2021 Toyota Highlander Body & Structure Problems

Power Back Door (PBD) will not open or close and/or stops moving while opening or closing. Problem seems to be in the motor controls of the strut assemblies on both sides of rear hatch. Vehicle is off warranty, but should be covered by Toyota due to faulty factory installed equipment... Instead, they want to charge us $1600 to repair. On the Toyota forums, many people are complaining of the same exact problem! Toyota needs to have a recall and repair at the cost of the manufacturer.

While I was driving the vehicle on December 30, 2025 emerging on to the highway I heard a loud popping sound which I thought was one of the tires going flat when the plastic barrier underneath the car became unattached

Rear liftgate motors no longer functioning.

Failed seals on roof rack that allowed water to enter the A pillars. Unknown potential damage to air bag system, and electrical wiring. Smaller leaks can go undetected and damage components over time without owners knowledge. Dealer confirmed water intrusion, Toyota refused to repair the defect. Toyota is aware of the problem and had issued a service bulletin on April 22, 2024 (T-SB-0040-24) with a range of 2020-2023 Highlander vehicles affected. This defect may also affect components within the B pillars, and more.

During rain, the A-pillar and headliner show evidence of a leak. Open source research found this is likely due to faulty or poor quality components used in the roof rail system. My vehicle is completely stock with no additions or installations on the roof, just the factory rails.

The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Highlander. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V720000 (Structure). The contact stated while driving approximately 35 MPH and exiting a highway with his family, the front bumper assembly detached from the vehicle. The contact stated that the vehicle was steered to the side of the road where duct tape and glue was used to secure the bumper, and the vehicle as taken to the residence. The vehicle was then taken to the dealer where the dealer and the dealer refused to perform the recall repair due to temporary repair that the contact had performed. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000.

The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Highlander. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V720000(Structure); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. An unknown local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.

Dull Popping noise from rear bar under seat of 3rd row

Roof rails leak and allow water to enter the head liner and the air bags in the support arms of the cabin. Toyota has a Toyota Service Bulletin related to this but they and their dealers will not fix this. It would seem to be an issue if the air bags do not function as intended due to Toyota ignoring a manufacturing defect on their vehicles.

I purchased a 2021 Toyota Highlander Hybrid brand new. This vehicle was manufactured during COVID (production date of 10/2020) with significant mfg defects that have surfaced after several years of ownership. Both the passenger and driver’s side doors have growing cracks/defects which has slowly caused the doors/windows to bow out. A collision company estimates the repairs to be at least $11,000 and after confirming that I had no accidents or work done on the vehicle to cause this problem, agreed that this is a manufacturing defect. Toyota has additionally refused to acknowledge that the vehicle is most likely a safety hazard to drive with the window now so bowed out on the passenger window, that it is exposed to the elements. The Corporation has refused to remedy the mfg defects citing that it has been 4 years and too many miles later, even though I have a nearly 4 year history with them of meticulously taking my vehicle in to get serviced etc. Ultimately they know that this defect was a hidden/growing problem, but because of the extent of the damage involved, they have refused to take ownership.

I bought this vehicle used on 04/23/2024 with 18,596 miles on the odometer. When I was inspecting the vehicle prior to delivery at the dealership, I noticed a crack low on the windshield. The dealership replace the windshield prior to my taking delivery of the vehicle. In the spring of 2025 I had a crack develop in the windshield and had to have it replaced. Another crack has since developed (it is now 2/25/26), and I will, once again, have to have the windshield replaced. I have not driven on any freeways recently, so no high-speed travel. I have been driving for over 40 years and have never had this frequency of windshield failures. I have become aware that this issue is discussed by numerous newer model year (2021, 2022, 2023, etc) Toyota Highlander owners. Some have replaced their windshield multiple times like me. It would appear that there may be an issue in the design/aerodynamics of the front/windshield or a defect in the structure of the body that supports the windshield, that leads to this increased frailty of the windshield. I would very much like to see the NHTSA look into this issue and to force Toyota to look carefully at the high number of windshield failure incidents in these vehicles.

Windshield side beveled trim driver’s side snapped and flew off on the highway into oncoming traffic and the passenger side is also loss and almost coming off.

The liftgate has had issues from the moment I purchased this vehicle. It had 30,000 miles and we purchased all extended warranty options. The liftgate often fails to close, especially in cold weather. There have been times I have to manually push the liftgate closed certain instances. This would not even work, and I unknowingly started driving my vehicle while the liftgate was still open about an inch or two essentially, the liftgate seems to have a mind of its own sometimes it will work just fine more more often often than not it malfunctions. This is dangerous because it could easily cause a head injury or trap a child or a family member inside the car if it will not open or closed properly. We took the car to our dealership to have it repaired while under warranty. My car care technician reported that there was dust/dirt which voided my warranty coverage. I paid a lot for the warranties and for this woman to report dirt on my vehicle’s backend and that then causing my warranty coverage to not be valid was just ridiculous. We fought for an exception to be filed and they never spoke of this again. Dishonest and untrustworthy, this is how I would define my Toyota dealership. The issue was noted immediately to dealership/technicians. We had them provide us with a repair quote that was very costly and so we would not let them do the work. There is a massive amount of information for this problem and it is a common occurrence. Toyota is facing a class action lawsuit alleging that some of its “Highlander SUVs contain defective power-door components. This problem allegedly prevents the automatic open/close feature on the back door, also known as the “liftgate,” from working properly and has already cost some car owners thousands of dollars in repairs. According to the suit, Toyota knew about the defect and hid this information from the public.” Thus, the tech noted “dirt” to conceal a much bigger problem, make $$ off a loyal customer, revealing dishonest practices.

