Performance
Comfort
Fuel Economy
Fun To Drive
Interior Design
Exterior Design
Build Quality
Reliability
Review
My first Toyota was a 2012 Highlander and I loved it from the minute I test-drove it. We decided to give it to my daughter in late 2017 when she left for college and purchased a new 2018 model (one down from the Platinum). While we preferred the interior design of the 2012, the 2018 is beautiful inside and very comfortable. My son gets car sick often and it's been a great smooth ride overall. It does have a lot of wind noise on some roads and seems unstable when winds are high (you can feel the vehicle move). Lots of great safety features with the blind spot notification, lane crossover awareness, etc... but it does have several blind-spots, especially if you are petite. Biggest downfalls (in my opinion) of this model: 1) The transmission - it is definitely not as good of quality as in earlier models and it is noticeable. The transmission is unpredictable at lower speeds... it seems bogged down, it hesitates, stalls, etc... It feels as though you've shifted up at too low of a speed in a manual transmission vehicle. It has weak off-take and takes a minute to gain speed. This is frustrating and could be dangerous. You can feel the car struggling and it makes for a not so enjoyable ride. Feels like being in a cheap or older vehicle that is going to stall or breakdown; 2) The automatic stop/start is so annoying! We live in a small town where traffic is nearly non-existent and the constant turning off of the engine is unnecessary. It doesn't seem like it is good for the vehicle to do this either. This should be an option you can turn on if you wish to use it. Not one you have to remember to turn off every time you get in the car; 3) The entertainment panel is way too far for the driver to reach unlike earlier models prior to 2014. This should be curved towards the driver or placed further towards the driver's seat. I'm 5'1" tall and my little t-rex arms do not reach it at all. I have to move forward and lean in to reach it. ---- I dropped my 2018 Highlander off with the service department here this morning about the transmission issues. Upon drop off, I was told that that there are no outstanding service bulletins or notes about transmission issues; however, forums and reviews I find tell otherwise and this seems to be a common issue (with the transmission). We'll see what they say when I pick it up today. - Loved my 2012 so much, not in love with the 2018. Having a little bit of buyer's remorse about this one and it may very well be my last Highlander which is sad to say with only 9,500 miles on it.