Problems with 2006 Toyota Highlander Hybrid STEERING

My 2006 highlander drove just fine. parked in my usual spot and the next time i start it my p/s light is on and i have no steering. i searched online and it seems to be a common problem for it to just quit working on people. i'm curious as to why this issue hasn't been addressed by toyota yet. thank god i wasn't driving like others were when it happened.

Steering does not steer correctly sometimes when i drive. dealer says that they want $2000 to fix it by replacing the steering mechanism. i have noticed it sometimes when i am moving.

When the car is turned sharply to the right the power steering for both right and left goes out. if there is no hard turn to the right the steering remains functional. happened while on winding road nearly ran off the road. restart the car and the problem disappears until the next right turn. dealer could not diagnose the problem needed to replace both the power steering ecu and the power steering converter and give me a bill for over $1000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 toyota highlander hybrid. while driving ar any speed, the power steering warning light illuminated on the instrument panel. the steering wheel became very difficult to turn. when the contact turned off and restarted the vehicle, the steering returned to normal. the steering failure occurred intermittently. the approximate failure mileage was 105,000. updated 09/06/16*lj the consumer stated the power steering didn't always return. sometimes, the consumer had to sit for several hours. updated 09/08/16.*jb

It is a 2006 highlander hybrid with 105200 miles and well maintained.. it looses power assist in steering at all speeds intermittently. it is very dangerous as i have to put lot of muscle in steering at low speeds but it had lost power assist even at 65 mph as well which made me very nervous. i cannot drive the vehicle as the power steering p/s light comes on most of the times now. only once a while it is off which is when i drive but few miles of driving gets the light back on with no power assist. i have seen many people in forums with the same problem for that years hybrids. therefore i am requesting to help me out with either a recall or getting this fixed at my local rochester mn dealership. anything you could do at the earliest would be appreciated.. customer request to be removed from complaint list, cell phone , address. not to be contacted. updated 08/12/16*lj updated 6/18/18*jb

Power steering failure. car was in motion turning when ps light came on and no power since then

I was driving on a straight highway between 45 -50 mph. sudden a bunch of lights and warnings came up in the dashboard. i lost power steering and motor propulsion too. i pressed the accelerator and nothing happened. although i had the ability to brake, it seemed that the braking was also impaired. however because i was going up an incline i did not need strong braking. i managed to coast over to the breakdown lane. luckily there were only a couple other cars near me so it wasn't too difficult to maneuver by them and coast to the other side of the road where the breakdown lane was. once i was completely stopped i shut the car down completely and restarted in the normal hybrid startup manner. the car propulsion and steering came back but now the message was alternating between "maintenance needed" and "check vsc system", and the check engine light and symbol was on. i shut off everything electrical to minimize electrical drain. i was able to drive the car another 8-10 miles to get home but i was constantly looking to see where i could pull over if the car stopped again. i made it home. tomorrow bring it to the toyota dealer. significantly, i recently had the brake actuator replaced at a cost of around $2700, specifically because they warned me that i could lose braking and other electronic facilities unpredictably. i thought that expensive repair would avoid this. unfortunately it appears that what they were predicting could happen did happen, but after the repair! i was on a highway when the car died but with not much traffic and an easy access breakdown lane. had it been 10 minutes later i might have been on a much busier highway in a place where a breakdown lane is much harder to reach. that would have been a dangerous situation. had it been daytime and in a safer area i would have stopped and called for a tow truck. *tr

Stall steering wheel

Started vehicle, power steering fault indicator came on. no power steering. does steer while in motion but extremely hard to turn, impossible while standing still. *tr

I just bought the car 2 weeks ago (3/17/14) and it has been driven for 500 miles without any incident. last night i parked in my usual spot across the road from my house. on the morning of sunday (3/30/14) i went to turn on my car and i notice a p/s red light came on and did a quick search on the internet and realized it was my power steering failing. did a quick test, confirmed that my steering wheel was difficult to turn. i did some further research on the internet and realize this is a common problem with highland hybrid and there was already a nhtsa action (pe06055) filed previously but had no conclusion. i want to make sure that this problem was brought up again, that it hasn't gone away, it is dangerous and i have seen numerous web blog about this: http://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/f12/2006-hch-lost-power-steering-briefly-25044/ http://answers.edmunds.com/question-power-steering-failure-on-2006-highlander-hybrid-9455.aspx it is absurd that toyota refuse to do anything about a bad quality product they produce. if they don't want to recall, at least fix the one that actually experience the problem rather then have people shelling out their money (on top of what they already paid to purchase the car) to fix a problem that toyota created in the outset. *tr

