Recall · 26V128000
Toyota Motor Engineering recalled 2 models over seats
550,007
Vehicles covered
2
Models
8
Model years
March 5, 2026
Filed with NHTSA
SEATS:MID/REAR ASSEMBLY:RECLINER
- The defect
- Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2021-2024 Highlander and Highlander Hybrid vehicles. The second-row seat backs may fail to lock into position during seat back adjustment.
- What it can cause
- A seat back that fails to lock may not properly restrain an occupant during a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
- What the dealer does
- Dealers will replace the return springs in the seat back recliner assemblies, free of charge. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed April 27, 2026. Additional letters will be sent once the final remedy is available, anticipated August 27, 2026. This is a phased recall. Owners may contact Toyota’s customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's numbers for this recall are 26TB06 and 26TA06.
The repair is free, whatever the age or mileage of the vehicle, and whether or not you are the original owner.
Which vehicles
A recall reaches a range of VINs inside these model years, not every car built in them. Yours may not be covered even if it is listed here, and the only way to find out is NHTSA's own VIN lookup .
How this campaign compares
At 550,007 vehicles this is a bigger campaign than 98% of the 19,818 vehicle recalls filed since 1995 whose size NHTSA published. The middle campaign on file covers 472. It covers model years 2021 to 2024, so the oldest vehicles on it were 5 model years old when the defect was reported to NHTSA.
Toyota vehicles have been recalled over the seats 10 times before this, most recently in October 2025 as 25V668000. That is not evidence the earlier repair failed.
This site holds the complaint record for 7 of the 8 model years the campaign names. Their owners have filed 978 complaints with NHTSA, 706 of them before this campaign was filed. 31 of those name the seats, the system this recall is about — a count of complaints, not of this defect. The earliest of them reached NHTSA in December 2020, 5 years before this filing.
The vehicles on this campaign carry 12 other recalls published here, the newest being: 25V872000 (seat belts), 25V744000 (back over prevention), 25V595000 (electrical system), 25V040000 (steering).
Check your own car
A VIN check is the only answer for a specific vehicle, and it also shows every other open recall on it, which is usually the reason it is worth doing rather than reading one campaign.
Filed by Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing with NHTSA on March 5, 2026 as campaign 26V128000. Every word of the defect, consequence and remedy above is NHTSA's published record of that filing, not a summary of it.
Compiled and maintained by guarledes . Data last checked 2026-03-05.
Independent developer and analyst