Used 2017 Toyota Highlander Consumer Reviews
Used Highlander for sale
Not the Toyota I thought it would be
Mike D, 12/18/2017
2017 Toyota Highlander XLE 4dr SUV AWD (3.5L 6cyl 8A)
22 of 24 people found this review helpful
Having owned a few Camry's ('97, '03) and Avalon's ('05, '08) over the years, my expectation was one of Toyota quality, however I am disappointed. Overall the SUV has two really good highlights. The first is plenty of power...plenty. This thing gets up and goes (as long as you manually take it out of "economy mode" default which causes it to run like a 4 cyl). Second is fuel economy (auto start and stop feature is annoying but all cars have it now). I travel about 30,000 miles a year and am averaging about 23 mpg. vs. 19 mpg in past Enclave ('15) and 18 mpg in Explorers ('12,'14) I have owned. Overall fit and finish is good as with most Toyota's but here are the really frustrating things, in no particular order: 1. Whistling wind noise driving at highway speeds from passenger side window/mirror. 2. Front USB chargers are very poorly placed tucked way under the gimmicky "shelf" on dash which is not as cool as you think it would be. 3. The touch screen is too far to reach from driving position. Have to lean forward each time to make changes to audio etc. 4. Blue tooth voice command feature is very clunky, not intuitive and odd in comparison to Enclave and Explorer or any newer cars. You have to speak way too loud and give way too many commands just to make a phone call only to have them all reconfirmed in detail before dialing. 5. Sound system quality is mediocre in comparison to the Bose in Enclave mid priced model and base model system in Explorers. Volume always seems too low. 6. Tailgate is a joke. It beeps like 5 times and then begins the 5 minute opening journey. Closing is same. 5 beeps warning everyone around you your tailgate is going to close and then it takes 5 minutes to close. They seem to have countered it with the ability to open the back window as on older SUV's, but I would rather the tailgate to open and close faster. I am not just being picky, I am comparing it to a bunch of other vehicles including my sister in law's Escalade, friends X5, neighbors Q7 etc. All fast open and close. 6. Drivers seat will not go low enough for a over 6' tall driver. Thus, if you sit in normal driving position you tend to look out of the top third of the windshield. To counter, you need to lean seat back making it even more difficult to stretch to reach dash controls/touch screen. 7. "Safety sense" features are also very gimmicky. They do work, however I find myself overwhelmed by all the beeps, lights and warnings. They could get away with the side sensor lane changing lights in mirrors and the rear end collision avoidance and it would be fine. Biggest problem: when it snows, the front radar sensor and camera in grill become covered with snow, the entire dash lights up like a Christmas tree and continues to flash with warnings all over the place to make sure you pull over to clean grille and front of car clearing off safety sensors. Warning lights can not be overridden or turned off until the sensors are cleaned off. I would think it would be far more dangerous to pull over on the side of the highway in a snow storm to clean the sensors to enable the safety features on the car than it would be to drive without them. I have driven this car on two trips in the snow and both times it happened. POOR design. 8. When stopping at school or soccer practice to wait for my daughter, most recent cars I have had allow you to turn the car off and continue bluetooth phone call/listen to radio/roll down window etc until you open the door. This car cuts you off as soon as you shut it off. Very annoying. I hope this gives you some insight. Had I known about these items, I probably would have gone in a different direction. Seems Toyota has lost its edge.
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Great all-round SUV
Romo, 12/28/2016
2017 Toyota Highlander XLE 4dr SUV AWD (3.5L 6cyl 8A)
28 of 31 people found this review helpful
We shop only for Honda. But they didnt have a car that fit our current needs...awd, space for 7, etc...so we needed to move to an suv and finally looked at Toyota. The size, space, awd fit the bill for us. We looked for the 2016, but compelled to get the 2017 given the added features this year LDA, BSM, POC, and cruise with speed monitoring. We are glad we bought the 2017. My only complaints - the USB ports are not very accessible to plug in the chargers. The Navi also was off on some direction / final destination (I had Google maps on to double check.), the acceleration is not as quick from a stop position. Handling is fine, and very comfortable and enjoyable interior for all passengers as we took on a 6 passenger road trip with luggage. Overall, we are very happy with the 2017.
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My first and Last Toyota Highlander
Ron, 12/07/2017
updated 12/16/2020
2017 Toyota Highlander XLE 4dr SUV (3.5L 6cyl 8A)
9 of 9 people found this review helpful
The things that am disappointed in with the "Toyota Highlander are: (1) Getting in and out of the car is very difficult as I am constantly hitting my head when entering the car. (2) Wind noise is very high on both the rear doors and the dealer say that nothing can be done to help. (3) The seat belt alarm is VERY irritating and loud. (a warning is fine but constant loud noise makes me dislike this car). (4) The car is very hard to program and much too hard for me to even begin to explore the options available. (5) The feature that shuts down the engine while at a stop light is very agitating and should be a option to either always on or always off. Lastly I would like to comment on the dealership. I was very disappointed in the dealer in my city as I felt like I was being forced into buying things I did not want to buy and almost (should have) walked out during the finance meeting. Over all, because of the road and wind noise, along with the difficulty getting in and out of the car, I would not recommend this car.
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Horrible experience
Mark s, 05/04/2018
2017 Toyota Highlander LE 4dr SUV AWD (3.5L 6cyl 8A)
32 of 36 people found this review helpful
We purchased a new highlander in August of 2017. We have 6k in miles and we brought up it in for maintenance and it is leaking oil. Toyota service can’t figure out why and Toyota engineers don’t know so they said flush it and drive it and see what happens. We do not want the vehicle and have left it there. I have 2 young children and am not driving a car with engine issues. We have a Toyota case manager and they won’t do anything. My whole family is Toyota owners right now we have 6 and have been loyal. I’ve lost all faith that Toyota will do the right thing and my mission will be to make sure all customers know how poor an experience I’ve had unless this is remedy. The only remedy that works is a replacement. Im a business owner and when you screw up you make it right.
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Regret purchasing two new Toyota cars in 2017
LP, 02/16/2018
2017 Toyota Highlander LE 4dr SUV (3.5L 6cyl 8A)
32 of 36 people found this review helpful
My NEW Toyota Highlander broke down on I95 in heavy traffic at night PRIOR to it's 5000 mile check. I was unable to get fully into the breakdown lane and was trapped in my car for 30 minutes prior to tow truck arriving. I was without my "new" car for a month. After many days and nights of stress dealing with Toyota (Corporate and Westport dealership) the problem was diagnosed as needing a new transmission. The transmission was "lost" during shipping - the entire process has been awful. A new transmission had to be put into my "new" car. I do not feel safe in this car which obviously was a lemon. I want a new car and I am disgusted with how I have been treated as a customer who purchased TWO new cars in 2017. Every day I regret my decision to purchase Toyota vehicles.