[allenga]

I am reading many reviews on this car and if you own one, want to know your thoughts.

1. Does this 8 speed transmission really have problems finding the right gear and jerk you around.
2. Does the car hesitate when you step on the gas, like when you need to accelerate quickly.
3. Is there air leak or wind noise coming through the door weatherstrip.
4. Has Toyota fixed the voice commands and navigation issues.
5. Are you able to stream music wirelessly through infotainmnet with out issues.
6. Are you able to pair your phone and make and take calls without a lot of fuss.

Anything else you can think of that I should know.

Thank you!

 

[Ash051]

I don't own the car nor have I ever driven it, but my dad has one and loves it (it has 40k miles). I'll answer what I can.
1. As a passenger, I have never felt this, so I'd say no.
2. I have never noticed this, so I would again say no.
3. No.
4. We have never had any issues with the navigation system at all.
5. We stream Sirius XM on the center touchscreen without any issues at all. Dad has an iPhone 7 which needs to be plugged in somehow in order to be used in the car, so in that aspect, I think no?
6. Back when he had an LG phone, the center touchscreen could read him his texts and make/receive calls through it. Since switching to an iPhone, it cannot read his texts (I told him to read about it in his owner's manual because there's probably a setting for it). It can still receive calls for him without much fuss.

Obviously, before buying you should get more answers from people who actually own and drive it, but my dad recommends his car to everyone in the market. He absolutely adores it and the only issue we have had so far is poor battery life due to the engine start/stop system (non-hybrid model).

 

[Craig3277]

I have a 2017 XLE with that 8 speed transmission. It isn't that the transmission jerks around, searches for a gear, hesitates, etc. Simply stated it lacks the smoothness of previous transmissions. My personal feeling is it is programmed for better mileage rather than smoothness/performance. I have heard from people with other makes/models of SUV's who experience the same feelings about their transmissions. I haven't had any failures. I just shift into S8 everytime I go to drive. That `seems' to be smoother and offer better throttle response as well as it turns off the start/stop thing too. I'm still unhappy Toyota hasn't done more for us with the earlier versions of this transmission. All i have is a sheet of paper telling me I'm good until 100K..which means I'm not keeping this thing after 100K.

 

[allenga]

I have a 2017 XLE with that 8 speed transmission. It isn't that the transmission jerks around, searches for a gear, hesitates, etc. Simply stated it lacks the smoothness of previous transmissions. My personal feeling is it is programmed for better mileage rather than smoothness/performance. I have heard from people with other makes/models of SUV's who experience the same feelings about their transmissions. I haven't had any failures. I just shift into S8 everytime I go to drive. That `seems' to be smoother and offer better throttle response as well as it turns off the start/stop thing too. I'm still unhappy Toyota hasn't done more for us with the earlier versions of this transmission. All i have is a sheet of paper telling me I'm good until 100K..which means I'm not keeping this thing after 100K.

Wow, so the transmission problem is enough for you to not keep the car. I usually keep my cars to 200,000 miles (most have been Honda)

 

[Craig3277]

Wow, so the transmission problem is enough for you to not keep the car. I usually keep my cars to 200,000 miles (most have been Honda)

well this issue is this. Toyota sent us some paperwork saying they would warrant the transmission to 100K since there have been problems. I guess I dont want to be putting 5 grand into a transmission that normally would have gone furthur.

 

[Bobbyg9]

I am reading many reviews on this car and if you own one, want to know your thoughts.

1. Does this 8 speed transmission really have problems finding the right gear and jerk you around.
2. Does the car hesitate when you step on the gas, like when you need to accelerate quickly.
3. Is there air leak or wind noise coming through the door weatherstrip.
4. Has Toyota fixed the voice commands and navigation issues.
5. Are you able to stream music wirelessly through infotainmnet with out issues.
6. Are you able to pair your phone and make and take calls without a lot of fuss.

Anything else you can think of that I should know.

Thank you!

My thoughts:
1-Yes I find it very annoying. Test drive in stop and go traffic. In small city streets with lots of stop signs and you should notice it. This makes me regret my purchase as makes the driving experience unpleasant. I wish I bought a 2016 with 6spd.
2- Yes the 300hp is not well managed at takeoff, low speeds. If you are at 40+ mph and step it’s okay.
3- more wind noise than in my previous 2008 Hyundai. Tried the tape trick didn’t make a difference for me.
4-Voice command is sub par. Most of the time it doesn’t understand what I’m saying. Navigation is okay but the time to arrival estimate is completely off.
5- Yes Spotify works great for me.
6- works good for me. A few times phone wouldn’t pair and had to restart the car.

Overall I think you did sow good research. If you can live with weird transmission you should like the vehicle overall. And one expensive issue to look for is the timing chain cover oil leak.

