This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
Toyota Piston and Ring defect. My 2012 Toyota Highlander engine has defective pistons and rings that have led to excessive oil consumption and the potential for a serious accidents as it causes the engine to lose compression and conk out, all of a sudden, in traffic, and costly repair for us customers with less than 150,000 miles. Piston/ring issue diagnosed by Toyota Dealer in Panama City, Florida. A class Action lawsuit needs to be initiated, immediately, for the 2012 Toyota Highlander. Toyota has already had a Class Action Lawsuit for this same problem in 2014 for their other Toyota models.
Around 112,500 miles our vehicle's oil pressure light came on. My husband drove it home, and our mechanic told us to tow it to his shop for inspection. The next day I drove it to the shop, which was only a few miles away, and my mechanic informed us that there was "no oil left" inside the engine and that it was a miracle the engine didn't seize on the way. We left it at the shop, a certified Toyota mechanic, overnight for inspection. The next day our mechanic informed us that the piston rings in the engine have failed and oil was burning internally. Every service had been done on this vehicle by a Toyota dealership or a certified mechanic. We were shocked considering the mileage on the vehicle. We have since discovered that the V4 engine in this vehicle was also problematic with Camrys and other Toyotas, but that the recalls were only repaired prior to 60k miles and our vehicle was not apart of that service bulletin, even though it was the same problem and same engine. We could have been on the interstate with our 4 and 6 year old children in the vehicle if the engine seized. This is a tremendous engine issue and we understand that soon the engine will produce smoke that could blow into the vehicle. We have calculated that a quart of oil is being burned every 600 or so miles.
The contact owns a 2012 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated while driving 60 MPH, the vehicle suddenly loss motive power while depressing the accelerator pedal. The contact pulled over and attempted to restart the vehicle; however, the vehicle failed to restart. There were several unknown warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the timing chain fractured and that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 120,000.
Well before my oil changes are due, my vehicle needs more oil. There are no apparent exterior leaks but the oil has to be leaking somewhere or burning away through the exhaust.
- Monticello, GA, USA
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Car has over 117,000 miles and is excessively consuming oil. There is no sign of leaks anywhere. I do not get any warning anywhere about low oil, all I see is a small message that sometimes blinks indicating 'oil pressure'. oil is not lasting 1000 miles. I thought maybe the oil was not properly filled but after a second oil change, same happened, oil empty with less than 1000 miles after an oil change. Car has been always kept with all recommended maintenance and all oil changes have been done every 5,000 as recommended by Toyota. Have never been in any accident that could cause any engine problem, seems this is a factory defect. In the electrical part, power back door does not close/open, there is a recall for that but no dealers in my area will fix it because one of the parts that is inside that motor is not listed in the recall specs and dealers will not fix unless I pay. I took the car to the dealer about 2 years ago. This refers to the warranty enhancement letter ZG4.
With 1000 miles left on an oil change or so our car would randomly stall when you make certain turns. Occaisioanlly the oil light would pop one when it would stall. I checked the dipstick and you could not see anything on it. I added oil and took it into dealer. They are doing a consumption test to see how much we lose in 1000 miles. This vehicle only has 86,000 miles on it. We have no leaks and no visible smoke coming out of exhaust. This has me worried of similiar problems they had with one of there other 4cyl engines.
I was driving on a highway I heard a noise and smoke started coming from under the hood I pulled over and looked under the hood and saw smokr a tow truck driver who happened to be passing by pulled over and sure fire under the hood he put the fire out with a fire extinguisher I called nine-one-one four fire trucks to make sure the fire was completely extinguished my mechanic says a rod popped and punctured the oil tank which caused all the oil to leak out onto the side of the highway the firemen actually spread sand over it my insurance company he's refusing to repair the car because they say there was a maintenance issue because there was no oil in the car when they looked at it there was no oil in the car because it all leaked out on the side of the road I had just put oil in the car the previous day this happened on November 26th 20186
The "maintenance required " light came on and I started noticing a strange noise as I started the car every morning and again as I accelerated. I called and made an appointment with the dealer I purchased the vehicle. The service attendant reported to me that the oil level was barely visible on the dip stick. The dealer ship conducted an "oil pressure test" and did not discover any leaks. So they are conducting an "oil consumption" test and I am to return to the dealership after 1100 mile to determine the amount of oil consumed on my vehicle.
