8 complaints reported

2016 Toyota Highlander Electrical System

Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.

Reports
8
Crashes
1
Fires
1
Injuries
1

Complaint Timeline

Chronological view of owner reports

Mar 2023

Description of Problem (electrical issue affecting multiple systems): Engine shuts off while driving. All instrument/electronic displays shut off or flicker while driving. Steering wheel locks and vibrates. Liftgate does not open. Vehicle cannot be unlocked with fob. Vehicle does not start. May start after several attempts. Safety: My family's safety was put at risk when car stalled and almost hit by other vehicles while driving on streets and highway. Risk has continued because Toyota has not identified and fixed the problem. Dealer: The problem has been reproduced by dealer. Dealer blamed and replaced battery, but problem continued. Vehicle only inspected by dealer and nobody else. Warning Lamps/Message: No Service lights or warning messaged on.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER, Manufacturer: Toyota Motor Corporation
Incident: Jan 2023
Apr 2022 Fire

I had bought my vehicle 5 months ago in an authorized Toyota dealer, on Easter Day we got on the vehicle drove 15 minutes from home to the park, parked my vehicle, turn it off and went to the park are next to where my vehicle was parked, from where i was sitting i was able to see my vehicle and we wasn't that far, not even 5 minutes after that i walked near the vehicle and notice it was on fire. No light was on in the dashboard, everything was working fine, the vehicle just had an oil change at the begging March 2022 and now in April 2022 it caught fire. This was my dream vehicle and i worked hard to get it. Fire fighters arrived at the scene, police department as well, the police gave me a report number, also a fire department investigator was called to the scene where he certified it was a short circuit and gave me a report number as well.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER, Manufacturer: Toyota Motor Corporation
Incident: Apr 2022
Jan 2020 Injury

THE LIFTGATE HIT MY 73 YEAR OLD MOTHER IN THE HEAD KNOCKING HER BACKWARDS WITHOUT ANY SAFETY FEATURE STOPPING OR REVERSING THE DOOR AS IT CLOSED.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER, Manufacturer: Toyota Motor Corporation
Incident: Jan 2020
Aug 2019 Crash

PARKING SENSORS AND PARK ASSIST RANDOMLY TURNS ITSELF OFF. WILL NOTICE THE SENSORS NOT DETECTING WHILE BACKING UP AND NOTICE DASH LIGHT IS NOT ILLUMINATED. NOT FUNCTIONING WHEN BACKING AND PARKING.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER, Manufacturer: Toyota Motor Corporation
Incident: Jul 2019
Aug 2019

VEHICLE PRE-COLLISION SYSTEM ACTIVATING RANDOMLY WITH NO OTHER VEHICLES NEARBY. DASH DISPLAY LIGHTS UP WITH WARNING ACCOMPANIED WITH RAPID BEEPING WHILE DRIVING. MULTIPLE TIMES NOTED ON VIDEO FROM DASH-CAM. HAS COME ON WHILE CHANGING LANES AND CAN CAUSE AN ACCIDENT BY THE DISTRACTION. HAS HAPPENED ON FREEWAY AS WELL AS CITY DRIVING. WHILE COASTING AND ACCELERATING. DATE LISTED BELOW IS APPROXIMATE.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER, Manufacturer: Toyota Motor Corporation
Incident: Oct 2018
Aug 2019

TWO SEPARATE ISSUES: 1. RAIN SENSING WIPERS ACTIVATE RANDOMLY ON CLEAR DAYS, SUN SHINING. WIPERS WILL WIPE ON TIME WHILE DRIVING RANDOMLY. A SEVERE DISTRACTION. 2. CRUISE CONTROL DISPLAY ACTIVATING RANDOMLY WHILE DRIVING WITH NO VEHICLES NEARBY IN FRONT (ACTIVE CRUISE CONTROL VEHICLE). DISPLAY WILL BE NORMAL AND THEN GO BACK AND FORTH THE THE SET DISPLAY SCREEN. DISTRACTING WHILE DRIVING ON FREEWAY.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER, Manufacturer: Toyota Motor Corporation
Incident: Feb 2018
Aug 2018

CAR'S AWD STARTED NOT WORKING, CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. TOOK IT TO THE DEALER AND THEY STATED THE MAIN WIRING HARNESS WAS "CHEWED" UP BY RODENTS. THEY STATED THEY SEEN IT BEFORE DUE TO A ORGANIC BASED OIL ON THE HARNESS WIRES.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER, Manufacturer: Toyota Motor Corporation
Incident: Aug 2018
Nov 2017

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER. WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED IN THE DRIVEWAY, IT AUTOMATICALLY TURNED ON WITHOUT WARNING. THE CONTACT HAD TO PUSH THE IGNITION SWITCH TO STOP THE VEHICLE. THE CONTACT ALSO STATED THAT THERE WAS A LOUD NOISE WHEN THE IGNITION SWITCH WAS TURNED ON. THE CONTACT TURNED OFF AND TURNED ON THE VEHICLE, AND THE LOUD NOISE STOPPED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO THE DEALER. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT CONTACTED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 35,000.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER, Manufacturer: Toyota Motor Corporation
Incident: Jan 2017

Trend Over Time

Complaints by year

Quick Summary

The 2016 Toyota Highlander has 8 Electrical System complaints on file. 1 crashes have been reported. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.