2026 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER Recalls, Complaints & Safety

No recalls found for this vehicle.

Complaint Statistics

4 total complaints

Top Reported Components

Component	Complaints
ENGINE	2
VISIBILITY/WIPER	1
POWER TRAIN	1

Incident date: Aug 29, 2026

I own a 2026 Toyota Highlander Hybrid Platinum purchased new. The vehicle has repeatedly exhibited hesitation, shuddering, jerking, and abnormal vibration during acceleration from a stop and the transition from electric propulsion to the gasoline engine. When accelerating from a stop, there can be ... Read more

Incident date: Aug 29, 2026

I own a 2026 Toyota Highlander Hybrid Platinum purchased new. The vehicle has repeatedly exhibited hesitation, shuddering, jerking, and abnormal vibration during acceleration from a stop and the transition from electric propulsion to the gasoline engine. When accelerating from a stop, there can be ... Read more

Incident date: Aug 29, 2026

I own a 2026 Toyota Highlander Hybrid Platinum purchased new. The vehicle has repeatedly exhibited hesitation, shuddering, jerking, and abnormal vibration during acceleration from a stop and the transition from electric propulsion to the gasoline engine. When accelerating from a stop, there can be ... Read more

Incident date: May 1, 2026

The car has 57,000miles and needed a new transmission. Safety concern of the transmission failing while driving. There was a persistent and worsening rubbing noise once the car ran for 20 minutes or so. 4 visits to the dealer later, they confirmed the issue and Hyundai issued a warranty to replace t... Read more

NHTSA Safety Ratings, 2026 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER

2026 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER SUV N/A AWD

Category	Rating
Overall Rating	5 / 5 ★★★★★
Frontal Crash	4 / 5 ★★★★☆
Frontal Crash, Driver	4 / 5 ★★★★☆
Frontal Crash, Passenger	4 / 5 ★★★★☆
Side Crash	5 / 5 ★★★★★
Side Crash, Driver	5 / 5 ★★★★★
Side Crash, Passenger	5 / 5 ★★★★★
Rollover	4 / 5 ★★★★☆
Rollover Risk	16.4%

Safety Technology

Feature	Status
Electronic Stability Control	Standard
Forward Collision Warning	Standard
Lane Departure Warning	Standard

Source: NHTSA 5-Star Safety Ratings Program. Ratings are based on crash tests conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

NHTSA Safety Investigations, TOYOTA HIGHLANDER

Investigations opened by NHTSA into potential safety defects. These are separate from recalls and may or may not result in a recall.

EA, Closed , Model Year: 2008

Steering Column Separation

On November 16, 2018, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened an Engineering Analysis (EA18-006) as an upgrade to a Preliminary Evaluation (PE18-005). The investigation focused on allegations of steering wheel separation from the lower steering column after using the tilt and/or telescopi... Read more

PE, Closed , Model Year: 2008

Upper Steering Column Separation

On May 4, 2018, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened Preliminary Evaluation PE18-005 to investigate three allegations of steering column separation for Model Year (MY) 2008 through 2013 Toyota Highlander vehicles. Two (2) of the 3 complaints were received by ODI in April 2018 and occurre... d while the vehicle was in motion. Since opening PE18-005, one (1) additional VOQ involving steering column separation has been received. This incident occurred while the vehicle was stationary.As part of PE18-005, ODI examined the field data, warranty data, and relevant technical information submitted by Toyota in response to the PE18-005 information request letter. Ten (10) additional incidents of steering column separation were identified. Four (4) of these instances occurred while driving. During PE18-005, ODI confirmed that the steering columns in the subject vehicles are equipped with breakaway capsules that are designed to collapse/shear during certain types of vehicle collisions. This design feature aims to reduce driver injury severity from impact with the steering wheel in frontal vehicle collisions. There is no direct method for detecting when the capsules in the subject vehicles have sheared. If the driver operates the tilt/telescoping feature after the breakaway capsules have separated, the steering column may drop out of position and could subsequently detach entirely from the rest of the steering assembly. Loss of steering while driving may cause a loss of vehicle control, which could lead to a vehicle crash.To date, ODI has identified 14 incidents involving complete steering column separation, 6 of which occurred while driving. One of these incidents involved a minor crash. Additionally, there have been 16 events where the steering column dropped from the dashboard mounting brackets, but column separation did not occur. Four of these incidents happened while driving. Of these 30 total separation/drop incidents, 5 of the vehicles have evidence of minor collision repairs months or years prior to the steering column failure.This investigation has been upgraded an to Engineering Analysis (EA18-006) in order to 1) conduct a more detailed analysis of the conditions that may cause the steering column breakaway capsules to separate and 2) assess factors that may contribute to the problem of failing to detect and repair breakaway capsules after they have separated. Toyota has recently revised their repair manual and issued a Collision Repair Information Bulletin to help address the second concern.The VOQs associated with this investigation can be viewed at www.NHTSA.gov under the following ODI complaint numbers: 11141761, 11083623, 11083280, 10888043.Read more

PE, Closed , Model Year: 2006

SUDDEN LOSS OF POWER STEERING ASSIST

THE OFFICE OF DEFECTS INVESTIGATION (ODI) OPENED PE06-055 BASED ON TWO COMPLAINTS OF LOSS OF EPS ASSIST IN 43,931 MY 2006 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER HYBRID VEHICLES.ONE OF THE COMPLAINTS ALLEGED THAT A LOSS IN POWER STEERING ASSIST RESULTED IN A CRASH.IN RESPONSE TO AN INFORMATION REQUEST LETTER FROM ODI, TO... Read more

TOYOTA HIGHLANDER - All Years Overview

Complete safety history for the TOYOTA HIGHLANDER across all model years (2001, 2025).

125 Total Recalls

7,188 Total Complaints

3 Investigations

661 Reported Crashes

105 Reported Fires

59 Reported Deaths

TOYOTA HIGHLANDER - Year by Year

Compare recalls and complaints across model years. Click any year to see full details.

Year	Recalls	Complaints
2026 (current)	0	4
2025	3	13	View
2024	7	59	View
2023	9	236	View
2022	5	318	View
2021	4	636	View
2020	4	372	View
2019	3	631	View
2018	5	356	View
2017	4	371	View
2016	3	137	View
2015	2	253	View
2014	5	162	View
2013	3	282	View
2012	2	230	View
2011	5	229	View
2010	10	272	View
2009	9	178	View
2008	13	502	View
2007	4	159	View
2006	7	347	View
2005	6	289	View
2004	5	337	View
2003	2	316	View
2002	2	335	View
2001	3	158	View
1998	0	1	View
1997	0	1	View

Other TOYOTA Models

Model	Recalls	Complaints
TUNDRA	787	9,074	View
RAV4	669	11,842	View
CROWN	548	141	View
TACOMA	406	10,562	View
VENZA	404	969	View
GRAND HIGHLANDER	388	332	View
PRIUS	365	15,456	View
HIGHLANDER HYBRID	355	1,103	View

Vehicle Safety

Consumer Safety

Infrastructure

Public Health

2026 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER

Complaint Statistics

Top Reported Components

NHTSA Safety Ratings, 2026 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER

Safety Technology

NHTSA Safety Investigations, TOYOTA HIGHLANDER

TOYOTA HIGHLANDER - All Years Overview

TOYOTA HIGHLANDER - Year by Year

Other TOYOTA Models