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2024 Grand Highlander Hybrid Max - Transmission Problem

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78K views 99 replies 40 participants last post by  Twitty  
#1 ·
I picked up the first Grand Highlander at Hamer Toyota in California as soon as it landed.
There is hard enough jerking intermittently when shifting gears on a slow acceleration between 20-35 mph.
Also, when slowing down to accommodate for slowing traffic and gassing to increase speed again there is also hard shifting as if
the clutch or gear is slipping and restarting.

Does anyone else have this issue?
 
#15 ·
I'm sorry, I replied to this without quoting your reply.
Also, there is a very thorough review on youtube that I really like. Please check out :
It's long but if you fast forward and watch between 12:00min to 15:00min, he goes over what we may be experiencing.
He says its mild, however it comes and goes every other drive and it is not mild in my case.
 
#3 ·
Hello! I have tested it in ECO and Normal Mode and it does happen in both modes. My wife drives it 14-16 miles a day for round trip to work so I haven't tried the sport mode yet. we still have under 500 miles on it I think.
I did make an appointment to go in this Saturday. I've been running searches to see any publishing online regards to similar issues and finally today there was a hit.

2024 Toyota Grand Highlander Transmission Service | Firestone Complete Auto Care

Seems like someone else has taken their Grand Highlander to a Firestone? unless they generated this generically to create a lead for their sales.
I will post updates on this weekends visit to dealer.
 
#12 ·
Hi. The same issue is happening to my Turbo Max Limited . I have 1400 miles. It doesn’t happen all the time. I thought I noticed it happening less when AC is off?? But can’t be sure. It is really frustrating for such an expensive car. I havent had a chance to take it in yet, and frankly don’t want to deal with them telling me they don’t see it… and having that headache since it doesn’t happen all of the time.
 
#16 ·
There is a very thorough review on youtube that I really like. Please check out :
It's long but if you fast forward and watch between 12:00min to 15:00min, he goes over what we may be experiencing.
He says its mild, however it comes and goes every other drive and it is not mild in my case.
 
#13 ·
sorry for the late response.
We did take it in to Toyota and they were not able to find anything wrong or any codes, at which point I decided I need to wait until others start driving a GH. It sucks but Im glad it’s not just me. I think everyone should take the suv, so Toyota takes it seriously to look into it.
20 years ago I had to file a lemon law suite with Nissan due to passenger side suspension going out 6 times within 6 months of purchasing the car.
Im hoping this issue gets fixed so I don’t end up in another lemon suit which takes 2+ years. I really like the car, besides this transmission. Issue, and the weak brakes(also mentioned by MotorTrend).

take your cars In please~
I will also take it in 5-6 more times before I consider this a lemon.
 
#18 ·
I picked up the first Grand Highlander at Hamer Toyota in California as soon as it landed. There is hard enough jerking intermittently when shifting gears on a slow acceleration between 20-35 mph. Also, when slowing down to accommodate for slowing traffic and gassing to increase speed again there is also hard shifting as if the clutch or gear is slipping and restarting. Does anyone else have this issue?
My hybrid max has the same problem, after 2 service visits, I was informed that there is no repair at this time, possibly there will be a recall.
 
#26 ·
I just returned my Grand Highlander Limited Not Hybrid for this issue. Everyone take it back to the dealer. They first tried to say they didn’t see it but I kept recorded when the issue happen. They called in regional and corporate to try and find a solution. They had my car for almost a week. They are now giving me a new car. Take your car back to the dealer- lemon law goes into effect after coming back for the same issue three times.
 
#31 ·
I got my Grand Highlander hybrid max limited almost six months ago, and it has almost 6k miles on it.
Yesterday all of a sudden we got all dashboard warning lights came on with multiple malfunctioning messages about hybrid systems, driver starter control and AWD system.

Took the car back to dealership and they stated that when check engine warning light comes then all the other warning lights comes on with it by default.

Service guys checked the car and was able to resolved almost all the warning lights but Transmission code keep coming back and they will have to keep my car till Monday.
Dealership will call toyota support on Monday to find the way to resolve the Transmission code issue.

Now I have to wait till Monday to see what happenes.
 
#33 ·
I purchased a grand highland in October 2023 and we have already had 3 issues with one being too dangerous to digest: 1. The middle seat got stuck and the dealership spent 3 days fixing it; 2. Left rear door makes loud noise, almost metal on metal; 3- My wife just called me and said the car decelerated to the point of almost stopping in the middle of the road even though she was pressing on the gas pedal. All this was heppening with my kids in it. she also reported a "weird" noise.
 
#40 ·
I have a 2024 GH Platinum, purchased beginning of Feb 2024 w/ 9,800 miles on it. I currently have 10,200 miles on it. I traded a 2014 limited Highlander w/ 150,000 miles on it and never had any issues w/ that one. I must say, I miss the V6, I prefer it over the current turbo, even in the standard size Highlander. I've owned Toyota's (both cars & SUVs) for over 25 years, so I'm well versed with them. My concern is what a few mentioned previously...when shifting into park from drive, intermittently, RPMs will rev up, then back down and the car will lunge forward & then "settle" or "jump" backwards before completing the park. I haven't noticed hearing the "rev" however. I read about higher octane gas, so I put in premium last fill (about 1 wk ago) and yesterday, got the same thing, only this was the most noticeable one with the biggest rev & lunge forward & settle backwards. I also read from a few mechanics after stopping to park, shift into neutral, apply the manual parking brake, take foot off brake pedal & then shift into park. This has something to do with the transmission parking pawl, which I know nothing about as I'm not a mechanic. That did work a few times, but has also failed, leading back to the same problem. At first I thought maybe that is what a turbo engine does since I've never owned one. But after much research on google, I'm finding this to be a common issue w/ no resolve from Toyota and most reporting back that it is NOT normal. I would think for a $60,000 vehicle this should not be happening. It makes me wonder if this is why the 1st owner traded it with 9,000 miles on it! OFC the dealership said it was traded b/c the prev owner wanted a truck vs an SUV when I asked why it was returned with 9,000 miles on it, practically still brand new. I will be contacting my Toyota dealer to have it looked at, but they will likely say they cannot "duplicate" the concern reported and my problem will be trying to prove it to them since it is intermittent and I don't know when it will happen, even if I have a tech ride with me. I haven't experienced any issues re jerking with acceleration or getting up to speed when pushing it to get on the interstate for example. I've also not had any dash lights come on indicating anything is wrong. If anyone finds out that there is a recall re this from Toyota or a confirmed issue notice from Toyota w/ no resolve, please let us know here. Thanks for all the input here, this was very helpful information for me to know I'm not the only one experiencing this issue.
 
#42 ·
Update: Took it to Toyota dealership & dropped it off end of last week. This is normal when the auto shut off-on feature is enabled. They did print me out something from the actual car manual (I have yet to find it b/c that thing is like 100,000 pages) and something from Toyota themselves that does confirm this. I turned it off and it did correct the problem with parking & my RPMs dropping to 0 & revving back up. They did however come back with a code that Toyota has an open case on & I now have an active case # under that case as well. I don't understand what it means & frankly neither did my advisor, so he couldn't really explain it well to me. Here is the code if anyone else is interested: my service invoice states this - "found code clab513 for an open circuit on passenger mirror. created tas case # (it's my personal case #) & was informed that this code is under investigation and is not related to the customers concern." My concern that triggered this, not listed in initial post here, was that my LDA, BSM & one other SS light came on when it shouldn't have. If any other updates come my way, I will post here.