2016 Toyota HIGHLANDER - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2016 Toyota Highlander SUV AWD has an impressive overall safety rating of 5 out of 5, indicating a high level of safety for both the driver and passengers. It received top scores in various crash tests including front crash and side crash ratings. Additionally, the vehicle is equipped with electronic stability control as a standard feature, which helps in maintaining control during sudden maneuvers. It also offers optional forward collision warning and lane departure warning systems for added safety.

Despite its strong safety ratings and advanced safety features, it is important to note that there have been 97 complaints reported for this model. However, this is offset by the fact that there have been only 3 recalls, suggesting that any reported issues have been promptly addressed by the manufacturer. Overall, the 2016 Toyota Highlander is a safe vehicle with modern safety technologies to enhance the driving experience and provide peace of mind to its occupants.

auto generated summary, may be inaccurate.

Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

97

Recall Count

3

Investigation Count

0

Safety Rating

5/5

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Safety Features

2016 Toyota Highlander SUV AWD Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2016 Toyota Highlander SUV AWD

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.

Optional
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.

Optional

2016 Toyota Highlander SUV AWD Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2016 Toyota Highlander SUV AWD 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 2016 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 5 4

Side Crash Ratings

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

Test 2005 Score 2016 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 2016 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 2016 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:
"while driving down the road the panoramic moonroof section of the sunroof exploded. this included a lout shotgun like sound. the sound, in addition to not having sufficient roof coverage, resulted in a safety issue. glass shards may have also been thrown to vehicles behind us. the dealer is closed today, but i will be contacting them in the morning to report the issue and to see if it is covered. i understand that this happens relatively frequently, but no recall has been issued. i have reached out to insurance and will likely be filing a claim if toyota doesn't cover it. no party has inspected at this point. there was no warning to this."
Components Involved: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Date of incident: 2022-04-06
Complaint:
"unknown please investigate this vehicle. the recalls we're never addressed. the dealership i purchased the car from, autonation honda roseville refused to service this car after a maintenance required warning light and tire pressure warning light came on and gasoline averaging 9mpg i complained about on 1-5-2022"
Components Involved: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Date of incident: 2022-05-01
Complaint:
"after shopping, we went to open the trunk of our highlander by pressing the button. as it opened, we heard a crunching sound from the top but the trunk continued to open. it then reached the point where suddenly the top spoiler was dislodged and the back window's glass exploded outward in a thousand small pieces all over my husband. at no point did a safety mechanism turn on to stop the trunk from opening. we had a few prior experiences with the trunk failing to stop if something was in its way, demonstrating that there is an issue with the sensor or there is no sensory system in the car that would prevent it from crushing something or someone. after contacting toyota, they stated that this was not covered under the warranty of the vehicle."
Components Involved: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Date of incident: 2023-06-10
Complaint:
"has there been any recalls in my vehicle that i haven't addressed or taken care of? i am on the road quite a bit and was noted of several past recalls. thank you . [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr"
Components Involved: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Date of incident: 2021-08-09
Complaint:
"my suv s sunroof shattered while driving on a suburban street with two kids in car seats behind me . it sounded like an explosion . glass is all over the car , it has to be towed and i need a rental car and i have to file a claim for my insurance now."
Components Involved: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Date of incident: 2021-06-09
Complaint:
"headed to work at 5:35 am on wednesday, january 15, 2020, at 55 mph on my daily commute in my 2016 toyota highlander, westbound on i-70 between the central park and 270 exits, and my sunroof exploded. 22 degrees, clear day, moderate traffic with steady flow, no turns or frequent braking, no objects that could have played a role in site, and no warning signs of what was to come. sound reminiscent of a gunshot occurred, and as i looked around i realized that shards of glass were falling onto me from my panoramic sunroof. the front panel of my sunroof is blown outward. 67,784 miles on the vehicle with no aftermarket parts aside from the led headlights. no other damage to car or myself. after some research, i have learned that this is a known issue with various manufacturers, including toyota. i have reached out to toyota and am waiting for a response."
Components Involved: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Date of incident: 2021-03-01
Complaint:
"lack of hands free phone calling. toyota and apple iphone 11's are not syncing and causing a safety issue."
Components Involved: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Date of incident: 2021-02-12
Complaint:
"windsheld cracked overnight when parked in the garage with no reason. i contacted the company and didn't get a solution from them. this must be something thing related to the company. finally, i replaced it with my insurance"
Components Involved: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Date of incident: 2018-03-02
Complaint:
"the rear windshield on our 2016 toyota highlander exploded without any provocation. pulling into an empty parking space upon placing the car in park, the read windshield exploded and shattered into pieces. nothing hit it. nothing banged into it. just exploded for no reason."
Components Involved: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Date of incident: 2020-09-05
Complaint:
"vehicle rear windshield exploded for not reason. vehicle was parked for two days same spot in home fence area and i started it and shut the driver door and immediately heard a sound and looked the rear mirror and it was gone meaning complete shattered in pieces. i have picture to clarify the damage and toyota courtesy dealer decline to repair it since there is no recall. i usually have my grandchildren with me in the vehicle so you could imaging how desperate it would have been for my family at that moment if they were with me. please assist me with this issue as soon as possible. there are sometime that this can be expedited when it is a safety hazard and this issue is one of them. thank you!"
Components Involved: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Date of incident: 2018-02-12

Recalls for the 2016 Toyota HIGHLANDER

Component Recalls

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

Recall:
"fujian wanda automobile glass industry (wanda) is recalling certain aftermarket replacement windshields sold for use in 2014-2018 toyota highlander vehicles. the windshields have an attached wire harness that water may leak into, possibly causing damage to the vehicle's engine control module (ecm)."
Consequence:
The ECM damage may result in the engine stalling, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy:

Wanda will notify owners, and service centers will replace the windshields, and inspect the ECM for damage, having it replaced, as necessary, free of charge. The recall began January 29, 2019. Owners may contact Wanda customer service at 1-864-281-2760.

Component(s) Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Date of incident: 2018-11-27

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

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