Complaint volume
284 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
2020 Toyota Highlander Complaints
284 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2020 Toyota Highlander, grouped by component category.
284 Total complaints
12 Crash reports
0 Fire reports
9 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, air bags, 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 12 crash reports, 0 fire reports, 9 injury reports, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 55 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 37,738 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to power train, air bags, 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 2020 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.
2020 Toyota Highlander
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2020 Toyota Highlander complaints?
12 Crash
0 Fire
9 Injury
0 Fatality
10 Towed
7 Medical attention
What are the most common 2020 Toyota Highlander complaint categories?
POWER TRAIN 102
AIR BAGS 29
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 28
STRUCTURE 22
SERVICE BRAKES 21
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 13
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 4
SUSPENSION 4
ENGINE 3
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE 3
284 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 2025 | POWER TRAIN,ENGINE | At 76000 miles my 2020 Highlander water pump began to fail. 20 days after the water pump was replaced at Kings Toyota dealership, the transmission is now failing at 79000 miles. The warranty only covers repairs on each up to 60000 miles. This car has been maintained by the dealership and no engine light ever came on. The water pump was $1200 to repair and I’m being quoted $10K to repair the transmission. I also don’t trust that dealership didn’t accidentally cause the transmission to fail bc they surprisingly have a new transmission in stock the day I came in. If it truly failed today, then Toyota needs to recall this car for safety reasons. It went from fine to not fine in just a few days of driving. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | POWER TRAIN | The transmission is starting to whine at 108,000 miles. Toyota service told me the only fix is a replacement and they have seen two failures within the same week. They also said this is a known issue with this model year. A Reddit thread shows many owners in the US and Canada with the same issue. If this is resulting in failures of the transmission in operation this is a safety issue and a reasonable recall being a known defect for this line of transmissions. The recommendation from the service department since this vehicle is paid off is to run it to failure. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | AIR BAGS | The contact owns a 2020 Toyota Highlander. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V865000 (Air Bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was contacted. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. The VIN was not available. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | SERVICE BRAKES | Sensation of loss of braking, especially at low/crawling speeds, when braking on a downhill, or when braking on bumpy road surfaces. Dealer described it as "INCONSISTENT APPLICATION OF BRAKES WITH CONSISTENT PRESSURE ON PEDAL ON LOW SPEEDS". A very noticeable moment between regenerative braking disengaging and traditional brakes engaging. It was a very unsettling feeling when pulling into a garage or parking space, or making a hard stop at highway speeds. Dealer reprogrammed braking computer per Toyota T-SB-0059-23 ("Hybrid Regenerative Brake Transition Feeling Improvement"). It is improved but not perfect and I still notice this unsettling sensation from time to time. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2025 | POWER TRAIN | Before hitting 100,000 miles the car started making a whirring/whine noise when accelerating. We mentioned it to the service advisor when taking the car in for an oil change. Initially the advisor said the service technicians took it for a drive and didn’t notice any noise; when we picked up the vehicle asked the advisor to sit in with us to point out the noise to him, he heard and acknowledged there in fact was a whining/whirring noise and said he would inquire about it to the shop foreman. The next day the advisor called me and said the shop foreman stated that noise is a transmission issue. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2025 | AIR BAGS | Toyota sent a letter in mid-2024 that there was a safety recall for airbag issue with 2020 Toyota Highlander. The letter stated that a remedy would be available by the third quarter of 2024. As of January 21, 2025, they still have not provided a remedy for the serious safety issue. I would like to file a complaint against Toyota for failing to remedy the defect within a reasonable time. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2025 | POWER TRAIN | The transmission started slipping without any warning and then went into neutral while driving and I am not able to drive it anymore. The dealership said the transmission is bad. I see many complaints online about 2020 Toyota Highlander transmissions going bad for no reason. This is a new car only 4.5 years of normal driving and the transmission goes, this is not normal for such a high rated vehicle. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2025 | AIR BAGS | I am not reporting any specific incident related to this defect. I am simply complaining to NHTSA that Toyota is taking far too long to provide a remedy for the OCS sensor issue, NHTSA recall number 23V865 (Manufacturer recall number 23TB15). This issue has been ongoing since late in 2023 and it seems that Toyota should have provided a remedy by now. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2025 | STRUCTURE | While driving on a highway, with little traffic around, our sunroof exploded, sending shards of glass down. It produced a sound of a gunshot and quite possibly could have resulted in such a distraction to cause a wreck. The vehicle has not been inspected but insurance agents has been contacted. There were no warnings at all. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | POWER TRAIN | Highlander transmission broke down around 80,000 miles | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | POWER TRAIN | The transmission in my 2020 Highlander XLE needs replacement at 64,000 miles. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | AIR BAGS | The contact owns a 2020 Toyota Highlander. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V865000 (Air Bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,BACK OVER PREVENTION,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | my wife was pulling into a driveway slowly approximately 5 mph when she went to stop the Toyota Highlander sped up to full speed and smash the tree while my wife was depressing the brake. All airbags were deployed and it looks like they are going to total the Toyota Highlander that has all the maintenance records Very lucky to not have somebody seriously injured. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 1 Towed Medical attention | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | AIR BAGS | NHTSA, I mentioned to the service tech that I did have an error code appeared in my front dashboard display area momentarily and disappeared several times within the last 10 months. I was told that this would be address at this inspection of OCS (Occupant Classification System) sensor appointment. Doesn't this equate to a faulty OCS sensor and requires a replacement regardless of the testing of the sensor results today. If the error code was displayed in the past logically the sensor is failing and should be replaced. Does this make sense!!!! | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2024 | STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | I was in a school line waiting for my children. I went to hit the gas to move and the car said “maintenance required” and then flashed other warning lights “low power steering fluid and engine light.” Then the car turned off and screens were flashing. I tried to restart the car but the steering column was locked and brake pedal was locked. I checked all fluids and they were full. I had someone jump the car and it turned back on. I figured maybe a bad battery. Had AAA come look at the car and all diagnostic testing was normal. Next day, car does it again in the middle of an intersection. