general problems of the 2018 Toyota Highlander - part 1

Car will not start due to message that says "braking power low. Stop in a safe place" there have been recalls on 2018 Highlanders for the brake vacuum pump but it is not listed for my particular vehicle.

The brakes are very soft and unreliable. There is a recall #18v-211 dated April 2,2018. This recall did not include this specific car but the car was manufactured within a few days of the recall. After Toyota failed to repair the problem I took the car to a a private auto repair shop who replaced the vacuum pump. The brakes now work as they should. I beleve the recall should be extended to include more vehicle made about this time.

I own a Toyota Highlander 2018 le. I have been servicing it regularly at authorized Toyota delaership service centers. I have around 28000 miles on it. While trying to start the car this morning, the car wouldn't start, the brake feels hard and won't depress, and the dashboard displays the message" braking power low stop in a safe place see owner's manual".

My husband took my car from the carport and parked it in the driveway near the water hose to wash the car. When he finished, it would not start. The message “braking power low” , “stop in a safe place”, “ see owner’s manual”showed up. Of course, we could not find anything in the large owner’s manual concerning that! I checked with my VIN to see if mine was included in the recall regarding this same matter, but it was not, just as all other Toyota Highlander 2018 owners who complained were told!!! we will find out tomorrow and pray it won’t be a lot of money. We have a thanksgiving trip planned to see our grandchildren. Today is Sunday and we planned to leave on Tuesday. I shudder to think what could have happened if it suddenly stopped on interstate 20 with all the holiday traffic. My husband was looking to buy a car after the first of the year and was going to buy a Toyota. After this, he has reconsidered. Toyota needs to see all these complaints and how many were not included in the recall!!! something’s not right!.

Out of nowhere, I couldn’t get the car to start. It keeps saying “low braking power”. I had someone checked with code scanner and nothing shows up, and it’s not battery issue neither. The car guy said there’s a very high chance the issue is from the brake booster vacuum pump.

Brake booster did not work. We were almost in 2 wrecks due to it taking longer to stop the vehicle. The dealer finally fixed it after I paid over $1500. They didn't care about how this was a known defect in 2018 Toyota Highlanders and took forever to identify and fix. No one has looked at it since just got it back today. Once the brake light went on the dash board I brought it in. I did wait one day when it went off, but once it came back on again I was going to, but then was scared when it didn't come on and then I could barely stop.

My vehicle has codes c1253 and c1256. These codes are associated with faulty brake actuators, a well documented issue in Highlanders. Faulty brake actuators can cause problems with braking, which can put my safety and the safety of others at risk.

As I was returning to my house and about to pull into our garage I was driving very slowly, riding the brake in fact. I was going less than 1 mph but as I first entered the garage my car engine suddenly roared very loudly and sped inside. I pressed as hard as I could on the brakes and the car skidded towards the left and slammed into the garage wall. I firmly believe that the only thing that kept my car from traveling farther was the garage door frame. Between my braking and then turning off the engine, I came to a stop. There were skid marks on the pavement at the garage entrance from the hard braking and both the driver's door and the passenger door on that side were severely damaged. The car was now angled to the left and not pointed straight into the garage as it should have been. At no time did I press on the accelerator.

The contact owns a 2018 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated while driving 60 mph, the brake warning light illuminated, the contact observed a beeping noise coming from the instrument panel. Additionally, the messages "braking power low - stop in a safe place - see owner's manual” were displayed. The contact steered to the side of the vehicle where the vehicle was placed in park (p) and the beeping ceased. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to check the brake fluid, which was normal. The contact stated that the failure reoccurred approximately three times. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 77,000.

Driving down the street when an alarm went off stating "braking power low" and to "stop immediately". Vehicle to be towed and taken to local car dealership. Over the phone, the dealership claims no braking element has been recalled for my particular vehicle, however other Highlanders from the same year model were recalled for braking issues (vacuum pump. ) have been having issues with the "start/stop system malfunction" alarm going off as well for several months, but dealership states it will not affect the drivability of the vehicle.

I’ve always had issues with my breaks since I purchased my car. Today when I tried to turn on my car I received a message stating breaking power low. I did not have that issue last night nor had I seen it before. My car will not start.

