Coscienzios

Model years to avoid

Toyota Highlander

What it says about you

Opinion

Three rows, no worries, resale value you looked up before buying. You are the person friends ask about cars, and this is the one you recommend.

Not measured, not from the data, and offered in fun. Everything below this is not.

22 model years on record, 5,356 complaints filed. No year stood out against this model's own history — which means it has not drawn unusual complaints, not that it is a good car.

What owners report, and when

Faults that dominated the complaints of more than one model year. Not the same question as which year to avoid — a car can have an ordinary number of complaints every year and have most of them be about the same thing.

  • transmission 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 peak 39.9% of that year's complaints
  • noise 2019, 2021 peak 30.3% of that year's complaints
  • brakes 2006, 2007 peak 23.3% of that year's complaints
  • pedal 2005, 2007 peak 17.9% of that year's complaints
  • accelerated 2005, 2013 peak 13.3% of that year's complaints

Every year

  1. 2026 0 recalls 1 complaints
  2. 2025 3 recalls 9 complaints
  3. 2024 7 recalls 39 complaints
  4. 2023 9 recalls 172 complaints
  5. 2022 5 recalls 229 complaints
  6. 2021 4 recalls 488 complaints
  7. 2020 4 recalls 304 complaints
  8. 2019 3 recalls 471 complaints
  9. 2018 5 recalls 258 complaints
  10. 2017 4 recalls 261 complaints
  11. 2016 3 recalls 109 complaints
  12. 2015 2 recalls 189 complaints
  13. 2014 5 recalls 265 complaints
  14. 2013 3 recalls 416 complaints
  15. 2012 2 recalls 377 complaints
  16. 2011 5 recalls 370 complaints
  17. 2010 10 recalls 238 complaints
  18. 2009 9 recalls 134 complaints
  19. 2008 13 recalls 403 complaints
  20. 2007 4 recalls 123 complaints
  21. 2006 7 recalls 275 complaints
  22. 2005 6 recalls 225 complaints

What does a Toyota Highlander say about you?

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Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints — compared against itself rather than against other cars, so popularity and age do not decide the answer.