I have a 2006 Highlander Hybrid. Last night I went to the store with my daughter, loaded up the car with groceries, and started to back up. The car just stopped. I restarted it and it went about 12 feet. I am the first and only owner and have always, and only, had it serviced at Thousand Oaks Toyota. AAA towed it in to Thousand Oaks Toyota and today they told me that the inverter was bad and that it would cost $7,600.00 to repair. Now the car only cost around $32,000 when it was new, so 4 years later, Toyota expects that a person has $7,600, or 1/4 of the purchase price sitting in a Toyota piggy bank just waiting to be paid for a repair! I asked the service guy at Thousand Oaks Toyota what could have caused the inverter to go out and he told me that its just like a washing machine, parts go bad and could give no other answer. (At Thousand Oaks Toyota the servicemen always talk down to me, probably because I am a woman...little do they know that I am also an attorney and am thinking very seriously about suing them for fraud.). Also, I've had my washing machine for 12 years and have never had to have it repaired, it only cost $500.00, and has done thousands of loads of laundry. (Yea, Sears!). My air conditioning/heating system in my Toyota Highlander Hybrid also crapped out last summer. When ever I am driving down the road and have the A/C running and then hit a little, and I mean tiny, bump in the road, it starts blowing out hot air and then I have to try and gently move the dial one way or another to see if it will give me cool air again. Same thing in reverse for the heater this winter. Thousand Oaks Toyota said that it would cost $1,200.00 to fix. When my husband asked what happened to the A/C , they told him that I was probably too rough with the way that I operated the turn dials. (Now Thousand Oaks Toyota accuses me of driving down the road punching out the dashboard....ludicrous...). I still haven't fixed the A/C and now they want $7,600 for the inverter, I just as well sell the piece of crap for parts or flatten it. The service guy at Thousand Oaks Toyota told me that I could call Toyota in Torrance, Ca and they might be able to help me find out what went wrong with the inverter. After I spent thirty minutes on hold, the customer service guy told me that they are not technicians and that I would have to contact Thousand Oaks Toyota. My Toyota Highlander Hybrid was a disappointment from the beginning. Toyota said that I would be getting around 30 MPG. The best MPG that I have ever had is about 23 MPG. When I take it on long trips the MPG goes down to 19 or 20. What a waste of money. I have taken the Toyota Highlander into Thousand Oaks Toyota three or four times complaining about the gas mileage and Thousand Oaks Toyota told me that the problem was my driving, not the car. Finally, last fall I went out of the country and asked my mom to take the car to Thousand Oaks Toyota for an oil change. She was waiting for the car for several hours and finally went out to the shop area to find out where it was....she found the car up on the riser with the tires off! When she asked Thousand Oaks Toyota why they were taking off the tires for an oil change, they claimed they were just doing exceptional service. I wonder if it is their exceptional service that caused my inverter to go out. In December 2009, we paid Thousand Oaks Toyota $1,200 for regular service (90,000 mile).

I owned a BMW and a Ford Windstar before this Highlander. The service at both BMW and Ford was great. It seems that Thousand Oaks Toyota blames the owner of the car, rather than the manufacturer of the car for any problems that come up. When I chose this car, after much research, I thought that I was purchasing a vehicle that was good for the environment and good for me, but a vehicle that last only 105,000 miles and has to have $10,000 in repairs is a rip off. Toyota should tell consumers how expensive the vehicle is to maintain and that it will cost an additional $10,000 to make it over 105,000 miles. If Toyota were truthful about the vehicle ($42,000 instead of $32,000) they would not sell any. I hate my Toyota Highlander Hybrid and I hate Toyota Corporation that seems to have a service policy that says "blame the consumer."

 

Ours was at ~114,000 and our story is much like yours. $8600 for the part and $650 to install. Check out my story at Dark Side of Hybrid We've considered an attorney, but at this point we are bleeding with car rental fees. If you have a similar situation me: sad at darksideofhybrid.com

 

I just had the same thing happen to my 2006 Highlander with 141,000 miles. I am furious that Toyota is refusing to give me any break on the repair inverter that cost $8,000!
I am seeing several others with the same problem.
How do we as owners get together to fight this?
There is no way I am going to stick that kind of money into a car that is 4 years old. The funny thing is, up until this event the car has just been fantastic. That is why I cannot understand why Toyota is backing away from us.
I am ready to join with other owners to try and get their attention on this.
Maybe if enough of us start hollering, they will relent and pay for this ridiculous part.
Thanks for listening to my rant.