The contact owns a 2018 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the brake warning light illuminated, and a message was displayed alerting the driver to a fault with the braking system. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who determined that the brake pads and rotors needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was then taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed a failure with the brake assist vacuum pump. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related it to NHTSA campaign number: 18v211000 (service brakes, hydraulic) however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 33,000.

10/10 tapped pedal into drive: Toyota Highlander 2018 car sped off at 50mph with my foot on brake for 3 minutes holding brake down and down-shifting did nothing vehicle stopped when it hit a pole destroying passenger-side fender and bumper airbag did not deploy unintended acceleration/sticky pedal as reported early this century when Toyota recalled 80,000 vehicles. On 11/17/2023 an er or black box four hour test/investigation was performed and I was told I would have results 12/28. Zero! when I telephone to report I was supposed to have edr test results in 30 days, the operator (not the unreachable quality control personnel) tells me, "well review of your crash results could take longer than 30 days. " need to have a safe car to drive to work but this one has a potentially deadly defect. I have completed the inspection of your vehicle. Inspection report from bosch to Toyota below: please find three files attached to this email: 1) edr faq_2. 0. Pdf "frequently asked questions" related to the information in the event data recorder (the air bag control unit's digital memory). 2) 5tdzzrfh1js281738_acm. Pdf the event data from your vehicle in pdf form, this file will open on your computer. 3) 5tdzzrfh1js281738_acm. Cdrx this file contains the same information as item #2, but it is a special format that will not display on your computer. It is sent to you so you will have the raw data for the #2 file above. I am not trained to interpret this data for you. The engineers will interpret this data and respond to you with their findings within 30 business days. 3 attachments • scanned by gmail.

My relatives remembered the 2002-2011 recall of 80,000 Toyotas, 90 deaths due to unintended acceleration and said that seems exactly what happened to me last month. Near fatal collision due to sticky pedal 2018 Toyota Highlander 10/10 slowly backed out of parking space in large, empty commercial lot: sunny day, 3pm ? tapped pedal into drive ? car sped off at 50+mph with my foot off pedal ? sped around lot for approximately 3minutes ? holding brake down and down-shifting did nothing except cause sheer terror with my uncontrollable vehicle ? hit pole and vehicle came to a stop after near-complete destruction of passenger-side bumper ? no injury except sheer mental terror ? no witnesses do not blame the victim. Dealer says all-weather floormat could never have been or be involved.

This Toyota Highlander xle 2018 was bought new in 2018. Lately in 8/23 started seeing on the dash a "brake" light that comes on and off while driving. 2 weeks later, starting seeing a warning sign saying "braking power low" and a message underneath saying"stop in safe place". Took it to Toyota dealer twice so far and they could not duplicate the issue ( maybe they did not drive it for enough time). They said also that no error history was retrieved, even though I had shown them video and pictures of the errors when happened. This warning signs has been happening intermittently after driving ~7-10 miles or 10-20 minutes on the road. I have searched on line and found some similar issues and even a recalls for the same issue on some 2018 models of Toyota, Lexus, and Highlander. They said some cars were recalled but not all. I serched for recall on my Highlander and found none. . Read more...

The contact owns a 2018 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated while driving 65 mph the warning message "brake power low" displayed. The contact felt the brake pedal was stiff and pulled over on the side of the road. The contact shut down the vehicle, when the contact attempted to restart the vehicle, the vehicle would not start. The contact had jump start the vehicle and the vehicle was able to restart. The vehicle was taken to the dealer that stated that the brake booster and the vacuum pump were malfunction and that the brake booster, master cylinder and the vacuum pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, and a case was filed. The failure mileage was 29,000.

While traveling down the rocky mountains, we experienced a gradual loss of braking. It took extreme pressure on the brake pedal to slow the vehicle. At this point there were no warning lights. Later down the road, the same thing occured again and a brake warning light illuminated. Traffic was light and the incline was slight which prevented an almost certain accident. We limped the vehicle to the dealer. The diagnosis was a brake booster failure. This is a 5 year old vehicle with only 57,000 miles! I have never had a booster failure on any vehicle in my life. This booster should be designed to last the life of the vehicle since it is part of such a critical safety system on this vehicle. The failed component was kept by the dealer.

