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.
When I start my 2019 Highlander there is a loud screech that startles you and makes you jump out of your seat. It-??s a very loud feedback noise through the speakers, and the red and green lights near the SOS button flash multiple times. This happens very often but intermittently, and when it doesn't happen the SOS button only flashes red/green once. This happened after the SOS trial service had expired. I called the SOS service and they told us to talk to the dealership. There needs to be a recall of the SOS module or whatever is causing this.
The car turns off when driving which was supposed to be corrected by recall. It doesn-??t appear the recall has been successful in correcting the issue. I actually am not 100% sure they actually swapped out the recall part so I-??d like that checked. I also purchased a new battery from the dealer about 3 weeks ago and the problem actually got worse in that it stalls while driving or resets the computer while driving at least once a week.
Originally, 2019 Toyota Highlander lost engine power, steering, and braking on U.S. Route 30, a very busy highway. Managed to pull off side of road AND WAITED. AFTER A FEW MOMENTS CAR STARTED AND RAN AS EXPECTED.Took to local dealer who had the car for several days, but couldn't identify the problem. This instance was 2020/2021. Fast forward to this past September 26th. Pulling out of a private parking lot the car stalled exactly as it had previously.This complete failure of engine is going to get me killed. Further I now notice my dash lights are dimming for no reason then coming back to bright. Now I read where other Highlander are doing the exact thing. I have a car, I'm afraid to drive.
Random Battery Drain. Driver and passengers can be put in danger if car doesn-??t start and vehicle is in an unsafe location. AAA replaced battery with a new one but the random battery drain problem continues to occur. No warning signs prior to dead battery. First appeared end of 2020/beginning of 2021. Internet search returns complaints for same problem from 2017 to present.
The door locks will not unlock or lock. Had to replace two so far and now the other side is doing the same. Pre collision, Lane departure, cruise control and traction have malfunction. Unknown as to why at this moment.
- Harlingen , TX, USA
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This is a 2019 hybrid Highlander and the vehicle continually stalls or won-€™t start and we get a warning message that the hybrid system has stopped working and to put car in Park and restart. While this is happening regularly during startup, fortunately this has only happened once with the vehicle in Drive but represents a serious safety concern for us! We were being assigned to Germany and reported the issue to our local Toyota dealer who couldn-€™t duplicate the problem and said that the Toyota engineers said it couldn-€™t happen. Since arriving in Germany, the problem during startup has occurred on almost a daily basis. Last occurrence was this evening, 12 Dec 22.
I have had my vehicle for a little over 3 years, with about 35K miles on it. At first, I realized my vehicle jerked a bit, but I dismissed it because it never stopped. However, I did notice that my battery was dying quickly. I was changed once by the dealership because they said the battery was defective. After they changed that battery, the next battery also went bad. While driving with my children and mother, my vehicle began sputtering and a message that said, "Check Engine Reduced engine power" came on along with "Traction Control turned off" and my engine light. My vehicle barely accelerated as I was trying to cross the intersection thankfully I managed to get out of the way of oncoming vehicles. Somehow, the vehicle ran smoothly after I turned it off and turned it back. After that issue, I then experienced an error message in reference to the Start/Stop system along with the check engine light. That issue also cleared when I turned my vehicle on and off. I then experienced another power loss issue, at which time I traveled to my local Toyota dealership but they were unable to help me then due to a battery issue. The issue then cleared itself somehow again; however, the issue came back the next day. I managed to get my vehicle to the side of the roadway at which time the vehicle stalled. I tried starting the vehicle again; however, it would not turn over. After being on the roadside for about 2 to 3 hours, I tried starting my vehicle again, and it drove fine until I reached the dealership. My vehicle was placed on a machine where they received the code for a fuel rail issue along with a misfire. I was then advised that this issue is not covered under warranty. I was also told that the problem would cost me over 4K for the part which does not include labor. I have been doing my research since and I now find that there is a recall on my vehicle.
The contact owns a 2019 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated that while reversing out of a driveway, the vehicle began to jerk without warning. Once the contact reached the base of her driveway, the vehicle accelerated backward into a neighbor's tree. The air bags did not deploy upon impact. The contact called the ambulance where her daughter was transported to a hospital after she suffered a gash to the back of her head due to the accident. The contact and her daughter's friend both suffered whiplash as a result of the accident. A police report was filed. The contact was able to drive the vehicle back into her driveway where it remained in her possession. The contact called the dealer to check for recalls and was informed that there were zero recalls on the vehicle. The manufacturer had yet to be notified about the failure. The vehicle had to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 52,000.
