2018 Toyota HIGHLANDER - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2018 Toyota Highlander SUV AWD has an impressive overall safety rating of 5 stars according to the data provided. It performs well in various crash scenarios with high ratings in front and side crash categories, as well as in rollover and side pole crash tests. Additionally, this model comes equipped with standard electronic stability control, forward collision warning, and lane departure warning systems, enhancing its safety features.

It is worth noting that there have been 173 complaints reported for this vehicle, which could indicate some issues experienced by owners. Furthermore, there have been 5 recalls for the 2018 Toyota Highlander SUV AWD, suggesting that there have been some safety concerns that needed to be addressed by the manufacturer. It is essential for car owners to stay informed about any recalls and promptly address them for the safety of both the driver and passengers.

auto generated summary, may be inaccurate.

Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

173

Recall Count

5

Investigation Count

0

Safety Rating

5/5

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

2018 Toyota Highlander SUV AWD Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2018 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.

Standard
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.

Standard

2018 Toyota Highlander SUV AWD Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2018 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 2018 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 2018 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 2018 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 2018 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:
"driving down the street when an alarm went off stating "braking power low" and to "stop immediately". vehicle to be towed and taken to local car dealership. over the phone, the dealership claims no braking element has been recalled for my particular vehicle, however other highlanders from the same year model were recalled for braking issues (vacuum pump.) have been having issues with the "start/stop system malfunction" alarm going off as well for several months, but dealership states it will not affect the drivability of the vehicle."
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2025-05-12
Complaint:
"i’ve always had issues with my breaks since i purchased my car. today when i tried to turn on my car i received a message stating breaking power low. i did not have that issue last night nor had i seen it before. my car will not start"
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2023-02-12
Complaint:
"while traveling down the rocky mountains, we experienced a gradual loss of braking. it took extreme pressure on the brake pedal to slow the vehicle. at this point there were no warning lights. later down the road, the same thing occured again and a brake warning light illuminated. traffic was light and the incline was slight which prevented an almost certain accident. we limped the vehicle to the dealer. the diagnosis was a brake booster failure. this is a 5 year old vehicle with only 57,000 miles! i have never had a booster failure on any vehicle in my life. this booster should be designed to last the life of the vehicle since it is part of such a critical safety system on this vehicle. the failed component was kept by the dealer."
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2024-10-06
Complaint:
"2018 toyota highlander braking power low warning light came on twice. mechanic determined it is the brake vacuum booster pump which can cause the brakes to fail to stop the vehicle. this was a recall on some of the 2018 manufactured highlanders but not all. many are now failing like mine. i have had it replaced luckily before a major accident and serious injury. toyota knows of issues but will not recall without njtsa direction even though crashes may happen."
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2024-07-06
Complaint:
"i was driving about to merge onto the highway and a warning low brake power light started beeping and appeared on the dashboard."
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2024-12-05
Complaint:
"braking to stop at a traffic light then all of the sudden the car stalls with braking power low message. the car won't even start for me to pull aside to a safe place. this is the second time this happened within 2 years so i decided to put a complaint in."
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2023-04-05
Complaint:
"vehicle will not start. "brake pressure low" message appears on instrument panel. the truck will be sent to the dealer. brakes worked fine previously and brake fluid is at maximum level."
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2023-06-08
Complaint:
"the car low pressure break pop up and lock the break because of "low pressure vacuum pump" unable to break crashing into the curve when back up. after stop the car the car wouldn't start up again."
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2022-02-06
Complaint:
"my 2018 toyota highlander xle had a break malfunction april 15, 2022. the brake light illuminated, "low brake power" flashed briefly and the pedal became stiff and unable to press for braking. i swerved to avoid rear ending the car in front of me. brought it in to toyota and they want $2000 to fix the break booster vacuum, and said it is not covered by warranty. my car only has 46k miles! this part is clearly faulty and toyota should replace it. accordingly to toyota vehicle maintenance schedule, the vacuum pump for the brake booster needs to be replaced as a regular maintenance or "wear" item every 120,000 miles. this is a very expensive maintenance item (>$600 in parts, ~$2000 including labor and shop materials), that needs to be performed by a toyota certified technician. in addition to being very expensive, what will discourage many vehicle owners from performing this service, one may expect that many owners who perform their own vehicle maintenance or use independent mechanic shops will simply miss this service altogether. being a safety critical item, the vacuum pump should be designed to last the entire lifespan of the vehicle (just like other brake system components: abs pump, vacuum booster, master cylinder, etc.). the short lifespan of the vacuum pump and the requirement to replace it on a regular basis is indicative of a defective or deficient design. making the replacement of the vacuum pump a scheduled maintenance item is a just way for toyota to avoid liability due to premature failures of a substandard safety component, especially in light that other brake system components are designed to last for the entire life of the vehicle, and are not considered wear items in the maintenance schedule (except for brake pads, of course). toyota should redesign the vacuum pump to increase its lifespan in-line with the rest of the brake system components, and perform the replacement under a safety recall or service campaign, at no cost to vehicle owners."
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2023-03-04
Complaint:
"just like the other complaints with the brakes, i also received the error message "“braking power low, stop at a safe place”. also like the other complaints here, i went to the dealership where i purchased the car and they told me it is not covered and considered as a recall for my vehicle. even though the same problems have been identified for the same make and vehicle under recall #18v211000. i also called the toyota corporation and they said since my vin number wasn't specifically affected, it's not part of the recall. i don’t think it’s right that toyota can say it is not covered simply because they haven’t identified it with my specific vin and or the manufacturer they used. this is horrible and obviously, there is an issue with the brake system that could lead to collisions."
Components Involved: SERVICE BRAKES
Date of incident: 2024-03-03

