Toyota Highlander Hybrid

Greetings Toyota owners.
 
I purchased my HH about April of '06 and it currently has 26,000 mile on it.
 
I will not bore you with the 10 page dicertaion of what all happened to my car but you are welcome to ask questions as you comment on this thread.
 
To put it in short form.
 
HH starts shaking. Owner has it towed to Toyota dealer. Dealer calls and says "Bad gas, not covered under warranty, $285.00" Owner says please fix it. Dealer runs & idles it for 2 days calls and says engine blown, steel parts fly out from under it. Calls in special tech for HH. 8 days later leaves message that cause was hydro lock not covered by warranty.
 
This looks bad for us. I must guess five to seven thousand for new engine.
 
On top of this they performed the 30,000 mile service prior to purgeing the gas.
 
Confused.

Replies to this message:
• doug28 (Nov 30, 2007 11:24 am)
  • kdhspyder (Nov 30, 2007 12:35 pm)
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  • lynnkushnir (Dec 01, 2007 8:38 pm)
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Replying to: mpshoob (Sep 01, 2007 2:48 pm)

YES!!!! In fact I just came in from our dead Highlander to search online to see if other people were having this problem! We have had this happen repeatedly, have taken the car in to the dealer countless times, and after a lot of head-scratching they told us we had to drive it frequently, which seems counterintuitive to buying a hybrid to lessen one's impact. They've even replaced the battery once, thinking maybe it was defective, but it hasn't helped. If we can't drive it frequently, they told us we had to disconnect the negative battery terminal or put a battery charger on it.
 
What's really weird is that sometimes the battery is completely dead, like now. But there have been other times that it started right up, drove a substantial distance (120 miles), then wouldn't start again after it had been off an hour.
 
We use our Highlander infrequently because our main car is a Prius and we only use the Highlander when we need to pull a trailer when our band tours. We've already been stranded at a club in the middle of the night with a trailer full of expensive gear because the car didn't want to start (after having driven 40 miles with no problem).
 
This is very frustrating, especially now that it's completely dead and we have a trip Friday. We had to bring our tractor over to start it, but of course it turned itself off then died completely before we had a chance to put the tractor away. Does anyone have any thoughts on how to proceed? It does seem like a pretty big design flaw.
 
EDIT: Found this confirmation on the Toyota FAQ page…what a drag!
In addition to the storage tips for our conventionally-powered vehicles, our hybrids require additional steps for each battery, as the hybrid vehicle battery and auxiliary battery will discharge and their condition is liable to decline.
 
To prevent excessive auxiliary battery drainage, charge the battery at least once every two weeks by driving the vehicle for 15 - 20 minutes with all non-essential electrical accessories (such as air conditioning and audio equipment) turned off. As an alternative, you may disconnect the negative terminal of the auxiliary battery.
 
For the hybrid vehicle battery, charge the battery at least once every two months by starting the hybrid system for about 30 minutes*. Check that the "ready" light is on and all lights and electrical accessories are off. It is not necessary to drive the vehicle, but do not start the hybrid system in an enclosed area unless the tail pipe is connected to an exhaust hose to prevent harmful build up of fumes.
 
*If the battery was disconnected, it will have to be reconnected before the hybrid system is started.

Replying to: doug28 (Nov 24, 2007 5:15 pm)

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• kdhspyder (Nov 30, 2007 12:35 pm)
  • wwest (Nov 30, 2007 3:30 pm)
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• lynnkushnir (Dec 01, 2007 8:38 pm)
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Replying to: groovology (Aug 16, 2007 2:58 pm)

Well said. Same experience with us. My husband definitely does the mpg thing better than I do but I figure it is better than the non-hybrid version. We believe in supporting the technology, as we have both the hybrid Highlander and a Honda Civic hybrid.
 
Also no problem leaving the Highlander battery (or the Honda for that matter) for ten days while in Ireland.
We love both our hybrids and they work for us as a family of five.
 
Hope to never have the blown engine problem and I have never heard of that on here before, and while I feel sorry for the owners but suspect that it is an isolated incident. I think it would be worth writing to Toyota and the dealership outlining the scenario- there is nothing else to lose.

Replying to: doug28 (Nov 30, 2007 11:24 am)

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• wwest (Nov 30, 2007 3:30 pm)
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Replying to: kdhspyder (Nov 30, 2007 12:35 pm)

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• doug28 (Nov 30, 2007 3:39 pm)
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Replying to: wwest (Nov 30, 2007 3:30 pm)

Replies to this message:
• doug28 (Nov 30, 2007 3:41 pm)
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