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Toyota · NHTSA safety record

2016 Toyota Highlander

Every safety complaint, recall and defect investigation the US government holds on this vehicle.

109

Complaints

14

Crashes

1

Fires

10

Injuries

0

Deaths

Owners of the 2016 Toyota Highlander have filed 109 safety complaints with NHTSA between December 2015 and February 2026. The most complained-about system is the brakes, named in 19 of them (17%). The typical failure was reported at 25,000 miles, the median across the 70 complaints that gave an odometer reading.

NHTSA has issued 2 recalls covering this vehicle.

Recalls (2)

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:WIRING

16V775000 · October 24, 2016

The defect
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain model year 2016 Highlander vehicles manufactured May 26, 2016, to September 16, 2016. The brake fluid level sensor may not be connected to the wire harness, preventing the sensor from detecting the brake fluid level. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 135, "Light Vehicle Brake Systems."
The risk
If the brake fluid level is low and is not detected, the braking performance may be decreased, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and, as necessary, connect the wire harness to the sensor, free of charge. The recall began November 14, 2016. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's number for this G03.

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing · up to 7,056 vehicles across all model years covered

EQUIPMENT:OTHER:LABELS

16V420000 · June 9, 2016

The defect
Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC (SET) is recalling certain model year 2016 Toyota Camry and Highlander, 2015-2016 Toyota Tundra, Scion FR-S, and tC vehicles. The Load Carrying Capacity Modification Label may not reflect the correct added weight of the installed accessories. As a result, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 110, "Tire Selection and Rims for Passenger Cars."
The risk
An incorrect label may lead an owner to overload the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
SET will notify owners, and provide a corrected label for placement over the inaccurate label, free of charge. The recall began on July 14, 2016. Owners may contact SET customer service at 1-866-405-4226.

Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC · up to 4,253 vehicles across all model years covered

What owners report

Complaints naming each system. One complaint can name several, so these add up to more than 109.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER 21 19%
SERVICE BRAKES 19 17%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 14 13%
AIR BAGS 10 9%
ENGINE 9 8%
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 8 7%
TIRES 7 6%
VISIBILITY/WIPER 7 6%
STEERING 6 6%
ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 4 4%
SEATS 4 4%
STRUCTURE 4 4%

When the complaints arrived

By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2019 at 21.

2015 2019 2026
2015 to 2026, the last of them a part year

In owners' own words

Quoted from NHTSA's complaint file. These are unverified accounts by the people who filed them, not findings of fault.

SERVICE BRAKES

3 injured · crash · towed · 28,000 miles

MY WIFE WAS DRIVING WITH OUR TWO DAUGHTERS (AGES 12 AND 14). IT HAD JUST STARTED TO SNOW AND MY WIFE SAID THE ROAD WAS SLIPPERY SHE PUT THE CAR INTO LOW GEAR AND TRAVELED SLOWLY. SHE WAS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER FROM OUR HOUSE WHEN SHE COULD NO LONGER CONTROL THE VEHICLE. SHE HIT A TREE, A FENCE, AND THEN TWO MORE TREES, TRAVELING MORE THAN 600 FEET. EVEN THOUGH SHE WAS TRAVELING DOWNHILL SHE SAID THE BRAKES DID NOT ENGAGE THE ABS AND THEN TOWARD THE END OF THE CRASH, BEFORE HITTING THE THIRD TREE THE CAR ACCELERATED ON ITS OWN. UPON HITTING THE THIRD TREE ALL AIR BAGS DEPLOYED AND FIRE, POLICE, AND AMBULANCE ARRIVED AT THE SCENE AND TOOK THEM ALL TO THE HOSPITAL. THEY HAD X-RAYS AND THERE

NHTSA complaint 10949888, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS

2 injured · crash · towed · 10,000 miles

I OWN A 2016 HIGHLANDER LIMITED PLATINUM AND AFTER A MAJOR ACCIDENT I HAVE A SERIOUS CONCERN ABOUT THE SAFETY CLAIMS. YESTERDAY MY WIFE WAS IN A ROLLOVER (2 FULL ROTATIONS) ACCIDENT IN HER 2016 HIGHLANDER PLATINUM. CAR WAS DESTROYED, HER HEAD HIT BOTH THE STEERING WHEEL AND THE B-PILLAR, BOTH HAVE AIRBAGS. NOT A SINGLE AIRBAG WAS DEPLOYED. DRIVER AND FRONT PASSENGER SEAT-MOUNTED SIDE AIRBAGS, DRIVER KNEE AIRBAG, FRONT PASSENGER SEAT-CUSHION AIRBAG AND ALL-ROW ROLL-SENSING SIDE CURTAIN AIRBAGS = ALL A TOTAL FAIL, NONE OF THAT WORKED. THE ONSTAR LADY DID HOWEVER SENSE THE ACCIDENT AND DISPATCH AN AMBULANCE AND POLICE, THAT WAS EXCELLENT. WHATEVER CAR I GET AS A REPLACEMENT WILL DEFIANTLY HAVE

NHTSA complaint 10918511, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS

1 injured · crash · towed · 18,000 miles

I HAD AN ACCIDENT ON MY CAR GOING 50 TO 60 MPH I THE ROAD CURVED AND I DID NOT I WENT INTO THE TOP OF THE DITCH HIT FRONT END AND WENT AIRBORN 30 TO 50 FEET IN THE AIR OVER THE PERSONS DRIVWAY. I LANDED ON MY BACK BUMPER WHICH THEN PROPELLED ME BACK INTO THE AIR AND I FLIPPED END OVER END LANDED ON MY TIRES. NOT ONE OF THE AIRBAGS DEPLOYED IN THIS ACCIDENT. THE OFFICER AT THE SCENE WAS SHOCKED. I HIT MY HEAD ON THE STEERING WHEEL THE HEAD REST BROKE I HET IT SO HARD AND THE B PILLAR OF THE CAR. I WAS ON A HIGHWAY.

