Brake Light On problems of the 2007 Toyota Highlander Hybrid

The abs brake modulator began exhibiting very loud and continuous pumping/priming sounds for several weeks. During this time period upon hard braking the brake system would fail to respond immediately - there was a delay between the instant the brake pedal was depressed, and when the brakes were actually engaged to slow the vehicle. Today, all the instrument warning lights illuminated, including: master warning light, brake warning light, electronically controlled brake warning, anti-lock brake system, and slip indicator. All this indicates a failure of the abs brake modular component. Toyota motor sales, USA, inc. Published warranty enhancement program - zg1 to address this issue. The warranty is only valid for up to 10 years or 150,000 miles and has recently expired for my vehicle. Toyota motors, knowing this component is prone to failure and could have catastrophic consequences, should take a more proactive approach to ensure the safe operation of all affected models. At present there is no warranty coverage, and Toyota will not repair the faulty brake system. I am left with an inoperable vehicle with an unsafe braking system, unless I bear the full cost of replacement myself.

While driving under normal conditions, all dash lights went on saying check vsc system, abs, brake lights, warnings and traction. Took vehicle to service at Toyota dealer and was told the abs actuator assembly has to be replaced, for nearly $2500. This is a vehicle with under 65,000 miles on it and the actuator should last for the life of the vehicle. I just had the radiator replaced and brakes replaced two months ago. This problem was not detected. Brakes have always been soft on this vehicle. Now the battery is not charging and the brakes only seem to work off and on. I have to pump the brakes to make them work right. This is a huge safety problem as all of my driving is in the city in traffic. From reading online this is a problem that occurs frequently with this type of Toyota highlander and other models. I don't feel safe driving it and I can't afford to fix it. It's barely worth the cost of repairing it. If this is a known public safety issue why doesn't Toyota recall this part? the service person told me the brakes may now fail at any time, in a day or in two weeks. He told me to avoid other vehicles on the road!.

"brake actuator assembly warranty enhancement" which can cause the abs and vsc warning lights to illuminate with codes c1391, c1252, c1253 and/or c1256 may be found in the abs ecu. Toyota had two warranty enhancements for this one 6/12/2007 - 6/12/2017 and the second ended 12/31/2017. We had midas auto service experts do a brake evaluation on 11/25/2017, which showed codes c1241, c1256 and c1391. We had the evaluation done because after breaking the check vsc system and abs and brake light came on. We have the paperwork from midas. It was also brought to the attention of the Toyota dealership salesperson that sold us the car on 12/20/17 and he documented it on his Toyota laptop. The service department was also contacted but did not reveal there was a warranty enhancement for this problem only quoted to replace it would be approximately $2500. 00. This is still a known problem and there have been multiple cases opened for this problem. I opened case 1801083723 on 1/8/2017 and another 1804032206. Toyota told me because the case was opened after 12/31/2017 and the service department did not run a diagnostic on it there is nothing they can do under the warranty enhancement even though we have proof from midas (a third party) there was an issue on 11/25/2017 and the Toyota sales associate has notes in reference to it as well on 12/20/17. This is very dangerous due to not being able to stop and since it is a known problem Toyota should open up another warranty enhancement and be liable to repair these vehicles as they are brought in. Toyota did run a diagnostic on it 3/28/2017 and had the same problem as it did on 11/25/2017 when midas ran the evaluation on it.

Re. Toyota 2007 Highlander Hybrid braking failure resulting in a high speed collision. I was involved in an accident that occurred on thruway 87 in the state of NY which was largely the result of the brakes on my Highlander Hybrid not functioning properly. What happened: I was heading northbound traveling 65 mph with traffic on the thruway a little more towards the heavy side but traffic was moving smoothly. Apparently, several vehicles a head of me, a goat ran onto the thruway and a tractor trailer locked his brakes up and came to a stop. There were probably three vehicles between the truck and myself and first two vehicles quickly moved into the left lane with the last vehicle practically swerving into a space that hardly fit his vehicle at the last moment. This quick movement alerted me to be on guard and I moved my foot over to the brake pedal. The truck didn't have brake lights or flashers on nor had there been any brake lights visible to me to indicate slow moving traffic ahead so I was still traveling at 65 mph before realizing after a short delay that the truck was at a stand still. I quickly decided that the left lane was full so I couldn't swerve left, the right lane had a guard rail there but looked like there might be enough room to squeeze by on the shoulder albeit with a high risk of flipping, so I chose to brake and square up on the truck's bumper. I was about 90 to 100 yards out when I started braking. I felt the anti-lock brakes pulsing hard and the vehicle was shuddering hard. After about 5 to 10 pulses, the brakes stopped working and the vehicle coasted but doing this at 50 mph+ and this goes on for 40 yards or so until right before impact. I felt the anti-lock brakes start kicking in again but it was too late. I hit the rear of the tractor trailer at around 50 mph and stopped dead. I had called my Toyota dealership several times of the braking problem (I. E. , inconsistent operation on rough surface) and also I logged it on dot's website before the accident. Updated ivoq 09/15/10.