Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives What about a Highlander?

The wife is looking around for a new SUV and Consumer's Reports sure writes up the Toyota Highlander in glowing terms. It looks like it has a few more creature comforts than the nearly equal size 4Runner and the 3.5 engine gets better gas mileage than the 4.0 in the 4Runner with more horsepower. As I understand it the 4Runner is built on a truck frame while the Highlander is unibody construction. Probably AWD or 4wd makes more sense up here in the north than the two wheel drive versions. The Highlander hybrid V6 version gets 25 mpg overall which sure isn't bad for an SUV. Both of those Toyota's are smaller than our current GMC Acadia which I keep telling her isn't broken yet at 120,000 miles. Opinions appreciated.

My brother bought a certified highlander from a Toyota dealer and he loves it

Toyota is getting the hybrid thing down pretty good. My son has a Prius. 50 mpg highway. In 8 years of hard driving, it's been flawless. Hybrids get a lot of criticism but I wouldn't be afraid of that one.

We bought a 2019 Limited AWD (non-hybrid) for my wife about 2 months ago. So far we’re loving it. We’ve put about 3,000 miles on it and are averaging about 24.5 mpg.

I have a 2019 XLE AWD with 1k on the odometer, absolutely love it.

We have 60k on a 2015. A great family truckster. Great for trips.

From what I've heard, yours might be about the only one.

Have those 120K been mostly highway miles? Just curious.

FC

We have a little over 118,000 on a 2014 Highland and could not be happier. It gets 22 or so mpg on the road, rides great and has enough leg room to travel in comfort. I can't think of an SUV that I would replace it with.

My wife has a 2018 Highlander. It has a 3rd row (small but handy for little kids), 3.5 liter w/Atkinson, 8-speed, AWD, downhill control, snow mode, and diff lock. It rides nice but the steering feels vague to me. With power mode active, it has pretty good acceleration and gear shift changes.

I find the default radar cruise control, auto start/stop, lane departure, and steering assist annoying but my wife likes all those features. You can disable all of it. I'd rather not have any of it, including the Atkinson. Simpler, and lower cost would have been my preference.

I like the 4Runner a bunch, but since we also have a Tundra we got the Highlander. I think there is more room for the 2nd row, and just seems more comfortable. With the Tundra, I didn't seen a need for the 4Runner.

If you are considering the hybrid, I think it still has ICE powertrain for FWD, and an electric motor for the rear. In other words, there is no link between the engine and the rear diff. A co-worker told me that he had a hell of a time getting one unstuck in the snow, as the rear would not power. On the non-hybrid, you can use the diff lock to keep all 4 wheels powered. His was an older hybrid, so things may have changed. And getting stuck isn't an everyday occurrence, so the fuel mileage benefits might be worth any trade offs in terms of low speed traction.

I rented an Acadia for over a week, and actually took it on some Jeep trails in Sedona. The pink Jeep tours were surprised and concerned to see us out there! I liked the Acadia. We averaged 18 mpg mixed, city and highway. My wife drives her Highlander almost 100% in the city and is getting 19 mpg over the last 10k miles.

Jason

My wife loves her 2015 Limited AWD. Bought new in late 2014, now has right at 60,000 trouble free miles. We chose it over the Ford Explorer and Edge . She says she would buy it again.

I just picked a new 2019 Tundra over an F 150 for a lot of the same reasons we went with the Highlander....better and quieter ride and for sure better workmanship. Better reputation for reliability too. Built in the USA also.

I like Toyotas and drive a Tundra. My wife has owned 2 Highlanders and no complaints on either but last year we decided to trade hers in. We thought we wanted another Highlander but ended up buying a Honda Pilot. If you use the 3rd row the Pilot is much bigger than the Highlander. My wife is 5'10" and can sit in the back (3rd row) of the Pilot no problem. We took a road trip last weekend about 9 hours of highway driving and average 28.8 MPG with 2 adults and 3 kids. The ride is similar to the Highlander with just minor differences.

My wife has a 2011 Highlander with about 140k on it. Her previous one was a 2004 model with right at 200k on it. Both have been great vehicles and were bought used with 40-50k on them. When we bought the 2011 model, we also drove a similar vintage Honda Pilot and liked the Highlander better. Next time around, we'll likely do the same and make a fresh comparison.

