Toyota Highlander

"passenger side front door latch does not provide ample resistance. door slams, even when shut gently. dealer unable to fix"

"can see splotches in the in glass from the out side"

"Crack started on bottom of windshield & started upward. Had to replace the windshield. No rock hits"

"The lift retractor arm broke and had to be reattached"

"Hatch bracket used to assist electronic opening of hatch door needed full replacement even though limit use"

"Problems with tailgate opener basically since unit was about 25-30K miles. The motor is k but the connecting rod and the connection to the tailgate frame got damaged. A recall seems to be occurring with extended warranty. Toyota is lately in a reactive mode instead of facing the problems ahead and working in solutions assertively"

"Rear hatch latch broke, dealer refused to fix even though car was under warrantee, told me to take it to a body shop to re-weld the part. Broken part was the auto lift hydraulic. Dealer service people very rude and dishonest"

"The rear tailgate door was replaced with a new door to correct the primary problem of the two tailgate motors that raises the tailgate were having problems. The tailgate motors would not always close the the tailgate securely. They also made noises. The over arching issue was that one of the tailgate hinges was bent and installed incorrectly at the factory when the SUV was built"

"Just recently received a recall on this issue. The rear hatch door, when remotely requested, does not latch when almost closed. There is a clunking sound but the hatch is not latched. It must be manually pushed shut. it opens correctly when the remote is pressed. This started about when the car was about 2 years old but the dealership would not fix it. it took 4+ years for this to be acknowledged as a problem. I have an appointment next week to get it fixed at no cost to me. It should not"

"a single welded nut that rear hatch door power lift arm bolts into, failed, which dealer states requires a complete $5,500 door replacement to fix"

"Power door mechanism failed. Warranty recall. It is now failing again"

"rear hatch motor and struts failed. Rear window struts failed. rear wiper motor and linkage failed"

"The bolt holding the close assist arm came out of the body of the car which disabled the close assist"

"Rear door would not close"

"Hatch would not close and latch. This was a warranty item that was repaired by Toyota within the first month we purchased it"

"Replaced rear window wiper assembly Also some rust is coming through the paint on tailgate"

"The remote to open/close works intermittently. The motor opening/closing works intermittently. Told there is a 'Service Bulletin' for hinges that cause failure. Will cost >$3000 to fix. Not a recall because not a safety issue"

"Warning light indicated back window was open. This was a repeat issue. Possibly a bad switch or sensor"

"Rust flow coming out from under the chrome trunk trims and goes on the paint. Particularly from Highlander chromed name plate"

"Could not open or close back door using controls in the auto. Fixed under warranty."

"Hatch lift mechanism stopped functioning due to problem with hinge. Was advised by a law firm that hatch would be replaced by Toyota due to a class action lawsuit. Hatch was replaced at no charge by Toyota. A rental car was provided by Toyota for the 3 months it took for Toyota's contractor to complete repair."

"Lift arm on automatic rear liftgate was defective. Under a manufacturer recall Toyota replaced the entire rear liftgate door assembly."

"rear window hatch shocks failed and were replaced under extended warranty"

"Bent tailgate hinges caused door and motor to fail, requiring complete replacement of tailgate and all hardware. Painting of said tailgate also required. Toyota paid the bill, but what an inconvenience!"

"The piston system that allows for automatic opening and closing of the tailgate failed, for the second time. After much haggling, the dealer agreed to replace the system even the car was out of warranty"

"Latch needed replacing."

"Auto open mechanism broke. Covered under warranty and replaced."

"The arm attached the powered liftgate detached and was inoperable. The liftgate operated normally, though. We received an unsolicited letter from Toyota with extended warranty information REGARDLESS OF AGE OR MILEAGE. Scheduling the fix with the dealership was a little tricky--they had us in a rental for nearly a month while the part was ordered--but it works like new now and didn't cost us a dime!"

"Power back door (trunk) liftgate makes a popping noise and hydraulic arm came off."

"Tailgate operating system stopped due to hinge wear/misalignment detected by gate operator. Free repair by dealer was accomplished by replacing tailgate and operating system. Repair was initiated by a class action lawsuit to Toyota. Dealer kept car for 3 months."

"Recall on hatch lid. Dealer ordered new hatch and installed it. The hatch lifts were out of alignment causing the hatch to close incorrectly."

"Drivers window fell off the frame while lowering the window. Fortunately, it didn't fall off but I was stuck with a $300 repair and the Rep at Toyota confided they've seen a lot of this with the Highlander"

"drivers side window became detached from raising/lowering mechanism. dealer fixed for $85"

"window came loose on lower lift track"

"Electric window came loose from drive"

"power window failed and needed repairs"

"Molding pieces on the roof became loose and flew off the car"

"Two body panels on rear separated a little"

"Rear trim became loose"

"Rear bumper has a piece of trim on bottom/middle that has come loose 2x. Only one side comes loose from rest of bumper and needs to be re-applied by dealer"

"Front door molding became loose. 600$ to replace"

"Roof trim pieces routinely fall out"

"Latch ceased working effectivly"

"The sun visor on the driver's side would not stay in place and needed to be replaced. This problem was so common that no one had the part in stock, a $250 part. This should have been a recall since it impacted my ability to safely drive the car"

"Small rusted area on tailgate twice since 2013 and brown flakes throughout entire body since first year of purchase"

"rubber trim around doors/sunroof fading out. Paint on rest of vehicle very thin, scratches very easily"

"Front bumper paint peeling/chipping after a couple washes"

"Bugs on front bumper caused permanent pit marks"

"Paint has completely peeled off roof of vehicle. paint is also coming of beams surrounding front windshield."

