Component: Latches/Locks — Power Door Lock Actuator I am the original owner of a 2014 Toyota Highlander AWD, currently with 88,000 miles on it. I have experienced six power door lock actuator failures on this vehicle. All replacements were OEM Toyota parts, and all repairs were paid out of pocket. Failure history: - 01/12/2019 — driver rear (original part) - 02/27/2019 — driver front (original part) - 12/07/2019 — passenger rear (original part) - 06/09/2023 — passenger front (original part) - 08/08/2025 — driver rear (OEM replacement, 6 yr 7 mo service life) - 08/30/2026 — driver front currently failing (OEM replacement, 7 yr 6 mo service life) All four original actuators failed between years 5 and 9 of the vehicle's life. Two OEM replacements have since failed on a comparable schedule. This is a consistent wear-out pattern across every door on the vehicle, not isolated part failure. The higher-cycle driver-side doors have now failed twice each. Current condition: the driver front door intermittently does not lock when commanded by the key fob or by the interior lock switch. The failure is silent — there is no chime, warning, or indication that the door did not secure. The driver has no way to know the door is unlatched without physically checking it. Safety concern: an unsecured door can open during vehicle operation, and reduces occupant protection in a side impact or rollover because the latch is not engaged. Because the failure is intermittent and gives no warning, a driver can reasonably believe the vehicle is locked when it is not. This affects occupants including children in rear seating positions. Toyota has issued no recall, technical service bulletin, or warranty extension for this component. Complaints describing the same repeated actuator failures have been reported by owners of Highlanders and other Toyota models across multiple model years. I am submitting this record so the failure pattern is documented.
2014 Toyota Highlander: doors won't lock, open or latch
11 of the 136 complaints about the 2014 Toyota Highlander describe doors won't lock, open or latch.
- owner complaints
- 11
- of this car's complaints
- 8%
- typical mileage
- 50,000
- recalls
- 0
Doors won't lock, open or latch by model year
What owners say
rear tailgate door non-functioning. auto door button does not work and door cannot be opened manually. serious safety issue if car in accident and side doors won't open. checked by dealer in dec. 2020, and they knew about problem and not covered under warrranty. toyota knew about problem in march 2016 and issued service bulletin T-SB-0023-16 which clearly states problem and how to fix in 8 pages.; and only covers 2014/2015 highlanders under warranty. no warning lights; tailgate failed in dec. 2020. vehicle only inspected by toyota dealer in roseville, CA. if Toyota is willing to fix some highlanders, why would they exclude others out of warranty? This makes the vehicle unuseable for a family that hikes, camps, plays sports, etc. and I feel is a clear safety issue if one exit out of vehicle does not operate!
The power rear hatch will not properly open or close. The safety of others are at risk due to several factors. For example, the door will not open properly causing hands, fingers, and other object to get jammed in the doorway when trying to close it manually or when the door closes automatically without warning. It also does not close properly when the hatch is not working properly which could potentially be an issue while traveling where objects could fall out of the vehicle and injure other drivers. There are several articles online reporting the issue and will only be fixed if the vehicle is under warranty. Many of these vehicles are out of warranty due to their age. There was no prior warning other than a beeping noise when the door would not close properly.
Door lock actuators not working. Can no longer use key fob to unlock/lock doors. Potential safety issue.
The rear door locks do not lock all the time making it possible for the kids in the back seat to open the doors while driving down the road on my 2014 highlander. It also makes it pretty easy for people to steal stuff from your car. This is a huge safety issue. It is a know issue and the internet forums are full of people with the same issue with zero help from the dealer. New lock mechanisms are 300 dollars. I have already had to replace one at 75k miles,. Now I have to do the other. The vehicle now has 100k.
We are affected by I am learning very common issue in toyota highlander 2014 and later. Power door lock actuators are all failing at around 4-5 years. I have not encountered this on any other cars I owned and it seems something is wrong with these since pretty much everyone I talked to had one or more fail in toyota highlander. The car was stationary when this happened, but it is safety concerns because we didn't know that one of the door was being left unlocked. There is no warning that it failed to lock.
Issues with the front and back doors not unlocking. The issues have ranged from all doors unlocked, but sticking and not disengaging. I just had the door lock actuator replaced in the driver's side back door this week. The next day the passenger side front door would not disengage. This has been going on off and on for the past 3-4 years.
My complaint concerns the safety of the wellbeing of myself and passengers in my vehicle. The rear automatuc door lock on my passenger side of my highlander went out first. Then the driver door at any given time may or may not open. Not even with the key. I have to go to the passenger side and climb over and unlock the door and go back around to get in. My concern is being in a wreck and the door not opening. Not being able to get a child out of the carseat in the back because the door won't open. Yes. It may be the actuators and I have read the expensive reviews of getting those fixed only to find it happens again over and over. My other complaint is the bluetooth phone system will freeze up and you have to pull over and restart the car to unfreeze it. The system completely shuts down continuously. I have read reviews on this also and toyota is aware of both of these complaints but have had no recalls to date. Please help!
Every single door lock actuator has failed in the vehicle causing remote locking and unlocking to not work. Doors, after failing, required to be manually locked or unlocked. The driver front and rear failed about 39 months after owning the vehicle, then 3 months later the right rear one failed, and now the fourth and final one has failed.
The rear power door, first was sporatic, would open half way then stop, then you have to push the door open against the motors, then, sometimes it will close, but most time in the rain, you have to jump up and pull down the door, again against the motors, they resist quite alot, now the door, opens 2 inchs and stops and I can't get it to open more, told toyota, well, we have one guy that works on that, and it has to do it in front of him, shouldn't a complaint about a door not opening be safety related, its a door, it won't open and pushing against motors is very unwanted for a disabled person, the last 2 weeks, every time I go to store it won't work, and I have my hands full with grocery's, I have had to use side doors, to get things out when it won't open, took it back for the third time to toyota and dealership person said, I was rude, saying bs the door wouldn't open, so far, it does not open and toyota has not offered a fix, and I need to go on a trip, looks like a car rental, rather than take a chance my door won't open in the rain.......its a back door to a car, it should open at all times, and no motor should be stoping it, and I was told they know about it, but again, the one person in building has to see it........wow, biggest car company in the world and I have to post this, 4 vechiles with them and rethinking it now, the horrible jbl stereo, is another post.....but shouldn't a door open at all times, it does not at the moment of writing this, last night it did not close all the way, and the wind caused the alarm to go off this morning...the very motors, that should close it did not work, again, it was 1/2 inch, open this time....and it was raining all night.
Rear door hatch stalls upon opening and closing. Frequently reported problem on toyota websites. When door switch is activated either at the door, remote fob or dash switch, the door opens a few inches then stops. Pressing again moves it back then stops. You must manually open or close the door. Not certain the door locks completely when closing. Ongoing issue since july 2014
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the 2014 Toyota Highlander door locks
Is doors won't lock, open or latch a common problem on the 2014 Toyota Highlander?
11 of 136 owner complaints about the 2014 Toyota Highlander (8%) mention doors won't lock, open or latch. The model year with the most reports is 2015.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 2014 Toyota Highlander?
There is no recall or service bulletin for this area of the car on record.
Other symptoms on the 2014 Toyota Highlander
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