Problems with 2004 Toyota Highlander EQUIPMENT

Intermittent loss of ac when hits bumps. on 06/23/11 i took in my wife's 2004 toyota highlander to alamo toyota where they charge me $92.72 to tighten or as they put it retorque bolts behind ac panel in which looking at it now there are no bolts behind panel there is one underneath the temperature control knob and screw on the side . they tighten that nut down on the control/temp knob and what it did it pulled away the circuit board and made contact with the three conductor on that ribbon cable behind the knob. which was a quick fix which essentially stopped working (they broke off ) . i take it in again to alamo toyota and now they say its my compressor needs to be replaced for $1460.00 plus tax i had already read the online fix , i explain to them and showed them pictures of the online fix. they said its the compressor. so i came home took it apart and found two of the wire on the ribbon cable broken off .i installed three new wire by soldering them replacing the ribbon cable. ac is working again thanks to the that one person that put those pictures online of the fix this person he saved thousands of dollars for a lot of people out there. i thank him, and i will never deal with toyota again i also own a tundra and as soon as i can i will trade both in for something other then toyota. they are part of american greed. *js

Intermittent loss of a/c and/or heat and finally total loss of a/c on my 2004 toyota highlander. initial fix was to tighten the nut on the temperature control. i found that this problem was inherent after going to the web and learning of the many problems with the assembly and the quick fix. essentially the a/c stopped working entirely. i brought it to my private mechanic and he found that the cable from the temperature control to the mother board was broken. i inquired how this could happen and was advised that when the nut on the temperature control came loose, the whole unit was turning when i was adjusting the temperature, which caused the cable to break. the lack of a lock washer over the flat washer was the culprit that allowed the nut to come loose. because the cable from the motherboard to the temperature control is hard wired, the entire assembly had to be replaced at a cost of approxitmately $950.00. note: i have the entire faulty assembly at home, in the event you require to see it. *kb

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 toyota highlander. the contact stated the air conditioning unit would involuntarily switch from blowing cool air to hot air while driving at various speeds. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the contact was informed that the control board for the air conditioning unit needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the contact was also told that the failure was common due to the wiring. the failure and current mileages were unknown and the vin was unavailable.

I took my 2004 toyota highlander v6 to longo toyota for brake booster recall in november 2010. they kept my car nearly 7 weeks before repair was completed. a few days after picking up my vehicle, while i was parked dropping off my passenger, most of the control panel lights illuminated (brakes, abs, trac off, vsc, check engine). i reported this to the dealer. they said to bring the car back. i took the car back and diagnostic tests were run and concluded that a code was stored but it was nothing specific that had failed. brake system was bled. in june 2011, the light cluster ("christmas tree" is how the dealer refers to it) illuminated again while i was attempting to pick up my car from my local toyota dealer (bob smith toyota). again, the car was left. again it was reported to me that the system had stored a code but no specific component was in failure and the brakes were bled. approximately, july 20, 2011 and july 23, 2011, the lights illuminated again, only four of them (trac off, vsc, abs, brakes). i contacted the toyota dealer on tuesday, july 26 and was forcing the issue on july 29, 2011 and made an appointment for august 1, 2011. on july 31, 2011, the same four lights illuminated while driving and stayed on. i stopped, turned off the engine, restarted the vehicle, and experienced a very spongy, squishy brake pedal. i contacted toyota motor corporation to further address the concern of my vehicle now being unsafe as a result of their recall. toyota motor corporation was vague and said that the matter could only be addressed by longo toyota, the dealer that performed the recall, since the parts warranty would only be with them. in contacting bob smith toyota, the service advisors swears that the problem can be resolved by them. it appears that performing the recall weakened the integrity of my brake system. as one representative said, "you will not have a catastrophic failure and you will still be able to stop. it will just take longer." *kb

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 toyota highlander. while driving approximately 45 mph with the air conditioner activated, heat began blowing from the ventilation as opposed to cold air. the failure would occur intermittently. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing or repairs. the failure mileage was 35,000 and the current mileage was 40,000. updated 03/07/11*lj updated 07/18/11

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 toyota highlander. the contact stated that the gps navigation system on the vehicle failed which caused the air conditioning, heat, defrost and the radio to fail. the contact had the vehicle inspected by the dealer and was told that the navigation system needed to be replaced; however, the dealer did not give an explanation of what caused the failure to occur. the failure mileage was 42,000 and the current mileage was 82,000.

I have a 2004 4 cyl highlander, and i can completely understand the other complainers situation as i am experiencing the same problem. it happened at around 60k miles and the dealer said it would cost about $600. to fix. i didn't. i just had to play around with the knob when i need to use it. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 toyota highlander. the contact stated that the heat does not always work in the vehicle. she must toggle with the knobs in order for the heat to function properly. oftentimes when the heating system was activated, it would blow cold air. in addition, when the cooling system was activated, it would produce warm air. the dealer stated that this was a consistent failure with the highlander, but no repairs could be made due to warranty stipulations. the manufacturer stated that they did not have any information or complaints pertaining to this type of failure. the failure and current mileages were less than 57,000.

The gps in my 2004 toyota highlander goes on and off without warning. when it does it disables the defroster, ac and heat. i don't care about the gps, but when it disables my defroster, it is a safety issue. it should have been a recall from the manufacturer. toyota has informed me a new gps will cost $5,000.00. i can put a used one in for $1,500.00. this is an unfair price to have a necessary safety function, the defroster, to work. defroster are required for state inspection. do you have any suggestions for toyota to address this issue? *tr

I had a flat tire on my 2004 toyota highlander. my husband and i were going through the tire replacement steps and had the vehicle jacked with the manufacturer provided jack. after removing the lug nuts, i went to remove the flat tire from the wheel studs. the jack popped out of place and bent, and is now unusable. we had to find a heavy duty jack to lift the vehicle to get the tire off and put the spare tire on. spare was placed and properly tightened. now, there is a scraping sound when driving the vehicle at any speed. i had flat fixed and when tire company removed spare, one wheel stud for front passenger side broke off. tire company says they've seen this numerous times with highlanders; the integrity and/or machining of the wheel stud appears defective. *jb

Jack supplied with vehicle is inadequate for size/weight of vehicle particularly on vehicles equipped with optional 16" wheels. *jb