2021 Toyota Highlander

2021 Toyota Highlander UA80 transmission failed at 100,000 miles. Codes P2808, P0741. Matches Toyota TSB-0160-18 and T-SB-0008-21. Dealer Alexander Toyota and TMS Brand Engagement denied goodwill. TMS rep stated "TSBs don't matter" despite pending class action Pallaya v Toyota, Case 2:25-cv-10458, which cites these TSBs as proof Toyota knew of defect. Toyota refusing to honor documented defect. Transmission slip/loss of power is safety issue. Request investigation.

Four days after I took delivery of this used vehicle (April 25, 2026), multiple warning lights appeared at once: BRAKE, ABS, PARK, Check Engine, Blind Spot Monitor Unavailable, and RCTA OFF. An independent Toyota dealership diagnosed the vehicle April 27-28, 2026 (approx. 109,000 miles) and found (1) water leaking into the rear hybrid battery area through a sunroof drain "installed incorrectly," causing a Brake System Control Module low-voltage code, starting issues, a headlight only partially functioning on one side, possible air in the brake system, and a musty HVAC odor; and (2) blind spot monitor fault code C1AC2 (Slave Module Horizontal Axis Misalignment) - the blind spot and rear cross-traffic monitoring systems do not function reliably. At a second visit on May 4, 2026, recalibration was unsuccessful; per Toyota procedure the only remaining option is replacing the right-rear blind spot sensor. The technician wrote the cause is a mystery, "whether it be body damage related or electrical short." Toyota service records show the same C1AC2 code was documented during the selling dealer's own pre-sale inspection, and that in December 2024 another Toyota dealership pulled the rear bumper and found the RR blind spot sensor bracket bent, causing incorrect readings - a recurring safety defect that prior calibrations and repairs have not resolved. Separately, federal safety recall 23V865 (occupant classification sensors; the passenger airbag may not deploy as designed) was open and incomplete when I purchased the vehicle and remains incomplete, and Toyota service campaign 25TD01 (rear traction motor cable corrosion) is also outstanding. The defect has been reproduced and confirmed by two Toyota dealerships, reported to the selling dealer in writing, and reported to Toyota's customer-care center. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. No crash, fire, or injury.

The steering technology in this vehicle reads lines on the road that are not correct or valid lanes and almost caused several accidents during the 2 years I had the vehicle. Luckily, I was paying attention and had to jerk the wheel to the correct lane but the steering wheel will force itself to the other false lane. This is extremely dangerous and this is a huge safety issue.

The rear cross traffic avoidance does not detect a person on a bicycle or motorcycle. The safety sense 2.5 + was advertised and demoed to detect even a pedestrian walking behind the vehicle. The system on my vehicle does not work as advertised and after taking my vehicle to the Dealer was informed by the service manager that the system is "intermittent at best". This is not what Toyota advertises. Dealerships apparently have no signal strength detection equipment to verify proper operation of this system. I have reviewed multiple videos of this system in operation and there were no indications of intermittent failures. I have contacted Toyota Customer support and am being ignored.

The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated while driving 60 MPH, the vehicle inadvertently attempted to navigate the steering and lane direction to the opposite direction of where the contact was attempting to steer the vehicle. This caused the contact to manually steer the vehicle into the center lane. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to a local dealer who inspected the vehicle but could not diagnose the cause of failure. The dealer informed the contact that the vehicle lane sensor and steering assist sensor were performing as intended. The contact was concerned that the sensor should be adjusted so that the sensor would not have to adjust so easily while the contact was driving. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 5,000.

I consider this a vehicle safety issue. Was on the freeway, center lane of a 3 lane highway. The vehicle to my left began to move into my lane. I had to quickly move to my right, activating my lane departure and steering assist. This caused my vehicle to attempt to move me back into my lane (where the other driver was now trying to occupy!). I was shown how to disable this feature if desired but what I wasn't told by the dealer, is that this feature can no longer be set to default to off. I just finished a lease of a 2018 Toyota Rav4 which also had this feature but once I disabled it, it was disabled unless I re-enabled it. With this new vehicle, when you disable this feature, it's only disabled until you turn off the vehicle. When the vehicle is turned on again, this feature is set back to active. I checked with the dealers service department and they said that this is how this feature will work moving forward, that you can no longer set it to off as the default setting.