Toyota had quite a few MPVs in the past. Who still remembers the Previa, Picnic and Avensis Verso? Meanwhile, such seven-seater MPVs can no longer be found in the range of the Japanese. The Highlander has taken their place. Is this SUV good value for money?
Toyota Highlander Style
€ 62,995
The Highlander may be a new model for our continent, but in the rest of the world it has been around since the end of 2000. The current generation is already the fourth. The Highlander is particularly successful in America. There Toyota also supplies it with an almost 300 hp 3.5 V6, but such a power source would have made the Highlander unaffordable with us. That is why the 248 hp 2.5 Hybrid with four-wheel drive is the only available powertrain, which in any case keeps the price list clear.
Toyota extends that clarity to the trim levels, because the Highlander is available in three different flavors in that respect: Style, Executive (€ 69,995) and Premium (€ 76,495). In good Japanese practice, there is little or no separate options, only for the Executive and the Premium there is a panoramic sliding / tilting roof on the price list at € 1,995. For the business driver, the Highlander is also available as Business and Business Plus. These trim levels are similar to the Style and Premium respectively, but offer a discount on the purchase price. That makes the Highlander Business the cheapest way to get in at € 59,995, but because that version is only intended for the business market, the Style is now the starting point.
Big boy
For just under 63 grand there is an almost five meter long SUV on the sidewalk. The entry-level version of the Highlander stands on 18-inch alloy wheels and features LED lighting at the front and rear. LED fog lights are also standard. However, the Style has to make do with reflector headlights, while the more expensive versions have projector headlights. Furthermore, the Highlander has Privacy Glass as standard and metallic paint is always on it. Incidentally, the palette is not very colorful. The color shown is ‘Celestial Silver’, otherwise ‘Ash Gray’, ‘Attitude Black’, ‘Blackish Brown’ and ‘Dark Blue’ are available at no extra cost. These are all relatively dark colors. Pearlescent lacquer costs € 495 extra, with ‘Lava Red’ being the color that stands out the most.
Toyota Highlander
The 18-inch wheels shown are the only available ex works on the Style, the Executive and the Premium rolls on 20-inch. For a towbar you will also have to pull the cut, because it is only available as an accessory. With a detachable bullet it costs at least € 1,649, without a detachable bullet you pay € 331 less. When parking the Style, caution is advised, because parking sensors are only available from the Executive. The Style does have a rear view camera with static guide lines to improve the rear view when parking. For things like a light and rain sensor and Smart Entry you also do not have to pay extra on the entry-level version of the Highlander.
Always seven seats
Good news for people with a large family and / or many friends: the Highlander has seven seats as standard. Black must be your favorite interior color, because you don’t have an option other than black artificial leather on the Style. The trim on the dashboard and the silver-colored details on the center console and the doors add some frills to the interior. In terms of equipment, you are not exactly scanty in the Highlander. The driver’s seat is 8-way electrically adjustable and both front seats have heated seats. To keep it comfortable for rear passengers as well, three-zone climate control is also standard. The instrument panel has a 7-inch screen and the Toyota Touch 2 multimedia system with 8-inch touchscreen is available for multimedia operation.
Toyota Highlander
As far as multimedia is concerned, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are included, as is DAB + for the radio. The sound comes through six speakers. Five of the seven occupants can charge their phone at the same time, because there are three USB connections in the front and two more in the rear of the center console. When it comes to safety systems, you do not have to choose the more expensive versions, because Toyota Safety Sense 2.5 is already on the Style. This includes things like Adaptive Cruise Control, Pre-Collision System, Blind Spot Monitor, Lane Trace Assist, Rear Cross Traffic Alert (without braking function), fatigue and traffic sign recognition. You have to sign for the Executive for the brake function with Rear Cross Traffic Alert.
The additional price of the Executive compared to the Style is € 7,000. That is a considerable amount, but for that you get, among other things, the aforementioned LED projector headlights, parking sensors front and rear, soundproof glass, black perforated leather for the seats, integrated navigation, a JBL audio system with 11 speakers and 1,200 Watts and a memory function for the driver’s seat. From the outside, the Executive is recognizable by its 20-inch wheels, chrome grille surround, a titanium-colored rear underguard and chrome roof rails. In addition, the Premium also has a titanium-colored skid plate and polished 20-inch wheels on the front. In addition, the most expensive version includes ventilated front seats, a heated steering wheel, rear seat heating, a head-up display and a 12.3-inch touchscreen for multimedia. Compared to the Style, however, the Premium costs € 13,500 extra.