This is one of the biggest launches in the 3-row crossover segment, because the Highlander is one of the best-selling 3-row crossover in America and for 2020 Toyota has completely redesigned this vehicle.
Aside from sharing a displacement of three and a half liters under the hood, and essentially the same 8-speed automatic transmission that we saw before everything else about this Highlander is all-new. We have an all-new hybrid system available under the hood as well, that seriously improves fuel economy. The first thing, you’re going to notice, is the all-new style to the front end. This is definitely more elegant than the outgoing model and kind of an interesting sort of way.
I’m seeing a little bit of Subaru in this front end. They’ve raised the hood height a little bit to give this a bolder appearance and all models get LED headlamps. The top-end version, which is what we’re driving here, has steering LED headlamps that are also Auto leveling, but all versions, including the base L trim, are going to get LEDs as well. In addition to the LED headlamps, this particular model also has LED fog, lamps below front parking, sensors parking, sensors in the back and, of course, a radar sensor right there behind the Toyota logo.
The 2020 Highlander, as with just about every Toyota in America, will come standard with radar adaptive cruise control, with autonomous braking pedestrian detection, lane keeping assistance and Auto high beams standard on all trims, including the absolute base L trim. But the Highlander is doing something that we don’t see in most other Toyotas there, including the blind spot monitoring system and rear cross-traffic protection system standard on all trims as well and a lot of other todos. That’s an option that you have to add later or you have to work your way on up to trim ladder in order to get it, but not with the Highlander. All of that is absolutely standard.
Moving around to the side, you can see that toad has really injected more emotion into the sheet metal. So we have this pretty strong hunch, it’s very distinctive right here over the rear, wheel, well, they’ve also the Highlander longer than before, and given it a longer wheelbase as well, the wheelbase stretches about two inches versus the outgoing model, and this is now just under 195 Inches long now that still puts the Highlander on the smaller end of the 3-row crossover segment. So this is definitely shorter than something like the Volkswagen Atlas and we have a little bit less interior room that in something like the Kia Telluride. So, if you’re looking for something that’s a little bit smaller a little bit easier to park than something like a Chevy Traverse or, of course, a Chevy Tahoe, the Highlander is still going to be an excellent option.
Toyota has really decided to keep this right about the same size as the Honda Pilot and the GMC Acadia, because a lot of shoppers in this segment are looking for something that has three rows, but is not absolutely enormous. So if that describes, you that’s exactly where the Highlander fits into this scheme if, on the other hand, you’re looking for something that’s a little bit bigger with an awful lot more third row room or more cargo room in the back, then, even though this has become Larger, it still may not be the right vehicle for you out back. We find styling cues that are definitely more refined, a little bit softer than what we see in the rav4, so fewer harsh lines back here, more flowing design overall. Now, one thing that I am a little bit disappointed in is that we don’t have a separately opening rear glass back here.
Toyota has said that they have made this rear hatch lighter than before, and one of the ways they did. That was by removing that separately. Opening glass, I have to admit that I’m a little bit disappointed that particular function has been removed, but it does make the rear. Tailgate lighter makes the vehicle lighter overall, but it was a very handy feature for you to be able to just pop open the glass grab.
Those groceries put those groceries in get stuff before you open. The big hatch and stuff just falls right on out the tail. Lamps are combination, LED designs, so they’re combination of LED and incandescent elements as well. Moving to the bottom of the bumper, you can see that we have the exhaust tips tucked up under there.
We have well integrated parking, sensors and all highlander models that have parking sensors, we’ll have autonomous, braking for them both front and rear. So that will keep you from hitting those smaller obstacles as you’re parking, so the garage wall, something along those lines of garbage-can, both front and rear. This will stop for you. Under the hood.
We find a 3.5 liter v6 engine which is pretty standard for this segment. It produces 295 horsepower and 263 pound-feet of torque, it’s made it only to an 8-speed automatic transmission and it will send power to either the front wheels or to all four wheels via your choice of either front-wheel drive or two different all-wheel drive system. Fuel economy comes in between 23 and 24 miles per gallon, combined depending on the options you choose, but if you want to save even more fuel than that, you can get the optional hybrid system under here again. So it’s not exactly a transplant from the rav4, but the basics that hybrid system are essentially the same for 2020 they’re going to be three different.
All-Wheel drive systems available in the Highlander. The hybrid model has an optional all-wheel drive system. You heard that right. It’s not standard anymore, it is optional and then, if you get the v6 engine, we have two different mechanical all-wheel drive systems.
