part of the recall. I don’t think it’s right that Toyota can say it is not covered simply because they haven’t identified it with my specific vin and or the manufacturer they used. This is horrible and obviously, there is an issue with the brake system that could lead to collisions.

My car stopped working and the following error message showed up "Braking Power Low, Stop in a Safe Place." I have a photo of this error message. When researching this error message, it MAY be related to NHTSA Campaign Number 18V-211. The research I've done says on multiple websites this error is related to brake booster pump. The dealership is saying there was no such recall, but I was able to find the recall notice on this issue through the NHTSA website. I would appreciate a phone call at [XXX]. Again, I have a photo of the error message that showed up on my dashboard. INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

I was driving down the highway at 11:30am MST going between 55-60 mps and my sunroof just popped and broke. Nothing hit us, there were barely even any cars around us at the time. It spontaneously combusted. Providing screenshots of the video I took immediately after it happened. You can even see how the glass is bowed out instead of inward, if it were hit by something.

The contact owns a 2018 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated informing the driver that the AWD system and stability were disabled. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where they diagnosed the failure of the sub-assembly and the water temperature sensor needed to be replaced. The contact stated that he was informed that the onboard computer disabled the system due to the weather. The dealer informed the contact that the parts were on national backorder. The dealer performed a temporary repair by placing plastic on the grill to keep cold air out; however, the failure reoccurred several times. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the parts were not covered under warranty. The approximate failure mileage was 48,000.