GMC Acadia vs Toyota Highlander: which is more reliable?
The GMC Acadia and the Toyota Highlander are level on the federal record — 68/100 against 65/100 across the years we score. Which one to buy is decided by the model year, not the badge.
The record, side by side
GMC Acadia
- 15 model years scored
- 4,249 owner complaints on record
- about 39 complaints per year on the road
- 50 recall campaigns, 28 safety-critical
- best year 2023 (87/100) · worst 2017 (36/100)
Toyota Highlander
- 11 model years scored
- 2,349 owner complaints on record
- about 27 complaints per year on the road
- 39 recall campaigns, 24 safety-critical
- best year 2016 (86/100) · worst 2020 (37/100)
Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.
Year by year: Acadia against Highlander
The comparison that decides the purchase. A nameplate is not one car — a redesign can move the record sixty points inside two years, and the two nameplates rarely move together.
| Year | Acadia | Highlander | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 56 CAUTION | 82 BUY | -26 |
| 2024 | 81 BUY | — | — |
| 2023 | 87 BUY | — | — |
| 2022 | 86 BUY | — | — |
| 2021 | 75 BUY | — | — |
| 2020 | 81 BUY | 37 AVOID | +44 |
| 2019 | 49 AVOID | 40 AVOID | +9 |
| 2018 | 53 CAUTION | 45 AVOID | +8 |
| 2017 | 36 AVOID | 56 CAUTION | -20 |
| 2016 | 77 BUY | 86 BUY | -9 |
| 2015 | 74 BUY | 78 BUY | -4 |
| 2014 | 51 CAUTION | 79 BUY | -28 |
| 2013 | 84 BUY | 80 BUY | +4 |
| 2012 | 76 BUY | 85 BUY | -9 |
| 2011 | 79 BUY | 84 BUY | -5 |
What owners actually complain about
GMC Acadia
- Power Train — 1,017 complaints
- Electrical System — 949 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 759 complaints
Toyota Highlander
- Power Train — 461 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 363 complaints
- Electrical System — 306 complaints
Both nameplates have Power Train as their largest complaint group, so the choice between them is about how often, not about what.
Years to avoid on each
GMC Acadia — avoid: 2017, 2019.
Toyota Highlander — avoid: 2018, 2019, 2020.
A year scores below 45 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. Every car’s years to avoid.
What each costs today
A recent used GMC Acadia prices at about $40,800 and a Toyota Highlander at about $40,800 — they price within $1 of each other, which at this level is the same money, and they return 21.0 against 25.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the GMC Acadia or the Toyota Highlander more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the GMC Acadia scores 68/100 against the Toyota Highlander's 65/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The gap is small enough that the model year matters more than the badge.
Which GMC Acadia and Toyota Highlander years should I avoid?
GMC Acadia: 2017, 2019. Toyota Highlander: 2018, 2019, 2020. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.
What goes wrong on the GMC Acadia and the Toyota Highlander?
The largest complaint group on the GMC Acadia is Power Train (1,017 complaints); on the Toyota Highlander it is Power Train (461).
Is the GMC Acadia or the Toyota Highlander cheaper to own?
A recent used GMC Acadia prices at about $40,800 and a Toyota Highlander at about $40,800, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.