2010 Toyota Highlander Problems: 5 Known Issues

On the 2006-2013 Toyota Highlander, highlander Hybrid NiMH battery packs degrade over time, with individual cells failing after 8-12 years or 150,000+ miles. Failed cells cause reduced fuel economy, loss of hybrid assist, and eventual inability to start the vehicle.

On the 2008-2019 Toyota Highlander, the power liftgate on second- and third-generation Highlanders (and the Hybrid) is prone to the power lift arm/strut breaking away from the gate, which lets the driver-side hinge bow and can leave the hatch stuck open or unable to latch closed. A class action filed in 2025 (Morgan & Morgan) alleges Toyota has known about the defective liftgate since at least 2010 across the XU20, XU40, XU50 and Hybrid MHU28 platforms but never issued a recall; because the failure usually shows up after warranty, owners report paying near $5,000 out of pocket. Owners also report leaky struts, height-sensor faults that cause partial opening with long beeps, and cold-weather failures.

On the 2008-2019 Toyota Highlander, water pools in the rear cargo area, spare-tire well, and behind the rear interior trim because of leaks at the taillight seals/gaskets and the liftgate/hatch weatherstrip, plus secondary paths through the third (high-mount) brake light, the rear air-deflector/spoiler bracket foam gasket, roof-rack mounts, and clogged sunroof/quarter drains. Left wet, it causes musty smell, mold, corrosion of the hatch and rear electrical connectors, and can fog or kill the backup camera. In salt-belt cars the trapped water accelerates hatch and wheel-arch rust.

On the 2008-2013 Toyota Highlander, highlanders equipped with rear air conditioning route refrigerant lines along the underbody, up the passenger side, to a rear evaporator and expansion valve behind the trim. Those long runs, their crimped hose-to-aluminium-line joints, and the rear evaporator core itself are a well-documented leak point on the second-generation cars — the joint where the black flexible hose meets the aluminium hard line behind the rear passenger wheel shows up repeatedly under UV dye. Because front and rear circuits share one charge, condenser and compressor, the rear vents lose cooling first as the charge falls, then the front follows; owners who top up refrigerant see cooling return for a season and then lose it again. This is distinct from the front condenser rock-strike failure: the leak is behind or beneath the vehicle, and a rock strike is not the cause.

On the 2008-2013 Toyota Highlander, on XU40 Highlanders the second-row seat uses a latch, cable and linkage assembly to fold the seatback and auto-slide the seat forward for third-row access. The plastic cable retainer in the latch mechanism cracks and lets the release cable jump out of position, and the cables themselves stretch, fray or disconnect. Once that happens the seatback will not fold, will not stay folded, or the seat will not auto-slide — leaving the third row effectively unreachable in a three-row family vehicle. Owners also report the seat becoming stuck in the folded or walk-in position, requiring a tool reached under the seat to trip the latch. The third-row 60/40 seatback release suffers from the same cable-and-latch design. This is a mechanical wear-and-plastic-fatigue issue with no recall behind it; note it is a different failure from the 2021-2025 second-row seat-back locking recall on the XU70.