A whine developed while accelerating on the highway. The whine continued any time I accelerated higher than about 35 mph. I suspected it was the transmission and Toyota confirmed I was right. I need a whole new transmission. At 59,000 miles, my Highlander is still under power train warranty. However, my car was diagnosed July 9 and I am still waiting for the part to come in at the dealership more than 2 months later. I was told verbally that I would be able to still drive the car while waiting, but I don't feel safe doing so.
2021 Toyota Highlander transmission complaints
Page 9 of 9: complaints 221 to 233 of 233, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Transmission/differential - Took my car in around 80k miles for a routine transmission service. I got my car back and it started making a whining noise when you accelerate. Never did I get a code, check engine light nothing. Took it back to get looked it since the sound never went away. I am being told it needs a new transmission. I was told my car transmission was too hot for them to even look at after sitting for 24hr parked! I have read and done a lot of research that this is a common issue and never has been recalled. Even a shortage now on transmissions with so many needing them now! My car is only 3 years old and won’t be covered.. this should have been recalled and or known to buyers before purchasing if it was known to have issues early 2021…
Transaxle Repair/Replacement: recommend transmission replacement due to whining noise coming from transmission due to internal failure. The transaxle is the transmission for front wheel drive vehicles. The transaxle transfers power from the engine to the wheels. Unsafe driving conditions issue is stemming from faulty transmission, not only on this particular vehicle but many 2021 Toyota Highlander vehicles for the same transaxle repair/replacement issue. I have gone to Toyota multiple times before and even with a Technical Service Bulletin in place for this transmission issue, they did not correct the problem, nor fix it while it was under warranty. Toyota has been aware of this Technical Service Bulletin since Feb 9 2021. T-SB-0008-21 [XXX] Owners of the 2021 Toyota Highlander have reported various transmission problems, including: Whine or Grind Noise: Some vehicles exhibit a whine or grind noise from the transmission, which may be caused by an issue with the front carrier assembly pinion shafts1. Jerky Gear Shifts: Drivers have experienced jerky gear shifts, especially when accelerating from a stop or slowing down to very low speeds2. Delayed Shifts and Hard Shifts: There have been complaints about delayed shifts, hard shifts, and lurching when shifting gears3. Transmission Slipping: Instances of the transmission slipping between gears and jerking when accelerating have also been reported4. Safety Concerns These transmission issues pose several safety risks: Loss of Control: Jerky and delayed gear shifts can lead to a loss of control, especially in situations requiring quick acceleration or deceleration. Increased Accident Risk: Transmission slipping and hard shifts can cause unexpected vehicle behavior, increasing the risk of accidents. Driver Distraction: The noise and irregular shifting can distract drivers, reducing their focus on the road. Mechanical Failure: Persistent transmission issues, or stalling. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Excessive whining noise, shift flare. The vehicle is only a couple of years old. I was told by the dealer that the transmission will likely need to be replaced. There are numerous complaints within the Toyota Nation forums. It was recommended that we report the incidents here, as having a large number of cars on the road with failing transmissions can certainly be considered a road hazard/safety issue.
Transmission is failing. Making whiny noise on acceleration.
The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, there was a whining sound coming from the transmission while accelerating. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the transmission was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 54,000.
While parking, the shifter was inadvertently left in reverse. The engine was turned off while foot was still on the brake. After preparing to exit the car and removing my foot from the brake, the car began rolling forward until I noticed and slammed on the foot brake. We are used to the vehicle parking brake engaging automatically as there is no way to do so manually, that we know of. There was no warning that the shifter was not in park and no audible or noticeable visual notification that the vehicle was not in park. In some cases, on a flat surface when the vehicle wasn't in park, it didn't allow me to shut off or arm the security system. In this case, I was able to stop the vehicle and fortunately there was nothing in front of the vehicle. Since the vehicle was powered off, anti-collision likely would not have stopped a collision.
Warning lights appeared while driving on city streets.
Vehicle self drained 12 volt battery, causing hybrid drive system to not start up, leaving vehicle stranded, wife stranded alone at night. Dealership installed new software, 2 days later the hybrid drive system glitched again and this time the 12 volt battery was not drained but the vehicle hybrid system would not go into the ready mode and left the vehicle stranded, again with wife alone at night. Took to the dealer, service dept said "no trouble found". Has not glitched again but no longer trust this vehicle. Warning lights? Just about every light on the dash was flashing. Center screen said "hybrid system failure"
We rented this vehicle from Avis at Detroit Metropolitan Airport on Tuesday, 11/22/22 at approx. 7:50 pm. It was raining, cold and temperature was dropping. We drove approx. 1/8 to 1/4 of a mile from the facility. As we turned left on to a major roadway (Goddard) southbound, I turned on the rear defroster. Suddenly, the engine went into limp mode. I tried to make a U-turn to drive back to the facility. Engine lights flashed (low oil pressure, check engine, etc) and then the engine stopped. We barely had enough power to turn the vehicle out of the turn lane before we would have been struck by a bus. We sat in left northbound lane of Goddard for approx. 2 min without our hazard lights on. The vehicle would not start. I then pressed the defroster again and the engine fired up. We drove back to the facility and demanded a new vehicle. While we waited for a new vehicle to be prepared, I demonstrated to the manager what had happened. Again, after depressing the rear defroster button, the engine shut off and would not restart. Again, after turning off the defroster button, the engine started back up. This engine condition was replicated multiple times. I warned the Avis manager not to rent this vehicle as it was a death trap.
On July 19, the car was parked and refused to start. Tried Jump start and the gas was at more than half a tank. The car would operate for 30 seconds, stutter and then stop. On July 20, took the car to ED MARTIN TOYOTA in Noblesville, IN. They could not diagnose the issue. Replaced Fuel Pump system. Evaluated all electrical and no issues observed. Escalated to TOYOTA Regional Engineering to teoubleshoot. The car is still in the shop with no root-cause. If the car was in motion and this issue would have occured, could have resulted in a serious accident.
Several minutes after leaving my vehicle once I parked and shut the engine routinely, it rolls back a hundred feet and crashes into another vehicle. When I come back I became aware of this as I noticed the back of the driver side of my vehicle is lodged into the side of another vehicle. This caused damage to both vehicles.
The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated his wife pulled into a parking spot and turned off the engine while the vehicle was in reverse. The vehicle then switched gears to neutral on its own, started reversing, and slightly crashed into the rear of another vehicle. The warning message "Put Transmission Into park Illuminated". The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 2000.
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