You guys are mirroring what I'm reading and hearing from other sources. I've been talking to Pilot owners and they don't get much better mileage than the Acadia in the low 20's, so that 28.8 is kind of a surprise. Yes FC, the GMC has mostly highway miles but that V6 doesn't use a drop of oil between changes (my usual criteria for trading one off) and aside from an early steering issue and an intermittent back up camera in hot weather, it has been a good car.

CR gives the Highlander a high 85-87 overall score with a road test rating of 82-85 and mpg of 22-25. The 4Runner must be sprung tighter and that one only gets a 59 overall with the road test score of 55 and 18 mpg with a lower reliability score. The new GMC Acadia and ours certainly isn't new and the new ones are shorter, in contrast gets an overall score of 64 with a road test score of 83 and mpg of 19. Reliability is worse than average for the GMC and better than average for the Toyota something that you have been writing for years on here.

4th Point, an interesting take on that 4wd hybrid drive train in slippery getting unstuck conditions. I'm not sure what an Atkinson transmission is exactly though I have read that people thought that the older 6 speed automatic was a smoother transmission than the newer 8 speed.

Atkinson cycle refers to a combustion cycle type of the engine, not the transmission.

Like 4th point I'm not crazy about all the fancy electronics, BLIS is fine and radar cruise is ok on the highway but otherwise needs a little more fine tuning. The lane departure is annoying as all get out. The 8-speed transmission is fine 98% of the time but every now and then it'll get a little confused as to which gear it should be in. We bought it to serve as our daily family hauler to/from work and lugging the kid around and it's been great for that. We took it on 1 road trip to Amarillo and it was plenty comfy to spend an extended period of time in.

Pilot getting 28.8 maybe the Avg display is saying that, My Highlander has gotten as high as 32.4 MPG but hand calculated so far 27 mpg. I ran a couple of comparisons between the Pilot and the Highlander, there is not enough difference in the interior dimensions as listed below..


On the inside, the Pilot boasts seating for up to eight people, with 152.9 cubic feet of total passenger volume. The Highlander can also seat eight, with a maximum passenger volume of 144.9 cubic feet, depending on the model. The Pilot has 16.5 cubic feet of cargo space with all three rows of seats in place, and 83.9 cubic feet with the second and third rows folded. The Highlander offers 13.8 cubic feet, and 83.7 cubic feet, respectively.


I will take the Highlander V6 over the Pilot engine any day of the week. Timing chain vs Timing Belt no contest. I know of many people that have highlanders with over 200 k on them , have not heard that number mentioned when it comes to Pilots.

Yes the 28.8 was computer not hand calculated. We have a short trip planned coming up so will do a hand calculated version. I am sure the computer is not dead on but would hope within 1 MPG. I will say the Ecom mode doesn't buy you anything on it. In Econ mode it seems to struggle doing 70 or 75 mph and ends up using just as much gas. Would be fine on highway doing 60 mph. My Tundra computer is always high vs hand calculated by 0.3 to 0.6 mpg but never more than that and I probably tested it 100 times within the last 3 years. Around town the computer is normally around 21 MPG for the Pilot.

The latest version of the Highlander is closer in size to the Pilot. My 2012 Highlander was no where near the same size as the 2016 Pilot which is the latest generation. The 3rd row seat area is what is different on the Pilot vs the Highlander. If you don't need it the point is moot. But its not just leg room and shoulder room the height is much larger on the Pilot so an adult can fit back there not just a kid. With 3 kids that is important to us since we often haul the inlaws with us to the kids games.

Besides the 3rd row probably not a lot of difference between the 2 as far as price, MPG, and reliability. I think if you read the current Edmunds write up its probably the higher rated of the 2.

I have/had a few vehicles that gave out avg fuel mileage and it was usually a 4mpg difference on all of them. I don't even use the Econ mode. I drive at 75mph on the highway and best I have done is 27 mpg and that was a 80hw/20city ratio of mileage . My tundra mpg calculator was not even remotely close, the 15.3 MPG got old after a while. I have no use for the third row seats so they are always down, so instead I bought the 2 captain chairs for the middle seat . If I wanted a bigger vehicle I would have sprung for a Sequoia or Tahoe.


