Toyota Highlander battery drain problems

Filed Sep 25, 2025 · Brakes · CO

There was no incident. When the brake malfunction screen displayed, I drove the vehicle to the nearest toyota dealer in pueblo, colorado. I received the attached service message and picking ticket; 17june2025. It also needs new brake pads, rotor adjustment, and 5 new tires. Total~$6000. Way too pricy! I paid for the diagnostic test, and drove home carefully! The vehicle has been sitting in my carport since, and I am walking the city limits for all purposes. The 12v battery died mid-july, without replacement since. I live in la junta, 70 miles east of the dealer. So we're looking at 99,000 total miles as it sits.

Filed Sep 18, 2025 · Electrical, Lights · NC

All at once the windows, moon roof, blinkers, reverse lights, running lights and brake lights stopped working - also the automatic headlight function stopped working and we must turn on and off the headlights or risk draining the battery. It's interesting to note that the flashers work, but the blinkers do not. The wipers, radio, cruise control, etc. are all fine. It appears all fuses associated with these items are intact - I don't know how to check the viability of the relays, but have been told it could be a relay and or a ground wire. I've purchased a new multifunction blinker headlight replacement switch AND a master window replacement switch to see if this will resolve the issue - but the fact that it happened all at the same time concerns me that it could be electrical or wiring. All the wires under the dash are intact.

Filed Jul 9, 2024 · Electrical · 77,000 miles · IL

The contact owns a 2019 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked and attempting to start the vehicle, the vehicle failed to respond as intended. The contact stated that the failure had been recurring, and the battery was replaced, as recommended by the local dealer; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken to another local dealer where it was diagnosed that the START/STOP system was draining the battery. As a result of the failure, the START/STOP system was turned off. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred contact to the federal safety agency Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 77,000.

Filed Oct 15, 2023 · Electrical · SC

I bought my car used. Only had it for 3years and already had to replace the battery twice. Once I was stopped at light turning left, yield to oncoming traffic, since my foot was on brakes battery just dyed in middle of light, police had to come made sure I didn't get hit. 2nd time car cut off at McDonald's drive thru and battery went dead again. Something is wrong with batteries that make them go bad, n it's unsafe bc I've got stranded twice in not.so good places..

Filed Jul 22, 2023 · Electrical · SC

When stopped at a stop light and using the auto off feature the Highlander stalls. The automatic shutoff repeatedly keeps draining the battery unless I manually turn the automatic shutoff feature off so it does not shut off when the vehicle is stopped. This has continued to happen over the last year and a half.

Filed Mar 24, 2023 · Electrical · NJ

Random Battery Drain. Driver and passengers can be put in danger if car doesn’t start and vehicle is in an unsafe location. AAA replaced battery with a new one but the random battery drain problem continues to occur. No warning signs prior to dead battery. First appeared end of 2020/beginning of 2021. Internet search returns complaints for same problem from 2017 to present.

Filed May 27, 2022 · Electrical, Engine · CA

When running, after stopping at a stop sign, the car hesitates to go, kind of sputters. When turning the car on, the lights on the dash flicker and now the car won’t start. On days prior, you would turn the car key, but the car wouldn’t start on the first time. It sounded like it wouldn’t turn all the way on, like the battery died. I didn’t leave the radio on or anything that would warrant that.My safety was put at risk because I work in healthcare and get off work at midnight so if I broke down or stalled in traffic, this could cause an accident.

Filed Nov 25, 2019 · Brakes, Driver assistance · 260,000 miles · CA

I sent a letter to toyota motor sales USA after being refused service at a local dealer to resolve a safety issue, with no reply. While pressing brake when starting I got a couple of error messages that said to contact a toyota dealer. I did some very detailed research into this problem and what others had encountered. I found the errors would only show when the 12 volt battery was getting low on charge. The brake booster pump is one of the suspect items draining the battery because it continues to run long after the vehicle is parked. Since I don't have the tools to check the current draw on this or if it is even supposed to run long after the vehicle is shut off, I wanted my toyota dealer to check this. There is a " customer support program notification - zkc" related to this for the brake actuator assembly and brake booster pump assembly. I specifically requested that they check out the electrical component of the brake booster pump even if not covered by warranty. I also told them about the errors only occurring on a low 12 volt battery charge. Their diagnosis showed an error code of poaa6 and only the warning lights and error message in the car display. They not only decided this was not covered by warranty but also ignored my specific request to test the brake system at my expense. No attempt at checking brakes or 12 volt charging system. I was told they would have to open the inverter to check that with the known outcome that this inverter is not repairable but would have to be replaced at a cost of $10,000.. New 12v battery installed. Computers can malfunction if not given the design operating voltage! I have trouble believing that there is a "hybrid battery voltage system isolation fault" due to the fact that the on board computer does not report this message when operating on a fully charged 12 volt system - in other words operating under normal conditions.

Filed Jul 8, 2019 · Electrical · 73,399 miles · MA

Rear door sensor is defective. Light either stays on and gets extremely hot which drains the battery or light and back door ajar indicator flashes and sounds signal beep on and off constantly as you drive. I read online that many others have this problem. One solution is to cut wire, but that is unsafe as you could be driving with an open door and not know it.

Filed Jun 30, 2017 · Electrical · 55,000 miles · AZ

The door ajar indicator on the dash is lit up 100% of the time even though it appears that all doors are closed. This problem started approx. 2 years ago. In addition if the car sits for more than 1 day, it drains the battery and the car has to be jumped. When making a left hand turn or start from a stopped position, the warning sound dings. And the key fob cannot be used to lock the car. My mechanic discovered that it is the rear hatch sensor that is faulty. Maybe the sensor is faulty or maybe I think the hatch is closed and latched and it really isn't or it is but at any moment, the latch could release and the hatch fly open. After doing a google search on this problem, I discovered that there are a lot of other people are having the same issue with their highlander....I have attached a file that contains screen shots of others with this issue. I stopped cutting and pasting after 17 pages. This as a safety issue because it compromises the quality of the battery and there really could be a door ajar when you think the warning light on the dash is just from the faulty hatch sensor. (heaven forbid a child should fall out of the back seat when driving down the road). I would like to see toyota take responsibility for this problem and issue a recall.