general problems of the 2008 Toyota Highlander

The contact owned a 2008 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 20 mph, an abnormal, booming sound was emitted from the vehicle as heavy, black smoke entered her vehicle. Due to the smoke, the contact's vision became obstructed, and the contact immediately shifted into park and jumped out of her vehicle for safety. It was unknown if there were any warning lights. As a result, the contact injured her right hip and strained her vocal cords. The vehicle quickly became engulfed in flames as authorities were called to the scene. The fire department extinguished the flames as both a fire and a police report were filed. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, where it was deemed a total loss. There was no property damage. The origin of the fire was unknown, and an investigation was opened by the insurance company. The contact sought medical attention the next day and was treated for the strain on her right hip. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and the contact was given a case number. The contact was also informed that she would receive a response from them within 45 days. The vehicle was destroyed. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.

On September 25, 2021, my husband was driving our 2008 Highlander locally to the store. The low pressure light came on and said pull over immediately. He pulled over and and checked the oil dip stick and our car was totally out of oil. He also notice oil under our car and a line of oil going up the street. The following day, I contacted Toyota experience center and was informed their were no service campaigns on my Highlander. I had the car towed to my local mechanic and he verified that the car had no oil and replaced the failed oil cooler hose. My concern is that the oil cooler hose failed, draining all of the oil in minutes. I feel this is a safety issue because of how rapidly it occurred and if we couldn't immediately stop the car our engine could have seized up and made the car stop.

On January 19, 2021, after driving for about two hours, I suddenly started to hear an unusual knocking noise from the engine. I slowed down, but I was unable to pull over immediately because I was driving on a very dark two lane highway, with no safe shoulder. After the same noise continued for about five to ten minutes, a light began to flash indicating extremely low oil pressure, and warning that the car should stop immediately. At that point, fortunately, I was able to pull over at a gas station, where I discovered that oil was gushing from my engine onto the ground. I checked my oil dipstick and noted that the car had no oil, and was thus inoperable. I was extremely concerned that the engine had been damaged while being driven with little to no oil. In 2014, Toyota issued a notice of a warranty enhancement program – ze2, related to extending warranty coverage for repairs related to a leaking or seeping engine oil cooler pipe. I never received any owner notification of this issue in 2014. Toyota refused to pay for the repair in 2021, and now in November 2021, the engine has quit due to the damage incurred in January 2021. The engine oil cooler pipe is defective and my family could have been seriously injured or killed by its catastrophic failure.

While driving on i40 near texas/nm state line, oil cooler line failed resulting in the Highlander dumping oil on the roadway for over a mile before it was noticed. Pulled off immediately, saw oil pouring out from bottom passenger side of engine cover. Exterior lower passenger side and rear of vehicle were also covered in oil. No dash indicator lights ever warned of issue. This left us stranded on side of busy interstate with heavy semi traffic for hours while waiting for a tow to a shop for repairs, where we had to wait a day for the part. Completely unacceptable Toyota knew of a defective design that could lead to accidents and death, and chose not to issue a recall! will be seeking legal action.

Highlander hybrid 2008 we were driving on a country back road. In idaho, we had just stopped at a stop sign and went to drive forward after going around 100-200 meters and the car lurched forward while I was driving and then the screen with all the warnings began going off. All of them saying pull over tot the side of the road and that all the systems were failing. All the warnings said things to take the car to dealer. We pulled over to the side of the road and then tried to get the car to move forward by putting it in drive and you could hear the car trying to do something but nothing happened. The car did turn on but that was it.

While driving my car at approximately 55mph all the dashboard lights flashed and then the check hybrid system light came on and stayed on. It said that there was a problem with the hybrid system to pull over as soon as you could safety and to contact the dealer. Well the engine died abruptly and loss power immediately. Luckily I was on a one lane road with a shoulder and no one immediately behind me. The mechanic said that it was a lower end motor failure but really could not figure out what is wrong with it. In fact it is still at the mechanic's and they are still trying to figure it out. It appears that it may be the engine inverter but stil not sure. This is a very unsafe situation and Toyota should have address this. My car is a 2008 highland hybrid with 119,000 miles on.

On the highway at 75 miles/hour (with my 3 small children in the backseat), loss of engine oil pressure. Diagnosed as the engine oil cooler pipe, oil was everywhere without any in the engine. This is a known issue on many engines which was covered by Toyota for a limited time/mileage with a limited extended warranty under a "customer support program (ze2). " we were never notified of this potential issue, as we would have elected to fix this prior to an oil blowout, to prevent a potential accident with loss of the engine while driving, particularly with our children in the vehicle.

