In early February 2010 during heavy snowfall, I lost partial traction in my all-wheel-drive (AWD), 2009 Toyota Highlander hybrid while driving up the steep street to my home. When the traction loss occurred, all power from the gas engine and the front and rear wheel electric motors was cut off by the computerized vehicle stability control (vsc)/traction control (trac) system. The loss of power to all four wheels resulted in the vehicle skidding perpendicular to the street and then sliding sideways down the mountain about 200 feet. That situation happened twice. By having no power to any of the four wheels, I was unable to steer the vehicle into the skid and had absolutely no control of it. This meant that when the awl was needed most, the vehicle became no wheel drive. There is a serious flaw in the engineering design. Regardless of the reason behind the phenomenon, it constitutes a serious safety defect that could cause people to be seriously injured or killed. I have contacted Toyota motor sales (tms) in ca and my local Toyota dealer. Both told me that the problem would have to be duplicated by a dealer tech before any resolution could be initiated. So, the next and last time it snowed here I contacted the service mgr who told his shop was closed because of the snow and no one was available to test drive my vehicle. Basically, I have been ignored by tms and the dealer in hopes that I will drop my complaint. I previously reported the complaint as ODI #10314563 via a telephone call. The lady who took my call entered it with incorrect information. NHTSA has not contacted me regarding an investigation of the incident, and I am hereby requesting such contact and follow-up. Updated IVOQ 08/04/10

- Pisgah Forest, NC, USA