..does anyone know exactly how vin numbers are assigned? Can we assume the number of vehicles made with the defective inverters is represented by the last 4 or five digits??..so 19,910 '06 4wd Highlanders before the switch? If so, looks like 68,368 vehicles are involved. Minus the ones already scrapped because of the problem, minus the ones that failed and were repaired. Obviously cheaper so far for Toyota to just keep fixing these as the fail, hoping for no deaths or publicity to force them to do the right thing.

 

Ok... So add me to the growing list of those who's inverter failed. Here's my question... My vin is 146xx, does that mean I was before or after the fix? I'm a HH 2wd. Unless I'm misinterpreting, I'm after the fix. I purchased my car in may 06.

I'm waiting in mine to be fixed, I've got 50,000+ miles. Well within warranty, but after the experience of being stuck on the Florida turnpike with no ability to move, no air, with 2 young children (16 mo & 3 yr old.)...

If any addition info comes to light, please keep me informed.

Jen

 

Since you are in CA, doesn't a 10 year-150,000 mile warranty cover the inverter? If not call Toyota customer support to ask for support since you are barely over 100k miles.

JeffD

 

I have a 2006 4wdi with a 60014xxx VIN so aparenlty am in the pool of failure prone inverters. No issues yet at 80,000 miles but this has me a bit worried approaching the 100,000 mile warrently coverage limit.

I would be interested to know what the nature of the inverter failures are and how the later revised inverter design fixed the problem. Faulty electrical components, faulty cooling system resulting in inverer overheating? Any chance that a "dead" inverter can be repaired rather than just replaced?

Is there any preventative maintanence or modifications that can be done to reduce chance of inverter failure?

It would also be nice to get an idea of the actual prevalence of inverter occurence failure on the 2006 HH. Are the dozen or so failure occurences noted here a .01% of the 2006HH or is this problem approaching 10%, 20% failure rate??

 

It does not seem likely to me that there were more of the expensive RX400h produced than Highlanders. I would guess that at least some of the blocks of VIN numbers were not used. Where did the effected VIN breakdown numbers originate?

 

Do you have a TSB number that gives this information? I am unable to find any TSB related to this.

 

Searching TSB titles, this seems to be the only one for inverter;

JULY 2006 Hybrid System - Inverter Removal/Installation Precaution

Anyone know if it says anything relevant to the inverter failure problems?

 

According to the link I found to this TSB it does not refer to anything regarding failed inverter.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sourc...aeEvYpTzI6xvKQ.

Here is the full list of TSB for the 06 HiHy if anyone is interested. I don't see anything in this list that looks inverter related other than the one already mentioned.

http://www.alldatadiy.com/TSB/60/066067aJ.html

 

I think my hybrid is worst than any other with regards to inverter probs. I have a 2006 Toyota Highlander Hybrid with a 64,000 miles on it that had a problem with inverter w/c roughly cost around $8,200. The 60,000 miles major service was just done a month ago(Toyota Tracy, CA) before the breakdown and they said there was no problem. I was just wondering why it passed with flying colors for its major inspection when the A/C doesnt cool enough. A day before i decided for a summer road trip, the battery totally died with no reason. There was not a single light left on or any other cause to create such problem, so i just jumpstart it and it turned out ok afterwards(luckily it happened in my garage). Anyway, I still decided to go for the roadtrip to Grand Canyon, AZ from my place Tracy,CA but I have this bad feeling that the vehicle will put me into serious trouble. Driving down I-5 south after a couple of rest break in between, the engine just died off in the middle of the freeway while running 75-80miles/hr. All the lights on the dashboard turned on and then it said CHECK HYBRID SYNERGY, VSC OFF. Under the scorching heat w/ 3 kids on board it scared me off, Im in the middle of nowhere in I-5S 40mi away from Bakersfield exit with a vehicle that doesnt start. I was totally disappointed with the vehicle for the first time. But as a prepared road traveller I got AAA on my side to back me up in case. AAA is fast, my highlander was towed in less than 30 min plus the towing service offered some ice cold water for all of us. I was back on the road again in an hour. I just dropped off the vehicle in Toyota Bakersfield and initially they dont know what the probs was. A day after, they found out that it was the inverter that failed when i called back again to check. I started checking online to look for the same probs that I have and i found similar probs that I encountered but its just that they have higher mileage than mine when they have it. Anyway, it looks like the toyota highlander hybrid have inverter problems sooner or later the 60,000 miles when the warranty is over. It would be great if an free extended warranty will be offered by toyota to highlander hybrid owners or any hybrid owners (coz I dont know if when my Camry Hybrid will have the same probs too) to cover the cost when such probs occur.

 

You need to ask the shop why the Hybrid Warranty was not used to cover this cost:

http://www.toyotaownersonline.com/warranty/#hybrid

Hybrid-Related Component Coverage: Hybrid-related components, including the HV battery, battery control module, hybrid control module and inverter with converter, are covered for 8 years/100,000 miles. The HV battery may have longer coverage under emissions warranty. Refer to applicable Owner's Warranty Information booklet for details.

Note that CA Emissions states extend the warranty to 10 years/150,000 miles.