All errors flashed on my little screen as I pulled away from the gas station. Within a couple minutes the car stopped in the middle of the road and my wife and I had to get out and push it up on the sidewalk. It was new years weekend so nobody was open and a few days later it was towed to the shop and it took them two weeks to even figure it out. Hybrid SUV tech does not seem to be reliable or easily diagnosable.

Got the alerts again a year later, had it towed and inspected for a few days, nothing was wrong the second time but WTF!

hybrid inverter/converter failure

In September of 2017, my 2009 Highlander Hybrid just stopped running. At least 4 dash lights started flashing, there was lots of dinging, I felt a hitch in my forward motion and the car just lost power. Luckily, it was a Saturday, I was slowing for a light in the neighborhood and could pull over and get a tow truck relatively easily. Unluckily, the call on Monday from Toyota Service indicated I needed an $8800 inverter/converter. The service people had been on the phone with senior service people at Toyota trying to diagnose the problem and that was the end result. As of Tuesday, the used parts search turned up nothing and I was left with the following choice. The car, as is, was worth $3000. The fix, including tax and installation, was $10,000 and the car would be worth $11,000-$12,000 after this - not worth it. I researched new mid-sized SUV options as well as the complaint and recall history on my Highlander...really appreciate these sites. The following day, I borrowed my husband's car and went in to review the recall service history and talk with a Service Manager. The inverter/converter recall notice from September, 2013, had be attended to in November, 2013, so theoretically the failure-prone assembly had been replaced. I expressed my extreme dissatisfaction. Thursday, the following day, the Service Manager was authorized to extend an offer for Toyota to give me a one-time, goodwill coverage of a repair no longer under warranty. They would give me the part at no charge, though I would have to pay tax and installation. That plus a replacement aux battery got me out of there a few days later for $1282. This was a very frustrating, time consuming process that ended well but could have been 1) dangerous and much more inconvenient and 2) short-cut by making this goodwill offer immediately before my taking a day to do new SUV research, visiting 2 other dealerships and doing complaint & recall research to develop my case and position.