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2021 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER — Complaint #2175510

Open-data reference.

NHTSA Complaint about POWER TRAIN filed February 10, 2026

NHTSA complaint #2175510 (ODI reference 11717098) concerns a 2021 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER and was filed on February 10, 2026. The owner reports the failure occurred on February 1, 2026. The report was geocoded to Texas based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as power train, 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. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.

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 power train 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 2021 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.

Vehicle
2021 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER
Component
POWER TRAIN
State
Texas

Complaint Description

The transmission in my 2021 Toyota Highlander began making a loud whining/whirring noise that increases with vehicle speed. The vehicle was inspected by a Toyota dealership, and I was told the transmission has failed and needs to be replaced. Toyota stated the repair would be out of pocket, despite the vehicle’s age and proper maintenance. There were no warning lights prior to the failure. This condition affects drivability and raises safety concerns, including the risk of sudden transmission failure or loss of power while driving, especially at highway speeds. I believe this is a premature transmission defect and am reporting it for investigation.

Complaint Details

NHTSA Complaint ID 2175510
ODI Number 11717098
Date Filed February 10, 2026
Failure Date February 1, 2026
VIN 5tdgzrah3ms

Similar POWER TRAIN Complaints for 2021 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER

Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.