Vehicle got stuck in shallow wet sand, within less than a couple mins of attempts to move forward and backward by spinning wheels, the car started smoking and became fully engulfed in flames. It was a total loss. The issue is the little that it took to start a fire like this - perhaps some component needs to have safety feature added or stern warning communicated and posted in the car of this danger. We learned that lesson the very hard way. Internet searches after the fact show occurrences of this same scenario on ice, etc on modern cars.
While parked at a curbside, with engine idling, I spontaneously decided to adjust my tilt steering column (up/down) to see if there was a more comfortable position to drive. When I moved the column down for the first time (I had never tried to adjust the position previously, since I bought the car one year earlier), the car's engine immediately shut off. I could not re-start the engine and all I kept thinking was thank-goodness I was not driving, as I had lost engine, steering and braking power. The recent headlines about GM's ignition switch problems and drivers suddenly losing control while driving made me realize that I could have easily been in a similar catastrophic loss of control situation, because of the tilt-steering problem I encountered. I thank the stars that I was not driving or on a highway when this occurred. My car had to be towed to the dealer for repair. Apparently, an ignition switch wire somehow became detached or broken due to my single tilt action. Scary indeed.
I was stopped at an intersection (red light) and was needing to make a left turn. The light turned green but this intersection does not have a green arrow so you have to yield to the oncoming traffic. As I proceeded forwarded a little bit into the middle of the intersection so I could make my left turn, I slowed down to almost a stop because there were too many cars and I couldn't turn at that moment. Then there was a window of opportunity for me to turn shortly after I slowed down almost to a stop and I stepped on the gas to go, then nothing happened. The vehicle just paused for about 2 or 3 seconds and then suddenly jumped forward. My wife was in the car and she thought it was me mashing on the accelerator pedal but I didn't, it's just that the vehicle didn't do anything and then suddenly jumped forward! luckily when this delay happened, I wasn't in the oncoming traffics lane, nor were there any oncoming traffic close at that moment. At the time this happened, I even thought maybe it was me not giving the vehicle enough gas, but it happened again about a month later. This is when I did a google search for delayed acceleration and I came upon other's who have mentioned the exact same thing happening with their Toyota vehicles as well. Please look into this as this is very dangerous. This vehicle is less than two years old and I've read that others have had this problem with their older Toyota vehicles. I've even read that Toyota knows of the issue already but they have no fix"???"
On February 4, 2013 the Highlander accelerated three consecutive times. Turned off the engine each time and engine accelerated when coming to a stop each time. On June 16, 2013 the Highlander engine accelerated as the car was slowing down before it came to a stop. We have had acceleration problems with two Highlanders and two Camry and no answers from Toyota as to why accept for them to try and blame it on driver error. When a car is at a stop and accelerating on its own then there is no driver error. Please help us. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
When stopping the auto on 3 occasions the engine began racing very strongly....updated 02/07/13 however, while the Highlander was being checked, the consumer and her husband experienced sudden acceleration while driving a Toyota Camry loaner, causing a crash and personal injury. Updatd 02/11/13
The contact owns a 2012 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 mph and steering to the right, the engine suddenly emitted an abnormal noise. The contact also stated that the headlights would not shut off intermittently when powering off the vehicle. In addition, the defroster for the rear window would not function properly, causing the windows to remain foggy for a long period of time. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing where the technician advised that there were no failures. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact that the vehicle was not included in any recalls. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 1,000 and the current mileage was 3,300. Updated 1/29/13
My Highlander was at the airport for three days parked. When I was leaving the lot I was driving slow in the lot to pay my parking. When I got out of the lot to main stream traffic I tried to accelerate and the car would only go slow as I kept pushing the throttle. There were cars on both sides of me with no one in front and then the car just took off. It did startle me because I was not expecting this. Thank god no one was in front of me because I am sure I would not have reacted fast enough to stop because of the rapid acceleration. Something is wrong with the throttle in these vehicles. I did not take it in because I am sure they would not have been able to reproduce the problem. This has only happen once and I hope it doesn't happen again.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Lynn Haven, FL, USA