2019 Toyota C-HR

Before 2024, my friend heard a noise coming from my car, he wasn’t sure what it was and I couldn’t hear it. December 2024, I took my car in to the Toyota dealership for the 100,000 mile transmission service (~107,000 miles) but I didn’t mention the sound because I didn’t hear it. The dealership didn’t find any issues. My friend could still hear the sound but we thought that the service done ruled out the transmission. 18 months and 36,000 miles later a louder noise started. I took the car in with the transmission failing. With the maintenance done, this transmission should have lasted to 200,000 miles. Since I had the maintenance done, I was confident driving it thinking that the transmission wouldn’t fail while I was driving. There was either an issue with the part or the service that was there at 107,000 miles that was not addressed that could have led to the car failing on the highway and risking the safety of myself and other drivers. The dealership has confirmed that the transmission has broken at 36,000 miles past their service. There were no warning lights that appeared, no difficulty driving, just noises.

The contact owns a 2019 Toyota C-HR. The contact stated that the vehicle occasionally failed to start. On another occasion, there was a tire blowout while driving 70 MPH. The contact replaced the battery, and the instrument panel displayed several warning lights, including the Check Engine, Lane Assist, and Forward Collision. After an initial dealer inspection, the diagnostic test was inconclusive. The contact drove the vehicle off the lot, and the warning lights returned immediately afterwards, and the vehicle was taken back to the dealer for additional diagnostic tests. The dealer subsequently identified a failure with the valve lift controller and an inoperable housing sub-assembly. The parts were replaced. The manufacturer had not yet been notified of the failures. The failure mileage was approximately 96,000.

The vehicle experienced a sudden and catastrophic internal failure of its Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) at 139,000 miles. While driving, a heavy grinding noise began coming from the vehicle during acceleration. A certified technician at a Toyota dealership inspected the vehicle and officially diagnosed it with an internal center differential grind and noted that the transmission fluid was burnt and filled with metal flakes. The dealership stated the entire transmission must be replaced at a cost of over $10,000. Toyota explicitly markets and describes this CVT transmission fluid as 'lifetime' fluid with no standard required maintenance, leading consumers to believe the unit is sealed and durable. However, this internal bearing/differential disintegration is a known material manufacturing defect affecting 2018-2022 Toyota C-HR models. This is a severe safety hazard as a sudden internal transmission failure can cause an immediate loss of vehicle propulsion while driving at high speeds in traffic, increasing the risk of a crash. This should not be happening at all at this mileage

The vehicle's CVT transmission has failed, confirmed by Dublin Toyota (Dublin, CA) on June 9, 2026. The dealership has quoted $12,477 to replace the transmission, bringing the total repair estimate to over $15,000 — exceeding the vehicle's current market value. The dealership documented the following diagnostic trouble codes: P075B, P0741, and P2757. These codes are listed together in Toyota's own C-HR service manual as indicators of Torque Converter Clutch Circuit failure within the CVT system, confirming internal mechanical failure of the transmission. These are not minor or maintenance-related codes — they indicate a fundamental failure of the CVT's internal components. This is a known, widespread defect affecting 2018–2020 Toyota C-HR vehicles. Hundreds of owners have reported identical CVT bearing failures, often with no warning lights or prior symptoms, at mileages ranging from 38,000 to 140,000 miles. Toyota has acknowledged CVT issues on this model previously — issuing a software service campaign (Special Service Campaign J0D) for CVT programming defects — yet has refused to issue a recall or extended warranty for the underlying mechanical bearing failures now presenting across the fleet. Notably, Toyota Canada has extended warranty coverage for identical CVT failures on the same model years, while Toyota USA has declined to offer comparable relief to American owners facing the same defect. This defect represents a significant safety hazard, as CVT failure can result in sudden loss of propulsion while driving at highway speeds. Requested Action: Formal NHTSA investigation into CVT transmission bearing failures in 2018–2020 Toyota C-HR vehicles, and consideration of a recall or extended warranty campaign consistent with what Toyota Canada has already provided.

Transmission, and I did requested an inspection and they are trying to charge me $10,000 USD to fix it. A failed transmission in a car can put you and other people at risk because it affects your ability to control the vehicle's speed and movement. I took my car to one of my trusted mechanic and he confirmed that transmission was on failure because the humming noise of it and because transmission on this type of cars (Toyota CHR 2019) had that type of issues. Nobody has inspected my car but my mechanic. No prior symptoms of the problem or warnings on my car, I noticed it was something wrong with my car just for the humming noise of the transmission.

The component or system failed is the CVT transmission. The safety of the vehicle is very risky because when you drive it; it gets ready to cut off. The transmission has been confirmed that it is the problem by the independent service center. Yes, the vehicle has been inspected by a transmission company. There were no warning signs or symptoms of the problem.

The contact owns a 2019 Toyota C-HR. The contact stated that while driving at 40 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was sputtering while driving after 20 minutes of driving. Their vehicle failed to accelerate. There were no warning lights illuminated. The local dealer was contacted, who confirmed there was no recall coverage. The vehicle was diagnosed, and it was determined that the failure was due to the fuel pump. The vehicle was not repaired. An independent mechanic was contacted, who determined the failure was due to the fuel pump. The manufacturer was contacted, who referred him to the NHTSA hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 39,000.

No warnings lights given. My car has been serviced three times in the past year of owning it. Yesterday I was informed my entire transmission needs to be replaced as it failed its inspection. My car was last seen by Toyota in September and I paid a little under 2k each visit to keep my car running perfectly. This visit I was quoted over 9k to replace the transmission. I have never had preexisting issues with it. This CVT transmission is known to fail prematurely and there needs to be a recall and compensation made for those who have faced the same issues. My car is only at 125k miles and I have spent about 20k purchasing and servicing this vehicle in the last year alone. I travel out of state frequently with my children to visit my relative who is in active chemotherapy. If my transmission were to die in the middle of Donners Pass I would be left stranded with my two young children. This is my daily driver and I can’t imagine what would happen if my car completely shut down in the middle of traffic or out of state as I was given certainty that my car ran perfectly until this just recently happened. I no longer have an operable vehicle regardless of the care and money put into it unless I spent another 10k on full transmission replacement.