I have bought equal amounts of Honda's(Civcs and Accords) and Toyotas(Avalon,Camry and Trucks) . They Toyotas have been easily the most troublefree. I had one lemon Civic which I got rid of 2011 model year.

The Toyota Highlander, a great vehicle, cant go wrong. My family has three white ones, two Limiteds, and an XLE. Heck their late models, probably 2016 to 2018 models, have that start stop crap, but you can disable it.

Plenty of power to travel in the Appalachian mountains and pretty good fuel mileage.

+1

Just turned in a leased Highlander after 3 years. Had a choice of the Enclave. Pilot or Highlander.

Went with the Highlander. The Enclave, while a nice vehicle, has lower resale value, thus a higher lease.

The Pilot, although a nice vehicle with good resale, just isn't up to the quality and ride of the Highlander in our opinion.

With the lease, we never buy tires, batteries, etc. Three year lease, three year warranty. Lease payment is the only expense. Two years of free oil changes.

Not bad if you plan to be rolling them over, keeping a late model, always ready to rock and roll...


And if you know about how many miles you'll drive per year. We do and it works out.

DF

A lease is ok IF you want never ending payments and plan to always have a new car. For most of us, it's a loser. You just keep paying and never own it. I bought my 08 pickup in '12 and haven't made a payment in 7 years. It's still very new looking and runs great.

I thought he was pretty clear.

"Not bad if you plan to be rolling them over, keeping a late model, always ready to rock and roll..." There are others reasons why folks lease as well...

I have a paid for Z-71 2011 4x4 that has 94K miles, runs like a top.

I'll keep it until I get tired of it, which will probably be quite a while.

We like to keep one late model and lease works OK for us.

It's not for everyone and not for those who drive mega miles.a year. If that was me, I'd get a year old vehicle with warranty remaining. Drive it until near the end of the warranty and do the same again. I know guys who do that and it works for them. If you gonna turn them often, driving them off the showroom floor taking a BIG hit not too smart, IMO. Year old already has taken that hit. It doesn't drop in value that fast for the next year.

DF

We bought a new Highlander last May. Took it on a road trip a couple months later and got 28 mpg on two different fill ups. So far, we like it better than the Acadia it replaced.

Bet it rides better, too.

DF

Wife told me this morning that she might like the Highlander okay, but not 40K better and giving up 8.5 cubic feet of cargo space in the Acadia to get a couple more mpg just doesn't compute. The 2020's are supposed to be larger, but the early reviews are saying like 2.3 inches bigger and guaranteed they will not be offering a 2K Toyota cash incentive on them when the new models come out. She thought that she wanted a blue one and I wanted a trailer hitch. Auto Trader showed me that there were four of them on new car lots within 200 miles. A few calls and I was in a bidding war on a vehicle that was seldom if ever discounted. 14-15% off MSRP was pretty typical with the 2K Toyota incentive. Naturally I wanted to buy the thing locally if I could and even though my local dealer didn't have what the wife wanted, they could order it. I have a buddy Dave who just bought a Highlander and thought that he got a good deal and that I should be talking with the same sales guy. I did an he gave me their best "Dave deal" price that my friend got. Two grand higher than the prices that I'd already gotten over the phone and written from two other dealers for the same equipped car. I was thinking bull $hit, but smiled and started talking about my other offers. He didn't believe me so I called the wife and had her bring over a written quote from another dealer. What do you know, their "best" price just came down the $2,000. when the wife showed up with the written proof.

Bottom line, do your homework before you get to the place where you want to make your final deal. That car salesman isn't your friend just because he smiles at you. What you want to do is get him to the point where he doesn't smile anymore. My buddy Dave didn't get the deal that he thought he did.

