2008 Toyota Highlander Hybrid: recalls and complaints

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• 15V68900022 Oct 2015Visibility / Power Window Devices and Controls
• 13V3960004 Sep 2013Hybrid Propulsion System / Inverter
• 12V49100010 Oct 2012Visibility / Power Window Devices and Controls
• 11V24500021 Apr 2011Air Bags / Side/Window
• 09V22300015 Jun 2009Equipment / Other / Labels
• 08V18100018 Apr 2008Seat Belts / Rear/Other

1. 15V689000Received 22 Oct 2015. 1,814,284 units.

   Visibility / Power Window Devices and Controls

   Defect, in the NHTSA record

   Toyota Motor Company (Toyota) is recalling certain model year 2009-2011 Tundra, Sequoia, Corolla, Corolla Matrix and Scion xB, 2008-2011 Highlander and Highlander Hybrid, 2007 Camry and Camry Hybrid, 2009 Camry and Camry Hybrid, 2006-2011 RAV4, 2006-2010 Yaris, and 2009-2010 Scion xD and Pontiac Vibe vehicles. During the manufacturing of the Power Window Master Switch (PWMS), grease lubricant may have been inconsistently applied to the sliding electrical contacts.

   Consequence, in the NHTSA record

   If the sliding electrical contacts are not protected by lubricant, debris and moisture that get into the switch may cause a short circuit and the switch assembly may overheat and melt, increasing the risk of a fire.

   Remedy, in the NHTSA record

   Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the switch, applying a lubricant if no abnormality is found. If abnormality is found, the PWMS circuit board will be replaced, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin December 20, 2015. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's number for this recall is C0M.

   Report filed by Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing. Manufacturer campaign number C0M. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: 25 Nov 2015.

2. 13V396000Received 4 Sep 2013. 133,081 units.

   Hybrid Propulsion System / Inverter

   Defect, in the NHTSA record

   Toyota is recalling certain model year 2006-2010 Highlander hybrid vehicles manufactured February 16, 2005, through July 29, 2010; and model year 2006-2008 Lexus RX400h vehicles manufactured February 23, 2005, through December 2, 2008. The Intelligent Power Module (IPM) inside the inverter module may contain transistors that have higher operating temperatures than the solder can support and the transistors may be heat damaged by the solder. If this occurs, various warning lamps, including the malfunction indicator lamp, slip indicator light, brake system warning light, and master warning light, will be illuminated on the instrument panel.

   Consequence, in the NHTSA record

   The vehicle may enter a fail-safe/limp-home mode that limits the drivability of the vehicle. It is possible that the hybrid system will shut down while the vehicle is being driven, causing the vehicle to stall unexpectedly, increasing the risk of a crash.

   Remedy, in the NHTSA record

   Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace the IPM free of charge. Owners may contact Toyota at 1-800-331-4331. Vehicles that had their IPM replaced under recall 11V-342 are not affected by this campaign.

   Report filed by Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing. Manufacturer campaign number DLF, D0M. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: 4 Nov 2013.

3. 12V491000Received 10 Oct 2012. 2,519,424 units.

   Visibility / Power Window Devices and Controls

   Defect, in the NHTSA record

   Toyota is recalling certain model year 2007-2009 Camry, Camry Hybrid, RAV4, Corolla, Corolla Matrix, Tundra, Sequoia, Highlander, Highlander Hybrid, Yaris, Scion xB, Scion xD and Pontiac Vibe vehicles. The power window master switch assemblies in some of these vehicles were built using a less precise process for lubricating the internal components of the switch assemblies. Irregularities in this lubrication process may cause the power window master switch assemblies to malfunction and overheat.

   Consequence, in the NHTSA record

   If the switch overheats, it may melt, possibly resulting in a fire.

   Remedy, in the NHTSA record

   Toyota will notify its owners, and dealers will inspect the switch and apply a special grease that inhibits heat build up or replace any switch damaged by the defect, free of charge. Toyota owners that experience a problem with a switch should not attempt to make repairs, but should contact their Toyota dealer or the Toyota Customer Experience Center at 1-800-331-4331. General Motors will contact the Pontiac Vibe owners affected by this recall and GM dealers will inspect and repair switches as necessary. Those owners may contact Pontiac Customer Care at 1-800-762-2737.

   Report filed by Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: 5 Nov 2012.

4. 11V245000Received 21 Apr 2011. 307,848 units.

   Air Bags / Side/Window

   Defect, in the NHTSA record

   Toyota is recalling certain model year 2008 highlander, highlander hybrid, and model year 2007-2008 rav4 vehicles. In the curtain shield airbag (csa) system, there are two sensors in the airbag sensor assembly which are designed to detect vehicle roll angle. If one of these sensors malfunctions, the airbag warning light (malfunction indicator light: mil) will illuminate and the roll detection system will be suspended; however, the airbag csa remains available in the event of a side crash. If both sensors fail nearly simultaneously after initial airbag system check, the csa and the seat belt pretensioner could be inadvertently activated.

   Consequence, in the NHTSA record

   Inadvertent activation of the csa and/or the seat belt pretensioner can cause injury to a vehicle occupant.

   Remedy, in the NHTSA record

   Toyota will replace the airbag sensor assembly with a new one containing improved roll rate sensors, free of charge. Toyota intends to send an interim owner notification to owners early to mid-may, 2011 when sufficient parts and remedy becomes available. Owners may contact toyota at 1-800-331-4331.

