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Owner-Reported Problems · NHTSA

2018 Toyota Highlander — Problems & Complaints

NHTSA has 268 owner complaints on file for this vehicle. Every report below was filed by a real owner with the US government's road-safety agency.

268
Complaints
filed with NHTSA
23
Involved a Crash
owner-reported
1
Involved Fire
owner-reported
25
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.

186 complaints

191 complaints

212 complaints

136 complaints

192 complaints

111 complaints

270 complaints

268 complaints

495 complaints

320 complaints

531 complaints

262 complaints

186 complaints

43 complaints

10 complaints

Problem Areas

What Owners Complain About Most

Power Train 68 reports
Service Brakes 58 reports
Unknown Or Other 43 reports
Engine 33 reports
Electrical System 24 reports
Fuel/propulsion System 22 reports
Air Bags 19 reports
Fuel System 14 reports
In Their Own Words

Recent Owner Reports

Service Brakes ODI 11562550 12/29/2023

DRIVING DOWN THE STREET WHEN AN ALARM WENT OFF STATING "BRAKING POWER LOW" AND TO "STOP IMMEDIATELY". VEHICLE TO BE TOWED AND TAKEN TO LOCAL CAR DEALERSHIP. OVER THE PHONE, THE DEALERSHIP CLAIMS NO BRAKING ELEMENT HAS BEEN RECALLED FOR MY PARTICULAR VEHICLE, HOWEVER OTHER HIGHLANDERS FROM THE SAME YEAR MODEL WERE RECALLED FOR BRAKING ISSUES (VACUUM PUMP.) HAVE BEEN HAVING I…

Air Bags ODI 11562600 12/29/2023

10/10 Tapped pedal into Drive: Toyota Highlander 2018 Car sped off at 50mph with my foot on brake for 3 minutes Holding brake down and down-shifting did nothing Vehicle stopped when it hit a pole destroying passenger-side fender and bumper Airbag did not deploy Unintended acceleration/sticky pedal as reported early this century when Toyota recalled 80,000 vehicles. On 11/17/…

Power Train ODI 11562314 12/28/2023

My transmission started making a whine sound upon acceleration, and at times hesitation of acceleration (inconsistent). Toyota Service identified the issue in 2018 as a defective part from manufacturing and related in the repair notice to Toyota Service Bulletin TSB-160-18 which states certain Highlanders (my year and model) have an issue with a defective part in the transaxle…

Electrical System ODI 11445074 12/27/2021

1.) Bluetooth connects without issue to iPhone (for both media and phone) however during a phone call (incoming/outgoing) the car system will drop the call after about 2 mins of talk time. The phone then disconnects from the car & will only re-pair once the system restarts. 2. ) The safety hazard is due to distracted, hands required operation of the phone due to Bluetoo…

Structure ODI 11707152 12/26/2025

On 11/22/2025, We were done shopping and when we tried to open the trunk it made weird squeaky sounds and we tried to close it but it suddenly self destructed. There was a loud noise and it shattered instantly and there was glass everywhere.

Same Vehicle

Recalls & Crash Tests

Complaints are one half of the picture — see the official recalls and NHTSA crash-test stars for the 2018 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 2018 Toyota Highlander reliable?
Owners have filed 268 safety complaints with NHTSA for the 2018 Toyota Highlander, most often about power train. 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.