Toyota Nation Forum banner

New Owner Initial Impressions/Observations

11K views 45 replies 23 participants last post by  Lifeski 
#1 · (Edited)
Thought I'd post a few thoughts after taking a couple long trips in the new (2 weeks) 2015 Highlander Limited Platinum:

The Good:

- Love the overall ride - power, handling, shifting, etc. Pleasantlty surprised by the almost-sporty steering response and feel. Smooth shifts with no lag. More than enough power when needed. Visibility and seating position is perfect.

- Very comfortable drivers seat. In our 2003 Mountaineer, it only took about 20 minutes before I started squirming due to back fatigue. In the Highlander, I've driven 4 hours with little to no back fatigue. Cushioning is soft but supportive.

- Dynamic cruise control/Blind spot monitor/Lane departure warning: how did I live without these? Dynamic cruise control is a godsend on long trips. No more canceling and resuming due to slower traffic. Blind spot monitor makes changing lanes at highway speed much less stressful and risky. Lane departure is a nice safeguard if/when I get a little careless or sleepy. Honestly, I will never own another vehicle without these features.

- Reclining captains chairs - my son is very happy.

- Split third row - already came in handy with 4 high school age passengers and their marching band cargo.

The Not So Good:

- Wind noise - very annoying on long trips. Constant noise in my left ear. If it was uniform it might be bearable, but it varies as if there are wind gusts when there is not. Every day seems like a windy day. I don't think it is air leaking through seals, although I hear a bit of that. It's more wind turbulence due to the design of the vehicle. I'll get used to it I guess, but it's pretty disappointing. I think it's exacerbated by how quiet the vehicle is otherwise - since there is very little road noise, all you hear is the wind. I noticed on concrete roads (which are louder) I am not as aware of the wind noise. But once you're back on asphalt and the road noise diminishes, you can't miss the wind.

- Navigation - not very intuitive. I'm still not sure how to cancel a route - I can pause it but I don't see a stop button. There should also be an easily accessible mute button for the voice that doesn't mute the music. I am sure if I spend half a day reading the manual while sitting in the parked vehicle I would get a grasp on these and other things, but that's the point - some things should be more intuitive and not require much research. I find myself still using Apple Maps on my phone.

- Nav/Audio Ergonomics - I have to lean forward and reach to use many features of the nav/audio unit. (I am 5'11") It should be angled toward the driver and a bit closer. In its current position, it seems more passenger friendly than driver friendly.

Overall I am happy with the vehicle. Since it's mostly my wife's daily ride, I'm okay with the wind noise. (She doesn't seem to care, but this a woman who couldn't hear a front wheel bearing that was close to failure). If I had to drive it everyday, not so sure. My car is a Mustang, so it's not like I'm used to luxury car levels of quiet. Yes, you can turn up the radio, but on long trips sometimes you just want some quiet, and you don't get it in this vehicle. It's ashame because otherwise it is high quality in the areas that matter - comfort, handling, power, features, safety, convenience. I would highly suggest you test drive at highway speed on asphalt for at least 10 minutes to make sure you can live with the wind turbulence noise level.

That's it for now. I'll post down the road after a few months with more observations. Hope they help any prospective Highlander buyers.
 
See less See more
#3 ·
- Dynamic cruise control/Blind spot monitor/Lane departure warning: how did I live without these? Dynamic cruise control is a godsend on long trips. No more canceling and resuming due to slower traffic. Blind spot monitor makes changing lanes at highway speed much less stressful and risky. Lane departure is a nice safeguard if/when I get a little careless or sleepy. Honestly, I will never own another vehicle without these features.
I feel the same way now. I guess I am spoiled....and if you live in a cold weather area you might say the same for the heated steering wheel.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Phil Indeblanc
#5 ·
I was going to post a very similar review, but now I can just completely agree with your review, with only one exception:

Luckily, our new 2015 HLP has minimal wind noise--actually less than our 2010 Lexus RX350 we traded in--and what there is can only be heard when driving into a strong (25+ mph) head wind.

Our HLP was built near the end of October. Makes me wonder if perhaps something was done at the factory to address the wind noise. Hmmm.....
This is my first heated steering wheel. I will never have another car without it!!!!!!!! that's how much I love it!

