Used 2012 Toyota Highlander Hybrid SUV Consumer Reviews

After 145K miles, wife said this great car

After 145K miles, while driving wife said she thought this car drives about like when it was new, it is a comfortable great car. Gets great mileage for SUV even at 145K mile. Very comfortable to drive across country. No repairs, and low brake maintenance due to Hybrid braking. Only misses by Toyota for the time, was that the replacement of the spark plugs and the associated tune-up at about $120K miles is a major endeavor by the dealership. Also, the rear motor extra traction on steep hills with ice does not seem to kick in until the car is moving a little which does not make sense in helping to get moving in icy, steep roads. Otherwise the on demand all wheel traction work well in steep icy roads of New Hampshire, for instance. Wet hilly road traction has been best of any car we owned to not hydroplane. Note: We have owned 3 Toyota hybrids with no electronics or hybrid battery issues with all cars owned to at least $130K miles, just slight milage loss with age of a mile per gallon and 2 miles with Priuses. Even the normal car starter batteries lasted at least 7 years. For the Highlander, still has the original car 12 V starter battery and we live in MA and Northern NH all year. So, my thought is that people do no realize the savings associated with hybrid technology, like replacing brakes maybe every 100K, normal 12VDC car batteries that last, never replaced and exhaust system part, and more. Plus the Highlander Hybrid has high acceleration at all speeds due to the boost from pretty large electric motors on top of a V6 engine. Separate Note: We bought one hybrid car from a different auto manufacturer and were disappointed with mileage vs claimed mileage, reliability (multiple costly repairs) and the lack of a power boost from the electric motor when wanting to accelerate rapidly.

Everything I wanted.

I needed to replace my minivan. I still needed a vehicle with 7 passenger capacity and wanted an SUV with great mpg's. I bought my first Hybrid and AWD which is a used 2012 Highlander Hybrid with 97k miles. It is smooth, quiet, comfortable, spacious and efficient. I was attracted by the 28 mpg EPA and pleasantly surprised with what I'm getting. I drive 36 miles round trip to work each day and get 34+ mpg. My commute consists of 80% city and 20% highway miles. Today I got 34.5 mpg. Yes I drive differently to squeeze these miles out. The most effective tricks are to accelerate moderately (utilizes the electric motor), accelerate downhill and minimize the use of AC especially going uphill. There is an ECON button which regulates your acceleration, but you can shut it off if you are an aggressive driver. I'm very pleased with the purchase of this vehicle. It is everything I wanted and needed.

Not The Best Buy

Unlike a gasoline engine, electric motors have maximum torque the instant you apply power. You can go from 60 to 80 in about three seconds if you punch it. But there is a big problem for the unwary; the Highlander has severe torque-steer and could drag an unsuspecting driver right into another vehicle they are passing. Does not come close to EPA fuel economy ratings. The 28/28 mpg only works at around 40 mph. Otherwise it is 23/26 with a combined mpg of 25 no matter how you drive.

Comfortable, roomy, great on fuel.

After owning my 2012 Highlander Hybrid for 2 months and 2000 miles (from 108k to 110k), I must say I am very pleased with the vehicle so far. My buying experience was pretty terrible as the car had some flaws, but they were due to prior owner negligence rather than Toyota's quality. With that fixed up and past me now, I'm enjoying the excellent gas mileage, superb comfort and unparalleled driving satisfaction of my Highlander Hybrid. The hybrid battery is still strong to this day, and it will most likely remain strong for many years. I bought this vehicle specifically for road trips, and it has been an extremely good road trip vehicle. It's quiet, comfortable, and spacious to make a road trip much more tolerable than your average compact car, and the fuel mileage is not far off either. Averaging 65 MPH yields 28-30 MPG and Averaging 73 MPH yields 25-26 MPG, pretty incredible numbers for such a large, heavy vehicle. City commuting is pretty easy to get over 30 MPG as long you drive sensibly. This shouldn't be too surprising seeing how the Prius routinely gets 50 or 60 MPG. It doesn't take off from a stop very quickly, but once you get going there is no shortage of power or torque. The engine is pretty quiet and when you step on it you hear a muted throaty growl from the V6 engine that actually sounds nice. You do hear the electric motors whirring as you drive, which sounds kind of eerie at first, but you get used to it quickly. The brakes also take some getting used to, they get slightly weaker as you slow down, requiring you to press the brake slightly harder as you slow down, and just before you come to a stop, the brake can be hard to modulate for a perfectly smooth stop, but once you get used to it, it's not too bad. The climate control is fantastic, it does a great job of keeping you cool on hot days and warming you up on cold days. I am very pleased with this vehicle and I would love to keep it for many more years. I do not regret getting the Hybrid. As long as you aren't negligent and do all the preventative maintenance on time, these Toyota Hybrids will go for hundreds of thousands of miles trouble free.

Great Car