[ebstauffer]

Recently returned from family vacation to Tybee Island, GA. Have put in some serious time behind the wheel of our 08 HL Limited AWD and a few thoughts. A few details:

Total Milage: 1,859
Average MPG: 22.1 (four bikes on trailer hitch rack and Thule 16 ft^3 cargo carrier)
Four Segments: 5 hours, 8 hours, 4 hours, 10 hours (ouch)

- Very comfortable ride. Never felt fatigued or achy.
- Wonderful power / handling combo even hauling bikes / roof carrier through the Smokey Mountains.
- Storage a-plenty for all of the kids stuff

And now for the wishlist:
- A car of this caliber really needs seat memory. It was really dull having to adjust seat positions between my wife and I. My '94 Volvo wagon has this.
- When ambient temp was mid 60s it was difficult to keep cabin comfortable -- either too hot or too cold. Shrug.
- In this day and age I would like to see Toyota get rid of cigarette-lighter style power ports in favor of USB ports (anyone want to work on a mod with me?) We have iPods, cellphones, GPS, etc that are all powered via mini USB jacks.
- The cruise control seems a bit agressive at keeping speed, even dropping down to L2 once or twice.
- Id love to see a camera mounted in the center brake light for those times when four bikes and a loaded rear compartment completely obscure the backup cam / read window.

All in all Im EXCEEDINGLY happy with the HL. Well done Toyota.

 

[TrailDust]

As someone who's also taken his Highlander on many road trips, including an almost 9 hour drive from the north of San Francisco bay to Orange County, I'd have to agree with everything you wrote. IMO, excellent observations about the pluses and minuses of the Highlander.

:thumbsup:

 

[murdamechanik]

Never hurt my lower back on long trips. Quiet ride all the time sometimes I almost go to sleep on ride home after work. Planning a trip to go see the shuttle launch, only 7 launches left and then they are retiring the shuttle!