When running, after stopping at a stop sign, the car hesitates to go, kind of sputters. When turning the car on, the lights on the dash flicker and now the car won-€™t start. On days prior, you would turn the car key, but the car wouldn-€™t start on the first time. It sounded like it wouldn-€™t turn all the way on, like the battery died. I didn-€™t leave the radio on or anything that would warrant that.My safety was put at risk because I work in healthcare and get off work at midnight so if I broke down or stalled in traffic, this could cause an accident.
On occasion I have been walking around this car while its just parked in my garage and I hear a a humming sound like a electric gas pump. This is 4 hours after it was used last. It is a faint sound coming from the the rear seating area. Just before I started to write this I went out to check it again and its not doing it. This is not a one time event and its concerning since I believe its electric and may be involved with gas in a parked garage. The vehicle is in like new condition and had one minor cosmetic type accident while in its first year of use. Scratches to driver side panels and front bumper. I will call the dealer tomorrow to see what they have to say. Thanks in advance for any info you can share on this issue, a fire in my garage would bad.
I was driving and stopped at a red light on 4 lane intersection (very busy). I went to press on the gas and my car would not move. I put it in park and and then back in drive. It still did not move. It "died". I looked at the dash and it said "electrical system - move over to a safe place". My car would not start - I could not move it. I was stuck in the middle of the street -scared out of my mind. I had to call 911 and they told me someone already called for me and the police were on their way. When the police came he told me to stay in my car and he would stay behind me. There were no warning lights or anything to let me know that this was going to happen. If there was, I would not be in the middle of a 4 lane road. Toyota states it is the start-stop battery system. This is completely unsafe.
Erratic steering - Steering response is unpredictable when changing lanes, especially at highway speeds. Stall out on hard acceleration - such as accelerating from an entrance ramp onto an interstate. Glare on navigation screen - creates hazard when shading screen by hand to see it while driving.
Since having recall work done my vehicles computer system has not been functioning the same. My vehicle has been stalling out and saying braking power low, stop in a safe place, charging system malfunction. I-€™ve reached out to Haley Toyota 8301 Midlothian Turnpike, Richmond, VA 23235 where the diagnostic was done and let them know of the error code I was given ( P0335) Crankshaft Position Sensor -€œA-€ Circuit. I took it in for diagnostic there and they told me they couldn-€™t find any issues with my vehicle, ( picked up Oct.3, 2021). It-€™s Oct.4, 2021 and here I am at Sams Club trying to leave but my vehicle will not start. I contacted Toyota again and let them know of the same issue and they said to once again bring it in for diagnosing. I asked the gentleman on the phone if they had previously had it for a week and didn-€™t seem to find any issues with it after doing diagnostic then what were they planning on doing differently. My vehicle is under warranty and I-€™m trying to figure out who and where I can take it to to get some answers.
I was involved in an accident that I believe was caused by sudden unintended acceleration (sua). In a very busy commercial parking lot, I was pulling into a parking space proceeding at a very slow speed, when there was a sudden surge in acceleration accompanied by a grinding/acceleration sound. I hit the brake to no effect, and the vehicle jumped the curb and hit a building shop and entered the shop. The air bags did not deploy, and I was shaken up but not injured. Thankfully, there was no one at the front desk area of the business. The car was not drivable and was towed to a body shop.
I bought this car new with about 11 mile on it. The transmission immediately had shifting issues as it could not decide what forward gear to go into and shifted hard and felt as if it was going into two gears at one time and after a short drive the instrument cluster warning display indicated a check engine light and warning that the transmission was overheating and acted as if the engine was starving of fuel as it surged and did not deliver power to go beyond 35 mph. After I bought it the dealer reassured me at least three times that the car was okay and that this is the way that the transmission shifts. I repeatedly had the dealer check it and the dealer reassured me that there was no trouble code and no problems found although the check engine light was on and the instrument cluster showed transmission overheating and they fixed a wiring connector to try and fix the running problem. A class action suit came out for the fuel pump failure recall and the 8 speed transmission. I feel that this is a very common problem that the dealer and manufacture are trying to hide. After 13 months and 2,800 total miles the transmission overheated, burned up the internal clutch set and I now have no forward and reverse gears. I feel that the surging and transmission problems are a software defect as the shifting defect comes and goes and vastly promoted if I drive it very gently from a cold start. Once warmed up it does not act up as often except when two gears seem to be engaged at the same time. The key also intermittently does not allow the car to start and instrument cluster also shows trac light, ABS failure light, bsm not available, smart key failure, and complete black out of the instrument cluster and shown to the dealer mechanic and service writers and photographed and videotaped for documentation and in the repair orders.