I also have a 2015 HLP and tried to listen for wind noise but haven't noticed anything that others have mentioned. I am starting an 1800 mile trip tomorrow so that will be a great test.

The only problem I have is the alignment. The steering wheel is canted slightly to the left when driving straight. Doesn't seem to pull, it's just slightly off center. I should be close to the 5K service after my trip so maybe the stealer can "straighten things out."
 
#4 ·
I was going to post a very similar review, but now I can just completely agree with your review, with only one exception:

Luckily, our new 2015 HLP has minimal wind noise--actually less than our 2010 Lexus RX350 we traded in--and what there is can only be heard when driving into a strong (25+ mph) head wind.

Our HLP was built near the end of October. Makes me wonder if perhaps something was done at the factory to address the wind noise. Hmmm.....
 
  • Like
Reactions: Toddsta
#8 ·
no wind noise here either - entune and the nav part is abysmal in my mind.

to cancel - you have to go to options and then delete destination. Took me a while and certainly not intuitive.

My biggest complaint..... the Toyos are not great in the snow...
 
#9 ·
no wind noise here either - entune and the nav part is abysmal in my mind.
Agreed!

to cancel - you have to go to options and then delete destination. Took me a while and certainly not intuitive. ]/QUOTE] This is the weirdest thing...'DELETE Destination' as a means to cancel it? They make it sound as if this will be deleted from your 'saved destinations' list if you do it.... very poor interface terminology.

My biggest complaint..... the Toyos are not great in the snow...
Oh no... I hate to hear this.... I have Toyos too and we are just about to enter the snow season..... if they don't perform, I will be buying into something different. What tire option/s would you consider ? Already tried the Michelin Lattitudes and they have a really crappy harmonic noise in my opinion.... took them right back and had the Toyos remounted.
 
#14 ·
I just got a 15 XLE! First time Toyota buyer. I love the car so far. We all know the good things!

My early concerns:

Fuel economy. I drove it about 50 miles city after day 1 dealer fillup and my display read 13 mpg. I filled up and reset. I drove a mix of mostly highway and city for the next 50 miles and now see 18 mpg. What range do you normally see after a fillup? I read range is calculating based on recent avg mph but all my numbers seem very low. I am not flooring it between red lights either. Anyone else have low numbers early on that came around more to expected 18/24, or should I be concerned i have a major problem?

Fishing around for my mobile on the shelf underneath the NAV at night... its dark. I assume I do not have ambient lights on my XLE. I remember blue led lights on test drives. Maybe it was the limited only.

The strong new car smell makes me wonder if those leather "trimmed" seats are really leather. It sure seems more like pleather.

NAV seems meh but I knew it from test driving. First test took me on a rather circuitous route. Colors indicating traffic are very dull - show me bright red. I was alerted to slow traffic ahead that did not exist. The ding before NAV speaks reminds of being on an airplane.

Base price was around 36,500 + extended warranty (primarily for the computer etc) 0/7/100 for 1695 on the road for just under 40K. No under seal etc.

Thanks all!
 
#15 ·
Fuel economy:
When I first purchase3d I drove it like a new car and was interested in the MPG. I was easily getting 24-25MPG. Now I drop off the kids in the AM before my wife takes it, so I get 18.3 on the short spurts. She manages to bring it up a bit to 19.2.

Interior lighting:
Get lighter color interior. Yes LTD has the lights. For the shelf, it isn't hard to add a strip of LED lights.

Smell and seats: Yes strong smell for a month+. Yes XLE and all have lots of Softex material vs all leather

NAV system: Most cars cannot beat Google. Entune has some issues. Get a good mount for your cell. The turn by turn voice will come over the radio.

Under seal maybe needed in some continued snowy places, but I read reports here that it doesn't help much(?), maybe make things worse depending on application(?).

Congratulations! and welcome to the FORUM!
 
  • Like
Reactions: ToyotaTeam
#16 ·
Thanks!

I got the Nautica Blue Ash interior. I polled friends about interior color and a few said black that you cannot see things like a black phone on the passenger seat.

I may be looking around for lighting options on that otherwise awesome shelf built into the dash.

