2009 Toyota Highlander Electrical System Problems
- 18
- Owner complaint records in our dataset
Records are owner complaints, not a measured failure rate.
Owner complaint recordsComplaint records reflect reports in our dataset and do not measure how frequently the problem occurs across all vehicles.
Among these 18 stored complaint records:
- 0 indicate a crash
- 0 indicate injury
- 2 indicate fire
What owners report
- rear door · 6 records
Mileage in stored records
| Band | Records |
|---|---|
| 60–100k mi | 6 |
| 30–60k mi | 5 |
| 1–30k mi | 4 |
| 100–150k mi | 3 |
Complaint records
Owner-submitted complaint content, presented as stored.
Electrical System
Lock actuators mal-function when using the remote or when using the power locks. Unable to lock doors except manually with key or by hand. At times, certain locks will work and seem impacted by weather conditions, i.e. Humidity or rainy day vs. Fair weather day. This causes the owner to believe the doors are locked when they are not and the inconvenience they are unlocked when leaving your car parked in a public lot.
ODI 11210251
Electrical System
My vehicle has an issue with the door locks which is a safety concern, the power door lock actuators have repeatedly failed on my vehicle. Each of the four door lock actuators have been replaced and several multiple times. The most recent was a drivers (left) side rear which was replaced in march 2014 and failed again. This makes the 6th or 7th time an actuator has failed on my vehicle. The cost to replace these is…
ODI 10946865
Body · Electrical System
Liftgate will not close or open when automatic button is pushed either on the dash or the button on the liftgate itself. Stays open and have to force the liftgate down manually. At times liftgate will open by itself while stationary or vehicle is moving. Closing or opening the liftgate automatically problem has be ongoing for about 6 months. Brought to dealership and they could not repair, but i could take to body…
ODI 10785917
Electrical System · Unknown Or Other
REAR DOOR MOTOR LIFT NOT WORKING
ODI 10811987
Air Bags · Electrical System
$7155 quote to replace 2 electrical harnesses. Reason: "warning: srs airbag check. Take vehicle to dealer". The junction box is hidden behind the driver side front panel. The pins in the junction box belonging to the airbag wiring harness (part # 82141-48r51) that runs underneath the dashboard were fried due to electrical short (unexplained). Because the junction box also brings the rear wiring harness (part #…
ODI 10762752
Electrical System · Tailgate
The power tailgate will not open and close automatically. You have to force it to open manually and force it to close manually because the motor gets stuck in one position. We called the toyota to see if there was any recalls after reading similar complaints on the internet and few lawsuits against toyota for the same problem, and toyota said no there are no recalls for the tailgate motor. The motor itself costs…
ODI 10706437
Electrical System
Tl* the contact owned a 2009 toyota highlander. The contact stated that the vehicle caught fire on the front driver's seat. The fire department extinguished the fire. The vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and stated the vehicle was not included in nhtsa campaign number: 14v743000 (electrical system). The failure mileage was 110,000.
Fire reported
ODI 10704638
Electrical System · Unknown Or Other · Wheels
This vehicle has an electrical problem, most mechanic shops i took it were not able to find out the nature of the problem. I've changed the battery twice and still experiencing the same problem. At the high way i noticed the that the temperature of the engine gets high, which obliged to drive in a much lower speed with the flashers on which always increases the traffic safety risks.
ODI 10721260
Electrical System · Tailgate
The tailgate motor unexpectedly malfunctioned and closed the door in an unbalanced way causing the breaking of the tailgate hinges / arms. The tailgate stopped / froze and remained ajar about 1 inch on right passenger side of the door and latching on driver's side of the door. The door would not manually or electronically open back up. Had to have the door physically removed by toyota dealership and replaced entire…
ODI 10702944
Body · Electrical System
Lift gate and power door motor broke. The door stocked and could not be opened or locked. I was lucky that my toddler was not around. I am horrified what would happened if his hand stock in it and the door could not be open. We took it to molle toyota. They told me that beside the lift gate and motor the whole rear door and hinge has to be replace. They said that if i don't replace the doors i will have same problem…
ODI 10747561
Body · Electrical System
Liftgate does will not open. Schaumburg toyota reported the following on their service report the following: "found auto open & close motor seized. Need: to go to bodyshop - replace l/hinge, motor-door". Toyota schaumburg is speculating (pure speculation) that the car was bumped into and therefore the distances (which distances ?) are skewed. We (owners) believe that no such incidence happened. We e-mailed toyota…
ODI 10586256
Electrical System · Latches/Locks/Linkages
Left driver's door actuator works sometimes when pressing remote control to unlock door. Left rear door works sometimes when pressing remote control to unlock door. *tr
ODI 10578318
Electrical System
2009 toyota highlander limited door actuators have all broke, been replaced and broke again. Some are being replaced for the 3rd time since i owed the vehicle (making it the 4th lock on the car). At the moment only 1 door lock works and i have to climb across to open the other doors. I am extremely concerned that they will all break and i will not be able to get my daughter out of the car. I started contacting…
ODI 11141895
Body · Electrical System
Rear door/hatch electric motor and latch/lock assembly failed. Several incidences of the rear electric hatch failing to seat/close occurred prior to the failure. The door would start down but would not close/latch. Toyota service department (dothan, al) said the door needed to be adjusted and did so. About one month later the door closed with a loud noise and would not open afterwards. Upon outside inspection, i saw…
ODI 10542068
Air Conditioner · Electrical System
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 toyota highlander. The contact stated that the air conditioning unit failed four times. The contact stated the repairs were made by an authorized dealer and the unit would work for a short time before failing again. In addition, the door locks would fail intermittently. The dealer was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer…
ODI 10347080
Electrical System
Recent trouble with electrical rear door hatch closing properly. My ongoing problem is at least 4+ years that nobody hears me. It's electrical, auto lock doors, ac or heat shuts off and on ad it wants, totally went to hi heat when i was driving, buttons do whatever they want to do no matter what is turned off or on.
ODI 10723021
Electrical System · Engine And Engine Cooling
2009 toyota highland had been drived for about 10 minutes, parked, locked at 7:25 am on jan 22, 2010. Approximately 20 minutes later a 6th ft high flames were discovered by the owner coming from the engine. Someone had already reported the fire and the fire department responded by 7:50 am.*cw
Fire reported
ODI 10302531
Electrical System · Vehicle Speed Control
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 toyota highlander. The contact stated that she attempted to accelerate but the vehicle hesitated, after a brief delay, the accelerator engaged causing the vehicle to lunge forward. Also, the contact stated that all of the lights on the instrument panel continuously flickered and the driver's side brake light was defective. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The technician stated that…
ODI 10508524