The voice guidance system was inoperative. I bought it as a pre-certified 2019 Highlander from a Toyota dealer with 16K miles. At the time it was working the stopped working. After 3wks I found out that I have to push the start button 2X with the engine off to get it to work. Toyota has know about this for 2 years but no one includijng support told me about it! will there be any recalls? it is too late to take it back! I will have to do this each time I use this feature.
The computer/radio automatically shuts itself off and then reboots. It has done this too many times to count. It does this randomly and unexpectedly. It becomes dangerous because I live in a state where I am not allowed to hold a phone while driving, so when I don't have wireless phone capability it is very disruptive. It is also dangerous and inconvenient when it happens when I'm using navigation in an unfamiliar place, I am left stranded. There have been times when it continues to reboot continuously during my trip to or from someplace. I have been to the dealership 5 times to have my computer reset/rebooted and the problem still occurs. The second time I took it, the technician left the service ticket open so that each time I took it after that they were putting the "repair" under the same ticket so that it only showed as 1 repair! I now know of at least 5 other people having the exact same problem between Toyota Highlanders and Toyota 4 runners. My vehicle has been both stationary and in motion while the automatic shutoff of the computer system occurred. Of course the dealership always says my computer never shuts off while my vehicle is there, even though it does it when I drive off the lot, so I recorded video of the radio/computer shutting off while I was driving and showed it to them. I would hate for the problem to escalate or become more dangerous.
2019 Toyota Highlander hybrid. Today exactly one year from purchase it stalled on a busy public roadway for the 4th time. With the 4 incidents in June, July, & Sept 2020, the car, without warning 1."powered down" almost immediately to a dangerous slow point with no acceleration in response to pressing gas pedal in the following locations: A high traffic major urban bridge(40mph); interstate highway(75mph); coming into busy city intersection(5 -10mph); country highway (45mph) 2.power steering was slow and difficult. 3.master warning light activated. Audible tone/constant beeping activated. "hybrid system malfunction., pull over to safety, call dealer, check engine, pcs", and multiple other warnings. 4.within moments the car completely died (before I could seek legal and/or safe parking.) safe parking required multiple attempts. In July (Illinois) the car required towing off very busy interstate highway. Assessed as "no issues". within one hour a MINIseries of sputtering, choking, stallings in city intersection, dealership then kept our vehicle overnight. More lengthy diagnostics "threw" fuel codes. Bad gasoline? today car should have been towed but Toyota roadside assistance denied my VIN & phone# existed in their database. Home dealership confirms I am, without doubt, in database. During hour+wait for assistance, dash cleared of all warnings w/ ignition. Home dealership advised driving to closest dealership.5 miles. My car currently sits in a Missouri toy. Dealership w/ fuel pump suspect. I was told repairs could take up to a week. 97 fuel pumps currently back ordered in parts system. 20,500 miles/all service plan requirements met promptly. I have all inspection forms/service receipts. No ability to upload documents now but would like to be contacted by NHTSA for more information and to share service documents.
While driving in a city warnings on instrument panel came on: "hybrid system failed", "all wheel drive failed", "take car to the dealer", and the car stopped. Had to have it towed to the dealer. Following day the dealer called me to say that everything in the car checked out ok and they couldn't duplicate the problem, I'm now very weary of taking the car on a trip because I don't know when it may quit again. The car just turned 10K miles.
The contact owns a 2019 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated that while driving at undisclosed speeds, the check engine warning light illuminated and the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who was unable to duplicate the failure. The failure recurred several times. Toyota of culver city located at 9077 Washington blvd, culver city ca, 90232, was notified of the failure. The contact was informed that the VIN was included in NHTSA campaign number: 20V012000 (fuel system, gasoline). The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 85,000.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Eugene, OR, USA