NHTSA Complaint #10161055 — 2004 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER

LET ME START BY SAYING I AM A DIE-HARD TOYOTA OWNER, MY CURRENT VEHICLE BEING THE 3RD TOYOTA WE OWN. I OWN A 2004 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER, V6, 5 SPEED AUTOMATIC WITH AWD. THIS VEHICLE HAS A VERY SERIOUS HESITATION PROBLEM WHICH IS DANGEROUS. UPON ACCELERATION FROM A STOP OR AT SPEED, THERE IS A VERY SERIOUS LAG IN THROTTLE RESPONSE. MANY TIMES LEAVING A STOP OR ACCELERATING FROM A SLOW SPEED I.E. PARKING LOT DRIVING, THE VEHICLE WILL LAG WITH NO RESPONSE, THEN LURCH & ACCELERATE SUDDENLY. MERGING INTO TRAFFIC, SAFE PASSING, STARTS AT LIGHTS AND SAFE DRIVING IN PARKING LOTS AND AROUND PEDESTRIANS CAN BE HAZARDOUS. THOUSANDS OF OWNERS ACROSS THE NATION ARE AFFECTED BY THIS DEFECT. FROM MY RECENT RESEARCH IT APPARENTLY IS NOT RESTRICTED TO THE HIGHLANDER, BUT AFFECTS MANY TOYOTA VEHICLES WITH "DRIVE BY WIRE" AS OPPOSED TO MECHANICAL TRANSMISSION & THROTTLE LINKAGE. I TOOK THE VEHICLE BACK TO THE DEALER RIGHT AFTER MY PURCHASE IN NOVEMBER OF 2004 AND WAS TOLD THEY COULD FIND NOTHING WRONG, NOW RECENT RESEARCH TELLS ME THEY WERE WELL AWARE OF THE PROBLEM AT THAT TIME. I LOVE TOYOTA BUT THERE METHODS OF DEALING WITH PROBLEMS LIKE THIS IS DECEPTIVE AT BEST AND JUST SHORT OF CRIMINAL AT WORST. PLEASE "GOOGLE" TOYOTA HIGHLANDER HESITATION PROBLEM AND ALSO VISIT TUNDRASOLUTIONS.COM FOR MORE EVIDENCE OF WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT. TOYOTA HAS NOT DEVOTED ENOUGH RESOURCES TO THIS PROBLEM OR A PERMANENT FIX WOULD HAVE ALREADY BEEN DEVELOPED. PLEASE CONTACT TOYOTA AND URGE THEM TO TAKE CARE OF THIS MATTER WITH ALL THE THOUSANDS OF OWNERS ACROSS THE U.S. THAT ARE HAVING TO DEAL WITH THIS MATTER. I WILL BE FOLLOWING THIS MATTER WITH KEEN INTEREST TO SEE IF ANYTHING IS BEING DONE AND AM ADVISING AAA OF THE ISSUES AS WELL AS MY STATE AND FEDERAL REPRESENTATIVES. TOYOTA COMMANDS A PREMIUM PRICE FOR WHAT ARE OTHERWISE EXCEPTIONAL VEHICLES AND THEIR CUSTOMERS AND THE NATIONS DRIVERS DESERVE A BETTER MORE RESPONSIBLE RESPONSE FROM TOYOTA. *NM