Other steering problem on the 2011 Toyota Highlander
When other steering problem gets reported
Owners of the 2011 Toyota Highlander report other steering problem at a median of 60,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 40,000 miles and a quarter after 90,000 miles, from 17 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 3rd most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 15,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 120,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 105,885 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.
24% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14,515 miles | 38,500 miles | 62,000 miles | 92,000 miles | 120,400 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
Putting it right typically runs $350–$2,400 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 18 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2019, at a median of 5,000 miles, and latest on the 2007 at 200,000 miles.
By volume the 2015 carries the most reports, with 22; the 2011 has 19. 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.
While driving at approximately 40 MPH, I was unable to keep the car in the lane on a slight curve to the right in the road. The steering wheel was turning, but the wheels were not responding. The steering wheel was much harder to turn. Suddenly the steering wheel was extremely easy to turn and the car veered heavily to the right causing me to run off the road. This has happened several times at other speeds. *tr the consumer has since traded the vehicle. Updated 09/13/12 the consumer stated electronic steering systems were fundamentally flawed. The consumer stated he will never buy another vehicle with electric steering. Updated 10/22/12
At approximately 40-42 MPH on a slight curve to the right, the steering would get very tight and the steering wheel was extremely difficult to turn in the direction of the road.( it is as if the car was turning to the left on its own) this has happened several times and the dealer and toyota inspected the car. The car was under case management with toyota three times for the same problem. Case #'s [xxx], [xxx], and case [xxx]. Each time toyota would state there is no problem and the car was "functioning as designed. " toyota's excessive use of electronics in areas such as steering have created unsafe vehicles. Even worse, my opinion is toyota knows they have another safety issue and once again is denying and covering it up. Toyota can no longer be trusted! Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr
Started the car. Power steering was gone!! It had just gone out!!! Thank god I was in town. I had just gone over mountain road where I could have gone over a cliff and been killed. I was able to take the car with horrible difficulty to a mechanic across the street and they called the toyota dealer and they told them to disconnect the battery. That didn't work. I had the car towed to the toyota dealer when they took the tow it seemed to be working. They checked it and was given an "all system ok" on the powertrain, chassis, electrical and network systems. They said it was a "glitch" a glitch???? This is a car I paid $34,000 for and I have kept up with all the scheduled maintenance. Now I'm afraid to drive it. It was terrifying. I have to drive home from san luis obispo to lancaster ca and I'm scared to death. A glitch???? *tr
Also reported on the 2011 Toyota Highlander
Other visibility problem
Other body or interior problem
Other electrical problem
Other engine problem
Liftgate, tailgate or trunk failure
Other powertrain problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 19 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 steering problem happen on the 2011 Toyota Highlander?
Across 17 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 60,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 40,000 miles and a quarter after 90,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other steering problem on the 2011 Toyota Highlander?
19 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.4 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