Highlander is Decent Except.... 2021 Toyota Highlander XSE Review

[@josephkraft5640]

I’m all over this one lol. My wife and I test drove all the brands and the XSE Trim on the Highlander was the best!! We fell in love and after 6 months ownership still in love. Awesome family vehicle! We didn’t like the highlander at first cause it looked like a soccer mom car with the Subaru horns but the XSE changed that whole perspective! We got the black softex with Blizzard pearl exterior color. 8000 miles so far. The runner up was the Kia Telluride. It was a great option but the styling on the Toyota and that JBL Audio system pushed us right into the Highlander. Highly recommend this SUV for a family of 6.

[@seymorefact4333]

Xse is what I'm looking at too.

[@josephkraft5640]

@@seymorefact4333 Test drive one for sure if you can find one! Seat comfort hasn’t ever been a concern the only seats my wife ever hated was the 2015 Corolla SE seats. She keeps her heated seats on all year even in the Summer! She never puts it in sport mode because normal mode satisfies her demand for power. When the kids are grown and gone we will still gladly keep this for extra cargo space and decent room. Very safe vehicle and so far flawlessly reliable.

[@seymorefact4333]

@@josephkraft5640 going to be empty nester in August. Need a push comfortable suv. Highlander is top of list. Thx

[@Terror1Void]

You should look into a minivan. They blow SUVs out of the water in terms of comfort, utility and people hauling ability.

[@agentcovert]

@@Terror1Void sure the Sienna is great and has similar cost but Zero off road capabilities..that's the big difference..

[@1randyharbin]

Jill, just as a point of reference, there are 2 kinds of phone cables, power only, and power and data. The type of cable needed will just need to be any power and data cable since it will have all the wires needed to both connect and charge.

[@jillciminillo]

The cable I had works in our GTI 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@1randyharbin]

@@jillciminillo, that is interesting, likely dirt on the gold fingers or an intermittency in the cables wiring, they only last so long, and the more they are manipulated and/or coiled too tight can hasten their demise.

[@timduncan6375]

Adaptive cruise control was never made for stop and go traffic...in fact thats not the intent of any cruise control

[@jillciminillo]

Yes. It was.

[@JimmyGAR1]

I am pretty sure the original, classic cruise control was definitely meant for long distance, steady speed maintenance hence the word “cruise.” They are useless in stop and go in my opinion but many of the new adaptive ones tout the ability to bring a car to a stop and restart with traffic. I have only driven rental cars on highway with adaptive cruise so no experience in the city or with a personal vehicle, but I am old and would never bother with it to avoid getting stressed out like Jill says she did. Some Reddit reviews swear by there adaptive systems in traffic, but I need to be shown the light.

[@jillciminillo]

@@JimmyGAR1 some adaptive cruise control systems are amazing, and they do in fact bring you all the way to a stop. They even restart without prompting from the driver. Some systems require prompting from the driver to restart (push of a button or tap if the gas). Others just behave badly and turn off below a certain speed.

[@cadacabezaesunmundo6496]

This function adjusts to at least three distances (short-legal distance following another automobile, medium, and long) from which you select one after setting your cruise control. It means that it will keep the distance you select when there is another automobile in front of you while cruising in the highway of freeway. It does not function well in city driving or for complete stop and go because when you have the function activated and you are approaching a complete stop, the automobile will keep cruising at the set speed and if you do not have a car in front of you, the sensors will not detect any object and will not adjust the speed until it reaches the set distance to be activated and after that it will slow down, but will give you the control after getting to about 35 miles per hour and will tell you to take over. It will not bring you to a complete stop because it is not a self-driven automobile. When I exit the freeway and I am legally close following another car also exiting I let the system follow the car in front of me and my system adjusts the speed as the car in front of my slows down. When I exit the freeway over 65 mph while using cruise control and the car in front of me is farther than the shortest setting I set it to follow I change it to the longest range options to start detecting at a longer distance and start slowing down earlier than with the shortest setting. Then I take over when the system disengages around 35 mph and I bring the unit to a complete stop.

[@rkon02]

I have a 2014 AWD Limited and it’s one of the best driving vehicles i have ever driven. The seats are so comfortable and supportive over long drives. I curious as to why you didn’t mention the fuel economy ?? I thought I had a glimpse of 22.7?

[@jackwwPTTOS]

Seats are extremely comfortable on my highlander hybrid platinum 2021...much better than leather ones in my previous car Subaru 3.6R...i am quite surprised with your opinion...many reviewers ( and i watched many of them before buying my HiHy) praised the seats comfort .... for example Alex on Autos and others. I drove in my highlander one day 600 miles few .month ago and it was very comfortable trip for me.

[@jessethompson9087]

Very interesting verdict with the seats. I found them pretty comfortable, especially compared to the 2018 Highlander seats (which are too thin in my opinion). But what’s interesting is the front two seats of the Highlander are identical to the ones in the Sienna (similar to Camry, Avalon, RAV4, and Venza). I always find that the sportier version of Toyota vehicles are less comfortable. Same with my mom’s Highlander XLE vs my brother’s Highlander SE…his are less comfortable.

[@jimthumerzs6981]

I love my old beater 1st gen (2005) Highlander. The visibility is great. It's the perfect size and it is comfortable. MPG's is really its only big shortfall - it's a gas hog. I think the new ones have grown too large and the styling reduces visibility. I am curious about the AWD system in the non-hybrid. My 2005 "4 wheel drive" seems to plow through heave snow much better than systems in compact crossovers such as RAV4. Does anybody know if its full-time AWD is different than the newer Highlanders (Or RAV4's)?

[@Combatpzman]

The interior is not to my taste, colour wise, but it works I guess. Much prefer the non digital gauges.

[@gatorglenn2892]

Love your fair and informative review. You and my wife are the exact same size, and body shape. So she pays close attention to the not so small things. For people of y’all size. Like can you reach the hatch button to close. Looking forward to seeing you review the new Nissan Pathfinder. She has her heart sat on one. Thanks and as always great job!

[@jillciminillo]

I’ve already posted a review of the Pathfinder. Search the channel. My driving position is pretty good. But the third row kind of sucks.

[@gatorglenn2892]

Yes thank you, we found the Pathfinder review you did. For us with small grandchildren. The 3rd row will get used a little. But 98% of the time it will be down for the cargo room. Frankly I was hoping Nissan would have made 2 version, with and without a 3d row. I drive a Frontier, and the 9 speed transmission is a game changer for that vehicle as well. Future as me going back to a Titan for the more towing capabilities.

[@nkyryry]

An entire screen in the dash is NOT the way to go. You do NOT want digital gauges.

[@eltren6120]

Jill, please review the 2023 Mazda CX-50 when it releases this spring

[@jillciminillo]

In case you missed it, we did post that review a couple weeks ago.

[@Ryan-cf6lc]

Interesting review. I have a previous gen Highlander and seat comfort is great for long trips. I prefer the bench seat and most Highlander owners seldom use the third row.

[@cadacabezaesunmundo6496]

I also wonder about the seats in the XSE. I will have to test-drive one because I prefer comfortable seats for long trips. I am thinking that the firmness Jill mentions has to do with the firm feeling of the more sport aspect of this Hilander Trim. I makes sense to have firm seats to go along with the firm sport feeling when the automobile starts hugging the road.

[@young5187]

a great review that not from 6 feet men, which makes a lot of sense to a lot of people :)

[@TundraRun]

That red leather makes it look like the champagne room of a strip club, yikes

[@jillciminillo]

🤣

[@waynewallace2061]

Grill looks like a sad clown face. I don't get these huge grills.

[@paulm6481]

Sadly it just doesn’t look good.it is reliable as any Toyota and functional and easy to use with decent performance. But in the design part, it loses easy to Telluride. I can never buy this, looks so ugly.

[@ALMX5DP]

Woah styling/appearance plays that large of a role in your purchase decision?

[@matthelms4167]

The previous model was much more attractive and “athletic” looking. This one looks bloated. I’m sure it’s a good vehicle - just looks like bloat for no reason.

[@freedomstar3814]

Every time I look at the Highlander it makes me more depressed than I already am ! Such an ugly front end design for an SUV !

[@bigmac22ify]

The previous one looked way better, the interior is not bad though

[@aboalooos]

Cant agree more lol

[@aboalooos]

It doesnt look good. Im getting the Jeep Grand Cherokee or the Explorer instead

[@grenmastermike]

Except... It's ugly as sin, it's all teeth

[@timduncan6375]

That's your opinion and your entitled to it!

[@grenmastermike]

@@timduncan6375 what's your opinion?

[@user-vj9qz3br6l]

Its so ugly