2021 Toyota Highlander

2021 Toyota Highlander UA80 transmission failed at 100,000 miles. Codes P2808, P0741. Matches Toyota TSB-0160-18 and T-SB-0008-21. Dealer Alexander Toyota and TMS Brand Engagement denied goodwill. TMS rep stated "TSBs don't matter" despite pending class action Pallaya v Toyota, Case 2:25-cv-10458, which cites these TSBs as proof Toyota knew of defect. Toyota refusing to honor documented defect. Transmission slip/loss of power is safety issue. Request investigation.

Subject: Transmission Issue – 2021 Toyota Highlander Dear NHTSA, I am reporting a serious transmission issue with my 2021 Toyota Highlander (82,000 miles). I recently took it to the dealership for an unusual noise, and they diagnosed a transmission failure, quoting over $9,000 for replacement and service. After researching, I discovered Toyota has known about transmission issues in the 2021 Highlander since at least 2021. I have always serviced my vehicle at the same dealership, yet they never informed me of this known defect. Instead, they waited until my warranty expired to disclose the issue, despite my repeated maintenance visits where I reported the noise. I also found a 2021 Toyota document acknowledging transmission problems in this model, and many other owners have reported the same issue. It seems dealerships avoided addressing this until warranties expired, leaving owners with massive repair costs. This raises serious concerns about Toyota’s handling of known defects. I urge the NHTSA to investigate and take action to protect consumers from unfair repair costs and potential safety risks.

The start/stop operating system failed. When the engine cut off while waiting for train to pass, the engine went to turn over and completely stopped the vehile. Although the car would not start, I was unable to cut the car off completely. It would say ignition on. The lights in vehicle were on. Running the ac caused the car to say high power consumption but there was no way to cut vehicle off without removing the battery to reset the vehicle. Caused the car to malfunction while sitting at a complete stop. Also cause the parking break to engage and I was unable to disengage parking break. A message came across saying parking break unavailable. My safety and others were put at risk because had it happened at any other time a crash would have been caused. It caused a roadway to be blocked off which caused confusion and near accidents.

The electric park brake makes a loud screaming sound during engaging cycle as I put the gear in park. The sound gets worse during warmer weather. I visited the dealer twice for the same problem and reported it to Toyota. During my visit another highlander came into dealership. It made the same sound when the driver placed it in Park. According to the dealer, this sound is normal. I say it’s not. I have way cheaper cars with Electric park and they don’t make this sound. If the park brake unit fails it’s going to be real costly to repair and may fail while driving and gets engaged.

Forward Collision Warning and Automatic Emergency Braking isn't functioning as stated in the Toyota Highlander 2021 Owner's Manual. Dealer stated that software tests were conducted and the vehicle's radar and optical sensors are performing in accordance with the test results. However, there is only intermittent warning lights and alarms that are functioning. The dashboard audio and visual alarms only function in rare encounters on approaching a vehicle. The service manager rode with me and when I was approaching a vehicle where an alarm should have sounded or illuminated inside the vehicle, that did not occur. However, the software tests showed that the vehicle was approaching on a collision event that was recorded on the system, but failed to alert the driver. After additional testing, the service manager stated that the vehicle reads stop lights from the vehicle ahead to execute the safety functions of the forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking safety feature. The Owner's Manual doesn't make that claim. In addition, another service manager stated that the system uses artificial intelligence to learn the driver' habits and the system adapts to the driver. The Owner's manual doesn't state that claim either. Lastly, the invoice stated that the owner should read pages 257 and 260 of the Owner's Manual to understand how the system operates. This describes the Dynamic Radar Cruise Control functions and not the Forward Collision Warning or Automatic Braking functions. This information is found on pages 235-238. They missed the problem. My suggestion was that their test only looked at a single variable that may have covered the external sensor operation and didn't test the dashboard internal warning system of the audio/visual alerts inside the vehicle. My recommendation was to seek assistance from the supplier that manufactured this system and seek guidance from their engineering staff. I complained to the Toyota Corporate Customer Servi