NHTSA Complaint #10510571 — 2006 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER

WHILE DRIVING THE TEMPERATURE GAUGE ROSE ABOVE THE READ LINE (HOT). BEFORE I WAS ABLE TO GET TO A PARKING AREA IT CONTINUOUSLY ROSE AND FELL, HOWEVER, IT NEVER DROPPED AS LOW AS THE MIDDLE LINE ON THE GAUGE. AFTER CHECKING THE FLUIDS WE HAD TO ADD WATER. WE TOOK THE HIGHLANDER AND WERE TOLD THAT IT HAD A COOLANT LEAK. FROM THERE WE TOOK IT TO A TOYOTA DEALERSHIP AND WERE TOLD THAT THE ENTIRE ENGINE WOULD NEED REPLACING. I CLAIMED THAT THIS HAD TO BE SOME SORT OF FACTORY DEFECT BECAUSE HE EXPLAINED THAT THE THREADS WERE STRIPPED AND THE BOLTS WERE COMING OUT "THE HEAD IS PULLING AWAY FROM THE BLOCK". WE HAVE ALWAYS TAKEN GREAT CARE OF OUR VEHICLE AND THIS IS NOT SOMETHING THAT SHOULD HAPPEN TO ANY WELL MADE VEHICLE. AFTER DOING RESEARCH ONLINE I FOUND THAT MANY OTHERS HAVE SUFFERED WITH THE EXACT SAME ISSUE AND NOTHING WAS DONE TO HELP WITH THEIR SITUATION. PLEASE SEE THE WEB PAGE BELOW. HTTP://WWW.ABOUTAUTOMOBILE.COM/COMPLAINT/2006/TOYOTA/HIGHLANDER/ENGINE+AND+ENGINE+COOLING+SYSTEM THIS IS ONLY ONE OF SEVERAL THAT I HAVE FOUND. WHILE I AM NOT SURE IF THERE ARE ANY SAFETY ISSUES HERE BUT MANY PEOPLE HAVE SUFFERED WHEN OBVIOUSLY TOYOTA IS NEGLECTING THIS ISSUE. I'M NOT SURE WHAT ELSE WE CAN DO BUT ANY ADVICE WOULD BE HELPFUL. THANK YOU. *TR