# 2008 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER — ENGINE
> NHTSA complaint `1650112` · 2020-02-27 · Toyota Motor Corporation
## Severity
- **Deaths:** 0
- **Injured:** 0
- **Fire:** Yes
- **Crash:** No
- **Police report:** No
- **Medical attention:** No
- **Vehicle towed:** No
## Vehicle
- **Make:** TOYOTA
- **Model:** HIGHLANDER
- **Year:** 2008
- **Manufacturer:** Toyota Motor Corporation
- **Component:** ENGINE
- **Miles at failure:** 124,000
- **Speed:** 50 mph
## Narrative
THE ENGINE OIL COOLER PIPE ON MY 2008 HIGHLANDER WAS DEFECTIVE AND LEAKED AT 124,000 MILE/12 YEARS (IN FEB 2020).  HAPPENED WHILE I WAS ON A HIGHWAY & SMOKE IN MY CABIN. TOYOTA HAS SET A LIMIT OF EXTENDED LIMITED WARRANTY (LCS-ZE2) TO FIX THIS DEFECT BUT ONLY IF IT OCCURS AT < (OR EQUAL) 10 YRS OR 150,000 MILES.  MANY REPORTS ON THE WEB INDICATE CARS PAST THE TOYOTA ARBITRARY CUT OFFS FOR TIME AND MILES.  THIS IS A SERIOUS SAFETY DEFECT/RISK BECAUSE ALL OF THE OIL COULD LEAK OUT FROM A DEFECTIVE PIPE &  ENGINE COULD CATCH FIRE OR FREEZE. I HAD SMOKE IN THE CABIN AND A LOW OIL PRESSURE WARNING LIGHT. OF  NOTE, MY CAR WAS SERVICED (OIL CHANGE) AND A MULTIPOINT INSPECTION BY TOYOTA 3 WEEKS PRIOR TO OIL LEAK (IN JAN 2020) AND THE OIL LEAK WAS NOT NOTED. THIS  MEANS THAT THE LEAK OCCURRED RECENTLY AND WELL PAST THE ARBITRARY TIME INTERVAL/MILEAGE LIMIT SET BY TOYOTA.   AT NO TIME DID MY TOYOTA DEALER NOTIFY ME REGARDING THE EXTENDED WARRANTY ENHANCEMENT OR THAT THIS COULD E A PROBLEM OR NOR DID MY TOYOTA DEALER SPECIFICALLY LOOK FOR THIS PROBLEM ON MY CAR DURING INSPECTION.  A FULL SCALE RECALL IS REQUIRED FOR THIS DEFECT, NOT A LIMITED WARRANTY ENHANCEMENT LETTER.   ATTACHED ARE  1- THE INVOICE TO FIX THE OIL ENGINE PIPE LEAK   2- THE INSPECTION FROM TOYOTA DEALER WITH NO EVIDENCE OF AN OIL LEAK (JAN 2020)  3-WARRANTY & WEBCHAT OTHER OWNERS COMPLAIN OF SIMILAR DANGEROUS EFFECTS OF THE OIL LEAK AND EXPENSIVE REPAIRS THAT OCCURRED PAST THE TOYOTA ARBITRARY LIMITS  4. INVOICE DOCUME
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*Source: [NHTSA ODI](https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/downloads/) · AI Analytics · CC0 1.0*