2008 Toyota Highlander air bags problems
59 complaints about air bags have been filed for the 2008 Toyota Highlander, which is 12% of all its NHTSA complaints. It is the 3rd most reported problem area for this model year.
At a glance
- Complaints
- 59 12% of this year's complaints
- Typical mileage
- 78,000 miles 45 complaints with mileage
- Crashes and fires
- 13 and 0
- Injuries and deaths
- 21 and 0
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
When air bags problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 1 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 2 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 4 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 16 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 11 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 5 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 4 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 1 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 45 air bags complaints that report mileage, the median is about 78,000 miles, and 16% were reported before 60,000 miles.
These complaints mention 13 crashes, 21 injuries.
What owners wrote
While driving down highway 17 south towards santa cruz, california on a raining wednesday morning, I suddenly felt my vehicle loosing control in a slippery downhill highway and I hit the center divider with the left front of vehicle and car spun multiple times and hitting the left rear bumper to the wall facing the oncoming traffic. There are 4 of us in the vehicle all wearing seat belts and suffered injuries. The airbags did not deploy and the antilock brake system did not activate.
While driving, the air bag light came on and stayed on. After taking it to a toyota dealer, it was diagnosed as a spiral cable assembly malfunction. This issue has been the subject of recall for 2008 tacomas, camrys and venzas, but not the highlander. It is a $450 expense. It seems to me if toyota has recalled the part on other models in the same year, it should consider recalling it for the highlander.
Other problems reported for the 2008 Toyota Highlander
- Brakes 83 complaints
- Engine 75 complaints
- Cruise control 45 complaints
- Electrical system 44 complaints
- Steering 40 complaints
- Tires 25 complaints
- Wipers, windshield & visibility 16 complaints
- Stability control 15 complaints