2015 Toyota Highlander Hybrid problems

“I have a 2015 Toyota Highlander XLE. Last winter I began noticing a burning smell which I believed to be electrical inside the vehicle. I was able to determine it was the driver seat heater and the burning smell continued even with the toggle switch turned off. I stopped at a local Toyota dealership, Koch Toyota, who refused to show me which plug under the seat to unplug to disconnect power. They tried to insist that I drop the car off and let them check it. Due to past negative experiences with that Toyota dealership I refused. I was able to speak to my own mechanic who instructed me to remove the fuse for the driver's seat heater which I did and the smell stopped however the seat heater is not functioning now. Upon recent research online it appears this is a common problem especially in 2015 Toyota Highlanders. I found a couple other owners of the xle models on a website called Toyota Nation who experienced similar problems where their vehicles actually caught fire and melted the center consoles after the burning smell was misdiagnosed. I believe this is a huge safety concern and have recently filed a report with Toyota Corporate in hopes to get the issue…”

“We have a 2019 Toyota Highlander. VIN: [XXX] . There are two issues with this vehicle... 1) Our bumper fell down after an uneventful car wash. We didn't hit anything. Reported it to the car wash place (Ollie's Car Wash in Walker, LA) after we noticed it fell. We had to tie-strap it back up because the clips no longer worked right. This happened August 12, 2023. We have pictures of the damage. 2) A second issue is totally separate from the first. This one has to do with the back lifting door. It often gets stuck to where we have to manually force it closed. We have to reset the button often. Sometimes it gets stuck open and sometimes it won't open at all.”

“Driving the car was hard to steer. Check engine light came on and check speed sensor. Went to a mechanic and disconnected the battery, the sensor reset and back driving ok for about two weeks. This went on for a few weeks. Been a month now and it hasn't come on but it was dangerous due to driving and turning issues.”

“I have noticed speed issues or high idling with this vehicle for a while. I committed a rear end collision with a vehicle on July 4, 2025, at approximately 2pm. My car rear ended his truck while it was stopped behind another vehicle. My vehicle sustained total damage to the front end. I was ticketed for not reducing speed to prevent a accident. The only warning light was that it need maintenance, which comes on prior to an oil change. My safety was put at risk because the car is idled too fast for the type of driving I do, which is small town and rural road driving. Due to the speed of this vehicle during normal driving, it's difficult to stop quickly to avoid an accident. If it was rainy and slippery, the situation could have been much worse.”

“On [XXX] my vehicle suffered an unintended acceleration on a very busy highway of The Dominican Republic, reaching a speed of 100 MPH. I was able to drive the car into the bushes of the highway service road hitting all king of obstacles such as trees, wall, advertising signs and safety barriers. The car damages resulted in a total loss. My life and my family life were in extremely dangerous situation.”

“While driving at highway speed of about 60 MPH, the moonroof burst and shattered in to thousands of pieces. There was no warning, no indication of stress or wear before the incident. Hundreds of others have had similar occurrences as discussed on internet forums.”