The base 3 trims in the Highlander we’ll get an all-wheel-drive system that is functionally similar to the outgoing Highlanders all-wheel drive system. It’s a pretty traditional unit, it has a clutch pack, that’ll send power to the rear differential and then it will use the brakes to send power across the axles from wheel to wheel. Now, if you get the top-end trims, either the platinum or the limited trim, then we get a torque vectoring axle in the rear, very similar to what we see available in the rav4. This all-wheel drive system has the ability to mechanically send power either to the left or the right wheels.
So it can completely lock the clutch in the middle and then theoretically, assuming the front wheels had no traction at all, send 100 % of engine power to a single rear wheel. Now this system is not quite the same as the Acura super handling, all-wheel drive system or the system that we see available in the Honda Pilot because it will not overdrive the rear wheel. So it doesn’t have quite that same effect on the overall driving dynamics. But it definitely has an impact versus the regular system that we find in the lower in terms of the Highlander, and it’s going to give you better off-road traction.
If you’re interested in taking your Highlander a little bit further off the beaten path or if you’re worried about inclement weather traction like snow ice, that sort of thing front seat, comfort has definitely improved for 2020. This particular model has a power driver seat with two-way adjustable. Lumbar support, we also have a two-position seat memory over there for the driver, heated and ventilated, seats up front and a manual tilt telescopic steering column. The stern column has a pretty decent range of motion.
One thing you’ll definitely notice in this cabin, however, is that if you’re a taller driver, some of the controls do end up kind of far away, even for folks that have longer arms because of the size of this enormous touchscreen LCD that we’re going to. Take a look at in a bit and for shorter folks out there. A friend of mine recently noted that the Honda Pilot has a foot operated parking brake. That definitely is close to her shin, and this model has an electric parking brakes.
Keep that in mind. I think the biggest change in terms of seat comfort happens right back here in the second row, where these seats are definitely more comfortable than the outgoing model. Now this particular trim is the seven passenger version with the second row. Captains chairs, there’s also an eight passenger version of the Highlander available and that eight passenger model is available in all trims, except for the absolute top and trim these captains chairs slide forward and backward, and they have it pretty exaggerated recline to them.
You can see it’s pretty comfortable recline. Overall, it’s a little bit difficult to tell exactly how the legroom has changed for 2020 in this cabin. I had hoped that it would have a significant growth over the 2019 model year because of the added wheelbase that we find in the Highlander. But it’s really hard to get exact numbers there, because I cannot confirm where the Toyota is measuring the legroom.
The exact same way in this model, as in the 2019 model, assuming the measurement method is the same. Then this may have just a little bit less overall legroom than we find in the 2019 Highlander, and that would be front row plus second row plus third row. Some of the numbers have moved around, so we get a little bit more room in the second row here, especially, but it looks like overall, the number is not too different than the last model, if you’re a family with young children in forward-facing child seats than you Should know that the Highlander still does not offer a second row seat that allows you to keep that child seat latched into place and still tilt and slide the seat forward, because it moves in this particular fashion. Now that does make getting into the third row a little bit easier than some of the competition.
It just means it’s not going to be quite as convenient for some of those families with young children. However, the seat does slide pretty far forwards. You can see you can really touch that front of that seat, cushion to the front seat right there, and then you could go through this back area. This is quite similar to what we see in the Honda Pilot and the Subaru ascent you can still get in and out of the third row.
But it’s not going to be as convenient as those models that allow you to leave a child seat into place and still tilt and slide that seat forward hopping into the third row. We find a three person bench back here. That’s how the Highlander gets us to eight seats overall, seven seats. If you offer the captain’s chairs right here in the second row now, you should know that you’re not going to find as much room back here as you would in a minivan.
Something like a Sienna is definitely going to have a more comfortable third row, and most of that is due to the width of the third row seat itself. You can see the distance between these rear wheel. Wells is definitely narrower than you’d find in something like a minivan. Overall Headroom has improved for 2019 and if I sit forward little bit, my hair is just barely brushing the ceiling.
My head is not touching the ceiling, but if I tried to put my head back towards that headrest, I do have to Crane my head to one side in order to really fit back there. It’s also worth noting the center seatbelt is coming out of the ceiling right here, not out of the seat itself, which is my preference. That’s going to make that a little bit less handy for child seat fitment. There are no latch anchors back here in the third row, but there is a top tether anchor for the center seating position.
