[cliffycliff02]

Originally Posted by charly105

Hi I have a 2002 Highlander which has 48,000 km on it and the heater is also doing what you have all discussed. I talked to our local dealer and again they said about $1000.00 for the heater control unit. I basically said I would rather go without heat than pay this. Why did I spend $43,000 off the lot to have a vehicle which is such a poor design. I will take the unit out and try to fix it myself. This is the first time I have had any issues with this suv, but I certainly am thinking about ever buying another Toyota.. too bad I thought they gave good service that was fair,, but I am certainly wrong. I even gave the technician the fix that you have here, and they still said no I needed to replace the unit, and I am sure they never even looked at the back of the unit. I have also contacted Toyota Customer Service and am taking this to their review board, and I agree that this should be a recall because I live in Northwestern Ontario and if you have been up here when it is 30 below you will freeze, and certainly the windows will not defrost, so this is an issue of safety..
I will let you all know how I make out with this problem. Contact the customer service department and complain... maybe we can get a recall if they get tired of us...

Hello, I am very interested to see what happened to your complaint. I also had the same problem and forked over $900 to Toyota. I asked for my old control panel back and sure enough it was those 3 loose wires in the back. I am also thinking of filing a complaint but I need to find out how many people paid for what looks like a dealer scam to me!!!