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Owner-Reported Problems · NHTSA

2014 Toyota Highlander — Problems & Complaints

NHTSA has 136 owner complaints on file for this vehicle. Every report below was filed by a real owner with the US government's road-safety agency.

136
Complaints
filed with NHTSA
5
Involved a Crash
owner-reported
1
Involved Fire
owner-reported
6 / 1
Injuries / Deaths
across all reports
Years to Avoid

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.

2010 Toyota Highlander

238 complaints

2011 Toyota Highlander

186 complaints

2012 Toyota Highlander

191 complaints

2013 Toyota Highlander

212 complaints

2014 Toyota Highlander

136 complaints

2015 Toyota Highlander

192 complaints

2016 Toyota Highlander

111 complaints

2017 Toyota Highlander

270 complaints

2018 Toyota Highlander

268 complaints

2019 Toyota Highlander

495 complaints

2020 Toyota Highlander

320 complaints

2021 Toyota Highlander AVOID

531 complaints

Problem Areas

What Owners Complain About Most

Electrical System 35 reports
Unknown Or Other 33 reports
Structure 32 reports
Power Train 9 reports
Visibility/wiper 6 reports
Seat Belts 5 reports
Vehicle Speed Control 5 reports
Visibility 4 reports
In Their Own Words

Recent Owner Reports

Vehicle Speed Control ODI 10669076 12/30/2014

THE SPEEDOMETER CONSISTENTLY INDICATED THAT I AM TRAVELING 2 TO 3 MPH MORE THAN MY ACTUAL SPEED. THE HIGHLANDER IS FACTORY ORIGINAL WITH NO AFTERMARKET PARTS INSTALLED. THIS ISSUE WAS OBSERVED WHILE TRAVELING CROSS COUNTRY AND OBSERVING THE PLETHORA OF RADAR SPEED INDICATORS ALONG I-80 AND COMPARING TO THE INDICATOR IN THE HIGHLANDER ALONG WITH DIGITAL INDICATION ON BOTH GPS A…

Seat Belts ODI 11385249 12/28/2020

PASSENGER FRONT SEAT BELT WILL NOT RETRACT, WHEN I GOT OUT OF VEHICLE TODAY. DINGING SOUND COMING FROM SOMEWHERE WHEN WE DROVE IT LAST NIGHT.

Structure ODI 11055728 12/20/2017

POWER LIFT GATE WILL NOT OPEN OR CLOSE AND LOCK WHEN THE OUTDOOR TEMPERATURE IS BELOW 32 DEGREES F. VEHICLE IS STATIONARY AND COLD AS STATED.

Electrical System ODI 10936035 12/18/2016

STATIONARY VEHICLE. POWER REAR LIFT GATE WILL OPEN OR CLOSE ON DEMAND ONLY SPORADICALLY. IT MAY BEGIN TO OPEN OR CLOSE AND MOVE JUST SEVERAL INCHES, OR PERHAPS A FOOT. IT THUS REQUIRES THE OPERATOR TO MANUALLY OPEN OR CLOSE THE GATE WHICH IS VERY DIFFICULT TO ACCOMPLISH ESPECIALLY FOR SMALLER OR ELDERLY PEOPLE AS THE RESISTANCE IS SEVERE, REQUIRING AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF EFFO…

Visibility ODI 11631027 12/16/2024

The contact owns a 2014 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated while driving approximately 40 MPH, the moon roof detached from the vehicle. There was no warning light and there was no impact to have caused the failure. There were no reported injuries. The local dealer had previously replaced a piece on the moon roof. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagn…

Same Vehicle

Recalls & Crash Tests

Complaints are one half of the picture — see the official recalls and NHTSA crash-test stars for the 2014 Toyota Highlander, or check your exact car by VIN with the free VIN lookup.

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Problems Checker

Any year, make and model: open the Car Problems Checker. Data: NHTSA (US DOT, public domain), cached up to 7 days.

Questions

FAQ

Is the 2014 Toyota Highlander reliable?
Owners have filed 136 safety complaints with NHTSA for the 2014 Toyota Highlander, most often about electrical system. Compare the complaint counts across model years above — a year with far more complaints than the model's average is the strongest 'avoid' signal in public data.
Which Toyota Highlander years should I avoid?
The rule of thumb used by analysts: a model year whose complaint count is well above the model's own average (we flag 2× or more) usually had a real manufacturing or design problem — not just noisy reporting. Use the year-by-year strip on this page.
Where do these complaints come from?
Directly from NHTSA, the US government road-safety agency. Any owner can file a Vehicle Owner Questionnaire; NHTSA publishes them as public domain data. We cache each lookup for up to 7 days.
Do complaints mean a recall is coming?
Sometimes. NHTSA opens defect investigations when complaint patterns emerge, and investigations can end in recalls. Check the recalls page for this vehicle to see what has already been recalled.