2013 Toyota HIGHLANDER - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2013 Toyota Highlander SUV FWD has an overall safety rating of 4 out of 5. This car performed well in most crash tests, with a 4-star rating for both front crash (driver and passenger side) and a perfect 5-star rating for side crash tests. The car also received top marks in various side crash scenarios, including the combined side barrier pole ratings for front and rear. The rollover rating for this vehicle is 4 out of 5, indicating a moderate risk of rollover. Additionally, the car comes equipped with electronic stability control, a feature that enhances overall vehicle stability.

Unfortunately, the Toyota Highlander does not include forward collision warning or lane departure warning systems. In terms of complaints and recalls, there have been 199 complaints reported and 3 recalls issued for this model. It's crucial for owners to stay informed about any recalls to ensure the safety and performance of their vehicle.

auto generated summary, may be inaccurate.

Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

199

Recall Count

3

Investigation Count

3

Safety Rating

4/5

Search Vehicle Details

Advanced Search

The advanced search lets you search by safety ratings and features. This will return a list of vehicles that match your search criteria.

Safety Features

2013 Toyota Highlander SUV FWD Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2013 Toyota Highlander SUV FWD

Electronic Stability Control (ESC)

ESC is an advanced safety feature in vehicles designed to help drivers maintain control during challenging driving conditions. By continuously monitoring various factors such as steering angle, vehicle speed, and individual wheel speeds, ESC can detect and reduce the risk of skidding or loss of control. It achieves this by automatically applying brakes to specific wheels to stabilize the vehicle.

Standard
Forward Collision Warning (FCW)

Forward Collision Warning (FCW) is a safety feature in vehicles that helps prevent frontal collisions by alerting the driver of an imminent collision with a vehicle or obstacle ahead. Using sensors such as radar or cameras, FCW monitors the distance and speed of vehicles in front, and if it detects a potential collision, it provides visual and/or auditory warnings to prompt the driver to take evasive action.

No
Lane Departure Warning (LDW)

Lane Departure Warning (LDW) is a safety feature in vehicles that alerts drivers when their vehicle unintentionally drifts out of its lane without signaling. Utilizing cameras or sensors to monitor lane markings on the road, LDW detects when the vehicle crosses these lines and triggers visual, auditory, or haptic alerts to notify the driver of potential lane departure.

No

2013 Toyota Highlander SUV FWD Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2013 Toyota Highlander SUV FWD Where possible we've included the ratings for the oldest and latest models of this car so you can compare how the safety ratings have changed over time.

Frontal Crash Ratings

Combines Driver and Passenger star ratings into a single frontal rating. The frontal barrier test simulates a head-on collision between two similar vehicles, each moving at 35 mph.

Test 2005 Score 2013 Score 2024 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating Not Rated 4 4
Front Crash Driver Side Rating 5 4 4
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating 5 4 4

Side Crash Ratings

Combines Side Barrier and Side Pole Star Ratings into a single side rating.

Test 2005 Score 2013 Score 2024 Score
Overall Side Crash Rating Not Rated 5 5
Side Crash Drivers Side Rating 5 5 5
Side Crash Passenger Side Rating 5 5 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Front Not Rated 5 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Rear Not Rated 5 5
Overall Side Barrier Rating Not Rated 5 5

Rollover Ratings

The Rollover Resistance test measures the risk of rollover in a single-vehicle, loss-of-control scenario.

Test 2005 Score 2013 Score 2024 Score
Rollover Rating 4 4 4
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result No Tip No Tip No Tip
Side Pole Crash Rating Not Rated 5 5

Complaints for the 2013 Toyota HIGHLANDER

This chart show the number of complaints for each car component. A Higher number of complaints could indicate that this car might have a common fault. Something to look out for when purchasing one.

Component Complaints

Choose a component to see what complaints people have made about them.

