Highlander the Best Toyota Ever?

[PLamarine]

There was an article in the Detroit News Today and according to the new President of Toyota Motor Sales USA Jim Lentz, the new Highlander "appears to be the highest quality Toyota product we've ever launched"

The full article is here:

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll...711200340/1148

Gee, glad I got mine!!!

[ktmd]

I think that is alot of marketing hooplah. I have a 2008 HL Limited, and while it is a nice vehicle it does not even come close to being the "highest quality Toyota product ever launced". Not by a long shot. Shakes, rattles under the dash, reverberation in the drivetrain - all developed after only a few hundred kilometers. I like my HL, but to be honest, for what I paid the quality is barely acceptable.

[THL]

Sorry to hear that^

I hope these things arent present for most HL users, I would think twice about buying one.

[ktmd]

I don't want to discourage anybody from buying a HL, but I need to be honest here. The basic design of the vehicle is excellent, and it actually handles very well, but there are several problems with my vehicle that weigh on me. The bottom line is that, in Canada anyways, this is a *very* expensive vehicle for what you get. I was initially impressed at the package, but having driven 3000 km or so I am less enthusiastic about the vehicle for the reasons outlined above. Also, the mileage I get as indicated by the vehicle display (if that is accurate) is about 50% less than advertised by Totota on the Totota Canada website. Not good in my books, not good at all. Nice car, but my particular vehicle is not, by any stretch of the imagination, the "highest quality Toyota product ever launched", that is for certain.

[edwardlican]

I agree that the Toyota highlander is very expensive in Canada. Today the price of Highlander Hybrid is being released in Canada and the Limited version is $57490 CAD or $58,000 US. I check the web site of toyota.com in US, the same configure car is only $46752 US, The Canada Toyota is charging $11000 more !!! "What a feeling" - a Toyota advertise phrase in Canada

[philliph]

Does anybody have a clue what it would cost to convert the US Hybrid from Miles to KM's?

[edwardlican]

I think the toal cost will be the Candian KM display part plus the labour to change it. I think the part is not easy to get for KM display do not get broken often and the dealer do not stock up that part. I would like to know the total cost to change the dash display from Miles to Km too.

[Bandito]

Does the speedometer really need to be changed? It does show both miles and kilometers. I bet the odometer would only need to be changed in the computer to readout in kilometers. Just a thought.

Is the price difference up there to the north total profit for Toyota or is part of that the GST or other taxes?

[edwardlican]

I believe the price that I stated is only the car price plus the freight and delivery charge plus air cond exercise tax and this do not include GST (6%) or PST (7%). After the duty adjustment (6.1%) the car in Canada is still $6500 more than the car in US (assume the car with similar feature and equipment). And this make me laugh when Toyota advertize in the Canadian Newspaper : What a feeling !!!

[ktmd]

2008 Highlander Limited with nav, before tax price according to official Totota Canada and Toyota US websites:

Western Canada: $54565 CAD ($55146 USD)

US (WA State): $40270 CAD (40699 USD)

Difference: $14295 CAD ($14447 USD)

[edwardlican]

In order to compare it fairly, both car should have similar options, The Canadian HL Hybrid Limited has GPS build in, separate air cond for front and back and some other options. This is similar to option B of the US version. Also, there is a import duty (6.1%) for the car is not built in North America. so the

Western Canada HL Hybrid Limited is $57490 (include delivery, air cond. tax etc) but no GST or PST added.

The US HL Hybrid Limited is $46752 x 1.061 = $49603 with no GST or PST added
The US version need to pay for the document fee, conversion in Canadian Tire and other minor expense which is around $1500 which total to $51103,

The difference is $6387

[ktmd]

I was referring to the non hybrid Highlander Limited. By your calculations, for a non hybrid option B Limited, the difference would be $10339 CAD overall. To be honest, I'm not exactly sure why anybody would buy a hybrid SUV, especially when Toyota's mileage estimates are so far off.

Anyways, the difference in price is absolutely astounding - more so for the non hybrid version, apparently.

[mwfromva]

Originally Posted by ktmd

I was referring to the non hybrid Highlander Limited. By your calculations, for a non hybrid option B Limited, the difference would be $10339 CAD overall. To be honest, I'm not exactly sure why anybody would buy a hybrid SUV, especially when Toyota's mileage estimates are so far off.

Anyways, the difference in price is absolutely astounding - more so for the non hybrid version, apparently.

I have yet to see this personally, however the 2008 EPA estimates should show a more accurate measure in fuel mileage, especially for hybrids.

On www.fueleconomy.gov, it shows the average fuel economy for all user-owned results as being 47.2 MPG - the new 2008 EPA ratings for the Prius are 48 city, 45 highway (the old rating was 60/51).

[edwardlican]

ktmd, you are right. The non-hybrid version has a higher price difference between the US and Canadian car price. I think the reason is the non-hybrid is starting to be available in early August, at that time the Canadian Dollar is still 7 % lower than the US, so they set the price higher, but when the hybrid came out at Nov 20 in Canada, the Candian dollar is about 2% hgiher than the US$. So they set the price a bit lower. But even that, the price is way above the US price for the same vehicle. What a feeling !!!!