The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated the electrical system failed to work. When the vehicle was turned on none of the electrical components would work. The failure occurred intermittently over a period of six years. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic; however, the diagnoses was not available. The manufacturer was notified of the defect. The approximate failure mileage was 19,000. Updated 8/12/14 updated 8/28/2017

- West Hempstead, NY, USA

The driver's side back door has stopped locking/unlocking with the key fob as well as the electrical lock. The beep doesn't occur when I use the fob to lock the doors because the door isn't locking, but does beep when unlocking the vehicle although the back door still remains locked. I did have the recall on the window lock switch completed, so not sure if that is factoring in with the problem or not..

- Huntsville, AL, USA

My windshield wiper defroster started to crackle and smoke. I turned it off and back on and it started to do it again.

- Kremmling, CO, USA

In early November I received a recall notice from Toyota instructing me to arrange for replacement of the intelligent power module. The letter indicated that this replacement is urgent and that I would be in violation of California regulations if I did not do this repair. I called my local dealer, Toyota of santa cruz, the next day to schedule the appointment. I was told that Toyota rations the parts for these repairs and that I would be put an a waiting list and to expect a call in 2-3 weeks. A month later I called again and was told that I was still on a waiting list and it would be 2-3 weeks at the earliest before I could schedule the repair. I feel that Toyota (or the dealership) is not fulfilling its obligation to its customers by failing to supply parts for this repair in a timely manner.

- Santa Cruz, CA, USA

I own a 2008 Highlander sport that has a major issue with the door locks. The remote key fob no longer works, and now even the button inside the car stopped working. I have done a lot of research and it appears that many people who have owned Highlanders have had this issue. My car was recalled recently for the power windows, and now the door locks no longer work. I would like to file this complaint with the hope that enough people complain to force Toyota to fix this issue.

- Carrollton, TX, USA

Airbag sensor light deployed, and remained lit for approximately three days. Toyota dealership at pullman, wa diagnosed the problem as a faulty spiral cable; the spiral cable assembly was replaced at a cost of $491.69. I wonder why there was a recall done on ~450,000 Tacoma, but not on the Highlander. It sounds like a similar problem: Poor engineering leads to friction, causing a short in the cable. Warning light goes on, and the driver air bag may not deploy during a wreck. I could think of 1001 better ways to spend $500!!!

- Pullman, WA, USA

The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated that upon starting the ignition, the engine failed to operate. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer where the battery was replaced. The failure recurred three times where and battery was replaced on each recurrence. Most recently, a diagnostic was performed and the dealer was unable to detect a trouble code. The technician informed the contact that the vehicle did not have enough road mileage to could contribute to the defect. The manufacturer was not notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 30,000.

- Huntington Beach , CA, USA

My steering locks when I was driving. I reported this issue before to the dealer, but they figure out that the computer has a problem after the big issue.

- Roslindale, MA, USA

I was driving my 2008 Highlander on November 11, 2012 and the airbag light came on. The following day I went online to see if there was a recall on the Toyota website. There was a recall for the airbag light for the side curtain air bag system. I took my vehicle to my Toyota dealer to have the recall work done on November 14. The airbag light was still on after the recall work. I left them the vehicle so they could do further diagnostics. They said the squib circuit on the spiral cable for the airbag system on the steering column had a short in it. Toyota part number 84306-22010. It was not part of the recall. The dealership told me that if a repair was not done there was a good chance that the airbag system would not work in an accident. The dealership said the airbag light would light up intermittently if I didn't repair it and that they were pretty sure the airbag wouldn't go off on its own. My choice was fix it or park it. I had them do the repair, $276.63 for the spiral cable and $150 for the labor, $443.22 total with sales tax. I have over 122,000 miles on my vehicle and the dealership has been performing the maintenance on the vehicle. I have two other vehicles (not Toyota) and neither has ever had an airbag system problem and each one has over 100,000 miles. The wiring for the airbag system should never go bad. Please have someone look into this problem.

- Peachtree Corners, GA, USA

The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Highlander sport. The contact stated that while stopped at a traffic stop, she noticed smoke emitting from the vehicle. The contact exited the vehicle and noticed flames coming from under the vehicle. The contact was able to allow a safe distance between her and the vehicle as it quickly became engulfed in flames. The vehicle was destroyed. The fire department was notified and determined that the cause of the fire was electrical. The failure and current mileages were 100,100.

