88 of the
488 complaints filed about the Toyota Grand Highlander
are about the other systems —
100% of everything owners reported.
The worst model year for it is 2024.
If my car has been sitting for a while, especially in the heat, and occasionally at random times, when you get in the car and press the gas, the car will not move. This happened twice where I was almost put in a very bad accident. There is a very hard intersection near my son’s school. I have to take a left hand turn- and you have to be quick because there is no light. I turned left and my car would not go- I was stuck in oncoming traffic and the car would not move whatsoever. It was very dangerous and very scary. This has happened where it almost caused a very bad accident becuase the gas pedal would not move the car. The dealership couldn’t replicate and said it wasn’t an issue. But it is continuing to happen, and it is very dangerous. Maybe it has something to do with the battery getting hot and somehow power doesn’t get to the gas/engine e
NHTSA complaint #11762268 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Load cabin wind noise. Service said it was the luggage bars on the roof. I removed the bars and the noise was the same. Came back to the shop on August 22, 2026 they looked and said the panoramic seal was lifting and leaking. Before buying the car we were told the prior issue with panoramic sunroofs leaking had been resolved. In addition the plastic handle that controls the middle seat broke off after using it three times.
NHTSA complaint #11760011 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Multiple times a week in the summer my car will hesitate to go once I have stopped at a stop sign/busy four way intersection. When I push the gas the car doesn’t respond and hesitates for a long while before I can get the car to start moving again. The car will roll into the intersection after I take my foot off the break to go and it won’t do anything. It is terrifying and confuses other drivers around me thinking that I am letting them go. This has happened upwards of 20 times since I have had the car. It happens only on hot days when the external temperature is above 80 or so degrees and happens when car is freshly started. It reliably happens when I go up a pretty small hill by my house about 1 minute after starting the car (even when it is coming from being parked in my garage). Joseph Toyota on Colerain in Cincinnati has not been able to reproduce the issue. I drive with two children in the car and it is so scary when it happens because I have almost been hit with them in the car many times now.
NHTSA complaint #11759636 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Damage occurred to the front air conditioning system because a rock flew through the open grill area. This punctured the system causing a couple thousand dollar repair, not under warranty. The car was nearly brand new at the time. The grill area is a problem, it's a bad design.
NHTSA complaint #11759524 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
on 8/13/2026, I was driving alone on West I-80 right before Park City, Ut; I heard a loud pop and my panoramic sunroof exploded which was really scary. I was not using my sunroof at all, so the cover protected everything on the inside. At first I thought it was a flat tire, but no warning messages came onto the control panel. There were not immediate safety issues, so I was able to get to a Toyota Dealership to have it repaired. I did not hear any gravel or road debris flip up onto my sunroof, nor did I hear any under my tires when driving. My vehicle was inspected by a service technician at the Toyota Dealership and he just said it was probably caused by an outside influence.
NHTSA complaint #11759369 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I have over 30k miles on my car. Over the period that I’ve owned it there have been a few, roughly 6, occasions where I’m trying to change lanes from a stop into quick traffic and my car lags 1-3 seconds in response to me pressing the gas petal. It happens infrequently and is not the normal response. Other times the car responds as one would expect.
NHTSA complaint #11759572 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Road debris from normal driving on paved roads (perhaps related to a trip from Flagstaff to Phoenix on [XXX] in April 2026- in Phoenix the AC took a very long time to cool down the car), road debris punctured the ac condenser. The AC stopped working entirely in July of 2026, so it was taken to Findlay Toyota Flagstaff for review. They noted all refrigerant had leaked from the system, and that road debris had punctured the condenser. The warranty claim was denied, and I paid about $1450 out of pocket for a new condenser and system recharge. I have the estimate from the dealer along with the receipt for the actual repair; however, the file upload functionality of this app is not working. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11758722 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
A rock went through the grill and pierced the AC condenser. The result left us with no AC. Toyota of Grand Rapids charged us $2300 to replace it. The holes in the grill are massive. Toyota of Grand Rapids has a video on file documenting the issue.
NHTSA complaint #11758738 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
My wife was driving and a small rock passed through the front grill puncturing the radiator and causing her check engine light to come on. Within 5 minutes the coolant leaked out and the car was undrivable. We took it to Bredemann Toyota in Park Ridge who replaced it.
