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Owner-Reported Problems · NHTSA

2015 Toyota Highlander — Problems & Complaints

NHTSA has 192 owner complaints on file for this vehicle. Every report below was filed by a real owner with the US government's road-safety agency.

192
Complaints
filed with NHTSA
17
Involved a Crash
owner-reported
6
Involved Fire
owner-reported
16
Injuries
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.

238 complaints

186 complaints

191 complaints

212 complaints

136 complaints

192 complaints

111 complaints

270 complaints

268 complaints

495 complaints

320 complaints

531 complaints

262 complaints

Problem Areas

What Owners Complain About Most

Electrical System 52 reports
Unknown Or Other 43 reports
Structure 32 reports
Steering 25 reports
Service Brakes 15 reports
Visibility/wiper 12 reports
Vehicle Speed Control 11 reports
Engine 10 reports
In Their Own Words

Recent Owner Reports

Electrical System ODI 11057071 12/28/2017

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2015 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE REAR DOOR FAILED TO PROPERLY OPEN AND CLOSE. THE CONTACT HAD TO APPLY FORCE OR THE DOOR WOULD REMAIN OPEN. THE VEHILCE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER (FURIEL TOYOTA PONCE, INDUSTRIAL SAN RAFAEL, 00731, CALLE NAVARRA, PONCE, PUERTO RICO, 1-787-284-2020) FOR DIAGNOSTIC TESTING. THE DEALER INDICATED THAT THE WARR…

Structure ODI 11705806 12/18/2025

Paint is peeling off my car, This is confirmed by Toyota it was covered by the Consumer Support program which expired in July however the paint did not start peeling off until last week.Toyota said that there wasn't anything they could do. this is clearly a manufacture defect and should be repair by Toyota at no charge to me.

Steering ODI 10811024 12/17/2015

WHILE DRIVING ON A CITY STREET, THE STEERING BECAME EXTREMELY DIFFICULT AS IF POWER STEERING SHUT DOWN. "EPS FAILURE, STEERING WHEEL HARDER TO TURN" WARNING APPEARED ON THE DASH CLUSTER. WE PULLED OVER, TURNED OFF THE VEHICLE, THEN TURNED IT BACK ON -- THE WARNING DISAPPEARED AND STEERING WAS NORMAL AGAIN. OUR HIGHLANDER WAS MANUFACTURED IN 3/15. MY VIN WAS NOT IN THE RE…

Power Train ODI 11497653 12/15/2022

The contact owns a 2015 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated while driving at 30 MPH, the vehicle accelerated without any warning at high speed. The contact desperately depressed the brake pedal, but the vehicle would not stop, causing the vehicle to drive into traffic and striking several vehicles causing front damage to the vehicle. The contact was unsure if anyone was inju…

Electrical System ODI 10664203 12/15/2014

I PARKED MY CAR IN THE GARAGE AND SEVERAL HOURS LATER I HAPPENED TO NEED SOMETHING OUT THERE. WHEN I ENTERED I HEARD AN ELECTRIC MOTOR RUNNING EVEN THOUGH THE CAR HAD BEEN TURNED OFF FOR SEVERAL HOURS. CRAWLING UNDER THE CAR I FOUND THAT THE SOUND WAS COMMING FROM A MOTOR NEAR THE REAR AXLE. I REPORTED IT TO MY TOYOTA DEALER AND THEY ADVISED THAT IT WAS A MOTOR THAT MAY RUN …

Same Vehicle

Recalls & Crash Tests

Complaints are one half of the picture — see the official recalls and NHTSA crash-test stars for the 2015 Toyota Highlander, or check your exact car by VIN with the free VIN lookup.

Check Another Car

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 2015 Toyota Highlander reliable?
Owners have filed 192 safety complaints with NHTSA for the 2015 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.