general problems of the 2022 Toyota Highlander - part 2

As my wife had the wheels turned and was pulling up to the curb stop in a parking spot the car suddenly lurched forward without putting the accelerator on and went up and over the curb. Stop and hit a pole. My thoughts are is that the engine possibly changed from hybrid to gas or vice versa and as my wife’s foot was let off on the brake to inch forward to the curb stop it suddenly lunged forward as previously stated.

Car fire (total loss of vehicle) after hybrid malfunction. My family and I were traveling west bound on interstate 74 near crawfordsville indiana on April 8th, 2024. Trooper chelsey smith from the indiana state police (cad # 2024-00177352) came to the scene. Our car was traveling westbound at about 70 mph when I got a notification of "a malfunction in the electronic control of the engine, throttle, or automatic transmission has been detected. Contact your Toyota dealer to have your vehicle inspected" - I acknowledged the alert and kept driving, then it showed again 30 seconds later and acknowledged again. About 30 seconds later I received a "hybrid system alert" stating "a malfuction in the hybrid system has been detected. Stop in a save location and contact your Toyota dealer to have your vehicle inspected". The vehicle then notified me that it was reducing power output and we went from 70 to 20 mph in a few minutes. Then while we were going about 20 mph, the vehicle notified me that its going to come to a stop and shut off its power. I engaged the brakes and before coming to a full stop, thick brown smoke came out from the hood on the drivers side. Vehicle cam to a stop and we all jumped out of the vehicle. Within 30 seconds, the car had flames coming out of hood and front drivers side quarter panel. The fire then moved through the vehicle. Fire department came about 10 min later, but worked on it for 30+ mins to put out.

The Highlander has been having starting issue where the dash reads that the hybrid system is not functioning and won’t turn over. There is a consumer report program instead of a recall. This is deceiving. This morning the tpms was reading that all tired were at 32 pounds of air when in fact the right front passenger was complete flat to the rim. Clearly the computer was malfunctioning with not just one aspect of the car but multiple. The local dealership isn’t helpful in that they charge $185 for diagnostic tests.

While having the eco system on, with the active system present by firmly pressing the brake hard at a stoplight, the light turned green. While taking my foot off the brake and the engine turning back on, attempting to accelerate the transmission would not allow me to get through the intersection turning left. I pulled to the far left/slow lane to stay out of other traffic. The vehicle would not allow me to go past 40mph, and the rpm’s would rev between 2000-3000 at low speeds between 10-25 mph. I had my 1 1/2 year old with me in his car seat, and it would have been tragic should this happen on the freeway and this kind of situation happened. Attempting to take it to the dealership, the truck even had trouble going over some railroad tracks with a small mound present. The dealership checked out the vehicle and called it operator error, after inspecting the reported malfunctions and finding nothing. This will not be operator error when someone is seriously injured, or if it happens to be one of their family members driving a similar vehicle.

Highlander with approximately 650 miles on it had a transmission failure while on interstate 69 north of evansville indiana. The car seemed to shift into passing gear a few times while the cruise was set and we bumped it off cruise and coasted to a stop . The car would not move after we stopped . There was transmission fluid all over the drivers side and rear of the car and a puddle under it . We called Toyota roadside assistance and had the car towed to the nearest dealer .

When I'm cruising about 35 mph, let off the gas and decelerate, then give a slight bit of gas, I feel a "bump" in the drive train. It's more like slop in the transmission. . . . Sounds like a metal to metal noise. . . This happens after car is driving more then 30 min or 45 min.