Audited US model-year file

2013 TOYOTA Highlander

Exact make, model and year evidence from official US sources. Recall campaigns, ODI investigations, complaint allegations and EPA estimates remain separate.

Model-year evidence is not a VIN check.

A campaign may cover only certain production dates, plants or equipment. A zero result here is not safety clearance. Use NHTSA’s official VIN tool for the individual vehicle.

Official VIN lookup ↗

01 · Safety actions first

3 NHTSA recall campaigns

Exact model-level NHTSA results for 2013 TOYOTA Highlander. Campaign records are official safety actions; applicability to a particular car still requires its VIN.

01
NHTSA Recalls · US · received 2014-03-27

SEATS

Campaign 14V148000
Summary

Toyota is recalling certain model year 2013 Highlander vehicles manufactured March 13, 2013, through August 6, 2013. In the affected vehicles, the second row left hand seat may not lock in place when positioned in the forward front or second adjusting position. As such, the vehicles do not conform to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 207, "Seating Systems."

Consequence

If the seat does not lock into the seat track, there may be an increased risk of injury to an occupant in the event of a crash.

Remedy

Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will modify the second row left hand seat so that it will lock into the seat track, free of charge. The recall began on May 21, 2014. Owners may contact Toyota at 1-800-331-4331.

02
NHTSA Recalls · US · received 2013-04-09

EQUIPMENT:OTHER:LABELS

Campaign 13V123000
Summary

Southeast Toyota is recalling certain model year 2008 and 2010-2013 Toyota Tundra, 2010-2012 Rav4, 2012 Toyota Sequoia, 2010-2011 Toyota Corolla, 2010-2011 Toyota Camry and Camry Hybrid, 2010-2013 Toyota Highlander and Highlander Hybrid, 2010-2013 Toyota FJ Cruiser, 2011 Toyota Land Cruiser, 2010-2013 Toyota Venza, 2010-2011 Toyota 4Runner, 2010-2013 Toyota Tacoma, 2011-2012 Toyota Sienna, 2012 Toyota Prius, 2013 Scion FR-S, 2011 Scion XD, 2011 Scion XB, and 2012 Scion TC vehicles. These vehicles were sold with labels that were outside the allowable one percent of accuracy of actual weight added. Thus, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) Number 110, "Tire Selection and Rims."

Consequence

An inaccurate label could lead to owners overloading their vehicles and tires. An overloaded vehicle can result in a tire failure which may result in a vehicle crash, personal injury, or property damage.

Remedy

Southeast Toyota will notify owners and provide a corrected label with instructions concerning its installation. A small group of the affected vehicles will need additonal remedies which are still being developed. The recall began on May 28, 2013. Owners may contact Southeast Toyota at 1-800-301-6859.

03
NHTSA Recalls · US · received 2013-01-16

AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:SENSOR/CONTROL MODULE-INACTIVE

Campaign 13V014000
Summary

Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC (SET) is recalling certain models interspersed through model years 2009 through 2013 as follows: model year 2009-2012 Tacoma, 4Runner, Camry, Camry Hybrid, Prius, and RAV4; model year 2009-2010 Avalon, FJ Cruiser, and Highlander Hybrid; model year 2010-2013 model year Corolla, Sienna and Tundra; model year 2009-2013 Highlander and Venza; model year 2012 Prius V; and model year 2010-2012 Sequoia. During modification by SET to include accessories such as leather seat covers, seat heaters or headrest DVD systems, these vehicles may not have had the passenger seat occupant sensing system calibration tested. Without passing the calibration test, the occupant sensing system may not operate as designed.

Consequence

If the front passenger seat occupant sensing system is out of calibration, the front passenger airbags may not deploy or they may deploy inappropriately for the passenger's size and position. This could increase the risk of personal injury during the event of a vehicle crash necessitating airbag deployment.

Remedy

Southeast Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will test the sensitivity of the occupant detection sensors, and recalibrate them as necessary. The recall began on March 21, 2013. Owners may contact Southeast Toyota at 1-800-301-6859.

