2023 Toyota Highlander Other Problems

When driving the vehicle will hesitate and pause when trying to accelerate. This normally occurs when trying to make a turn. The delay is a safety concern since the lack of acceleration frequently causes near accident with oncoming traffic.

Your front bumper cover detached while driving at 60 mph and became lodged under the vehicle, grinding against the front tires and damaging the driver's side bumper. This could have caused the bumper to fly into another vehicle or interfere with your tires, potentially causing an accident. A safety recall was issued in October 2023 for this issue, but as of March 2024, no official fix is available, leaving you driving without a properly attached bumper.

Your sunroof suddenly shattered while you were driving on the freeway, creating a hole in the center of the glass panel. You believe the failure may be caused by weak material that cannot withstand temperature changes. This is a serious safety concern as flying glass debris could potentially cause an accident.

Your rear hatch sometimes won't open when you request it, and when you press the close button, it often moves only an inch before beeping and stopping. You frequently need to press the button multiple times—up to 6 times—before the hatch finally closes completely. This has been happening almost daily for over 6 months, and it affects all three control methods: the key fob, the rear hatch button, and the dash button. The repair will likely involve diagnosing and replacing the power hatch motor, latch mechanism, or associated electrical components.

Your sunroof suddenly shattered while driving over a bridge joint on the highway, spraying glass both inside and outside your vehicle. You reviewed your dashcam footage and found no evidence of an object hitting the sunroof, though the camera did show rough pavement near the bridge that caused vehicle vibration. The sunroof glass panel may have failed due to stress from the road impact or a manufacturing defect.

Your infotainment system repeatedly displays pop-up screens asking you to sign in or subscribe to Toyota's Drive Connect service, which appear multiple times during short drives. These pop-ups force you to take your eyes off the road to tap small buttons and clear them before you can see your Apple CarPlay maps again. According to your mechanic, this feature cannot be disabled without purchasing a Toyota subscription service ($15-20/month), and appears to be a widespread issue among Toyota owners.

Your tailgate motor is malfunctioning and making a loud squealing noise when you open it. When you try to close it automatically, it stops and beeps twice, then won't close no matter how many times you try. This prevents you from securing your cargo or closing the tailgate properly, which is a safety concern.

Your instrument panel display may go blank when you start up your vehicle, which makes it harder to see warning lights and malfunction indicators. This issue has been confirmed by Toyota dealerships, but no remedy is currently available from the manufacturer. Getting the display to work properly may require a dashboard cluster repair or replacement.

Your tailgate struts failed after only 2,000 miles, well within the warranty period. Even when you turn off the power back door feature, the struts don't work like normal manual hydraulics—they require significant effort to lift and close, which caused you to injure your shoulder while trying to open the gate in the rain. The fix will likely involve replacing the failed tailgate strut cylinders with new ones.

Your lift gate makes a loud stuttering noise when opening, even though there are no warning lights. You're concerned the gate could suddenly fail while you're loading groceries. The problem started at 49,000 miles on your new vehicle, and you haven't had it inspected by a dealer yet due to time constraints. A dealer inspection and possible replacement of the lift gate struts or hinges may be needed to fix this issue.

Your instrument cluster (the dashboard display showing speed, fuel level, and other vehicle info) is not working properly. This makes it difficult to monitor your vehicle's vital information while driving.

Your seat belt alarm goes off unexpectedly while driving, even when your seat belt is properly fastened. The alarm is loud and distracting, and the only way to stop it is to turn off the engine and restart the car. This has happened multiple times over 18 months of ownership. Fixing this will likely require a dealer to diagnose and repair or replace the seat belt sensor system.

Your driver's side mirror vibrates at highway speeds, making the reflection blurry and hard to see traffic safely. This started when you purchased the vehicle and happens even though your dealership installed a blind spot mirror. The vibration appears to be caused by movement between the mirror glass and the motor backing plate, and you're concerned this is a safety issue.

Your navigation and media center displays a Drive Connect service pop-up every 10 minutes while driving that blocks the screen and requires at least 2 screen taps to dismiss. The pop-up reappears within a few minutes and cannot be disabled unless you subscribe to the service. This is especially distracting when using your phone's map function. Resolving this may require a software update from Toyota or adjusting service settings through the infotainment system.

Your multimedia center repeatedly displays a popup advertisement for "Experience Drive Connect" that covers your navigation map. Dismissing this ad requires taking your eyes off the road and pressing multiple buttons on the screen, creating a serious distraction while driving. The dealer says this ad is part of a subscription service and cannot be disabled. A software update or infotainment system reconfiguration may be needed to prevent these popups from appearing while driving.

Your Toyota's infotainment system frequently displays pop-up ads for the Toyota Drive Connect subscription service that interrupt other apps like navigation and audio controls. These ads appear repeatedly even after you close them, sometimes within a minute, forcing you to repeatedly dismiss them. This constant interruption while driving could be a distraction and safety concern. Resolving this likely requires adjusting infotainment settings, updating the system software, or contacting Toyota to disable the subscription prompts.