Complaint:
"when i turn the steering faster than a certain speed, it will lock up for a moment, either turning right or left. sometimes a light indicating a steering fault lights up on the dash cluster, sometimes not. when the turning of the wheel stops and locks up i cannot turn any more in that direction. i can turn the other way. this has been a problem for sometime and is becoming now worse. aside from the locking up, justing turning slowly, there is a bit of a whine or low level grind sound in the sound of the steering column. this is a mechanical noise, not the typical whine of the steering pump."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2021-10-12
Complaint:
"- the car was purchased in 2015 used and the steering wheel has made a clunking sound when turning a hard sharp left or right since the day of purchase -while on a road trip of approximately 3,000 miles round trip in june 2021 the steering wheel was adjusted to accommodate my husband's height. it became very loose, with it finally dropping into my husband's lap on the last day of our trip-it was difficult to steer the car -we brought the car in to our dealership the following day where they confirmed we needed a new steering column-the car has not been involved in any accidents nor have the air bags employed -other than the "clunking" sound there has never been any previous warning that the steering wheel would disengage while driving."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2021-12-06
Complaint:
"there are sounds when sometimes when turning, including poping or sometimes like a whirling sound. the steering is a bit stiff sometimes and not easy to turn the wheels, this does not happen at any specific speed. i do not have any picture or other document i can upload as this is not physical damage that can be photographed."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2022-05-03
Complaint:
"intermediate steering shaft - noise began around 60k miles and has continued to get worse, now at 104k. if toyota knowingly made a design change and issued a new replacement part, recall should be issued."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2016-01-01
Complaint:
"'thunk'/popping noise when turning the steering wheel left or right. was told to replace the intermediate steering shaft, and learned that a new one was developed to fix this problem in 2013 but no recall or safety notice was sent to owners."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2019-01-12
Complaint:
"when i turn my steering wheel going very slow or stationary my steering wheel makes a popping sounds and my mechanic says it's the intermediate shaft. its getting worse as i'm putting miles on it. since it's a steering component, it's a very serious issue since if it fails i will loose complete control of my car."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2019-08-12
Complaint:
"my steering makes a clunking sound, which you can actually feel in the steering wheel when it occurs, when turning either left or right. it is increasing in occurrence and intensity. it occurs at any speed. this has been going on for several months. i took it to the dealership and they lubricated something, saying there was no danger. should it become worse bring it back. it's going back!"
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2019-03-08
Complaint:
"tl* the contact owns a 2013 toyota highlander. while driving, a clunking noise was heard coming from the steering wheel. in addition, while making left or right turns or while the vehicle was stopped, the noise grew louder. the contact also stated that the steering wheel became difficult to turn when the vehicle had not been driven for a couple of days. there were no warning indicators illuminated. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, but a failure code could not be found. the vehicle was not repaired. the dealer and manufacturer were not notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 29,493."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2019-01-05
Complaint:
"clunking noise from front end when turning wheels, appeared at approximately 60,000 miles. took to shop for repairs, and was diagnosed as intermediate steering shaft. mechanic said it was so loose he could manipulate it with his hand and was close to catastrophic failure."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2019-07-06
Complaint:
"re: investigation ea18006. my car has been making a clunking sound in the steering column during slow turns to the right so i did an internet search and found numerous discussions and articles talking about a 'known' issue with the steering column. one article led me to your investigation. while at the dealer yesterday, i explained the issue and asked them to investigate. they said for $70 they can look into it. given i consider steering a critical system, i protested the service charge and their only response was they could do a 'visual' inspection for free but it should be looked at deeply to diagnose properly. i had them proceed and they came back with a suggestion that the steering column be replaced. i asked if it was a safety concern and was told 'yes it will be at some point'. obviously, i had them replace it but feel that if there is a safety issue here, they should be proactive and replace these steering columns on all affected products before someone gets hurt. i sent a concern to toyota as well but wanted to add this to your active investigation record."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2021-04-05

Recalls for the 2013 Toyota HIGHLANDER

Component Recalls

Choose a component to see what recalls people have made about them.

Recall:
"toyota is recalling certain model year 2013 highlander vehicles manufactured march 13, 2013, through august 6, 2013. in the affected vehicles, the second row left hand seat may not lock in place when positioned in the forward front or second adjusting position. as such, the vehicles do not conform to federal motor vehicle safety standard (fmvss) number 207, "seating systems.""
Consequence:
If the seat does not lock into the seat track, there may be an increased risk of injury to an occupant in the event of a crash.
Remedy:

Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will modify the second row left hand seat so that it will lock into the seat track, free of charge. The recall began on May 21, 2014. Owners may contact Toyota at 1-800-331-4331.

Component(s) Involved: SEATS
Date of incident: 2014-03-27

TOYOTA Overall Complaint Ranking

This table shows the ranking of car manufacturers when it comes to most complaints and recalls. The manufacturer with the most complaints is at the top. However this doesn't necassarily mean they should be avoided. Some manufacturers might just have more popular or affordable cars which a lot of people have bought. Which means there's more scope for a complaint to be made. Use the ranking table below as a part your wider research into buying a car.

TOYOTA ranks 3 out of 44 in the complaints ranking table.

Manufacturer Complaint Count Recall Count Ranking
FORD 208,358 3,259 1
CHEVROLET 111,306 2,082 2
TOYOTA 81,019 1,852 3
HONDA 61,937 1,268 4
NISSAN 56,226 930 5
DODGE 45,756 827 6
HYUNDAI 44,150 649 7
GMC 34,441 1,410 8
KIA 29,832 501 9
CHRYSLER 27,698 254 10
TESLA 26,230 730 11
BMW 24,890 1,877 12
VOLKSWAGEN 23,125 829 13
MERCEDES-BENZ 19,066 2,925 14
SUBARU 18,513 703 15
MAZDA 10,599 364 16
PONTIAC 10,430 138 17
CADILLAC 9,434 444 18
AUDI 7,865 1,093 19
BUICK 7,851 279 20
SATURN 7,672 84 21
MERCURY 7,374 135 22
LEXUS 6,373 408 23
LINCOLN 5,897 423 24
ACURA 5,722 382 25
MINI 5,585 366 26
INFINITI 4,000 187 27
MITSUBISHI 3,912 397 28
VOLVO 3,875 727 29
PORSCHE 2,646 1,231 30
SUZUKI 2,272 123 31
FIAT 2,205 80 32
SAAB 1,536 76 33
JAGUAR 1,195 198 34
SMART 528 17 35
GENESIS 436 42 36
ISUZU 249 37 37
ALFA ROMEO 161 37 38
MASERATI 76 46 39
BENTLEY 46 159 40
POLESTAR 42 2 41
LUCID 14 6 42
CODA 4 2 43
MAYBACH 0 0 44

Related Vehicles

Why not check out other TOYOTA vehicles?

2019 RAV4
TOYOTA
  • Overall Safety Rating: 5
  • Complaints Count: 608
  • Recall Count: 7
View Car
2011 SCION TC
TOYOTA
  • Overall Safety Rating: 5
  • Complaints Count: 0
  • Recall Count: 0
View Car
2020 RAV4 HYBRID
TOYOTA
  • Overall Safety Rating: 5
  • Complaints Count: 4
  • Recall Count: 5
View Car
2024 GRAND HIGHLANDER
TOYOTA
  • Overall Safety Rating: Not Rated
  • Complaints Count: 13
  • Recall Count: 0
View Car