Complaint volume
256 consumer-submitted complaints are matched to this model year. Treat the count as a research signal, then read the actual summaries for repeated symptoms.
Complaint records
2018 Toyota Highlander Complaints
256 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2018 Toyota Highlander, grouped by component category.
256 Total complaints
21 Crash reports
1 Fire reports
14 Injury reports
Complaint data reflects consumer-submitted reports. A complaint is not proof
of a defect, recall, or manufacturer fault. Enriched severity fields come
from official bulk records when the complaint can be matched by ODI number.
Buyer interpretation
How to use these complaints before buying
Complaint records are most useful when they turn into inspection points, seller questions, and comparison checks against nearby model years.
Pattern to inspect
The most common categories are power train, service brakes, unknown or other. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 21 crash reports, 1 fire report, 14 injury reports, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 110 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 34,631 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to power train, service brakes, unknown or other?
- Can I see recent maintenance and repair records?
- Has the vehicle ever been towed, involved in a crash, or repaired for the same issue twice?
- Can we also check the recall record for this 2018 Toyota Highlander?
Used-car checklist
Use these complaints before the test drive.
Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.
2018 Toyota Highlander
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2018 Toyota Highlander complaints?
21 Crash
1 Fire
14 Injury
0 Fatality
20 Towed
10 Medical attention
What are the most common 2018 Toyota Highlander complaint categories?
POWER TRAIN 52
SERVICE BRAKES 37
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 24
ENGINE 22
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 17
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 14
AIR BAGS 12
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE 12
STRUCTURE 6
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC 5
256 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2024 | FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | My vehicle is stalling when driving and other Toyota Highlanders of same model and year were/are having the same issue and have been recalled for the fuel pump. Having my vehicle stall when driving in the busy highways of Texas are very dangerous especially when some speed limits go up to 80mph. The problem has been reproduced and witnessed by a mechanic. The Toyota dealership stated that my VIN is not included in the recall so they could not fix it. There was no warning before the first time my vehicle stalled while driving in the highway. Unsure of how dealerships only stick to just the specific VINs that are effected when other VINs of the same model and year are having the same issue but are not willing to fix the issue. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2024 | SEAT BELTS | Driver side seat belt is difficult to pull out and often does not retract properly. This is a safety issue for the driver. Issue has been seen by local Toyota dealer who can confirm the problem. Stated that it will require a $500 repair, replacing the entire retractable unit of the driver side seatbelt system. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2024 | POWER TRAIN | Whining noise from transmission on 2018 Toyota Highlander XLE model . Toyota has acknowledged this on large numbers of vehicles manufactured during the same year (TSB-0160-18). They have a voluntary recall for some of these vehicles during this year (2018), but not all of them. The transmission can fail which would cause the vehicle to stop running. On a highway or busy road, this presents a very large danger to both the vehicle occupants and also other people on the road. The vehicle has been inspected by both the dealership an an independent transmission shop and identified as the same transmission issue. Toyota will not correct this issue other than to say the transmission needs to be replaced as it will fail at some point in time. No other warning indicators other than the whining sound from the transmission. The symptoms appeared around 48700 miles on the vehicle. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2024 | POWER TRAIN | Transaxle/Transmission failed at approx 67000 Miles. Emits a whining sound, very similar to symptoms as other transaxle/transmissions from model yr 2017 covered by the manufacturer for replacement of transaxle/transmission. This vehicle, model year 2018, is not covered by the existing transaxle/transmission replacement program, as explained by the dealership. Yet reviewing many forums, it is said that many of the later 2017/2018 Highlanders received the same transaxle/transmissions as the model year 2017 covered for replacement by the manufacturer, hence they exhibit the same symptoms when they fail. Estimated cost to replace the transaxle/transmission by the dealership $ 8000.00. The manufacturer needs to step up. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2024 | POWER TRAIN | Transmission is bad. Toyota dealership says it needs to be replaced. Really? In a 2018 Toyota. I thought these were good cars. Supposed to last a long time. That’s why I paid over $30,000 for it. And this is what I get. There is something wrong with this scenario. I could have bought a much cheaper car and it would still be functioning fine. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2024 | FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | Driving along [XXX] in Alabama to Mississippi, the Highlander completely shut off - the dash & radio were blank. The steering wheel locked up. Luckily there was no vehicles behind or beside us when this happened. Within seconds, the truck came back on. 15 minutes prior, we were sitting in a parking lot to eat lunch & while in idle, the truck shuddered a few times, like the gas pedal was pressed. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2024 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The contact owns a 2018 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated while driving at approximately 45 MPH, and later at various speeds, the Forward Collision Avoidance failed to operate properly. The contact was unable to turn off the system. The contact stated that under certain driving conditions, while driving and following a curve in the roadway, the system would activate and start braking the vehicle, even though there was no danger of a frontal collision. The contact stated that the failure was persistent. The contact had not taken the vehicle to a dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle had not been repaired. The contact wanted the ability to turn the feature of the Pre-collision System off. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 79,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 79,000 |
