Complaint 2137560
2021 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER • POWER TRAIN • incident Oct 7, 2025
- Complaint ID
- 2137560
- Make
- TOYOTA
- Model
- HIGHLANDER
- Model Year
- 2021
- Component
- POWER TRAIN
- Incident Date
- Oct 7, 2025
- Date Received
- Oct 8, 2025
- Data As Of
- Jul 1, 2026
Complaint Summary
POWER TRAIN
Owner Narrative
There is a known transmission issue with some 2021 Toyota Highlanders, Avalons, and Camrys. Toyota Bulletin T-SB-008-21 from February of 2021 states 'Some 2021 model year Avalon, Highlander, and Camry vehicles equipped with UA80E or UA80F transmissions may exhibit a whine or grind noise from the transmission. This condition may be caused by an issue with the front carrier assembly pinion shafts'. I have a 2021 Highlander with 127,000 miles that started to show this whine noise. Local transmission shop confirms that a new transmission is needed. I am taking it to a local Toyota Dealer next week to confirm. I started a case online with Toyota USA, and since I'm over Warranty, they started that will not assist with reimbursement. My complaint is how came a recall was not done on this? Why did Toyota do nothing and now many of their customers with these vehicles face costly repairs ($7,000 - $12,000)? Toyota should at least reimburse their customers for some of the cost of the repair needed for this, even if out of warranty.
Owner-submitted narrative on file with NHTSA. Complaint narratives are self-reported and have not been verified.
Related
Data sources & freshness
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Census, SAFER, SMS, Licensing & Insurance (L&I), roadside inspections, crashes, and authority history.
Vehicle recall campaigns, defect investigations, and consumer safety complaints (SCRS).
Cross-border carrier registry and Canadian recall campaigns where applicable.
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