There are 7 owner-reported brakes complaints for the 2012 Toyota Highlanderin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
All brake warning indicators lit up. Took it to a mechanic that specializes in hybrids and they diagnosed it as a brake assembly/actuator issue, with a diagnostic code of C1391, with a repair estimate of $4888. Found online that there was a Toyota Customer Support Program 21TE03 that addressed this issue, but my vehicle was outside of both the primary and secondary coverage periods. My issue is that if they knew this was a very serious safety defect for older hybrid vehicles, why would they only offer to address it during a very short period of time?? There are many people reporting online that the same thing happened to them (problem arose after coverage period expired). Toyota says they “care about the customers’ ownership experience,” but by neglecting to help those of us experiencing this issue, they are showing the exact opposite. Hope you will help the roughly 74,700 owners potentially impacted by this, by encouraging Toyota to be accountable for the safety of their owners. Thanks.
I was driving and arrived home and suddenly lost my braking and almost hit my house if I didn't steer the wheel towards my lawn and put on my parking brake it would have been a disaster. I felt so unsafe that I had my vehicle towed for repair and had to replace the brake master cylinder. Two weeks later, we went on a family trip and parked my vehicle with my family and it was on a slight slope and went to put on the parking brake and it was still slightly moving forward only to put my vehicle in reverse QUICKLY in order in NOT DRIVE INTO A LAKE WITH MY FAMILY IN THE vehicle!!! I have just read the complaints and this is an ongoing problem since 2011 and I am quite SHOCKED that this is NOT ON RECALL!!! My wife has a Prius V 2013 and have not had any problems at all, BUT has a recall on a Brake Hydro-Boost pump fail for her vehicle, BUT nothing is wrong with her brakes, ONLY THE 2012 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER!!! Please let me know what Toyota needs to do to get this this fixed!!! I know there are probably more that no one is reporting this and I guess there must be a fatality in order for Toyota to fix this problem!!!!
The Brake Hydro-Boost pump failed while driving on I-75. Subsequently almost all braking was lost on the vehicle. I have researched similar failures on the same model brake pump assemblies, and feel that this is a very unsafe failure condition for the vehicle. The repair cost for this failure is exorbitant given the rate of failure which seems to exist with this make/model. Luckily I was driving the vehicle at the time and had the presence of mind to allow the vehicle to roll to a stop using engine braking. This failure could have caused a multiple fatality accident in may opinion. Toyota is negligent in their care regarding theses failures.
ABS check light is on, says "have dealer check immediately". Took vehicle to dealer, dealer determined the main wire that runs under the carpet is defective and has to be fixed. The cost for the diagnostics is $750 without repairs. The cost to repair is $5100. I bought this vehicle brand new and have had all maintenance performed to manufacturers requirements. I don't believe I should be responsible for a defective wire that controls the air bags. At this point there are no recalls on my vehicle. I believe the manufacturer should paid the cost for this repair.
BRAKE BOOSTER PUMP/ABS ACTUATOR C1391/C1256 WERE CODES GIVEN IN ATTACHED REPORT FROM TOYOTA. THIS IS APPARENTLY BEEN A PROBLEM WITH OTHER MODELS OF TOYOTAS AND ARE COVERED UNDER A WARRANTY ENHANCEMENT, HOWEVER THE 2012 IS NOT COVERED. NOTHING SEEMS WRONG WITH THE CAR AND THEY CANNOT REALLY TELL ME WHAT EXACTLY IS WRONG OR IF IT IS A BAD SENSOR, HOWEVER THEY WANT $4,200 TO REPLACE THE WHOLE UNIT. SEEMS LIKE THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE THAT THEY HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO FIX FROM PREVIOUS MODELS AND WOULD LIKE IT COVERED DUE TO POTENTIAL SAFETY RISK.
AFTER PULLING INTO A PARKING SPACE, THEN BRAKING, I BACKED UP TO REALIGN THE VEHICLE BETTER. WHEN I PULLED IN THIS TIME AND BRAKE, THE VEHICLE DID NOT STOP. I CONTINUED TO PUT MY FOOT ON THE BRAKE REPEATEDLY, BUT THE VEHICLE STILL DID NOT STOP. THE ENGINE THEN REVVED UP AND ACCELERATED. AT THIS SAME TIME THE GEAR SHIFT WENT INTO NEUTRAL AND THEN BACK INTO DRIVE. THE VEHICLE FINALLY CAME TO A STOP AS IT HIT THE BUILDING IN FRONT OF ME, CAUSING DAMAGE TO THE BUILDING, AND THE FRONT OF MY VEHICLE. I WAS ABLE TO BACK UP THE VEHICLE AND PARK IT IN THE PARKING SPACE, WITH NOT PROBLEM BRAKING IT TO STOP THIS TIME. *TR
THE CAR WILL NOT HOLD WHEN PARKED ON A STEEP INCLINE. NOT EVEN IN MY DRIVEWAY AT HOME. ESPECIALLY IF THERE ARE PEOPLE IN THE CAR BECAUSE OF THE ADDED WEIGHT. THEY ADJUSTED IT THE FIRST TIME AND SAID IT WOULD BE FINE. THAT ONLY LASTED A MONTH. TOOK IT IN AGAIN AND THEY SAID NOTHING WAS WRONG BUT THEY ADJUSTED IT MORE. TECH SAID THEY MIGHT HAVE TO CHARGE ME BECAUSE IT IS GOING TO WEAR OUT THE PARKING BRAKE PADS. NEVER HAD SOME THING LIKE THIS HAPPEN IN ANY VEHICLE I HAVE OWNED. IT CURRENTLY IS NOT HOLDING SO I APPLY THE BRAKE TO THE FLOOR AND THEN PUT IT IN PARK. NOT A GOOD PRACTICE. *TR
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 26, 2026