Toyota Highlander Complaints (2023)

198 consumer complaints on file.

#11736031May 6, 2026
ENGINE, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
The contact owns a 2023 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated that while driving at lower speeds, pulling into an uphill driveway, the vehicle had independently accelerated while the accelerator pedal was depressed. In addition, the contact stated that she was not able to depressed in time and had crashed into the left side of the house, causing damage to the front driver-side bumper and quarter panel. The contact stated that the accident caused property damage to the garage of the house, which was covered by the insurance provider. A police report file. No injuries were sustained, and no medical attention. The vehicle was taken to a local independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the accelerator pedal was depressed throughout the accident; however, the brake pedal was depressed after the crash had occurred, according to the electronic data. The local dealer was contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 59,000.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11735776May 5, 2026
SEATS
The contact owns a 2023 Toyota Highlander. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 26V128000 (Seats) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted and confirmed that the remedy was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11735183May 1, 2026
SEATS
Received a safety recall stating "Seat Back Reclinging Assembly May Not Securely Lock". Based on this information, it goes on to state that "a seat back that has not been secured in a locked position may fail to properly restrain occupants, increasing the risk of injury in the event of a crash at certain speeds." Currently there are no remedies available but it is advised that "no one sit in or use the second-row seats while the vehicle is moving until the remedy is performed on the vehicle." In speaking to headquarters as well as mutliple dealerships, the only "solution" is to provide a rental car in the amount of $42/day and they would reimburse in 6-8 weeks. There is no current remedy date. That would mean there is an out of pocket cost of $1200+ a month, in which these funds are not available to our family. I am the primary caretaker for two small children who are in car seats and required to utilize the back seat/2nd row. Since I have been advised not to use it, my car is currently unsafe to use for its intended purpose. I have been given no other solutions at this time.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11735118May 1, 2026
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The contact owns a 2023 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated that the instrument panel had been inoperable for approximately 5 months. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V595000 (ELECTRICAL SYSTEM); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 149,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11733514April 24, 2026
SEATS
The contact owns a 2023 Toyota Highlander. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 26V128000 (Seats); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted, but the vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the manufacturer had 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.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11733481April 24, 2026
WHEELS
I was at a gas station and enter car wash, the machine didnt wash my car and distriy my front right tire
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11732975April 22, 2026
AIR BAGS
The contact owns a 2023 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated that while driving at 60–65 MPH, the contact's vehicle crashed into the passenger's side of an oncoming vehicle. The air bags did not deploy. In addition, the contact stated that it was a very hard impact on an older model vehicle. The contact stated that the older model vehicle was made of steel. The vehicle was towed to a local tow yard. The contact was transported to the local medical center. The contact sustained severe sternum bruising, full spine whiplash, severe pain in the neck, both shoulders, and the upper back area. A Police report was filed. The vehicle was not inspected by the insurance company. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 34,125.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
1
Deaths:
0
#11732855April 21, 2026
AIR BAGS, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
I was in an accident today in this vehicle . Upon impact, traffic was suddenly stopped on the highway. The air bags didn’t deploy and the automatic emergency breaks didn’t engage. Impact was so hard three vehicles were Involved.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
1
Deaths:
0
#11728763April 2, 2026
SEATS
The contact owns a 2023 Toyota Highlander. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 26V128000 (Seats); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The dealer confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact had not experienced a failure.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11728242March 31, 2026
SERVICE BRAKES
2023 Highlander Hybrid braking suddenly changes at low speeds when coming to a stop. Vehicle's brakes work properly (Regenerative and hydraulic combined) until it slows to make a stop or slows in heavy traffic. Suddenly the brake pressure changes and the vehicle "lunges" forward and brake pedal must be pressed extremely hard to stop or slow the vehicle. Problem happens most often when on a hill approaching a stop. Toyota dealer initially said that they never heard of such a problem until I presented them with T-SB-0059-23 Hybrid Regenerative Brake Transition Feeling Improvement for Model years 2020 thru 2022 from Toyota's website. I had reported the issue 3 times before (twice while in warranty and documented by them once while in warranty) but they claim that there is no fix available and when and if one comes available it will only apply to vehicles with 36,000 miles or less. LOOKS like Toyota and this dealer could care less about SAFETY and its customers.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11727519March 27, 2026
SEAT BELTS
The contact owns a 2023 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, and driving at an undisclosed speed, the seat belt alarm chimed while the seat belts were properly buckled. The contact turned off and restarted the vehicle, and released and fastened the seat belt securely however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer twice, but the dealer was unable to duplicate the failure. The failure recurred, and the vehicle was taken back to the dealer a third time; however, the cause of the failure could not be determined. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 21,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11723171March 9, 2026
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Some times when I request the rear hatch to open is does nothing but most of the time when I depress the close button, it moves less than an inch and then beeps. I have had to depress the button up to 6 times before the hatch closes. The car is only 3 years old as of this month and the problems stated more than 6 months ago but my mileage was over 36,000 6 months ago so it was out of warranty. This is a joke since my 12 year old suv has no issues with its powered hatch. There are a lot of online complaints on the power hatches. It is a safety issue of the hatches don’t close. This is almost a daily challenge (it not closing when I ask it to be closed (fob, rear hatch button as well as dash hatch button).
