10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 2 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 1 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 20,890 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
Transmission going out afraid it will come apart or lose power while driving. Toyota dealership told me that we could put new transmission in but it will be the same as the one that is in it and that problem with them has not been corrected and it probably won't hold up long either. Our vehicle only has 71000 miles and we bought it new.
- Apison, TN, USA
The 8-speed automatic transmission was making a whirring, whining noise. Transmission could failed completely and stranded occupants including children. Vehicle has been serviced every 5,000 miles and no warning lights or indicators ever came on. Dealer inspected and diagnosed an internal component failure necessitating complete transmission replacement. Vehicle is 4 years and 2 months old with 65,000 miles on it.
- Middleton, WI, USA
The contact owns a 2020 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated that while depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle was making an abnormal whining sound. The contact stated that the failure occurred at various speeds. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the transmission had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact researched online and related the failure to Technical Service Bulletin: T-SB-0008-21 Whine Or Grind Noise from Transmission (Power Train). The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 98,000.
- Picayune, MS, USA
At 76000 miles my 2020 Highlander water pump began to fail. 20 days after the water pump was replaced at Kings Toyota dealership, the transmission is now failing at 79000 miles. The warranty only covers repairs on each up to 60000 miles. This car has been maintained by the dealership and no engine light ever came on. The water pump was $1200 to repair and I-??m being quoted $10K to repair the transmission. I also don-??t trust that dealership didn-??t accidentally cause the transmission to fail bc they surprisingly have a new transmission in stock the day I came in. If it truly failed today, then Toyota needs to recall this car for safety reasons. It went from fine to not fine in just a few days of driving.
- Madeira, OH, USA
Complete transmission and transfer assembly failure at 72,000. Just outside manufacturer warranty. Toyota Dealership and Corporate refused to acknowledge responsibility, stating that the transmission and transfer assembly met warranty requirements, and that they would not entertain assistance.
- Manhattan, KS, USA
The transmission is starting to whine at 108,000 miles. Toyota service told me the only fix is a replacement and they have seen two failures within the same week. They also said this is a known issue with this model year. A Reddit thread shows many owners in the US and Canada with the same issue. If this is resulting in failures of the transmission in operation this is a safety issue and a reasonable recall being a known defect for this line of transmissions. The recommendation from the service department since this vehicle is paid off is to run it to failure.
- Perrysburg, OH, USA
Before hitting 100,000 miles the car started making a whirring/whine noise when accelerating. We mentioned it to the service advisor when taking the car in for an oil change. Initially the advisor said the service technicians took it for a drive and didn-??t notice any noise; when we picked up the vehicle asked the advisor to sit in with us to point out the noise to him, he heard and acknowledged there in fact was a whining/whirring noise and said he would inquire about it to the shop foreman. The next day the advisor called me and said the shop foreman stated that noise is a transmission issue.
- Wichita, KS, USA
The transmission started slipping without any warning and then went into neutral while driving and I am not able to drive it anymore. The dealership said the transmission is bad. I see many complaints online about 2020 Toyota Highlander transmissions going bad for no reason. This is a new car only 4.5 years of normal driving and the transmission goes, this is not normal for such a high rated vehicle.
- Vernon, CT, USA
Highlander transmission broke down around 80,000 miles
- Matthews, NC, USA
The transmission in my 2020 Highlander XLE needs replacement at 64,000 miles.
- Manhattan Beach, CA, USA
Transmission whining around 38mph when accelerator is pressed. Goes away when foot is off pedal. No warning lights are on. I test drove 3 other 2020 - 2021 Highlanders in May before I purchased this one. All 3 of those had a very noticable transmission whine over 20mph. I opted for this Highlander because there were no noticeable issues/sounds. Just this month, I am noticing a more pronounced high pitch whine during acceleration. This certainly sounds like a much wider issue, especially calling around to multiple dealerships confirming they have other 2020-2021 Highlanders in getting transmission replacements (on 3+ months wait times for parts) This is absolutely a safety issue if a transmission fails while driving. There was a technical bulletin for this same issue with certain VINs, but I was told that my VIN fell outside of that range. To answer rest of questions: No confirmation from dealer on the whine, they are all charging $180 to diagnose the issue and I am not paying that. No further inspections by the above groups listed.
- Charlotte, NC, USA
The contact owns a 2020 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated that there was an abnormal winding noise detected while accelerating. The failure increased over time. While the contact-??s husband was driving approximately 60 MPH and attempting to accelerate, the vehicle lost motive power. While shifting to park, there was an abnormally loud, high-pitched winding sound detected. The vehicle was slow to shift from first to second gear. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who determined that the CV joint needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to a transmission center, where the transmission was rebuilt. The contact called the local dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The approximate failure mileage was 130,000.
- West Monroe, LA, USA
I own a 2020 Toyota highlander and the car mileage is 68,000 and the dealer told me my transmission is dead and needs to replacement. The cost for replacement is $13,000! I-??m the first owner of the car and how could a new Toyota car transmission fail at 68,000 miles and the warranty is 5 yrs or 60,000 miles. This issue have to be Toyota manufacture problems and they should have a recall on this and I researched online and a lot of highlander owners have the same problems as me! NHTSA PLEASE RESEARCH AND HELP HIGHLANDER OWNERS! Thank you
- Brooklyn, NY, USA
The contact owns a 2020 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated while driving at approximately 25 MPH, there was an abnormal humming sound from the engine compartment. The contact depressed the accelerator pedal, and the sound got louder. The contact stated there was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 67,000.
- Spokane Valley, WA, USA
The contact owns a 2020 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 MPH, the accelerator pedal was depressed, and there was an abnormal whining sound underneath the vehicle on the driver's side. The contact stated that the sound was intermittent but was occurring at various speeds. The contact stated that there were no warning lights. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 107,000.
- West Chester Township, OH, USA
Known transmission issue not being addressed. Internal parts issue and must be replaced after only a few years.
- Spring Hill, TN, USA
With 55k miles on a 2020 Toyota Highlander, we began hearing a whine. On various on-line sources it appears that this is not unusual among late teens to early '20s Highlanders. I brought the vehicle to the dealer (with close to 56k miles) and the dealer decided the transmission needs to be replaced. Even though the dealer service center acknowledges this is an ongoing issue w/the Highlander of this (late teens/early '20s) vintage I'm told its a 1-2mo wait for a transmission repair/replacement. Warranty is 60k miles... I was told be safe and don't go over 60k miles or its possible the warranty might not be honored. While currently operable, a quick internet search indicates, transmission failure often occurs unexpectedly, leaving drivers stranded on the side of the road. This situation can be not only inconvenient but also dangerous.
- Metuchen, NJ, USA
My vehicle is started making a loud whining noise at around 78K miles whenever you accelerate between about 25-60mph. The dealer said that a new transmission is the only thing that would fix it. The cost of the transmission is 8K. The dealer said that Toyota ought to cover it, but I called and their initial answer is that they will not. This part should be recalled, there are multiple people online saying they are experiencing the same exact issue. This is a very expensive problem for this car, and not one that consumers should shoulder at low mileages. [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
- Rhinebeck, NY, USA
The contact owns a 2020 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated while driving at speeds above 20 MPH, there was a loud whining sound coming from the transmission. The vehicle was taken to the local mechanic and the contact was informed that the sound was an indication of transmission failure. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer and manufacturer were not contacted or notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 73,000.
- Lakewood, NJ, USA
- Knoxville, TN, USA