| Issue ID | 1075268 |
| Internal NHTSA # | 10597564 |
| Manufacurer | Toyota Motor Corporation |
| Brand | TOYOTA |
| Model | HIGHLANDER |
| Model Year | 2013 |
| File date | 13/11/13 |
| Component | TIRES:TEMPORARY/EMERGENCY SPARE TIRE |
| Product type code | VEHICLE |
| Description of the problem | Dear sir, i purchased a new 2013 toyota highlander. The spare tire is mounted under the vehicle & held in place by a cable. The spare tire becomes loose and it drops down when driving. I just recently had riverhead toyota (where i purchased the highlander) repair the mechanical crank, it was in the shop for 8 days. The service manager mike hammer told me he personally repaired it. I had it 2 days and about 300 miles and the spare tire dropped down again. It is currently back at riverhead toyota. I asked for the regional manager to inspect the vehicle. This has been going on since nov 2013. I called toyota to complain, about 15 times. I have a case worker but my vehicle is not fixed. My spare tire gets damaged when it drops down, toyota has replaced 2 mag wheels and is refusing to replace 2 more damaged mag wheels. They are unable to fix the problem. This is a safety issue with the spare tire hanging by a cable from the bottom of the vehicle (it has dropped down as much 8in off the road) and it swings. My vehicle was purchased with a trailer hitch which contains the swinging of tire. When the tire drops below the trailer hitch it makes a lot of noise. Can you please check if this is issue with other owners & what is was done to repair this problem. I'm afraid one day the tire will become separated from my vehicle and cause an accident. |
| Vehicle Mileage at Failure | 5000 |
| Number of Occurences | 1 |
| Source of the issue | NHTSA WEB SITE |
| City and State | ST. JAMES, NY |
| VIN pattern | 5TDBK3EH6DSXXXXXX |
| Was vehicle invloved in a crash? | N |
| Was vehicle involved in a fire? | N |
| Was incedent reported to police? | N |
| Was medical attention required? | N |
| Was part original equipment? | |
| No. of injured persons | 0 |
| No. of fatalities | 0 |
| Date of purchase | 07/08/26 |
| Was original owner? | N |
| Anti-lock brakes | N |
| Cruise control | N |
| Number of cylinders | 6 |
| Drive train type | |
| Transmission type | |
| Vehicle speed | 40 |
| DoT tire identifier | |
| Tire size | |
| Location of tire code | |
| Type of tire failure code | |
| Was defective tire repaired? | |
| Date of manufacture | |
| Type of child seat code | |
| Type of restraint | |
| Dealer's name | |
| Dealer's telephone number | |
| Dealer's city | |
| Dealer's state code | |
| Dealer's ZIP code |