2019 Toyota Highlander

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2019 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER. THE CONTACT STATED WHILE DRIVING AT VARIOUS SPEEDS, A RATTLING NOISE WAS PRESENT COMING FROM THE REAR OF THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE LOCAL DEALER CONICELLI TOYOTA LOCATED AT 860 BALTIMORE PIKE, SPRINGFIELD, PA 19064, HOWEVER, THE MECHANIC WAS UNABLE TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 5,000.

BOUGHT VEHICLE NEW IN NOV 19 AND IN THE FIRST HEAVY DOWNPOUR DRIVING AT MORE THAN THE NORMAL STREET CRAWL AT 35MPH, THE VEHICLE HYDROPLANED SEVERELY WHILE MERGING FROM A HIGHWAY UNTO ANOTHER. HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR THE AWD SYSTEM COULD HAVE BEEN BAD. I HAVE ASKED TOYOTA CUSTOMER SERVICE FOR HELP AND I HAVE 2 CASES OPEN AND YET TO GET ANYTHING BACK. THE LOCAL DEALER I PURCHASED THE VEHICLE FROM HAS NOT DONE ANYTHING INCLUDING CALLING ME BACK AFTER THE INITIAL CALL. LEFT 2 VOICE MAIL MESSAGES. IN SHORT NO ONE AT TOYOTA SEEMS CONCERNED AND IT IS VERY SAD, SINCE THEY DO HAVE AN OVERALL GREAT PRODUCT. THESE TIRES WERE PUT ON THE CAR BY TOYOTA AND THEY NEED TO STAND BEHIND THEIR CHOICES. TIRES ARE FINE IN THE DRY WEATHER BUT WORTHLESS IN THE RAIN. THIS TIRE, THE TOYO A20 HAS TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SCORES IN VARIOUS ONLINE INDEPENDENT SOURCES (IE TIRE RACK). THE TIRES AT THE TIME HAD ABOUT 7000 MILES ON THEM WITH NO SIGNS OF ANY WEAR ISSUE AND ONCE AGAIN IN DRY WEATHER THEY HAVE BEEN OK. WHY WOULD TOYOTA USE AN INFERIOR TIRE ON SUCH A VEHICLE WHEN THEY NORMALLY USE BRAND NAME TIRES IN TIER 1? THE DATE IS AN ESTIMATE IN MID AUGUST ON A SATURDAY MORNING AFTER DROPPING OFF MY SON AT WORK, IT COULD HAVE BEEN THAT WEEKEND OR THE ONE BEFORE.

ON 2 SEPARATE OCCASIONS, WE HAVE HAD ISSUES WITH THE CAR SHUTTING DOWN. THE FIRST TIME, WE HAD TO TOW IT TO TOYOTA AT THE DEALERSHIPS ADVICE. THE SECOND TIME WAS ON THE 465 AROUND INDIANAPOLIS WHEN MY WIFE HAD TO SLAM ON BRAKES TO AVOID A LAST MINUTE CAR STOPPAGE AND THE CAR COMPLETELY SHUT DOWN FOR 6 MINUTES CAUSING MY WIFE AND DAUGHTER TO BE IN VERY UNSAFE CONDITIONS. IN BOTH CASES, THE DEALERSHIPS TOLD US THAT THE TESTS SHOWED THE CAR HAD NO FULL SHUT DOWNS WHICH IS NOT ACCURATE. I AM REPORTING THIS BECAUSE AND I AM NERVOUS ABOUT MY FAMILY'S SAFETY AND OTHERS SAFETY.

THE VOICE GUIDANCE SYSTEM WAS INOPERATIVE. I BOUGHT IT AS A PRE-CERTIFIED 2019 HIGHLANDER FROM A TOYOTA DEALER WITH 16K MILES. AT THE TIME IT WAS WORKING THE STOPPED WORKING. AFTER 3WKS I FOUND OUT THAT I HAVE TO PUSH THE START BUTTON 2X WITH THE ENGINE OFF TO GET IT TO WORK. TOYOTA HAS KNOW ABOUT THIS FOR 2 YEARS BUT NO ONE INCLUDIJNG SUPPORT TOLD ME ABOUT IT! WILL THERE BE ANY RECALLS? IT IS TOO LATE TO TAKE IT BACK! I WILL HAVE TO DO THIS EACH TIME I USE THIS FEATURE.

