general problems of the 2017 Toyota Highlander - part 1

My husband and I were driving down the highway when the front part of our sun roof shattered.

Transmission yes it’s available for inspection rite now on vacation on a very steep hill the transmission quit pulling at the top of the hill in the middle of a very narrow street and we had to ease backwards down to a place on the hill to turn around and get to level ground all this happened with no previous warning.

Car is shaking heavily when stopped. Several misfires while engaging the brakes. Mechanic is telling me that he has seen many vehicles of this model with faulty purge valves.

Several weeks ago my wife noticed that the vehicle skids when accelerating and she told me about the situation. I hardly drive the vehicle because I was not aware of the situation, but today I drove it and realized what is happening. I am not a mechanic to give a diagnosis of the situation. For me it could be the transmission and it only has 85k. I'm going to do the next oil change at the dealer. Right now I do them at firestone, it's close to my house and for me it's more convenient.

Water pump has failed at approx 80,000 miles.

Hi- I have always upkeep the maintenance on my vehicle and take pride taking care of it . But now out of nowhere my vehicle throttle was loose the mechanics can’t explain why and now the transmission is not working I have explained to them them driving the car does seem to stop them feels like it wasn’t to accelerate while driving. I don’t know if anyone else have reported this issue but it doesn’t make sense that for a vehicle le that’s been greatly taken care of the transmission is went out .

I had my battery replaced about 3 days ago at the Toyota dealership . Yesterday, I was stopped at a red light and when I attempted to drive, the vehicle stalled. “braking power low” message on the dashboard and the car would not restart. I was able to jump start it after about 30 minutes. I got towed to a local repair shop who could not identify or duplicate the issue. I had no warning indicators other than failing to start the morning of getting the battery replaced 3 days ago.

Car won’t start after getting gas. Check engine like comes off and on. Rough stopping and getting up to speed. When issue with getting to speed on highway put us in dangers way. Not being able to start vehicle multiple times for long period concerning and frightening for family.

My vehicle lost power while driving on the interstate. I pulled over and smoke started coming from under the hood. Flames then started approximate 10-20 seconds later. Flames consumed the vehicle for a total loss. My insurance company declared the vehicle a total loss. Toyota stated they are investigating the issue. The police and fire department were present. The loss of power happened with no warning. There was a brief flash of the check engine light followed by a low power mode warning. I had just pulled over off of the interstate. This happened within 30 seconds of the vehicle catching on fire.

My Highlander was off and parked in my driveway. I was inside my home and I heard what sounded like a car alarm that was cutting out. I went outside to find out it was my car. However, it wasn't the alarm. It's a completely different pitch/tone that the car horn or the panic button. I proceeded to unlock the car, turned the car on and off a couple times, honked the horn, opened and closed the hood, etc and whatever sound was going off continued to go off even while the car was on. Whatever it was sounded like it had a short in it. Even my neighbors came out of their home. The sound eventually stopped and I went inside. 20 minutes later the sound started again. After it stopped, it happened again, for a short period. It was on a Saturday after dealerships were closed. The next day it happened again in the evening. It stopped right as I got outside. It's a nusiance to myself and my neighbors, it's loud, it's embarrassing, and the fact it continues to sound when my car is on concerns me because if it starts sounding while I'm in traffic or on the highway, it could cause major safety issues. No lights on the dash, battery tested good, literally no explanation.

"clicking" sound in steering wheel when barely turning wheel. Can also feel the "click" in the steering wheel. Was told it is a driving shaft problem - that this has been an ongoing problem with Toyota's, yet there has not been a recall. This needs to be looked into and the appropriate recall needs to be made to correct the faulty drive shafts.

I have a 2017 Highlander, there have been several occasions the latest being 5/21/2022 that when trying to start I get "braking power low" stop in safe place and SUV does not start, after several attempts it starts. I called the Toyota dealership where I purchased SUV, asked if they knew about this issue and was informed, they have no knowledge and never heard of this issue, I looked online and found there have been some complaints. For now, my SUV starts after several attempts, but I am concerned that in the future it may not start and am not sure what to do. Are there or will there be any recalls on this issue? I'm sure the dealership (Toyota) will be more than happy to have me pay to fix this problem when it comes to that, but I feel this Toyota issue.

Front windshield cracked in 2 location due to stress. No impact of any kind. West kendall Toyota in kendall, miami wants me to file insurance and have repairs done by safelite autoglass. This is a Toyota manufacturers problem. The new windshield should be oem and needs quality front camera calibration. Kendall Toyota’s phone : 305 536 3255.

The stop/start feature on the 2017 Highlander appeared to fail. In stop and go traffic, the vehicle stalled. And would not start. The vehicle started back up with a battery boost. This incident presented a danger to the person in this vehicle and other vehicles around it. The vehicle was brought to Toyota service. They could not reproduce the issue. A fault was found in the battery, the battery was replaced. Approximately 11 days later. This vehicle came to a stop at a red light, stop/start feature engaged. The vehicle did not start back up, it stalled.