Now, let’s talk about legroom and for that I’m going to sit right here behind the second row seat that was comfortably adjusted for me at 6 feet tall, the front seat was adjusted to me at 6 feet tall. You can see. I have about an inch of legroom left. What happens if we stick taller people in here, I’m going to have my lovely assistant scoot this seat.
All the way back be fearless crushed my legs. Let’s see what happens, and you can see that there definitely is not a lot of room back here again, because this is on the smaller side of the 3-row crossover segment. So if you’re looking for a lot of rear seat legroom for the second row and for the third row, you might want to look at something like the palisade or the new telluride. If you choose the 8 passenger version of the Highlander, then we get a three row bench right here in the second row.
Fortunately, two had one of these available to test. I’m really glad they did, because I wanted to see what the Headroom would be like now. If I actually lean back, the Headroom is pretty good. I have about an inch of headroom left, but if I sit in a more normal position, then my forehead is oddly enough touching this area right here around these reading lights and this portion of where the cover for the moonroof would go.
If I were to reach forward and open it, the second row seat still reclines. Even if you get this three-person bench, it also still slides forward and backward. So we can apportion the space a little bit more equitably between the front second and third rows. Now in case you’re wondering when it comes to latch anchors, we only have latch anchors for the outboard sitting positions not for the center seat position.
Interestingly enough, but it still has a top tether anchor a common complaint about three row. Crossovers is that behind the rear hats, we don’t have as much cargo capacity as you’d need for a family of seven or eight to go away for a weekend, and that’s still not true for the 2020 highlander, but we have more than we had before. We now have 16 cubic feet of storage space back here. That’s certainly enough to put some of these 22 inch roller bags back here and put them in the upright position and still very easily close the rear hatch.
You could probably also fit to 24 inch roller bags back here. Of course, the reality is that a lot of 3-row crossover shoppers, especially shoppers that are looking at this end of the 3-row crossover segment, are probably going to keep their third row seats folded. Most of the time and consider the third row seat it’s more of an emergency seating solution, and if you do that we definitely have more cargo room than you’d find in the average compact crossover. So it’s really a big reason that you might want to upgrade from something like a rav4 into the Highlander.
Under the load floor we get some extra storage space and a place where we can store the tonneau cover for the cargo area in the back. An interesting touch with this roller cover is that it is an extendable model, so you press that button. It pops out right like that. It’s that way it will store in a slightly more compact location, as we take a look around the interior, keep in mind that we aren’t in the absolute top and trim so a lot of things that you’ll see in here.
You won’t necessarily find in the absolute base model front, we have height adjustable shoulder belts for the driver and front passenger two-way adjustable headrests up there, and you can see that we have this very large, panoramic moonroof. That goes to just over the second row. Passengers heads the second row: passengers have fixed shoulder belts and two-way adjustable headrests as well. Moving back up front.
This model has a quilted texture to the leather. You can see that there’s crosshatch stitching right there, along with the pattern of those perforations. These seats are both heated and ventilated. The pattern is very similar to the second row seats back here.
However, the second row seats, don’t have all the same, stitching and extra detail that we see up front moving along to the doors you’ll notice that there are definitely a lot of materials going on in here we have the sort of ivory or cream colored leather and Then the rest of the door is brown rather than charcoal or black, like we find in some of the competition. I have to admit that I do love a brown interior. It really gives a richness to this interior that we don’t see in something like the Volkswagen Atlas, which is generally black on black on black and then, as we move on over to the dashboard, we find even more materials going on there’s some stitched sections down here. At the bottom of the dashboard we have injection molded and then, after stitched sections up top, that’s a soft touch material on top of the dashboard, and then we have this neural defect, trim running right there between the air vents and this very, very large infotainment screen In the dashboard, as we see in some of Toyotas other models, there are also some additional storage areas.
You can see one right over here on the passenger side, where you can very easily put a smartphone in there and the inside of that storage. Cubby is perforated to match the seats and the rest of the materials going on in this cabin below that we find a fairly small glove compartment. I have to admit that I was surprised this glove compartment was as small as it is. I don’t think I’d be able to fit a large tablet computer in there.
The biggest news for this interior is, of course, this absolutely enormous, touchscreen infotainment system right here in the dash. This is a twelve point. Three inch LCD the same sized LCD that you’d find in a mercedes-benz s-class for 2020. Now this is not the standard LCD screen for the Highlander.
This is optional. You’ll only find it in the top two trims of the Highlander. That’s a little bit different than we see in some new vehicles out there for 2020, like the Outback and the legacy that give us a enormous screen in most of the trims. Most of the trims are going to have an eighth inch screen.