2008 Highlander, engine oil cooler pipe failed, dropped 4 qts of oil on the highway, which led to a slippery situation, I pulled over but a car behind me skidded through the oil and rear ended the car in front of them due to the oil left on the road impacting their safe stopping distance. This failed part was a rubber hose holding hot motor oil next to the catatlytic converter, terrible design, Toyota replaced this original rubber hose with part 04004-29131 that was metal pipes not hoses. This part was eligible for a Toyota extended warranty coverage (Toyota warranty enhancement ze2) till 2016 or so, but I was never notified via mail of the issue, therefore did not know about it until after my car broke down. There are many documented issues of this part failing, and also many documented issues of Toyota failing to notify customers due to their inability to link VIN to mailing address prior to 2014. I feel that Toyota didn't notify me properly, which caused an unsafe situation for me and other motorists. Had this been a recall, they would have been obligated to more formally notify customers and dealerships about this hazard, and would have to fix them all, vs. The relatively small number that they did fix. I called Toyota motor corp cust service, and they told me they no longer had any financial or notification obligation for this design & safety defect as the 'warranty enhancement' had expired. Please require a recall! there are thousands of cars on the road today with this unsafe condition ready to cause problems!.

The engine burns coolant and yet doesn't overheat. The engine on cyl 4 misfires. Changing the head gasket didn't repair the issue, replacing all fuel injectors and ignition parts didn't either. Heads inspected and passed. Compression testing passed. Always misfires on cyl 4. No repair aside from an ecu reflash or replacement seems to be possible. 4 shops looks at it and couldn't find any reason why it was misfiring and no traces of water were found in the interior, on the floor, in the oil or exhaust in the cooling system.

I recently learned it is a "known" issue by Toyota that the oil cooler line could rupture. This happened to me as I was driving on a very busy 3-lane highway. My only indication was when the oil pressure light came on, indicating an urgent need for me to pull over. Luckily I was already in the right lane getting ready to get off at the next exit, however only 5 minutes earlier I was traveling at a high rate of speed, keeping up with the 3 lanes of traffic. I feel this issue is very unsafe because I barely had enough time to exit the road quickly and since this has the possibility to cease the engine, I feel it could have caused an accident. When my SUV was checked my the mechanic he informed me that I had very little oil left in my engine. I contacted Toyota who stated they did not see how this was a safety concern. I disagree.

Driving on a rural 2 lane road the car started knocking and the light for the vsc came on. It said to bring to the dealer. Got home and checked the oil and there was not one drop on the dip stick. (my oil was changed at the dealer two weeks prior). The oil was however sprayed under the entire undercarriage. The part that is the problem is the oil cooler line.

Tl-the contact owns a 2008 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated that the air condition tube failed while he drove. The contact inspected the vehicle and found the air condition tube expose to the motor ventilator causing the tube to over heat and explodes spilling the coolant. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The VIN was not available. The approximate failure mileage was 113,000. Li.

According to the following website, there is a known issue with a cheap part on the Toyota v6 engines. There was even a recall for the part, however, I"m told my car wasn't on the recal list. Https://sites. Google. Com/site/toyotav6oillinescandal/ the issue at hand is the car has been to the dealer for all maintenance, so its not a neglect issue. The rear bank vvt-I oil line used in prior to 2008 (mine has this issue as well) is metal with a rubber host connecting the two. The hose ruptures, dumps all of the oil, which squirts onto the passenger wheel, in the brakes, etc. It can not only cause a fire in the engine bay (which it did not in this case), but it could also lead to an inability to steer or brake (neither were the case here). Lastly, 6 quarts of oil drained out in less than 60 seconds, and the engine could have seized. This is a seriour issue for a $35. 00 part.

The oil cooler hose on my 2008 Highlander suddenly malfunctioned, causing most of my car's oil to spill out on to the driveway. Apparently, this particular rubber hose has been the subject of recalls and equipment upgrades to a metal pipe in other Toyota models, but not the Highlander. This is a safety issue that Toyota is neglecting to acknowledge in its Highlanders. I called my local Toyota dealership to report the problem, and ask what Toyota is doing to fix it, and they denied there was any kind of problem with the oil cooler hoses. A simple google search implies otherwise.

My 2008 Toyota Highlander sport oil cooler line just gave out. During my research I found this has been a problem in the past. My car has been in the shop for over two week. According to the Toyota dealer, the rubber hose is being replaced by metal. Toyota does not have an eta for the part. The dealership is number 90 on the list. . They will not provide a car.