Recalls for the 2018 Toyota HIGHLANDER

Component Recalls

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

Recall:
"toyota motor engineering & manufacturing (toyota) is recalling certain 2018-2019 4runner, 2019-2020 avalon, 2019 corolla hatchback, 2017-2019 highlander, 2018-2020 camry, 2020 corolla, 2018-2019 land cruiser, 2017-2020 tacoma, 2019-2020 rav4, 2019-2020 sequoia, 2017-2020 sienna, 2019-2020 tundra, 2018-2020 lexus es350, 2017 lexus gs200t, 2017-2019 lexus gs350, 2019 lexus gs300, 2018-2020 lexus lc500h, 2019-2020 lexus ls500, 2018-2019 lexus gx460, 2017 lexus is200t, 2019 lexus is300, 2019 lexus is350, 2018-2020 lexus lc500, 2018 lexus ls500, 2019 lexus ls500h, 2018-2019 lexus lx570, 2017 lexus rc200t, 2019 lexus rc300, rc350, 2017 and 2019-2020 lexus rx350, 2018-2020 rx350l, 2019 lexus ux200, 2018-2019 lexus nx300 vehicles. the low-pressure fuel pump inside the fuel tank may fail."
Consequence:
If the fuel pump fails, the engine can stall while driving, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy:

Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace the fuel pump assembly with an improved one, free of charge. Owners of specific models were notified that remedy parts were available starting January 21, 2021. Owners of other models will be notified as remedy parts become available. Remedy parts should be available for all affected vehicles by late March 2021. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371 or Lexus customer service at 1-800-255-3987. Note: This recall is an expansion of recall 20V-012. Toyota's number for this recall is 20TA02. Lexus' number for this recall is 20LA01.

Component(s) Involved: FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE > DELIVERY > FUEL PUMP
Date of incident: 2020-11-04
Recall:
"toyota motor engineering & manufacturing (toyota) recalled certain 2018-2019 4runner, highlander, camry, land cruiser, sequoia, sienna, tacoma and tundra, and lexus rc 300, rc 350, gs 350, gx 460, is 300, lc 500, ls 500, lx 570, rx 350l, and 2019 toyota avalon and corolla, and certain lexus nx 300, and es 350 vehicles on january 13, 2020. on march 4, 2020, toyota expanded the recall to include certain 2014-2015 toyota 4runner and land cruiser, 2018 avalon, corolla, 2014 fj cruiser, 2017 sienna and lexus 2018 es 350, 2018-2019 gs 300, 2013-2014 gs350, 2014-2015 gx 460, is 350 and lx 570, 2014 is f, 2018-2019 is 350, lc 500h and ls 500h, 2013-2015 ls 460, 2015 nx 200t and rc350, 2017 rc 200t and rx 350. toyota also removed the 2018-2019 toyota 4runner and land cruiser and 2018-2019 lexus gx 460 and lx 570 and 2019 nx300 from inclusion in..."
Consequence:
If the fuel pump fails, the engine can stall while driving, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy:

Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace the fuel pump, free of charge. The recall began May 4, 2020. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371 or Lexus customer service at 1-800-255-3987. Toyota's numbers for this recall are 20TB02 and 20TA02 for Toyota vehicles and 20LB01 and 20LA01 for Lexus vehicles.

Component(s) Involved: FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE > DELIVERY > FUEL PUMP
Date of incident: 2020-01-13

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?

2009 LANDCRUISER
TOYOTA
  • Overall Safety Rating: Not Rated
  • Complaints Count: 6
  • Recall Count: 7
View Car
2008 SCION XD
TOYOTA
  • Overall Safety Rating: Not Rated
  • Complaints Count: 0
  • Recall Count: 0
View Car
2007 HIGHLANDER HYBRID
TOYOTA
  • Overall Safety Rating: Not Rated
  • Complaints Count: 227
  • Recall Count: 6
View Car
2019 COROLLA
TOYOTA
  • Overall Safety Rating: 5
  • Complaints Count: 122
  • Recall Count: 6
View Car