2023 Toyota Highlander Problems

Half of the owners who gave a mileage had the problem by about 12,000 miles. Parts named most: Body (14).

What to check before you buy

• Look underneath with a flashlight. Utah road salt is hard on frames, brake lines and the bottoms of doors.
• Open and close every door, the hood and the liftgate, and lock and unlock each one.
• Use a paint thickness gauge and compare panels. A panel that reads very differently from the rest has likely been repaired.

Tools that help

What owners said

Rear Power Lift Gate Struts continue to malfunction. Sometimes works, Sometimes Partially Works. My vehicle currently has 40,000 miles and according to Social Media and AI this has become a large Problem for a large number of People.Owner complaint, filed 2026

Tailgate stays open; sensors seem to fail. It will work one day and not work on another day. My wife is short and handicapped and she can’t close it manually.Owner complaint, filed 2026

What to check before you buy

• Ask the seller not to warm the car up, and start it cold. Listen for ticking, knocking or a rough idle in the first minute.
• Pull the oil dipstick and the oil cap. Low oil, a gasoline smell or a milky film on the cap are reasons to walk away or get an inspection.
• Plug in an OBD2 scanner. Stored or pending codes matter, and so do readiness monitors that show "not ready", which usually means the codes were cleared right before the sale.
• Ask for oil change records. A gap in the records on a model known for engine complaints is a negotiating point at minimum.

Tools that help

What owners said

The vehicle surges and hesitates when pressing on the gas. Several times I push on the gas and nothing really happens. Slow to move. Other times I push on the gas and it “bucks”. Like the turbo kicked in to max power all of a sudden. Almost lost control of the car a couple times. Once was on a mountain road. I am hesitant to drive it and…Owner complaint, filed 2023

The vehicle hesitates and stutters upon light to moderate acceleration. This can happen either from a dead stop or while moving in traffic. The concern was present when vehicle was purchased new in Feb 2023. Initially the dealership thought the symptoms were related to the transmission learning algorithm, but this was later determined…Owner complaint, filed 2023

What to check before you buy

• Pull out and latch every seat belt, and let each one retract on its own.
• Try every seat adjuster, and watch for a passenger air bag "off" light when an adult is in the seat.

Tools that help

What owners said

The contact owns a 2023 Toyota Highlander. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 26V128000 (Seats); however, the parts required for the recall repair were not yet available. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for another recall repair but was not serviced for the subject recall. The dealer confirmed that the parts…Owner complaint, filed 2026

The contact owns a 2023 Toyota Highlander. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 26V128000 (Seats); 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…Owner complaint, filed 2026

What to check before you buy

• Drive it from cold if you can. Shifts should be smooth in every gear, including reverse.
• Feel for slipping (revs rise without the car speeding up), shudder at low speed and a delay when you put it in gear.
• Listen for whining, which is a common CVT complaint, and clunks when you go from drive to reverse.
• If it has 4WD or AWD, engage it on the test drive and ask when the transmission and differential fluids were last changed.

Tools that help

What owners said

Transmission failure at 106,000 miles, full replacement under extended warranty and new transmission is begging to fail at 109,000 miles.Owner complaint, filed 2026

Transmission failure under 50k miles. Replaced under powertrain warranty. UA81E incurred a whine that was prevalent at light acceleration over 40 mph. This is a known issue that spans multiple years at some point someone has to admit this is a design flaw.Owner complaint, filed 2026

What to check before you buy

• The pedal should feel firm and the car should stop straight without pulling, grinding or a pulsing pedal.
• The ABS and stability control lights should go out after startup and stay out.
• Look through the wheels at the rotors. A deep lip on the edge means brakes are due soon, which is a fair thing to negotiate on.

Tools that help

What owners said

While depressing the brake pedal to come to a complete stop, the vehicle experienced a sudden loss of braking force, followed by a momentary forward surge/lunge before the friction brakes engaged.Owner complaint, filed 2026

Brake lag with loss of brakes during transition from regenerative to hydraulic friction braking. The vehicle braking system cuts out causing the vehicle to freely move forward which has caused near rear-end collisions with other vehicles, and loss of brakes at stop signs and crosswalks. The vehicle has been inspected four times at local…Owner complaint, filed 2026

What to check before you buy

• Smell around the engine bay and under the rear of the car for raw fuel.
• On the test drive, accelerate firmly from a stop and up a grade. Stumbling, surging or a flashing check engine light are red flags.
• Fuel pump recalls are common. Check this exact VIN for open recalls before you buy.

Tools that help

What owners said

This 2023 Toyota Highlander XLE AWD has a recurring gasoline/fuel odor that began while the vehicle was still within the basic warranty period. The concern was reported to Toyota/dealer multiple times. At first, the odor was intermittent and difficult to duplicate, but the problem continued after repeated dealer visits. The fuel smell…Owner complaint, filed 2026

The contact owns a 2023 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the odor of gasoline was present inside and outside of the vehicle. The contact indicated that the failure had occurred intermittently after refueling the vehicle on extremely hot days. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who was unable…Owner complaint, filed 2024, at 40,000 miles

Half of the owners who gave a mileage had the problem by about 120,000 miles.

What to check before you buy

• Test every switch: windows, locks, mirrors, seat heaters, the screen, the backup camera, Bluetooth and every USB port.
• Watch the dash at startup. Every warning light should come on briefly and then go out.
• Have the battery and charging system tested. A weak alternator or battery drain shows up here.