My wife and I have a 2015 Highlander XLE and are very happy with it. I don't get to drive it much, but we have 25,000 miles on it and she wouldn't trade it for any other vehicle. Even a new Highlander. The gas mileage according to the vehicle averages 22 mpg.. She drives the 80 mph. speed limit so I figure that is pretty good. My oldest son has a 4 Runner and it is a good vehicle
especially since he lives about 15 miles from pavement. It isn't quite as smooth as the Highlander, and the mileage is about the same, but I think it is better suited for the roads he lives on.
I am sure if we ever replace our Highlander it will be with another Highlander.

We bought our car from Hertz, and had almost every Suv on the market for sale and she drove them all and still chose the Highlander.
We are going to SE Iowa the end of June to a family reunion, and I will be the co-pilot for sure.

I'm rather taken with the SE model myself with the black trim and wheels. I've talked with a lot of people with Highlanders and more often than with any other car I've heard "We love ours". Not just we like it or it's a good car, but we love it. Consumer Reports writes the same thing about the 4Runner being tighter sprung and better off road. I crawled under a 4Runner and see a frame under that one and unibody on the Highlander. Every 4Runner in the local lot has a trailer hitch and only two out of dozens of the Highlanders have them. I don't buy vehicles very often, because I take good care of what I have, but if they needed replacing, I'd be shopping at the Toyota place. I've heard too many good things about them not to. Headed to Canada to play with their fish for a week in a Tundra next week, so I'll get an idea about those too.

2019 version...I haven't been able to find the specs I want on the web. When the 2d and 3d rows are laid down, is the floor long enough for 2 to sleep? I'm 6'.

What’s the best value in the Trim level in the Highlander?

The dealer said they sell more XLE trim levels and a lot of AWD in this area. While I personally like the SE which is between the XLE and Limited, there is not a whole lot of difference price wise to get the Limited and resale of a Limited I'd think would be better. Why they need two sun roofs in the Limited Platinum is beyond me, but then I don't think I'd even need one as I've never used the one in my truck. There are a lot of them for sale right now and if you do your homework, with the 2K Toyota cash back they are offering right now I was able to get the pricing down around 14% off MSRP on a Limited. The wife didn't want to lose the 8.5 cu. ft. of cargo space and spend 40k to get less room so we didn't do the deal. I used Autotrader.com to get competitive pricing around the area, before I went to my local dealer.

why do I read this forum? You guys talk too much and coerced us into buying a Highlander today. It's an '18 Limited Platinum. It's a lease return with 7k miles. They priced it slightly under a new '19 XLE so it's depreciated out a bit. With only 7k, it's virtually new. We'd driven an XLE a couple times and were very impressed. The Limited has a few things that I can easily live without. I could have done nicely with an XLE but my wife loved it and keeping the wife happy is a must. It's hard to negotiate when the wife is kicking you under the table and whispering 'buy it before it's gone'.
I normally never buy extended warranties but with a late model car, we did anyway, bumper to bumper for 10 years. It doesn't take much of an electrical malfunction to eat up the cost of it and then some. Labor will kill you. Since it's used, the new car warranty is half gone anyway although it still has a lot of drive train warranty left.

Dealers always have a gimmick. Before we went in to deal, we checked several places for financing (we financed about 1/3 of it). The best rate we found was 3.5%. The dealer threw out 5.5. I said forget that. I'll go get it done somewhere Monday. Of course he didn't want us going out the door without signing so he fumbled around in his papers for 10 seconds and 'found' a rate at 3.2. Gee, imagine that.
Speaking of dealing, they won't on these. We'd looked at a couple dealers and they won't budge. These cars are too much demand right now.

Before we did this, we also drove a Honda Pilot, Nissan Pathfinder, and a Subaru Ascent. The Ascent was probably the best driving of the bunch but to get a lot of features stock on the lower grade Highlanders, you had to go to the Touring version which was about $47k. The middle packages didn't even have a GPS. You even had to get the Touring to get an interior color choice other than black or white. Who needs white seats to get dirty? Only the Touring had leather, too.
The Pilot was pretty rough riding. My wife didn't like it a bit. The Pathfinder was like the Subaru, very limited accessories for the price.

Speaking of financing - BEFORE you buy, check with your insurance company. Some of them do auto loans. We checked with State Farm and they have as low as a 3.54 rate, depending on the size and term of the loan. It was the best rate we found until the dealer kicked loose. I know both Geico and Progressive do financing and others do, too.

