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Until these new IPMs come out, everyone driving a HH subject to recall is at risk for experiencing the failure. When I pressed the woman at CustCare for a better response from Toyota, she was very understanding, but Toyota is not going to take any further action. That is why I, within 24 hours of receiving my "repaired" HH, traded it in on a new Subaru Outback. DON'T DRIVE BEHIND HHs.
So far our HH has been running great. Haven't had any problems yet. (knock on wood). 65K miles to date.
Hybrid-Related Component Coverage: Hybrid-related components, including the HV battery, battery control module, hybrid control module and inverter with converter, are covered for 8 years/100,000 miles. The HV battery may have longer coverage under emissions warranty. Refer to applicable Owner's Warranty Information booklet for details.
No more hybrids for me... Not until I see a CLEAR LONG history of no problems...
$4000 for a used inverter for me, what a waste of $$$.
I am still waiting to see what NHTSA finds out since the middle part of a valve spring (looks like a slinky) just broke out and destroyed the engine. That doesn't seem like it should happen since I have had regular, consistent maintenance! I mailed NHTSA an update with the photos from Toyota of the defective part.
Here is what I know about electronics and electrical parts:
Electrical parts and electronic parts that do NOT have any moving parts do NOT fail unless there is a defect, or unless something else causes them to fail. Poor engineering of the system is considered a defect. These parts do not wear and do not have a lifetime that can be "used up." If something is VERY old, like 30-50 years or more, there may be a physical breaking down of some things like rubber or plastic, but as far as solid state devices, they do NOT wear.
Either these inverters were engineered to fail with time, or they were not properly engineered.
I work in an industrial environment, and we have solid state devices that pass much greater current, and we also have some that switch much higher voltages. These devices are not known to fail unless something else in the circuit causes an overcurrent or overvoltage condition.
We need to keep pushing on this. We are right on this one!!! This should NOT be happening!
First of all, The emission warranty on your vehicle is issued in accordance
with the U.S. Federal Clean Air Act. The federal Clean Air Act requires vehicle makers to provide two emissions-related warranties -- a production warranty and a performance warranty. The production warranty requires the vehicle maker to warrant that the vehicle is designed, built and equipped so that it conforms with emissions requirements at the time of sale. The performance warranty requires the vehicle maker to warrant that the vehicle will
comply with applicable emissions requirements as tested under state vehicle emissions
inspection programs for the warranty periods specified in the law (for model year 1995
and later vehicles, the warranty is 2 years/24,000 miles for all emissions-related parts
and 8 years/80,000 miles for the catalytic converter, electronic emissions control unit
and on-board diagnostic device). The performance warranty is conditioned on the
vehicle being properly maintained and operated. Source: http://www.rosenentertainment.com/Magnuson-Moss%20and%20Clean%20Air%20Acts.pdf
Additionally, vehicles purchased in California, or in any of the states which have adopted the legislation (Connecticut, Maryland New Jersey, Rhode Island, Delaware, Massachusetts, New York, Vermont, The District of Columbia, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Virginia
Maine - Source: http://www.dowcorning.com/content/publishedlit/26-1321-01.pdf), are covered under the defect warranty coverage for the California.
This warranty, part of the California Code of Regulations (CCR) Emissions Warranty Coverage Periods for New Vehicles, Engines, and Equipment Sold in California mandates that PZEV (Partial Zero Emission Vehicles) Certified Vehicles be warrantied for defects on emission-related parts for 15 years/150k miles. It further mandates that defects in energy storage devices (batteries) be warrantied for 10 years. Source: http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/warranty.pdf. Also visit http://www.driveclean.ca.gov.
The Toyota Highlander Hybrid meets the above mandate as it is a PZEV Partial Zero Emission Vehicle. Source: http://www.jdpower.com/autos/articles/Understanding-Low-Emission-Vehicles. Further, the Inverter is part of the emissions parts.
Therefore, anyone who has purchased a hybrid PZEV will have the benefit of the Federal warranty, and anyone who has purchased it in California or in one of the CARB states, will have the 150k/10 year warranty on the inverter.
Look up the sources, print them out, bring them to your Toyota dealers. It's that easy.
I am trying to figure out where the HH I am looking at fits into this picture. I have checked the vin# at the Toyota recall site and it states there is none for this vehicle. I believe all the HH's on this thread have been 2006 models except for Kenduff's #190.
I read the threads that relate to vin # cutoffs and assume that this is why this particular HH is not included, however, Kenduff's seems to be past this cutoff as well.
