I recently purchased a 2010 Highlander SE. After reading many reviews stating how smooth it was, (rarely feel bumps, smooth like a sedan, etc), I was very excited. However, after riding for awhile now, it actually seems very rough to me. I'm coming from a 2007 Saturn Vue, which definitely isn't the best SUV on the market...but the Vue was FAR smoother than my SE, which has me worried. I feel every little bump, crack in the road, tar line, etc.
My tires are Toyo A20 Open Country, P245/65R17.
Can anyone shed some light on this for me? Could there be something wrong with the suspension? Are the tires not ideal for city driving? (I will primarily be on local streets and highways).
Is there any way to fix this, or can the dealer do anything?
First thing I would check is the air pressure in your tires. Sometimes the dealer sets it higher than recommended to give better tire life. I highly doubt you have a suspension problem.
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08 Highlander Limited, Salsa Red . All options except Nav & DVD. Remote start (dealer installed).
1) SE = Sport Edition, which in general will be more stiff than regular.
2) How come you got 17" tires on your car? From what I've seen all of them came with 19"? The larger size would make it easier to feel the road, but my 17" are quite smooth.
3) Toyo tires are total crap and should be replaced (Many people had these tires starting to chip and fall apart by 20,000).
Agreed with the above. Sport trim will provide a stiffer ride, over-inflated tires will ride hard, and not all tires are made the same and some are harder than others. My Base model with the OEM Duelers runs smooth as silk on the roads.
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2008 Highlander Base 4WD
2002 Avalon XL
1987 Suzuki Samurai 4X4 - Treading where no Jeep can follow....
1) SE = Sport Edition, which in general will be more stiff than regular.
2) How come you got 17" tires on your car? From what I've seen all of them came with 19"? The larger size would make it easier to feel the road, but my 17" are quite smooth.
3) Toyo tires are total crap and should be replaced (Many people had these tires starting to chip and fall apart by 20,000).
SE and Sport are different models.
__________________ 2008 Highlander Sport V6 AWD, classic silver, black leather, Canadian version, 90 000 KM. 2009 Tacoma AC V6 4X4, SR5 w/ power package, timberland mica, beige cloth, 48 000 KM.
2002 Highlander Limited V6 4WD, black, tan leather, 134 000 KM (SOLD)
I visited the dealer today, and here's what happened:
-I asked about the SE vs Sport suspension, and I was told the SE and Sport are NOT the same, that the SE has the same suspension as the base and Limited models. There is no longer a sport-tuned suspension Highlander. Does that sound right??
-They checked the tire pressure and, as was mentioned above, they were over-inflated. The dealer fixed the tire pressure, which helped the ride, but I still wouldn't consider it "smooth."
To answer a question from above, the 17" tires were on the new vehicle - I didn't request a certain tire size.
Is it worth changing tires, replacing the Toyos? What would be the smoothest-riding replacement?
If it were me I'd keep the tires. I admit it, I'm a cheap bastard and unwilling to get rid of tires I've already paid for till they're used up. Then again, everyone is different and if you feel the ride is that poor then perhaps a replacement is in order. You can go to tirerack.com or discounttiredirect.com and run comparisons for different brands/types of tires, read the professional and owner reviews, then select the one that sounds like it'll give you the ride you're looking for.
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2008 Highlander Base 4WD
2002 Avalon XL
1987 Suzuki Samurai 4X4 - Treading where no Jeep can follow....
If it were me I'd keep the tires. I admit it, I'm a cheap bastard and unwilling to get rid of tires I've already paid for till they're used up. Then again, everyone is different and if you feel the ride is that poor then perhaps a replacement is in order. You can go to tirerack.com or discounttiredirect.com and run comparisons for different brands/types of tires, read the professional and owner reviews, then select the one that sounds like it'll give you the ride you're looking for.
I agree with TrailDust with regards to using the tyres until they die because we paid for it...
maybe you're too picky :-)
I switched from BWM 330i to this 2010 HL SE and I feel the HL is much better. Not too quiet but not to loud in term of road noise. I don't feel that much bumpy.
Thanks to TrailDust. I almost replace 4 Michelin LTX M/S 2 tires for my 1998 Tacoma 4x4 from Discount Tire. After I saw your post, I went to discounttiredirect and save over $55 + tax on 4 tires. You saved me about $100 :-) Free shipping too and there is $70 mail in rebate. Heck, Discount Tire didn't tell me about the rebate. So, included the rebate, I'll save $170 bucks.
I'll have my mechanic install it for $10/tires. Maybe I'll tip him $10 to make it $50 for all 4 :-)
tirerack has this tire cheaper than discounttiredirect, but tirerack charges $59.20 for shipping...out of the door price is more expensive than discountdiredirect.
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and unwilling to get rid of tires I've already paid for till they're used up. Then again, everyone is different and if you feel the ride is that poor then perhaps a replacement is in order. You can go to tirerack.com or discounttiredirect.com and run comparisons for different brands/types of tires, read the professional and owner reviews, then select the one that sounds like it'll give you the ride you're looking for.
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