I can't think that you would be sorry with that purchase RC. My daughter is in the market for a new SUV and drove the same models that you did. Actually the Subaru Accent got an even higher overall rating from Consumer Reports than the Highlander did (96 vs. 85-87) which was kind of a surprise. The turbo 4 cylinder in the Subaru puts me off some compared to a V-6 in the Toyota. There are lots of Highlanders on the lots around here in the Midwest and I was surprised that they would dicker on the prices when they never have in the past. Walking in with those discounted Autotrader offers sure helps. The Highlander is getting a redesign for 2020, but not enough to interest me so far. 2.4" longer sure doesn't add much cargo space. Finding any Highlander around here with the trailer hitch option was a rarity and a must have for me. Towing is only 3,500 pounds, but that is enough for my utility trailers.

Our Highlander is rated for 5000 towing. I think the only difference is a heavier alternator and maybe a transmission oil cooler. I can get a hitch from several places online for under $150 and an hour to install it. The price on a Toyota brand hitch is ridiculous. I'd never pay that. A Curt class III hitch is $135 from Amazon or Etrailer.com. Youtube has several videos showing how to install it. It's very easy if you can turn a wrench, only 6 bolts to install after you take the plastic covers off. They're just mud catchers anyway. You just need a way to hold the hitch up there until you get the 1st 2 bolts in. The light hookup kits are under $40 and are plug and play. That's with a flat 4 connector. You'll have to swap it if you use something else.

We've looked at the Highlander many times over the years and have tried to like it, but just can't. We've owned 5 Toyotas and have tried to add a 6th, but 3 things I just can't get over. First is the fixed 3rd row that can not be removed. We need the space more than the dedicated small rear seat. Second is the poor gas mileage. 3rd is the price.

If it was $10K cheaper or got 6 mpg better I might put up with that 3rd row seat, but as it is it just doesn't make sense as a new buy.

A very trusted mechanic I know says the highlander is without a doubt the best used car on the market today. He said not walk but run from used GM and I've ever owned 3 cars that weren't GM. Don't give a [bleep] about the buyout GM has put food on my table since I was a kid. I've NEVER bought a foreign car an I mean EVER. The Highlander is on my list of next used for the wife.

Really, the concept of a foreign car is at best an illusion. It's a global market and there are plenty of cars from Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Hyundai, Kia, etc. made right here in the US by US workers. Plenty of "American" brands made elsewhere. Heck, one could say Ford sold out to the global market during WWII when they moved their German plants to France to keep making trucks for the German forces, or when they sued the US government after the war for destroying their German plants. GM didn't have clean hands about the issue either.

Highlanders are manufactured in Indiana I believe.
Kodiakisland, some interesting comments. Doesn't that third row seat fold down into a flat floor? Our GMC has that third seat too, but we have only used it once and otherwise it is folded flat. I can agree on the high price of those things, but I'd sure not have an issue with the 280 hp V-6 mid 20's gas mileage that I read about and the hybrid beats that. I did watch a guy at the hardware store yesterday trying to put a bunch of stuff into a Highlander and he was running out of room. Stuff has always been one of my favorite things and 40 cu. ft. might not make it.

Buying or leasing?

If the Acadia is running well, you're doing the regular maintenance, and your wife doesn't feel that the car she is driving says anything about her, I'd keep the Acadia for another 80K and then sell it on Craigslist.

I have a friend whose wife won't drive a car that is over 3 years old, she's all about her image and feels that the car that she drives has to reflect her beauty and success. She had an accident a couple of years ago and I offered to let her use one of our extra cars while her's was in the shop, but she declined the offer and paid for a rental because my Lincoln Aviator or Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited were just too old for her to drive. She doesn't drive a lot of miles, so leasing works for them.

I currently have 6 older vehicles, 2003 thru 2008, with high miles, between 90K and 190K. Between them, they probably get driven 40K miles per year. I have a 17 year old son, so insurance is expensive and even though he has a car assigned to him, he has "access" to the other cars, so USAA bills us as though he was driving all of them.

