New toyota highlander, anyone BTDT?

[sammyg2]

The wife's honda pilot has 105k miles on it and we're getting close to replacing it. She likes the toyota highlander. Does anyone have one of the newer style highlanders, and if so what do you think?

We test drove one this past weekend. My impressions were that it felt solid and had most of what we are looking for, except for the crappy cloth on the seats. It screams low end cheap car. Looks like a$$. the rest of the car and interior looked good, it was just that buttugly cloth on the seats. Light gray or light beige are the seat cloth color options we saw, both suck IMO.
The one we drove had leather which was nice but it's typically only available on the higher end model and they were asking close to $40K for it, I said no freaking way. IMO it's a $25k car, not $40k.
I suppose we could try to order the base model with leather and the other options we want.

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

My mom has one, Leather, all options. Pretty nice, comfortable, never a problem. But, it does seem cheap like you said. Even with the leather.

[HardDrive]

Hmmmm...not a highlander, but we have a Lexus RX330, which really is just a fancied up highlander. 5 years and zero problems. Build quality has lasted.

Have you seen the new Toyota Venza? Coming later this year. The highlander has gotten quite a bit bigger over time, so the Venza is filling the highlanders previous niche.

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/01/14/detroit-2008-toyota-venza-crossover-to-challenges-edge-murano/

[mikeferg75]

I looked at them when cross shopping against my Pathfinder. I ended up with the Pathfinder mainly due to the deal I got, about 11k back of sticker.

I agree, the new highlander looks like ass, cheap cloth, but it did drive nice, ect. I do plenty of towing, and I think the Pathfinder was the better choice for that as well.

Being a Toyota, it will hold excellent value, but I just did not fall in love.

Ferg

[tcar]

Highlander is a 4wd Camry. Sister has had 2, including an 07.

Only problem with both was one flat tire, over almost 7 years.

[JeremyD]

Just bought an 08 Highlander - Limited - Great car - try www.carsdirect.com We got around 8K off it (MSRP)

[onewhippedpuppy]

Toyota LOVES option packages. I doubt you can get leather without a bunch of other expensive options. Their cloth interior may look a bit cheap, but it will last forever.

[RWebb]

sammy - oddly, we appear to be leading somewhat parallel lives...

my pilot is going off lease and i'd love to have a hybrid [esp. if the gummit will subsidize my a$$]

how is the h'lander on snow?
- off-road? [i.e. on real bad two-track & fire roads?] the pilot is just not quite as capable as i'd like - i've had problems on fire roads around here with it

with all seats down, is the floor flat? slanted? i have to put a piece of plywood in the back of the pilot to sleep/vamp in it - and that maes it troublesome to carry 3 or 4 people

[sammyg2]

Dunno how well the hylander does in the snow or off-road, but it's basically a crossover so it's based on a front-wheel drive car chassis. Definately not a truck.

The pilot hasn't been a bad car but I wouldn't go 4 wheeling in it. The thing always felt too fragile for rough use for some reason. Plus I always felt it was overpriced.

I had a pathfinder many years ago. I bought it new in 1993 or so. It was cool but it had lots of squeaks and a few things fell off, overall it was a good vehicle. They've changed quite a bit since then. They look like they're twice as much vehicle as they used to be.

[mikeferg75]

You should go drive one... Granted I've been Nissan truck loyal for about 10 years now, but I'm still impressed from a value/$ standpoint. They made a great leap when the Xterra/Pathfinder went to the new body style in 05, tight as a drum, and really quiet on the highway. Plus the new 4.0 six is a gem of a motor.

You would think Nissan pays me (they don't I just like them)

They were blowing out 08's if you can still find one on the lot.

Ferg

[RWebb]

thanks!

[911pcars]

I believe the Camry is the chassis under the Highlander as well as the RX series. In addition, the base model is 2WD.

Sherwood

[JeremyD]

Originally Posted by RWebb

sammy - oddly, we appear to be leading somewhat parallel lives...

my pilot is going off lease and i'd love to have a hybrid [esp. if the gummit will subsidize my a$$]

how is the h'lander on snow?
- off-road? [i.e. on real bad two-track & fire roads?] the pilot is just not quite as capable as i'd like - i've had problems on fire roads around here with it

with all seats down, is the floor flat? slanted? i have to put a piece of plywood in the back of the pilot to sleep/vamp in it - and that maes it troublesome to carry 3 or 4 people

It's FWD but they do have a 4wd option - not sure if the hybrid is 4wd or not.

Off Road or Snow? Unknown - it is a car based SUV - vs being a truck based SUV - probably fine for the lighter off road stuff. The wheels are huge - the limited comes with 19" and I think 235's

- Yes - the floor is flat - in fact it is nice and flat for a SUV. one of the selling features for us.

It drives like a dream. It is extremely solid and quiet. It comes standard with some nice features - although my wife did end getting one that was pretty loaded - even with GPS and the large back up camera.

The first tank of gas we averaged around 18mpg - But with the latest tank of gas we averaged closer to 22 mpg.

We came down to the Highlander and the new Pilot as our final vehicles - the Highlander won out.

[RWebb]

thx - the new vehicles with electronic stability controls are like magic in snow - not too worried there altho:
[1] it is hard to determine which ones have the best "smarts" -- my 1999 mb ml450 with the teves system seems better than the two pilots i've leased - despite them being newer (latest is '06 pilot)
[2] if you high center in the snow it's all over

i'm not sure what the gnd. clearance is on the highlander but will be looking that up before i go look at actual vehicle

i've done some wild stuff on real bad 'roads' and will take high gnd, clearance and extra tires over anything else -- any day!
e.g. pushed a renault sedan across the rio - dang thing started right up
- took bmw 2002 on jeep trail in big bend area
- took a slightly modd'ed vw bus all over creation - crazy looks on the faces of mired bronco drivers as my light wt. bus skittered past them on some mudflats...

the pilot is right at the edge of offroad ability i'll accept - it is leased so that helps when the body crashes down into something...

a hybrid could really help when the gas stations are 200 miles apart...

my problem w/ 4runner was i couldn't fit inside it while sleeping - got rained on
same with nissans

what i really want is a modernized vw synchro camper [flying saucer would really be even better] -- the pilot has always seemed like the student who gets a B+ in ever subject; best other students would get a mix of A's and D's...


sammy - my pilots seem to have high quality interiors - new one looks gaudy tho -- not sure re the toyota

[onewhippedpuppy]

Anyone that does real off-roading will probably be dissapointed with a car based SUV, be it the Pilot OR Highlander. In that case, a 4Runner or Pathfinder would be a much better bet, as each one has real off-road ability.

[Palum6o]

Have you read the consumer reviews on Edmunds, I was surprised to read a number of negative ones. The Toyota dealer in my hood also has a rental center. If I were looking, I'd rent one for a weekend and put it to the test. Test driving these cars for 5 minutes isn't enough. That's like getting married after a one night stand.

[onewhippedpuppy]

My '04 4Runner V6 4wd was bulletproof over 65k when I sold it to Paul (Seahawk). He's probably getting close to 100k, last I heard he had zero issues. Best car we've ever had, no question.