Toyota Highlander Transmission Problems by Year
By CarWhere Research · Updated
Some, but not unusually many. Owners have filed 777 transmission complaints with NHTSA for the 2008–2025 Toyota Highlander. For the Toyota Highlander, that's 0.38 transmission complaints per 1,000 sold across the 2015–2022 cohorts, close to the 0.28 median of the 53 models we can rate. The worst years are 2021, 2019 and 2020.
Transmission complaints
777
Filed with NHTSA, 2008–2025 models
Per 1,000 sold
0.38
2015–2022 cohorts
Share of all complaints
18.2%
of 4,270 complaints for this model
Transmission recalls
0
NHTSA campaigns, all years
Toyota Highlander transmission complaints by model year
Owner complaints filed with NHTSA whose component list includes Power Train (transmission, transfer case and driveline), and per 1,000 vehicles sold where a published U.S. sales figure exists. Worst years are highlighted.
| Model year | Transmission complaints | Per 1,000 sold | Share of all complaints | Crash / fire / injury | Transmission recalls | Transmission TSBs* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 29 | — | 4.8% | 4 | — | 20 |
| 2009 | 8 | — | 4.6% | 0 | — | 23 |
| 2010 | 6 | — | 2.5% | 0 | — | 21 |
| 2011 | 16 | — | 8.6% | 0 | — | 20 |
| 2012 | 8 | — | 4.2% | 1 | — | 19 |
| 2013 | 12 | — | 5.7% | 1 | — | 17 |
| 2014 | 8 | — | 5.9% | 0 | — | 16 |
| 2015 | 7 | 0.04 | 3.7% | 1 | — | 0 |
| 2016 | 1 | 0.01 | 0.9% | 1 | — | 0 |
| 2017 | 70 | 0.32 | 26.6% | 4 | — | 0 |
| 2018 | 58 | 0.24 | 22.4% | 0 | — | 15 |
| 2019WORST | 184 | 0.77 | 39.1% | 0 | — | 0 |
| 2020WORST | 119 | 0.56 | 38.8% | 2 | — | 0 |
| 2021WORST | 189 | 0.72 | 38.7% | 3 | — | 0 |
| 2022 | 44 | 0.2 | 19.6% | 2 | — | 0 |
| 2023 | 15 | — | 8.8% | 0 | — | 0 |
| 2024 | 3 | — | 7.7% | 1 | — | 0 |
| 2025 | 0 | — | 0% | 0 | — | 0 |
- Per 1,000 sold = complaints ÷ published U.S. calendar-year sales × 1,000. Calendar-year sales stand in for the model-year cohort. A dash means no published figure or fewer than 5,000 sold, too small to divide by.
- Older model years have had more time on the road to collect complaints, so compare neighboring years, not 2010 against 2024.
- Crash / fire / injury = complaints where the owner reported a crash, a fire or an injury.
- *Technical service bulletins in the year's leading TSB categories that name the transmission.
Common Toyota Highlander transmission problems owners describe
We searched the narratives of all 777 transmission complaints for symptom keywords. One complaint can mention several, so the shares don't add up to 100%.
Toyota Highlander years to avoid for the transmission
2021 Toyota Highlander
189 transmission complaints (38.7% of the year's 488), 0.72 per 1,000 sold. Most often described: whining, grinding or humming noise.
2019 Toyota Highlander
184 transmission complaints (39.1% of the year's 470), 0.77 per 1,000 sold. Most often described: whining, grinding or humming noise.
2020 Toyota Highlander
119 transmission complaints (38.8% of the year's 307), 0.56 per 1,000 sold. Most often described: whining, grinding or humming noise.
Worst years are those with at least 10 transmission complaints and at least 1.5 times the model's median year. For every year's overall verdict, including other systems, see the Toyota Highlander years to avoid.
Related research
Frequently asked questions
Does the 2021 Toyota Highlander have transmission problems?
Yes, it is one of the worst years. Owners filed 189 transmission complaints with NHTSA for the 2021 Toyota Highlander, 38.7% of all 488 complaints for that year, or 0.72 per 1,000 sold. The most common description is "whining, grinding or humming noise" (140 complaints). 3 of those complaints report a crash, fire or injury.
Does the 2019 Toyota Highlander have transmission problems?
Yes, it is one of the worst years. Owners filed 184 transmission complaints with NHTSA for the 2019 Toyota Highlander, 39.1% of all 470 complaints for that year, or 0.77 per 1,000 sold. The most common description is "whining, grinding or humming noise" (100 complaints).
Does the 2020 Toyota Highlander have transmission problems?
Yes, it is one of the worst years. Owners filed 119 transmission complaints with NHTSA for the 2020 Toyota Highlander, 38.8% of all 307 complaints for that year, or 0.56 per 1,000 sold. The most common description is "whining, grinding or humming noise" (69 complaints). 2 of those complaints report a crash, fire or injury.
Which Toyota Highlander years have the most transmission complaints?
2021 (189), 2019 (184) and 2020 (119), by owner complaints filed with NHTSA that name the transmission. Raw counts favor older and higher-selling years, so compare the per-1,000-sold column too.
What are the most common Toyota Highlander transmission problems?
In the 777 transmission complaints, owners most often describe whining, grinding or humming noise (49.9%), transmission repaired or replaced (27.4%) and jerking, lurching or harsh shifts (8.8%). One complaint can mention several symptoms.
Is this a transmission failure rate?
No. These are complaints owners chose to file with NHTSA. Many failures are never reported, and one complaint is not a confirmed defect. Dividing by sales shows how often owners complain relative to how many were sold, which makes models of different sizes comparable.
How we count
Counts are unique owner complaints (by NHTSA ODI number) filed with NHTSA for each Toyota Highlander model year, from NHTSA's public complaints data fetched July 2026 to November 2026. A complaint counts as a transmission complaint when NHTSA's component list for it includes Power Train (transmission, transfer case and driveline).
Per 1,000 sold divides complaints by published U.S. calendar-year sales for that year. A year needs at least 5,000 sales to get a rate, and a model needs at least 3 such years for its overall rate. The comparison median covers every model with at least 50 transmission complaints that clears those floors.
These are complaint rates, not failure rates. Owners report some problems more than others, and a complaint is not a confirmed defect.
Sources
- NHTSA complaints by vehicle (owner complaints API) — National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recalls by vehicle — National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Report a vehicle safety problem — National Highway Traffic Safety Administration