2017 Toyota Highlander Electrical System

As the electronic back hitch was closing, I pressed the Start Engine button and the vehicle dashboard lit up but would not start. Then I pressed the button again and it said the Ignition is On. Pressed again to shut off. Vehicle made a bunch of clicking noises but would not start. Disconnected battery to “re boot” electrical system… but a charger on battery and then the vehicle started. BUT the ! And Check Engine light was now on… saying take to your dealer… Check AWD. Drove vehicle at lunch time… and warning light and check engine light just went off! So weird!

2017 Highlander with the Auto Start/Stop. It will sometimes go completely dead when idling, like at a stop light. Completely dead meaning zero electricity - no lights. This will last a couple of seconds. But one day, the car died at a stop light right. No power. Completely dead. Couldn’t turn on my hazard lights Gears were stuck. Couldn’t shift gears.

When stopped at a stop light and using the auto off feature the Highlander stalls. The automatic shutoff repeatedly keeps draining the battery unless I manually turn the automatic shutoff feature off so it does not shut off when the vehicle is stopped. This has continued to happen over the last year and a half.

The vehicle simply would not start after I returned to my car from shopping. It had power but when I pressed the break and pushed ignition button multiple error messages came up that said "Charging system malfunction" then "Braking power low" then "SBS Airbag System Malfunction". The lights on the dash flickered, so i turned it off. When i turned it back on (before pressing the brake and pushing the ignition button to start) there was power, but the engine didn't turn over. My child and I were stranded at the grocery store waiting for the tow truck for over an hour, and then for a ride home. If this had happened while traveling further this would have put us in a real bind, and if it would happen while driving could be extremely unsafe. The car was towed to the Dealer (Russ Darrow in West Bend) who is claiming the battery needs to be replaced (i bought this vehicle 10 months ago- he said the cold cranking amps were at 520-540 at that time and were now at 297), he confirmed the alternator was healthy. As of now it looks like they will just be replacing the battery, so yes the vehicle system should be available for inspection upon request. My fear is that this could happen again after replacing the battery just like many other Toyotas that have had this exact same issue. There was no warning light that the battery was low. No indication of an upcoming maintenance issue. It happened abruptly.

Left work on 10/4 to go to the bank, grab lunch, and the carwash. Went to the bank and grabbed lunch. Went to Mikes carwash to vaccuum out and wash my car. After vacuuming the car I went to start it and got nothing. A message of low braking power please pull to a safe location and check AWD system popped up. I sat there for over 30 mins trying to get the vehicle to start. It never started. It had to be towed to the Toyota dealership. The Toyota diagnostic revealed that I needed a new battery. Took $150 to figure that out, ok. Purchased a $200 battery and had it installed. Four days later went to get into the car and it would not start once again. Upon starting a whole bunch of lights flashed on the dash but the message that came up was low braking power, check AWD system. At this point the car would not start without a jump. I jumped the car using a jump pack. Drove the car to the shop (a different one this time) to have a diagnostic done. The diagnostic revealed no issue. At this point I have only had this vehicle 5 months and I am not impressed. As a matter of fact im thoroughly frustrated and disappointed. This vehicle has 44,200 miles on it but the amount of time, issues, effort, and funds I have had to contribute to this phantom problem is very disturbing. Like I literally get into the car and have to pray that it will start. And to get on here and see that this is a huge problem experienced by many others is even more frustrating to me.

ON 3/8/21 I WAS DRIVING MY 2017 TOYOTA HIGHLAND APPROX. 13 MILES AWAY FROM MY HOME. I BEGAN TO SMELL SMOKE AS I WAS DRIVING AND THROUGH FURTHER INVESTIGATION I FOUND THE SMOKE TO BE COMING FROM THE CHARGING PORT AT THE BOTTOM OF THE MIDDLE ARM REST. THERE IS A FUNCTIONAL CAP ON THIS PORT TO KEEP DEBRIS FROM FALLING INTO IT. I DID NOT SEE ANY DEBRIS IN IT AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT. BUT WHILE CHECKING FOR THE SOURCE OF SMOKE I FELT HEAT COMING FROM THE PORT AND THEN IT MELTED TO THE FLOOR. ONCE THIS HAPPENED I PULLED OVER TURNED THE TRUCK OFF AND EXITED.

