general problems of the 2005 Toyota Highlander

Driver's seat belt locked up so I was unable to wear it, I hit a deer tried to swerve to miss it, and my car was shaking uncontrollably.

When I was trying to park my Toyota Highlander 2005 in front of the building where I work, backing up, the engine iddle went extremely high and I tried to stop, but I could not do it because the steering wheel and the brakes locked. I tried to put the gear in neutral, but instead, it went straigh to drive, so it causes major damages to 2 vehicles behind mine, and other 3 in front of mine too. Also my vehicle destroyed a mail box and a tree, but I could not stop until my Highlander stopped by itself totally destroyed. I ended up in the hospital with some trauma.

Unable to steer car properly esp when making a left turn. The car, on at least 3 occasions, had the tendency to go straight (difficult to steer) when making turns and then goes away most times. 2nd incident, writer attempted to merge to the main street. Last incident today.

On Saturday, may 30th at approximately 8:30 I was moving our 2005 Highlander from the street into our reserved parking space within our complex. As I was starting my right hand turn into the complex the car accelerator stuck. I hit the curb on the driver's/left side causing the vehicle to veer to the right. As the car continued to accelerate I hit a tree and knocked over one of the community's posted signage. The impact made the car bounce backward partially into the drive, damaging the front passenger's side, drive shaft broke, front end part flew all over and a small fire occurred. Police were call and report taken. They estimated the speed at 20-30 miles per hour. The report taken was not filed since the accident took place on private property. The tow truck driver started the vehicle to get it on the truck. He had a difficult time for he could not get the wheels to turn. On Tuesday, June 2, we were notified by our insurance company that the vehicle was totaled. There was a recall repair done on may 21, 2011, after we were advised that the replacement parts were available to install the forward retention clip used to secure the drive's side floor carpet cover. We were advised that if it was not installed properly, the cover may lean toward the accelerator pedal and interfere with the accelerator pedal arm. If this occurs, the accelerator pedal may temporarily become stuck in a partially depressed position rather than returning to the idle position. An accelerator pedal temporarily stuck in a partially depressed position may increase the risk of a crash. There must have been a failure of the replacement part.

When I returned from work on 08/28/2013 I noticed a leak under my vehicle. I took my car to an auto mechanic on 8/30/2023 and they informed me that the power steering line was rusted and leaking and needed to be replaced. My vehicle only has 74296 in mileage. I had the power steering line replaced for safety reasons.

Vehicle: 2005 Toyota Highlander. Defect: the turn signal switch (the device that turns off the signal after a turn is completed) has failed in our vehicle. We are told by a local dealer that Toyota's turn signal switches fail at a very high rate. This component should never fail over the life of the vehicle. Given the high incidence of failures, Toyota's design is clearly defective. Hazard: if the driver forgets to manually turn the signal off, other drivers are given a false signal and likely to misinterpret the driver's intent. This could lead to a serious accident. Repair: Toyota's charge for repairing the defective turn signal switch is excessively high -- approximately $450. Consequently, many drivers are forced to accept and live with the problem, resulting in an unsafe condition. Remedy: Toyota should be required to either recall and replace the defective turn signal switches or repair them at no cost to the customer.

Toyota Highlander 2005 - 4 cyl driving in the rain, over puddles of water that create a splash up to about 3/4 the height of the tire (passenger side), will cause the discharge warning light to come on and cause loss of power steering (hard to turn). Suddenly, the warning light will go off and power steering will return. This is my wife's vehicle and I just noticed this issue recently while driving in heavy rain. The fault is repeatable as I noticed it for a second time today, and I managed to have it repeat the failure every time. This failure can cause a serious accident. In a rainstorm it will be typical to create a splash when turning into another street, as it is common for water to pond at the turn. Loss of power steering will cause the driver to turn the wheel harder, and when the power steering returns, then the vehicle will likely oversteer and spin out or hit anything on the direction that it is oversteered into. This incident actually occurred in two separate occasions when I was turning in the rain. The first was inadvertent and at a higher speed since it was the first time that happened when I was driving (a few weeks ago). The second time occurred today. After the incident I tried to recreate the failure, this time since I was expecting it, I did so more slowly but with the same result that will likely cause an accident. I have not taken the vehicle to the vehicle yet since I have just noticed the problem. However, we have and have had a significant amount of vehicles of different makes, and none have had this problem with splashing water causing what is probably a short and loss of power steering. After driving into the garage, I open the hood and look from the top, from the top everything seems to be dry. The other vehicles have been driven through larger splashes, without this problem.

I have a 2005 Highlander and it has 45k on it. I have just recently noticed this clunk/knock noise every time I turn the steering wheel left or right 5 degrees off center. The Toyota dealerships service department advised spending $140 on greasing the intermediate steering shaft and the problem should go away, but the more I read up on this particular issue, the more I'm realizing that this is a design flaw and that if I bandage the problem now, it'll only come up again in future mileage. This should totally be a Toyota recall because it directly affect safe driving. I'm just wondering how I can escalate this complaint to the top?.

I noticed a clunking noise and odd vibration in the steering wheel when traveling at a slow speed especially when turning corners or on a bumpy road. I do believe that if the steering intermediate shaft is not replaced, it could easily cause unnecessary accidents due to loss of steering. Toyota has issued 2 TSB concerning this problem, however they should be forced to have this part replaced. I was able to have mine replaced under warranty, but I'm really writing for all of those owners who might be driving with this problem, because they don't have the money to have it replaced.

Around the middle of March 2008, my 2005 Toyota Highlander has knocking sounds on the steering wheel when I make turns. I sought the advise of a mechanic friend who has worked with Lexus in the past. He conducted a test drive and ocular inspection and advised me to bring the vehicle to the dealer for he suspects a problem with the steering shaft assembly. On March 24, 2008, I brought the vehicle to a Toyota dealer and was advised to replace intermediate steering shaft assembly. I paid a total of $469. 29 for the service by Toyota city, mamaroneck, NY 10543 inv. [xxx] . The car has 14,549 miles during the date of service. I wrote Toyota USA for a refund of the amount I spent and got an assurance that they will look into it. Family members use the car in the usual course of grocery, school and related travel activities and has not abused it. For your information, this is also well maintained as we follow the suggestions/advise of the owner's manual for maintenance scheduled checks. My VIN [xxx] . The letter of assurance from Toyota sales USA was received several months ago and request for refund has not been acted upon. Thank you very much. Have a great day! information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).