Wish I could drive it more often

Author's Rating:

Pros: Ride, comfort, appearance, utility

Cons: Price, option packages, interior color choices, road noise at high speeds

Handling And Control:

The Bottom Line: 
It's a luxury car at (high-end) Toyota prices. Toyota is a proven winner and this new model is no exception to the rule.

Author's Review
My other car is a 1997 Camry, and I think that the Highlander is a smoother ride. I love the fact that it doesn't feel like, look like, or drive like any other SUV that I have driven.

The V6 is pretty fast, the handling is very good (not tipsy like every American SUV feels), the ride is very good at high speeds (+80 mph), however, sometimes (depending upon the road type) it is a little more noisy than I would like.

Getting into the car is great - there is no step up, and no slide down, it is right at a comfortable level. The front seats are comfortable, but I wish that the passenger seat had an option for power seating. I also would have liked a memory setting for the driver power seat so my wife and I could use it without adjusting from scratch whenever we switch cars for the day.

The MPG rating is average to poor at around 19mpg for me. I think this is mostly due to the full-time AWD. I felt limited by the options here. Although I live in the Chicago area, I would have prefered to get a 2WD model with all the other options (leather, power seats, V6, etc.), however the option packages are VERY limited, and you really end up having to choose from the 2 or 3 flavors that are available.

The rear seats are comfortable, and they fold easily for carting stuff around town. We just moved and it was very helpful.

I was a little disappointed with the weight allowance of the car (around 900 lbs I think). Although the car has room for 5 adults, most mixes of 5 people with a little luggage will exceed the 900 lbs limit, and you can feel it as you drive. I realize that most SUV's are similarily limited with relatively low weight allowances, but I was hoping for more I guess.

The controls (like all Toyota's) are intuitive and easy to reach. The inside of the car looks very sharp, although I would have preferred a darker interior as the light cream color shows dirt pretty easily.

I wish there was some more storage space on the console, and the storage space under the console is weird and isn't really useful for anything. Whatever you put there could easily roll out and go under the gas/brake pedals, so I avoid putting anything there.

Usually, I listen to classical music or AM radio, so hearing the subtle sounds is important. The road noise is usually very quiet, but at high speeds, sometimes it is bothersome. It is still way better than the constant whine you hear with most other SUV's, but it is not as quite as a high end luxury car.

The trip computer is pretty neat, and I use it often. It tells you the avg MPG, speed, temperature, etc...

Lastly, I am a little concerned about an article I read about problems with Toyota '97 - '02 V6 engines that has caused an engine redesign. Some people claim that the oil can gunk up and cause engine problems. I don't know what the deal really is, but I have not personally experienced it yet. Toyota says the problem is avoidable by keeping up with oil changes, but who knows.

There isn't much haggle room with this car due to low supply and high demand, but it is worth the money in my opinion.

Consumer Reports rated the Highlander higher than its Lexus RX300 counterpart - and for many thousands less. If you read and trust CR like I do, you can't argue with that.

This car just looks sharp and it is fun to drive. This is my 3rd Toyota and I see no reason to stop buying.