general problems of the 2020 Toyota Highlander

While on the freeway vehicle stalled when accelerating and engine stopped, I had to pull over to the side of the road to avoid accident. Turned vehicle back on and started making a whinning noise. Vehicle was taken in and found out the transmission is no good at 89k. Also found out that a lot of people that purchased this vehicle are having the same issue.

On September 2, 2025, the vehicle’s hybrid system shut down on cold start and the vehicle would not start. A dealer inspection reported coolant had entered cylinder #4, allegedly causing the engine block to warp, the cylinder head to crack, and the head gasket to fail. This was a sudden catastrophic engine failure on a five-year-old vehicle with no prior overheating warnings, no dashboard alerts, and no performance issues in the days leading up to the failure. It is highly unlikely for an engine block to warp without sustained overheating, yet the failure occurred on a cold start. The dealership itself described this as a “premature failure” in their service report. At approximately 26,000 miles, the vehicle’s coolant thermostat failed and was replaced under warranty. If the thermostat stuck closed even briefly, the engine could have experienced one or more silent overheat events that never registered on the dashboard. In aluminum blocks, even short bursts of high localized heat can create latent distortion that doesn’t cause immediate problems but can eventually lead to catastrophic failure years later. Safety risk: – vehicle became disabled suddenly without warning. – engine failure occurred without overheating symptoms, creating risk of sudden shutdown during use. Problem confirmation: – engine failure confirmed by a Toyota-authorized dealer. – dealer service report explicitly called this a “premature failure. ” warning lamps / symptoms: – a check engine light appeared briefly three days before failure, then cleared on its own. – no overheating warnings or drivability issues were observed prior to failure.

Just went back for secondary break malfunction and was told fuel ??????? I just filled it. Still no remedy for recall since my last maintenance visit.

A dealership has confirmed that the transmission in my 2020 Toyota Highlander is bad. It has 101k miles on it currently. I purchased this vehicle with the mindset that I would get 200,000 or 300,000 miles of use with it. I am now having to decide if I am going to trade it in or pay $9,000 to have the transmission replaced. I have been told that there are other 2020 Toyota Highlanders having this same issue. Has there been anything to determine what is causing this issue with the transmissions and will there be a recall?.

At 76000 miles my 2020 Highlander water pump began to fail. 20 days after the water pump was replaced at kings Toyota dealership, the transmission is now failing at 79000 miles. The warranty only covers repairs on each up to 60000 miles. This car has been maintained by the dealership and no engine light ever came on. The water pump was $1200 to repair and I’m being quoted $10k to repair the transmission. I also don’t trust that dealership didn’t accidentally cause the transmission to fail bc they surprisingly have a new transmission in stock the day I came in. If it truly failed today, then Toyota needs to recall this car for safety reasons. It went from fine to not fine in just a few days of driving.

I was in a school line waiting for my children. I went to hit the gas to move and the car said “maintenance required” and then flashed other warning lights “low power steering fluid and engine light. ” then the car turned off and screens were flashing. I tried to restart the car but the steering column was locked and brake pedal was locked. I checked all fluids and they were full. I had someone jump the car and it turned back on. I figured maybe a bad battery. Had aaa come look at the car and all diagnostic testing was normal. Next day, car does it again in the middle of an intersection.

The contact owns a 2020 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated that there was an abnormal winding noise detected while accelerating. The failure increased over time. While her husband was driving at approximately 60 mph attempting to accelerate, the vehicle lost motive power. While shifting to park, there was an abnormally loud, high-pitched winding sound detected. The vehicle was slow to shift from first to second gear. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who determined the cv joint needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to a transmission center, where the transmission was rebuilt and then it was replaced. The contact called the local dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The approximate failure mileage was 130,000.

About once or twice a week as I'm slowly braking to make a turn or stop, the car will surge forward. I have to depress the brake harder, and it does stop or keep slowing. I'm very concerned that if this happens as I'm stopping at a cross walk, someone could be hurt. I took it to the dealer who couldn't replicate it, so said it wasn't a safety issue. There are lots of forums that describe this with Highlanders. My partner can feel it happen too. I'm not sure if it's the braking system or engine. My guess is engine because it seems to be a power surge. It's inconsistent, and happens in all kinds of weather, hot/cold, dry/wet. No warning lights, or messages. Happens a lot, but I'm using the example of earlier this week. You're welcome to inspect if you want. It is a hybrid and one of my friends said it might be switching systems, but our other car is also a hybrid and doesn't have anything like this happening.

The contact owns a 2020 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated that while idle or parked the engine would suddenly seize. The failure would occur intermittently. The check engine light had illuminated and the dashboard displayed the message that the brakes were enabled. The contact would have to make attempts to restart the vehicle and regain mobility. The vehicle had been taken to the dealer a total of 3 times however they were unable to diagnose the vehicle. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure where a case was opened regarding the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 45,600.

Ecu system failure. Dealer ship is stating ecu system was damage from soda or coffee which is not accurate found a recall on this vehicles with the same issue our vehicle is having.

Gas will not fill up to the advertised amount. Distance to empty meter is not calibrated correctly. Others on Toyota forums experience the same issue.

I was at a stop sign in my 2020 Highlander waiting to turn left onto a busy road. Upon turning left onto PA state highway 999, the Highlander engine turned off and the steering wheel was "locked" into a left position. This caused the car to continue turning into the opposing left lane resulting in a head-on collision with an on-coming car. With the engine turned off there was no power steering, no brakes, and no way to unlock the steering wheel. The collision caused my car to bounce back and slowly free roll back to the stop sign as though I never entered the roadway.

In my 2020 Highlander I approached a stop sign at a "t" intersection behind 4 other cars. After stopping and looking to see road was clear of oncoming traffic, I pulled out and started my left turn. As I was turning into my lane the car engine turned off and the steering wheel was locked in the left position. There was no power for the brakes, which left me jamming on the brake pedal as hard as I could only slowing the car slightly. The steering wheel was locked left and I thought I was going to break it trying to force it back. With no ability to move the steering wheel or brake, I braced myself as the Highlander continued turning in the left direction into the other lane. The result was a head on collision with a Mini cooper, both cars totaled, and injuring both myself and the other driver. Highlander was investigated by forensic company in the employ of the insurance company, but they could not find any error in the cars cdr (crash data retrieval) system.

The engine died when stopped at stop sign. And then restarted while transmission in drive.

Driving 50 miles/ hour veh�cle started loosing power and started to shake. Engine light came on and two different messages in dashboard pop out. One about hybrid malfunction and the other output power reduced.

After leaving a shopping center on February 29 2020, we pulled out onto a road to head towards home. We were driving about 45 miles per hour in traffic and received a notification on the screen that said the engine was off, put car in park. There was also a warning light that came on for the electronic steering assist with an exclamation point. We were able to coast to the side of the road trying to maneuver through traffic of 4 lanes. We put the car in park and attempted to start the vehicle. It would turn over, but not start. We called Toyota roadside assistance and told them what happened and they said it would take about an hour to get to us and tow the vehicle. After about 15 minutes we decided to attempt to start the vehicle again. It started, and the vehicle steering warning light came on, but then went off. We called roadside assistance and told them we were going to attempt to drive to the dealership where we purchased the vehicle which was only a few miles away. We left the vehicle there to be checked and so far they say nothing has been found but are checking further and testing the vehicle but so far have been unable to duplicate the occurrence. It only has 300 miles on the odometer.