Want to purchase a '05 Highlander

Hi guys, I'm new to the group. I am interested in a new '05 Highlander.
To all of you Highlander owners, what do you think of the vehicle,
would you buy another? Pro's and Con's?

My wife wants a new Ford Freestyle. It looks great, but come on, it's a
Ford. Plus it's and unproven launch model. It's the Ford 500 made into
an SUV crossover. Ford crappy quality, she loves the roomy 3rd row
seat, and doesn't like the really small 3rd row seat in the Highlander,
but I keep telling her Toyota is and always has been about trouble-free
quality. We have an Explorer now, cracked block after about 40k miles,
had to replace all the ball joints, I am just fortunate to have had a
100,000 mi extended warranty, or I would have been toast.

Help me convince her, guys.

Thanks, Allen

I'm_a_dreamer wrote:[color=blue]
> Hi guys, I'm new to the group. I am interested in a new '05 Highlander.
> To all of you Highlander owners, what do you think of the vehicle,
> would you buy another? Pro's and Con's?
>
> My wife wants a new Ford Freestyle. It looks great, but come on, it's a
> Ford. Plus it's and unproven launch model. It's the Ford 500 made into
> an SUV crossover. Ford crappy quality, she loves the roomy 3rd row
> seat, and doesn't like the really small 3rd row seat in the Highlander,
> but I keep telling her Toyota is and always has been about trouble-free
> quality. We have an Explorer now, cracked block after about 40k miles,
> had to replace all the ball joints, I am just fortunate to have had a
> 100,000 mi extended warranty, or I would have been toast.
>
> Help me convince her, guys.
>
> Thanks, Allen
>[/color]
Sounds to me like if you've already experienced a cracked block and bad
ball joints after only 40k in your Explorer, and she's ok with that...
you've got a tough road ahead of you to convince here. What good is a
roomy 3rd road seat when you're sitting beside the road waiting for AAA
to get there? Good luck.

Good point. I'll have to use that one on her. I think she's starting to
come around though, last night she said, "Your probably right, how
often would we be using that 3rd row seat anyway, there's only the two
of us".

I had a 99 Explorer that I traded in at about 45k miles on an 02 Highlander.
The Highlander is at about 41k now.

I wasn't unhappy with the Ford but it had several recalls a couple pretty
potentially serious (bushing in front drive hubs) - There has been two on
the Highlander. One to check a gasoline line clamp other to make sure rear
passenger doors child lock was okay.

The Ford had a few more bells and whistles, the Highlander just goes. It is
much more secure feeling on icy/snowy roads.

I'd pick the Highlander (I've also had Blazers and Jimmy's) over most
because it is right for us. Back seat ride in the Explorer was torture by
the way - supposedly Highlander rear seat is better. You can get 10' length
of PVC sprinkler pipe in it by the way.

Thanks for the input. Yes the ride in an Explorer is pretty bad in any
seat when you hit any bump, runover RR tracks, etc.

The Highlander will probably ride better, it is basically only a
higher bodied Camry. The Explorer, although it has fully
independent suspension, is not the comparable vehicle. The
Explorer is built for heavier duty than the Highlander, on a
truck chassis. The comparable Ford vehicle to the Highlander is
the Freestyle, built off the chassis Ford first used on Volvo
90. Before I would buy either I would drive and price both the
Highlander and the Freestyle, then decide which best suits my
needs and budget.


mike hunt



I'm_a_dreamer wrote:[color=blue]
>
> Thanks for the input. Yes the ride in an Explorer is pretty bad in any
> seat when you hit any bump, runover RR tracks, etc.[/color]

Shouldn't you ask why pay the price of three rows when we will
only get two rows of seats? ;)


mike hunt



I'm_a_dreamer wrote:[color=blue]
>
> Good point. I'll have to use that one on her. I think she's starting to
> come around though, last night she said, "Your probably right, how
> often would we be using that 3rd row seat anyway, there's only the two
> of us".[/color]

>>Good point. I'll have to use that one on her. I think she's starting to[color=blue][color=green]
>>come around though, last night she said, "Your probably right, how
>>often would we be using that 3rd row seat anyway, there's only the two
>>of us".[/color][/color]

Also consider that most third row seats in anything smaller
than a Surburban are behind the rear axle and in the
crumple zone. Some are within inches of the rear window,
in fact.

If you really need to haul 7-12 people around, get a
Surburban or cargo van. I suggest getting a bench seat
in the front if you can so you can fit six people
in a pinch.

If I knew the Ford had the quality of the Toyota, I would go for it.
Too many unknowns with the Freestyle though. I love the way it looks
and drives, but I'm looking a few years down the road, and owning
another Ford scares me.

