The Lemon Index$6,300 middle bill · most between $4,800 and $6,900
Lower than the $8,000 middle bill owners of all 168 models reported.
Owners who gave their mileage: a middle of 87,000 miles (17 reports).
Toyota Highlander owners reported paying a median of $6,300 for a engine replacement, with the middle half of bills between $4,800 and $6,900. That's from 19 owner reports (19 complaints to NHTSA). Costs vary by shop and region.
What owners paid
- Under $5000%
- $500–$1,0000%
- $1,000–$2,5005%
- $2,500–$5,00021%
- $5,000 and up74%
Share of the 19 owner reports in each price band.
By model year
- 2001 Toyota Highlander1too few for a middle
- 2002 Toyota Highlander4$5,500 middle bill
- 2003 Toyota Highlander8$5,600 middle bill
- 2006 Toyota Highlander3$9,000 middle bill
- 2008 Toyota Highlander1too few for a middle
- 2015 Toyota Highlander1too few for a middle
- 2021 Toyota Highlander1too few for a middle
Reports per model year, with the middle bill where there are 3 or more. YouTube amounts count for the generation the video covers.
How often owners report the failure
- 2003 Toyota Highlander15 complaints name it6% of that year's complaints
Owner complaints to NHTSA whose own words name a engine failure. Raw counts: popular years get more complaints. A complaint is a report, not proof of a defect.
Engines in these years
2AZ-FE 2.4 · 2GR-FE · 2GR-FKS 3.5 V6
Engines with a page of their own that this model was sold with in the years above. Owners don't always say which engine they had.
Keep going
- Toyota Highlander reliability by year
- Engine replacement cost on every car
- Car symptoms and what they can mean
Other repairs Toyota Highlander owners reported
Transmission replacement (67) · ABS module replacement (53) · Brake repair (19) · Head gasket replacement (8) · Strut and shock replacement (8)
The details
How we count
Every number here is a repair bill an owner reported, never a shop's price list. Two sources: the bills owners wrote in their own complaints to the U.S. government (NHTSA), and the dollar amounts owners said out loud in YouTube repair and ownership videos. A figure counts for a repair when that repair is the part named nearest to it. Left out: purchase prices, payments, rentals, towing, warranties and deductibles, amounts under $50 or over $15,000, parts-only prices ("the part was $80 on Amazon"), bills for two different repairs named together, and money someone else paid. One number per complaint (or video) and repair: the biggest, so it's the bill, not the diagnosis fee.
The range is the middle half of the bills (the 25th to the 75th percentile), so one wild number can't swing it. Owners who complain to the government often had expensive repairs, so a typical bill can be lower. Costs vary by shop and region, by dealer vs independent shop, by parts and by miles. This is what owners reported, not a quote for your car.
Check the bills yourself
NHTSA complaint numbers (search them at nhtsa.gov): 11534554, 11472744, 11417767, 10712876, 10585539, 10522145, 10511027, 10465975, 10462842, 10456590, 10413555, 10378873 and more.
Quick answers
How much does engine replacement cost on a Toyota Highlander?
Toyota Highlander owners reported a median of $6,300, and the middle half paid $4,800 to $6,900, from 19 owner reports. Costs vary by shop and region.
Is a Toyota Highlander engine replacement more expensive than on other cars?
The Toyota Highlander middle bill of $6,300 is lower than the $8,000 owners of all 168 models we have reports for paid.
Where do these Toyota Highlander repair costs come from?
From 19 complaints to NHTSA: what owners themselves said they paid. They aren't verified bills or a shop's quote.
Which Toyota Highlander years report this failure most?
In complaints to NHTSA, owners of the 2003 (15) Toyota Highlander named it most. Raw counts, not a failure rate.
Sources: NHTSA owner complaints and YouTube videos (amounts said out loud), sorted by The Lemon Index. Owner reports, not a price quote. Costs vary by shop and region.