The software is similar to, but not identical to software, that we’ve seen in other Toyota models before an interesting twist with this system is that it supports apple, carplay and android auto. We haven’t had too many Toyota’s that have supported the Android auto interface, but it’s not going to use the full screen for that smartphone integration. Instead, it uses this portion of the screen and you can swap it from left to right there. So you can have the climate controls, the seat, climate, their audio system, information, trip, information or vehicle information, and then you can swap that from side to side.
So I can click over there and get that exact same information swapped over to the other side of the screen. There are also some direct access buttons below the screen, so you can get back to the home page, the main menu right there, the audio interface and then the map interface as well. Now I have to admit that this software is a little bit more complicated to interact with than what we see in the Telluride or the palisade. The system is not quite as intuitive, with the way that some of these screens are laid out, but I think that most folks are going to get the hang of it, and it definitely has all the features that modern shoppers are looking for.
Features like integration with your smart phone for apple carplay or Android auto. We find the climate controls. These are the front two climate zones right over here and then, if we move on over to the climate screen right there in the infotainment system, then you can see that we have the rear climate control system right there that we can adjust via those screens. These buttons are just for the front climate control zones with two large air vents right there, another little storage cubby, where you can keep your smart phone and then an area where you can pull the cord from that USB interface up into that area to USB charge.
Only ports to the right of that we have a pretty traditional console. Shifter back here drive is all the way down like that manual mode is over to the left. We push away from the driver for gear up to pretty large cupholders there, there’s no lid over them, and then we find the drive mode adjustment buttons right there behind the shifter there’s a toggle that allows us to switch between sport, normal and eco modes. That mainly affects the way the engine and transmission interact with one another, and then we have a terrine management system over here, normal mud and sand, and then rock and dirt over there.
That mainly affects the way the all-wheel drive system and the traction control system are interacting with the road there’s a button to disable the traction control a snow mode button right over there. Hill descent control a button to disable the auto start/stop system. That is standard on all v6 models, the electric parking brake option and auto brake hold. Moving between the front seats.
We find a center console that has basically the same design as the outgoing Highlander. Although again, none of the parts are shared, so we still have a roller top here, rather than a hinged lid like we find in most of the competition, it is softly padded on each side of this, as well as softly padded right there on the roller section. Now, in this top-end trim they put the wireless charging mat in kind of an odd place to my eye. It’s right here, just under that roller cover, so the roller cover slides.
But this hinges out of the way like that: it’s not quite as convenient as if they had put that charging mat underneath the climate controls. All Highlanders will have a partial LCD instrument cluster, but the LCD changes, whether you get the base trims or the upper end trim. So since we’re in one of the top-end models, we get this larger 7-inch display right there between the speedometer and tachometer. That gives us things like the status of our all-wheel drive system.
We can change vehicle settings, we have fuel economy set us the active safety multimedia systems, etc. Also, a feature that we find just in the top-end trims. Is this optional heads-up display it’s a 10 inch display they’re telling us it is one of the larger ones you’ll find in a three roll crossover, even including the luxury segment. It’s a little bit difficult to focus on heads-up displays.
So don’t worry! It is a little bit crisper in person. This gives us things like our speed readout. We also have the status of the active safety systems again and a tachometer right there in the middle and if you’re using the factory navigation, then we get turn-by-turn navigation directions.
The steering wheel is a new design for highlander, it’s similar to what we’ve seen in some of Toyota and Lexus new models. However, we have the cruise control buttons over here on the steering wheel itself rather than on a separate stock. This is also where we find the lane keeping assistant enable/disable button right. There Toyota has split the infotainment buttons, so we find track forward backward mode on the right side of the steering wheel, volume up and down and voiced command on the left.
This button arrangement right here controls that multifunction LCD between the speedometer and tachometer. We have a back button and then a phone button there. Fortunately, Toyota did have an xle model that I was able to hop in and take a look at. You can see that we have a standard sized moonroof right there over the front row.
Only the upholstery has a very similar design, but not quite the same materials and slightly different shapes going on there as well. And if we move on over to the front doors, you notice that the materials are not quite as premium as they were in that upper end platinum trim, but still we have a lot of soft touch materials going on and instead of the imitation wood trim. We just have a black plastic insert as we move on over to the dashboard. The dashboard styling is essentially the same, but again slightly different materials going on so no after stitching to this upper section, but it is still a soft touch element somewhat different styling going on to this trim section and then still the stitched effect.
