This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
Hi, the stereo sound on My Toyota highlander keep going in and out, I can start the car in the morning and the radio will work no problem but if I turn off the car or the radio sound or music will go away. after the car is off for about 3 to 4 hours period of time the sound will come back on when the vehicle is turned back on. This is the original Stereo system. Thank You
While driving the vehicle, the rear pane of the vehicle's moon roof spontaneously shattered into pieces. The moon roof has two basic components - the soft cover that lies under the glass moon roof and the 2-pane glass moon roof. Had the soft cover not been closed, the glass shards would have rained down upon the driver and passengers in the vehicle. The vehicle has not yet been inspected by an insurance adjuster, but there are numerous reports of this same problem occurring in other Toyota Highlanders on the internet. This issue appears to be being ignored by Toyota despite numerous reports across several model years of the vehicle. There were no warning signs of any kind issued by the vehicle before this occurred. This condition poses a serious threat to health and safety and should be addressed immediately by NHTSA.
This is a known problem with the Toyota Highlander where the Power Rear Door struts will not work in cold weather. They even issued a service bulletin but refuses to issue a recall on the defective parts. If the rear hatch refuses to close or open, it can be a safety hazard as these doors are very difficult to close and open manually as it requires a fair amount of strength to perform. From Toyota's own service Bulletin T-SB-0023-16: "Some 2014 -€" 2015 model year Highlander and Highlander HV vehicles may exhibit a condition in which the Power Back Door is inoperative or stops during operation. In some cases this condition may be associated with cold weather."
Passenger door and rear left and right door doesn't lock or unlock with key fob, but can be locked and unlocked manually but if in a car crash and you have a child in the back seat it may creating a safety hazard if the doors are locked manually and you can't get your child out in a timely manner. I was told at the service center in Waldorf Maryland Toyota that it is a common problems, and there always changed on this make and model.
Bluetooth for phone does not work properly in thousands of Toyota over many years rendering handsfree inoperable. There is a well documented loud echo in the phone held by the person outside the car calling or receiving a call from the car. The call must be terminated and the driver must use their handset to receive or make the call. This is well known by Toyota and is a huge distracted driving safety problem. Toyota needs to fix this immediately and a recall issued to do so. This problem has gone on too long. This has been a problem with our 2014 Highlander from inception and like thousands of other Toyota owners we've given up waiting for the fix. Please help with this.
- Magnolia, TX, USA
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My powered rear tailgate door malfunctions when I attempt to open it. About 80% of the time when I press the button to have it open, it cracks open and then starts beeping. Then to open it, I have to manually open it by hand.
The rear lift gate power struts needed to be replaced at 38000 miles on a 2014 vehicle. Have noticed numerous others complaining about this issue on Toyota forums.
Tailgate does not open sometimes. It will do a long beep. Sometimes it will open but not close all the way. Sometimes it will open less then half way and then do a long beep.
Around 55,000 miles driven, my panoramic roof started leaking into pillars. It caused both rear drivers side and passenger side seat wet and carpets wet. My roof leaks whenever there is rain. Roof does not leak when my car is parked down hill, but it leaks whenever car is parked uphill. Roof also leaks driving in highway in heavy rain. I contacted Toyota, but they said I have to pay for the leak since it is out of warranty. They said I have to replace pretty much everything include sunroof.
The vehicle was in motion, at 60 mph, South bound on rte 495 South in foxboro, MA at 2:35 on Dec 29, 2019. Driver heard a thud on the roof, pulled over to the breakdown lane, opened the moonroof shade and discovered that moonroof glass was gone. There was no evidence of shattered glass. Driver did not see any other vehicle or person that was damaged or injured. Driver was traveling alone. On inspection repair shop did not see any damage to roof or window frame and no glass shards.
There has been a leak coming from the roof in to the C pillar, causing water to go in to the cabin under the carpet. The vehicle is stationary when it was discovered.
Entune radio/headunit (hu) reboot itself while in a call. Reboot occurs while vehicle is in motion at any speed, during any driving condition. As the hu reboots, driver is unable to use rear-view camera and any other feature displayed in hu. Road attention is affected since driver is distracted by the screen going black and on again. Also if driver is in a call has to end call from the phone and call again using the phone.
The rear lift gate will often not close correctly on the first try. It beeps as if something is in its way and makes a loud noise. Recently it got stuck in the open position ans it had to forcibly be closed. Now it will not open at all. The vehicle is always stationary and the issue has occurred both while on and off.
Speedometer numbers are not visible to the driver. The numbers indicating the kilometer speed are too small and the numbers are not lighted brightly enough to see. The numbers are not visible in daylight or at night. This creates a dangerous condition when I am driving in Canada. The Toyota service department has no solution to this serious safety problem. Please not that I have excellent eyesight.
My Highlander has had a total of 14 (including the 4 original) door actuators in the 4 passenger doors. The 1st failed at about 13K miles. I have about 75K miles now. As soon as (or shortly after) a failed one has been replaced, the issue travels to another door. That pattern has continued to reach the total number of actuators so far. The 15th actuator will soon be installed. Toyota would not take responsibility for this issue once the warranty expired, even though it originated long before warranty expiration. I don't believe the actuators are actually the problem, but possibly whatever computer or device is sending the signal to the doors to lock/unlock. It happens with either the remote or the locking controls on the doors itself. I consider it a safety and inconvenience issue when you cannot rely on the doors to lock or unlock upon command. Upon leaving the car, you're never quite sure if the car is safely secured. Being the primary driver, I'm not certain if the affected door du jour is locking upon putting the car in drive, which could be a huge safety issue. The "bad actuator" will also not open frequently, which is a huge inconvenience if rain is pouring and you have your hands full. Please let me know if you need any further information.
One day I find a water under the driver seat and under the passenger seattle and the back seat too so I take it to the dealer and they said that drain clogged due to a lot of rain and debris and they ask me to call my insurance company and they said they have a lot of cars park there have the same problem and I told them I have a warranty on the car and they said it doesn't matter and they don't want to fix it with the factory warranty and that flood can cause a serious accident or fire becouse all the wire there
The back hatch no longer functions. Could be a safety issue if you can't escape out the back of the vehicle. Car is parked when we try to operate the hatch.
Gps/radio often turns off while driving. Screen completely goes blank and keeps trying to reset itself. Voice commands often don't work while driving or stationary. Blue tooth often doesn't connect while driving or stationary. Tailgate often doesn't close and takes multiple tries to get to working again when stationary. Spongy/broken spring sound coming from the rear of the car as I drove over uneven road. Rear left tail light always foggy and contains moisture even after replacing it. Chirping sound coming from right side of car when driving on highway on windy days. Wheel and car shaking while driving on highway at speed over 60 mph.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Wesley Chapel, FL, USA