2010 Toyota Highlander problems
NHTSA has received 272 complaints about the 2010 Toyota Highlander, and 20% of them involve electrical system. After that come wipers, windshield & visibility (16%) and brakes (11%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 272 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 20% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 28 and 5
- Injuries and deaths
- 16 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 52,000 miles 214 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 | 52 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 29 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 49 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 23 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 25 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 15 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 8 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 4 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 6 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 2 |
| 200k+ miles | 1 |
What the data shows
Among the 214 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 52,000 miles. For electrical system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 64,000 miles (44 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 28 complaints mention a crash; 5 complaints mention a fire; 16 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2010 ranks 13th most-complained-about out of 24 model years of the Toyota Highlander with enough data (162 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 10 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.
My family was involved in a multi car accident where we were struck from behind and driven into the vehicle ahead of us (from a near stopped position). The force of impact on the front bumper was hard enough to drive the trailer hitch of the vehicle ahead of us through the license plate on the front bumper. The bumper and grill were severely damages but the airbags did not deploy. Driver was taken to er for head/neck injuries which were deemed to be minor.
My husband and two year old daughter were in a head on collision with a tree after another vehicle came into his lane and he attempted to avoid the head on collision with the other vehicle. No airbags deployed. Significant injuries. The front end of the vehicle wrapped around the tree. Windshield shattered in several places. Right passenger door smashed in. No doors on the car close all the way. Rear passenger door is off the hinge. Car is a total loss. Six airbags in the car and not one of them deployed.
Tl* the contact owns a 2010 toyota highlander. While driving 60 to 65 MPH, the contact's vehicle was rear ended. As a result, the contact's vehicle spun out of control and caused the other vehicle to crash into the driver's side door of the contact's vehicle. The contact's vehicle ultimately crashed into a cement wall. The driver's air bag deployed; however, the front passenger air bag failed to deploy. The front passenger sustained injuries to the chest and lower back.
The driver side sun visor does not retain its closed position. It falls down during driving and hinders visto ability of driver to see. Clearly a safety issue and a danger during driving time to the driver and other vehicles close to the driver.
While driving down the highway, the driver's side sun visor fell down and obstructed view of the road. When attempting to push visor back up out of my line of sight, it would not stay in the proper position to block sun and to where it did not obstruct view of the road. The visor will either stay all the way up against the ceiling or all the way down almost parallel with the windshield. There seems to be some type of spring or piece of material broken inside visor causing it to malfunction.