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2024 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES | When coming to a stop the vehicle will often lurch forward. The lurch is powerful and could easily cause a collision. This problem occurs both when stopping in traffic and pulling into parking spaces. We were told by the dealer that the problem is caused by hybrid cars but we've had hybrid cars before that did not exhibit this behavior. It sounds like the dealership is aware of the problem but Toyota is not addressing it. This issue certainly poses a safety issue, especially for vehicles in front of the affected vehicle when attempting to stop. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2024 | STRUCTURE | The contact owns a 2020 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated while driving at approximately 65 MPH, the front lower bumper cover detached from the vehicle, causing debris to scatter onto the highway, while the damaged bumper cover was dragged underneath the vehicle. During the failure, the vehicle sustained excessive front-end damage, and damages to the undercarriage and fender liners. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who confirmed that the failure was related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V720000 (Structure). The contact stated that the vehicle had experienced the failure listed in the recall. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 51,260. | Crash: No Fire: No | 51,260 |
| Nov 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | While driving on the freeway in the evening about 10 minutes into the drive, a loud bang was heard like a shotgun and the front portion of the panoramic sunroof had shattered. Small shards of glass entered the cabin but fortunately no one was injured inside the vehicle. No sign of a rock hitting the vehicle or defect in the panoramic had occurred prior to this incidence. It appears to have occurred spontaneously. There was a large hole in the glass with an outward projection like the pressure inside the vehicle somehow blew out the sunroof. The passengers in the vehicle were at risk of being covered in small shards of glass including a small child in a rear facing carseat who was sitting behind the driver's side. The driver and front passenger would have been impacted as well if the glass gave away. This occurred at high speeds on a freeway where if the glass would have fallen inside the cabin could have caused the driver to be covered in glass, injured while driving at high speeds and caused a wreck. The incident was reported to the highway patrol who could not place a formal report because they said it was not a mechanic defect and the Toyota corporate office said that they could not report because it was a glass issue. Insurance has not been informed yet as we are waiting from the local dealership to see if they can assist. There were no warning messenger prior to this problem and it occurred spontaneously. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2024 | POWER TRAIN | Transmission whining around 38mph when accelerator is pressed. Goes away when foot is off pedal. No warning lights are on. I test drove 3 other 2020 - 2021 Highlanders in May before I purchased this one. All 3 of those had a very noticable transmission whine over 20mph. I opted for this Highlander because there were no noticeable issues/sounds. Just this month, I am noticing a more pronounced high pitch whine during acceleration. This certainly sounds like a much wider issue, especially calling around to multiple dealerships confirming they have other 2020-2021 Highlanders in getting transmission replacements (on 3+ months wait times for parts) This is absolutely a safety issue if a transmission fails while driving. There was a technical bulletin for this same issue with certain VINs, but I was told that my VIN fell outside of that range. To answer rest of questions: No confirmation from dealer on the whine, they are all charging $180 to diagnose the issue and I am not paying that. No further inspections by the above groups listed. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2024 | POWER TRAIN | The contact owns a 2020 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated that there was an abnormal winding noise detected while accelerating. The failure increased over time. While the contact’s husband was driving approximately 60 MPH and attempting to accelerate, the vehicle lost motive power. While shifting to park, there was an abnormally loud, high-pitched winding sound detected. The vehicle was slow to shift from first to second gear. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who determined that the CV joint needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to a transmission center, where the transmission was rebuilt. The contact called the local dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The approximate failure mileage was 130,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 130,000 |
| Oct 2024 | POWER TRAIN | I own a 2020 Toyota highlander and the car mileage is 68,000 and the dealer told me my transmission is dead and needs to replacement. The cost for replacement is $13,000.00! I’m the first owner of the car and how could a new Toyota car transmission fail at 68,000 miles and the warranty is 5 yrs or 60,000 miles. This issue have to be Toyota manufacture problems and they should have a recall on this and I researched online and a lot of highlander owners have the same problems as me! NHTSA PLEASE RESEARCH AND HELP HIGHLANDER OWNERS! Thank you | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | POWER TRAIN | The contact owns a 2020 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated while driving at approximately 25 MPH, there was an abnormal humming sound from the engine compartment. The contact depressed the accelerator pedal, and the sound got louder. The contact stated there was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 67,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 67,000 |
| Oct 2024 | AIR BAGS | The contact owns a 2020 Toyota Highlander. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V865000 (Air Bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2024 | AIR BAGS | The contact owns a 2020 Toyota Highlander. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V865000 (Air Bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2024 | POWER TRAIN | The contact owns a 2020 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated while driving at various speeds and accelerating, the vehicle made an abnormal buzzing and clunking sound. The vehicle was taken to the dealer several times. The dealer repaired the brake pedal and an axle; however, the failure progressively became worse. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, where the rear differential was repaired; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the transmission needed to be replaced; however, the part was not available. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was opened. The failure mileage was approximately 59,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 59,000 |