2023 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER Complaints

Brakes momentarily lost during certain conditions. If going down a hill and applying brake, suddenly loses pressure and vehicle surges forward. Taking a right hand turn, slowing, brake suddenly loses pressure and lunges forward causing vehicle to go into wrong lane. Parking, apply brake, surges forward, end up in the next spot forward. I've had several very close calls, including trying to stop behind a bicycle at a stop sign, came within inches. I've repeatedly been to dealer. Toyota calls it "loss of braking sensation", have issued a TSB for years prior to 23. I have a 23 hybrid, there is no TSB or fix. Dealer is aware of the issue, has techs who have experienced it themselves. Just can't be fixed without Toyota stepping up. Happy to work with Toyota if they want to put sensors or computers on the vehicle. When the vehicle was new it only occurred once/twice a month. Now it is every day. The latest incident was today driving back from the dealer.

When 87 fuel is put into the vehicle, the 2023 highlander is jerky/has hesitation, RPMs jump around. Trying to slow down to a yield then go again it jerks and almost feels like engine is cutting out. Seems worse when car is being driven on warm day with a/c on or under a “load”. Very dangerous in intersections. Current fix is to put 93 octane in the vehicle to remedy the issue. Putting 93 octane fuel in the vehicle does help. All of these issues pose a risk to the car jumping from a start to cause a rear-end accident. I've complained to the dealer and they've stated everything is normal when they test drive and no codes are showing even explaining a TSB was issued they refuse to fix. Started at 500 miles on odometer, still happening at over 13,000 miles.

The contact owns a 2023 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated while driving 62 MPH, the front bumper detached from the vehicle. Additionally, the wheel guard had also detached. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V720000 (Structure) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. 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 failure mileage was unknown. The VIN was not available.

The contact owns a 2023 Toyota Highlander Hybrid. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle struck a bird and the lower front bumper assembly detached. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the lower bumper assembly. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V720000 (Structure). The VIN was included, and the parts were available. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

The contact owns a 2023 Toyota Highlander. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V720000 (Structure) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. 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. Parts distribution disconnect.

The contact owns a 2023 Toyota Highlander. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V720000 (Structure) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. 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. Parts distribution disconnect.

Hesitation/Non-linear Acceleration From a Stop. Reprogramming the ECM completely resolved the issue. This needs to be sent out to affected vehicles but I had to investigate and pretty much demand a resolution. I fear what this could later do to our engines, etc.

When 87 octane fuel is put into the vehicle, the 2023 highlander is sluggish to start and make jump at times as well. After reading other complaints online, the current fix was putting 93 octane in the vehicle to remedy the issue. Putting 93 octane fuel in the vehicle does help although the vehicle jumps around RPM's when going from ECO mode to normal. All of these issues pose a risk to the car jumping from a start to cause a rear-end accident. I've complained to the dealer and they've stated everything is normal. Folks online stated their dealerships said Toyota was working on a fix.

I received the first recall notice about 7 months ago and have made the intent to set appointments with Kendall Toyota and West Kendall Toyota many times, but they stated that they don't have the fix available yet. They stated that they put me down in a waiting list and I will be called for an appointment according to the person on the phone the recall for my car is not a life-threatening recall. I stated that how come is not serious if the bumper gets detach while driving. I can cause an accident. I can I asked to speak to a supervisor in my last two intents to get appointments, but they stated that supervisors were not available at the moment, but a supervisor will call me back. NEVER GET A CALL BACK. I received the second recall showing in records that it is pending, however I have done the due diligence to fix it but not Toyota West Kendal and/or Kendall Toyota.

There are two problems with our 2023 Toyota Highlander. 1) We only have 25k miles on our vehicle and the brake rotors became warped, to the point of causing severe chatter while downhill braking. Toyota stated that the warranty does not cover brakes. My argument was that the brake rotors should not be failing at 25k miles! They then stated that they would inspect the rotors and resurface them, if necessary. They did find that they needed to resurface the rotors. My contention is that this will be a recurring issue, especially since there is even less metal on the rotors now. I believe the original rotors are faulty to have failed prematurely. 2) We had a receiver hitch installed by a third party, which caused the kick sensor for the back hatch to be inoperable. This is expected and no big deal to us. However, when we put the bike rack in the receiver hitch, the backup warning sensors engage the brakes and cause the vehicle to not back up. The only way to back up with the bike rack on is to disable the backup sensors! Now we have lost that backup safety feature! The backup sensors see the bike rack and engage the brakes. Additionally, this issue also caused all other sensors to malfunction by stating that the sensors were dirty and needed cleaning, with the backup sensor engaged. Toyota inspected the vehicle multiple times and finally reached the conclusion that there is no fix for the sensors to allow our bike rack to be installed. Toyota sells this vehicle with the option of having a hitch and bike rack installed, yet their safety sensors don’t allow this to happen. Now, we are unable to use the bike rack, unless we disable the sensors. The safety features we paid for are now useless!