[RAYDAHS]

2020 Toyota Highlander 4-door SUV

2020 Toyota Highlander 4-door SUV - midsize SUV

www.iihs.org

 

[toto]

But not Top Safety Pick +.

The headlights got very different ratings based on trim level. The headlights are rated Poor on L through XLE trim levels, Acceptable on Limited, and Good only for Platinum.

Crash test ratings are all Good, and the Front Crash Prevention tests are all Superior.

Overall, a great test result, but too bad the headlights are so inconsistent across trims.

 

[got-rice]

But not Top Safety Pick +.

The headlights got very different ratings based on trim level. The headlights are rated Poor on L through XLE trim levels, Acceptable on Limited, and Good only for Platinum.

Crash test ratings are all Good, and the Front Crash Prevention tests are all Superior.

Overall, a great test result, but too bad the headlights are so inconsistent across trims.

The Palisade, Telluride, Ascent, Pilot and CX-9 all were TSPs as well. The non-Asian brands didn't get it.

2020 Toyota Highlander Earns 2nd Highest Safety Award

The all-new 2020 Toyota Highlander has earned the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) second-highest safety rating. The midsize SUV matches the same safety rating

www.carsdirect.com

 

[toto]

Surprisingly, no, the 2020 Pilot didn't get TSP. The VW Tiguan is the only European model to get TSP in the mid-size SUV group, and Ford Edge is the only "domestic" model. Nobody got TSP+ in that group, presumably because of cheaper headlights on lower trims (I didn't dig into each one to check). To get TSP+ for 2020, in addition to high ratings in other areas, the headlights must be Acceptable or Good on all trim levels. The mid-size luxury SUV group has several TSP+ winners, but not Lexus RX, again for the headlights.

I really thought that with a redesign for 2020, Highlander would pass all of the tests easily. I guess the new headlight standards really add that much cost to the car to have a noticeable effect on the price tag on lower trims?!?

2020 IIHS Top Safety Picks

These vehicles earn top marks in 2020 IIHS evaluations.

www.iihs.org

 

[dmody91]

Damn I don’t get why the headlights are not excellent. We upgraded from a base model edge and I think the head lights are 100 times better than those (they were non his/led) My DD is a 2010 ISF and those have hid’s and are pretty good but these are better.

 

[toto]

For L - XLE, it looks like the test results showed that the lights projected far enough straight ahead to meet their standards but with too much glare. Going around turns, they don't cover enough distance, but I don't see how you could meet the distance requirement without an adaptive system that will aim more light in the direction you're heading. (That's how Platinum got a Good rating.)

The 2019 scored Acceptable on headlights for all trim levels. They didn't complain about as much glare on that one.

The crash test ratings for 2020 are Good all across the board, while 2019 got a lesser rating in the small front overlap test.

IIHS is definitely raising the bar, which I think is a good thing.

 

[MarkRosemean]

Going around turns, they don't cover enough distance, but I don't see how you could meet the distance requirement without an adaptive system that will aim more light in the direction you're heading.

A wider static beam pattern, specifically, a wider hotspot in the static beam pattern.

 

[mikestoyota]

If Toyota is paying attention to test like this, you would think it would be a easy fix
for models coming off the line today.

 

[ncee]

These (Headlights) and many other change should be coming sooner than later, IF Toyota is paying any attention to the competition, mainly Kia / Hyundai, which at least from aesthetics both inside and out seem to be catching the eyes and hears of a lot of folks. In my opinion, if Toyota doesn't try to catch up soon, they may get so far behind, it will take one hell of an upgrade on any one model to catch up or leap ahead.

Any company can be 1 maybe 2 steps behind and catch up, but 3, 4, 5 or more steps is very hard, and while they have a great reputation, that along won't allow them to grow or maintain the #1 spot and won't matter, if they aren't selling many.

Yes it will be interesting to see what the next year or 2 bring from all these companies, but it looks like it's Toyota that will need to start catching up, a place they aren't real familiar with.

 

[toto]

Kia / Hyundai didn't do any better on the test, so you can argue that Toyota is keeping up.
Telluride was rated Acceptable on headlights on SX trim, and Poor on the others.
Palisade was rated Good on headlights for Limited and for SEL with an option package, and Marginal on the other trims.
They also got dinged for the ease-of-use (or lack thereof) on the LATCH anchors.

I still say that Toyota is finally on par with everybody else in this market segment for the moment. Nobody is really behind, and nobody is really outstanding. There's a lot of buzz about the "Korea twins" around here, but I don't see them leading the pack. They jumped into a competitive market with a good product at a good price, but I don't think they're any better or worse than anyone else, just different.

Will the same be true in a year or two? Who knows? Toyota is sometimes slow to adapt to changes around them, especially when it comes to tech. They tend to catch up in spurts with re-designs or mid-generation updates rather than a steady evolution from year to year.

 

[dklanecky]

These (Headlights) and many other change should be coming sooner than later, IF Toyota is paying any attention to the competition, mainly Kia / Hyundai, which at least from aesthetics both inside and out seem to be catching the eyes and hears of a lot of folks. In my opinion, if Toyota doesn't try to catch up soon, they may get so far behind, it will take one hell of an upgrade on any one model to catch up or leap ahead.

Any company can be 1 maybe 2 steps behind and catch up, but 3, 4, 5 or more steps is very hard, and while they have a great reputation, that along won't allow them to grow or maintain the #1 spot and won't matter, if they aren't selling many.

Yes it will be interesting to see what the next year or 2 bring from all these companies, but it looks like it's Toyota that will need to start catching up, a place they aren't real familiar with.

We specifically went in to buy a high end trim RAV4 or HL in December 2018, and ended up with an Avalon Limited for significantly less money, and got a lot more content.

IMO, Toyota is only including higher end content where they have to (or want to) in order to gain/protect market share. Example, on the 2019 Avalon redesign, the Limited and Touring interiors are great (again IMO) relative to the lower XLE models. Very fashionable colors and style, and an almost luxury experience. The same headlight issue exists too between the lower models and the higher end models.

IMO, they did that because they sense an opportunity for more market share in a generally declining market (sedans-cars). They know people will buy the HL and RAV4 for their reliablilty almost blindly because its a Toyota. The Korean twins are messing with the plan though for all manufacturers and if they can ever get their dealership experience anywhere near the Toyota dealership experience, then Toyota may have a problem.