Problems with 2004 Toyota Highlander POWER TRAIN

2004 toyota highlander hesitates on acceleration making driving in traffic extremely hazardous. it is impossible to merge into traffic and adds more risk to being rear ended. toyota acknowledges the problem but has no fix. *jb after several attempts to have it repaired i was told there isn't a way to repair it, yet the dealer refuses to refund the cost of a 4 month old car with 5000 miles on it. *jb

The vehicle has a dangerous hesitation on low speed acceleration. when slowly rolling forward, and then accelerating, such as to pull out from a side street, the vehicle will often hesitate for 1 second or more. this sometimes results in almost getting into a side impact crash, as the vehicle will not pull across the lane out of the way of on coming traffic. *jb

Since i purchased my 2004 toyota highlander v6 it has very rough shifts. the transmissions seems to hesitate and lag when i try to accelerate during normal driving speeds, (i feel like i am on a carnival ride). i have had it to 3 different dealership in florida & they all say the same thing ("that this model drives like that" & it's the way you drive") funny though when the mechanic drove it, with me in the car he said that it was the transmission. the underwriters in service think because i'm a women, it's the way i drive. i love my car but, this problem needs to be addressed by toyota & fixed !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *js

Bought a new '04 toyota highlander may 3. within a few weeks driving it became dangerous because of hesitation upon acceleration. it is unsafe to drive in heavy/fast traffic. the dealership said they could find no problem until i insisted repeatedly. then they 'found the problem' but there is no fix. this is dangerous because it will eventually cause someone to be killed. why isn't toyota responsible for fixing this problem on a $30,000 vehicle?? *jb

I have a 2004 toyota highlander, v6, fwd. the transmission seems to downshift somewhat unexpectedly, but worse, when i need to accelerate quickly such as merging in to traffic on and interstate highway, there is a hesitation or lag before the vehicle starts to accelerate. this problem started when we purchased the vehicle in april and happens on a continuing basis.

I purchased a 2004 toyota highlander in march. after a few weeks of driving i noticed that while braking at a light, sometimes the brake and the steering wheel would vibrate. when the dealer looked at my car he acknowledged the problem and said it was a "power surge" i don't understand what that means and why they didn't fix it, but the car still does it 3 months later. also i noticed that the transmission hesitates as if it is about to stall when i try to accelerate to merge into traffic onto a highway. i haven't brought the car in for service re: the last issue but i expect the same writeoff answer that they gave me for the first problem.

The automatic transmission electronics get confused at street speeds, not allowing me to accelerate, especially when making a left across traffic. i have been nearly t-boned on numerous occasions. i talked to the toyota dealership about a year ago, and the technician said that he was aware of the problem and expects toyota to come up with a software update to fix the problem. recently, i left a message with the same technician asking what progress has been made, and i received no reply. it is extremely scary to find this 'dead spot' in acceleration. this is our fourth toyota, and might be the last if toyota does not address this accident waiting to happen. *jb

Transfer assy failed at 74,000 miles and failed again at 101,000 miles. *tr