2018 Toyota Highlander braking power low warning light came on twice. Mechanic determined it is the brake vacuum booster pump which can cause the brakes to fail to stop the vehicle. This was a recall on some of the 2018 manufactured Highlanders but not all. Many are now failing like mine. I have had it replaced luckily before a major accident and serious injury. Toyota knows of issues but will not recall without njtsa direction even though crashes may happen.

I was driving about to merge onto the highway and a warning low brake power light started beeping and appeared on the dashboard.

Braking to stop at a traffic light then all of the sudden the car stalls with braking power low message. The car won't even start for me to pull aside to a safe place. This is the second time this happened within 2 years so I decided to put a complaint in.

The contact owns a 2018 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated that while his wife was driving at an undisclosed speed, the brake pedal was depressed and she experienced a spongy pedal. The brake warning light was illuminated and the power failure to brake system message was displayed. Additionally, the vehicle made an abnormal sound while the brake pedal was depressed. The brakes failed to stop the vehicle immediately, which nearly caused a collision. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the brake master cylinder needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The contact related the failure to NHTSA campaign number: 18v211000 (service brakes, hydraulic) however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The failure mileage was approximately 27,000.

Vehicle will not start. "brake pressure low" message appears on instrument panel. The truck will be sent to the dealer. Brakes worked fine previously and brake fluid is at maximum level.

I am having an issue with my brake assist in my 2018 Toyota Highlander. This car was purchased new and has had regular service/ maintenance with the dealership since purchased. 1st incident was minor in nature. My brake was gently applied and the abs feature turned on and brake system engaged without any need. 2nd incident brake was applied and at the halfway point the brake stopped working. It felt like it locked. I could not stop my car as I was approaching another car. Car stopped at the last possible moment before impact. The situation was extremely dangerous for myself, my kids and the other driver. Later on during my drive I gently applied my brake and the brake would not release to it original position until a few seconds later. This time the brake light came on. Once the car came to a stop, I shifted my gear to park and the brake light disappeared. The car was then sent to a service station for analysis. Service station advised that there was a hissing sound coming from the front of my engine when the brake was applied. They recommended that I send vehicle back to dealership as they concluded that the car has a brake assist issue. The car was towed to the Toyota dealership where they mentioned that there was a recall for this exact issue however, my specific VIN is not included. I travel everyday with my kids and this is a real safety issue that needs to be addressed. No car should be on the road with faulty breaking systems. This can cause unnecessary loss of life. These vehicles should be included in this recall, especially mine. I filed a case with Toyota and am waiting to hear back from them. Please help make the roadways safe.

Low brake fluid pull over immediately warning ??,vehicle engine shut off would not restart was on highway going 55 mph . Had to get vehicle towed . There was a recall on brake booster but my VIN was not included same model year 2018.

The car low pressure break pop up and lock the break because of "low pressure vacuum pump" unable to break crashing into the curve when back up. After stop the car the car wouldn't start up again.

Approaching a stop light brakes didn’t work. The automatic system activated and the car stopped right before I rear-ended the car in front of me. I took it to a Toyota dealership and they diagnosed a faulty brake booster pump with a price of $2500 to replace. I see this isn’t a unique problem for the 2018 Highlander but after talking with Toyota they denied any coverage since my vehicle has 48,000 miles and is out of warranty.

Car wouldnt start in garage, it shows error in the dash "braking power low, stop in a safe place". It looks like several people are having same issue around same time outside of warranty, and on cars not in the original recall.