Leasing our second Highlander. Because their resale is so strong, lease payments are less. With the lease, you’re buying the depreciation. Looked at the Buick Enclave but it’s residual value is less, lease is therefore more. Looked at Honda Pilot. Nice vehicle, just not as nice as a Highlander. Honda resale is also pretty good, lease not that bad.

Repeat customer is a strong vote of confidence in a vehicle.

DF

We looked at a new Highlander and 3rd row 4Runner in January. Wife liked them both but couldn’t decide. It was tuff for me, but opted for the 4Runner. As a Tacoma owner, I appreciated the familiarity in frame, powertrain, etc. we have since put 15K on it mostly road trips with our kids and dogs. The only complaint I have is the brakes feel spongy and it’s a PITA to change the oil.

Really liking Toyota. When my Tacoma dies Im going to look at a tundra as I miss a full size a bit for the ride and more room.

The 4Runner is a real SUV designed for off roading while the Highlander is more of a crossover designed for road use. You need to decide what you intend to use it for. If you need a part time hunting car, you want the 4Runner. If not, save a pile of money and go with the Highlander.

The worst part of the Highlander is the 3rd seat. But, we don't use the 3rd seat, so it didn't matter. The Honda Pilot has a better 3rd seat, the Buick Enclave an ever better 3rd seat.

The Highlander has a better dash and display than the others, IMO. And, we liked the ride, the way it drove and overall quality..

DF

We need the 3d seat for grandkids. The Highlander seats lay down smoother than a Pilot or some of the others with fewer gaps between them. If you want just cargo space, you need something else, like a van. Most of these aren't made to be vans. They're more of a compromise for cargo vs people.

Highlanders drive much more like a car, as compared to a 4Runner or other body-on-frame SUV. Two folks I know have bought them in the last few months, after looking at multiple offerings.

We use the 3rd row a few times a month, mainly for teenagers, and they always seem to fit fine. A 6'2" 220lb man is likely not going to have the best time back there, but for your typical medium-sized person, it's doable. We seldom hear complaints.

I need to put a hitch on our Highlander. The top pic is the Toyota brand hitch with the fancy plastic for over $500. The 2d pic is a Curt for $130. Not as fancy but just as usable. I can find a lot of uses for the other $400.

Beauty is as beauty does RC, but I sure prefer the look of the factory hitch package. You bought the Platinum and yours is a done deal without the hitch package. Kind of a travesty to hang an ugly thing off a Platinum though. That factory wired plug down by the hitch is sure a lot cleaner than that umbilical wire out the back. I keep vehicles a long time and the price of the factory hitch amortized over the life of the vehicle doesn't amount to much.

We got the Platinum because it was a dealer demo and it didn't have the tow package. If I'd bought new, I'd have got the XLE. When I add a hitch, the wiring will be mounted under the bumper, not hanging out the back. I have several small trailers with 7 blade RV type connectors so that's what I'll install. It won't be that flat 4 shown in the 1st photo. So, that will be hanging underneath next to the receiver.
My wife wants a small, 2 person camper to pull behind it so I might be adding a brake controller, too, and that'll require the RV plug. Since the light plug will be hanging underneath anyway, the receiver will look fine next to it.

We've put about 500 miles on it so far. This afternoon, I checked the fluids, etc for a trip to Boise tomorrow. This thing is made to be worked on. There's lots of room under the hood and most things are easy to get at. Even the back spark plugs are accessible, not always the case. The front O2 sensor is right behind the radiator. On my Pontiac van, you have to get under it and you need 2 elbows in your arm to get it out. The battery is right there, nothing on top of it, nothing else that has to be removed to get it out. Somebody used some common sense in designing it, unlike most of the big 3 cars.

The daughter just bought the Honda Pilot even though the Highlander was in the running. They thought that the Honda had more usable room and more headroom. I was reading up on AWD vehicles this morning and the word is they are hard on tires and only help in straight line slippery acceleration, get worse mileage and if anything are even worse than a FWD in cornering. The Subaru gets the highest AWD rating compared to the others. I've never owned an AWD and sure would prefer a conventional 4WD system like in the truck only in an SUV.