Soft touch lower section right there, the big difference is going to be the infotainment screen. If we move on over right here to the middle of the dashboard, this is the base eight inch screen. You can see that it is essentially the same as the one that we see in other toyota products. We have physical buttons on the side.
This is basically the same as the one that I have at home. In my rav4 right there menu button, audio button apple, carplay, support in this display, we’re also told Android auto as well and then below that we find slightly different controls for the climate control system. We don’t have ventilated seats in this model, just the heated seats left and right.
This model still has three zone automatic climate control. So if I hit this rear climate button over here, then we use this screen to control the rear climate control, rather than the larger LCD above below that we still have the two large air vents, an additional storage cubby right there and the same basic center console Design, if you get the model without the torque vectoring all-wheel drive, then we get a different set of controls down here behind the shifter we have a mud and sand button, normal button, rock and dirt button, rather than the rotary knob that we saw in that other Model at this point in time, we haven’t had this at home to give this our usual battery of tests, so we don’t have official 60 to zero or zero to sixty numbers just yet, but according to Toyota, the v6 version should run between about 7.2 and 7.5 Seconds, zero to 60, depending on the options that you get, that puts this right in the same neighborhood as the previous generation highlander. Overall, curb weight has dropped slightly, but power from the v6 is about the same, and we have a actually the same 8-speed automatic as well. So it’s quite logical that performance should be very similar that puts this in the middle of the pack overall.
As far as 3-row crossover risk, oh, you will find faster zero to sixty times in some of the turbocharged competition. The all new Ford Explorer, for instance, is definitely very Swift off the line. Logically, one of the reasons you might want to get something like the Highlander over a cx-9 or even, for instance, a Ford Explorer, is going to be this naturally aspirated engine in general terms. Naturally, aspirated engines are going to be a little bit more reliable than turbocharged engines, since I haven’t had the Highlander at home.
Obviously I haven’t been able to drive this on any winding mountain roads. There just aren’t any winding mountain roads out here in your San Antonio, but overall the Highlander comes across as very confident it has a good, solid handling feel to it. It doesn’t feel quite as engaging as the cx-9 I hadn’t really expected it to. I also think that it’s not quite as engaging as the new Ford Explorer, but the Highlander, as with the previous generation highlighter, definitely charts a middle way in this segment.
It definitely feels more engaging. It feels a little bit firmer than something like the Nissan Pathfinder, but it’s not quite as firm as something like the CX 9. So this is definitely the kind of vehicle you could very easily take on a long road trip and it wouldn’t feel overly tiring. The model that we’ve been driving today has the optional torque vectoring all-wheel-drive system, but it’s important to remember that again, this all-wheel drive system is not going to feel like the Acura MDX all-wheel-drive system, and that’s really obvious.
If you get this in a parking lot, you crank the wheel left or right and you just floor. It you’re, not going to get that rear end. Stepping out feel that you will see in the Acura, MDX or RDX or any other super handling. All-Wheel drive equipped.
Acura, that’s because this is not over driving the rear axle in the acura product line, they’re, actually making the rear wheels spin faster than the front. That’s going to give you that rear wheel drive feel in some of those situations. Although this system is incapable of over driving the rear axle, it is still going to give you improved confidence out on the road, whether we’re talking about dry road handling, whether you’re driving this hard or out on your favorite, winding Mountain Road or we’re talking about inclement Weather handling, Toto’s all-wheel drive system has always performed very, very well in inclement weather, and the new rear axle is definitely going to improve that because it’s going to be able to send power where it’s really needed without using the brakes, which are going to SAP engine. Torque, instead of giving us a simple lock for this all-wheel drive system, they give us this multi terrain knob down here, which has a very similar function depending on the road surface that you’re on it may completely lock that Center cup, based on the road surface, the Amount of traction you have etc exactly what’s being commanded of the all-wheel-drive system, but it’s going to give you a more confident feel than just simply the lock button that we had before.
If you do find a road with some curves and you engage sport mode, you end up in these corners here. This is still going to feel bigger and heavier than something like the Acura MDX, and that is worth noting a lot of that has to do with the way this all-wheel drive system behaves versus something like that. Super handling all-wheel drive system, but on the other hand, the Highlander is an awful lot more comfortable, even though we do get more tip and dive more body roll than we find in some of those firmly sprung options. This is going to be the vehicle that you’re going to want if you’re going to take a long road trip or if you just want something, that’s more comfortable for your daily commute.