We were driving on the nj turnpike. suddenly, the car stalled and the steering locked. luckily, we just started the hour long drive and were on the slow lane and was able to glide the car over safely to the shoulder. the check "csv" and "check hybrid system" lights came on and the hybrid battery showed no energy. the car would not start and was towed to the closest toyota dealership. there were no prior warnings about battery errors or problems before completely stalling. it is understandable problems will arise, but with no warning and a car stalling on a major highway, the incident could have been extremely dangerous. *tr

I was driving my 2006 toyota higlander hybrid on i 95 in 4 lanes of dense traffic all going at least 60-70mph, when i noticed that i was losing power and my car was starting to slow down. i glanced at the dash to see multiple warning signals - check hybrid, check vsc and others. fortunately, there was a big enough gap on the left for me to pull across the left most lane because i knew if i did not i was going to stall and likely be in a major accident. it was a very scary moment. i could not restart my car and had to wait to get towed, ( dc rush hour). the dealer said my inverter needed to be replaced. after hearing the news i remembered that i had a notice from toyota, a recall for part of the inverter. initially, i was told this would not cover what i needed. in the end, i was covered . i am thankful to all who reported similar issues so that this would be addressed. *tr

Tl* the contact owns 2006 toyota highlander hybrid. the contact was driving 10 mph when the contact crashed into a curb and the power steering failed. the vehicle was towed to the dealer where the dealer confirmed that the power steering and the hybrid computer system failed. the manufacturer was not contacted and the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and the current mileages were 60,000.

Tl*the contact owns a 2006 toyota highlander hybrid. the contact was traveling 65 mph when the vehicle suddenly stalled; there was no prior warning. when the failure occurred, there was also a loss of power steering. the check vsc and check hybrid system warning lights illuminated. the dealer stated that the inverter failed. the vin was unavailable. the current and failure mileages were 118,000.

I experienced total power loss to the engine and steering of my 2006 toyota highlander hybrid while driving down the highway. toyota wants $7000 to replace the hybrid power inverter. toyota refuses to disclose frequency of this failure. identical failures can be found in online forums, all with the 2006 highlander or with the 2006 lexus rx 400h. potentially deadly failure followed by a price gouging repair costs. *tr

I apologize for the delay in filing this complaint. i just learned of the complaint process. we took delivery of the vehicle on 12/7/09 from burnsville toyota in burnsville, mn. on 12/10/09 while traveling from eagan, mn to omaha, ne the power steering went out on the vehicle. we were able to get the power steering repaired in bellevue, ne on 12/12. i felt fortunate to have repairs made as it was a saturday and the vehicle is a hybrid. the bellevue dealership made the repairs at no charge and informed me of the open recall on the power steering. upon returning home i contacted the dealership. they apologized and offered a free update on the gps. i also later contacted toyota corporate. my notes from that contact indicate a reference number of 1001108638. upon learning of the complaint process i also learned that it is illegal for a new car dealership to sell a vehicle with an open recall. i do not know if that was the case in 2009. i am pleased to be able to submit this complaint as i have always felt consumers should be protected from purchasing products with known defects

I was pulling up to subway and i noticed that my steering was a little tight. i went and ate and then headed to my friends house in orlando. while i was on the highway i almost hit a car because the steering started to jerk violently towards the right and left. i made it to a toyota dealership in orlando because it was right next to me, but as i was parked and the engine still running the wheel wouldn't stop moving back-in-forth. that is when i found out toyota will not pay for the repairs for free, even though i could of killed or injured myself and other people around me. toyota needs to do something about this and fix it!!! *tr

Pulling away from parked position. steering system failed,making vehicle undriveable. vehicle is currently at town&country toyota in charlotte nc. had this failure happened at high speed a fatal accident could have occurred. *tr

After 10,000 mile service and new battery and about two weeks use the car's steering failed to respond in store parking lot . i had car towed to dealer. the car's three year warranty ended in sept. and i did not purchase the extended warranty. the dealer advised after 3 days that parts for rack & pinion steering needed to be ordered they were $1500 an a deposit was required. in 3 weeks the car was repaired and returned requested some type assistance so dealer took off $200.00 the bill. *tr