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11722727March 7, 2026
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
While driving down the highway I went over a bridge joint and my sunroof suddenly exploded sending glass both into and off the back of the vehicle. I was able to find the moment of the explosion on my rear dashcam (saw the falling glass) and checked the front dashcam for any evidence of an object that would have impacted and did not find any. Neither I or my two passengers saw an object hit. The front dashcam also confirmed rough pavement near the bridge joint that would have caused some vibration in the vehicle.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11722574March 6, 2026
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I bought this vehicle new in March 2024. I normally use Apple CarPlay for music and more importantly maps. Approximately 1 year after purchase, I was driving along and all of a sudden a new screen appeared with a keyboard requesting that I sign in with my email address. To clear the screen, I had to hit the small "X" in the upper right hand corner of the screen. That cleared and then a new screen appeared in blue saying "Experience Drive Connect" and asking me to subscribe to their software service for navigation and other services. To get back to the map on Apple CarPlay I had to hit another button on the upper left of the screen. I will upload screenshots. This is a safety issue not only in losing the map but more importantly it takes my eyes off the road to resolve (the buttons are small and not easily pushed while driving.) This happens multiple times a day in short around town drives. I googled this on line and noted many complaints by Toyota owners for the same problem. So I asked the mechanic yesterday when I had the car serviced if he could disable the Experience Drive Connect so i wouldn't have the problem. He laughed and said it's a common complaint by customers and that it's "hard wired" in and cannot be disabled unless you call Toyota and purchase their monthly plan for $15/month or $20/mo for the premium version. This is not only a scam but it's an unsafe feature that could be disabled if Toyota chose to make a software change. I urge you to use your influence to correct this unsafe and unethical feature of their otherwise excellent vehicles.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11722511March 6, 2026
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
It takes time to accelerate. The car jerks and shakes before moving
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11721278March 1, 2026
POWER TRAIN
Delayed acceleration, jerking shifting between gears and whining noise
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11720659February 26, 2026
VISIBILITY/WIPER
The rear window on my car spontaneously shattered as I was driving. This was in light rain on the freeway. I had turned the rear-window defrost on at the beginning of my 20 minute drive to work in the dark at 5:30AM . When I was almost at my destination, I heard a noise and looked in the rear view mirror to see my rear window had shattered. My car is just three years old with about 30,100 miles on it. I drove to the dealer, waited until they opened, and they evaluated - saying it would take $1300 and three days to fix. They said it would not be covered by my bumper to bumper warranty as that had expired in the prior week. They said it would not be covered by my Toyota extended care warranty. As much rain was expected later in the day, I fixed paying for the repair myself as I found a third party installer who could do it for a fraction of the dealer's asking price on the same day. There were no warnings, messages or other symptoms. I had only turned on the rear defroster one other times in the three years I owned the vehicle. This happened without warning.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11718394February 17, 2026
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: INSTRUMENT CLUSTER/PANEL
My Toyota Highlander 12.3 inch display of the instrument panel may be blank at startup. Operating the vehicle with this display blank reduces the ability to see certain malfunction indicators. This Safety Recall that has been active since September 11, 2025. The problem been acknowledged and confirmed by Millers Toyota, in Anaheim, California and Toyota in Bueno Park, California dealers. Their answers, Toyota currently does not have a remedy as of to date, February 17, 2026. The screen goes blank every time I start my car, while driving, or trying to access the applications on my screen. I would greatly appreciate help regarding this recall.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11718191February 16, 2026
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The vehicle's tailgate motor has started to malfunction and is failing prematurely. When opening the tailgate it makes a loud squealing noise. When attempting to close utilizing all automatic features it will stop and beep twice. After multiple attempts the tailgate remains open is unable to be closed via automatic means. This is a safety issue as it compromises the closing an opening functionality if the tailgate itself and could lead to unsecured tailgates or vehicles with an inability to close their tailgates.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11713731January 27, 2026
AIR BAGS, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Air bags did not deploy during accident Black box did not record any incident occurred and vehicle was totaled vehicle black box data was downloaded by manufacturer representative accident report was submitted On October 28 2025 a deer ran in front of us and we hit it at approximately 55mph vehicle was determined to be totaled after insurance adjuster reviewed Sheriff deputy and tow truck driver both said air bags should have deployed. Upon receiving the pdf file of black box raw data, it states that no incident happened. I asked a relative who works for a major airline manufacturer and the opinion of their analyst for data recorders is that the computer seems to have been defective. Toyota however states the accident did not meet the parameters to register an incident. I find this answer highly suspicious at best.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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