2020 Toyota C-HR: whining or grinding noise

Filed Aug 17, 2026 · Transmission · TX

CVT bearing disintegrating. Expected repair cost is $10k-$12k. Purchased about a year ago and still owe almost 20k on the loan. This is the car that was intended to be used by my daughter but cannot trust this to make the drive. There have been no warning lamps or system messages just a metal on metal grinding sound. This is a known issue with this model of vehicle and there is already a warranty enhancement for this issue on 2018 and 2019 models. Mine is a 2020 so they clearly did not fix this known issue. This started about a month ago as a slight high pitched whine and has quickly progressed to the point that we cannot use the vehicle.

Filed Aug 13, 2026 · Acceleration, Engine · WA

While driving, my 2020 Toyota C-HR suddenly lost acceleration in the middle of the road, with the vehicle failing to respond to throttle input. This has now happened twice. There was no warning noise (no whining or grinding) beforehand, and the loss of power occurred without warning while the vehicle was in motion, creating a dangerous driving condition due to inability to maintain speed or safely merge/clear traffic.

Filed Jun 30, 2026 · Transmission · CA

Transmission bearing is going out. I hear a whine noise while driving. And took it to a Transmission shop and was told the Transmission bearing goes out alot on these types vehicle. And i just bought this car used 1 month ago.

Filed Jun 26, 2026 · Transmission · FL

My 2020 Toyota C-HR is exhibiting clear, escalating symptoms of the known K114 CVT internal bearing defect, creating an active safety hazard while driving. The transmission has not failed completely yet, but it regularly experiences high-pitched whining noise, sudden hesitation during acceleration, and loud grinding-like noise which gets louder and faster as I speed up. This behavior creates a significant safety risk because the vehicle unexpectedly fails to accelerate when merging onto the highway / hesitates unpredictably at busy intersections, exposing me to the risk of a rear-end collision. The car is less than 6 years old, and a mechanic/dealership has diagnosed it as an impending internal bearing failure. Toyota Canada has already acknowledged this exact flaw by extending the CVT warranty to 10 years. However, Toyota USA refuses to act, forcing American drivers to choose between operating an increasingly unpredictable, unsafe vehicle or paying $10,000+ out of pocket to replace a component with a known manufacturing defect. I am filing this to urge the federal safety agency to investigate before this transmission suffers a complete, dangerous failure at highway speeds.

Filed Jun 10, 2026 · Transmission · IN

Started hearing a whining noise shortly after buying this car and found out it is an internal bearing failure inside the CVT transmission that is widely known in these vehicles to fail but there has been no recalls to correct the problem and could cost me money I don't have to get it fixed.

Filed May 12, 2026 · Transmission · TX

Transmission bearing failure. Whining noise started about 2 months ago and continually got worse before complete transmission failure.

Filed Apr 28, 2026 · MD

My transmission is whining and the mechanic shop is stating that I need a new transmission. A common issue they are seeing within vehicles with the CVT transmission

Filed Apr 13, 2026 · Transmission · 76,000 miles · OK

The contact's customer owns a 2020 Toyota C-HR. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, there was a grinding and whining sounds coming from the transmission. The contact diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the CVT transmission was failing and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer and local dealer were notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 76,000.

Filed Mar 2, 2026 · Transmission · IN

I have a 2020 Toyota C-HR with 95,000 miles. The transmission is making whining noises and needs to be replaced. This is a known defect that has been reported by an excessive amount of Toyota C-HR owners. In some regions, it was reported that Toyota extended the warranty on the CVT transmission for certain 2018–2019 models to 10 years or 193,000 km but they have not done this with the 2020 C-HR that has the exact same issue. [XXX] I am scared to drive the car because I don't want it to leave me stranded. The local Toyota dealer has given me a repair estimate of over $13,000 which is almost as much as the car is worth. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Jan 9, 2026 · Transmission · WI

My transmission started making whining noises about 100000 miles I brought it in to get diagnosed and was confirmed that my transmission is going out and will cost 10000 dollars to replace the car made it to about 130000 miles and the transmission fully went out the car is sitting behind my house currently waiting for me to raise the money to fix it the car was used for daily commute to work and had regular maintenance and I don't beat on my vehicles so there was nothing done on my half to cause any damage to the transmission

Filed Jan 2, 2026 · Transmission · MN

The front of the car started making a high pitched whining noise at around 115000 miles. I had the breakpads and the rotors replaced but the sound kept on. Then the dealership said that the transmission is causing the noise. There were no warnings prior to the sound.

Filed Nov 13, 2025 · Transmission · OH

Car started making a humming, whining type noise. I work out of town so when we were able to get vehicle in to dealership they stated that it is the transmission. And the cost was over $10000 to fix. This is a 5 year old car!!! I still owe $7000 on the car!!! I should not have to pay another car payment to keep my car going!!! I started to look things up and we took car to a transmission place. They looked in to it and stated yes the tranismission needs replaced. They could only find 1 of the pieces needed to fix transmission. They are charging $9000 on it. I cant afford to be doing all of this! Hard part is 5 years ago I was in a major accident being hit by a semi truck. I had a chr at the time. It is unkown how I lived through everything. The car was destroyed. Oddly enough the dealership ended up getting a chr the was the same as mine just newer. It was meant for us to get the vehicle. This car saved my life. So we buy the new chr and now this!!! I was out of work for months, and medical bills are astronomical!! Please help! My husband name is [xxx] , the vehicle will be under his name information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6)