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Toyota C-HR slipping problems

13 of the 559 owner complaints about the Toyota C-HR describe transmission slipping, most of them for the 2018 model year.

owner complaints
13
worst model year
2018
Is there a fix? There is 1 recall for this area of the car. See below

By model year

  • 2021
    1
  • 2020
    2
  • 2019
    2
  • 2018
    8

What owners say

Filed Sep 30, 2026 · Transmission · FL

Transmission slippage and failure

Filed Sep 9, 2026 · Transmission · WA

Purchased vehicle in Costa Mesa, CA. Mileage on vehicle when taken to auto repair shop: 70,037. Request for transmission fluid replacement and diagnostic on front end noise. Notes from Auto Repair Shop: Performed transmission service with cvt service kit. Technician test drove customer vehicle and confirmed there's a rotational groaning from the front of the car. Unable to determine cause at this time, requesting further diagnostic time Performed nvh diagnostic for front end rotational noise concern. Isolated noise to transaxle internal.Technician determined transmission failure (torque converter) and recommended replacement. Afterwards, while driving home and waiting at a red light, vehicle did not accelerate when light turned green. I put the car into park, then back into drive. No movement. Switched to manual mode, no movement. Went back to automatic and car started to go. Felt that the transmission was slipping. I was afraid that it was going to stall out again, so I ran the next light to get onto to the freeway to get my vehicle home ASAP. I will never drive another vehicle with a CVT transmission. If I would have known about any issues with CVT’s, I would NOT have purchased this vehicle.

Filed Jul 23, 2026 · Transmission · CA

I have a K114 CVT internal bearing defect. It is available for inspection upon request. Transmission issues are unsafe because it can cause sudden loss of acceleration, unexpected vehicle stalling in traffic, and delayed shifting or gear slippage. These sudden changes make my car behave unpredictably; risking rear-end collisions or loss of control. This puts myself, my passengers, and others at risk. I am unsure if the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center. The vehicle and/or component have not been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others. However, the vehicle received Service in December 2025 for a transmission fluid replacement for maintenance and no issues were reported at the time. There were not any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure. The issues first appeared in mid-June, around June 15, 2026, where I could hear a grinding noise when I drove. On July 1, I was driving home and experienced stalling while turning right at a stoplight. I took the car in for a diagnostic inquiry on 7/18/2026 and was notified I had a transmission issue. I took it for a second opinion, where it was confirmed it was transmission. I took it to Toyota and on 7/22/2026, they confirmed it was transmission issues requiring a full replacement with no financial assistance citing my warranty has ended and my service history is not thorough enough. Toyota has already extended the warranty for Canadian drivers due to this exact safety hazard.

Filed May 10, 2026 · Transmission · GA

unusual noises, unexpected slipping, deacceleration. According to mechanics is a CVT bearing failure

Filed Apr 23, 2026 · Transmission · LA

When you give the car gas the car starts to rumble. Sounds like gears slipping or grinding. Brought car to Price LeBlanc Toyota in Baton Rouge, LA where car was purchased and service department stated nothing was wrong and that noise had stopped. When driving car home noise was worst than when brought to service department stated.

Filed Dec 15, 2025 · Transmission · MA

I am reporting a defective CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) in my Toyota vehicle that completely failed at approximately 85,000 miles under normal driving conditions. The transmission did not exhibit abusive use or unusual load beyond everyday driving — just standard highway and city miles. At ~85,000 miles, the transmission began to exhibit significant performance degradation and mechanical failure, including (describe what happened — e.g., whining, slipping, failure to engage, loss of drive). Eventually it failed outright, leaving the vehicle inoperable and requiring a replacement transmission at substantial cost. Toyota has used this CVT design across multiple models, and there are numerous owner complaints and documented powertrain failures tied to Toyota’s CVT, including reports of failures well below 100,000 miles. Independent sources and consumer complaint databases show this is not isolated — many owners report early transmission failures and extremely high replacement costs when out of warranty. CarComplaints +1 I believe this is a safety and reliability defect because a transmission giving out at moderate mileage can cause loss of propulsion, unexpected behavior while driving, and potentially hazardous situations if it fails while the vehicle is in motion. This issue should be investigated for potential recall or formal safety action, as the frequency and severity of failures impose undue financial hardship and risk to consumers. I am submitting this complaint to alert the federal safety agency to the pattern of CVT failures in Toyota vehicles and to ensure that this problem receives appropriate investigation

