2005 Toyota Highlander owner complaints

I have a 2005 highlander that developed a transmission fluid leak at 62,000 miles. Toyota currently has a service bulletin out stating that the transmission seal on certain AWD highlanders and siennas are prone to premature failure. This can result in leak of transmission or front differential fluid. The repair is not being covered under the warranty for me since the car is beyond the 60000 mile powertrain warranty. The loss of transmission or gear oil can lead to sudden freezing of dive-axle, which should be considered a serious safety issue. *tr

Recurring issue: while traveling at both highway and city street speeds, the driver attempted to pass by fully depressing the accelerator and the vehicle failed to accelerate for approximately 1-2 seconds. This has resulted in near-miss accident/injury incidents. The dealer was contacted and stated this was a routine complaint for this vehicle and the Lexus rx-330. The manufacturer, Toyota corporate, was contacted and the individual stated this was not a known issue. No mediation was provided from either contact. This issue seems to be related to existing odi id numbers: 10113278, 10114325, 10115243, 10120592, 10128880, 10129705, 10131894, 10132578, 10137651, 10145021. *jb

My 2005 Toyota highlander developed a leak from the transfer case, which has the potential to cause a complete loss of transmission fluid as well as loss of steering control. There are documented accidents which have occurred as a result of this problem. This repair would normally be covered by a 5 year/60,000 mile power train warranty however the leak was discovered a few months after the 5 year time period expired. I have since learned that Toyota was aware of this potentially dangerous problem and first released a technical service bulletin (tsb) in november of 2007 with the most recent tsb being issued may of 2010. My vehicle was clearly under warranty at the time that the tsb's were initially issued, but Toyota withheld this information from the consumer. This results in a cost o

Car is a 2005 Toyota highlander ltd. V-6 4wd with 5-sp auto. Engine hesitates severely when asked to accelerate hard at speeds seemingly between 15 and 70 MPH. (these are speeds I've noticed it) when you "floor" the throttle to quicky merge with traffic or turn across a line of oncoming traffic, there is a rather long delay before vehicle begins to accelerate. This behavior also occurs exactly the same way in my wife's 2004 Lexus rx-330, which has the same powertrain. I complained to Lexus shortly after the purchase (bought new) and they said they found nothing wrong. I've been on several Toyota highlander newsgroups and this problem is being widely reported. I have had several "close calls" because of this delayed acceleration. In the time that the car decides to downshift and accel

My highlander has 120,000 miles on it and the transmission suddenly gave out while driving on the highway. It started by downshifting suddenly, making it difficult to retain control of the vehicle. Then I lost all forward power and had to coast to a stop on the side of the interstate. I am now stuck paying a $3500+ repair bill despite keeping up on regular maintenance according to the manufacturers maintenance guide. After talking with several mechanics, I found out this is apparently a common problem on the transmissions used by the rav4s and highlanders, but Toyota has only issued recalls for the rav4s? Very disappointing. *tr

Automatic transmission hesitation - when needing to accelerate quickly (as when entering a freeway) after slowing down or coasting, the transmission has downshifted to a too-low gear or neutral. The engine speeds up to approximately 5000 RPM without increasing the car speed. Letting up on the gas and accelerating more easily allows the vehicle speed to increase. So far, this hesitation has not caused me to be rear-ended. The dealer says this operation is "normal." *nm

I own a 2005 Toyota highlander v6. I'm experiencing a pause or hesitation shifting into low at very low speeds (2 to 4 MPH). The hesitation causes the vehicle to lunge because the gas peddle is depressed before the low gear engages. I feel it is an unsafe design because in slow traffic or near pedestrians I need to keep my left foot on the brake to prevent the car from lunging. Toyota has informed me that the vehicle is "operating as designed". *nm

Passager seat burnt up from the heated seats

I was driving home and a deer ran infront of me. I tried to put my seat belt on before but it locked, so I tried to get home to my 3yr old safely without it.

2005 Toyota highlander 4x4 v6. The steering became jerky when turning and especially when going over bumps. The intermediate shaft assembly had to be replaced to fix the issue. The technician researched it and there have been two technical bulletins put out by Toyota and they have redesigned the original part so that it is no longer available and has a new part number. The Toyota dealership also stated that just lubricating the assembly does not work. My mechanic stated that he has fixed a number of these on highlanders, rav4s, and avalons. In my opinion the old part adversely affects the steering and safe handling of the vehicle and should have been recalled by Toyota when the part was redesigned. *tr

I noticed a clunking noise and odd vibration in the steering wheel when traveling at a slow speed especially when turning corners or on a bumpy road. I do believe that if the steering intermediate shaft is not replaced, it could easily cause unnecessary accidents due to loss of steering. Toyota has issued 2 tsb concerning this problem, however they should be forced to have this part replaced. I was able to have mine replaced under warranty, but I'm really writing for all of those owners who might be driving with this problem, because they don't have the money to have it replaced.

