2013 Toyota Highlander — Problems & Complaints
NHTSA has 212 owner complaints on file for this vehicle. Every report below was filed by a real owner with the US government's road-safety agency.
Toyota Highlander — Complaints by Model Year
Years flagged AVOID have at least twice this model's average complaint count — the strongest public-data signal of a bad year.
238 complaints
186 complaints
191 complaints
212 complaints
136 complaints
192 complaints
111 complaints
270 complaints
268 complaints
495 complaints
320 complaints
What Owners Complain About Most
Recent Owner Reports
MY 2013 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER WAS PURCHASED USED IN 2015 WITH ABOUT 40,000 MILES ON IT. IN 2016 THE CAR STARTED TO MAKE A "THUMPING" NOISE WHEN I MAKE A LEFT TURN OVER A BUMP BUT IT DIDN'T HAPPEN OFTEN AND I THOUGHT IT WAS RELATED TO MY GARAGE ENTRY OF A 1.5" BUMP IN THE PAVEMENT. MOST NOTICEABLE AT LOW SPEEDS BUT THAT MAY BE A RESULT OF THE LOWER INTERIOR NOISE. THE CARE HAS H…
THE DOOR OPEN ALERT AND ALERT BEEPING CAME ON AS WELL AS ALL OF THE INTERIOR LIGHTING AS I WAS DRIVING. IT SHOWS GLASS DOOR ON THE DISPLAY. I CHECKED ALL DOORS AND NONE OF THE DOORS ARE OPEN. IT WAS VERY DISTRACTING AND DANGEROUS TO BE DRIVING AT NIGHT ON THE HIGHWAY WITH ALL INTERIOR LIGHTS ON. THEY KEEP GOING ON AND OFF AND THE ALERT KEEPS BEEPING. AS FAR AS I CAN FIND O…
AS I BEGIN DRIVING AND COME TO STOP IT TENDS TO REV UP AND THEN DROPS BACK TO NORMAL. IT FEELS LIKE VEHICLE REVS UP A LITTLE WHILE YOU ARE TRYING TO STOP IT BY PRESSING THE BRAKE PEDAL.IT FEELS LIKE VEHICLE DOES NOT WANT TO STOP AND YOU HAVE THE FEELINGS TO PRESS THE BRAKE EVEN HARDER.
PERIODICALLY HESITATES WHEN ACCELERATING - DOESN'T MOVE, DOESN'T ACCELERATE - NOTHING - ALMOST LIKE CAR NOT RUNNING. DOES IT FROM STOPPED POSITION OR WHILE MOVING. HAPPENED TWICE YESTERDAY, AFTER BEING STOPPED AT RED LIGHT AND WHEN TURNING ACROSS LANE OF TRAFFIC (CITY STREET). HAS DONE IT WHEN PASSING ON INTERSTATE - NEVER KNOW WHEN IT WILL HAPPEN. IT'S SCARY AND BY THE TIME I…
THE COMPLAINT HAS TO DO WITH COMPUTER SYSTEMS ON THIS VEHICLE. SOME OF THE COMPLAINT IS CONVENIENCE, BUT WORRISOME BECAUSE OTHER SYSTEMS SEEM TO BE INVOLVED AS WELL. THE COMPUTER SCREEN HAS ALWAYS BEEN SLOW/HESITENT, WITH VARIOUS "GLITCHES". VEHICLE HAS GPS MAPPING SCREEN WHICH OCCASSIONALLY "DISCONNECTS" AND RESETS TO BLANK SCREEN. THE BLUETOOTH AND OTHER SYSTEMS HAVE A…
Recalls & Crash Tests
Complaints are one half of the picture — see the official recalls and NHTSA crash-test stars for the 2013 Toyota Highlander, or check your exact car by VIN with the free VIN lookup.
Problems Checker
Any year, make and model: open the Car Problems Checker. Data: NHTSA (US DOT, public domain), cached up to 7 days.