2021 Toyota Highlander Reliability Report

This catch-all mixes several patterns. Transmission whine and failure come up again, with replacement quotes over $9,000. Sunroof glass shatters on its own at highway speed. Pieces break off the passenger mirror, and the driver's mirror glass shakes too much to use. A/C lines corrode and leak at low mileage. The serious reports include a hybrid that lost power and caught fire under the hood, and a parked hybrid that rolled backward on an incline and ran over its driver. Brake lurch at low speed also appears here.

Water leaks in through roof rack seals into the A-pillars and headliner. One report found mold in the air bags and floorboards, and owners cite bulletin T-SB-0040-24. The front bumper can come loose or fall off while driving. Recall 23V720000 covers this, though some owners report waiting on parts. The power liftgate often stalls, won't close in cold weather, or stops working, and owners report repair quotes near $1,600. Other reports include moonroof glass exploding, rear A/C lines leaking, and cracks growing in the doors.

Hybrid owners say the 17.1-gallon tank only takes about 10 to 14 gallons before the pump shuts off. That caps the displayed range near 420 to 490 miles, short of the advertised 598. Several can't tell whether the gauge is wrong or the tank won't fill. Others say the low-fuel light comes on with only about 10 miles left. Service campaign 21TC05 reprogrammed the warning, but at least one owner saw no change. A few gauges stay stuck on full.

Warning messages tend to arrive in clusters: reduced engine power, brake system malfunction, and pre-collision faults. Some are traced to sensors or to critters chewing the wiring. One owner lost braking after a wheel speed sensor failed. Others report power windows, the dashboard, and the parking brake failing after rain, and the start/stop system leaving the car stuck at a stop. Power liftgate struts also fail. One vehicle caught fire on a dealer test drive after repeated check engine lights.

Most of these reports actually describe the transmission whine, slipping, and hesitation covered under power train. They appear at 60,000 to 80,000 miles, with replacement quotes near $11,000. Engine-specific reports include stalling while driving or pulling into traffic on very new vehicles, in one case leading to a fuel pump replacement. The start/stop system can also shut the engine off and fail to restart it. On one hybrid, a rock punctured the inverter radiator and caused a coolant leak.

Reports are few and scattered across different problems. The lane-keeping system follows false road markings and pulls the wheel toward the wrong lane. One driver saw a 'steering power low' warning, then the engine died and the steering stopped working in a busy intersection. Others describe the rear end swaying, repeated wheel alignments, and a crash where the air bags did not deploy. One crash involved a whine, rapid acceleration, and no brakes, and three people were injured.

The SUV keeps accelerating or lurches forward while the brake pedal is pressed, most often at low speed near stops, curbs, and exit ramps. Hybrid owners report it from very low mileage, and it can get worse over time. Dealers usually can't reproduce it and call it normal hybrid behavior. Other reports describe sudden power loss with a check engine light while merging onto the freeway. Two people were injured in one report of repeated power loss.