NHTSA Complaint #10679731 — 2014 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER

THIS COMPLAINT RELATES TO TRANSMISSION SHIFT SEQUENCES. WHEN STARTING OUT, THE TRANSMISSION IS IN FOURTH GEAR. IF YOU ARE AT SAY A TRAFFIC LIGHT AND ARE MAKING A LEFT TURN, AND THEN NEED TO MAKE A RAPID ACCELERATION, THE TRANSMISSION SHIFTS DOWN TO A LOWER GEAR, PROBABLY 1ST GEAR. WHEN THIS HAPPENS, THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT TORQUE STEER THAT AN INEXPERIENCED DRIVER WOULD FIND VERY DISTURBING. ALSO, WHEN TRAVELING 60 - 70 MILES PER HOUR AND YOU SHIFT FROM "DRIVE" TO "S" POSITION, THE TRANSMISSION GOES INTO FOURTH GEAR WITH A RESULTANT SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN RPM'S. IT WOULD SEEM LOGICAL THAT WHEN YOU SHIFT FROM "DRIVE" TO "S", YOU SHOULD REFLECT THE SAME GEAR THAT "DRIVE" WAS IN. WHEN I TOOK IT IN FOR A 5,000 MILE CHECK UP, MY DEALER SAID THERE WAS NOTHING HE COULD DO RELATED TO TRANSMISSION PROGRAMMING. SECOND ISSUE, SAME VEHICLE, REFERS TO THE INSTALLATION OF MUFFLER AND TAILPIPE, WHICH CAUSES TAILPIPE TO BE THE LOWEST ITEM UNDER VEHICLE RESULTING IN IT DRAGGING THE GROUND IN CERTAIN INSTANCES; I.E., GOING UP A STEEP DRIVEWAY. DEALER CONFIRMED THAT THEY COULD DO NOTHING TO RAISE MUFFLER/TAILPIPE. *TR