| Jan 2024 | AIR BAGS | My son and his friends were involved in a collision and the air bags did not deploy | Crash: Yes Fire: No Towed | Unknown |
| Jan 2024 | SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC | The contact owns a 2018 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated while driving 60 MPH, the Brake warning light illuminated, the contact observed a beeping noise coming from the instrument panel. Additionally, the messages "Braking Power Low - Stop in a safe place - See Owner's Manual” were displayed. The contact steered to the side of the vehicle where the vehicle was placed in Park (P) and the beeping ceased. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to check the brake fluid, which was normal. The contact stated that the failure reoccurred approximately three times. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 77,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 77,000 |
| Dec 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES | 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 ISSUES WITH THE "START/STOP SYSTEM MALFUNCTION" ALARM GOING OFF AS WELL FOR SEVERAL MONTHS, BUT DEALERSHIP STATES IT WILL NOT AFFECT THE DRIVABILITY OF THE VEHICLE. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2023 | AIR BAGS,STRUCTURE,SERVICE BRAKES | 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 11/17/2023 an ER or Black Box four hour test/investigation was performed and I was told I would have results 12/28. Zero! When I telephone to report I was supposed to have EDR test results in 30 days, the operator (not the unreachable quality control personnel) tells me, "Well review of your crash results could take longer than 30 days." need to have a safe car to drive to work but this one has a potentially deadly defect. I have completed the inspection of your vehicle. Inspection report from Bosch to Toyota below: Please find three files attached to this email: 1) EDR FAQ_2.0.PDF "Frequently Asked Questions" related to the information in the Event Data Recorder (the Air Bag Control unit's digital memory). 2) [XXX]_ACM.PDF The Event Data from your vehicle in PDF form, this file will open on your computer. 3) [XXX]_ACM.CDRx This file contains the same information as Item #2, but it is a special format that will not display on your computer. It is sent to you so you will have the raw data for the #2 file above. I am not trained to interpret this data for you. The engineers will interpret this data and respond to you with their findings within 30 business days. 3 Attachments • Scanned by Gmail INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: Yes Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2023 | POWER TRAIN | 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/transmission. Toyota issued an extended warranty for the problem in 2020 (unlimited miles for coverage). I was then told that it then DIDN'T apply to my VIN, even tho it was the problem diagnosed by a Toyota service technician associated with the TSB above, so they wouldn't cover thru the extended warranty. Told me that I have to pay for a new transmission over $9,000. My understanding (I cannot verify) that the initial service bulletin was expanded to cover more models in 2021, then removed the extended warranty, and did not issue a recall. Apparently Toyota is aware of a serious transmission problem caused by a defective part, and it is wider issue. This needs to be addressed as it is a significant hazard and danger Toyota is aware of, and not the cause of normal and expected wear and tear. I need help addressing this with TOyota and want to be sure the problem gets fixed before injuries occur. Toyota has multiple bulletins in the NHTSA data for this issue from before and after this issued bulletin demonstrating on ongoing issue. I tried to upload the TSB and the repair documentation but your system is not allowing | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2023 | POWER TRAIN | Our transmission has a known manufacture air We have called Toyota several times and they refuse to do anything about this are transmission is going out which could cause a safety issue when driving down the road It's the UA80 TRANSMISSION Toyota is doing a customer support program on this particular transmission but due to the fact ours falls six months after the manufacturer date it doesn't fall within that area this is a manufacturer air due to a bolt not being bent over far enough I feel with the transmission issues that it can cause like serious problems including safety among ourselves or others in Toyota is ignoring this is when brought to them | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2023 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | The windshield has warps and creates blurry vision. Glass has been replaced 3 times so far from Toyota Dealership and issue continues to be there. Car has been in service for a month now. Glass manufacturer: Pilkington | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES | I’ve always had issues with my breaks since I purchased my car. Today when I tried to turn on my car I received a message stating breaking power low. I did not have that issue last night nor had I seen it before. My car will not start | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2023 | AIR BAGS,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES | My relatives remembered the 2002-2011 recall of 80,000 Toyotas, 90 deaths due to unintended acceleration and said that seems exactly what happened to me last month. NEAR FATAL COLLISION DUE TO STICKY PEDAL 2018 Toyota Highlander 10/10 Slowly backed out of parking space in large, empty commercial lot: sunny day, 3pm Tapped pedal into Drive Car sped off at 50+mph with my foot off pedal Sped around lot for approximately 3minutes Holding brake down and down-shifting did nothing except cause sheer terror with my uncontrollable vehicle Hit pole and vehicle came to a stop after near-complete destruction of passenger-side bumper No injury except sheer mental terror No witnesses DO NOT Blame the victim. Dealer says all-weather floormat could never have been or be involved. | Crash: Yes Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC | The contact owns a 2018 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the brake warning light illuminated, and a message was displayed alerting the driver to a fault with the braking system. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who determined that the brake pads and rotors needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was then taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed a failure with the brake assist vacuum pump. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related it to NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V211000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic) however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 33,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 33,000 |
