Problems · by component

2017 Toyota Highlander service brakes problems

28 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2017 Toyota Highlander cite service brakes, 10% of all 271 complaints for this model year.

Complaints
28
10% of all complaints
Crashes
5
Reported by owners
Fires
0
Reported by owners
Injuries
7
Reported by owners
01 —Owner reports

What owners say about the service brakes

Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“March 5th purchased a battery from Autozone Z net Fit Match that caused cascading electrical and life -safety risk while traveling from hewitt, TX to Washington DC for our families spring break trip including 4 minor children. Component: 12-Volt Battery / Electrical System / Power Steering / Service Brakes Summary: Vehicle suffered catastrophic failure of Power Steering and Braking systems while in motion due to the installation of an incompatible lead-acid battery recommended by AutoZone’s 'Z-Net' catalog. Despite Toyota Technical Service Bulletin T-TT-0523-19 (Jan 2019) stating this VIN requires an Enhanced Flooded Battery (EFB/AGM) for its Stop-Start system, the retailer’s database continues to misidentify standard batteries as compatible. This mismatch causes a voltage drop that disables critical safety modules ('Limp Mode'). I have video evidence of the catalog error. This is a systemic misrepresentation affecting 2017+ Toyota Highlander safety compliance.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Mar 25, 2026Power train, Electrical system, Service brakesODI 11726889
“With 22k miles on vehicle, car won’t start due to Brake power low fault. Battery was replaced in attempt to rectify problem with no success, vehicle will need to be towed in for repair.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Feb 25, 2025Electrical system, Service brakesODI 11644883
“my car has 18600.0 miles on it the problem is i started getting a " brakes under powered find a safe place to park" after doing some research, i have been advised to replace the vacuum pump and power booster at cost of aprox. 4 thousand dollars the car is not safe to drive i am disabled so this creates a hard ship for me. this is a major brake component why does it need to be replaced with only 18600.0 miles on it this is my only from of transportation and yes the mileage is correct”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jun 4, 2024Service brakesODI 11592453
“I had my battery replaced about 3 days ago at the Toyota dealership . Yesterday, I was stopped at a red light and when I attempted to drive, the vehicle stalled. “Braking power low” message on the dashboard and the car would not restart. I was able to jump start it after about 30 minutes. I got towed to a local repair shop who could not identify or duplicate the issue. I had no warning indicators other than failing to start the morning of getting the battery replaced 3 days ago.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jan 6, 2024Electrical system, Unknown or other, Service brakesODI 11563939
“This is the SECOND incident with this vehicle in the past 4 months. When going to start my vehicle, it would not start. It gave me this error message: Braking power low, Stop in a Safe Place, See owners manual. There is NOTHING about this in the owners manual. The first time I thought it was battery related and after 3 different chargers on my vehicle, it finally started. Tonight I proceeded to push the button without the foot pedal and the radio came on, so it is definitely not the battery. I've tried several times to start and to no avail. Problem has not been reproduced as i cannot drive my vehicle at this time. No inspection as of yet. No warnings or symptoms prior to failure. Research shows it may have to do with a fuel pump pressure issue. I have paperwork on this issue under a customer support program 23TE01. Hoping this can become a recall and i can get this fixed .”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Nov 13, 2023Electrical system, Service brakes, Fuel/propulsion systemODI 11554968
“Brake system malfunctioned and failed. Our safety was put at risk with no braking ability. The car was inspected and serviced by Toyota. One light showed braking power low on one occasion While driving car listed above, on five different occasions the brake pedal went to the floor with out stopping the vehicle. Our safety was put at risk on each occasion.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Oct 2, 2023Service brakesODI 11547836

Showing 6 of 28 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.

Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Nov 3, 2026NHTSA vehicle page

Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.