   Report filed by TOYOTA MOTOR NORTH AMERICA, INC.. Manufacturer campaign number BOE-B1E. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: 9 Jan 2012.

5. 09V223000Received 15 Jun 2009. 27,080 units.

   Equipment / Other / Labels

   Defect, in the NHTSA record

   Toyota is recalling 27,080 model year 2005 through 2010 passenger cars built from september 1, 2005 to may 4, 2009. These vehicles were not equipped with load carrying capacity modification labels which fails to conform with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 110, "tire selection and rims."

   Consequence, in the NHTSA record

   Incorrect load carrying capacity modification labels could result in the vehicle being overloaded, increasing the risk of a crash.

   Remedy, in the NHTSA record

   Toyota will notify owners and provide them with a new, accurate label to be installed over the inaccurate label free of charge. The safety recall began on august 18, 2009. Owners may contact toyota at 1-888-270-9371.

   Report filed by TOYOTA MOTOR NORTH AMERICA, INC.. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: 18 Sep 2009.

6. 08V181000Received 18 Apr 2008. 90,189 units.

   Seat Belts / Rear/Other

   Defect, in the NHTSA record

   Toyota is recalling 90,189 my 2008 highlander and highlander hybrid passenger vehicles equipped with a third row seat. These vehicles fail to conform to the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 208, "occupant crash protection." the non-driver designated seating positions (dsp) on these vehicles is equipped with seat belt assemblies that have a feature that converts the retractor from an emergency locking retractor (elr) to an automatic locking retractor (alr). The belts convert to the alr mode after the webbing has been fully withdrawn from the retractor. The system is designed so that as the belt is released into the retractor, the system remains in the alr mode so that a child restraint system (crs) can be tightly secured.

   Consequence, in the NHTSA record

   However, for the two third row dsp's on these vehicles, the alr mode deactivates before the webbing is fully retracted, so that it will not lock when certain rear-facing crs's that have a short seat belt routing path are installed in the vehicle. This can allow the seat belt webbing to spool out during normal driving maneuvers, which could affect the stability of a child restraint installed at those seating positions. As such, this could discourage the use of a child restraint and in the event of a crash, the child may not be adequately protected possibly resulting in injury.

   Remedy, in the NHTSA record

   Dealers will install a newly designed seat belt component free of charge. The recall is expected to begin on or about december 18, 2008. Owners may contact toyota at 1-800-331-4331.

   Report filed by TOYOTA MOTOR NORTH AMERICA, INC.. Manufacturer campaign number 80D. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: 10 Dec 2008.

The campaign number opens the NHTSA record. Each quotation is the text of the NHTSA recall file.

Recall campaign: One recall in the NHTSA recall file, with one campaign number. A campaign can name many makes, models and model years.

Units: The number of vehicles or products that a recall can include. The manufacturer or the firm reports the number to the agency.

A complaint can name more than one component. Each component that a complaint names is one component mention. The figure per 1,000 component mentions shows how many of each 1,000 mentions name the component.

• 2008 Toyota Highlander Hybrid
• All 2008 vehicles

The table shows the 10 components with the most mentions, of 24.

Complaints that report a crash

6

Complaints that report a fire

4

Injuries in the complaints

5

Deaths in the complaints

0

Date of the newest complaint

12 Aug 2025

These figures are the entries of the persons who sent the complaints.

Complaint: A report about a possible safety problem that a person sends to NHTSA. This site shows the number of complaints and not their text.

Investigation: A study of a possible safety defect by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. An investigation with no closing date in the NHTSA file is open.

1. 20041
2. 20051
3. 20066
4. 20072
5. 20086
6. 20094
7. 20104
8. 20111
9. 20120
10. 20130
11. 20141
12. 20150
13. 20160
14. 20172
15. 20180
16. 20190
17. 20204
18. 20214
19. 20224
20. 20236
21. 20244
22. 20253

A year without a link has fewer than 2 campaigns and fewer than 25 complaints. It has no page.

• Toyota Highlander Hybrid: all model years
• Toyota: 65 model lines

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• NHTSA VIN lookupNHTSA shows the unrepaired recalls of one vehicle from its VIN or its license plate.
• NHTSA: report a safety problemThe NHTSA form for a complaint about a vehicle, a tire, a child seat or equipment.
• NHTSA page of the 2008 Toyota Highlander HybridThe recalls, the complaints and the investigations that NHTSA shows for this model year.

How many units are in the recall campaigns for the 2008 Toyota Highlander Hybrid?

4,891,906 units in 6 campaigns. A campaign can name other models and model years, and its units include them.

How many recall campaigns does the Toyota Highlander Hybrid have for all model years?

NHTSA lists 26 recall campaigns for the Toyota Highlander Hybrid, model years 2004 to 2025. 6 of them name the 2008 model year.

Which component do the complaints about the 2008 Toyota Highlander Hybrid name most often?

Service Brakes: 94 of 272 component mentions, or 345.6 per 1,000. For all 2008 vehicles the figure is 46 per 1,000.

Is an NHTSA investigation of the 2008 Toyota Highlander Hybrid open?

No. Each of the 5 investigations that name this model year has a closing date in the NHTSA file.