2002 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 295 complaints · 2 recalls
Most-reported system: VISIBILITY (135 complaints · 45.8%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 24
  • Fires 6
  • Injuries 25
  • Deaths 4
Compare with 2001 →
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 135 of 295 owner complaints (45.8%) in this vehicle snapshot. VISIBILITY: 135 complaints, 45.8% of reports VISIBILITY 135 · 45.8% ENGINE: 28 complaints, 9.5% of reports ENGINE 28 · 9.5% · 1 crash reports 1 fire reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 28 complaints, 9.5% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 28 · 9.5% · 9 crash reports 2 fire reports STRUCTURE: 19 complaints, 6.4% of reports STRUCTURE 19 · 6.4% POWER TRAIN: 14 complaints, 4.8% of reports POWER TRAIN 14 · 4.8% AIR BAGS: 12 complaints, 4.1% of reports AIR BAGS 12 · 4.1% · 7 crash reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING: 12 complaints, 4.1% of reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING 12 · 4.1% ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 8 complaints, 2.7% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 8 · 2.7% · 1 crash reports 3 fire reports SERVICE BRAKES: 7 complaints, 2.4% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 7 · 2.4% · 3 crash reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 71 complaints, 24.1% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 71 · 24.1% · 9 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 135 45.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 28 9.5% 1 crashes · 1 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 28 9.5% 9 crashes · 2 fires
STRUCTURE 19 6.4% 0 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 14 4.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 12 4.1% 7 crashes · 0 fires
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 12 4.1% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 8 2.7% 1 crashes · 3 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 7 2.4% 3 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 71 24.1% 9 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 Jan 2002; the first recall shown was reported in Jul 2002. 2002-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2002-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2002-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2002-Q4: 7 owner reports 7 2003-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2003-Q2: 8 owner reports 8 2003-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2004-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2004-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2004-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2005-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2005-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2005-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2005-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2006-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2006-Q2: 10 owner reports 10 2006-Q3: 11 owner reports 11 2006-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2007-Q1: 7 owner reports 7 2007-Q2: 7 owner reports 7 2007-Q3: 6 owner reports 6 2007-Q4: 12 owner reports 12 2008-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2008-Q2: 7 owner reports 7 2008-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q4: 9 owner reports 9 2009-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2009-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2009-Q3: 10 owner reports 10 2009-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 2010-Q1: 29 owner reports 29 2010-Q2: 13 owner reports 13 2010-Q3: 10 owner reports 10 2010-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 2011-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2011-Q2: 7 owner reports 7 2011-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 2011-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2012-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2012-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 2012-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2012-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2013-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 2013-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2013-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2013-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2014-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2014-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2014-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2014-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2015-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2015-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2016-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2016-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2016-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2017-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2017-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2017-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2018-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2019-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2020-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jan 2002 Jan 2020 Recall campaign 02V208000 ◆ Recall campaign 02V208000 Recall campaign 04V181000 ◆ Recall campaign 04V181000
  • Campaign 04V181000 was reported 832 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2002-Q1 Owner reports 3
2002-Q2 Owner reports 2
2002-Q3 Owner reports 3
2002-Q4 Owner reports 7
2003-Q1 Owner reports 4
2003-Q2 Owner reports 8
2003-Q3 Owner reports 1
2003-Q4 Owner reports 1
2004-Q1 Owner reports 5
2004-Q2 Owner reports 3
2004-Q3 Owner reports 4
2004-Q4 Owner reports 3
2005-Q1 Owner reports 2
2005-Q2 Owner reports 2
2005-Q3 Owner reports 2
2005-Q4 Owner reports 2
2006-Q1 Owner reports 2
2006-Q2 Owner reports 10
2006-Q3 Owner reports 11
2006-Q4 Owner reports 3
2007-Q1 Owner reports 7
2007-Q2 Owner reports 7
2007-Q3 Owner reports 6
2007-Q4 Owner reports 12
2008-Q1 Owner reports 5
2008-Q2 Owner reports 7
2008-Q3 Owner reports 1
2008-Q4 Owner reports 9
2009-Q1 Owner reports 3
2009-Q2 Owner reports 5
2009-Q3 Owner reports 10
2009-Q4 Owner reports 6
2010-Q1 Owner reports 29
2010-Q2 Owner reports 13
2010-Q3 Owner reports 10
2010-Q4 Owner reports 5
2011-Q1 Owner reports 4
2011-Q2 Owner reports 7
2011-Q3 Owner reports 7
2011-Q4 Owner reports 3
2012-Q1 Owner reports 4
2012-Q2 Owner reports 6
2012-Q3 Owner reports 3
2012-Q4 Owner reports 2
2013-Q1 Owner reports 6
2013-Q2 Owner reports 3
2013-Q3 Owner reports 4
2013-Q4 Owner reports 4
2014-Q1 Owner reports 3
2014-Q2 Owner reports 3
2014-Q3 Owner reports 3
2014-Q4 Owner reports 2
2015-Q1 Owner reports 2
2015-Q2 Owner reports 3
2016-Q1 Owner reports 2
2016-Q2 Owner reports 2
2016-Q3 Owner reports 2
2017-Q2 Owner reports 2
2017-Q3 Owner reports 1
2017-Q4 Owner reports 1
2018-Q3 Owner reports 1
2019-Q2 Owner reports 1
2020-Q1 Owner reports 1
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 (2)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. 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 →

  2. 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 295 complaints · page 1 of 12

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