Owners filed 2,616 complaints about the 2015–2025 Toyota Highlander with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the 36th-most of any vehicle in our Car Problem Index. The 2021 model year drew the most (513), and the single most-reported problem area is transmission / powertrain, named in 29% of complaints.
Key findings
- Worst model year: 2021, with 513 complaints, led by transmission / powertrain (219).
- Spike years: 2019 (1.9× the typical year), 2021 (2.1× the typical year).
- Earliest-failing area: fuel system complaints came at a median of 6k mi on the odometer.
- Fire and crash reports: 16 complaints mention a fire and 159 mention a crash; owners reported 164 injuries and 1 deaths.
Toyota Highlander complaints by model year
| Model year | Complaints | Top problem areas | Median mileage | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 190 | Electrical system (51), Body structure (31), Steering (25) | 31k mi | 17 | 6 |
| 2016 | 110 | Brakes (19), Electrical system (14), Air bags (10) | 25k mi | 14 | 1 |
| 2017 | 265 | Transmission / powertrain (72), Electrical system (46), Engine (46) | 20k mi | 18 | 2 |
| 2018 | 265 | Transmission / powertrain (65), Brakes (53), Engine (33) | 16k mi | 23 | 1 |
| 2019 | 480 | Transmission / powertrain (194), Fuel system (86), Engine (69) | 13k mi | 22 | 1 |
| 2020 | 315 | Transmission / powertrain (125), Brakes (37), Air bags (32) | 21k mi | 15 | 0 |
| 2021 | 513 | Transmission / powertrain (219), Brakes (66), Body structure (51) | 20k mi | 16 | 4 |
| 2022 | 247 | Transmission / powertrain (53), Body structure (42), Brakes (37) | 28k mi | 16 | 1 |
| 2023 | 180 | Body structure (32), Engine (28), Transmission / powertrain (20) | 34k mi | 12 | 0 |
| 2024 | 42 | Brakes (8), Fuel system (7), Electrical system (6) | 13k mi | 4 | 0 |
| 2025 | 9 | Speed control / acceleration (2), Automatic emergency braking / collision warning (2), Seat belts (1) | 8k mi | 2 | 0 |
Newer model years have had less time on the road, so their counts are lower partly because owners have had fewer years to report problems.
Most-reported Toyota Highlander problems, and what they cost to fix
| Problem area | Complaints | Share | Median mileage | Repair estimate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transmission / powertrain | 759 | 29% | 56k mi | Transmission repair cost |
| Brakes | 300 | 12% | 15k mi | Brake repair cost |
| Electrical system | 272 | 10% | 31k mi | Alternator / electrical repair cost |
| Engine | 272 | 10% | 17k mi | Engine repair cost |
| Fuel system | 226 | 9% | 6k mi | Fuel pump repair cost |
| Body structure | 225 | 9% | 20k mi | — |
| Air bags | 169 | 7% | 21k mi | — |
| Speed control / acceleration | 88 | 3% | 12k mi | — |
One complaint can name several problem areas, so shares add up to more than 100%.
What this data can and can't tell you
These are unverified reports that owners submitted to NHTSA, counted by model year. They are not defect findings, and they aren't adjusted for sales: a best-selling vehicle collects more complaints simply because more of them are on the road. Use the counts to compare model years of the same vehicle and to see which systems owners complain about most, not to compare how reliable two different models are. See the full methodology.
Other Toyota models in the index
- Toyota RAV4 (3,633)
- Toyota Camry (2,338)
- Toyota Tundra (1,778)
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, consumer complaint files (nhtsa.gov), model years 2015–2025, retrieved 2026-09-23. Free to cite with a link to this page.