2025 Toyota Grand Highlander Problems & Issues

On the 2024-2025 Toyota Grand Highlander, a software error in the 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster can cause the panel to be blank at startup, removing the ability to see certain malfunction indicators and warning telltales (including speed and brake/tire-pressure warnings). Loss of safety-critical telltales increases crash risk. The 2024-2025 Grand Highlander is among roughly 591,000 Toyota/Lexus vehicles covered in the U.S.

On the 2024-2026 Toyota Grand Highlander, as a new model, the Grand Highlander has experienced various infotainment software bugs including touchscreen freezes, navigation glitches, wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto connectivity drops, and occasional display blackouts. Toyota has addressed many of these through over-the-air (OTA) and dealer-applied software updates. These are typical first-model-year software issues that improve over time with updates.

On the 2024-2025 Toyota Grand Highlander, the panoramic moonroof glass on the Grand Highlander has shattered outward with no impact in a substantial and repeating set of NHTSA complaints spanning the 2024 and 2025 model years. Owners uniformly describe a bang 'like a gunshot' followed by wind noise, then finding the panel blown apart — in several cases with the sunshade closed, and in one case with a roof cargo carrier fully covering the glass, which rules out a projectile strike. Reported at highway speed, in cold weather, and during high-wind conditions. Because the glass is tempered rather than laminated, it disintegrates completely; owners report shards inside the cabin with occupants present when the shade was open. Dealers have generally declined warranty coverage, calling it external damage. There is no NHTSA recall or Toyota TSB for this on the Grand Highlander.

On the 2024-2026 Toyota Grand Highlander, nHTSA opened defect petition DP26006 (petition filed under ODI number 11754975) covering roughly 87,000 model year 2024-2026 Grand Highlanders after owners reported that the lower fascia uses large open apertures with no protective mesh screen or secondary baffle, letting highway rocks and road debris pass straight through and puncture the heat exchangers stacked behind the grille — the engine radiator, the A/C condenser, and, on hybrid models, the hybrid inverter cooler. Owners describe no sensation of impact at the time; the failure surfaces as a rapid coolant loss followed within seconds by a hybrid-system or engine warning cascade and a severe reduction in drive power at highway speed. One owner reported the loss of propulsion at 62 mph with traffic behind them; another lost propulsion at 16,755 miles with simultaneous engine, hybrid system and AWD warnings. When the condenser is the part hit, the symptom is instead a total loss of A/C. Toyota dealers have described the grille design as a known pattern, but warranty claims are commonly denied as road-hazard damage, leaving owners with the bill.

On the 2024-2026 Toyota Grand Highlander, the 2024-2026 Toyota Grand Highlander is named in NHTSA recall 25V744000 when built with the Panoramic View Monitor system. Toyota found a software error that can cause the rearview camera to freeze or display a blank screen once the three-row SUV is put in reverse, leaving the vehicle out of compliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 111, "Rear Visibility." This is separate from the Grand Highlander's earlier instrument-panel blanking recall - here the fault sits in the parking assist software that feeds the camera view. NHTSA lists about 1,024,407 vehicles for the campaign as a whole across the Toyota, Lexus, and Subaru Solterra models included.

On the 2024-2026 Toyota Grand Highlander, certain Grand Highlander and Grand Highlander Hybrid vehicles were recalled because the Load Carrying Capacity Modification label may display inaccurate added-weight values, failing to comply with FMVSS 110 'Tire Selection and Rims.' An incorrect label can lead an owner to overload the vehicle beyond its true rated capacity, affecting handling and braking and increasing crash risk. It is a documentation/labeling defect rather than a hardware failure (2024 Grand Highlander and Grand Highlander Hybrid units fitted with Gulf States Toyota accessories under campaign 24V548000, plus Toyota campaign 26V179000 covering the 2025 Grand Highlander and 2025-2026 Grand Highlander Hybrid).

On the 2024-2026 Toyota Grand Highlander, the 8-speed automatic transmission in the turbocharged Grand Highlander exhibits harsh 1-2 and 2-3 shifts during light throttle driving, along with shudder and hesitation when accelerating from a stop up to about 40 mph. The issue is more pronounced when the transmission is cold.

On the 2024-2025 Toyota Grand Highlander, grand Highlander owners report failures in the seat-folding and latching hardware that is central to this vehicle's three-row selling point. Third-row seats refuse to lock into the upright position or to engage and disengage when folding flat, with broken plastic fragments found around the locking mechanism; owners fear the seatback would not restrain occupants in a crash. Separately, the 60 percent section of the second-row 60/40 bench has been documented by a Toyota dealership as having a defective seat track/latch assembly that failed in both directions — it seized so it could not slide at all, and on another occasion failed to stay latched while the vehicle was in motion. A third-row left-side seat belt jamming and refusing to release has also been reported. There is no recall covering the seat hardware.

On the 2024-2025 Toyota Grand Highlander, owners and Car and Driver's long-term test report that the fuel nozzle clicks off prematurely, allowing only about 13-14 gallons into the roughly 17.2-gallon tank, so the vehicle cannot be filled to rated capacity and effective range per fill-up is reduced. The complaint is most prominent on the Hybrid Max powertrain and is tied to filler-neck/ORVR vapor-recovery behavior, a recurring pattern across Toyota hybrids. Forcing fuel past the click-off risks EVAP/ORVR damage.

On the 2024-2026 Toyota Grand Highlander, the Grand Highlander exhibits excessive wind noise at highway speeds, particularly from the driver-side A-pillar and side mirror area. The large windshield and tall greenhouse design create aerodynamic noise that enters the cabin through door seal gaps. Some owners also report noise from the panoramic roof seals.

On the 2024-2025 Toyota Grand Highlander, a repeating structural complaint on the 2024-2025 Grand Highlander: the rear portion of the hood, nearest the windshield, visibly vibrates and flutters at speeds above roughly 30 mph and becomes pronounced above 50 mph, worsening in windy conditions. The safety concern is not the hood latch but the moving reflection — the fluttering panel bounces sunlight into the driver's field of vision. One owner reported being blinded for several seconds on an interstate. Multiple dealers have reproduced the condition on test drives and reported back that Toyota's technical specialists have no repair available, characterizing the flutter as a normal characteristic of the vehicle. There is no recall and no published TSB remedy for it.