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Toyota Highlander

Modeps

Modeps

Lifer
My wife and I got a letter yesterday about a trade in offer where they'll give us 100% market value for her 2003 Corrolla. We're thinking about kids in the near future so a bigger vehicle would definately be good. Looking at all the SUVs that Toyota has to offer, the Highlander looks pretty good for our budget.

Anyone got any opinions on it?

UPDATED:
After reading your opinions here, and over at edmunds and elsewhere, we decided to go for it. We're picking up our 2005 V6 silver Highlander tomorrow 🙂 And about the trade in? They gave us 2k over the blue book value. So even if it was a gimmick, who cares?! haha 😀 😀 Test driving it was great. It felt like I was driving a car instead of a SUV or Truck. Definately enough power to get out of it's way and then some. :thumbsup: Pics coming tomorrow!
 
We own a 2002 H/L. 4 cyl front driver.
I also am a service writer at a Toyota dealership, These things do not break!!!.
Every one of our customers would not trade them for the world. Including my wife.
Yes they are a little pricey loaded up, but a great vehicle.
If you live where you can get away w/o all wheel drive you can save some $$$$
We live in Ohio and have not had problem one with going in the snow.
In the spring there will be a hybrid H/L, it is going to be in the Limited version at first and then will trickle down after a year to the non-lin=mited H/L version.
Hope this helps.
If you are looking at used, make sure it is a Certified used vehicle.
 
Originally posted by: Modeps
My wife and I got a letter yesterday about a trade in offer where they'll give us 100% market value for her 2003 Corrolla. We're thinking about kids in the near future so a bigger vehicle would definately be good. Looking at all the SUVs that Toyota has to offer, the Highlander looks pretty good for our budget.

Anyone got any opinions on it?
Click to expand...
Be careful. That's a salesman trick where you get so excited about getting so much for your trade that you lose sight of the high-priced extras and interest rate they tack onto your purchase.

Anyhow, the Highlander is an excellent vehicle--a whole lot of utility without too much excess
 
Having test driven it, my impressions are that the four is a little noisy and underpowered, rough riding but gets decent gas mileage. The six was not bad fairly quiet and mostly carlike, but still a little unresponsive. Of course, I've really only been a car driver my whole life so this may be normal for an SUV. It might just be the feeling of "extra mass" that I got driving it. The Limited Edition six I drove had a nice options package including leather so overall it was pretty nice. And it had the third row seat if you're looking for a people mover. I think that's an option though. It seemed to have all the safety features, i.e. front and side (curtain) airbags, VSC, etc. The styling was a bit boring (kind of like a Camry is boring). All in all, not bad (the six that is). Of course, when it came time to negotiate, a Limited 6 was well over $30K and the Toyota salespeople did not seem particulary interested in making a deal (as in "This thing sells and we don't need to negotiate with you."). Even on the four with a few options, they wouldn't go much below $27K or so. What is interesting though is that they are supposedly coming out with a hybrid Highlander in the spring/summer. Hope that helps.

EDIT: spelling
 
Originally posted by: TRDGT
We own a 2002 H/L. 4 cyl front driver.
I also am a service writer at a Toyota dealership, These things do not break!!!.
Every one of our customers would not trade them for the world. Including my wife.
Yes they are a little pricey loaded up, but a great vehicle.
If you live where you can get away w/o all wheel drive you can save some $$$$
We live in Ohio and have not had problem one with going in the snow.
In the spring there will be a hybrid H/L, it is going to be in the Limited version at first and then will trickle down after a year to the non-lin=mited H/L version.
Hope this helps.
If you are looking at used, make sure it is a Certified used vehicle.
Click to expand...

Isn;t that Hybrid HL a lower end RX330? We own the RX and its a great car.



 
Originally posted by: gscone
Originally posted by: TRDGT
We own a 2002 H/L. 4 cyl front driver.
I also am a service writer at a Toyota dealership, These things do not break!!!.
Every one of our customers would not trade them for the world. Including my wife.
Yes they are a little pricey loaded up, but a great vehicle.
If you live where you can get away w/o all wheel drive you can save some $$$$
We live in Ohio and have not had problem one with going in the snow.
In the spring there will be a hybrid H/L, it is going to be in the Limited version at first and then will trickle down after a year to the non-lin=mited H/L version.
Hope this helps.
If you are looking at used, make sure it is a Certified used vehicle.
Click to expand...

Isn;t that Hybrid HL a lower end RX330? We own the RX and its a great car.
Click to expand...
The RX is nice (test drove that as well) but get your brakes checked though. I read a NY Times article about some power brake problems with the Canada-(Ontario?)produced RX330s (as opposed to the Japan-produced ones). I'll link the story if I can find it.
 
Dad has an '02 Highlander Limited. Great vehicle, silent as heck, gets great gas mileage, and it's a quality vehicle
 
We just signed a deal to get a 2005 Highlander ourselves. It's considered a crossover SUV (i.e. higher riding station wagon). 🙂 Don't get the 4 cylinder, get the 6. We're in NH, but I still wanted to get a FWD for the gas mileage. IMHO, the 3rd row is a nice option, but it's strictly for kids. The seats are comfortable and I didn't feel any lean going around curves like I did with the Pilot (which is also nice and bigger).

Don't forget to look at Edmunds.com to find out what a fair price is first. Negotiate that price first before discussing the trade in or payments.
 
Originally posted by: NFS4
Dad has an '02 Highlander Limited. Great vehicle, silent as heck, gets great gas mileage, and it's a quality vehicle
Click to expand...

Sounds good to me. I'm wondering if we should go for a new model or a certified pre-owned to save cash.
 
Originally posted by: freebee
4runner?
Click to expand...

it's very nice and all, but pricey compare to the HL. beside, it gets pretty poor gas mileage. for a family car the HL is good enough. my only complaint is that the HL looks too plain, which could be good for some.
 
I think the first Highlanders have a problem with the window/windows down at freeway speed. When they were introduced, I read a review on Edmunds or thecarplace where when the drivers window was open, it sounded like a helicopter was landing onto of the SUV due to painful air pressure. Something to check when on your test drive. I would imagine this got fixed on the later year models.

Not Toyota bashing - I have a Camry
 
I would be wary of paying more for a certified used toyota. Also it still makes sense to have it checked out by a mechanic first. Toyota's Certified Used means nothing to me except a way by Toyota to jack up the prices of their used car/truck/suv. I bought a certified used Tacoma with a B2B extended warranty, and it had engine problems so bad they ended up giving me my money back. I left that dealership and bought a brand new Tacoma at a different one. Toyo quality is great, but they ain't that great.
 
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