There are 4 owner-reported powertrain & transmission complaints for the 2010 Toyota Highlanderin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
FAILURE OF TORQUE CONVERTER CLUTCH SOLENOID. SOLUTION TORQUE CONVERTER REPLACEMENT. ~80,000 MILES ON TOYOTA U760E 6-SPEED TRANSMISSION. SAME TRANSMISSION USED IN TOYOTA CAMRY (U760E) WAS COVERED BY WARRANTY ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM - ZE5. MANUFACTURER WILL NOT COVER ANY COST OF THIS TRANSMISSION FAILURE.
TWICE IN SEPTEMBER 2014, AS I WAS APPROACHING A STOP LIGHT, I PRESSED THE BRAKES AND SLOWED TO NEARLY A STOP. THE ENGINE SUDDENLY ACCELERATED VERY HIGH, AND IF I HAD NOT ALREADY HAD A FOOT ON THE BRAKES, I WOULD HAVE GONE INTO AN INTERSECTION. THE ENGINE WAS RUNNING SO HIGH THAT IT WAS DIFFICULT TO KEEP IT FROM MOVING. I SHIFTED INTO NEUTRAL, CAME TO A COMPLETE STOP, AND WHILE THE TRANSMISSION WAS IN NEUTRAL, TOOK MY FOOT OFF THE BRAKE PEDAL. THE ENGINE IMMEDIATELY RETURNED TO NORMAL IDLE. THIS SAME SEQUENCE HAPPENED BOTH TIMES. THIS HAS HAPPENED TWICE THIS MONTH, BUT THESE ARE THE FIRST OCCURRENCES SINCE I PURCHASED THE VEHICLE NEW. I CALLED THE TOYOTA DEALER, AND THE SERVICE PERSON SAID THAT IF THE VEHICLE ISN'T DEMONSTRATING THAT BEHAVIOR WHEN I BRING IT IN, THEY WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO FIND WHAT CAUSED IT. THEY INDICATED THAT THE VEHICLE DATA RECORDER WOULD NOT RECORD SUCH AN EVENT. THEY SAID THEY WOULD ADD A NOTE ABOUT THIS TO THE RECORD THEY HAVE ON THIS VEHICLE (THEY HAVE DONE ALL THE SERVICE SINCE I PURCHASED IT FROM THEM). I HAVE ALREADY DECIDED THAT SHOULD IT HAPPEN AGAIN, I WILL TRADE THE VEHICLE. I DON'T LIKE HAVING TO KEEP MY HAND ON THE GEARSHIFT, READY TO SHIFT INTO NEUTRAL. I SAW A REPORT IN USATODAY THAT SUDDEN ACCELERATION IN TOYOTAS IS BEING INVESTIGATED AGAIN. I WANTED TO ADD MY EXPERIENCE TO THE MIX. *TR
THE TRANSMISSION EXHIBITS TRANSMISSION FLARE AND EXTREMELY ROUGH SHIFTING. AS THE PROBLEM PROGRESSED I WAS TOLD I NEEDED A NEW TRANSMISSION.
WE HAVE A BRAND NEW TOYOTA HIGHLANDER (2010) WITH ONLY 2200 MILES ON IT, WE HAVE RECENTLY NOTICED THAT AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS BETWEEN 58 - 64 MPH, IT CONSISTENTLY MAKES A VERY NOTICEABLE, RESONATING VIBRATION SOUND. CAR IS UNDER WARRANTY AND WE TOOK IT TO A TOYOTA DEALER TO HAVE IT CHECKED ON 7/15/10. THEY CONFIRMED THE PROBLEM BUT COULD NOT IDENTIFY WHY IT IS OCCURRING. THEY DROVE ANOTHER BRAND NEW HIGHLANDER FROM THEIR LOT FOR COMPARISON PURPOSES AND TOLD US THAT THE OTHER HIGHLANDER HAD THE EXACT SAME ISSUE. WE WERE TOLD THAT TOYOTA MIGHT ISSUE A TECHNICAL SAFETY BULLETIN (TSB) ABOUT THE PROBLEM AND A PROPOSED SOLUTION, WE WERE THEN ADVISED THAT WE SHOULD ASK ABOUT A TSB EVERY TIME WE BRING THE CAR IN FOR ROUTINE SERVICE. BOTTOM LINE - THE ISSUE STILL EXISTS AND NOONE SEEMS TO KNOW WHY. WE WERE TOLD TO DRIVE THE CAR BECAUSE THERE WAS NOTHING TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT THAT WAS OBVIOUS. SO, WE ARE NOW DRIVING THE CAR - AND STILL LISTENING TO IT VIBRATE BETWEEN 58 - 64 MPH. I HAVE BEEN A LIFELONG TOYOTA OWNER AND BOUGHT THIS NEW HIGHLANDER EVEN THOUGH TOYOTA WAS RECEIVING SO MUCH BAD PRESS. WE HAVE HAD A NUMBER OF ANNOYING QUALITY CONTROL ISSUES WITH IT - BUT THIS ONE IS PERPLEXING AND DISCONCERTING. I AM HOPING THAT NHTSA MIGHT GET TOYOTA'S ATTENTION ON THIS MATTER AS IT IS HIGHLY UNUSUAL AND UNEXPLAINABLE BY TOYOTA'S OWN TECHNICIANS. THANKS FOR ANY ASSISTANCE YOU CAN OFFER. I WOULD BE HAPPY TO COOPERATE WITH ANY FOLLOW-UP ACTION NHTSA MIGHT CHOOSE TO TAKE. *TR
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 26, 2026