Used 2018 Toyota Highlander Consumer Reviews
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Wish I would have bought a 2015 or 2016
Dean C., 12/09/2018
2018 Toyota Highlander LE 4dr SUV (3.5L 6cyl 8A)
16 of 17 people found this review helpful
Boy if I could go back in time I definitely would not buy this 2018. Wife did not want a used car certified or not, so we decided on the highlander le with the v6. Interior and exterior is very appealing and well laid out. We test drove the new Subaru ascent and the Honda pilot and dodge Durango gt. Myself I liked the Durango gt. Way nicer car for the price. Third row seat very use able for asdults too. She nixed it because too big and bulky. Subaru ugly as all get out but turbo engine impressive. Body style just terrible. Pilot also ugly body like a big bubble. Highlander motor rated at 295 HP feels like 200. It really is like driving a 4 banger. I had to double check the motor to make sure it was a v6. Trans always in between gears seems like too high too low. Really have to get into the gas pedal to get moving. Figured after break in all would be better. Nope. Service shop say everybody's complaining about it. Likely recall coming. Anyway we had rented a 2016 highlander a couple years ago for a long road trip and it was a fantastic car. Power now, good transmission, nicer interior. I think the highlander has gone downhill a bit. This may be the shortest ownership of a vehicle we've ever had. Going to lose lots of money on it, but driving something everyday you just don't like takes a toll.
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Great SUV; has gone downhill from earlier models
jesifly511, 09/25/2018
2018 Toyota Highlander Limited 4dr SUV AWD (3.5L 6cyl 8A)
20 of 22 people found this review helpful
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.
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2018 Toyota Highlander for sale near you
3 of 72 listings
- LE Plus 4dr SUVMSRP: $18,18671 mi away
- XLE 4dr SUVMSRP: $20,59542 mi away
- Limited 4dr SUVMSRP: $22,9952 mi away
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Solid SUV
Glen Barclay, 03/13/2018
2018 Toyota Highlander XLE 4dr SUV AWD (3.5L 6cyl 8A)
8 of 8 people found this review helpful
There is a lot of cheap plastic in the interior and all of the additional options are too pricey. The car is overall solid, but in my opinion is not anything outstanding in features or overall pricing. The most annoying and inconvenient feature is folding down the second and third row seats is a 4 step process. I am looking for a one step process. I will be looking at the new 2019 Subaru Ascent SUV model when it arrives in the next month or two.
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Overall great vehicle!
PSeifert, 12/09/2018
2018 Toyota Highlander Limited Platinum 4dr SUV AWD (3.5L 6cyl 8A)
8 of 8 people found this review helpful
Overall this is a great buy although sadly for the price I would have expected some better choices from Toyota. LED headlights are not an option for any trim Highlander, when they are for the camry's. Apple carplay is not optional. The Toyota navigation system is far behind in updates, I would really like to see them enable googlemaps for their navigation system instead. Even with the above issues I think it is still a great vehicle and would purchase another.
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Been Away, But I've Returned to a Highlander
Cornelius C., 02/23/2018
updated 02/26/2019
2018 Toyota Highlander Limited 4dr SUV AWD (3.5L 6cyl 8A)
8 of 8 people found this review helpful
I had an '08 Highlander Sport for 5 years, then thought it was too big for just myself. I owned two AWD wagons for a while; they are great cars, but I missed the quiet, powerful ride of the Highlander. My local dealer was offering great incentives, so I went shopping. The '18 Highlanders have retained what I had loved in my '08, and naturally, improved on them as well. Now I can ride interstates and large highways for hours at 65-70 and hear my own radio, and not get fatigued. I'm back, and it's great! The XLE trim is the lowest you should go, but get the Limited if you can. The Highlander rides large, but it's quiet and powerful. It does not accelerate in a punchy manner, but you'll be going 55, thinking you're going 35. It's that smooth. Nice interior! Gone are buttons: it's all touch now. Wow. Exclusively, the Highlander has a shelf underneath the dash: once you've seen it, you're spoiled forever. Nice ambient, blue lighting. Great stereo in the upgrade to JBL's many speakers: you can hear the radio at low volumes! Do you know how much that means to me? Wonderful! One Year Update: BIG POSITIVE: We live on a farm and have a long, uphill driveway. It drifts in the winter snow. The Highlander handles it well with the AWD. Once, though, the snow and ice were combined with drifts that were pretty tough. I put the Highlander's "Snow" button on (first time I had to) and it did okay, but not the greatest. Then I locked it into 4x4 (Wow! What an option), and that baby lifted itself right out of the icy, snowy drifts, and it was FUN! Do other AWD vehicles have this option? Can your AWD lock into 4x4? Probably not. In fact, I just only recently learned of this option. If that's important to you, do your research. This baby can be a BEAST when it wants to be! OTHER THOUGHTS: It's big. If you buy this for a family, but wind up riding around in it by yourself a lot, you may ask yourself if you really want something this big. That's my situation. Here's my conclusion: yeah, I do. Why? It's quiet. It's powerful. It's roomy, spacious and not cramped. I like the zen ambiance. So, yeah: it's big. But if it were not, I'd be zipping around in another noisy, cramped bug.
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