Problems with 2008 Toyota Highlander TIRES

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 toyota highlander equipped with michelin ltx m/s tires, size: p245/65/r17 (na). while driving 60 mph, the contact heard an abnormal noise underneath the vehicle. upon further inspection, the contact noticed that the thread on the rear driver side tire separated. in addition, the contact noticed that the rear bumper and rear wheel well liner were partly detached from the vehicle. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the rear driver side tire needed to be replaced. in addition, the technician diagnosed that the other three tires had cracked and would need to be replaced. the tires had not been replaced. the contact was aware of nhtsa campaign number: 13t012000 (tires), but the tire size was not included. the tire manufacturer was notified of the failure. the tire failure mileage was 42,000 and the vehicle failure mileage was 107,800.

Events leading up to failure: i first noticed that my low tire pressure warning light was on when i started out this morning. i stopped at a gas station to check the tires and noticed a large screw stuck in my front left tire. my tire pressure gauge registered less than 5psi. i filled the tire to at least 25psi and headed back home, figuring i could put the spare on in my garage and take the flat to be repaired. i was glad to get back as the biggest snowstorm of the season was an hour away. the failure: i was able to get the jack and other equipment out of the back and successfully lowered the spare tire onto the ground. my problem is that i cannot remove the spare tire from the carrier cable. we've had a lot of salt sprayed on the roads recently and all the parts were white. i sprayed with wd40, but no luck. the manual is no help as it only shows a picture of the spare and a rotating arrow. i came inside to look online to see if there was a solution.. none. ...

This report concerns a 2008 toyota highlander limited that was purchased new as a dealer leftover. the vehicle has just over 20,000 miles and the toyo open country a20 tires are shredding and have pieces of the tread missing. this is on all four tires. the tires are p245/55r19 with a dot number cxhh-dk80508. i have not yet contacted toyo, however from other complaints noted, it does not seem that the manufacturer will willingly accept the defect of premature wear of this tire. the tire size is unique, which causes the replacement cost to be much higher than more standard sizes. *tr

Tire falling apart and flaking including premature wearing on factory oem toyo open country 245-55x19 a20 tires which were on my 2008 toyota highlander purchase brand new on jul 2008. approximate current mileage is 20,195. all tires are showing the same abnormal wear as verified by toyota dealer. there are numerous online complaints of similar owners with pictures of the unusual wearing. mine are worse than are described as concurred by toyota service advisors. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2008 toyota highlander equipped with toyo open country at tires, size p245/55r19. the contact stated that all four tires were chipping away on the shoulder of the inside. while drivign 35 mph, the tire pressure warning light illuminated. the vehicle was taken to a repair shop where the tires were inspected and the chipping was discovered. the contact called the tire manufacturer who advised her to take the vehicle to their tire dealer. the contact did not feel comfortable driving the vehicle to the dealer with the defective tires. the tires had not been replaced. the failure mileage was approximately 28,000.

Greetings. i am writing to you regarding my 2008 highlander sport, serial number [xxx]. specifically, i am writing about the oem tires, toyo open country, dot cxhh, dk82508. as of today, i have 23, 897 miles on the vehicle; and the tires are completely worn out to a point below the wear bars, which indicates that they must be replaced now. when i purchased the vehicle in october 2008, i purchased the toyota maintenance program, so the tires are rotated and balanced (if necessary) every 5,000 miles when i also change the oil. i am a 46 year old father of three small children, with no moving violations, tickets or accidents. i tell you this about my life to indicate the type of conservative driver that i am. i have conducted extensive research online and have identified the lowest price for a set of four tires at $759.88, which will actually more expensive during the buy due to the tpms system, the necessity for an alignment when replacing four tires, and tax. i realize that tire replacement is just one part of the overall maintenance ...