"Paint on roof panel adjacent to sun roof is peeling off is large spots. No response from Toyota"

"the paint on the roof of the vehicle is peeling"

"The paint on the spoiler on top of the car is very faded and appears chalky. We haven't hadn't it fixed yet because it would require us to have it painted."

"Hood paint cracking and peeling"

"Paint on the rear lift gate began showing signs of rust, peeling, and fading."

"The rear roof panel of the car has paint fading away. I wax this car multiple times a year. The paint is fading on the plastic part of the roof rear panel. Also, the back windows have a rubber molding that has mildew that you cannot wash away"

"The drivers side sun 'visor' failed by wobbling loosely and interfering with front vision"

"The car has cracking and scratches all over it. This began immediately after purchase"

"Outside finish was coming off"

"Chrome trim on passenger side peeling off"

"Paint cracking, peeling on roof adjacent to sunroof."

"Paint on roof panel on passenger side of sun roof Is chipping and pealing off exposing the prime coat"

"the paint on the front bumper is peeling off, looks bad, but the part isn't metal so no rust issues"

"The area around the tailgate emblem showed signs of rust. This came from the back of the emblem. I had the emblem replaced"

"Body hardware fasteners rusted and caused rusting stain on both rear doors and the tailgate. Body trim scratched through the paint on the tailgate so the metal on the rear tailgate rusted. Repairs exceeded $1,000"

"The rust began under the trim pieces on the rear lift gate."

"Multiple spots under the rear license plate trim that have rusted because the paint has been rubbed off from vibration"

"rust spots on the hatch after the first year, they did not want to put it un warranty"

"Related to the previous explanation"

"Emanating from under corner of chrome Highlander emblem on rear door. It's my guess the paint was damaged when the hole for the emblem was punched."

"Repairs made upon dealer recommendation no problem noticed before dealer advise"

"Started months before being repaired, experienced daily, replaced in sept of 2019"

"After 150000 mile the shocks needed to be replaced"

"sway bars needed to be replaced"

"steering column developed a bump while steering. repair shop told me this has happened with other highlanders, but no recall yet"

"Steering column had clunk sound and feel when turning the wheel at slow speed. It was covered under extended warrenty"

"Had to replace electric steering - vibration"

"The Toyota dealer told me about 5,000 miles ago that the ball joint at the end of the steering column is failing and needs to be replaced. But said it was not an immediate safety problem. And that the dealership and I should keep an eye on it. Estimated cost to fix it: $400."

"In starting the vehicle one morning in Sept. of 2019, I get a message about power steering problem. I tried to move the steering wheel while stationery in my garage and had not power steering. I used my wife's car that day. The next day, it tried the Highlander again and all seemed O. K. I had a scheduled service for this car and mentioned the problem to the Toyota Dealer service rep. He check it out and called to tell me there was a problem with the steering column and systems associated. And the repair would cost $3000. I called Toyota to see if they would share any of the expense since I have been a loyal user for 30 plus years. (They make a trouble free auto and we really like them.). The car was not in warranty (this happened at about 96,000 miles) but they took it under advisement and re-I bursted me $1900. Toward the repair which I had paid for. Car works like new again. My faith in Toyota was certainly confirmed as I did not expect any help with this repair. I did feel it was an unusual fault though."

"steering column has bushing/coupling between sections which developed play. 2005 Camry had same issue."

"The steering is a little sloppy. The car wonders a bit. It's minimal and hasn't gotten any worse in the 4 years I have owned the car."

"Steering mid-shaft clunk - TSB available that takes 1 hour dealer time to lube. Shaft replacement is 650 plus. Should be recalled as design is faulty. Never had this happen on a SUV before"

"Intermediate steering shaft defective (subject to technical service bulletin) Replaced free of charge even though vehicle was out of warranty"

"Had to replace the entire steering column due to an issue of play with the electronic steering"

"There is a subtle thumping or grinding sound, and an associated feel when gripping the steering wheel, during a slow turn. Toyota mechanic test drove the car and says the problem will get worse, and recommends that I replace the steering column (about $600)."

"There is a clicking sound in the steering wheel assembly when you turn the wheel. It is not critical."

"steering shaft was making noise when you turn the steering wheel and toyota said it was not a safety issue. We replaced it anyway because it was very annoying."

"The steering developed a clunk on rough roads and sharp turns as described in this https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2013/SB-10075792 -2280.pdf NHTSA bulletin. Cruising on smooth roads felt fine."

"replaced intermediate steering shaft for a clunking noise even though it is not a safety concern."

"Intermediate shaft had to be replaced."

"Intermediate steering shaft has two (2) U-joints at either end. As installed one is inside the vehicle; the other is exposed outside the firewall in the engine compartment. It is the exposed U-joint that deteriorated due to poor grease/lubrication seals. Problem manifested itself slowly with unsmooth steering action; sort of like hitting flat spits when turning steering wheel. This was nearly a $700 repair, but since I had purchased Toyota's extended platinum coverage, my real cost was zero. In a survey from Toyota I complained about this problem, telling them it was a design issue. In short, that exposed joint should be booted and greased much like CV joints."

"wheel vibration at high speeds on highway (usually improves after balance/alignment), and also reduced control when accelerating uphill and/or wet conditions (compared with 4WD which has better control in all conditions)"

"Wheel bearing wore out on right rear wheel"

"Noise from bearings, dealer diagnosed and repaired under warranty"

"The right front wheel bearing went bad"

"Front right wheel bearing needed to be replaced."