2008 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER HYBRID — Complaint #997338
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about HYBRID PROPULSION SYSTEM: INVERTER filed July 27, 2013
NHTSA complaint #997338 (ODI reference 10532153) concerns a 2008 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER HYBRID and was filed on July 27, 2013. The owner reports the failure occurred on July 23, 2013. The vehicle had 13,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to California 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
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, BALLPARK REPAIR COST IS $9500. BESIDES BEING A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE, I CANNOT UNDERSTAND HOW A MODERN CAR CAN CONTAIN A CRITICAL COMPONENT THAT COSTS $10K TO REPLACE THAT HAS NO MAINTENANCE IN THE MAINTENANCE SCHEDULE OR OTHER DIAGNOSTICS TO ALERT THE DRIVER OF PENDING CATASTROPHIC FAILURE THAT MAY STRAND THEM IN AN EXTREMELY UNSAFE LOCATION (I.E. MIDDLE OF THE FREEWAY). I HOPE THAT NHTSA INVESTIGATES THE 2008 HIGHLANDER HYBRID INVERTER FAILURES DOCUMENTED ON THIS SITE AND TOYOTA IS HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THIS SERIOUS SAFETY HAZARD AND EXTREMELY COSTLY DEFECT. *TR
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 997338 |
| ODI Number | 10532153 |
| Date Filed | July 27, 2013 |
| Failure Date | July 23, 2013 |
| VIN | JTEEW41A982 |
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 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
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
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.