Rescue131's #191 gives hope to many, however, it doesn't appear like this particular HH would qualify. The HH is in Alabama and has over 100000 miles.
I know there are a lot of emotionally based reasons not to take a chance on this vehicle, however, I would be very interested in facts related to how this vehicle fits into (or doesn't fit into) this picture. Thanks in advance.
There is no reason to buy it even if it works perfectly. You don't save much gas.
Get a regular Highlander for much less and no problems.
We have a 2007. The battery often dies and now it lights
up but won't READY, intermittantly.
If you want to buy one, buy mine. Less than 40,000 miles.
Thanks in advance for following the rules of the road!
First of all, the pressure is on Toyota...according to today's NY Times, Toyota has 5 days to come up with a plan for fixing these cars...pressure on Toyota makes negotiating for us owners easier. Source: Toyota Recalls 82,000 Highlander and Lexus RX 400 Hybrids for Stalling Problem. Link:
http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/29/toyota-recalls-82000-highlander-and-l- exus-rx-400-hybrids-for-stalling-problem/
**Note to the member asking about purchasing a Toyota HiHy 2007- some of the cars recalled are from 2007. The one you are thinking of purchasing could have the bad inverter.
According to Hybridcars.com, the 2006 Toyota Highlander Hy is SULEV. (The sticker telling you for sure the rating, the Vehicle Emissions Control Information sticker, by law must be under the hood of your vehicle, and may also be on one of the two rear windows. Source:
http://www.hybridcar.com/index.phpoption=com_content&task=view&id=68&Itemid=65
This gives you a minimum of 8 years/80k miles. I suggest everyone whose vehicle is NOT part of the recall, but whose inverter blew, get the rating information of your emissions rating from under the hood, A copy of the applicable CA warranty code, sourced in my most recent post, or distilled here:
http://www.anr.state.vt.us/air/MobileSources/docs/WebsiteWarrantyBrochure.pdf
and request free replacement, based on the 8 yr, 80k mile warranty.
If your vehicle is one of the recalled VINs, just print out the now formal recall news, and march yourselves down to the dealer.
Alert: Toyota is sending owners of recalled 06s super-disingenous letters offering to buy back your Toyota 06 HyHi, and sell you another Toyota car, not because the lemon is a deathtrap, which has been recalled. No, no, no. if they told you that, you'd demand they fix it for free, which will cost them mega bucks. Instead, they ate trying to buy back your vehicle and sell you another Toyota. It's cheaper for them to buy it back than to fix it, PLUS, they get the added bonus of a NEW sale. Since they dont want to notify some who may not know about the recall, they are claiming they want your 06 because they are in desperate need of Toyota 2006 cars. Really? It's 2011. All of a sudden, we are to believe that there is increased demand for 2006 models? Toyota blames this, most shamefully, on a shortage of 2006 models created by a production lapse caused by - wait for it - the earthquake in Japan. Yup. Now, I'm no mathemetician, but the earthquake was in March, 2011. If I subtract 2006 from 2011, I will get 5 years. Sooo, they stopped producing 2006 cars 5 years before the earthquake supposedly halted their production of them. But we are to believe they were STILL producing them up until the earthquake, and now have a shortfall? I love my Toyota, but their shoddy inverter caused deaths. And now they want to avoid the responsibility of making good on this recall? Where are the ethics in business? Before I get off my soapbox, if the corporate greed were not shameful enough, to cart into this that devastating earthquake? And to insult our intelligence....everyone's clamoring for 2006 vehicles right now, and they had to stop producing new ones in March 2011? I won't buy another Toyota on the basis of this letter. Shame on them.
My HiHy is a 2006 SULEV II (level II). This info is found on the sticker under the hood. My vehicle was covered under the 150k CARB warranty, regardless of recalled VIN num. I have been trying to find out why some of yours was not covered. This is what I found.
The warranty was updated 12/8/2010. If your service ppl are referring to your original warranty, it has been ammended. According to the amount, vehicles meeting the SULEV II requirements fall into 2 dif categories (depending on emission specs). The category determines whether it is warrantied for 120 or 150k. Because my own vehicle was manufactured to the specs granting it the higher 150k warranty, I assume all the same year make and models would be (they are massed produced, of course).
This link is the ammended CARB emissins regulations. http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/levprog/cleandoc/cleancomplete_lev-ghg_regs_12-10.p- df
On page 46 there is a chart. The top of the chart is for SULEV II light duty trucks (as is the toyota hihy). The vehicles emissions specs will cause it to land in either the 150 or 120k warranty plan. MY vehicle fell in the 150k plan. So it must be that anyone else's 2006 Toyota Highlander Hybrid was manufactured to the same emissins specs and must also meet the same standards for the 150k warramty.