Tools that help

What owners said

The contact owns a 2023 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated that the instrument panel had been inoperable for approximately 5 months. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V595000 (ELECTRICAL SYSTEM); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The vehicle was…Owner complaint, filed 2026, at 149,000 miles

My Toyota Highlander 12.3 inch display of the instrument panel may be blank at startup. Operating the vehicle with this display blank reduces the ability to see certain malfunction indicators. This Safety Recall that has been active since September 11, 2025. The problem been acknowledged and confirmed by Millers Toyota, in Anaheim…Owner complaint, filed 2026

What to check before you buy

• The air bag (SRS) light should come on at startup and go out within a few seconds. If it stays on, the system may not work in a crash.
• Air bag recalls are some of the most serious. Check this exact VIN for open recalls and get proof any recall work was done.

Tools that help

What owners said

The contact owns a 2023 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated that while driving at 60, 65 MPH, the contact's vehicle crashed into the passenger's side of an oncoming vehicle. The air bags did not deploy. In addition, the contact stated that it was a very hard impact on an older model vehicle. The contact stated that the older model…Owner complaint, filed 2026, at 34,125 miles

My wife was hit from the driver side, causing car to deviate and have a head on collision with a fire hydrant. No airbags deployed. Side or front.Owner complaint, filed 2025

What to check before you buy

• Where it is safe, try the adaptive cruise and lane keeping on the test drive and watch for sudden braking or warnings with nothing there.
• Check the windshield in front of the camera and the bumper sensors for cracks, chips or poor repairs.
• Ask whether the windshield has been replaced. The camera has to be recalibrated afterward, and many shops skip it.

Tools that help

What owners said

Blind spot feature is detecting a vehicle two lanes over from the lane I’m driving on. This has caused to almost result in a crash due to this safety hazard. Blind spot is always detecting a vehicle driving two lanes over. Blind spot signal on driver mirror flashes as well when such vehicle two lanes over is detected and I am about to…Owner complaint, filed 2025

I was in an accident today in this vehicle . Upon impact, traffic was suddenly stopped on the highway. The air bags didn’t deploy and the automatic emergency breaks didn’t engage. Impact was so hard three vehicles were Involved.Owner complaint, filed 2026

What to check before you buy

• On the test drive, press the gas gently and firmly. The response should be smooth with no lag or surge.
• Set the cruise control, then use resume and cancel to make sure each one works.

Tools that help

What owners said

I have a 2023 Toyota Highlander Platinum. For some unknown reason, the dashboard suddenly stopped working. Because the dashboard is not working, I have no information on things like when the gas will run out, what speed I’m driving, or if any parts are malfunctioning. This creates a dangerous situation for me. So, I went directly to…Owner complaint, filed 2025

Hesitation/Non-linear Acceleration From a Stop. Reprogramming the ECM completely resolved the issue. This needs to be sent out to affected vehicles but I had to investigate and pretty much demand a resolution. I fear what this could later do to our engines, etc.Owner complaint, filed 2024

What to check before you buy

• Read the four-digit DOT date on each tire. Tires older than about six years should be replaced, whatever the tread looks like.
• Check tread depth on all four. On AWD vehicles all four tires should match.
• The tire pressure light should go out after startup.

Tools that help

What owners said

On November 24, I took the vehicle into Gene Messer Toyota in Lubbock, TX to have them diagnose a noise in the front end. They confirmed hearing the noise but assured me the vehicle was safe to drive. No repairs were performed. 10 days later, on December 10, the front driver wheel detached while my husband was driving at highway speed.Owner complaint, filed 2025

2023 Toyota Highlander XLE, Bridgestone Alenza Sport A/S 235/65R18. This is the 2nd time we had a side wall tire blow out. First incident 08/2023 and today 03/06/2025 happened again with 3 slit/cracks/holes(not sure how describe it, attached picture) in the side wall.Owner complaint, filed 2025

What to check before you buy

• Check every light: headlights on low and high, fog lights, brake lights, turn signals and reverse lights.
• Run the wipers on every speed with washer fluid, and run the defroster front and back.

Tools that help

What owners said

The contact owns a 2023 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated that while attempting to start the vehicle, the driver’s and passenger’s side mirrors moved downward independently, causing the contact to manually adjust the side mirrors. A dealer was contacted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed; however, the diagnostic…Owner complaint, filed 2026, at 28,000 miles

The rear window on my car spontaneously shattered as I was driving. This was in light rain on the freeway. I had turned the rear-window defrost on at the beginning of my 20 minute drive to work in the dark at 5:30AM . When I was almost at my destination, I heard a noise and looked in the rear view mirror to see my rear window had…Owner complaint, filed 2026

What to check before you buy

• Turn the wheel lock to lock while parked and listen for groaning, clicking or binding.
• On a straight road the car should track straight with the wheel centered and no loose feeling.
• A power steering warning on the dash, even briefly, deserves a mechanic’s look before you buy.

Tools that help

What owners said

The contact owns a 2023 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel was excessively difficult to steer. The power steering malfunction and pre-collision warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with power steering and rack and pinion…Owner complaint, filed 2024, at 49,050 miles

The fact that the dealership was able to sell this car with a recall on is crazy, yes I have blame for not looking as well but now we are having issues with the front bumper hitting the tires when you turn and making a grinding noise. We were told that there’s nothing they could do as of yet but as I see this recall has been open for a…Owner complaint, filed 2024