2008 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER HYBRID — Complaint #1001403
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about HYBRID PROPULSION SYSTEM: INVERTER filed August 12, 2013
NHTSA complaint #1001403 (ODI reference 10534969) concerns a 2008 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER HYBRID and was filed on August 12, 2013. The owner reports the failure occurred on August 8, 2013. The vehicle had 136,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to Nevada based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as hybrid propulsion system: inverter, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same TOYOTA HIGHLANDER HYBRID cohort independently describe similar hybrid propulsion system: inverter failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2008 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER HYBRID shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
I ACCELERATED FROM A STOP SIGN TO 45 MPH. JUST AS I REACHED SPEED I HEARD A POP COME FROM THE FORWARD ENGINE BAY AND GOT ALL DIFFERENT WARNING LIGHTS IN THE DISPLAY. LUCKILY THE VEHICLE CONTINUED TO ROLL AND I WAS ABLE TO GET OUT OF IMMEDIATE DANGER. THE LIGHT SAID CHECK BRAKE SYSTEM, CHECK HYBRID SYSTEM, AND CHECK SVS. I GOT VEHICLE TOWED TO A TOYOTA DEALERSHIP WERE IT TOOK THEM 3 DAYS TO TELL ME IT WAS THE HYBRID INVERTER WHICH COSTS AROUND $8500. AFTER SOME RESEARCH I FOUND THERE ARE MANY OTHER PEOPLE OUT THERE HAVING THE SAME ISSUE, SO I CALLED TOYOTA CORPORATE AND FILED A COMPLAINT. *TR
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 1001403 |
| ODI Number | 10534969 |
| Date Filed | August 12, 2013 |
| Failure Date | August 8, 2013 |
| VIN | JTEEW41A882 |
Similar HYBRID PROPULSION SYSTEM: INVERTER Complaints for 2008 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER HYBRID
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER HYBRID. THE CONTACT RECEIVED A RECALL NOTICE FOR NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 13V396000 (HYBRID PROPULSION SYSTEM: INVERTER). WHILE IN A PARKING LOT, THE VEHICL
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER HYBRID. THE CONTACT RECEIVED A NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER 13V396000 (HYBRID PROPULSION SYSTEM) HOWEVER, THE CONTACT WAS UNABLE TO HAVE THE V
WE WERE ACCELERATING UNDER FULL POWER ONTO US 101 ON THE NORTHBOUND ON RAMP FROM CA 41 WHEN THE VEHICLE LOST ALL POWER, STEERING AND AIR CONDITIONING. ONCOMING TRAFFIC WAS ABLE TO STEER AROUND US TO
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 S
WHILE AT THE TOYOTA DEALER FOR SERVICE, THE DEALER TOOK THE CAR FOR A TEST DRIVE PRIOR TO THE SERVICE AND UPON RETURNING TO THE DEALER LOT THE CAR DIED - NO POWER. DEALER DIAGNOSED AS A BAD INVERTER,
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.