The undercoating spray - i read its not needed. The salesman was telling me he could smell the underspray of a car in the lot. It smelled horrible. I didn't want to bring the car home smelling like that, even if it dried a few days later. I looked under my 2001 Acura before trade in and the only thing that was sprayed was the wheel wells. I presume because they are steel. The rest of the underbody was not treated and I had no issues 13 years later. Pass!

With winter approaching, its time to research what the SNOW button does. Only 700 more pages to go in the manual. Manual 1 of 2.
 
#17 ·
I too have ash interior...ODDLY Toyota decided to make all the carpeting black regardless of interior choice! I prefer seeing things in the car also.

Yes the LED strip light connected to some prewired option of when you want it on wouldn't be hard to do. Just lookout for overly bright ones. They should have a blue to matchup.. Some stereo shops do this type of lighting as a service.

I have no experience with the under body seal stuff. Never needed it here in the west coast.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ToyotaTeam
#20 · (Edited)
I noticed how quiet my XLE is, as well. I also noticed what must be a sound barrier on the 2nd row floor. Its the softest I have felt a car floor ever - very padded.

I am seeing my first snow flakes today as an AWD owner.

The manuals description of what the SNOW button does is very vague. EDIT The 2nd Gen only starts the vehicle in 2nd gear from stop per

"Snow mode" to me used to be me manual shifting in my previous cars. #OldSchool
 
#21 ·
I noticed how quiet my XLE is, as well. I also noticed what must be a sound barrier on the 2nd row floor. Its the softest I have felt a car floor ever - very padded.

I am seeing my first snow flakes today as an AWD owner.

The manuals description of what the SNOW button does is very vague. It appears to only start the vehicle in 2nd gear from stop per this youtube

Does anyone know it doing anything else? I doubt it but am curious to know before learning on the fly. "Snow mode" to me used to be me manual shifting in my previous cars. #OldSchool

That video appears to be of the 2nd Gen, and it's incorrect. The Snow button mode does not start it in 2nd gear. All it does is reduce the throttle response in all gears.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ToyotaTeam
#25 ·
Side of the shifter? I remember the buttons being on the dash. I remember the button in the '85 Camry and '98 RAV4. I always kept the power switch on. No harm in using the snow button during nice weather...except you may go insane with the lack of throttle response. :lol:
 
#31 ·
It took me a long time to figure out how to cancel NAV.

I knew NAV was kind of clunky but I think its a good tool in the toolbox.

More NAV, I try to scroll the map of the road ahead to get a look at traffic, and more often than not, a big black address box appears and blocks my view of seeing the road ahead.

I have tried soft touch, touch and hold, etc and can't seem to figure out how to consistently move the map without a proposed destination being set.

There are a few other times that I click on icons, and the map warps in a random direction, and picks out a random destination for me. I have to hit the reset to my location button.

My latest hurdle, failing attempting to send out a voice activated text message on my paired iphone.

A problem occurred while sending the message. Would you like to retry?
I can't figure this one out just yet, if anyone has a quick fix! TIA
 
#33 · (Edited)
Apparently sending is not possible per this link:

http://www.toyota.com/connect/#!Highlander/2015/Navigation/30/2/1/881

Is it 2015, or 1995?

Why Toyota would have all the "preset" responses but not even bother to make it compatible with an iphone? Mind boggling to me.

These big companies really need people far far away from those who design their products, folks like us, to be beta testers.

I will try to use a cable and Siri. I assume I will need to kill Texts appearing on my screen to do this. #fail
 
#34 ·
Beta Testing? We don't need to do no stinkin' Beta Testing. Everything works precisely as we designed it to do.

Oh, you don' like it? Sheesh, too bad for YOU, buddy!

(Yes, this is all meant as a joke. Funny, huh?)
 
#36 ·
I can use iphone's siri to send out text messages, but I have to press my iphone home button before and after. It works both when wired and wireless.

I am happy that I did not have to disable the ability to read texts on my NAV screen, to send texts using Siri.

So i send out a text, but when I get a quick reply, the phone is not in sleep mode, and thus the incoming text is not displayed on the NAV screen, only on the phone.

Maybe the 2020 model will let you send out text messages hands free using the worlds most popular phones. I may have to make a call to Toy Customer Care.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top