Three problems related to automatic transmission have been reported for the 2003 Toyota Highlander. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2003 Toyota Highlander based on all problems reported for the 2003 Highlander.
The contact owns a 2003 Toyota Highlander. While driving approximately 25 mph, the contact applied to brakes but the vehicle began to accelerate. The contact tried several ways to stop the vehicle (shifting into neutral, using the emergency brake) but the vehicle continued to rev. The tires also were spinning. The contact shifted into neutral again and turned the vehicle off which stopped it. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who stated that the transmission dropped and the extra floor mat caused the failure. The vehicle had not been repaired. The VIN was unavailable. The current and failure mileages were 90,000. Updated 03/24/lj.
2003 Toyota Highlander v-6 with 66450 miles. Driving home going 40 to 45 mph, car transmission started to skip, engine would surge then buck and engine would hesitate. Drove on to dealer for diagnosis.
After only 64,000 miles, the transmission on my 2003 Toyota Highlander started skipping. When I accelerated, the car would jump/skip. This could have easily caused a wreck.