FIVE DIFFERENT TIMES FAILURE TO START THE ENGINE AND BATTERY APPEARS DRAINED WITH APPROX. 30K MILES. EACH TIME THE VEHICLE WAS STATIONARY AND EITHER IN MY GARAGE OR PARKED. JUMPER CABLES USED TO START THE CAR DID THE JOB THE FIRST TWO TIMES, THEN A POWERFUL PORTABLE BATTERY JUMPER WAS NEEDED THE NEXT TWO TIMES AND THE BATTERY WAS REPLACED BY AAA - TOLD ME THE OE BATTERY FAILED (NOT UNDER WARRANTY, SO IT COST ME OUT OF POCKET. NOW, THE 5TH TIME I AM WAITING FOR AAA AGAIN. THEIR BATTERY IS STILL UNDER FREE REPLACEMENT WARRANTY. THIS IS VERY POOR PERFORMANCE FOR A (I BOUGHT NEW) CAR THAT HAS JUST OVER 35K MILES AND LESS THAN 39 MONTHS OLD. ALSO, SEEING ALL THE ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS AND A RECALL FOR THE 2020 SAME MODEL, LEADS ME TO BELIEVE TOYOTA IS NOT AS RELIABLE AS THEY ONCE WERE.

AUTO STOP/START MALFUNCTION. IT WILL STOP THE ENGINE WHILE TURNING, AND WON'T START THE ENGINE WHILE RELEASE BREAK. IT HAPPENED OCCASIONALLY AT THE BEGINNING, NOW SEEMS GETTING WORSE. THE MECHANICS COULDN'T FIGURED OUT THE PROBLEM. I SEE THERE IS A RECALL IN 2020 MODEL, BUT MY 2017 HIGHLANDER HAS SAME ISSUE.

2017 WITH JUST UNDER 20K MILES. VEHICLE STALLED FROM STOP WHILE AT A A RED LIGHT. WOULD NOT RESTART. ONLY CLICKS FROM START BUTTON. MULTIPLE WARNING LIGHTS. HAD BEEN DRIVEN ON CITY STREETS 5 MILES OF 6 MILE COMMUTE. CAR ALSO REQUIRED JUMP START TWICE IN PAST WEEK. DEALER EVALUATION ONE DAY PRIOR TO STALL " BATTERY CHECKS OUT FINE". I'M AFRAID THERE'S SOMETHING MORE SERIOUS GOING ON.

THE BATTERY FAILED AFTER WE OWNED THE CAR FOR 2 YRS AND 11 MONTHS (MILEAGE ~44,000). THE REPLACEMENT BATTERY COST ABOUT $450 INCLUDING INSTALLATION. THIS IS EXCESSIVELY EARLY FAILURE, AND WE ARE OUT A LARGE AMOUNT OF MONEY FOR SOMETHING THAT SHOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED WITH THIS NEW OF A VEHICLE. IT TOOK 1 MONTH TO GET THE REPLACEMENT BATTERY. ALSO EXCESSIVE.

WHILE DRIVING ON INTERSTATE ON CRUISE CONTROL AT 75 MPH, WITHOUT WARNING, ALERTS WENT OFF AND VEHICLE SLOWED TO ABOUT 40 MPH AND WOULD NOT LET ME GO ANY FASTER. THE AWD FAILURE ALERT SIGN CAME ON AS DID SYSTEM ENGINE FAILURE ALERT CAME ON. I WAS ABLE DRIVE AT THAT SLOW SPEED FOR APPROXIMATELY 4 MILES ON INTERSTATE RAMP WITH FLASHERS ON. MY SON ADVISED ME TO TURN ENGINE OFF FOR ONE MINUTE AND RESTART, WHICH IT DID WITHOUT ALERTS. THEN ABLE TO DRIVE THE 2O MILES HOME. NEXT DAY TOOK IT DEALERSHIP WHERE IT'S BEEN GOING ON 3 RD DAY. EXTREMELY BAD POSSIBLE OUTCOME COULD HAVE OCCURRED ON THE INTERSTATE BEING REAR-ENDED OR IF HAD BEEN TRYING TO PASS SOMEONE OR VICE VERSE. CAR PRESENTLY AT DEALERSHIP SO DO NOT HAVE VIN. OR ACTUAL MULES