GarageCalc What the data says
Power train accounts for about 52% of this year's Toyota Highlander complaints. That is a strong concentration, the kind that usually points to a specific known issue rather than general wear.
The 2021 model year contributes 128 complaints (26%). No single model year dominates, so this looks like a line-wide pattern rather than one bad year.
Complaints are up sharply year over year, 309 to 500 (+62%), in a market that rose about 2%. Year-over-year movement is the most useful signal here: a model's sales are roughly stable from one year to the next, so a sharp rise means the per-vehicle complaint rate genuinely moved, not just that the model is popular.
How to read this
Raw complaint totals track how many Toyota Highlanders are on the road as much as they track quality, so a high count on a best-seller is partly a volume story. Complaints are also self-reported: they capture what owners chose to file, not a controlled survey. Use these numbers to know where to look during a pre-purchase inspection and which recalls to check, not as a verdict on their own. Compare any car instantly in the Car Complaint Checker, or read the full 2026 study for the market-wide picture and methodology.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Toyota Highlander reliable?
Complaint counts alone cannot answer that, because they track how many are on the road as much as build quality. What the 2026 data shows: 500 NHTSA complaints so far (rank 21 of 765 models), +62% year over year, with power train the most-cited area. Treat it as a starting point and cross-check recalls and a pre-purchase inspection for the specific vehicle.
What is the most common Toyota Highlander complaint?
Power train: 259 of the 500 complaints filed in 2026 cite it (about 52%). That is a strong concentration, the kind that usually points to a specific known issue rather than general wear.
Which Toyota Highlander model year has the most complaints?
The 2021 model year, with 128 of this year's 500 complaints (about 26%). No single model year dominates, so this looks like a line-wide pattern rather than one bad year.
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation complaint database, complaints received 2026-01-01..2026-08-24, compared with 2025-01-01..2025-08-24 (same window). Counted once per complaint ID, vehicles only. Aggregated data is available under CC BY 4.0 with a link to GarageCalc.