2009 Toyota Highlander User Reviews

Pros

Love the styling, power, seat comfort, refinement, just about everything!

Cons

could use a memory function on the seats, but hey.

Purchased As New

The highlander has exceeded our expectations. We wanted a car that would fit many roles. Camping, hauling stuff, hauling people, provide safety those insides, drive well, not drink gas, and a sundry of other tasks. In the first two weeks of ownership it has handled all of these tasks to our delight.
To break it down, here are our initial feelings on key areas:

Powertrain: Plenty of power, way more than the Honda Pilot, we narrowed our search to these two models, primarily because they have the best reliability. The Highlander has plenty of power to get on freeways, pass slow motorists, and give the driver a feeling of confidence.

Fuel (MPG): It has the highest rating the cars we looked at, on our first tank of gas with mostly city driving we avg 19.8 according to the computer, not bad in our book, the CX-9 and Pilot could not touch this figure.

Comfort: The leather seats are great, the Limited model has a seat extender on the drivers side which is great for me, a taller driver. There is plenty of leg room for all three rows. Again I believe their to be plenty of room in all three rows, even for adults, we drove to Disneyland this morning with six adults in the car for my wife birthday using the 2nd and 3rd row, everyone was happy and comfortable, the trip was about 40 minutes.

AC: Air conditioning is very important to our family and the Highlander excels! I would recommend the rear air conditioning as it is a real benefit to second and third rows. The automatic controls work well and provided all three rows with good air flow. Air flow for second and third rows comes from the roof, which is nice because the Honda Pilot blew air on your knees(2nd row) and face (3rd row).

Handling: The handling is good, I disagree with some and find the steering precise and well balanced, perhaps it is because my other car is a Lexus that has a similar electronic power steering system. The brakes feel strong and give a sense of control. There is some body lean when cornering but this is an SUV.

My family is very happy with this car and love pretty much everything about it, the only thing that would be nice is a memory function on the seats, and proximity sensors front and back. It has a wonderful backup camera that fills the 7 inch navigation screen, but sensors give you that extra margin for error. I am sure once we get used to the cars size it will not seem so large.

One cool feature we did not originally want, but love having is the power rear hatch. It is a heavy door and when your hands are full of stuff, kids, etc, it is really nice.

Two thumbs way up the the Highlander!