Toyota / Highlander / 2019
2019 Toyota Highlander problems
Owners have filed 624 complaints about the 2019 Toyota Highlander with NHTSA. Power train accounts for 30.1% of them — the clear leader, ahead of fuel/propulsion system at 13.8%.
Complaints624
Crashes38
Fires1
Injuries28
Deaths0
What owners report breaking
Power train 30.1% · 188
Fuel/propulsion system 13.8% · 86
Unknown or other 12.5% · 78
Engine 11.1% · 69
Electrical system 8.8% · 55
Fuel system, gasoline 3.0% · 19
Service brakes 2.7% · 17
Air bags 2.4% · 15
Severity
Of those complaints, 38 describe a crash, 1 describe a fire and 28 report an injury.
Reading the numbers
Across the 23 model years of the Toyota Highlander in this data, 2019 draws the most complaints of any of them.
Filings are rising — 322 in the last three years against 136 in the three before. For a vehicle this age that usually points to a wear-related failure owners are hitting now.
The median odometer reading at the time of complaint was 10,000 miles.
In owners' own words
Transmission failure. Vehicle is at this time still operational however the transmission has developed the ever so common whining sound and sluggish shifting. Upon fluid inspection metal filings can be seen and replacement has been recommended by repair shop. The whining has been evident for some time but after investigating this issue decided to have inspected. This inspection was just completed on 11/14/25 Power train
automatic transmission makeing a whinning noise.Many other customers complaining about same problem. Car has 72,000 miles on it which puts it out of 5 year/60,000mile warranty.Customers feel that toyota should cover replacement or repairs cost knowing they have had same problem with 2017/2018 models and have not corrected the problem with the 2019 model.Very unprofessional for such a high quality company. Power train
Hundreds of thousands of 2017â2022 gas-powered Toyota Highlanders (equipped with UA80E/UA80F 8-speed transmissions) are experiencing high-pitched whining noises, hard or erratic shifting, and sudden hesitation. This is caused by a factory defect where a retaining nut and locking tab in the counter drive gear sub-assembly were improperly installed, causing premature internal wear and gear movement Power train
Verbatim from NHTSA filings. Complaints are unverified owner reports.
Safety recalls
Checking NHTSA for open recalls…