The steering just stopped working, didn't lock, but it took raw muscle to turn the vehicle to avoid hitting a tree. no indication of anything that was wrong prior loss of steering. my wife was on a winding road and slowed down to make a right turn (the previous turn on the road was a left) and the wheel started to, for lack of a better term, buck back and forth. she had just enough time to stop before the next turn in the road. no crash and no injury, but it could have been a lot worse. right now the car is at the dealership to be fixed. *tr

2006 toyota highlander hybrid (43,058 miles) - loss of electronic power steering assist after driving one hour in the highway, i stopped at my parents house, when i was maneuvering to park the suv in the side of the road, i lost the eps assist in the middle of the lane. fortunately i was not in the highway and there were no accidents. it was very difficult to maneuver the suv to a save spot after the loss of the eps assist. i took my highlander to toyota authorized service dealer, at the beginning the technicians were unable to diagnose the problem, toyota has not issued an technical service bulletin about the issue, even when i have found information in this site that more than 109 similar cases has been reported (investigation#pe 06-055). it is totally unfair that i have to pay for repair that is clearly is a manufacturers defect. please feel free to contact me at your convenience. this is safety issue that needs to be solved asap. there is people's lives at risk. *tr

I own a 2006 toyota highlander hybrid with 43058 miles. on october 6, 2008, after driving on the highway for one hour, i decided to visit my parents, while backing-up to park on the side of the street, i loss all the power steering. it was very difficult to maneuver the vehicle, finally i reach a save area. a signal was lighted on my instrument panel, after reading the owners manual, i find a page were states that the eps system can protect itself from overheating causing the loss of power steering assist. in a highlighted section of the owners manual, it ask the owner to take the vehicle to a toyota service center if a eps failure happens. i took the vehicle to a toyota dealership as recommended by the owners manual. they are aware that the eps system is not working but were unable to diagnose the problem. by the similar cases found in the internet with the same eps issue i can forecast that the cost of the repair will be anywhere from $2,000 to $3,000 plus the fact that spare parts are about 20% higher cost in puerto rico than the rest of the us, if they are available.i do not agree that this issue is not a safety problem. this is a design flaw and quality issue that is the manufacturers (toyota) responsibility. why do i need to pay for a repair that is a manufacturers responsibility? neither the dealership or the toyota distributor on puerto rico has been able to identify or provide support to identify the cause of the eps failure. apparently, toyota has not issue a technical service bulletin about the eps failure in the 2006 highlander hybrid.

2006 toyota highlander hybrid. power steering failed pulling away from house. immediate failure with no warning signs. i think this would have been catastrophic on the highway with my wife driving. the vehicle is so hard to steer, i would hate to think what would have happened if my wife were driving anywhere. this vehicle has only 52,000 miles. i typically keep a vehicle until it has 250, 000 miles. i have never suffered a failure like this in the 32 years that i have been driving. *tr

I own a 2006 toyota highlander hybrid with over 50k miles on it. on 1 july, 2008 i started my car in the morning to drive to my commuter location and found i had no power steering. the power steering had been fine when i pulled in the evening before and somehow just failed sitting still over night. i had the vehicle towed to a toyota dealership who said they were unable to diagnose the problem and resorted to calling toyota technician's in california. they've now told me today that they have to replace the power steering rack and since my car is outside the warranty terms (over 36k) it will cost $1,840. in my internet research on this issue i've discovered that this is not an isolated incident. there are numerous reports of this occurring on both the 2006 highlander hybrid and the 2006 lexus rx400 hybrid. your agency even investigated the issue (#pe06055) but unfortunately came to the conclusion that since it only seemed to occur at low or no speed and no one had been hurt or killed that it didn't warrant a recall. i think that toyota and your agency have just been fortunate that there have been no injuries or fatalities up to this point. you risk serious public embarrassment if toyota is not forced to correct this defect. *tr

The steering wheel suddenly pulled to the left in the direction of oncoming traffic, then to the right and left very quickly. my husband had to steer with his arms braced against his knees to drive it down to the dealer, where they told him that the steering assist motors were not getting the information from the driver properly and so were pulling the car in random directions. if someone with less upper body strength (like me) had been driving, the car would have gone right into oncoming traffic. the highlander will be at the dealer for a while; they can't tell us how long it will take to fix it. we are hoping that the replacement assembly will not do the same thing. *tr