Your car produces a strong gasoline smell on warm days, with visible fumes around the fuel filler neck. The smell seeps into the cabin and has caused headaches and dizziness. Your dealer has been unable to find the source after multiple visits. You're concerned this could lead to a fire or explosion.

Your dashboard warning lights and displays are turning on and off randomly without reason — including your compass, forward/rear collision warnings, and blind spot monitor. The collision warning buzzer sometimes goes off for extended periods (up to half an hour) even when nothing is near your vehicle and your car is parked and off. Your blind spot monitor on the right side isn't consistently showing vehicles, including larger trucks. Your dealership hasn't been able to identify the issue because the problem doesn't occur consistently during their test drives. The fix will likely involve a software update or replacement of the vehicle's sensor modules and camera systems that control these safety features.

While using Apple CarPlay Maps for navigation, pop-up ads and prompts for Toyota Driver Experience Connect subscription or PIN reset repeatedly interrupt your maps display every 5-10 minutes. You have to take your eyes off the road and tap the screen multiple times to dismiss these pop-ups and return to navigation, creating a serious distraction while driving.

Your blind spot warning system may not always detect vehicles in your blind spot, and your forward collision warning can beep continuously for extended periods even when no vehicle is ahead of you. You might also experience intermittent beeping warnings that don't clearly display on your dashboard, along with issues where your liftgate won't reliably open or close. The safety system warnings appear to activate unexpectedly while driving, creating a distraction when you're trying to determine what's actually wrong.

Water is leaking into your car near the sunroof when it rains. Two Toyota dealerships confirmed this is a design issue where the sunroof sealant and gasket don't align as tightly as they should, allowing small water droplets to enter the cabin. While a drip pan and drain tubes are designed to catch and remove this water, the dealerships say you'll need regular drain tube cleanings to prevent water damage. This is different from your previous Highlander, which never leaked.

At about 3500 miles the car has started lagging really bad. I have almost been hit in stop and go traffic and have almost hit the car in front of me because I never know if when I put my foot on the gas if I’m going to go or not. When pulling out into on coming traffic I have to make sure the cars are really far away because again I never know if the car is going to actually get up and go.

Your 2023 Highlander hesitates and lags when accelerating onto roads and highways, creating a safety risk during merging. You've had it inspected three times, but no diagnostic codes or warning messages appear, so the dealer says nothing is wrong. This hesitation could be caused by a fuel delivery issue, ignition timing problem, or transmission lag that may not trigger a stored diagnostic code.

Your car is displaying an "Engine coolant temperature high" warning message and the temperature gauge is jumping between high and normal readings while driving in heavy traffic with the air conditioning on. The dealer couldn't identify a mechanical problem and only found the coolant level slightly low. The issue may involve checking and refilling the coolant, inspecting the cooling system for leaks, or testing the temperature sensor.

Your 2023 Highlander developed water damage inside the roof area. The dealership initially fixed it by adjusting the sunroof glass angle, but the same water damage returned three months later. When you took it back for repair, a technician suggested the problem was caused by parking on an angled surface, which you don't believe is the actual cause.

Your side mirrors vibrate excessively, especially the driver's side mirror, even on smooth roads. This vibration causes the mirror image to blur and may cause dizziness while driving. The issue appears on many other vehicles and your dealership has declined to cover it under warranty. Fixing this likely involves inspecting the mirror mounting brackets and adjustments or replacing the mirror assembly.

Toyota has a software program called Drive Connect. This is built into their 2023 and 2024 vehicles. This program has a navigation system and some other features that Toyota offers for about $200 per year.

Your 2023 Highlander hesitates and then surges forward when you accelerate from a stop, sometimes followed by a slight bucking sensation. This doesn't happen every time, but it's noticeable enough that it concerns you. Your dealer's mechanic couldn't reproduce the issue during their test drive, though you've found other owners reporting the same problem online. The dealer will likely need to perform a detailed diagnostic of your fuel system and engine control computer to identify and fix the acceleration response issue.

Your Highlander produces a loud wind noise while driving at speeds around 45 mph, but the dealer hasn't been able to reproduce or identify the issue during their inspections. You have video evidence of the noise occurring during normal driving. The repair may involve inspecting weather seals, door gaskets, or window trim to locate and seal air leaks.

Still they have yet to come up with a fix to the problem they sent out for their safety recall. 23TA12 (Interim notice 23TB12) Certain model years 2020-2023 Highlander-Highlander HV-Front Lower Bumper Cover Assembly May Detach While Driving. This is something that has caused severe damage to vehicles lowering the value of their vehicles and causing harm to passengers and pedestrians at times.

You took your 2023 Highlander to a Toyota dealership (Toyota Elgin) for a recall inspection so you could use it on the Turo car rental platform. The dealership refused to perform the inspection. This appears to be a service access issue rather than a mechanical problem with your vehicle.