 

What state are you in? See below for warranty coverage information concerning "all Toyotas" that I found on Toyota's website. When I brought this to the attention of the customer service line she, at first, did not know what to say, but then later claimed this "warranty" only applied to Camry, which really makes no sense. I think that a jury would decide that the words "all Toyotas" do not limit the warranty to Camrys and is also applicable to Highlanders. I intend to go to the library and look for addition print advertising from 2006. If anyone else has any documents from Toyota that speak about the 150,000 mile warranty for "all Hybrid components" I would like them to post that information here. In CA, Toyota is required to provide certain warranties (150,000 miles) under the emissions law for certain vehicles. It looks like Toyota "allows" confusion over their hybrid warranties or which one applies to which vehicle because the "Califonria Emissions Warranty Enhancement" warranty is all over the internet, especially on Toyota's website. Unfortunately, when a part does go bad, Toyota then claims that part is not covered or is only convered for 80,000 or 100,000 miles. I sent a formal warranty demand letter on March 26, 2010 and gave Toyota until April 30, 2010 to repair the vehicle. I have not yet heard back from them. I will also file a complaint with the Air Resources Board in Ca which moniters the vehicle manufacturers regarding their low emissions vehicles. It looks like these inverters are failing often and early in the vehicle life. When Toyota fails to disclose this infomation to the consumer and the fact that the part cost $8,000, it is fraud in the inducement and the contract/sale should be rescinded.

http://www.toyota.com/html/hybridsyn...voritecar.html

All Toyotas receive warranty coverage for 3-year/36,000-mile Comprehensive, 5-year/60,000-mile Powertrain and 5-year/unlimited-mileage Corrosion Perforation. And to add peace of mind to those worried about hybrid component reliability, a reassuring 8-year/100,000-mile Hybrid-related Component Coverage is provided. In states that adopt California emission requirements, the Hybrid-related Component Coverage is for 15-years/150,000-miles, with the exception of the battery. The battery is warranted for 10-years/150,000 miles [5].

 

I have a 2006 Highlander 2WD Limited hybrid with only 29,500 miles. My inverter crapped out while entering a highway in Vancouver, BC and nearly caused an accident. I am an American with an American Toyota, and after initially telling me I might not have the warranty apply with repairs while I was traveling in Canada, Toyota did back up the repair via warranty. Still, 29,500 miles and total failure?

Other than that, I actually love the vehicle. I get around 23mpg around town and 29 on the highway, opposite of what is expected from hybrids which normally do better in the city. Not sure why that is, but there you go.

I'm not sure what the basis of a lawsuit would be, but would be curious as to how it would be framed.

 

Please report your invert failure to the NHTSA (888)327-4236. Only takes a few minutes and multiple complaints hopefully will lead to an investigation. Please file a complaint even if your inverter is replaced under warranty.

The NHSTA rep that took my compliant suggested filing complaints with both the FTC (877)382-4357 and your state's Attorney General.

 

I've have found the VIN break for the change from the defective inverter to the new part. Before the break you may experience total power failure, engine, steering and brakes. After the break the new part does not have any failures I can find.
Toyota 06 Highlander Hybrid 2wd - Ending in 60009725
Toyota 06 Highlander Hybrid 4wd - Ending in 60019910
Lexus 06 Rx 400h 2wd - Ending in 60002207
Lexus 06 Rx 400h 4wd - Ending in 60036526

 

I backed out of a parking spot and my 2006 Limited Highland Hybrid 2w drive dropped dead. We had it towed to Acton Toyota and they said the inverter had failed and the cost to repair it was $8,100 almost 1/4 the cost of the car. I am very disappointed in Toyota. My expectation in paying $40,000 for a Highlander Hybrid is that it would last much, much, much, much longer than 150,000 miles without the huge expense of replacing the inverter. I still have 2 more payments on the car. I had been very pleased with the car until now. I am also ready to join with others to get Toyota's attention to correct this problem.

 

Dan, message me here with your information.

 

Thanks for this info, John. Fortunately my '06 is well beyond the HiHy 4wd break point. The absolutely insane thing is that, as I recall, the total hybrid surcharge beyond a comparably equipped standard V6 4wd w/ sunroof, 6-CD changer, was less than $5000 ($4500, I think). For this you got an expensive 250# traction battery, three electric motors and their super-insulated heavy cabling to transmit 45KW (60HP) at 650VAC, inverter and its cooling system, a sophisticated electrically controlled planetary gear power-splitting CVT, an array of special sensors, and the computer to make it all work together,

So an inverter replacement for $7-8000, and a computer replacement I have seen elesewhere for $11,000????? No way on god's green earth that Toyota can justify anywhere near these charges for basically plug-in units (OK, the inverter needs a plumbing hook-up also), unless they are eating a huge amount with each sale, which I sincerely doubt. Purely and simply a ripoff, and the sooner this can be brought to light by the folks who have been heavily touched so far, the better for the rest of us.

Letters to Consumer Reports, auto mags, newspapers, for starters? Worried bystanders with '06's like myself will have no clout, but a wave of letters from those with personal experience facts and figures and a class action suit, or threat thereof - will surely get their attention - are you listening "ihatemyhighlander"? Toyota is already reeling on the ropes and can ill afford another quality issue coming to light.

Pete