Other engine problem on the 2001 Toyota Highlander
1 fire 1 of the 14 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When other engine problem gets reported
Owners of the 2001 Toyota Highlander report other engine problem at a median of 40,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 30,000 miles and a quarter after 75,000 miles, from 13 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 2nd most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 20,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 125,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 105,952 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
38% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21,026 miles | 32,000 miles | 42,000 miles | 75,000 miles | 126,978 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 1 a fire is mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $300–$4,000 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 22 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2013, at a median of 2,300 miles, and latest on the 2011 at 120,000 miles.
By volume the 2008 carries the most reports, with 46; the 2001 has 14. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Oil sledging problem in my 2001 toyota highlander. I am concerned that toyota's csp policy will not go far enough to rectify this problem. The dealership and toyota's customer service line both blame faulty maintenance for this issue, but the oil was changed every 7500 miles as indicated in the owner's manual. Toyota's csp will only repair the issue once in 8 years, and neither will address what will happen should this arise again. The dealer maintained this was our fault until we presented receipts to show the vehicle had been maintained appropriately. It was at this time that the dealer suggested that it was possible the mechanics that changed our oil never actually changed it. Based on the numerous complaints and forums I monitored online, I feel this is toyota's attempt to avoid taking responsibility for a larger problem. I also own a lexus gs300, and the oil was changed at the same time as the highlander and I do not have any issues with it. *la
My 2001 toyota highlander is burning approximately 1.5 quarts of oil every 3,000 miles. Toyota usa says that the allowable limit is 1 quart every 1,000 miles and will not look at my vehicle even though it is still under warranty. *la
Engine light started flashing right at 25,000. Car gave no sign of failure or anytime of problem. Oil changes was performed every 5000/mi and car was running fine until the light started to flash and we took car to concord toyota to check on the engine liht problem. Concord toyota said the engine was burned in and out due to lack of oil and blamed tha customer for poor maintenance to the car and refuse to fix the car under the warranty. It's been 3months that concord toyota still has possession of the car with the engine opened apart and still refused to cover under the warranty.
Also reported on the 2001 Toyota Highlander
Other visibility problem
Other speed control problem
Other body or interior problem
Loss of braking
Other powertrain problem
Other brake problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 14 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other engine problem happen on the 2001 Toyota Highlander?
Across 13 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 40,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 30,000 miles and a quarter after 75,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other engine problem on the 2001 Toyota Highlander?
14 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.2 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed