2008 Toyota Highlander Hybrid Transmission and drivetrain Problems

“I entered a gas station and my car just stopped. It would not restart and was towed to northridge Toyota (northridge,ca) where I was informed the inverter failed, and only replacement by a Toyota service center may be made due to internal component high voltage parts, at a cost of $8,244.00 + labor in the amount of $660.00. I investigated on-line and discovered numerous complaints of the same inverter failure . …”

“Vehicle hybrid/engine shut off while driving. Various warning lights lit up including vsc, hybrid system, and check engine. I was forced to change lanes with the car off but moving at about 40 MPH and pull over on a side street. I as able to restart the vehicle and continue my drive. The following day, even though the check engine light and all warnings had cleared, the car turned off again while I was driving and breaking at a red light. The car failed to properly restart after this second incident. …”

“Accelerator pedal sticking - Toyota Highlander Hybrid 2008 (not recalled!) on 2/18/10, my accelerator got stuck while driving. I have been driving for 30 years, and I know how to drive, so please spare me Toyota! Also, my car is not even on the recall list yet!!!! I accelerated quickly from a stopped position. Once the accelerator was released, the vehicle continued to race. I hit the brake, put car in neutral, and the vehicle stopped moving. …”

“I was driving from maryland back home to new jersey and the vehicle could not accelerate or move at all when in gears. The engine was on, however the car stopped moving. I was on backroads with low visibility so neighbors and others came out immediately to push the car off the road so it would not create an accident. It was towed to the dealership and was told that it was a faulty inverter on the hybrid system. After researching, I found that the previous years models were recalled, however 2008 model was not. …”

“My wife went to move the car and backed it up where it died. Car started rolling back the drive and stopped half on half off the drop off of our driveway. She had no steering and no brakes. I checked out the car and it said hybrid error call dealer. The car would not run. I had it towed to dealer and he called me to tell us the power inverter needs to replaced at the cost of 8,600.00. I understand Toyota had a problem with their 06 - 07 highlanders for the same issue. Nothing on a car should cost $8,600 to fix without being in a major car accident. …”