| Oct 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | I bought my car used. Only had it for 3years and already had to replace the battery twice. Once I was stopped at light turning left, yield to oncoming traffic, since my foot was on brakes battery just dyed in middle of light, police had to come made sure I didn't get hit. 2nd time car cut off at McDonald's drive thru and battery went dead again. Something is wrong with batteries that make them go bad, n it's unsafe bc I've got stranded twice in not.so good places.. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Three weeks ago, I took my vehicle to Fred Haas Toyota Dealer in Spring, TX and they informed me that my driver axle needed replacement. My service advisor has now given me three ETAs on when the part will be delivered. Today, he mentioned that there is a nationwide back order on the part and suspects that many highlanders are experiencing the same problem | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | TIRES | These are Toyo Open Country P245/55 R19 tires that have been on my car from 10/23/2020 to now and have 54,600 miles on them. Remaining tire tread depth on this tire was measured using a machinists rule at 6/32" or 4.5 mm deep. The drivers front tire looked fine on my car during a general pre-inspection I did at 6:45 AM as I loaded the car with our luggage for a 7 day drive trip to Florida (app 920 miles). I will advise that I did not look at this tire in great detail during this check - just quick look to see if anything stood out that I needed to be concerned about for the drive. The drivers side front tire went flat after backing straight down a 60' long driveway. I removed the tire with the car in the street and took it to the tire shop where I bought these tires. The tire shop guys found several cracks about 1/2" long or longer in this one spot in the tire sidewall at the start of the tread. They had no idea why it cracked like that and had reported that they had not seen cracks like that in that location before in any tire. I had them pull the tire off the rim and put a plug/patch in it so I could get the car back up the driveway to repack our Florida luggage in the other car. No other tires show this cracking issue. I will replace the tires on 9/11/2023 with new tires. The tire could have blown out on I-10 at speeds of 70-75 MPH due to the almost immediate loss of air pressure due to the crack. There was absolutely no indication of any issues with this tire (or the other 3 tires) prior to backing down the driveway and the tire going flat. I was blessed that the tire lost pressure quickly just backing down the driveway and not on the Interstate highway. I drive the car - no one else. The tires have not been abused during the period they were installed. I rotate the tires every 10,000 miles. I do car PM on a 6 week schedule to avoid any such auto issues. I had just completed a PM about 1 week prior to this tire issue with all found OK. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES | This Toyota Highlander XLE 2018 was bought new in 2018. Lately in 8/23 started seeing on the dash a "BRAKE" light that comes on and off while driving. 2 weeks later, starting seeing a warning sign saying "Braking Power Low" and a message underneath saying"STOP in safe place". Took it to Toyota dealer twice so far and they could not duplicate the issue ( maybe they did not drive it for enough time). They said also that no error history was retrieved, even though I had shown them video and pictures of the errors when happened. This warning signs has been happening intermittently after driving ~7-10 miles or 10-20 minutes on the road. I have searched on line and found some similar issues and even a recalls for the same issue on some 2018 models of Toyota, Lexus, and Highlander. They said some cars were recalled but not all. I serched for recall on my Highlander and found none. Here some search sites: [XXX] [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | ENGINE | Driving on I75 at 75mph, while trying to adjust the steering wheel, as soon I unlocked steering wheel lock and put the steering all the way to lowest position it just stalled on highway. Lucky enough I was alone and was able to pull over safely. There is seriously something wrong with steering wheel electrical or ignition system or something with else. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | AIR BAGS | Was hit in the side in passenger door, which pushed my car off the road and hit a tree head on going approximately 40 mph. NO Airbags deployed anywhere in the car. I took pictures of entire interior and also a video showing no airbag deployment. Police, fire and first responders and completely shocked that no airbags deployed. Injuries occurred, thank fully no life threatening. However had the airbags deployed as they should have, and why we chose to buy this vehicle in the first place, those injuries could have been minimalized. If you need any additional info, please let me know. Toyota needs to be made aware of this. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 1 Towed Medical attention | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | S.R.S malfunction error message due to open circuit in the left front door harness. Active DTC (S) B1697 code which is related to lost communication with side airbag sensor LH is present in the vehicle. Toyota is refusing to address the issue because it is not part of a covered warranty and there are no open recall on this issue. This is a safety issue in that in the event of an accident, the airbag will not deploy which could be catastrophic. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC | The contact owns a 2018 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the "Brake Power Low" message was displayed. The contact stated that the brake pedal was firm before pulling over to the side of the roadway. The contact shut off the vehicle however, the vehicle failed to restart. The contact had the vehicle jumpstarted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the contact was informed that the brake booster and the vacuum pump had malfunctioned. The contact was informed that the brake booster, master cylinder, and vacuum pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, and a case was filed. The failure mileage was 29,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 29,000 |