2006 Toyota Highlander hybrid (43,058 miles) - loss of electronic power steering assist after driving one hour in the highway, I stopped at my parents house, when I was maneuvering to park the SUV in the side of the road, I lost the eps assist in the middle of the lane. Fortunately I was not in the highway and there were no accidents. It was very difficult to maneuver the SUV to a save spot after the loss of the eps assist. I took my highlander to Toyota authorized service dealer, at the beginning the technicians were unable to diagnose the problem, Toyota has not issued an technical service bulletin about the issue, even when I have found information in this site that more than 109 similar cases has been reported (investigation#PE 06-055). It is totally unfair that I have to pay for repair that is clearly is a manufacturers defect. Please feel free to contact me at your convenience. This is safety issue that needs to be solved asap. There is people's lives at risk.

- Caguas, PR, USA

2006 Toyota Highlander hybrid. Power steering failed pulling away from house. Immediate failure with no warning signs. I think this would have been catastrophic on the highway with my wife driving. The vehicle is so hard to steer, I would hate to think what would have happened if my wife were driving anywhere. This vehicle has only 52,000 miles. I typically keep a vehicle until it has 250, 000 miles. I have never suffered a failure like this in the 32 years that I have been driving.

- Virginia Beach, VA, USA

I own a 2006 Toyota Highlander hybrid with over 50K miles on it. On 1 July, 2008 I started my car in the morning to drive to my commuter location and found I had no power steering. The power steering had been fine when I pulled in the evening before and somehow just failed sitting still over night. I had the vehicle towed to a Toyota dealership who said they were unable to diagnose the problem and resorted to calling Toyota technician's in California. They've now told me today that they have to replace the power steering rack and since my car is outside the warranty terms (over 36K) it will cost $1,840. In my internet research on this issue I've discovered that this is not an isolated incident. There are numerous reports of this occurring on both the 2006 Highlander hybrid and the 2006 Lexus RX400 hybrid. Your Agency even investigated the issue (#PE06055) but unfortunately came to the conclusion that since it only seemed to occur at low or no speed and no one had been hurt or killed that it didn't warrant a recall. I think that Toyota and your Agency have just been fortunate that there have been no injuries or fatalities up to this point. You risk serious public embarrassment if Toyota is not forced to correct this defect.

- Woodbridge, VA, USA