Table 1 shows one common power train related problems of the 2016 Toyota Highlander.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Power Train problems |
I was driving on a 2-lane road early in the morning with light snowfall. There was about 1" of snow on the road, with the roads not yet plowed or treated as it was the beginning of the snowfall. About 15 minutes into my trip, I was on a relatively flat and straight stretch of the road and let up on the gas paddle to avoid going too fast -- was probably traveling ~35 mph. Although the road was straight and flat at that point, my car suddenly started fishtailing, slowly turned 180 degrees and sliding to the other side of the road, ending up on the opposite edge of the road. When it hit the edge of the road, it tipped over on its right side, as apparently the dirt at the edge of the road was not as slippery as the road, and the SUV having a high center of gravity. Since my car was an awd hybrid vehicle, I believe that the triggering event was the vehicle shutting down the gas engine and switching to ev mode when I started coasting (that usually happens when I'm driving <40 mph and the vehicle is sufficiently warm). But I did not look at the dashboard to see if the ev mode switched on at that point. In addition, while I did not sense any skidding prior to this event, it's possible that there may have been a slick spot right at that point in the road. But it seemed to me that when the power to the front wheels was reduced from the gas engine shutting down (as I believe was the case), the transition to electric motors taking over the front drive created some perceived traction issues which triggered the electric motors in the back to try to compensate for the perceived traction issues in the front. But the rear drive ended up creating a significant differential where the right rear wheel was driving much harder than the left rear wheel, creating the car spin and slide, which the traction control did not correct. I did not apply the brakes nor gas once the car started skidding. The car was 10 years old and was a total loss as a result of tipping on its side.