AutoUtility currently tracks 115 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2016 Toyota Highlander. Brakes & Traction Control issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 26 complaints (22.6% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 14 filings cite a crash, 1 cites a fire, 8 report one or more injuries. The 2016 Toyota Highlander belongs to the 3rd Generation (XU50) platform.
- • Total NHTSA Complaints: 115 reports
- • #1 Reported Problem Area: Brakes & Traction Control (26 reports • 22.6% of submitted complaints)
- • Secondary Problem Areas: Electrical System (14), Wheels & Tires (10)
- • Crash-Citing Complaints: 14 filings
- • Fire-Citing Complaints: 1 filings
- • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 8 injury filings • 0 fatality filings
Most Reported Problems for 2016 Toyota Highlander
Top automotive subsystem defect categories ranked by unique owner complaint volume in federal records
Brakes & Traction Control
Electrical System
NHTSA records list 2 official safety recall campaigns for this model year involving the same broad component area:
- Campaign #18E107000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
- Campaign #16V775000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:WIRING
Wheels & Tires
Air Bags & Restraints
Engine & Cooling
Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2016 Toyota Highlander
Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
"Steering column can become worn prematurely causing loose steering and possibly loose control"
"I was on Hwy 27 headed south bound at Bellecita Rd in Davenpoerrt, Fl. This is a busy four way intersection. I moved into the left hand turn lane. When the left turn green light came on I began my U-Turn to head north bound. The steering wheel would not respond to my input and the vehicle kept..."
"I was driving on a 2-lane road early in the morning with light snowfall. There was about 1" of snow on the road, with the roads not yet plowed or treated as it was the beginning of the snowfall. About 15 minutes into my trip, I was on a relatively flat and straight stretch of the road and let up on..."
"**Nature of Safety Defect Within 13,000 miles of normal mixed highway and light off-road use on a Toyota Highland, one tire developed a sidewall bubble and all four tires exhibited extreme and uneven tread wear—far below the advertised 50,000-mile treadwear warranty. The remaining tread depth on..."
"I was traveling on an interstate going home from work. My speed was approximately 65mph. I noticed traffic slowing up ahead. I began to drop my speed (cost down), as I was approaching the traffic the car in front of me was applying their brakes; I had already began to apply mine. I was applying..."
Complaint History for Toyota Highlander
Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2015–2026)
| Model Year | NHTSA Complaints | Crash Reports | Safety Recalls | Detailed Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 Toyota Highlander | 194 | 17 | 2 | View 2015 Problems → |
| 2016 Toyota Highlander Current Page | 115 | 14 | 3 | Current |
| 2017 Toyota Highlander | 267 | 18 | 4 | View 2017 Problems → |
| 2018 Toyota Highlander | 268 | 24 | 5 | View 2018 Problems → |
| 2019 Toyota Highlander | 480 | 22 | 3 | View 2019 Problems → |
| 2020 Toyota Highlander | 316 | 15 | 5 | View 2020 Problems → |
| 2021 Toyota Highlander | 512 | 16 | 5 | View 2021 Problems → |
| 2022 Toyota Highlander | 240 | 16 | 6 | View 2022 Problems → |
| 2023 Toyota Highlander | 185 | 12 | 9 | View 2023 Problems → |
| 2024 Toyota Highlander | 41 | 4 | 7 | View 2024 Problems → |
| 2025 Toyota Highlander | 9 | 2 | 3 | View 2025 Problems → |
| 2026 Toyota Highlander | 0 | 0 | 0 | View 2026 Problems → |
Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2016 Toyota Highlander
Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 37 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications
| Vehicle Component / System | Total Complaints | Crash Reports | Fire Reports | Reported Injury Entries | Reported Fatality Entries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES | 15 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| EXTERIOR LIGHTING | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Visibility & Wipers NHTSA category: VISIBILITY/WIPER | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS | 5 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Engine NHTSA category: ENGINE | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Steering NHTSA category: STEERING | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tires NHTSA category: TIRES | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Structure & Body NHTSA category: STRUCTURE | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Seats & Restraints NHTSA category: SEATS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| AIR BAGS,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Fuel & Propulsion System NHTSA category: FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Suspension NHTSA category: SUSPENSION | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TIRES,WHEELS | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Visibility / Glass NHTSA category: VISIBILITY | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| AIR BAGS,SEAT BELTS,SEATS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| AIR BAGS,SERVICE BRAKES | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| AIR BAGS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Engine & Cooling NHTSA category: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| EXTERIOR LIGHTING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Forward Collision Avoidance NHTSA category: FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,WHEELS | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STEERING,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STEERING,WHEELS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STRUCTURE,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER,VISIBILITY/WIPER | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wheels & Hubs NHTSA category: WHEELS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Official NHTSA Defect Investigations (1)
Formal safety defect inquiries and engineering analyses opened by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI)
Pedestrian alert sounds
NHTSA received a petition on or about July 18, 2022, requesting that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 be applied to all electric and hybrid vehicles operating in the United States. The petition can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under ODI Number 11486072. FMVSS 141 establishes performance requirements for pedestrian alert sounds for motor vehicles. The standard applies to hybrid and electric vehicles that have a gross vehicle weight ra...
The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database.
Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.