We were starting off to go on vacation when warning lights came on the dashboard and information panel with hybrid system warnings and brake warnings then the car completely stopped in the middle of the road and steering was lost. We were able to get off to the side enough to prevent causing an accident however we were on a busy street. Had it towed to the local Toyota dealer and the diagnosis was a failed coil. They replaced all 3 coils saying that it would be prudent as the engine was already apart (I agree). They also said that this is a relatively common occurrence with some of the Highlander hybrids. I have the part and it looks like the top of the coil became became over heated and blew out the top plastic compound. I consider myself very lucky that this did not happen while on a highway on a rainy day where the vehicle abruptly stopping would certainly have caused me to be in an accident. This is certainly a flaw that Toyota should address for safety reasons and it makes me hesitant to want to purchase another Toyota product again.

I normally ride a vanpool, but due to flash flood warnings today I decided to drive my car into the office. My husband called me at work to tell me he noticed a big oil spot on the garage after I left for work. He told me to pull over and not drive my Highlander if it started clacking or smoking on my way home. My husband just changed the oil in my car a few days prior. Before I could make it home the car was smoking, knocking, and shifting very loudly. My husband said I was lucky this didn't lock up the engine. He discovered oil splatters all over the tire and near the engine. We had no issues at all prior to today. We are going to try replacing the oil line as denoted in other peoples comments. Their experiences with this issue mirror my experience. I'm disappointed to hear Toyota issued a service bulletin about this and not a safety recall. This could have been a huge safety issue as I'm hauling kids to/from daycare during rush hour traffic not to mention locking up the engine. This came out of the middle of nowhere.

2008 Toyota Highlander was taken to Toyota dealer in November 2011 after receiving notice to have defective oil cooler hose checked. In September 2013 replacement oil cooler hose failed while on highway traveling at seventy miles per hour. Oil was observed covering bottom of vehicle and film of oil on back of vehicle. The oil gauge indicated no oil in engine. I believe this resulted in a safety hazard from both inhaling fumes and potential fire hazard. Vehicle was towed to Toyota dealer and oil cooler hose replaced for second time in less than two years.

Low oil notice came on. Drive 1/4 mile to oil change facility. Was told almost no oil on dipstick. Oil refilled and drove appro 5 miles to dealership- star Toyota , league city, TX. Have researched and noted TSB issued on 3/11/2011- NHTSA reference # 10033553 with this exact repair problem inclusive of my vehicles exact failure was not notified by star Toyota dealership of this defect while under warranty. Vehicle within 5-6 months of basic warranty; 5 year of 60,000 miles.

I just became award of this: "t-sb-0201-11 from Toyota that states "some vehicles equipped with 2gr-fe/fxe towing package engines may exhibit an oil seep from the engine oil cooler pipes. " this TSB affects my model year and I believe it also affects Toyota and Lexus vehicles going back to at least 2008-present. To me this is a major safety issue and this should be handled as a recall instead of a TSB due to the severity of the issue if/when the pipe breaks. The rupture of the oil line will cause the engine to seize thus increasing the risk of a crash with resulting injury and possible death. And there is the hazard to other motorists with oil on the roadway. Compared to the recall for floor mats and accelerator issues, this issue, which can drain the oil from your engine very quickly, destroy the engine, and very possibly cause an accident should be of major concern to all. The Toyota advice to check for slow oil drips around the rubber hose is unrealistic for the owner due to the location. And the schedule routine service interval is much too long to wait for such an significant inspection. Nhtsa needs to compel Toyota to replace all of the defective rubber engine oil cooler pipes with the newer metal ones that the TSB addresses. This directive should apply to all Toyotas including already made replacements for which the owners have paid for.

As I approached a stop sign, my check engine and vehicle stability control lights came on. I was less than a mile from my destination and was able to safely park my vehicle with no issues. As soon as possible, I contacted my local Toyota dealership to alert them to the problem. The dealership representative asked if the vsc light was flashing and I told him no; to which he replied it would be okay to drive. Later on that evening, I decided to take the vehicle to the dealership and upon taking off at the light, the vehicle seemed sluggish at first and then suddenly accelerated and surged forward. When I pulled into the dealership, I explained what happened and am now awaiting to see what the problem is.

Upon starting my car, the vsc off, check engine, and abs lights remained lit. Acceleration was slow and rough, and the general engine feel was wrong. I stopped car and restarted with no effect. While driving, the lights extinguished for a moment, and at that point performance temporarily improved - this caused a surge in acceleration. But the same lights came on a moment later and performance, once again, failed. Fortunately I was not in traffic when the surge occurred.

Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6) my father [xxx] was killed while driving a 2008 Toyota Highlander. He hit another car sustaining severe injuries to the driver. He left my house in georgetown, TX. Driving to rockport TX when it is reported that he left his lane, no indication that he tried to slow down. The accident occurred in goliad county, about an hour from his house. The autopsy could find no medical or physical cause for this accident. The accident is on file with the texas department of public safety and usaa insurance.