One thing that I’ve complained about before is that too many cars out there are going after firmer sporty-er suspensions time after time and Toyota’s decided to keep the Highlander very comfortable, which is something that I really appreciate. We don’t know anything about cabin noise just yet, since we haven’t had this at home, but this does appear to be a fairly quiet cabin. I wouldn’t be surprised if this cabin was a little bit quieter than what we see in the Telluride and the palisade. It’s probably going to be pretty equal to something like the Acura MDX.
It’s a little bit difficult to talk about fuel economy because I haven’t been driving this in my normal surroundings, but we’ve been averaging about 23 miles per gallon, or so now we haven’t really been driving this in the city. We haven’t been driving this in the mountains. We haven’t done any stop and go traffic either. Most of the driving has been either relatively high speed highway 70 miles an hour as the speed limit out here in this area of Texas or country road driving like we’re on here, where you’re going about 45 to 55 miles an hour.
So fuel economy is right. Around the same range that I’d expect, it seems to be pretty comparable to most of the competition. Of course, if you want the most efficient 3-row crossover in this segment, that is going to be the hybrid version of the Highlander which promises 35 miles per gallon or more depending on the way that you drive that 3-row crossover, but overall fuel economy in this model Appears to be pretty similar to most of the competition bottom line out on the road. At the moment, the Highlander is an extraordinarily competent option, but it’s not quite as engaging not quite as crisp as some of the other options in the segment.
If you want to get your hands on a Highlander, this will be available on dealer lots December 18th of this calendar year, but it’s going to be more expensive than the last generation Highlander. It’s going to start at thirty four thousand six hundred dollars for the base. L trim that is significantly higher than the base price on the last generation Highlander, and the main reason for that is the standard feature content that we find on this model. It no longer starts out with a four-cylinder engine.
We now get the v6 standard. We get the 8-speed automatic standard, we get the larger infotainment system standard, a lot of extra standard equipment, but that base price is notably higher than before, and that also means that the base price of the Highlander for 2020 is going to be significantly higher than the Base price that we see in most of its direct competition like the Honda Pilot, which starts at thirty one thousand five, fifty the Kia Telluride, which starts at thirty one thousand six. Ninety and, of course, the Hyundai palisade as well. Now the pilot Telluride and palisade all start with a v6 engine as well and feature content is not too far off the base.
Highlander, the highlander does give us more standard equipment in that base model than we find in base models of the competition, but the difference is not going to be quite as large as you might think. On the other hand, when comparing this against something like the GMC acadia, the acadia still starts with the four-cylinder engine. So definitely keep that in mind. When you work your way up into the v6, then the price tag does get closer to the base highlander.
Now, when you take a look at something like the honda pilot to get similar feature content to the base highlander, you have to work your way up to the e ex trim, which is thirty, four thousand four hundred thirty dollars. So, just about the same price as the base highlander just keep in mind. We don’t have that absolute base trim anymore. Now you will have to wait, of course, until we can get our hands on the highlander for complete week, so we can run it through our usual battery of comparisons and tests.
But it’s easy to see that the highlander is a very compelling entry in this segment, especially the all-new hybrid model, which is incredibly efficient over thirty five miles per gallon in daily driving in that particular model when it comes to value. There are some excellent options in this segment, most notably the all-new Kia and the all-new Hyundai they’re, definitely big on the inside, and I think the telluride is very attractive and very, very well equipped as well. Hyundai and Kia have had excellent reliability reputations, but if I had to put my name on a particular product as far as reputation goes, I would suspect this highlander is still going to beat the telluride and the palisade when it comes to overall reliability. So, if you’re after absolutely liability, that’s probably what you’re going to find in the Highlander, we also have some really nice interior touches here.
I think the overall quality of the components is a little bit above what we see in the Telluride, although I do like the design and the Telluride just a little bit more than the Highlander. Would you get something like this Highlander here? Would you get the v6? Would you get the hybrid model?
What would you be looking at if you’re looking to spend right around $ 40,000, that’s about where the mid-level trims of the highlander end up now the xle thirty-nine thousand six hundred dollars starting? But if you get carried away with options, this platinum came in over fifty thousand dollars. Fifty thousand three hundred forty-five as we’ve been taking a look at today with the top-end price of over fifty thousand dollars. Obviously, the platinum trim is stepping on the toes of some lugs, your entries, like the Acura MDX, the Buick Enclave, something along those lines or even Lexus’s own three row.
Rx350. So let me know what you would pick if you’re shopping in that segment. I have to say that the interior and the electronics that we find in this highlander definitely feel more modern than what we see in the Lexus RX at this time. Just as soon as we can get our hands on.