2001 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 130 complaints · 3 recalls
Most-reported system: VISIBILITY (24 complaints · 18.5%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 19
  • Fires 2
  • Injuries 11
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 2000 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution VISIBILITY appears in 24 of 130 owner complaints (18.5%) in this vehicle snapshot. VISIBILITY: 24 complaints, 18.5% of reports VISIBILITY 24 · 18.5% ENGINE: 18 complaints, 13.8% of reports ENGINE 18 · 13.8% · 1 fire reports SERVICE BRAKES: 17 complaints, 13.1% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 17 · 13.1% · 3 crash reports POWER TRAIN: 12 complaints, 9.2% of reports POWER TRAIN 12 · 9.2% · 2 crash reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 12 complaints, 9.2% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 12 · 9.2% · 7 crash reports STRUCTURE: 9 complaints, 6.9% of reports STRUCTURE 9 · 6.9% AIR BAGS: 8 complaints, 6.2% of reports AIR BAGS 8 · 6.2% · 4 crash reports FUEL SYSTEM: 5 complaints, 3.9% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 5 · 3.9% TIRES: 5 complaints, 3.9% of reports TIRES 5 · 3.9% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 66 complaints, 50.8% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 66 · 50.8% · 8 crash reports 1 fire reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
VISIBILITY 24 18.5% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 18 13.8% 0 crashes · 1 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 17 13.1% 3 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 12 9.2% 2 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 12 9.2% 7 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 9 6.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 8 6.2% 4 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 5 3.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
TIRES 5 3.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 66 50.8% 8 crashes · 1 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Apr 2001; the first recall shown was reported in Jul 2001. 2001-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2001-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2001-Q4: 16 owner reports 16 2002-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 2002-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2003-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2003-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2003-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2003-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2004-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 2004-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2004-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2004-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 2005-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2006-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2006-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2007-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2007-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2008-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2009-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2009-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2010-Q1: 12 owner reports 12 2010-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2010-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2010-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2011-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2012-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2012-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2012-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2012-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2013-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2013-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2014-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2015-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2015-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2016-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2017-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2017-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2018-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Apr 2001 Jan 2018 Recall campaign 01V228000 ◆ Recall campaign 01V228000 Recall campaign 02V208000 ◆ Recall campaign 02V208000 Recall campaign 04V181000 ◆ Recall campaign 04V181000
  • Campaign 02V208000 was reported 6 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
  • Campaign 04V181000 was reported 1,099 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2001-Q2 Owner reports 3
2001-Q3 Owner reports 4
2001-Q4 Owner reports 16
2002-Q1 Owner reports 6
2002-Q2 Owner reports 1
2002-Q3 Owner reports 3
2003-Q1 Owner reports 3
2003-Q2 Owner reports 3
2003-Q3 Owner reports 2
2003-Q4 Owner reports 3
2004-Q1 Owner reports 6
2004-Q2 Owner reports 3
2004-Q3 Owner reports 4
2004-Q4 Owner reports 5
2005-Q3 Owner reports 3
2006-Q1 Owner reports 1
2006-Q3 Owner reports 3
2006-Q4 Owner reports 3
2007-Q2 Owner reports 2
2007-Q3 Owner reports 1
2008-Q1 Owner reports 2
2008-Q2 Owner reports 2
2009-Q2 Owner reports 2
2009-Q3 Owner reports 1
2009-Q4 Owner reports 2
2010-Q1 Owner reports 12
2010-Q2 Owner reports 2
2010-Q3 Owner reports 3
2010-Q4 Owner reports 2
2011-Q1 Owner reports 1
2011-Q2 Owner reports 1
2011-Q4 Owner reports 1
2012-Q1 Owner reports 3
2012-Q2 Owner reports 2
2012-Q3 Owner reports 1
2012-Q4 Owner reports 2
2013-Q3 Owner reports 2
2013-Q4 Owner reports 3
2014-Q2 Owner reports 1
2014-Q4 Owner reports 2
2015-Q1 Owner reports 2
2015-Q2 Owner reports 1
2015-Q3 Owner reports 1
2016-Q2 Owner reports 1
2017-Q2 Owner reports 1
2017-Q3 Owner reports 1
2018-Q1 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 01V228000
Recall campaign 1 02V208000
Recall campaign 1 04V181000
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (3)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 01V228000

    Report date
    Component:
    SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC
    Consequence:
    THE INCREASED PEDAL STROKE WILL LENGTHEN THE STOPPING DISTANCE OF THE VEHICLE, INCREASING THE RISK OF A CRASH.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL BLEED THE AIR FROM THE BRAKE LINES AND REPLACE THE RESERVOIR FILLER CAP. OWNER NOTIFICATION BEGAN JULY 30, 2001. OWNERS WHO TAKE THEIR VEHICLES TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER ON AN AGREED UPON SERVICE DATE AND DO NOT RECEIVE THE FREE REMEDY WITHIN A REASONABLE TIME SHOULD CONTACT TOYOTA AT 1-800-331-4331.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  2. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 02V208000

    Report date
    Component:
    FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE
    Consequence:
    IN THE WORST CASE, NOZZLE BREAKAGE COULD RESULT IN FUEL LEAKAGE IF THE VEHICLE ROLLS-OVER AFTER A HIGH SPEED FRONTAL CRASH.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL ROTATE THE SPECIFIED CLAMP. OWNER NOTIFICATION BEGAN SEPTEMBER 23, 2002. OWNERS WHO TAKE THEIR VEHICLES TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER ON AN AGREED UPON SERVICE DATE AND DO NOT RECEIVE THE FREE REMEDY WITHIN A REASONABLE TIME SHOULD CONTACT TOYOTA AT 1-800-331-4331.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  3. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 04V181000

    Report date
    Component:
    LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES
    Consequence:
    THIS CONDITION COULD ALLOW THE DOOR TO BE OPENED WITH THE INSIDE WHILE THE OPERATOR BELIEVES THAT THE CPL WAS ACTIVATED. IF THE DOOR WERE OPENED FROM THE INSIDE WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS IN MOTION, AN OCCUPANT COULD FALL OUT AND BE INJURED.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL SHORTEN THE CPL LEVER. OWNER NOTIFICATION BEGAN MAY 7, 2004. OWNERS SHOULD CONTACT TOYOTA AT 1-800-331-4331.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot 2026-08-21
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 130 complaints · page 1 of 6

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot 2026-08-21
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources