I think they're either Port or Dealer installed. Not sure if the receivers are ever installed at the factory.
I ordered my truck and waited for it, was told it had a factory installed hitch. Went to pick it up and under the bed cover was my hitch.

 

I think they're either Port or Dealer installed.

That's correct. It's something you can have added on to an allotted vehicle, that's what I did and it was installed at port on the way to the dealership.

 

We asked for a factory installed hitch and got one on our 2022 XLE built end of October. It was not port/dealer installed. I will say, however, that the LTD and Platinum trim levels were much more likely to have factory hitches than the XLE, L and LE.

 

Have a look at your window sticker, I'd be surprised if they were doing any at the factory. Roof rack, floor step lights, hitch, etc. are commonly installed on the way to the dealership (port) or by the dealer when requested on a lot car. The window sticker will say "installed at port" or similar.

 

I have one on my 1 week old HiHy Platinum, and WISH I didn't! I will NEVER use it, and it is ugly and gets in the way! I am planning on having a body shop remove it and put the "normal" bumper cover where it belongs.

Anyone in Southern AZ who wants the hitch? Perhaps we can make a deal?

 

Anyone who put their own in has a bracket, kick sensor, inner fenders and lower rear bumper just taking up space. There are also some plugs for the bolt holes that are there to help prevent water/salt from getting into the frame rails.

 

Buy one from a dealer in SE Wisconsin and have the car shipped. They put a hitch on almost every Highlander here before it hits the lot around here. It's an easy $699 extra on the window sticker of every vehicle.... they also seem to add the door guard film, all weather mats, and a few other things just to squeeze a bit more profit out of every vehicle here.

 

That is an extremely cheap price for a hitch install. Most dealers are up around 1300 dollars for install with kick sensor and converter.

 

During my search, factory options including trailer hitches were on the window sticker. I wanted one too but every model available didn't have one so I ended up figuring out what was needed and installed it myself. I lived in a pretty small market area so it may be different in bigger urban areas.

 

It's a fine line to split, but there is a difference between "factory-installed" and "port-installed". The terminology comes from decades ago when the cars were made in Japan and some accessories were added after they got unloaded in North America. Aside from where the accessory/feature is installed, another factor is the region of the country the car is being shipped to. Again, decades ago the US was divided into a number of different regions and Toyota contracted with local companies to be regional distributors, and it was up to those distributors which accessories may be added to any given car. Fast forward to today, and Toyota owns all of those regional distributors except two (Southeast Toyota and Gulf States Toyota); SET and GST have a much larger menu of accessories and add-ons to choose from.

The window sticker is printed during distribution, not at the factory. That's why the window sticker includes those accessories, along with the name/address of the dealer it's being shipped to.

The trailer hitch receiver is a "port installed" option, along with the other things mentioned such as roof rack rails, floor mats, wheel locks, and so on.

Most port-installed options can be installed by a dealer as well, as the parts for those options are usually available through the region's parts distribution system.

So why is so hard to find ones on the lot with the hitch pre-installed? Because your regional distributor isn't ordering them that way. It must not be a popular item in your region.

 

It's a fine line to split, but there is a difference between "factory-installed" and "port-installed". The terminology comes from decades ago when the cars were made in Japan and some accessories were added after they got unloaded in North America. Aside from where the accessory/feature is installed, another factor is the region of the country the car is being shipped to.

The window sticker is printed during distribution, not at the factory. That's why the window sticker includes those accessories, along with the name/address of the dealer it's being shipped to.

The trailer hitch receiver is a "port installed" option, along with the other things mentioned such as roof rack rails, floor mats, wheel locks, and so on.

So why is so hard to find ones on the lot with the hitch pre-installed? Because your regional distributor isn't ordering them that way. It must not be a popular item in your region.

Perfectly explains everything I wanted to know. As for hitches not being popular, heck there’s only a handful of XLE AWD Highlanders available within 200 miles….let alone with a hitch! 😆 Don’t ever plan to tow with it, but will carry the bike rack often.

 

Here is part of my window sticker.
The dealer shared a document with me showing these exact prices the day before the Highlander was "manufactured" "built" or "assembled".

 

Here is part of my window sticker.
The dealer shared a document with me showing these exact prices the day before the Highlander was "manufactured" "built" or "assembled".
View attachment 363811

Take the vin and plug it into toyotas vin decoder here. You'll get additional details like those below:

 

I am in the process of adding a hitch to my 22 Hybrid Bronze (with hands free lift) using local dealer. There are approx (8) separate parts required (hitch, bumper cover, etc) that are coming up to approx $800... so it's easily going to be $1200+ I suspect for the job. Sure would have been nice for it to come from the factory installed, but the dealer I bought from said there were "too many layers involved" to order that way. I suspect they just wanted to get one on the lot and so didn't try.

 

I paid about $850 at a "discount" Toyota OEM dealer. The dealer I bought my car from was in a small Vermont town and when I asked about the hitch, they said it was too complicated for their mechanics and pointed me the uhaul....

The installation instructions make you disassemble more than you really need to, I never totally removed the bumper and it only takes a couple hrs to fully install. The sad part is the amount of leftover stuff you end up with.

 

Serious question, can someone with a factory hitch tell me the distance from ground to center of hitch? My wife isn’t super short, but from the looks of it the hitch sits higher which means the bike rack will be higher. She may be unimpressed 🤔

 

It is 16" from ground to bottom of receiver. By the way, my Toyota dealer installed the hitch & wiring at time of purchase, and I was only charged $ 699.

 

Thanks for the measurement. Our current AWD CRV is a hair over 12” so 16” doesn’t sound that bad. I’ve found one XLE within 400mi that has the port installed hitch. It is listed as a $699 option.

Now if we can get over the non-memory drivers seat on a $45k vehicle I think we’re close.

 

Every Highlander that is sold by the 3 Toyota dealers in the Boise area (includes eastern OR) has AWD and tow hitch. When I ordered our 2022, they put that on as a factory option (though it may actually be port-installed). They did say we could do it as a dealer-installed option but it adds more than $699 as they throw in some additional labor. Part of the issue is that the backgate sensor needs to move from the center. I took that with a grain of salt, but I'd rather have it installed before it gets to the dealership anyway.

 

Same for Idaho Falls. I just got mine two weeks ago with factory installed tow hitch.

led

 

I’m getting mine installed Monday. 1200 bucks in PA. XLE. Had to wait a few weeks for parts to be delivered.

 

My 2022 Platinum has it (port installed) and I hate it! I will never use it, and hate the way it looks. $699 down the drain! Anyone in southern AZ want it?

 

We're about 17 hours the wrong way otherwise, I'd help you out.

 

Any dealer will be happy to install it for you.... abt $800-$1000.
The parts are around $500. The install is a real pain. I did mine but if I had known I would have just let the dealer do it.

It is 16" from ground to bottom of receiver. By the way, my Toyota dealer installed the hitch & wiring at time of purchase, and I was only charged $ 699.

That was a good deal. Some dealers want that just for the parts.

 

Any dealer will be happy to install it for you.... abt $800-$1000.
The parts are around $500. The install is a real pain. I did mine but if I had known I would have just let the dealer do it.

The hitch itself looks pretty straightforward. But the rest of the parts looks like more trouble than it‘s worth if I can just find one with it already installed.

 

If I wanted a hitch, I think the Toyota hitch looks better than an aftermarket version. The Toyota hitch sits high enough to be part of the lower bumper trim. The aftermarkets all hang completely below the bumper. I think the integration into the bumper looks better.

(First pic from Toyota brochure, second pic from this post.)

 

Absolutely, the dealer could install it, and it would be the same parts and the same result. However, they probably wouldn't do it for the same price as if it were port-installed. It's a lot of labor time for the dealer. Port-installed, it's US$699. If the dealer does it, people have posted that it's common to get quoted a price of double that. Most if not all of the other port-installed accessories have a healthy profit margin for the dealer to do it at the same price, but not the hitch receiver.

 

Here are the parts I bought for my 22 Highlander L: (some of the items could be different for le/xle, etc)

Haggle it! Right now, there are more buyers than cars on the lot so you are at a bit of a disadvantage, but still, tell them you will only pay $700 extra for the hitch.