It being 4 time that the car shut off by itself while my wife driving in the middle of road and it won’t start the first time happer last year,second tine around April or may, third time yesterday 8/31/21,and today 9/01/21.

My 2017 Toyota Highlander just stop working all of sudden, I can’t start the engine at all it says in the dashboard boaster power low/ park in the side in safe place. I was trying to start the engine it since it’s 102 outside and I have my baby with me. I search it online and find out that Toyota has recall for the same problem but only for 2018 Toyota Highlander. I can’t even drive my car to the dealer/mechanic since I can’t even start it all. Driving with this type of vehicle with same problem is really danger. The Toyota should check inspect all their vehicle first for safely of everyone.

Factory installed running board traction points melting, sticking to shoes, trip/safety hazard as well as potential for burns.

What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? transmission failure & power steering control replacement. Yes available to inspect how was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? we were on a family trip with two young kids in the mountains and going very low speeds. . . Maybe 10 miles per hour. Our car stopped working. In the middle of a rush hour in heat at the top of the mountain, we had to get from the far left lane to the far right to stop. While trying to get over, the car jerked, revved, and we almost got into accidents because I just couldn't get the car to go without delayed reactions and then jerked to a fast motion. Very unsafe! at the same time, check engine light, abd, and sensor lights flashed on. I got on the side to turn the car off and on again and tried to go a little at a snail pace speed and still the same thing happened. We had to get towed over 100 miles away to our home with young kids. When we got it looked at, the transmission company let me know we had to replace it and we had a unsalvageable transmission and we needed to purchase a new one. He also ,mentioned he was suspicious because he doesnt regularly get my type of car but coincidentally he has seen at least 3 with the same make model and even color in his shop in the last couple of months. The sensor lights were a completely separate problem that happened at the same exact time, very suspicious. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? yes on both issues has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? only transmission company and certified Toyota servicer were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? both warning lights appeared after the first jerking and dangerous switching lanes event. Once we got over, all lights came on.

When turning on the car the emergency hybrid system states to put in p and take foot off brake. Car will not stop. When in car wash on neutral car would not go into drive and rolled out and was able to find spot but couldn’t turn off and back on. Has occurred multiple times. Multiple warning lights on dash light up when it occurs.

While driving down the road going about 60 mph, my sunroof exploded. No cars in front of me. Nothing hit me. Just a load explosion. I pulled over and saw that my sunroof exploded. It was bulging upward, with a big hole in it.

My car is <4 years old with 38,000 miles and while driving on the highway I got a light that said low voltage to abs system and then every light on the dashboard went off. I pulled over and turned the engine off and it wouldn't restart. After 30 minutes the engine restarted with a screeching sound from the hood and then turned it off again. I took the car to the dealer and was told the alternator malfunctioned.

While driving in a city street at approximately 20 mph I had my window wipers on due to some pollen on my windshield. While window wipers were engaged I approach a downward hill and hit noting but sun glare blinding me I put my brakes on but by that time my SUV slammed into the car in front of me. The emergency braking system did not activate.

Bluetooth disconnecting ## #vpic# 1 - check digit (9th position) does not calculate properly; 4 - VIN corrected, error in one position only (indicated by ! in suggested VIN), multiple matches found; 14 - unable to provide information for all the characters in the VIN. #vpic#.

I have been told by the Toyota dealer as well as apple that my new phone, an iphone 11 pro, is not compatible with the computer system in the vehicle. They both claim the other needs an update, but neither one has any idea when that may happen. I cannot use hands free because the phone continually connects and disconnects to the car. The suggestion I got from them was to turn off my bluetooth and not allow the phone to connect to the car. This seems like a safety issue with no end in sight. This happens anytime the car is on smd the phone connects. This is an ongoing issue from November on. . .

I turned my car to park in the church parking lot. I believe my foot was on the brake, it happened so fast, I am not sure. . All of a sudden the car began to accelerate on it's own! it scared the daylights out of me! suddenly the car jumped through a wooden fence and off a five foot drop off to the street below. I was lucky there was a pile of gravel to stop me. I put it into park. The airbags did not go off. I was not hurt. But I am very stressed by the incident. It will be a month before it is fixed.

While driving on the interstate, vehicle motor stopped. Had to steer to the shoulder of highway. Was able to turn vehicle on/off, seemed to reset car. Able to drive. Within 250 miles occurred again. This is the second complaint with this vehicle. Last year, car automatically decclerated to 40 mph on the interstate on cruise control, would not go above 40 mph. Very dangerous. Car taken in to dealership for 4 days for quests dust on some kind of electronic board.