NHTSA complaint #11758770 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I was driving down [XXX] at approximately [XXX] this morning and heard a loud bang, then an air sound like window not fully closed, then heard crumbling glass falling into Sunroof shade. Initially I thought I had a tire blowout or someone on the access road fired a pistol. When I stopped and took a picture of the sunroof I saw the front sunroof glass bulging upward and the whole window was cracked with glass lying in the sunroof shade. If I had the sunroof shade open the glass would have been all over my head. I reported the incident to Orr Toyota in Hot Springs, ar. and they informed me that Toyota claims that something impacted the window. There was no impact to the window as it would have caused the window to bulge inward if that occurred. They evidently ignored my original picture so I don't see how they could make a determination of impact after I'd driven the vehicle more than 50 miles to get to their location (The event occurred in Bryant, ar). INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11756523 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Bought the vehicle in October 2025 everything was going fine. I went away for a few days came back and the A/C was not working. I took it to the dealership where I purchased it and was told outside influence and they refused to repair unless I pay $1900. I have bumper to bumper coverage for 5 years, My point is for a SUV that is costing over $50,000. If the condenser is such a sensitive piece of equipment it shouldn't not be placed in front of the vehicle unprotected. This is a design flaw because the SUV is made to be driven on the highway.
NHTSA complaint #11745755 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? I was driving when I heard a loud boom, it almost sounded like a gunshot. Not noticing anything I continued driving. After a short distance I started hearing wind whistling. It was at this point I pulled over and saw my sunroof had shattered and there was a big hole. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? If I had not have the shade closed glass would have fallen into the car. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? Yes, I brought the car to the Toyota dealership. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? I did call my insurance company but I am not sure if they actually inspected the damage. They have been dealing directly with the Toyota dealership service department. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? No, that's why I continued to drive until I heard the wind whistling
NHTSA complaint #11741021 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
My 2024 Used Toyota Grand Highlander Hybrid Platinum Max was at a slight decline stopped at a stop sign in Echo mode. The whole car began to violently shake and lurching forward. No one was in front of me and my foot was on the brake or I probably would have run into a car in front of me. The dashboard then flashed a warning about the hybrid system overheating. The only way to stop it was to turn off the engine, then turn it back on. The car then began driving normally. I have also had an issue with hesitation felt while accelerating 0-40 mph with study throttle. Upon researching both issues, they should be resolved with TSB calibrations to my car of T-SB-0028-25 and T-SB-0017-24. This is not an error that would come up when doing a diagnostic check on my car's computer per research I have done. I took my car to get the updates at Toyota of Redlands, CA, and they refused to do them unless they could recreate them themselves. I called Toyota to report this, and they said that each Toyota dealership/service is privately owned at their own discretion. I was basically told to return if I experience it again. I do not want to experience this again and they wouldn't take my word on it anyways. I feel like next time I could injure myself or someone else if this glitch happened again. I therefore would like to implore to make this a mandatory preventative TSB calibration for cars that have had this reported/models/year which mine has. This goes for any TSB calibrations should be done preventatively, but especially ones that can cause a potential accident like T-SB-0028-25 and T-SB-0017-24. Here is information on why this would not show up on a diagnostic test: Your Toyota didn't generate an error code because the shudder is a software calibration issue rather than a component failure. The onboard computer (ECU) only triggers a check engine light or throws a Diagnostic Trouble Code (DTC) when sensors detect a hard mechanical or electrical failure.
NHTSA complaint #11740395 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Component that failed: Sunroof How was safety at risk: I was driving my 2025 Grand Highlander on Sunday, [XXX} in the morning. While I was driving, my sunroof exploded, causing a loud noise and a blowout in the front part of the sunroof (pictures included). There was no debris on the road or any other reason for the sunroof to have exploded. This was extremely shocking and concerning - if we had not kept the sunroof shade closed, the glass from the sunroof would have fallen directly on myself and my wife as we were driving, potentially causing an extremely dangerous situation. The sunroof blew outward, NOT inward as would have been expected if something had hit it and caused it to shatter. I also found multiple forums where I discovered that this is a common problem: [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] The problem is widespread enough across models that there is an ongoing lawsuit regarding panoramic sunroofs: [XXX] The dealer and Toyota are claiming that it had to be an external source, but again, there was no debris in the area or any other reason to cause the blowout. The vehicle has been inspected by the manufacturer's field service technicians. It is currently still at the dealer, awaiting final decision on coverage for the blowout. There were no warnings. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11739910 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.