Filed Oct 19, 2025 · Transmission · ME

I am reporting repeated transmission failures and unsafe driving behavior in my 2018 Toyota C-HR. The transmission was first replaced at approximately 89,000 miles under an extended warranty due to whining noises and slipping. Since then, I have returned to the dealership three separate times with the same symptoms. The dealer acknowledges the issue but has not performed any corrective repairs. The vehicle now exhibits the same failure symptoms again at 124,000 miles. These include whining noises when accelerating, hesitation to engage, and intermittent loss of power. This creates unsafe driving conditions, especially when merging or crossing intersections. Details and Pattern: Toyota Canada has publicly acknowledged a faulty bearing inside the CVT transmission for the 2018–2019 Toyota C-HR and extended the warranty to 10 years / 193,000 km. My vehicle has the same CVT transmission (K114) and was built in the same factory (Turkey). Toyota USA has not offered any comparable warranty extension or recall, despite identical vehicles experiencing the same failures. Numerous other U.S. owners have reported similar CVT failures to the federal safety agency and CarComplaints.com. This appears to be a widespread safety defect related to the transmission’s internal bearing or CVT assembly, which can cause loss of power and control while driving. Requested Action: I request that the federal safety agency investigate the 2018 Toyota C-HR CVT transmission for design or manufacturing defects, including bearing failure, and determine whether a U.S. recall or extended warranty campaign should be issued as Toyota Canada has already done.

Filed Oct 8, 2025 · Transmission · MO

My transmission has started slipping and making weird noises. I'm afraid it will fail while driving and cause an accident. I just recently went to toyota and they told me it needs to be replaced. There have been 200+ complaints on the toyota chr for transmission issues, but no recalls for the 2018 model, which apparently has the most issues. There have been no warning lights to appear since owning the vehicle in 2021

Filed Jul 30, 2025 · Transmission · VA

At 100k miles, car began to make whining noise that changed with accelerating and decelerating. Toyota dealership diagnosed a slipping belt in the transmission and transmission was replaced. Filing the federal safety agency report due to significant amount of transmission problems the Toyota C-HR has and other owners have experienced.

Filed Jun 18, 2025 · Transmission · WI

The component that has been failing is the transmission is the CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) is plagued by loud noises which can eventually lead to expensive gearbox failures. The safety risk is that the transmission will start Whining, humming or buzzing noise Rattling noises Slipping first gear or reverse. I have been told by a representative of Toyota that they have had many reports of problems with this years transmission. I first started noticing it around 55,000 miles and thought it was a bearing until did research online and this seems to be a problem that most owners are dealing with.

Related recalls

Power train: axle hubsReported October 11, 2018 · 681 vehicles affected
What is wrong
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2019 Toyota C-HR vehicles. The rear axle hub bearing bolts may have been insufficiently tightened, causing the bolts to loosen and damage the rear brake components or cause a rear wheel to detach.
Risk
If the bolts loosen and damage the rear brake components, or cause a rear wheel to detach, it would increase the risk of a crash.
Remedy
Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the rear axle hub bearing bolts. If a bolt is found to be loose or detached, the dealer will replace the rear axle hub bearing assembly and rear axle carrier sub-assembly, free of charge. The recall began November 6, 2018. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1‑888‑270‑9371. Toyota's number for this recall is J0Y.

Recall number 18V710000 · Recall details

Questions about the Toyota C-HR slipping

Which Toyota C-HR years have transmission slipping problems?

The model years with the most reports are 2018 (8 complaints), 2019 (2 complaints) and 2020 (2 complaints).

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