2021 Toyota Highlander

This occurs occasionally when I brake. I have my foot softly on the brake and the brakes cut out. The car feels like it accelerates/surges forward rather than slowing down. I need to apply the brakes hard to then stop the vehicle. I never know when it will happen. When it occurs and a car is in front of me, I have had near miss accidents. I often transport my grandchildren to daycare so I'm not only concerned with my safety, but my passengers as well. I have shared with my dealer and have called to report this to the Toyota corporate office. My dealer has noted this problem on my scheduled service invoice. They have inspected and recalibrated the brakes, but it is still happening. The dealer has checked each service appointment for any recall or notification from Toyota. I have researched online and know there are other Toyota Highlander Hybrid owners who are experiencing this same malfunction. When I called the Toyota national number, they indicated they would give my situation a case number. No one from Toyota has admitted there is a problem, but from my online research many owners have reported this problem. I would assume there are owners that have not reported it. It's truly a safety issue. I love everything else about the vehicle and hope by submitting this malfunction, it will lead to a recall and repair.

We rented this vehicle from Avis at Detroit Metropolitan Airport on Tuesday, 11/22/22 at approx. 7:50 pm. It was raining, cold and temperature was dropping. We drove approx. 1/8 to 1/4 of a mile from the facility. As we turned left on to a major roadway (Goddard) southbound, I turned on the rear defroster. Suddenly, the engine went into limp mode. I tried to make a U-turn to drive back to the facility. Engine lights flashed (low oil pressure, check engine, etc) and then the engine stopped. We barely had enough power to turn the vehicle out of the turn lane before we would have been struck by a bus. We sat in left northbound lane of Goddard for approx. 2 min without our hazard lights on. The vehicle would not start. I then pressed the defroster again and the engine fired up. We drove back to the facility and demanded a new vehicle. While we waited for a new vehicle to be prepared, I demonstrated to the manager what had happened. Again, after depressing the rear defroster button, the engine shut off and would not restart. Again, after turning off the defroster button, the engine started back up. This engine condition was replicated multiple times. I warned the Avis manager not to rent this vehicle as it was a death trap.

Upon starting my 2021 Highlander Platinum with 10,700 miles on it several warning lights repeatedly came across my display including reduced engine power, brake system malfunction, pre collision system malfunction. See your dealer. No codes showed up on their scan but every time they cleared the screen the messages came back. They decided it was a bad knock sensor. Then I received a call that a critter had chewed wires and they might find further damage. I was surprised because I’ve been in my house for 45 years and I’ve never had a critter in my garage. The service manager said “Toyotas attract critters because of the covering they use on the wires.” I said, “Soy?” And he said, “Yes”. So, isn’t this a manufacturing defect? How many times a year is this going to happen? I’ve owned Toyotas for 27 years. I’ve never had a problem until this car. I’m also having problems with the navigation system, 2 visits to the dealership and 45 minutes on the phone with the Toyota Engagement Center.

I have noticed that if I hit a bump in the road while braking, the brakes release momentarily and I have to press harder to continue braking. I have confirmed that this happens consistently, and is more likely to happen when I am braking slowly (i.e. I'm not pushing very hard on the brake pedal, just slowing the car gradually). This indicates that it's the regenerative brakes that are disengaging when I hit a bump or pothole. It has happened 20+ times and continues to happen consistently under these circumstances.

The contact owned a 2021 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated while driving approximately 50 MPH with a passenger in the rear passenger seat, she heard an abnormal popping sound and the sunroof exploded from the inside-out without warning or impact. The shattered pieces of glass were propelled outside the vehicle. The occupant in the rear passenger seat sustained a cut on the finger but did not seek medical assistance. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed that the sunroof glass panel needed to be replaced and it was confirmed that the failure was not due to an impact to the sunroof. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The contact stated that she was concerned about a potential reoccurrence of the failure. As a result, she traded the vehicle. The failure mileage was approximately 7,500.

Driver side mirror vibrates and gets worse on the interstate and windy days. It does not give clear, steady view. Night time all you see is shaking headlights. It’s highly distracting and discomforting to eyes and causes headaches. Taken it to dealership plenty of times. It was replaced one time and still same issue. Dealership contacted Toyota about the issue and still no solution.

Rear passenger seatbelt has torn in multiple places. I believe something inside may be cutting it when it retracts. The buckle is now stuck in a tear and the seatbelt will not fully retract. Toyota refuses to fix it under warranty because it’s “not usual wear and tear” and there’s no recall. I believe this is a significant safety risk.

We have owned our 2021 hybrid awd platinum highlander for 8 months and within the past two months (around 16k miles) it has started to do an acceleration upon applying the brake. The car does catch itself and then after hitting the brake harder it does stop. This has happen on 7 different occasions, flat roads, hills, parking spots now. It has happened while my husband drives it and myself. It was brought it for computer recalls around the same time that this issue started. After the recalls were fixed I brought it back in and left it with the dealer for a few days. They cannot replicate it and therefor won’t do anything. They tried to tell me that I can’t drive with two feet…. Which I don’t. I’ve seen other reports where Toyota claims it’s inexperienced regenerative braking driving. We have owned a 2011 Prius that we had for 6 years and it never did it once. We also had a 2021 Audi e-from which fully relies on regenerative braking. We are not novice when it comes to hybrid driving systems. It has come to the point where I’d like to sell the car and get something else rather than worry about a car crash with my babies in the car. I also owned a 2019 awd regular gas highlander that never had any braking issues. So I don’t know what the solution is, but this is a very expensive car to be having these kinds of issues.

I bought this car in March 2021 to haul my 1st grandchild around. I noticed early on their was something weird happening when I braked, but it occurred randomly, so I thought maybe it's a hybrid thing (or even my imagination). I was the sole driver of the car 99.9% of the time. It gradually got worse over the first 12 months. My husband would occasional drive us to town, but never experienced it, until he did. Scared and concerned for my safety, he didn't want me to drive it anymore. The brakes literally fail when you least expect it causing you to turn too fast, it catapults you forward and you have no control of the vehicle for several seconds. We have had numerous near accidents. I took it to the dealership and they said they fixed the problem with a computer update. I picked it up on a Friday around closing time and got halfway home when I decided I needed Starbucks. Turning into the drive thru I nearly rear-ended a DPS car! GAVE ME A HEART ATTACK! I called the dealership that Monday morning and they said it fixed, but I could bring it back in. Took it back and they basically handed the keys to me and said there's nothing wrong. I told them it's dangerous and when my luck runs out and I have an accident, then what?? Who will be responsible?! No one is allowed to drive my car. My mom, my sister, not even my 21 year old who could drive a NASCAR. It is extremely dangerous and will eventually get someone hurt or dead. I told them I refuse to pick the car up until they figure this out. Gullo Toyota in Conroe, where I bought the car, said my keys are ready when I am. I am contacting a lawyer and filing a complaint here.