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10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
7,797 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

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.

2018 Toyota Highlander fuel system problems

fuel system problem

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2018 Toyota Highlander Owner Comments

problem #17

Jul 252024

Highlander

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

As I was returning to my house and about to pull into our garage I was driving very slowly, riding the brake in fact. I was going less than 1 mph but as I first entered the garage my car engine suddenly roared very loudly and sped inside. I pressed as hard as I could on the brakes and the car skidded towards the left and slammed into the garage wall. I firmly believe that the only thing that kept my car from traveling farther was the garage door frame. Between my braking and then turning off the engine, I came to a stop. There were skid marks on the pavement at the garage entrance from the hard braking and both the driver's door and the passenger door on that side were severely damaged. The car was now angled to the left and not pointed straight into the garage as it should have been. At no time did I press on the accelerator.

- Colfax, CA, USA

problem #16

Jul 012024

Highlander

  • miles
My vehicle is stalling when driving and other Toyota Highlanders of same model and year were/are having the same issue and have been recalled for the fuel pump. Having my vehicle stall when driving in the busy highways of Texas are very dangerous especially when some speed limits go up to 80mph. The problem has been reproduced and witnessed by a mechanic. The Toyota dealership stated that my VIN is not included in the recall so they could not fix it. There was no warning before the first time my vehicle stalled while driving in the highway. Unsure of how dealerships only stick to just the specific VINs that are effected when other VINs of the same model and year are having the same issue but are not willing to fix the issue.

- San Antonio, TX, USA

problem #15

Apr 212024

Highlander

  • miles
Driving along [XXX] in Alabama to Mississippi, the Highlander completely shut off - the dash & radio were blank. The steering wheel locked up. Luckily there was no vehicles behind or beside us when this happened. Within seconds, the truck came back on. 15 minutes prior, we were sitting in a parking lot to eat lunch & while in idle, the truck shuddered a few times, like the gas pedal was pressed. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

- Philadelphia , MS, USA

problem #14

May 162022

Highlander

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Engine light came on, took to auto parts store and they checked for the code. Was told it was an issue with the fuel pump/ vacuum. Reset engine light, stopped to fill up with gas and car would not restart. The steering wheel locked and car would not crank. Was jumped off by a bystander, still would not turn over. After sitting for approx 15 minutes, I tried to restart vehicle again and it cranked. One week later, on vacation, car would not start after getting gas. Once again, took it to auto part store and same code and check engine light was on. Reset engine light, drove fine. Once check engine light is on, I am unable to use cruise control, this was very inconvenient since we were traveling! I have had this same issue happen about 5 times now! Making appointment with dealership to see if this weill be covered by my warranty and hopefully it is a simple fix.

- Florence, SC, USA

problem #13

Nov 102021

Highlander

  • miles
Fuel pump was replaced last year in October 2020 and was out of warranty when incident happened. Vehicle stalled again in the middle of my drive and was stranded in the middle of a busy road. Fuel pump found to be failing per my mechanic.

- Lewisville, TX, USA

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problem #12

Jul 202021

Highlander

  • miles
On July 27, I was driving on a major multi-lane road going approximately 35 miles going to the World Toyota for an oil change. All of a sudden, the vehicle decelerated to almost a stop. I gingerly navigated the vehicle to the side of the road. There was no warning that there was something wrong with the vehicle. After navigating to the side of the road a warning light appeared that said traction control is off. I called World Toyota, told them what happened and they suggested that I get the vehicle towed if I felt I couldn-??t drive it. I was about 1/4 mile away from the dealer. The vehicle was a safety hazard, therefore, I had the vehicle towed to the dealer. On July 28, the World Toyota service advisor informed me that 2 of the 6 fuel injectors had failed-?"#s1 and 4. He advised me the best route would be to replace all 6 at a cost of $3500. He agreed with me that it is odd for fuel injectors to fail on a vehicle with only 48K. We have driven this car very little since purchasing shortly before the COVID lock down in early 2020. I spoke with customer relations at Toyota and they have offered to pay to replace the 2 failed injectors, but have refused to pay the installation costs. I am concerned that the failure the injectors is a huge safely issue for Toyota Highlander owners. I saw where the injector issue has been discussed for 2019 model Highlanders. Here is the information in the inspection report from dealer [-?? CUSTOMER STATES THE TRACTION CONTROL OFF LIGHT CAME ON AND THE CAR STARTED TO DECELEARATE AND THEN STARTED JERKING. VEHICLE TOWED IN. 1HR DIAGNOSTIC APPROVED. remove intake manifold OBSERVATIONS: MULTIPLE CODES FOR OPEN CIRCUIT TO DIRECT INJECTION.NEED TO REMOVE INTAKE MANIFOLD TO INSPECT FUEL INJECTORS-??] The information about which injectors failed was given to me by phone by my service advisor, Matthew Bailey. I uploaded the picture sent of mechanic working on vehicle.