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

The spiral cable went bad causing the air bag light to come on making the airbags inoperable.

- Midwest City, OK, USA

Dealer claimed " this is an electrical problem. Access and traced all related wiring to inside the fuse/relay panel. Found something had chewed and shorted out the wiring" they would not provide any proof. I notified Toyota motors and got no help from them.

- Easton, PA, USA

The sensor lights for ABS and vsc have gone on and off intermittently on my 2008 Toyota Highlander. Sometimes the brakes engaged the skid control, braking capability is lost and other times the speed needle does not gage properly. The system was inspected by Toyota, who indicated it was due to damage to the sensor from a rope. Toyota supposedly replaced the sensor and they stayed off for a few weeks, but continue to come back. My vehicle still has less than 50,000 miles, and Toyota is again telling me they have to look into the problem.

- San Diego, CA, USA

Vehicle, Toyota Highlander 2008, would not start using the electronic ignition pushbutton. On 7/22/2010 vehicle was brought into the dealer and the ignition/power switch was replaced, code found B2275. Same problem occurred again and dealer replaced neutral safety switch per T-sb-0348-09. Same problem occurred again and was towed to dealer on 8/16/2010. They do not know what the problem is and I have heard nothing further from them as of 8/23/2010. I have been stranded several times with the vehicle not starting, the last time at 9:00 pm on Sunday, 8/15/2010.

- Glenwood, IL, USA

My 2008 Toyota Highlander has had one incident where the accelerator got stuck. I brought the vehicle to bernardi Toyota in framingham, MA on 3/2/2010 and they advised that my vehicle is not part of the recall and they also conducted diagnostics on the vehicle and reported that all systems are normal. I am concerned about all of the confusing information pertaining to this problem offered by Toyota and the fact it happened once to my vehicle, I am worried it might happen again.

- Waltham, MA, USA

All the sensor lights, including ABS, emergency brake, and trac, for the brake system have gone on and off intermittently on my 2008 Toyota Highlander. Sometimes the brakes engaged the skid control and one time I heard the back left brake make a clunking noise when I pressed the brake pedal. The brakes were inspected twice, once by Toyota mechanic and another time by a local sears mechanic. The Toyota mechanic re-calibrated the sensors and they stayed off for a few weeks, but they are all back on now. The Toyota mechanic stated that our vehicle was third one he saw that week for brake sensor problems. Also, both mechanics said I had plenty of brakes left. This started when there was less than 50,000 miles on my car but, with over 36,000 warranty miles. I think the sensors should last longer and it's scary driving with the sensor lights indicating a problem.

- Glendale Heights, IL, USA

I was driving in traffic and all of a sudden the information screen indicated there had been a brake malfunction and that I should pull over and call the dealer. I noticed the emergency brake light was lit so I thought I had somehow been driving with the emergency brake on. In kind of a panic I then pushed down the emergency brake about half way in an effort to turn it off. This caused the car to slow down precipitiously and we almost got into an accident. It turns out the problem was caused by corrosion in one of the wheel sensors that detects slippage. The emergency brake was never engaged. Toyota should not illuminate that light when this happens to prevent drivers from thinking their emergency brake is engaged when infact it is not. Toyota should recall the 2008 Highlander to make sure there is no corrosion since the message on the informational display is so distracting to the driver.

- Cottage Grove, WI, USA

Driving my new 2008 Toyota Highlander leased Dec. 2008. On 4-5 separate occasions while driving with the cruise control on I accelerated and the vehicle immediately went to full race. Pedal was not stuck. Could not turn off the cruise control. Shifting into neutral caused uncontrolled maximum rpms. Turning the key off and back on numerous times did not fix the problem. Eventually after about 20-30 seconds the problem resolved, engine slowed with no sign there had ever been a problem. This has not happened again since spring 2009 but that spring the 4-5 episodes happened within a few weeks.

- Westford, VT, USA

Using a Highlander's power-adapter to power my iphone, a significant amount of noise is added to the music output. Toyota dealer has corrected my problem by installing some filters in line before the power adapter socket.

- San Jose, CA, USA