02 · Owner allegations

211 NHTSA complaints

Counts are not adjusted for sales, vehicle age, mileage, publicity or reporting behavior. They are allegations, not defect findings or a reliability score.

Crash mentions
26
Fire mentions
0
Injuries reported
12
Most-reported component labels
STEERING46
ENGINE31
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL31
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM26
UNKNOWN OR OTHER24
STRUCTURE19
Complaints across nearby Toyota Highlander model years

Totals for the same nameplate, scaled against its highest year here. They are not adjusted for how many were sold, how old they are, how far they are driven, or how much publicity a fault received — an older or better-selling year will usually carry more reports. This shows where the reporting sits, not which year is better.

  1. 1812011
  2. 1812012
  3. 2112013
  4. 1342014
  5. 1892015
  6. 1092016

A dash means NHTSA holds no complaint record for that exact year, make and model. See all Highlander years with specs and fuel economy →

03 · Agency review

2 NHTSA ODI investigations

An investigation means ODI reviewed a possible safety issue for this exact model-year identity. Opening one is not a defect finding; closing one does not by itself clear a vehicle.

EA18006
Closed 2024-04-02 · opened 2018-11-16

Steering Column Separation

NHTSA source ↗

STEERING:COLUMN · No associated recall campaign number was published in this investigation row.

PE18005
Closed 2018-11-20 · opened 2018-05-04

Upper Steering Column Separation

NHTSA source ↗

STEERING:COLUMN · No associated recall campaign number was published in this investigation row.

04 · EPA configurations

Fuel economy & specifications

FuelEconomy.gov records are summarized as ranges where this model name has multiple engines, drivetrains or trims.

EPA configurations
4
Combined economy
19–28 mpg/MPGe
City / highway
17–28 / 22–28 mpg/MPGe
Engine displacement
2.7–3.5 L
Cylinders
4–6
Fuel type
Regular
Drive
All-Wheel Drive · Front-Wheel Drive
Vehicle class
Small Sport Utility Vehicle 2WD · Small Sport Utility Vehicle 4WD · Standard Sport Utility Vehicle 4WD
Annual fuel-cost estimate
$2300–3400

05 · Evidence strength

Exact identity. Explicit limits.

No opaque score. Evidence strength is expressed through source availability, exact match method, jurisdiction and honest empty states.

exact match

Recall campaigns

3 exact US model-year records in this bounded view.

exact match

Complaints

211 exact US model-year allegations; narratives and VIN fragments are omitted.

exact match

ODI investigations

2 exact US model-year action numbers in the approved import snapshot.

canonical only

Model aliases

Only the exact NHTSA vPIC model name is published; unverified aliases are not merged.

not published

Manufacturer ownership

No rights-reviewed official ownership record is joined to this exact model-year.

PUBLIC EVIDENCE PASSPORT

Identity, freshness and provenance.

The canonical URL is this file’s permanent public identifier. Source IDs and timestamps show exactly what was matched and when; they do not turn the evidence into a verdict.

Permanent public ID
https://modelyearfacts.com/vehicle/2013/toyota/highlander
NHTSA make ID
448
NHTSA model ID
2213
Match key
2013 · TOYOTA · Highlander · US
Live evidence requested
EPA publication catalogue
Complaint matrix snapshot
Imported safety snapshot
nhtsa-investigations · exact match

NHTSA ODI investigations

Action number, component, subject and open/close dates from the approved bulk import; long summaries omitted.

Open official source ↗
US-market boundary

Only NHTSA vPIC, NHTSA ODI complaints and investigations, NHTSA recalls and FuelEconomy.gov contribute to this vehicle claim. CPSC equipment notices are searched separately and never joined to vehicle fitment. UK MOT, Canadian, New Zealand and European records are not merged into this US claim.

06 · Research paths

Diagnose first. Confirm fitment.

These are transparent searches, not diagnoses or endorsed parts. Recall remedies come before purchases; exact part fitment requires VIN, trim, powertrain, production date and OE number.

Offers status: held

Awin US and R2 affiliate inventory are not published until a US programme, merchant and exact-fitment projection are approved. No offer currently has both merchant approval and exact vehicle fitment, so commercial links never count as evidence.