THE COMPUTER/RADIO AUTOMATICALLY SHUTS ITSELF OFF AND THEN REBOOTS. IT HAS DONE THIS TOO MANY TIMES TO COUNT. IT DOES THIS RANDOMLY AND UNEXPECTEDLY. IT BECOMES DANGEROUS BECAUSE I LIVE IN A STATE WHERE I AM NOT ALLOWED TO HOLD A PHONE WHILE DRIVING, SO WHEN I DON'T HAVE WIRELESS PHONE CAPABILITY IT IS VERY DISRUPTIVE. IT IS ALSO DANGEROUS AND INCONVENIENT WHEN IT HAPPENS WHEN I'M USING NAVIGATION IN AN UNFAMILIAR PLACE, I AM LEFT STRANDED. THERE HAVE BEEN TIMES WHEN IT CONTINUES TO REBOOT CONTINUOUSLY DURING MY TRIP TO OR FROM SOMEPLACE. I HAVE BEEN TO THE DEALERSHIP 5 TIMES TO HAVE MY COMPUTER RESET/REBOOTED AND THE PROBLEM STILL OCCURS. THE SECOND TIME I TOOK IT, THE TECHNICIAN LEFT THE SERVICE TICKET OPEN SO THAT EACH TIME I TOOK IT AFTER THAT THEY WERE PUTTING THE "REPAIR" UNDER THE SAME TICKET SO THAT IT ONLY SHOWED AS 1 REPAIR! I NOW KNOW OF AT LEAST 5 OTHER PEOPLE HAVING THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM BETWEEN TOYOTA HIGHLANDERS AND TOYOTA 4 RUNNERS. MY VEHICLE HAS BEEN BOTH STATIONARY AND IN MOTION WHILE THE AUTOMATIC SHUTOFF OF THE COMPUTER SYSTEM OCCURRED. OF COURSE THE DEALERSHIP ALWAYS SAYS MY COMPUTER NEVER SHUTS OFF WHILE MY VEHICLE IS THERE, EVEN THOUGH IT DOES IT WHEN I DRIVE OFF THE LOT, SO I RECORDED VIDEO OF THE RADIO/COMPUTER SHUTTING OFF WHILE I WAS DRIVING AND SHOWED IT TO THEM. I WOULD HATE FOR THE PROBLEM TO ESCALATE OR BECOME MORE DANGEROUS.

DRCC MALFUNCTION. WHILE APPROACHING A SLOWER VEHICLE ON A HIGHWAY, THE CAR DECELERATES. IF WHILE DECELERATING I CHANGE LANES, THEN THE SYSTEM DOES NOT "SEE" THE CAR IN FRONT IN THE NEW LANE AND STARTS ACCELERATING TOWARDS THE CAR FULL SPEED APPROACHING THE CAR AND POTENTIALLY CRASHING INTO IT. THIS HAS HAPPENED SEVERAL TIMES AND I THINK I CAN REPLICATE IT.

2019 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER HYBRID. TODAY EXACTLY ONE YEAR FROM PURCHASE IT STALLED ON A BUSY PUBLIC ROADWAY FOR THE 4TH TIME. WITH THE 4 INCIDENTS IN JUNE, JULY, & SEPT 2020, THE CAR, WITHOUT WARNING 1."POWERED DOWN" ALMOST IMMEDIATELY TO A DANGEROUS SLOW POINT WITH NO ACCELERATION IN RESPONSE TO PRESSING GAS PEDAL IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS: A HIGH TRAFFIC MAJOR URBAN BRIDGE(40MPH); INTERSTATE HIGHWAY(75MPH); COMING INTO BUSY CITY INTERSECTION(5 -10MPH); COUNTRY HIGHWAY (45MPH) 2.POWER STEERING WAS SLOW AND DIFFICULT. 3.MASTER WARNING LIGHT ACTIVATED. AUDIBLE TONE/CONSTANT BEEPING ACTIVATED. "HYBRID SYSTEM MALFUNCTION., PULL OVER TO SAFETY, CALL DEALER, CHECK ENGINE, PCS" , AND MULTIPLE OTHER WARNINGS. 4.WITHIN MOMENTS THE CAR COMPLETELY DIED (BEFORE I COULD SEEK LEGAL AND/OR SAFE PARKING.) SAFE PARKING REQUIRED MULTIPLE ATTEMPTS. IN JULY (ILLINOIS) THE CAR REQUIRED TOWING OFF VERY BUSY INTERSTATE HIGHWAY. ASSESSED AS "NO ISSUES". WITHIN ONE HOUR A MINI-SERIES OF SPUTTERING, CHOKING, STALLINGS IN CITY INTERSECTION, DEALERSHIP THEN KEPT OUR VEHICLE OVERNIGHT. MORE LENGTHY DIAGNOSTICS "THREW" FUEL CODES. BAD GASOLINE? TODAY CAR SHOULD HAVE BEEN TOWED BUT TOYOTA ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE DENIED MY VIN & PHONE# EXISTED IN THEIR DATABASE. HOME DEALERSHIP CONFIRMS I AM, WITHOUT DOUBT, IN DATABASE. DURING HOUR+WAIT FOR ASSISTANCE, DASH CLEARED OF ALL WARNINGS W/ IGNITION. HOME DEALERSHIP ADVISED DRIVING TO CLOSEST DEALERSHIP.5 MILES. MY CAR CURRENTLY SITS IN A MISSOURI TOY. DEALERSHIP W/ FUEL PUMP SUSPECT. I WAS TOLD REPAIRS COULD TAKE UP TO A WEEK. 97 FUEL PUMPS CURRENTLY BACK ORDERED IN PARTS SYSTEM. 20,500 MILES/ALL SERVICE PLAN REQUIREMENTS MET PROMPTLY. I HAVE ALL INSPECTION FORMS/SERVICE RECEIPTS. NO ABILITY TO UPLOAD DOCUMENTS NOW BUT WOULD LIKE TO BE CONTACTED BY NHTSA FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO SHARE SERVICE DOCUMENTS.