2025 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER — Complaint #2168663
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:EXHAUST SYSTEM filed January 21, 2026
NHTSA complaint #2168663 (ODI reference 11712542) concerns a 2025 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER and was filed on January 21, 2026. The owner reports the failure occurred on April 8, 2025. The vehicle had 100 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to Illinois based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as engine and engine cooling:exhaust system, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. No VIN was supplied by the filer, so this complaint contributes to model-year trend data but cannot be tied to a specific vehicle.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same TOYOTA HIGHLANDER cohort independently describe similar engine and engine cooling:exhaust system failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2025 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
The contact owns a 2025 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, there was an abnormally strong odor entering the cabin of the vehicle through the vents. The windows were rolled down due to the obnoxious odor. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the contact was informed that the vehicle was tested for leaks in the exhaust; however, no leaks were found. The contact was informed that the fumes were possibly from burning wires or a new vehicle odor because the vehicle was a brand-new vehicle. In addition, the contact was offered the option to trade the vehicle in for a new vehicle. The contact stated that the odor was extremely strong and foul, and the odor stuck to clothing and the contactâs skin. In addition, the contact described the odor as an old lawnmower or snow blowing odor. The contact was advised by the state Attorney General Office of Illinois to contact NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by a
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 2168663 |
| ODI Number | 11712542 |
| Date Filed | January 21, 2026 |
| Failure Date | April 8, 2025 |
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.