2024 Toyota Grand Highlander engine problems

Filed Sep 24, 2026 · Body, Engine · MO

The air conditioning system on my 2024 Grand Highlander failed due to a punctured AC condenser caused by road debris passing through the front grille during normal driving. The front fascia has large open apertures with no protective mesh or screening, leaving the condenser, radiator, and other heat exchangers directly exposed to rocks and debris. The condenser face shows multiple debris strikes, with one impact puncturing the core and causing complete refrigerant loss and AC failure at approximately 62,000 miles. The vehicle worked normally when parked and the AC was completely dead one week later due to the slow refrigerant leak from the puncture. Diagnosis was performed by [XXX] Toyota in [XXX], which confirmed the puncture was caused by road debris. The repair is not covered under warranty or my extended service contract because it is classified as outside damage, leaving owners to pay out of pocket for a design vulnerability. This is the same failure mode described in open ODI Defect Petition No. XXX covering 2024-2026 Grand Highlander vehicles. The same unprotected grille openings expose the engine radiator, meaning the identical debris path can puncture the radiator and cause coolant loss, engine overheating, and sudden loss of propulsion in traffic. The grille design leaves critical cooling components unreasonably vulnerable to everyday road debris. Photos of the punctured condenser and the dealer's written diagnosis are available. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Sep 1, 2026 · Engine, Fuel system · IL

At 5:16 pm, CST. I was stopped at a stop sign headed west on a 25 mph road crossing a 30 mph road (that does not have a stop sign) in Illinois. After waiting for a an appropriate gap in traffic, I attempted to accelerate though the interesting. I released the brake pedal and attempted to accelerate. The vehicle barely accelerated. The engine seemed to minimally climb in RPM and only accelerated minimally out into the cross road. This lasted approximately 1-2 seconds. AT this point I was fully into the first lane of traffic. I then fully depressed the accelerator to try to get the vehicle to respond and after approximately a 0.5 to 1.0 second delay the engine fully responded and I was able to accelerate out of the oncoming cross traffic. This is by no-means the first time this behavior has happened with this vehicle but it is the first time I'm reporting it to the federal safety agency.

Filed Aug 29, 2026 · Engine, Fuel system · AZ

Horrible gas smell on the interior and exterier of vehicle after fueling up.

Filed Aug 25, 2026 · Acceleration, Engine · TN

Sometimes, when trying to accelerate in certain situations, the vehicle accelerator pedal will not respond or the engine stutters and won't immediately respond to input and the vehicle seems to stall. This has been scary several times in traffic. The vehicle originally would throw an engine code on the dash about system failure and was taken into the dealer after several of these incidents and a software updates was performed, but it still happens randomly although now with no code.

Filed Aug 25, 2026 · Engine · TX

The engine would not engage for 4-5 seconds when pulling out of my neighborhood. Gas pedal was all the way down and after a delay, the car rolled forward as if trying to start in 2nd/3rd gear. I am a cautious driver, but this is an unsafe scenario when pulling out into traffic.

Filed Aug 23, 2026 · Engine, Fuel system · NY

While driving on a highway at highway speed of approximately 62 miles per hour, a rock from the highway went through the front grille's hole, and punctured the area of the radiator, resulted in a large loss of coolant, and the vehicle's speed suddenly lost highway speed and lost propulsion on the highway, while driving at a highway speed. Thankfully noone was driving behind me. However, If someone was behind me, they would have hit me from the rear due to my loss of propulsion.

Filed Aug 22, 2026 · Engine · CA

I had my car for service to be replace the wheel bearing on the right passenger side. Two weeks after my cooling engine light came out. Took to the dealership and they said there is a leakage in the radiator and needs replacing.

Filed Aug 11, 2026 · Engine, Fuel system · TX

Vehicle intermittently fails to accelerate when accelerator pedal is depressed after stopping. Vehicle may move extremely slowly for several seconds and then suddenly regain power. This has occurred while entering/intersecting traffic and has resulted in near-collision situations. Dealer cannot duplicate the problem.

Filed Aug 5, 2026 · Engine · MO

See attached Citizen's Petition Letter

Filed Jul 16, 2026 · Engine, Fuel system · IL

I've had consistent issues with the vehicle accelerating and shifting. These include sluggish acceleration, loss of power and sputtering when we've come to a complete stop and starting to move again. We've almost been hit by other vehicles at least over 20 times because the vehicle has failed to accelerate when pulling into a roadway. The car hesitates during acceleration regardless of how much I push the gas. Once it starts to go, it feels as though the car can't shift from 1st to 2nd gear, The RPMs get extremely high while the car is going 25-40 mph and remain there for a few seconds up to ~20 seconds. I am fearful of getting t-boned when my car hesitates while turning at an intersection, going through an intersection or pulling out from a parking lot. I have been stuck in several intersections when traffic was coming toward me, but thankfully those cars had patience and avoided us. I've also found that this issue always happens when the hybrid battery shows that it only has a charge of 3 bars. It seems that the engine, transmission and hybrid battery don't know how to communicate when the battery charge gets that low. This has been happening since Dec 2023 when I bought the vehicle and the dealer has never been able to duplicate or find any error code, they are refusing to fix a known issue when many others are experiencing the same issue. There are Toyota Technical Service Bulletins (TSBs) out there regarding this problem but my dealer told me they won't do anything as it could label my vehicle a lemon. This is creating an unnecessary safety risk for me and my family.