The sunroof in our 2017 Toyota Highlander hybrid just exploded. It was 80 degrees outside. We were driving on a paved, 2 lane highway. No one else was on the road. There was a loud explosive sound. My husband thought we had been shot; I thought the back of the car had fallen off. We pulled over and inspected the car. There was a large hole (about 10 inches across) in the sunroof. Shattered glass filled the interior sunroof cover. The glass was pushed up, not down like you would expect if something hit the glass.

My vehicle has app. 6500 miles on it. The steering has a herky jerky feeling to it at times and now it's started making a popping noise that I don't know where it's coming from or if it has anything to do with the steering. All this happens when I'm driving on any type of surface. When I had the tires rotated in June, I was not informed of any problem but there is clearly something going wrong. It's a little difficult stating a starting time but it hasn't gone away.

I purchased a Toyota Highlander in April 2017 from the jim coleman dealer in bethesda, maryland. Since then, this terrible designed car is hurting me and my family. In the back of the car, the rear light covers stick out about 3 inches, the edges are as sharp as a keen knife (photos attached). When I unload stuff from the trunk, it often hurts me. I have tried to be very careful. I also reminded my teenage son with caution. However, it sticks out too much and is too sharp. It is hard to avoid. It keeps hurting. For example, three months ago, on an evening it was dark and raining, at a costco parking lot, when I uploaded groceries onto the car, my right arm and joint were suddenly hit by this sharp cutting edge of the rear light cover. The keen edge cut my arm, and the stick out part badly hurt my joint (photos attached). I could not raise my arm. Three months have passed; however, my joint is still paining. I went to jim coleman dealer and pointed out the danger part in the rear. I had their managers and staff to feel by putting their hands on the keen edge. They all admitted it is bad design and easy to injure people. But they said they could not do anything about it. I asked if they could report incidents/cases to manufacturers, and have it improved. They said they sell cars only. I randomly took photos of other made of cars (photos attached). None of them stick out a knife likes Highlander. It is a nightmare when using this Highlander daily.

Car stalled has happened more than 5 times at parking lot - gas station - home - restaurant - car wash car has stopped while driving on main street 1 time.

Several instances with vehicle moving on a city street less than 5 mph and attempting to make a left turn into a side street the vehicle loses all engine power at the gas pedal. Attempts to press the gas pedal has no affect, then after about 5-8 seconds the vehicle responds to the gas pedal and starts moving. I have had the same problem when moving slowly on a city street and attempting to change lanes, while in the middle of the lane change the vehicle loses all power for 5-8 seconds and then will start to respond to the gas pedal. Then responds to the gas pedal. This is potentially a very dangerous situation and an accident waiting to happen as I'm unsure if the car will go or not when this occurs. I have had the vehicle back to Toyota's service department two times for this prob lem and they repeatedly tell me that they can not duplicate the problem and that the vehicle is operating normally.

Sitting in the car with the transmission in the park position, motor and accessories off, the tailgate opened on its own six times in a 45 minute period. Each time we closed the hatch with the button on the dash. When we returned home and parked in the garage, the door opened again by itself within a two hour period. All keyfobs were in the house.

Twice in the span of 1 year and 6 months owned car for 2 years 1st- shattered windshield- glass came inside the car of hylander when rock hit winshield- only 1 year old. Car was in motion on a city road speed limit 35 mph 2nd time: shatterd winshield 1 year 3 months later from another rock. The car was in motion on a city street speed limit 45 mph.

This vehicle does not alarm on people walking behind the vehicle when backing out of a parking spot in a parking lot. It also doesn't alarm on a vehicle backing towards you directly behind the vehicle. The vehicle was in reverse just moving out of my parking space, it happened twice recently. It is an unusual situation which is why I haven't reported it earlier. The car was in reverse.

2017 Highlander limited. 11,800 miles. Over the last 30 days the vehicle has had 3 similar events of vehicle hesitation or stumbling from a full stop, when applying full accelerator pedal travel. The vehicle seems to accelerate normally for a second or two, then just seems to hang at 5-10 mph. Pumping the accelerator pedal quickly full up, full down may have fixed the problem, I'm not really sure, but that is what I did. The vehicle operates normally after that. In the last and most frightening episode, I was at a stop,on a side street waiting to turn onto a frontage road where typical speeds are 60 mph. I pressed the accelerator pedal full down to the floor and turned onto the frontage road. The vehicle seemed to accelerate normally for 1-2 seconds, then as before, just stayed at 5-10 mph with a car coming upon my rear at 60 mph. Fortunately for me he was able to change lanes and avoid running into me. I pumped the accelerator pedal as described. The vehicle than responded normally. I don't remember if the vehicle was in power or economy mode. I typically put it into power mode before entering the highway (which I was about to do on the far side of the frontage road) if I remember. As you may imagine this last episode left me quite disturbed. I always use regular grade gasoline from top name gas stations. These events happened with different tanks of gas from different stations. I took the vehicle to the dealership. They were not able to read any error codes from the computer, and were unable to repeat the problem in a test drive. They have escalated the case to the Toyota engineering team.