IllustrationSudden transmission failure. Seems to be a known issue with Toyota CHR 2018 onward. I own the 2018 model and there have been recalls in Canada regarding this issue.
2018 Toyota C-HR
Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations
More warning signs than most C-HR years
Owner complaints for the 2018 Toyota C-HR are substantially higher than the model-year median of 48.
About this comparison →How this year compares
Owner complaints by model year
Compare all C-HR years →Counts vary with age, sales and reporting. They are not failure rates.
What owners reported most
All reported categories
Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.
When problems were reported
Mileage at the reported incident
Limited mileage data: 60 of 319 reports include usable mileage. There isn’t enough coverage to show a useful chart.
NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.
What to inspect
Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.
- Power Train. Review the 211 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Engine. Review the 38 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Electrical System. Review the 29 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
9 crash reports0 fire reports6 injury reports
What owners actually said
319 reportsI noticed a whining sound coming from the vehicle. It would get louder as I accelerated. Took it into a mechanic he drove it, put it on the lift and said the noise was coming from the transmission. I took it to another shop and they quoted me $9,000. For a replacement. This is a problem that Toyota and other manufacturers know a…
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I noticed a whining sound coming from the vehicle. It would get louder as I accelerated. Took it into a mechanic he drove it, put it on the lift and said the noise was coming from the transmission. I took it to another shop and they quoted me $9,000. For a replacement. This is a problem that Toyota and other manufacturers know about. The CVT is unserviceable.
A bearing has gone bad in the CVT transmission with only 128000 miles on the vehicle. The repair cost over 10,000 dollars because the design of the transmission does not allow for the bearing to be replaced.
UNKNOWN. Car has been making a humming noise for the last 4 years. I have taken it to multiple shops, and repair companies for inspection. Wheel bearings have been repaired 2x, ball joints, as well as sway bars. Tires have been replaced, breaks and rotors have been replaced. Noise still persisted. Noise has recently become loude…
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UNKNOWN. Car has been making a humming noise for the last 4 years. I have taken it to multiple shops, and repair companies for inspection. Wheel bearings have been repaired 2x, ball joints, as well as sway bars. Tires have been replaced, breaks and rotors have been replaced. Noise still persisted. Noise has recently become louder, creating question when driving the car. Mechanic has determined that the noise is coming from inside the transmission. Upon inspection, the Internal Bearing has been failing. Due to Toyota's negligence, there is no official recall or plan to help car owners fix the problem.
Started making a clicking noise after crossing a railroad track and then all of a sudden jerked and stopped going forward. I’ve only had the car for a year and never been in an accident.
There was a complete failure of the CVT transmission. It left my daughter completely stranded in a parking lot. The car was inspected at the local Toyota dealership and that is where the transmission failure was confirmed. There were no lamps or messages until my daughter tried to start the car again and every light on the d…
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There was a complete failure of the CVT transmission. It left my daughter completely stranded in a parking lot. The car was inspected at the local Toyota dealership and that is where the transmission failure was confirmed. There were no lamps or messages until my daughter tried to start the car again and every light on the dashboard lit up. Before that, there had been a slight whining sound but we were not sure what was causing it.
Transmission bearing which caused entire transmission to fail.
Car only had 80,000 miles and started humming or whining. Mechanic said these cars are bad about the cvt bearing going out but have to change whole transmission.
The vehicle developed a loud whining noise coming from the transmission/final drive area while driving. The noise became progressively worse over time. A dealership/service center diagnosed the issue and confirmed that the transmission needs to be replaced due to failure in the final drive portion of the transmission. The vehicl…
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The vehicle developed a loud whining noise coming from the transmission/final drive area while driving. The noise became progressively worse over time. A dealership/service center diagnosed the issue and confirmed that the transmission needs to be replaced due to failure in the final drive portion of the transmission. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request.. The transmission issue creates a potential safety concern because worsening transmission failure could affect the vehicle’s ability to accelerate, maintain speed, or continue operating safely while driving. This car is only a 2018 model and has less than 85k miles. The abnormal whining noise was present prior to diagnosis and continued to worsen. The issue has been confirmed by a professional service center during a multi-point inspection and diagnostic evaluation. No crash or injury has occurred at this time.
Car has started whining while driving. Mechanic says the whole transmission will need replaced due to cvt bearing failure. It only has 94392 miles on it.
Official recalls
117V717000 · Parking Brake
Nov 15, 2017
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2018 Toyota CH-R vehicles. The electronic parking brake (EPB) may not operate properly, possibly causing the parking brake not to disengage after it is applied or prevent it from being applied. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard FMVSS number 135, "Light Vehicle Brake Systems."
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: If the EPB cannot be applied, there is an increased risk of a vehicle rollaway if the vehicle is parked on a hill without being placed into "Park."
Remedy: Toyota has notified owners, and dealers will update the programming of the skid control ECU as necessary, free of charge. The recall began on November 30, 2017. Owners may contact Toyota at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's number for this recall is H0W.
Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗
NHTSA investigations
0No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.