2018 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER Complaints

DRIVING DOWN THE STREET WHEN AN ALARM WENT OFF STATING "BRAKING POWER LOW" AND TO "STOP IMMEDIATELY". VEHICLE TO BE TOWED AND TAKEN TO LOCAL CAR DEALERSHIP. OVER THE PHONE, THE DEALERSHIP CLAIMS NO BRAKING ELEMENT HAS BEEN RECALLED FOR MY PARTICULAR VEHICLE, HOWEVER OTHER HIGHLANDERS FROM THE SAME YEAR MODEL WERE RECALLED FOR BRAKING ISSUES (VACUUM PUMP.) HAVE BEEN HAVING ISSUES WITH THE "START/STOP SYSTEM MALFUNCTION" ALARM GOING OFF AS WELL FOR SEVERAL MONTHS, BUT DEALERSHIP STATES IT WILL NOT AFFECT THE DRIVABILITY OF THE VEHICLE.

My transmission started making a whine sound upon acceleration, and at times hesitation of acceleration (inconsistent). Toyota Service identified the issue in 2018 as a defective part from manufacturing and related in the repair notice to Toyota Service Bulletin TSB-160-18 which states certain Highlanders (my year and model) have an issue with a defective part in the transaxle/transmission. Toyota issued an extended warranty for the problem in 2020 (unlimited miles for coverage). I was then told that it then DIDN'T apply to my VIN, even tho it was the problem diagnosed by a Toyota service technician associated with the TSB above, so they wouldn't cover thru the extended warranty. Told me that I have to pay for a new transmission over $9,000. My understanding (I cannot verify) that the initial service bulletin was expanded to cover more models in 2021, then removed the extended warranty, and did not issue a recall. Apparently Toyota is aware of a serious transmission problem caused by a defective part, and it is wider issue. This needs to be addressed as it is a significant hazard and danger Toyota is aware of, and not the cause of normal and expected wear and tear. I need help addressing this with TOyota and want to be sure the problem gets fixed before injuries occur. Toyota has multiple bulletins in the NHTSA data for this issue from before and after this issued bulletin demonstrating on ongoing issue. I tried to upload the TSB and the repair documentation but your system is not allowing

Our transmission has a known manufacture air We have called Toyota several times and they refuse to do anything about this are transmission is going out which could cause a safety issue when driving down the road It's the UA80 TRANSMISSION Toyota is doing a customer support program on this particular transmission but due to the fact ours falls six months after the manufacturer date it doesn't fall within that area this is a manufacturer air due to a bolt not being bent over far enough I feel with the transmission issues that it can cause like serious problems including safety among ourselves or others in Toyota is ignoring this is when brought to them

The windshield has warps and creates blurry vision. Glass has been replaced 3 times so far from Toyota Dealership and issue continues to be there. Car has been in service for a month now. Glass manufacturer: Pilkington

I’ve always had issues with my breaks since I purchased my car. Today when I tried to turn on my car I received a message stating breaking power low. I did not have that issue last night nor had I seen it before. My car will not start

My relatives remembered the 2002-2011 recall of 80,000 Toyotas, 90 deaths due to unintended acceleration and said that seems exactly what happened to me last month. NEAR FATAL COLLISION DUE TO STICKY PEDAL 2018 Toyota Highlander 10/10 Slowly backed out of parking space in large, empty commercial lot: sunny day, 3pm ? Tapped pedal into Drive ? Car sped off at 50+mph with my foot off pedal ? Sped around lot for approximately 3minutes ? Holding brake down and down-shifting did nothing except cause sheer terror with my uncontrollable vehicle ? Hit pole and vehicle came to a stop after near-complete destruction of passenger-side bumper ? No injury except sheer mental terror ? No witnesses DO NOT Blame the victim. Dealer says all-weather floormat could never have been or be involved.

The contact owns a 2018 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the brake warning light illuminated, and a message was displayed alerting the driver to a fault with the braking system. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who determined that the brake pads and rotors needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was then taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed a failure with the brake assist vacuum pump. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related it to NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V211000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic) however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 33,000.

I bought my car used. Only had it for 3years and already had to replace the battery twice. Once I was stopped at light turning left, yield to oncoming traffic, since my foot was on brakes battery just dyed in middle of light, police had to come made sure I didn't get hit. 2nd time car cut off at McDonald's drive thru and battery went dead again. Something is wrong with batteries that make them go bad, n it's unsafe bc I've got stranded twice in not.so good places..

Three weeks ago, I took my vehicle to Fred Haas Toyota Dealer in Spring, TX and they informed me that my driver axle needed replacement. My service advisor has now given me three ETAs on when the part will be delivered. Today, he mentioned that there is a nationwide back order on the part and suspects that many highlanders are experiencing the same problem

These are Toyo Open Country P245/55 R19 tires that have been on my car from 10/23/2020 to now and have 54,600 miles on them. Remaining tire tread depth on this tire was measured using a machinists rule at 6/32" or 4.5 mm deep. The drivers front tire looked fine on my car during a general pre-inspection I did at 6:45 AM as I loaded the car with our luggage for a 7 day drive trip to Florida (app 920 miles). I will advise that I did not look at this tire in great detail during this check - just quick look to see if anything stood out that I needed to be concerned about for the drive. The drivers side front tire went flat after backing straight down a 60' long driveway. I removed the tire with the car in the street and took it to the tire shop where I bought these tires. The tire shop guys found several cracks about 1/2" long or longer in this one spot in the tire sidewall at the start of the tread. They had no idea why it cracked like that and had reported that they had not seen cracks like that in that location before in any tire. I had them pull the tire off the rim and put a plug/patch in it so I could get the car back up the driveway to repack our Florida luggage in the other car. No other tires show this cracking issue. I will replace the tires on 9/11/2023 with new tires. The tire could have blown out on I-10 at speeds of 70-75 MPH due to the almost immediate loss of air pressure due to the crack. There was absolutely no indication of any issues with this tire (or the other 3 tires) prior to backing down the driveway and the tire going flat. I was blessed that the tire lost pressure quickly just backing down the driveway and not on the Interstate highway. I drive the car - no one else. The tires have not been abused during the period they were installed. I rotate the tires every 10,000 miles. I do car PM on a 6 week schedule to avoid any such auto issues. I had just completed a PM about 1 week prior to this tire issue with all found OK.