My 2018 Toyota Highlander xle had a break malfunction April 15, 2022. The brake light illuminated, "low brake power" flashed briefly and the pedal became stiff and unable to press for braking. I swerved to avoid rear ending the car in front of me. Brought it in to Toyota and they want $2000 to fix the break booster vacuum, and said it is not covered by warranty. My car only has 46k miles! this part is clearly faulty and Toyota should replace it. Accordingly to Toyota vehicle maintenance schedule, the vacuum pump for the brake booster needs to be replaced as a regular maintenance or "wear" item every 120,000 miles. This is a very expensive maintenance item (>$600 in parts, ~$2000 including labor and shop materials), that needs to be performed by a Toyota certified technician. In addition to being very expensive, what will discourage many vehicle owners from performing this service, one may expect that many owners who perform their own vehicle maintenance or use independent mechanic shops will simply miss this service altogether. Being a safety critical item, the vacuum pump should be designed to last the entire lifespan of the vehicle (just like other brake system components: abs pump, vacuum booster, master cylinder, etc. ). The short lifespan of the vacuum pump and the requirement to replace it on a regular basis is indicative of a defective or deficient design. Making the replacement of the vacuum pump a scheduled maintenance item is a just way for Toyota to avoid liability due to premature failures of a substandard safety component, especially in light that other brake system components are designed to last for the entire life of the vehicle, and are not considered wear items in the maintenance schedule (except for brake pads, of course). Toyota should redesign the vacuum pump to increase its lifespan in-line with the rest of the brake system components, and perform the replacement under a safety recall or service campaign, at no cost to vehicle owners.

About6 months ago I started getting the messege "breaking power low" when I try to start my vehicle. So I took it to star Toyota service paid $175 to diagnose the problem. The found dtc 1241 and told me to change the qhole skid control unit. Eventhough on the paper it said skid control ecu battery. So I took it to another dealer named penn Toyota and they found the same code but they said the voltage is coming low because I may leave my ignition on before I start my vehicle. That sounds funny because I do not do this and on top if I do this my battery would be dead. As of right now I spoke with Toyota and since my extended warrenty has finished so they offered my 25% coupon if I fixe the problem. Now I do not know what is the problem and which dealer to trust. The reason I am reporting to "NHTSA" is because if I die because of this problem with my car which is still undiagnosed so at least they can find out the same reason so there will be no more death after me. Again the messege comes on the crean is " breaking power low. Stop in a safe place ".

Just like the other complaints with the brakes, I also received the error message "“braking power low, stop at a safe place”. Also like the other complaints here, I went to the dealership where I purchased the car and they told me it is not covered and considered as a recall for my vehicle. Even though the same problems have been identified for the same make and vehicle under recall #18v211000. I also called the Toyota corporation and they said since my VIN number wasn't specifically affected, it's not part of the recall. I don’t think it’s right that Toyota can say it is not covered simply because they haven’t identified it with my specific VIN and or the manufacturer they used. This is horrible and obviously, there is an issue with the brake system that could lead to collisions.

My car stopped working and the following error message showed up "braking power low, stop in a safe place. " I have a photo of this error message. When researching this error message, it may be related to NHTSA campaign number 18v-211. The research I've done says on multiple websites this error is related to brake booster pump. The dealership is saying there was no such recall, but I was able to find the recall notice on this issue through the NHTSA website. I would appreciate a phone call at 206-446-1106. Again, I have a photo of the error message that showed up on my dashboard.

Vehicle wouldn't start. Shows low break power stop the vehicle in a safe area. Luckily this happened when I was not driving. Breaks felt stuck.

The contact owns a 2018 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated that while his wife was driving at various speeds, the brakes failed to operate as needed. The contact stated that “pull over immediately/vehicle unsafe to drive” was displayed on the instrument panel. The contact stated that his wife had to pump the brake pedal for the brakes to operate as needed. His wife took the vehicle to an independent mechanic who inspected the vehicle but found no defects with the braking system. Upon investigation, the contact discovered NHTSA campaign number: 18v211000 (service brakes, hydraulic) which he linked to the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed him that there were no recalls on the vehicle. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 32,000.

Sudden warning lights that the brake system is low. The vehicle is inoperable.

I bought this 2018 Toyota Highlander xle brand new from the dealer on 2018. My first brakes and rotors were changed by Toyota dealer on March 2020 at 24000 miles and then the second time again brakes and rotors were changed December 2020 at 39000. Both time it was Toyota oem parts. Now at 63000 these ae weare out I bought different company breaks and brembo rotors akebonno brakes. Each time it was more than $800 job. It looks like Toyota is making very cheap break pads and rotors and for consumers are not getting what they say about their brakes and rotors. Which IA supposed to be 30000 miles. I am requesting someone to tale a look at this matter and save the consumers to spend less. Thank you.