2000-2007 Toyota Highlander owners?

1,144 Views | 12 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by TxAggieBand85
Waltonloads08
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Anyone own one? I'm looking at a few in the 2004-2007 model years to use in Houston as a commuter/beater.

Any issues with the 3.3L V6 ?

TIA.
MouthBQ98
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My mother in law drove one forever and it was reliable.
Waltonloads08
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MouthBQ98 said:

My mother in law drove one forever and it was reliable.


Confirmation that I'm looking at Baby Boomer Grandma car
Flaith
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My wife drives an RX330... same car

It's been very dependable.

Normal maintenance items that I've done (ours is a 2005 with ~165k miles):

steering rack
timing belt, water pump
valve cover gaskets
spark plugs
PCV
drive belts
fuel injector seals
front control arms and ball joints
transmission drain/refill
Oil pan gasket
Transmission pan gasket

Depending on miles, I'd check to make sure it has had a timing belt service and spark plug/valve cover gasket/injector gasket service. The rubber and plastic seals all get brittle over time.
BQ04
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I will soon be selling a 2005 RX330. 201xxx miles. Clean.

It has been a good car. Will echo everything that Flaith said.

We simply grew out of it. Let me know if there is interest. Houston area.
Waltonloads08
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Flaith said:

My wife drives an RX330... same car

It's been very dependable.

Normal maintenance items that I've done (ours is a 2005 with ~165k miles):

steering rack
timing belt, water pump
valve cover gaskets
spark plugs
PCV
drive belts
fuel injector seals
front control arms and ball joints
transmission drain/refill
Oil pan gasket
Transmission pan gasket

Depending on miles, I'd check to make sure it has had a timing belt service and spark plug/valve cover gasket/injector gasket service. The rubber and plastic seals all get brittle over time.



Jack Cheese
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BQ04 said:

I will soon be selling a 2005 RX330. 201xxx miles. Clean.

It has been a good car. Will echo everything that Flaith said.

We simply grew out of it. Let me know if there is interest. Houston area.

I would be interested too.
TxAggieBand85
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Quote:

Any issues with the 3.3L V6 ?
Umm ... yes. Major issue with Unintended Acceleration with the Engine Control Computer.

Toyota to Pay $1.2B for Hiding Deadly 'Unintended Acceleration'

An Update on Toyota and Unintended Acceleration

The above is just a start. Please know that Toyota knows about Unintended Acceleration and is settling it case by case without a recall or fix. That Highlander you are looking at has this issue.

Just Google "Toyota Unintended Acceleration" and go forth and buy at your own (and anyone standing in front of the running Toyota) risk.
Flaith
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TxAggieBand85 said:

Quote:

Any issues with the 3.3L V6 ?
Umm ... yes. Major issue with Unintended Acceleration with the Engine Control Computer.

Toyota to Pay $1.2B for Hiding Deadly 'Unintended Acceleration'

An Update on Toyota and Unintended Acceleration

The above is just a start. Please know that Toyota knows about Unintended Acceleration and is settling it case by case without a recall or fix. That Highlander you are looking at has this issue.

Just Google "Toyota Unintended Acceleration" and go forth and buy at your own (and anyone standing in front of the running Toyota) risk.
Uh, I'm pretty sure this was determined to be 1 of 2 things:

1) driver error
2) floor mats bunching up and causing the accelerator to stick. A recall was issued for each of these cars to replace the floor mats.

https://www.caranddriver.com/features/its-all-your-fault-the-dot-renders-its-verdict-on-toyotas-unintended-acceleration-scare-feature
Waltonloads08
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I thought this was found to be false.

Edit, Flaith provided info.

Is this even still in dispute?
TxAggieBand85
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Not false.

Car and Driver test was before Michael Barr's evaluation. C&D is 2011.

