Out of the blue I began to hear a whining noise when accelerating around 30mph. Once I got to 40mph it sounded like my car was supercharged. Around 50mph I couldn't really hear it anymore. In unison, I noticed more of a dull shifting. A quick google search told me about the service bulletin for the 2021 Highlander and the transmission issues. This seems to always occur around 70k to 80k miles.....10k past the included manufacture warranty. Thankfully, I purchased an extended warranty through Toyota so it was a pretty painless exercise to get it replaced.

Toyota is 45 days back ordered on the transmission due to so many being replaced. If you're buying a 2021 Highlander.....GET THE EXTENDED WARRANTY!

This does NOT affect the Hybrid version.

I have had 4runners for years. I had one for 350,000 miles and engine and transmission both ok....rust, emission controls issue is only reason I got rid of it. I had a1996 ford mustang GT convertible 5 speed that had a 5 speed borg-warner transmission FAILED yes 5-speed after 12K miles. Ford overnighted a new one. Now granted it was under warranty but read the issues of 2021 Highlander transmission failures under warranty.

This will become huge issue for Toyota. YOU cannot get a new one. Hard to get parts to rebuild one.

LKQ is the only game in town!

I still have Camry with over 200K and a lot of rust.

Time to look elsewhere for a car with a 3rd row seat.

Between the rusted out frames of the early 2000s and shocking failure rate of the current highlander transmissions the Toyota company is getting a bad reputation.