According to The Detroit News, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration has opened an investigation into almost 44,000 Toyota Highlander Hybrid vehicles from the 2006 model year over stalling concerns. The agency has received a total of 32 complaints, with 21 of those incidents involving engine stalling at speeds of over 40 mph. A total of 26 of the reports said that the engine then could not be started again afterward. NHTSA says that the problem represents a growing trend, and that all but one of the incidents have occurred during the last year.
Toyota, meanwhile, says that the company will do everything in its power to cooperate with the government’s investigation. As The Detroit News reports, Toyota recently recalled 1.33 million Corolla and Matrix vehicles for stalling engines. That recall also included certain Pontiac Vibe models as well.
Toyota is just now beginning to recover from a rash of recalls associated with unintended acceleration. The Japanese automaker was recently vindicated by research conducted by NASA engineers who determined that there was nothing electronically wrong with the company’s throttle system.
[Source: The Detroit News]
