2011 Toyota Highlander - A mostly good car
The Highlander is a decent car - not perfect, but not terrible. It is a smooth ride and it handles well. It feels almost carlike, but has the height and size of an SUV. Our family takes the Highlander on driving vacations, and we have always been happy with both packing capacity and comfort of passengers. The build quality is not great, there are several annoying rattles in various places in the Highlander. There is a rattle in the frame of the moon roof, like it doesn't sit quite right in the track. There is another rattle behind the dashboard console. We haven't asked for a fix because I can't imagine the cost in labor for them to remove the dashboard to tighten a loose screw or whatever it is that's rattling. My current annoyance with the Highlander is that the driver's side sun vis... (more)
The Highlander is a decent car - not perfect, but not terrible. It is a smooth ride and it handles well. It feels almost carlike, but has the height and size of an SUV. Our family takes the Highlander on driving vacations, and we have always been happy with both packing capacity and comfort of passengers. The build quality is not great, there are several annoying rattles in various places in the Highlander. There is a rattle in the frame of the moon roof, like it doesn't sit quite right in the track. There is another rattle behind the dashboard console. We haven't asked for a fix because I can't imagine the cost in labor for them to remove the dashboard to tighten a loose screw or whatever it is that's rattling. My current annoyance with the Highlander is that the driver's side sun visor broke. It flops halfway down and cannot return to its stowed position. It obscures at least half of my field of vision, and my husband cannot see at all, even with the seat lowered all the way. It is a common problem of which Toyota is aware, but they will not issue a recall because they say it is not a safety issue.
My Highlander is on Google Maps Street View! I saw the Google car one day driving through Connecticut, and I followed it for quite a while, hoping that I would be recorded for at least part of the trip. I remembered where we were, and lo and behold, about a year later, I checked and there we were!
My Highlander is on Google Maps Street View! I saw the Google car one day driving through Connecticut, and I followed it for quite a while, hoping that I would be recorded for at least part of the trip. I remembered where we were, and lo and behold, about a year later, I checked and there we were!
I love the Bluetooth enabled stereo. It's a small thing, but it really makes me happy to be able to listen to my favorite Pandora stations whenever I want. I don't like dealing with CDs all the time, so being able to stream music was a huge plus when buying this car.
I love the Bluetooth enabled stereo. It's a small thing, but it really makes me happy to be able to listen to my favorite Pandora stations whenever I want. I don't like dealing with CDs all the time, so being able to stream music was a huge plus when buying this car.
The biggest annoyance with this car is the fact that oil changes are scheduled to occur every 10,000 miles. Yet the "oil maintenance required" notification pops up every 5,000. It particularly bothers me because of the location of the oil maintenance light. Instead of being on the steering wheel side of the dashboard, it's on the very center of the dashboard. It takes over the screen on the information system, so I can no longer see my gas mileage information. When I asked the service technician about it, he said, "It's designed to make you come in more. It's supposed to be annoying!" It d... (more)
The biggest annoyance with this car is the fact that oil changes are scheduled to occur every 10,000 miles. Yet the "oil maintenance required" notification pops up every 5,000. It particularly bothers me because of the location of the oil maintenance light. Instead of being on the steering wheel side of the dashboard, it's on the very center of the dashboard. It takes over the screen on the information system, so I can no longer see my gas mileage information. When I asked the service technician about it, he said, "It's designed to make you come in more. It's supposed to be annoying!" It doesn't make me come in more, it just makes me angry with Toyota every 5,000 miles.
Another annoyance is that the seat in the second row folds to provide access to the third row. Only one of those seats folds. For a car that is marketed to families, having the flexibility of entering the third row from either side would be helpful. Now I have to put my child's car seat on the driver side of the second row so that we can access the third row easily whenever we want.
2011 Toyota Highlander - Good Reliable SUV
My Highlander is a solid, safe SUV, that has been reliable for the past five years. It has enough room for my family, including my spouse, child and even my two dogs when need be. Beyond my immediately family, it has been spacious enough to carry everything we needed for weeklong vacations to the mountains and the beach. It has a third row that flips up, and that has been handy on occasions, too. This vehicle sits at the perfect height --it's not too low to the ground so I can general see around other vehicles, yet it's not so high that it would be difficult to get in and out of.
My Highlander is a solid, safe SUV, that has been reliable for the past five years. It has enough room for my family, including my spouse, child and even my two dogs when need be. Beyond my immediately family, it has been spacious enough to carry everything we needed for weeklong vacations to the mountains and the beach. It has a third row that flips up, and that has been handy on occasions, too. This vehicle sits at the perfect height --it's not too low to the ground so I can general see around other vehicles, yet it's not so high that it would be difficult to get in and out of.
I brought my first child home from the hospital in this car. I sat in the middle next to him in his first car seat. It will be bittersweet when I get around to trading this car in because of those memories.
I brought my first child home from the hospital in this car. I sat in the middle next to him in his first car seat. It will be bittersweet when I get around to trading this car in because of those memories.
Good value for the price. It has plenty of space for my family and stuff. It has satellite radio, which I use every time I drive. The removable rubber mat in the trunk makes it easy to keep clean by either vacuuming or removing and hosing down when need be. It's versatile in that the middle seat in second row can be storage, or an additional seat. It has the appropriate connections for a car seat, making it super easy and safer than cars without this option. The backup cam is great (even though it's not as nice as some of the newer models). The USB outlet is great for keeping my phone charged.
Good value for the price. It has plenty of space for my family and stuff. It has satellite radio, which I use every time I drive. The removable rubber mat in the trunk makes it easy to keep clean by either vacuuming or removing and hosing down when need be. It's versatile in that the middle seat in second row can be storage, or an additional seat. It has the appropriate connections for a car seat, making it super easy and safer than cars without this option. The backup cam is great (even though it's not as nice as some of the newer models). The USB outlet is great for keeping my phone charged.
There are so many of this same vehicle, same color and all on the road. I don't love seeing my car ten times on my five mile drive to work. The body of this particular model is not very cute. I chose this over the 4-Runner because it was less expensive at that time. New models have been improved. USB outlet is in a terrible location making it difficult to maneuver to hook up the cable. There is not an excellent spot to place phone to make it easy to use navigation apps. The floor mats have not held up well, particularly below the driver's seat.
There are so many of this same vehicle, same color and all on the road. I don't love seeing my car ten times on my five mile drive to work. The body of this particular model is not very cute. I chose this over the 4-Runner because it was less expensive at that time. New models have been improved. USB outlet is in a terrible location making it difficult to maneuver to hook up the cable. There is not an excellent spot to place phone to make it easy to use navigation apps. The floor mats have not held up well, particularly below the driver's seat.
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