2020 Toyota Highlander Speed Control & Cruise Problems

The vehicle is a 2020 Toyota Highlander experiencing a transmission system malfunction, specifically involving the automatic transmission and/or torque converter. Component/System Failure: The transmission produces a noticeable whining noise during acceleration and exhibits abnormal shifting behavior, including hesitation and delayed response when pressing the gas pedal. The issue appears to originate from the internal transmission components. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. Safety Risk: This condition creates a serious safety concern, as the hesitation and delayed acceleration can impair the driver’s ability to safely merge into traffic, cross intersections, or respond to changing road conditions. The unpredictable response increases the risk of a collision, especially in high-speed or congested traffic environments. Reproducibility / Confirmation: The issue is consistently reproducible and occurs whenever the vehicle is accelerated. The problem has not yet been fully resolved and is in the process of being addressed with a dealership/service center. Inspections: The vehicle is scheduled to be inspected by a Toyota dealership. At this time, it has not yet been inspected by the manufacturer, police, or insurance representatives. Warning Signs / Symptoms: There were no warning lights or dashboard messages prior to or during the issue. The first symptom noticed was the whining noise during acceleration, followed by abnormal shifting behavior and hesitation. These symptoms have progressively become more noticeable over time. This issue appears consistent with reported transmission problems in similar model vehicles, raising concern that this may be a broader defect affecting vehicle safety. I took my vehicle to 3 different mechanics and they told me that my vehicle is not safe to drive long term without a total transmission replacement. Thank you!

my wife was pulling into a driveway slowly approximately 5 mph when she went to stop the Toyota Highlander sped up to full speed and smash the tree while my wife was depressing the brake. All airbags were deployed and it looks like they are going to total the Toyota Highlander that has all the maintenance records Very lucky to not have somebody seriously injured.

I was pulling into a parking space in a parking garage. As i was pulling in, the car unintentionally had a rapid acceleration event and crashed into a cement pillar causing the car to be a total loss

When coming to a stop the vehicle will often lurch forward. The lurch is powerful and could easily cause a collision. This problem occurs both when stopping in traffic and pulling into parking spaces. We were told by the dealer that the problem is caused by hybrid cars but we've had hybrid cars before that did not exhibit this behavior. It sounds like the dealership is aware of the problem but Toyota is not addressing it. This issue certainly poses a safety issue, especially for vehicles in front of the affected vehicle when attempting to stop.

The contact owns a 2020 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated that after slowing down to come to a stop, the vehicle would inadvertently surged forward. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle had not been repaired. The failure had since become more frequent. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage is 36,009.

DRIVING 50 MILES/ HOUR VEHCLE STARTED LOOSING POWER AND STARTED TO SHAKE. ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND TWO DIFFERENT MESSAGES IN DASHBOARD POP OUT. ONE ABOUT HYBRID MALFUNCTION AND THE OTHER OUTPUT POWER REDUCED.

WE RECENTLY PURCHASED OUR HIGHLANDER AND IT HAS A LITTLE OVER 4,000 MILES. TODAY WHILE DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD AT ABOUT 45 MPH, THE CAR JUST LOST POWER AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. 1. CHECK ENGINE - REDUCED ENGINE POWER 2. SECONDARY COLLISION BRAKE SYSTEM MALFUNCTION WE HAD TO PARK AND WAIT FOR THE TOYOTA DEALERSHIP TO COME AND TOW IT TO THE SERVICE CENTER. AT THIS POINT I DON'T KNOW WHAT WAS WRONG OR WHY IT JUST CUT OUT WHILE DRIVING. I AM VERY CONCERNED AND CAN ONLY HOPE TOYOTA CAN ADDRESS THIS OR REPLACE THE CAR.