 

[lopezislandjohn]

I have a 2018 XLE. Re, the issues about the tranny settings. There are times at slow speeds when I step on the gas and there's a hesitation, as it finds the right gear, but I've solved that. As another poster said, it's programmed for mileage, so it's often in a higher gear than it should be for a given situation. One solution as noted is to stay in S8, which will go through all gears as needed, but with better match for the conditions. I've found that "Power Mode" also works well that way. Typically I have the center display left on the compass. If I hit the left arrow twice, it's on the display with Power Mode. Down arrow, then center button to turn it on. After the first time it will remember to be on the Power Mode selection. So, I start up with the compass screen, left two taps on the arrow, press the center selector (it remembered to stay on the PM option), two taps back to compass. The shifting in this mode is just fine. Stays in proper gears for various conditions, instead of going into higher gears for mileage, then having to come back down for acceleration. As another bonus, it disables Start/Stop, that feature everyone hates!
Here's a similar discussion:

Power mode

Anyway to set this by default when I turn the car on? I just upgraded from a 2008 highlander to the 2018 and the new car seems down on power. When I turn on power mode it feels more like how the 2008 ran. How does everyone else drive theirs?

www.toyotanation.com

BTW, I love my HL, and more so now that I've gotten into Power Mode.
No problems with phone calls through the bluetooth connection. Android Samsung S20. Texts fine also, although the voice that reads them while moving is pretty funny reading text with a picture in it...reads out the file name!

 

[allenga]

I have a 2018 XLE. Re, the issues about the tranny settings. There are times at slow speeds when I step on the gas and there's a hesitation, as it finds the right gear, but I've solved that. As another poster said, it's programmed for mileage, so it's often in a higher gear than it should be for a given situation. One solution as noted is to stay in S8, which will go through all gears as needed, but with better match for the conditions. I've found that "Power Mode" also works well that way. Typically I have the center display left on the compass. If I hit the left arrow twice, it's on the display with Power Mode. Down arrow, then center button to turn it on. After the first time it will remember to be on the Power Mode selection. So, I start up with the compass screen, left two taps on the arrow, press the center selector (it remembered to stay on the PM option), two taps back to compass. The shifting in this mode is just fine. Stays in proper gears for various conditions, instead of going into higher gears for mileage, then having to come back down for acceleration. As another bonus, it disables Start/Stop, that feature everyone hates!
Here's a similar discussion:

Power mode

Anyway to set this by default when I turn the car on? I just upgraded from a 2008 highlander to the 2018 and the new car seems down on power. When I turn on power mode it feels more like how the 2008 ran. How does everyone else drive theirs?

www.toyotanation.com

BTW, I love my HL, and more so now that I've gotten into Power Mode.
No problems with phone calls through the bluetooth connection. Android Samsung S20. Texts fine also, although the voice that reads them while moving is pretty funny reading text with a picture in it...reads out the file name!

Thank you. Do you have to do all that set up for Power Mode every time you start the car.

 

[lopezislandjohn]

No. As a poster in the other link said, if you leave your center screen on the one that has the power mode selection, it stays on that choice from before. It will have changed the choice to "off", so all you do is press the "dot" selection button, and it will be "on." That's it, start the car, press the "dot," drive off. I do a couple other presses because I like to drive with the compass screen on.

 

[KA4993]

No. As a poster in the other link said, if you leave your center screen on the one that has the power mode selection, it stays on that choice from before. It will have changed the choice to "off", so all you do is press the "dot" selection button, and it will be "on." That's it, start the car, press the "dot," drive off. I do a couple other presses because I like to drive with the compass screen on.

That's exactly what I do - every time I start the HL I've gotten into the habit of selecting power mode.

Regarding the 8-speed, yeah the hunting for gears and hesitation when hitting the gas at lower speeds is definitely annoying. The price to pay for Toyota trying to squeeze out the best gas mileage.

 

[lopezislandjohn]

But it doesn't do that any more for me, in power mode. You?

 

[KA4993]

It still does for me.

 

[Bobbyg9]

It still does for me.

Still hunts in power mode for me too. The hunting is okay I guess it’s more the delay between the shifting of when I turn a corner, after a rolling stop or exiting a roundabout. There’s a 2 second delay and then a rough downshift immediately followed by up shift. If there was no delay and smooth shift it would be fine...

 

[lopezislandjohn]

I don't get why mine isn't doing it in power mode but yours is. Have you had the recall fuel pump replacement? Shifting seemed to improve after that, without power mode... Wondering if part of the procedure was to tweak the computer... Easy to do with the right equipment? Still, PM noticeably improves mine, for example, going up a certain hill, regular wants to shift up, then back down midway up the hill, but PM stays in the correct gear all the way.

 

[Bobbyg9]

Still no parts available here in Canada for the Fuel pump recall. Waiting game right now.

 

[Brett19]

On 2017 and early 2018 model year, There was a software update to make it shift better. There is at times a slight delay in acceleration in D mode. I don't bother going through the menu each time I start the car to put it in power mode, or just to highlight it. If I have the need for speed, or driving up a mountain, I just shift it in S mode and it has instant acceleration at any speed. And I am still driving on the recalled fuel pump. Still waiting for my remedy to be solved by Toyota.