My wife was driving our 2005 Toyota within the city limits at a low rate of speed and noticed smoke coming out of the front engine hood area. There were no trouble lights showing for the engine at the time, nor was the temperature gauge showing a high temperature. She pulled over and found the grill area and front engine hood were melting and scortched. She called police / fire to respond to the scene. The fire department was unable to open the front hood, since it appeared that the release cable had melted from the extreme heat. They bent the hood up to gain access to the fire, and then extinguished the fire. Vehicle was towed to a local repair facility. *tr

Consumer 2005 highlander has experienced hesitation during accelerations and sometimes deceleration. *ts the dealer recalibrated the ECM which improved the hesitation problem while shifting but also reduced the gas mileage. The vehicle was taken to another dealer and their computer indicated that everything was fine. *nm

My 2005 Toyota highlander master brake cylinder looks to be leaking near the brake booster. I know that it was replaced by Toyota dealer under NHTSA campaign number: 10v499000. However I do not remember the year. I was driving on local streets, when I stepped on the brake pedal and it went all the way to the floor. The next time I tried to step on the pedal it was working ok. But then the 3rd time I stepped on the brake pedal it was going all the way to the floor again. This was a shocked since it got me to work 9 hours earlier with no issue. I got home and checked the brake fluid level and looked to be at the correct level. I did not drive until next day to take it to my local mechanic, who told me it was the master brake cylinder. He stated that there was a small leak inside the brake b

Tl*the contact owns a 2005 Toyota highlander. While driving approximately 40 MPH the vehicle lost control. The vehicle moved to the drivers left lane and a crashed occurred. The vehicle was struck from behind and moved into the third lane of the highway crashing into the median which caused the vehicle to stop. There was a police report filed. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic and was repaired. The contact stated that after the crash occurred she received a recall notice ( NHTSA campaign id number: 10v499000, service brakes, hydraulic foundation master cylinder) and was informed by the dealer that the vehicle was included in the recall. The approximate failure mileage was 80,000.

The driver's side windshield wiper has a nut which repeatedly comes loose. This causes the windshield wiper to become loose and cease to function. The dealer says that the mechanism was designed to come loose so as to avoid damage to the underlying motor. He said to just keep tightening the nut! In the 27,000 mile life of the vehicle, I have had to tighten it now a total of 3 times. The last time was 6 weeks ago during a snow storm. The inability to correct the problem constitutes a safety hazard due to a design flaw. *tr

Heater/ac functions intermittently then fails completely. Well know problem where placement of ribbon cable to potentiometer breaks loose, partially (intermittent failure), then completely (total failure). Quoted cost at any dealership $900-$1,000. I did repair myself in one hour for a cost of $10. Quick search on the web uncovered many many of same incident and, fortunately, detailed repair instructions.

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 Toyota highlander. While entering a parking space, just before applying the brake, the vehicle accelerated into a concrete step. No one was injured during the crash but the vehicle suffered damage to the front end. He called the manufacturer and they collected all the information regarding the incident. However his vehicle was excluded from recall 09v388000 (vehicle speed control:accelerator pedal). The current and failure mileages were 40,892.

Driver's seat belt locked up so I was unable to wear it, I hit a deer tried to swerve to miss it, and my car was shaking uncontrollably.

On november 26th 2008 while traveling east on interstate 70 from denver, 75 mile an hour, and aprox twenty miles east of bennet colorado, we experienced both front and rear passenger tire blowouts at the same time. The back passengers tire was destroyed. We were able to change it out with our spare. The front passengers tire was extremely low (1" off pavement) and had a bubble on the side wall of the tire. It had not broken the air seal around the rim, and so we were able to return very slow back aprox .25 miles to an exit and retrieve air for that tire. As the side wall bubble grew in size we stopped the air at about twenty pounds. We then returned aprox twenty mile back to denver, to a discount tire store. We then replaced all of the tires on our 2005 Toyota highlander. Prior to de