all vehicles · every Highlander year · method

Toyota Highlander 2018

Safety complaints filed by owners in the first three years, per 1,000 sold.

0.44 per 1,000

0.9 times this nameplate’s own median · from 102 complaints filed in the first three years, of 272 ever. 95% lower bound 0.36.

Against its own model years

The model year carries far more information than the badge, so this is the comparison that matters.

Model year	Per 1,000	Complaints
2008	1.37	143
2009	0.49	46
2010	0.62	54
2011	0.46	44
2012	0.40	44
2013	0.65	81
2014	0.29	40
2015	0.49	75
2016	0.28	49
2017	0.41	84
2018	0.44	102
2019	0.62	151
2020	0.30	68
2021	0.52	124
2022	0.51	123
2023	0.67	131

What owners describe

Phrases over-represented in these complaints compared with the same component on every other vehicle. Counts are complaints containing the phrase.

Power Train 68 complaints

whining	23	34%
whining noise	16	24%
program	15	22%
support program	14	21%
support	14	21%
zjc	11	17%

Service Brakes 59 complaints

low	28	48%
power low	19	32%
braking power	18	31%
place	15	26%
message	15	26%
stop safe	13	22%

When it breaks

66% of reported failures happened before 30,000 miles (median 16,000 miles, from 116 complaints that recorded one).

Failures cluster early, which is the signature of how the car was built rather than of wear. A low-mileage example has not yet passed the risk window.

What NHTSA did

1 investigation covering this model year, 1 of which list a recall campaign.

Pedestrian alert sounds

What owners and forums say

Not built yet. This panel is meant to carry community sentiment beside the filed-complaint data, so the two can be compared. Showing something weaker here would defeat its purpose.

Check this yourself

Example records behind this page:

11065366 · 11080839 · 11091212 · 11092758 · 11097295 · 11100337

Limits of this figure. It counts safety complaints filed with the federal government, which is a floor on failures and not a census: problems that only cost money are under-reported. Complaint rates also reflect how likely a brand’s owners are to file, which cannot be separated from how often the car fails. Sales are calendar-year and the denominator for this nameplate is automated checks only, not verified against an external source.