Toyota highlander (2008) with toyo a20 tires. extremely high wear with low mileage; car hydroplanes with minimal wet road surface, power wheels lose traction, even with slow start. the toyo tire treads are almost worn off at 23000 miles; when in normal driving, one should expect 45000 miles. this is a very poor quality oem tire, and should be recalled. *tr

Poor tires on my 2008 toyota highlander sport edition. excessive wear and need to be replaced at 22k miles. they are the bridgestone 245/55/r19. *tr

I ask because today had a horrible experience with toyota. they told me my shredding, bald tires are safe and nothing wrong with them. called toyo who makes the tires and they offered me 50 percent discount on new tires and tire place said car wouldn't pass inspection.. .all this when an hour earlier toyota dealership said everything is safe and sent me off with a safety inspection report saying all is well... from what i see online, it seems like hundreds of customers dealing with same 2008 vehicles with only 10-18k miles on tires that are shredding and bald. personally i think this could be another toyota example of turning the other way. from reading consumers stories and comments online i am afraid this could result in more injuries than the whole brake situation. appreciate anything you can do to draw some attention to this. the dealership i went to was: toyota of braintree 781 848 9300 customer service manager bob hadges service manager bob sullivan

Tl* the contact owns toyo open country a20 tires, size 245/55/r19, dot# cxhhdk84607. while the contact was having her vehicle inspected she noticed that all 4 tires were experiencing adnormal tread wear. the tires were taken to the dealership where the contact was informed that the tires were experiencing normal wear. there were no prior warnings and the current and failure mileages were 30000. updated 4/28/10 *cn updated 06/11/10.*jb

Toyo a20 open country tires in 245/55r19 size wear prematurely with potential loss of traction and control. drivers unaware of the fact these tires wear out in less than 20,000 miles may fail to check them for wear soon enough. these tires are the oem tires used on the 2008 toyota highlander sport model and probably some other toyota models and model years as well. the 2008 vehicle owners will be the first to report problems. this blog on consumer reports details the problems. http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars/2009/04/toyota-highlander-how-to-choose-the-best-replacement-tire-.html toyota dealers are offering no compensation or replacement assistance and this size tire is unique so that only two firms offer replacements - toyo and bridgestone. the bridgestone oem tires in this size may have the same wear and traction problems. *cn

Have the bridgestone tires stock that come with the 2008 highlander. they didn't even make it 28000 miles. while looking up the tire on the manufacturers site, they don't even have a mileage rating. we complained to the toyota customer care site and never received so much as an acknowledgment. complained to the toyota dealership and were told that toyota sacrifices the mileage of their tire so that we get a better riding tire. in other words, tough. *tr

2008 toyota highlander purchased used toyota certified 9-3-09 fails to shift into gear. most occurrences at low speed after slowing to 5mph vehicle does not respond to gas pedal - or will not engage into gear and move forward. this occurs or is most noticeable at slow speeds when the gas pedal is pushed after having slowed down or in the midst of a turn into a parking spot. wife has also complained about transmission not engaging into gear when car is first started up acts like you didn't shift it into gear. we have also noted transmission doesn't always seem to disengage when slowing from highway speeds 55 mph. feels like it is dragging car to stop. there is a noticeable whine between 55 - 62 mph. talked to dealer mechanic and he said that was normal everything is controlled by computers. we are going to take it back in this week and complain about the transmission slippage. we have also had a issue with the toyo tires. at 28,345 they were down to 5/32 to 4/32. they have major problems in snow and heavy rain with loss of traction. when esc kicks on ...

The 245-55x19 toyo open country a20 tires toyota specs on highlander limited models are utterly treacherous on ice or snow. edmunds.com documents a huge number of winter traction complaints under used cars> toyota> 2008> highlander limited> customer comments. in my own case, starting under 15 mmph i slid under 8 lanes of interstate viaduct, anti-lock brakes pulsing all the while, before my car stopped. the toyos are 1 of only 2 tires from any mfr in the size noted, the other being a bridgestone with equally horrific ice/snow traction ratings at tirerack and discount tire. toyota refuses any assistance, saying the tires are tire manufacturer warranted. the problem? i would be getting exactly the same tire again, and the a20 tire is the problem to begin with. i replaced the toyo's with another make and size at 15,900 miles (for $900) and they transformed my highlander completely winter traction-wise. this toyo tire needs to be banned entirely, yet toyota continues to spec them on new vehicles. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 toyota highlander sport. the contact stated that one of the lug nuts on the tire had rusted. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealership where the contact was informed that the lug needed to be replaced. there has been no replacement of the lug nut at the time of the complaint. the failure mileage was approximately 23,000. the current mileage was 27,806.