Car Stall problems of the 2008 Toyota Highlander Hybrid

The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Highlander Hybrid. While driving 35 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was towed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 120,000.

I purchased a new 2008 Highlander Hybrid. Though I had no problems, in November 2013, the inverter was recalled at 79,000 miles, and replaced. We had no problems with the car for the next 22 months. On September 6, 2015, the car stalled and could not be restarted. We had the car towed 55 miles to the dealership. Investigation of the car over 2 days was unsuccessful in discovering the cause. On September 9, I asked if it was the inverter. I was told it was not. The service manager had contacted Toyota, who recommended taking apart the hybrid system to look for “a shorted wire”. On Thursday, September 10, I was told that they found a wire, would but the system back together, and would take it for a test drive. On Friday, September 11, the car stalled and died on the third test drive. At this time, I was informed it was the inverter. The service manager agreed with me in feeling that since Toyota had taken out an inverter that was seemingly working fine, and replaced with one that failed in less than 2 years, that Toyota would “take care of me”. On Tuesday, September 15, I was informed that the cost for the part was $8800, and that the “regional service/parts manager,” offered to pay half of the cost for replacement. I was not happy with this offer, as it still left me with a bill of several thousand dollars for a part that failed in less than 2 years after the recall. At this time, I have not accepted the offer. I was told to call customer service. I was informed that because the regional manager had made me an offer, there was nothing else she could do. My frustration is that Toyota recalled my vehicle for the inverter. And I believe a bad inverter was put it the car instead. This current inverter, that Toyota told me to put in the car, lasted approximately 29,000 miles and 22 months. This seems like a far cry from the expected life of an inverter.

My wife and daughter were driving on a busy highway when they heard a "pop" noise from the engine. The car stalled on the road. By the grace of god, they were able to drift to the side and did not have an accident. Next day, the dealer informed that the issue was with the hybrid system - the inversion part. The cost for repair would be $11,000! we live about an hour from our workplaces and thus put a good many miles on our car - the 125,000 miles on the car put the drivetrain out of warranty. We have had all recall services performed at the dealer, and kept regular maintenance. Not once were we advised by Toyota that the hybrid system was showing wear and may be in need of service. There was no indication (warning lights, etc. ,) that the hybrid system needed attention - no fore warning at all prior to the incident. In doing research, we really got upset to find Toyota had recalled 06 and 07 models for the very same hybrid issue. We also noticed there are many people with complaints on the same issue in various online forums. To cap it off -- after the dealer told us the repair bill is $11,000, we were advised to discuss with a Toyota case manager. We did and their offer? $1,500 toward a new Toyota purchase. We were highly frustrated by this response. We feel they are well aware of the problem and should provide better warnings to users and better resolutions to the problem - and recall all effected hybrids!.

Tl- the contact owns a 2008 Toyota Highlander Hybrid. The contact stated the vehicle stalled without any warnings. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnose that the ignition coil needed to be replaced. The VIN was not available. The failure and current mileage was 59,000. Pmb.

The vehicle stalled (lost control of steering and engine ceased to operate) while driving at around 35 mph. "hybrid system warning" was displayed and it advised to pull over and contact dealership immediately.

The contact owns a 2008 Toyota Highlander Hybrid. The contact stated while driving at night approximately 30 mph, the vehicle stalled and the entire instrument panel failed to function. Within a few minutes of the failure, the instrument panel began to illuminate intermittently with the flickering of the power button indicator light. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who stated there was a faulty battery inverter. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the malfunction. The approximate failure mileage was 165,000.