The Freestyle has been around for several years as a Volvo,
problem free. What makes you think Toyotas are trouble free? If
Toyotas are so much better than Fords why do more buyers, year
after year, buy far more Fords than Toyotas? Toyotas break down
as well, why spend 20% to 30% money to buy a vehicle on the
chance you will not get one of Toyota bad ones? It's you money
spend it where you wish.


mike hunt



I'm_a_dreamer wrote:[color=blue]
>
> If I knew the Ford had the quality of the Toyota, I would go for it.
> Too many unknowns with the Freestyle though. I love the way it looks
> and drives, but I'm looking a few years down the road, and owning
> another Ford scares me.[/color]

I've had a Highlander since 2001. I bought a 4 cylinder...wish I'd got the
6. While it has all the power I need for around town, I think the 6 would
be better at highway speeds. I have also found the 4 cyl only gets 20/26
mpg. In 4 years I can't get it to do better than 20 in town.

It is not an off road vehicle...but on the road it is quite and smooth.
I'll be buying another one soon. the size is great for 5 passengers and the
cargo area is ample. I have not had any trouble with it since buying it.

[email]BenDover@mailcity.com[/email] wrote:
[color=blue]
> The Freestyle has been around for several years as a Volvo,
> problem free. What makes you think Toyotas are trouble free? If
> Toyotas are so much better than Fords why do more buyers, year
> after year, buy far more Fords than Toyotas?[/color]

Fleet sales, pure and simple.

Once again you have chosen to comment on a subject of which you
apparently have little or no knowledge. Toyota sells to fleets,
as well, as do most manufactures. Fleets buy the vehicles that
are the most cost effective in terms of the cost of accusation,
insurance, maintenance, repair and replacement and fleets like
the general public buy more Fords than Toyotas. Pretty sensible
reasons it appears. Only 8% of Fords sales are to fleets and
currently only the F150, Crown Vic and Taurus offer the $400
fleet discount, in any event, hardly a reason to buy any
particular vehicle.


mike hunt



Joseph Oberlander wrote:[color=blue]
>
> [email]BenDover@mailcity.com[/email] wrote:
>[color=green]
> > The Freestyle has been around for several years as a Volvo,
> > problem free. What makes you think Toyotas are trouble free? If
> > Toyotas are so much better than Fords why do more buyers, year
> > after year, buy far more Fords than Toyotas?[/color]
>
> Fleet sales, pure and simple.[/color]

dreamer wrote:
[color=blue]
>Too many unknowns with the
>Freestyle though. I love the way
>it looks and drives,[/color]

You do? I find the styling extremely uninspiring. And they say Toyota
make boring cars. The freestyle was probably designed using a cookie
cutter. Looks like a big Focus and underpowered like the Escape. There
are other car brands other then F.o.r.d you know.....

doubleq wrote:[color=blue]
>
> dreamer wrote:
>[color=green]
> >Too many unknowns with the
> >Freestyle though. I love the way
> >it looks and drives,[/color]
>
> You do? I find the styling extremely uninspiring. And they say Toyota
> make boring cars. The freestyle was probably designed using a cookie
> cutter. Looks like a big Focus and underpowered like the Escape. There
> are other car brands other then F.o.r.d you know.....[/color]

Looks are a personal thing. The Freestyle is not striking,
but at least it is not ugly (i.e., the Pacifica). Have you
actually driven a Freestyle? My Father bought one after
looking at it and a Highlander. I don't find it underpowered
at all. I think the people who claim it is underpowered
haven't actually driven one. In C&D's Road Test, the AWD
version did 0 to 60 in 8.2 seconds. This is faster than
Consumer Reports achieved with a FWD V-6 Highlander (CR's
0-60 was 8.8 sec for the 230 HP V-6 Highlnader).

So far, my Fatehr's Freestyle has been awesome. But then my
Father has only had it for a little over a month. However,
there is one problem - My Mother keeps drving it! Often when
my Father wants it, it is gone. Persoanlly I am wary of
first year vehicles from any manufacturer, but most of the
Freestyle's running gear is based on proven Volvo designs. I
really like the size of the car and the driving position.
The biggest negative is the limited towing capacity (only
3000 lbs) but then that is as good as Highlander as well. So
unless your are Fordaphophic, at least try a Freestyle. It
might suprise you. I found it to have a more comfortable
driving position and a much nicer looking interior than the
Highlander. Couple that with better performance, a lower
price, and better gas mileage, I certainly think it is wrong
to dismiss the Freestyle.

Ed

Regards,

Ed White