When buying an SUV, reliability is one of the most important factors. You’re going to put a lot of miles on your Toyota Highlander between commuting, shopping and vacations, so you want to know that it is built to last.
How reliable is the Toyota Highlander?
The Toyota Highlander has a high reliability rating according to experts and owners alike, and was even awarded an 85/100 by JD Power.
- Owner Reviews: 4.90 stars
- Expert Reviews: 4.60 stars
These are pretty solid scores, but to understand them, we’ll need to dig into those reviews, and we might as well take a look at the NHTSA page and see how many complaints and recalls it has on record. Read on and find out just how reliable the Highlander is.
A Look at the Toyota Highlander
Built on the Camry platform, the mid-size crossover Highlander was one of the first in its class. The Highlander was built as a crossover version of the heftier, truck-based 4Runner.
For years, the Highlander was Toyota’s best-selling SUV. Today that honor goes to the RAV4, but the Highlander maintains strong figures, typically selling around a quarter-million units a year since 2017.
Highlander is now in its fourth generation, unveiled at the New York International Auto Show in early 2019. The new Highlanders are built on a GA-K platform, and they saw a full redesign for 2020.
The Highlander has long been one of the safest vehicles on the road, with four- and five-star ratings from the NHTSA across the board.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reported that the early Highlanders had the second-lowest driver fatality rate for any SUV, being just beaten out by the 4Runner.
Recalls, Reviews and Complaints
Numbers help, but to really know how reliable a car is, we need to consider a few key factors: How many times it’s been recalled, how many driver complaints are registered with the NHTSA, and what the reviewers and owners are saying.
The NHTSA Report
The NHTSA reports two recalls for the 2020 Highlander. The first has to do with a potential engine stall caused by an ECU programming error possibly affecting 38,810 units.
Essentially a bug in the software resulted in the engine not being fed any fuel when you press on the gas. A recall was issued May 15, 2020 to update the software.
The second had to do with air bags failing to deploy properly in a potential 3,121 vehicles. The trim covers on the seats had a tendency to interfere with the inflation of the side air-bags. This recall involves replacing trim covers as necessary and will begin on December 13, 2020.
The Highlander has just 13 complaints registered with the NHTSA, and mostly for different issues, suggesting that no major factory defects have been determined by these complaints just yet.
The most common of these is a fuel tank issue. Three different drivers have noted that their tanks were supposed to carry 17.1 gallons, but that gas pumps will automatically shut off at just 12 gallons.
One driver in Florida complains of the SUV jerking and stalling but did not provide enough information to determine whether this is a reliability concern.
Ask a Driver
The most important thing is going to be what the drivers are saying. So, what are the drivers saying?
The reviews on Vehicle History are overwhelmingly positive with a few issues. One reviewer found the car’s Heads Up Display to be unreliable, failing to warn them of speed limit signs. Another driver doesn’t like the cruise control.
By and large, owner review complaints have little to do with reliability.
The biggest issue cited by expert reviewers: The Highlander is a little more expensive than its nearest competitors like the Honda Pilot and Kia Telluride.
This is a pattern with reviews for earlier models, as well. Drivers always have some issues here and there, they might feel that it’s missing some key features or that the electronic interface could be better, but it’s hard to find complaints regarding reliability.
Drive it for Miles
SUVs eat up a lot of road. You’re going to be going to and from work in this thing, taking it on cross-state road trips, driving the kids to school. You want it to last. So read the Vehicle History and make sure you get a vehicle you can count on.