I've tried to point out plenty of information to be had simply using Google. (see above, try it yourself)

A concise presentation on what technically is wrong.
https://users.ece.cmu.edu/~koopman/pubs/koopman14_toyota_ua_slides.pdf

Read Michael Barr's testimony in the Bookout trail. I personally found this testimony chilling.
http://www.safetyresearch.net/Library/Bookout_v_Toyota_Barr_REDACTED.pdf

A $1.x Billion judgement against Toyota is not lightweight.

Bottom line is that
1) Toyota knows they have firmware in the engine control computer that can fail with a throttle stuck wide open.
2) Knows people will likely be injured and possibly die.
3) Decided to handle this on a case by case basis.
Waltonloads08
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TxAggieBand85 said:

Not false.

Car and Driver test was before Michael Barr's evaluation. C&D is 2011.

I've tried to point out plenty of information to be had simply using Google. (see above, try it yourself)

A concise presentation on what technically is wrong.
https://users.ece.cmu.edu/~koopman/pubs/koopman14_toyota_ua_slides.pdf

Read Michael Barr's testimony in the Bookout trail. I personally found this testimony chilling.
http://www.safetyresearch.net/Library/Bookout_v_Toyota_Barr_REDACTED.pdf

A $1.x Billion judgement against Toyota is not lightweight.

Bottom line is that
1) Toyota knows they have firmware in the engine control computer that can fail with a throttle stuck wide open.
2) Knows people will likely be injured and possibly die.
3) Decided to handle this on a case by case basis.

I appreciate the info, don't get me wrong.

It still seems like Toyota disputes that they have a firmware issue, and the billion dollar settlement was for floor mats and sticky accelerator pedals, according to the presentation.

The testimony is about 100 pages, are there particular parts that are most meaningful to you?

I did find this...cosmic rays?

However, on October 24, 2013, a jury ruled against Toyota and found that unintended acceleration could have been caused due to deficiencies in the drive-by-wire throttle system or Electronic Throttle Control System (ETCS). Michael Barr of the Barr Group testified that NASA had not been able to complete its examination of Toyota's ETCS and that Toyota did not follow best practices for real time life critical software, and that a single bit flip which can be caused by cosmic rays could cause unintended acceleration. As well, the run-time stack of the real-time operating system was not large enough and that it was possible for the stack to grow large enough to overwrite data that could cause unintended acceleration.[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009%E2%80%9311_Toyota_vehicle_recalls#cite_note-30][30][/url][url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009%E2%80%9311_Toyota_vehicle_recalls#cite_note-31][31][/url] As a result, Toyota has entered into settlement talks with its plaintiffs.[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009%E2%80%9311_Toyota_vehicle_recalls#cite_note-32][32][/url]

Either way it seems to be something to consider....
sts7049
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i haven't heard of any incidents of this since it all made the news. it seems unlikely that any cars still out there would be afflicted at this point.
TxAggieBand85
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I agree with sts7079 in principle, would think it would make the news But the fact remains that the firmware is still out there and has not been replaced on the affected models. I don't have an answer for this.

I work as an automation professional, done my share with Real Time systems and firmware. I'm semi close to the attorney who hired Michael Barr and I trust Mr. Barr's evaluation. This evaluation was post NASA review. I have never spoken with Mr. Barr on this subject.

The compelling part for me is in Mr. Barr's testimony , pages 61 to 65 where he steps though a task killed and the throttle being set without inputs and the 'failsafe' (or in my world the safety system) failing to detect this. There is also a discussion on how the brakes cannot be applied.

I also believe that the drivers were in stress and did not turn the key one click to kill the ignition. Note that all of the facilities occurred with automatic transmissions and manual drivers would just disengage the clutch.

In my opinion, Toyota knew about the problem put out a statement that the 'floor mats' have a problem. Just brilliant PR as the public can accept that instead of the 'computer taking control and killing them'. <sarcasm> Perhaps the next Tundra model should be Tundra, Terminator Edition. </sarcasm>

I'm done with this. Have put forth enough information and leads for you to investigate and make up your own minds.
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