VehicleVerdict

2021 Toyota Highlander transmission problems

The 2021 Toyota Highlander has 185 transmission complaints filed with NHTSA — 31% of the year's total, and up sharply from the prior model year.

185

Transmission complaints

31%

Share of year

3

Crash-involved

0

Related recalls

Transmission complaints by year

Highlander transmission complaints by model year185 complaints2001: 16 complaints2002: 15 complaints2003: 14 complaints2004: 60 complaints2005: 54 complaints2006: 22 complaints2007: 8 complaints2008: 20 complaints2009: 7 complaints2010: 6 complaints2011: 16 complaints2012: 7 complaints2013: 11 complaints2014: 8 complaints2015: 7 complaints2016: 1 complaints2017: 69 complaints2018: 58 complaints2019: 182 complaints2020: 117 complaints2021: 185 complaints2022: 43 complaints2023: 15 complaints2024: 3 complaints
Highlander transmission complaints by model year. Red bars are years to avoid.

What owners report

“Several minutes after leaving my vehicle once I parked and shut the engine routinely, it rolls back a hundred feet and crashes into another vehicle. When I come back I became aware of this as I noticed the back of the driver side of my vehicle is lodged into the side of another vehicle. This caused…”

Complaint filed with NHTSA · Transmission · July 5, 2022 · crash

Common questions

How many transmission complaints does the 2021 Toyota Highlander have?

NHTSA has 185 complaints about the 2021 Toyota Highlander transmission — 31% of all complaints filed for that model year.

Related

Based on NHTSA ODI data through June 2026. Complaints are consumer-reported and unverified. Updated July 5, 2026.

Compiled by Sharon Ben-Moshe, Founder.