Other steering problem on the 2008 Toyota Highlander
2 crashes 1 injury 3 of the 18 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When other steering problem gets reported
Owners of the 2008 Toyota Highlander report other steering problem at a median of 90,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 30,000 miles and a quarter after 120,000 miles, from 14 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 9th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 10,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 155,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 141,800 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
29% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10,900 miles | 31,000 miles | 87,500 miles | 119,281 miles | 152,700 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 2 a crash and 1 an injury are mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $350–$2,400 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 18 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2019, at a median of 5,000 miles, and latest on the 2007 at 200,000 miles.
By volume the 2015 carries the most reports, with 22; the 2008 has 18. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Tl*the contact owns a 2008 toyota highlander. While driving at low speeds with his foot on the brake pedal, the power steering locked and it was very difficult to make a left or right turn. The vehicle also became hard to control at higher speeds between 50 to 70 MPH. The failure occurred 10 times. The dealer was contacted and stated that the vehicle was designed that way and it was not malfunctioning. No repairs were made to the vehicle. The failure mileage was 2000. The current mileage was 12,050.
Tl*the contact owns a 2008 toyota highlander. On february 10, 2008 while driving approximately 35 MPH, the vehicle suddenly accelerated when she put her foot on the brake pedal. The vehicle failed to slow down. She lost control and swerved the into the left lane and crashed into another vehicles rear bumper causing that vehicle to crash into the vehicle in front of them. She sustained injuries to her ribs. The other two drivers also sustained injuries. The insurance company was in the process of investigating the failure. The vehicle was destroyed. The failure and the current mileages were 13,000. A police report was filed. Updated 03/30/10. *lj the consumer stated there may have been possible steering problems as well. According to the police report, the consumer was traveling too fast for the road conditions. Updated 06/28/10*jb
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 toyota highlander. The contact stated that while driving 10 MPH, the contact heard a knocking sound in the steering wheel and the vehicle began to shake abnormally. The vehicle was taken to a dealer for diagnosis and a repair was made however, the contact was unaware of the nature of the repair. After leaving the dealer the vehicle began to shake again. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer at least three times who then advised that they were unsure of what was causing the failure. The vehicle was not further repaired. The failure mileage was 21,000 and the current mileage was 60,000.
Also reported on the 2008 Toyota Highlander
Other engine problem
Other brake problem
Other speed control problem
Other wheel or tire problem
Other electrical problem
Other powertrain problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 18 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other steering problem happen on the 2008 Toyota Highlander?
Across 14 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 90,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 30,000 miles and a quarter after 120,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other steering problem on the 2008 Toyota Highlander?
18 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.1 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed