2007 Toyota Highlander problems
NHTSA has received 160 complaints about the 2007 Toyota Highlander, and 22% of them involve brakes. After that come electrical system (14%) and cruise control (10%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 160 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Brakes 23% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 15 and 1
- Injuries and deaths
- 8 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 61,000 miles 114 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 27 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 12 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 14 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 15 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 4 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 16 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 9 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 7 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 2 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 7 |
What the data shows
Among the 114 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 60,000 miles. For brakes specifically, the median reported mileage is about 99,000 miles (24 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 15 complaints mention a crash; 1 complaint mentions a fire; 8 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2007 ranks 23rd most-complained-about out of 24 model years of the Toyota Highlander with enough data (70 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 4 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Tl* the contact owns a 2007 toyota highlander. The contact stated that when attempting to exit a parking space, the all weather floor mats that he purchased in 2007 caused the accelerator pedal to stick. As a consequence he crashed into several trees. The vehicle was completely destroyed. He and three other occupants were injuried. The manufacturer and the dealer were both notified. The current and failure mileages were 41,212.
My accelerator pedal got caught between my toes and bottom of my foot and the bottom of an open-toed shoe and I could not pull myself free to stop my car and I ran into a stopped car in front of me at an intersection, which was pushed into another car. I was traveling very slowly, but my activity in trying to free my foot caused my car to accelerate some. This had never happened to me before. When I told a neighbor she said the same thing had happened to her, but that she was not out in traffic at the time.
Sudden loss of brakes on a 2007 toyota highlander. Car rear ended a truck. Driver broke right braking ankle. No skid marks. Driver's head hit steering wheel even though air bag deployed. Believe air bag only partially deployed.
2007 toyota highlander - uncontrolled transmission surges cause vehicle to move forward unexpectedly. Transmission always shifting down to 5th gear at very slow speeds, pushing car forward unexpectedly when not desired. Taking foot off gas pedal, car maintains speed (like on cruise control). Car will drive and maintain speeds without gas pedal input. Driver must fight to slow vehicle down.
Was pulling into parking space under 5 MPH and there was a sudden surge forward and the brakes did not work. Went over curb through bushes off another curb hitting underneath of car and brakes then worked again. Car was towed to dealer where they drove it put it on a machine and found nothing wrong with the car!