2024 Toyota Land Cruiser Hybrid

The fuel line clip of the Land Cruiser got disconnected and started leaking gasoline while the engine was running. I had the car towed to Hammer Toyota and they had us pay for the hose to be reconnected. I’ve searched online and seen people have similar incidents, where the clip of the fuel line gets easily disconnected when driving over puddles. This happened as a defect, as no one had spent any time working under the car aside from the toyota dealership. I believe a similar issue has happened with the 6th gen 4Runner and a remedy was issued.

Driving on the highway, I slowed down from 65mph to 45-50mph due to standing water ahead of me, immediately after hitting water, the engine stumbled. Soon after the engine stopped running. In hybrid mode only, was not able to maintain speed. I noticed the smell of fuel in the cabin, I noticed my vehicle range dropping rapidly. The odor of unburnt gasoline was very strong and I had begun to get a headache and get dizzy, I had to open the windows while it was pouring heavy rain. Given the area had a lot of standing water, I wasn't able to stop safely. I was able to limp the vehicle in hybrid mode to a nearby uphill exit. Once stopped, I immediately left the interior of the vehicle for fresh air. If there was no shoulder and I wasn't literally next to a highway exit, I would be in deep sh**. After stopping, I checked the airbox to see if water made it into the intake. It was bone dry. Walking the right side of the vehicle I saw fuel on the ground. I called for a tow truck and they dropped me off at home. When I looked underneath the car and found the fuel line hanging free. The clip holding the tank and chassis fuel lines together was missing. I went to the local Toyota dealership and the technicians said it was not a warranty issue because it's impact damage and that I should talk to my insurance about fixing the car because it was going to be $3500 dollars to drop the prop shaft, transfer case, transmission, and other parts to replace the line because "toyota does not sell the clip alone". The line was $168 dollars. I probed further and they brought the price down to $118. Online, the fuel line is $56 dollars. I checked the Land Cruiser forums and multiple people have experienced this issue under identical conditions, others have found the clip loose during regular maintenance. This appears to be a dangerous design flaw. My 2012 Tacoma and 2016 Land Cruiser do not have these issues since they use common steel spring clips to hold fuel lines in place.