- Sandy Springs, GA, USA

problem #11

Jan 102020

Highlander

  • 30,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

1) biggest issue: I bought my SUV new. It was advertised 30/28 mpg. My average mpg since I bought it is 22-23. 2) it slides with barely any ice or rain. It is awful. It slide backward down a small hill last year & caused me to crash. Police responded but were too busy with other incidents to write a report. I had thousands of dollars in damages & rental car fees for the 5-6 weeks it took to have it repaired. I live in the pnw and have driven in snow 35 years. I've never had such bad performance. I had to by Michelin ice tires this year bc our SUV is so bad in snow & ice. 3) I was in a minor collision in a parking lot bc I didn't see another car backing out at the same time and the collision sensor didn't go off. My sensors were clean 4) when the sensors have even the smallest layer of snow they stop working. That makes the cruise control system stop working too. Very frustrating. The result of these issues is an increase by $800/mo of my auto insurance. Before this SUV I hadn't even had a speeding ticket in 14 years. Date of accident listed is approximation. Now I have 2 collisions. Wish I had purchased something else.

- Spokane, WA, USA

problem #10

Dec 032020

Highlander

  • 32,000 miles
Vehicle was driving on street and check engine light came on. Took vehicle to service provider and is related to recall. No remedy for recall has been developed -- currently driving a loaner car.

- Bellaire, TX, USA

problem #9

Jan 132020

Highlander 6-cyl

  • 8,000 miles
The recall was posted on January 13. Toyota did not notify us until mid May. There is still no remedy. It is more than 6 months. Our Highlander is sitting in a Toyota service center for over a month. We need them to remedy the situation immediately. Toyota rented a car for us but we are paying extra for insurance on the rental- $400 a month. Can you find out why it's taking them so long to come up with a remedy? thank you.

- New York, NY, USA

problem #8

Apr 152020

Highlander 6-cyl

  • 17,500 miles
Car had problems accelerating two times from after being stopped at a stop light. It was rough, dash lights flashed quickly and I was unable to see which lights were flashing. As I could not recreate the problem after that, I wasn't sure about bringing it to the dealer. Two weeks later I received my notice about the fuel pump being recalled. Now the car is at the dealership. I refuse to drive an unsafe car. Toyota has not supplied a timely fix. The car has less than 20,000 miles on it. Toyota should buy the car back.

- Brentwood, CA, USA

problem #7

Apr 282020

Highlander

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2018 Toyota Highlander. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 20V012000 (fuel system, gasoline) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. Mungenast alton Toyota (850 E homer adams pkwy, alton, il 62002) was contacted and confirmed that the part was not available. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

- St. Louis, MO, USA

problem #6

May 032020

Highlander 6-cyl

  • miles
Toyota has no remedy for fuel pump recall.with airline travel no good with couvid19, how can I safely drive 700-880 miles knowing car could stall at high speeds" I could get rear ended on interstate! why can't Toyota come up with quick remedy" nothing has happened yet to the vehicle!!

- Brookfield, WI, USA

problem #5

Jan 202020

Highlander

  • 8,050 miles
Learned of recall in Jan. 2020--since then Toyota has not provided a remedy for this recall based on direct contact with Toyota, the dealership I purchased vehicle from, nthsa and media---I have very limited use of vehicle because of the chance for accidents and being stranded if vehicle shuts down, woukd like Toyota buy back vehicle

- Macedonia, OH, USA

problem #4

Jul 092019

Highlander

  • 25,000 miles
The contact owns a 2018 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated that upon making a complete stop, the vehicle hesitated to move forward when depressing the accelerator. The failure occurred intermittently without warning. The contact then received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 20V012000 (fuel system, gasoline). The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact called lakeland Toyota (2925 mall hill dr, lakeland, fl 33810) and was informed that the VIN was not included in the recall. The manufacturer had not been notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 25,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

- Lakeland, FL, USA

problem #3

Mar 252020

Highlander

  • miles
The contact owns a 2018 Toyota Highlander. The contact discovered that the vehicle was included in NHTSA campaign number: 20V012000 (fuel system, gasoline) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer nor the dealer had been notified of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

- Brooklyn, NY, USA

problem #2

Sep 292019

Highlander

  • 12,000 miles
When filling the vehicle with gas, after the gas pump shuts off, gas comes surging back out off the filler neck with enough force to splash on whomever is filling the vehicle. This happens at multiple gas stations and different pumps with different flow rates. Each time, the handle is either being held by hand or by latch on pump handle. When the tank is full, pump shuts off and gasoline has ceased to flow from the nozzle, the gasoline then immediately surges back out of the vehicle. There is enough gas that comes back out to make a puddle on the ground. Dealer diagnosed and replaced a faulty vent valve. After two months the problem is happening again. Have provided video evidence to the dealer. Dealer refuses to escalate or recognize it as a safety concern. Refuses to provide loaner vehicle while vehicle is diagnosed and repaired. Due to the nature of this safety issue and high probability of contamination from gasoline and environmental concerns compounded by the recurrent nature of this issue, I feel this needs to be elevated expediently.

- Belchertown, MA, USA

problem #1

Jan 182018

Highlander

  • miles
Toyota sinne

- Raleigh, NC, USA

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