Table 1 shows one common wheel related problems of the 2016 Toyota Highlander.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Wheel 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.
2016 Toyota Highlander with oem toyo 245/55r19 open country m&s 103t tires at about 70 mph on i95 south board near brunswick GA (exit 38?) , a loud bang was heard and then the bumping made it obvious a tire had failed so the vehicle was stopped well of the road near an exit. The local state highway assistance truck (champ) stopped after about 20 minutes and the Toyota response service truck showed up about 20 minutes later - the tire was changed and we proceeded on our way - many thanks to the "road ranger" and his truck and expertise! the tires had about 28,500 miles on them - estimate about 55%of original tread and are marked: dot 78hh cnd 1016. There appears to have been a hole in the sidewall that caused sudden loss of pressure.
On November 27 2017 the right rear tire suffered a major blowout causing the vehicle to go out of control. I was able to stabilize the vehicle. Aaa placed the spare on the vehicle and we drove it to lakeland Toyota in lakeland florida. They gave us a rental vehicle and said they would replace the tire in a couple of days. We were on our way to port canaveral to go on a cruise. On Friday we returned to the dealership and was advised that they would not honor the warranty on the tire and charged us $327. 09 for a new tire. I requested. The old tire so I could have it examined and they said they had turned it over to waste disposal. I advised them that violated the spoilation doctrine in this state. The vehicle and tire had 6805 miles. At the time of the blowout the vehicle was in motion driving the speed limit of 70mph on interstate 4 on the way to port canaveral. I have the records of lakeland Toyota for your review. . . The tire was a bridgestone dueler hl 422 p245/55r19. I told the customer service representative that it was wrong for them to not honor the warranty especially in light of prior problems with bridgestone/firestone tires. . And they should report the matter to your agency.
We bought tires and found them to defective within a few days in which you have 30 days to get refunded or pay the difference for another tires . We did upgrade to michelin tires but not get the full reund fom the defective tires that goodyear wanted to have returned and investigated ,but the manager had them destroyed to cover up the evidence and we lost $321. 00 and now we will have sams also investigated by the national highway safety for selling defective tires from good year and covering it up. We definetly will not let this issue go because we feel these tires were a safety issue that sams and good year should of acknoleged.