The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated that while driving on the highway at 65 MPH, the front bumper became detached. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact pulled over and zip-tied the bumper to the frame of the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact referenced NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V720000 (STRUCTURE); as a possible cause for the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 47,330.

Rear lift gate doesn't fully open or close sometimes. I have to manually assist in opening or closing after trying the key fob, inside push button and rear switch above the license plate. I have attempted to reset the height adjustment thinking it would fix it, with no success. I have made sure that the gasket is in place, lubricated the struts and tried opening a closing with the car running and again without success. I'm asking this be investigated due to my concern that this is going to be a safety issue if it doesn't open after an accident, to exit the vehicle if needed. Thank you.

I noticed in March of 2024 that the lower part of my bumper was starting to detach. So I brought my car in to get inspected while I was getting my car serviced. Their was a recall issues in 2023. When the dealership looked at my car they said their was no remedy for the recall that I would have to wait until their is one. They said they can not fix the car even though the lower bumper was already starting to detached. Now July 27, 2024. While driving the bumper fully detached and now I’m dragging the bumper underneath my car. Had to take it to a mechanic to get it removed and then saw my dealership to get it fixed because of the recall. Now My bumper got fully detached and I suffered because of this Recall problem. Dealership said they can’t fix the problem that it was because of a collision that happened from a previous owner of the car that got into a collision in 2021. Where I bought the car in 2023 where the bumper was not detached and now I’m suffering because the dealership said Toyota corporate won’t fix the car under the recall. Now I’m stuck with fixing a bumper where I never got into an accident and could of been injured because of this bumper falling while drive and I have to pay out of pocket to fix it.

Our Highlander has a recall for the clips on the front bumper. A few weeks ago, my wife was driving behind a truck pulling a trailer. My wife that it was a set of caster wheels that flew out from the trailer and made contact with her front bumper. Upon inspection the impact from that debris put a crack in the upper front bumper. No other visible damage was present. Later that day while my wife was driving 75 on the interstate, the defective clips from the recall gave way and the lower front bumper gave way and started to drag on the ground. Luckily it stayed in tack enough that the vehicle did not run it over causing my wife to wreck or even worse having other vehicles needing to avoid it on the interstate. We paid for a tow truck to safely take it off the interstate so we could tie wrap the lower bumper up and take it to the dealer. Toyota recall does warn that light impact to the bumper could result in the bumper falling. It also goes on to say that if the clips cannot be changed out, they will replace both the lower and upper bumpers. I took the car to the local dealer, and they confirmed that the clips could not be replaced due to the damage that had been done. I showed the dealer the recall notification on the internet, and they stated they could not do anything as they were not a body shop. So, I opened a complaint with Toyota Customer Care [XXX] ) and stated my case. They in turn notified a local dealer to address the issue. I have called customer care twice not without the dealer even trying to contact me. Due to there faulty part, my wife could have been in a much more serious accident. I would like your assistance in have Toyota make good on their commitment to replace both the lower and upper bumper as a result of the light contact that created this situation. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Vista Toyota in Casper WY refused to preform the repair for recall 23V720 due to a scratch on the bumper. I contacted Toyota corporate they did not respond.

THE ENGINE COVER ASSEMBLY DETACHED FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY CAR WHILE DRIVING. SIMILAR TO THE EXISTING RECALL FOR THE FRONT LOWER BUMPER COVER ASSEMBLY. While pulling out of a parking lot, I noticed that there was a scraping noise under my car. Prior to parking at Jones Beach State Park, I was traveling on Ocean Parkway at a high rate of speed (50-60MPH) and it was a very windy day. I did not hit any obstructions or scrape the bottom of my car on anything. There was nowhere for me to pull over and as I sped up, the noise went away. When I got off the highway, the noise returned. When I got home, I looked under my car and there was a plastic piece dragging just in front of my front tires. I remembered I had received a notice about a Toyota recall related to the lower front bumper cover assembly and looked that up - it felt very similar to what I had experienced. When I got to the dealer, they told me it was not subject to the recall and the repairs on this would be $200 diagnostic plus $529.88 parts and labor. I was told I must have hit something to make it detach. I did not hit or scrape anything. My car has pretty good clearance, it would have had to be HUGE for me to hit or scrape it. I would have known.

Undershield came loose and was dragging on the ground