NHTSA complaint 10919975. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS

1 injured · crash · towed · 6,600 miles

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 20 MPH, THE BRAKES MALFUNCTIONED AND THE CONTACT'S VEHICLE REAR ENDED ANOTHER VEHICLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE FAILED TO STOP WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL WAS DEPRESSED. THE CONTACT'S VEHICLE SUSTAINED SIGNIFICANT FRONT END DAMAGE, BUT THE AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. THE FRONT PASSENGER SUSTAINED CHEST INJURIES THAT DID NOT REQUIRE MEDICAL ATTENTION. A POLICE REPORT WAS FILED. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED FROM THE SCENE. THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE LOCAL DEALER (KENNY KENT TOYOTA IN EVANSVILLE, IN) WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED. THE FAILURE

NHTSA complaint 11030387, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

STEERING
Steering column can become worn prematurely causing loose steering and possibly loose control

NHTSA complaint 11719673. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

STEERING
I was on Hwy 27 headed south bound at Bellecita Rd in Davenpoerrt, Fl. This is a busy four way intersection. I moved into the left hand turn lane. When the left turn green light came on I began my U-Turn to head north bound. The steering wheel would not respond to my input and the vehicle kept going straight into oncoming traffic. It took a great deal of bodily force to get the vehicle to respond. When it did respond there was loud popping noise. I had noticed in the past, that when Iwas turning or changing lanes on the hwy, the steering had a small glitch before it centered. I thought this was strange but figured this was normal for this vehicle. This incident left me badly shaken. I

NHTSA complaint 11715980, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

POWER TRAIN

crash · towed

I was driving on a 2-lane road early in the morning with light snowfall. There was about 1" of snow on the road, with the roads not yet plowed or treated as it was the beginning of the snowfall. About 15 minutes into my trip, I was on a relatively flat and straight stretch of the road and let up on the gas paddle to avoid going too fast -- was probably traveling ~35 mph. Although the road was straight and flat at that point, my car suddenly started fishtailing, slowly turned 180 degrees and sliding to the other side of the road, ending up on the opposite edge of the road. When it hit the edge of the road, it tipped over on its right side, as apparently the dirt at the edge of the road was

NHTSA complaint 11712269, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

TIRES
**Nature of Safety Defect Within 13,000 miles of normal mixed highway and light off-road use on a Toyota Highland, one tire developed a sidewall bubble and all four tires exhibited extreme and uneven tread wear—far below the advertised 50,000-mile treadwear warranty. The remaining tread depth on all four tires is already under 2/32" in multiple locations, with severe cupping and feathering that makes the vehicle vibrate violently above 50 mph and causes unpredictable handling, especially in wet & snowconditions. These conditions render the tires objectively dangerous and unfit for continued highway or street use. Manufacturer Response Pirelli warranty claim #2194927 was summarily denied as

NHTSA complaint 11700493, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

1 injured · crash · towed

I was traveling on an interstate going home from work. My speed was approximately 65mph. I noticed traffic slowing up ahead. I began to drop my speed (cost down), as I was approaching the traffic the car in front of me was applying their brakes; I had already began to apply mine. I was applying more pressure to my brakes to slow down more as the person in front of me began to slow more quickly. The person in front of me then had to slam their brakes on and I was not able to stop in time to avoid collision with the car in front of me. That driver did not come in contact with any other vehicle. The impact was at approximately 50mph. I was then very quickly hit from behind by the car behind

NHTSA complaint 11695898, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

TIRES
P245/55R19 103T Nitto Crosstek2 BW. Vehicle pulls to different directions when the tires are cross swapped. I have taken the vehicle to 4 to 5 wheel alignments within 3 months and 3 different shops after the purchase of the tire. Recently I took the vehicle Big O Tires and they _verified the tires have "Radial Pull" / Tire Conicity due to Manufacturing Defect of the a belt separation within the tire's structure. _The shop also verified that the alignment is performed correctly. I believe those tire are unsafe and they could fail suddenly causing crash.

NHTSA complaint 11681012. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Compare

Other years of the Toyota Highlander

Model year Complaints Recalls Deaths
2025 9 3 —
2024 39 7 —
2023 172 9 —
2022 230 5 1
2021 488 4 —
2020 305 4 —
2019 472 3 —
2018 259 4 —
2017 262 3 —
2015 189 1 —
2014 134 4 1
2013 205 3 —
2012 181 2 —
2011 181 5 —
2010 216 10 —

Other 2016 Toyota models

Tacoma 323 RAV4 236 Corolla 212 Camry 180 Prius 154 Tundra 119 4Runner 78 Sienna 75

Every Toyota on this site — 272 vehicles, 370 recall campaigns and 3 open investigation s.

If this is your car and a dealer keeps failing to fix it, your state's lemon law may require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. What each state asks for , read from the statutes.

Where these numbers come from

A complaint is one owner's account and has not been verified by NHTSA or by us. A vehicle with more complaints is not necessarily worse: models that sold in larger numbers collect more of them. How this is counted.

Compiled and maintained by
Independent developer and analyst