Thanks for your informative post.

 

I LOL'd at Scahpe's post. Too bad I had a sip of coffee in my mouth when I did read though, I think he owes me a new keyboard.

That is in a word "outstanding!"

 

Houston...JULY....in an above-ground parking garage...

If you check your owners manual you will see that the electric power steering is subject to overheating and if such occurs will operate in degraded mode, apparently SEVERELY degraded mode.

And then being forced to "man-handle" it to get it down to the first floor would probably have put a permanent "twist" in the torque tube making it totally disfunctional. Just where is the "CHIP" (power transistor{s}) located..??

Was the second floor open to sunlight..??

 

Goes to show you that maybe the extended warranty is not such a bad idea with all these electronic components. I wonder if you could source a used one if you were out of warranty?

 

This same exact thing happened to me today. I was able to back out of my parking space and then it locked up, leaving me on the side of the road waiting for a tow. I find it rather convenient that my EPS went out only 6,000 miles after my warranty was up. I have a Toyota Highlander Hybrid, it's only 3 years and 3 months old with 41,000 miles on it. My total estimate has come to $1717.69, seriously. The repair man at the dealership could not give me any explanation for this having happened and also said it did not appear that it was anything that I did, there was no abuse to my vehicle inside or out. This seems like an outrageous estimate and quite frankly if repairs on this vehicle are going to be this expensive I may have to trade it in. He did say that the EPS failing did not have anything to do with it being a hybrid. This is the first and only I have had with this vehicle, it ran just fine and dandy before my warranty was up. May I suggest that anyone looking into this particular vehicle to lock in an extended warranty.

 

I own a 2007 Escape Hybrid with just over 17,000 miles on it. Yesterday after coming out of a store I started it and a service power steering light came on. It drove like a tank, but I took it to my local garage that does my oil changes. They could not get an error message when running diagnostics. I dropped it off at my dealer and found that the module for power steering was bad. They are replacing it and it is all covered under warranty so I am thankful.

Other than this issue I love this vehicle.

 

Anytime you loose your power or electric steering, it will switch to a manual type steering. Yes, it takes some muscle to steer if it ever goes out.

Ok on the defective module. This type problem has been rare for the Camry Hybrid.

 

please read the thread on this forum about the Toyota recall campaign that was initiated on or around January 23rd, 2009. The recall involves 06-07 Camry and Highlander hybrid vehicles for the EPS (Electronic Power Steering) system. I wonder if some of you would be due for a refund because you paid for EPS replacements out-of-pocket before the recall was launched. Recalls are usually paid for by the manufacturer regardless of whether the vehicle is still under manufacturer warranty.

 

I think your due a refund. Try contacting Toyota's Customer Service and see if you can talk them into it. Steering should go 200,000 miles or more and be mostly trouble free.

 

This REALLY CHAPS my !.. I spent days arguing with the service manager and the insurance company about who was going to pay for the replacement of the power steering unit. The Toyota service manager flatly refused to call it a warranty item.. So interesting that they have finally concluded that !. I didn't have to pay it, however, the insured that caused the accident did and it was $2,184. I seriously doubt that I can recover didely-squat but I will look into the recall.. Thanks for the post.