Which one is best for sleeping in? I don't enjoy tents and hotels are not usually conveniently located near where I want to hunt. Right now I have an F150 with a topper but it leaks in the rain and very noisy during a hailstorm.

Been thinking about the same myself. I just killed a nice buck in WY with my Tundra, and have been driving the Highlander while the truck gets fixed. The Highlander has decent ground clearance, and better MPG than my truck. Plenty good for archery season here, but the lack of tough tires is a concern here with volcanic rock. Might not be an issue where you hunt, but if I went this route I'd need to figure something out.

[quote=Rock Chuck]I need to put a hitch on our Highlander.

I installed An OEM Toyota on our 2012. I wouldn’t even think about an aftermarket. We paid about 300$. Compare the build quality, how it mounts, and the looks, it’s money well spent. The OEM is also higher than the aftermarket as you can see in the pic which is a plus.

And make sure your truck has the towing package, which means the wiring harness is already run and it has the second transmission cooler, etc.

For the last few years, Highlanders from the XLE on up have the tow package even if they don't have the factory hitch. The lights are plug and play. I'm not sure if there's a wiring connector under the dash for a brake controller. Some say yes, some say no.

We drove the new Subaru Ascent. It's probably the best driving of the bunch. However, it's stupid expensive. You have to buy the top of the line Touring to even get leather seats and GPS. It's about $48k. The lower grades give you a choice of black interior and fabric seats in black or white. Can you imagine what a white fabric seat will look like in 5 years? Only the Touring has a lot of other stuff that comes on mid levels in other brands.

+ it has a 4 cyl turbo. LOL..I wonder why they did away with their Flat 6

The problem with the OEM hitch is the light plug. I'd be using a 7 pole RV type. It will have to hang down under the bumper, like this flat 4 does in the top photo but bigger, and would be completely exposed. The aftermarket hitch gives it some protection. They mount the same way, 3 bolts on either side. The only difference is the OEM is through the bumper instead of below it. Any of them are rated for more than 5k which is the towing capacity.
Your '12 might have cost $300 but now the OEM is well over $400 plus installation if you don't DIY. DIY is very easy on any of them.

I think that Subaru made a marketing mistake by not offering a 6 in the Ascent. I have had a bad experience with a 4 cylinder turbo engine myself. It was fidgety fast, but when those turbo seals gave out, the white cloud of oil smoke behind the car sure changed your mind about what you were going to do that day.

The Subaru Ascent is rated to tow 5000lb, same as the Highlander but with 35 fewer horses. Sub has improved the CVT transmission and it drove great, but I wasn't towing anything. I'm very skeptical about that transmission with a load behind it. I suspect you'll get a lot RPM's but no go power.

Just purchased a Hybrid Rav4 and it is excellent...disconcerting when you turn it on an get the "ready" message with no motor noise.

Supposedly 4.7 litres per 100 kilometres.

I like it that much we will be leaving the diesel Hilux at home and travelling in the wife's Rav, as it is quieter, cheaper to run...and I get to passenger.

And the best part is that your Rav4 was made in the USA, right?
Where do you get them from or is Toyota making them there now?

I rode in one at a Toyota dealer when I bought my Tundra in 2017.

This is the new model that has only been available here for a couple of months...I was under the impression that it was produced in Thailand.

But if it was made in the US then you lot have seriously upped your production quality.


ps. nothing is made in Australia any more, we cannot even manage to make a packet of matches....the whole prick of a place seems to consist of trucking companies, hairdressers, and coffee shops.

Pretty sure that outside of Canberra we couldn't even organise a good world class screw-up.

Based on what I just read, it said the 2017 RAV 4 hybrid I drove in was made in Japan. They are supposed to be made in Ontario starting in 2019. FWIW

Saw OEM hitch kits for $382 online, but not sure if that includes any bumper parts?

Anyhoo. Wife loves her 2015, and it holds value like crazy....constant trade in offers are crazy high$. Outside of 3/4-1ton trucks, I’m pretty much straight Toyota.

Watch the shipping. I see them on ebay for $417 with free shipping. Other sites list them in the low $300's but shipping can be over $200.