If any of you are still not getting covered for this, I would print out this (mandatory) warranty regulation (just page 47 is necessary), bring it to my service tech, and show him that this part is covered under the ammended warranty. If he says it is not, I would then ask him to show me the mfr specs showing it to conform to the lower emissions warranty. If he shows you specs showing it conforms to the 150k warranty, you are done. And again, it simply must conform, because my vehicle was not produced individually. It is a 2096 toy hi hy, and they were all mass produced.
Good luck.
Once we got the car in to the dealer, they confirmed that the inverter had blown and would need to be replaced. They replaced it under warranty saying that this was covered under a recall for the Highlander Hybrid. My VIN doesn't end within the previously mentioned range so not sure if we had the earlier inverter or later inverter, either way it was bad. I'm glad it was covered because when I came in to pick it up the bill (to Toyota) said $7329, I'm guessing they'd mark that up further if it was to be billed to a customer.
The new inverter drives great, but I think it's time to look at getting a new vehicle and not a Toyota. I've never been much of a domestic guy (outside of trucks) but the new Ford's are really looking good...
The certification Executive Order for your vehicle, 2007 Toyota Highlander hybrid, shows that the vehicle was indeed certified as a SULEV. Unfortunately, SULEV certification alone does not qualify for the 15 year/150,000 mile emission warranty. Only vehicles certified as partial zero emission vehicles (PZEV) qualify for the extended emission warranty. In order to qualify as a PZEV, a vehicles must have SULEV tailpipe emissions and zero fuel evaporative emissions. For some reason, Toyota chose not to certify the Highlander as a PZEV, as you will note in the attached certification Executive Order.
To illustrate the difference, I’ve attached the certification Executive Orders for your vehicle and the 2007 Toyota Camry hybrid which is a PZEV.
I fully sympathize with your position, this is not a trivial repair cost. For your information, I noted during a search on Ebay that the Highlander inverter is available for considerably less than $10,000.
I’ve cc’ed John Urkov, branch chief overseeing the section dealing with warranty concerns for confirmation on the Highlander status.
Regards,
Paul.
If you read the actual amendment to the emissions law, page 46 or 47, you will see that some Sulev IIs have the150k warranty option. This doc comes straight from CARB. My own Sulev II was covered for 150k according to my Toyota dealer. I posted the link in an earlier message. Check it out.
As my car is a SulevII and it was covered, according to my toyota dealer, for 150k, regardless of vin num, and because the graph on page 46 of that amended CARB reg shows two boxes for Sulev II, and states 150k warranty optional, I cam only think that the higher optional warranty had to have been applied to my vehicle. At this point, before I gave up, I would call back Paul from CARB, refer him to that graph, and ask him why it states in the Sulev II box "optional 150k" when it is nit a PZEV, and you had been told it applies only to PZEV. If that doesn't help, I might ask his advice on getting Toyota to replace it anyway, as it did fail, and your vin is only a few hundred off. I'm sure it's too exp for Toyota to want to do a "goodwill" replacement, but if there were some way to make them aware of the bad will generated by not replacing all failed inverters (a huge safety issue!) in the general time period. It's not likely that the inverters were faulty on the recalled vins, but yours, only a couple hundred out, failed due to "pilot" error.
I had put the number of my Toyota dealer down in that post so you could call and ask them about the 150k "option" on Sulev II, but apparently, that's not ok on here. I myself am now so curious as to why my Sulev II was covered when yours wasn't, I am going to simply call myself and ask them. Perhaps there is an answer there, ornat the very least an explanation. I do not believe they made a mistake in covering mine, because ppl generally check their info before shelling out big money. I will post the result of that phone call.
I've been following this whole discussion about the federal/state low emissions warranty issue with some interest (though it is a somewhat nostalgic, detached interest--having already paid for my fix myself, given that we had over 100K miles). What keeps coming to mind is that your car, after all, had 75K miles on it, right? I can't help but to think your car WAS still within the regular Toyota warranty on hybrid parts (the 8 year/100K)...and all this discussion appears academic about the federal/state emissions warranty. I remember I hit the same roadblock about the PZEV... I think you got lucky that your car cloncked out at the 75K miles and Toyota had to fix it...just like others on this forum with such low mileage. Whatever your technicians are saying was the reason they fixed it doesn't discount the fact that they HAD to fix it due to the fact that it was within 8 years/100K miles. Am I missing something?
Good luck.