The ideal other Toyota for a family of five?

Yep. I’m already on the dream order list

 

Wife decided a minivan is a definite no go so I think I'm going to cross shop all of the following, figure out which one she likes best (I'm hoping it's the Toyota) then look for a ~2-5 year old one that's been well maintained.

Toyota Highlander
Honda Pilot
Hyundai Santa Fe XL
Hyundai Palisade
Kia Telluride
Mazda CX-7 or CX-9
Subaru Ascent

 

Are you willing to gamble with the CVT and turbo? Is your wife receptive to the idea of idling that engine for 5 minutes after driving on a highway?

 

No and no. Thanks for the info. Guess I don't need to do any more research on that one.

Subaru Ascent

 

Was completely against minivans and in fact got my wife the new Highlander Hybrid Platinum as a surprise birthday present but ended up trading it in a month later for the Sienna XSE which I now love. Plus it looks great in our driveway next to my Tundra. The pic is from the day we picked up her from the dealership.

 

Did you park both of those?

 

Yea we have a 2020 Ascent (got it new) and it’s been great for almost 40k miles. But I hate that transmission (CVT), it’s unbelievably annoying and does more gear hunting (ironic) than a Tacoma. It moves pretty good after a bit of lag from the turbo

Other than those annoyances it’s been a great car for us, but we’re outgrowing it and are definitely ready for more space and function. I don’t need 237 cup holders

 

Dashboard Light links:

Toyota Highlander
Honda Pilot
Hyundai Santa Fe XL
Mazda CX-7 (YIKES) or CX-9

It appears the Ascent, Palisade, and Telluride are too new to have pages on DL. The Santa Fe XL link will take you to the Santa Fe page. Not sure if it is lumped in or if it is also too new to post data.

 

Got our answer…

 

Congrats! This will last forever.

 

You’re baiting us… I need more pics!!

 

Immaculate 2009 LX 570. Private seller. Fair price. 149k miles. Probably the most solid feeling vehicle I’ve ever driven. Everything works. The AHC is a trip.

I only have one more.

 

What is in your bulletproofing list? I know a guy who recently purchased a 2010 Sequoia for road trips and had a bunch of preventive maintenance done, like replacing fuel pump, alternator, radiator etc.

 

Yeah all that stuff. Will inspect power steering fluid, brake fluid, rotors, pads. Probably will replace fluids in diffs and TC too. Lots of life left in these Defenders. We’ll probably keep them.

 

I'm not sure if anybody else is still interested in this discussion but if buying new, I don't think the Highlander is the way to go unless you can get a leftover 2022. For 2023, they've replaced the 3.5L NA V6 with a 2.5L turbo I4 (that according to their website gets the same fuel economy ). I have no idea if this engine has been around for a while or not but, given the growing pains on the 3rd Gen Tundra, might be wise to steer clear of this one for a year or two.

 

Yeah my ‘21 Tundra was built in Sept ‘20, and I don’t want anything newer than that for quite a while.

We were really interested in a low-mile ‘17 Limited Highlander AWD. Non-hybrid, but still gets very respectable fuel economy. Those come with center diff locks. More capable than one might assume at first glance.

That generation of Highlander (I think it was refreshed in ‘17, same generation until ‘20 I believe) and its V6 are REALLY solid. And there are a metric ton of them for sale. Prices are better than for rarer models of the same era.

 

The big challenge for us is our situation is going to require a 7 seater with second row captain's chairs, which I think means the XSE and Limited are our only trim level options. We don't really care about fancy features so any trim would be fine for us from that perspective. Just sucks getting pushed up into a higher trim because of seating.

My wife also isn't sure can deal with the smell of a used vehicle.

 

You could get a used vehicle detailed and deep cleaned. As long as it was never smoked in.

And tell her that “new car smell” is extremely toxic chemicals off-gassing in the interior.

 

My dilemma is I require so many criteria. The vehicle only has to carry five adults, but after that is where the other requirements start piling up and cuts minivans and CUV's out of the running.

* 4LO. Need it maybe five times per year, but it's good to have the option. Modern AWD systems emulate 4LO pretty well but that leads to ....
* Ground clearance. AWD vehicles don't have it. 9.5" ground clearance is a good thing in Colorado winters.
* Cargo volume behind 1st row, 2nd row, 3rd row.
* Tow capacity. Only need 7klbs max. A BOF fullsize SUV does that. AWD vans no, and you're right back to ground clearance issues with Sprinter, Transit, Sienna.
* Reliability.

I always look for the best MPG vehicle that can meet the criteria but don't like rolling the dice when there's a good one in hand.

 

Sounds like you need a Suburban...

 

Highlander is out for us. The space behind the rear seat is terrible.

Top 4 right now is looking like:
1. Honda Pilot
T-2. Kia Telluride/Hyundai Palisade
4. Subaru Ascent - didn't actually get to drive this one because it had just come off the truck and had barely any gas in it so we just took it around the parking lot a couple times

 

Well done!! Only thing better than a Toyota 5.7 is 2 Toyota 5.7s.

 

I’m thrilled we landed here. It is such a tank. I can’t believe how quiet it is inside. That acoustic glass is something else. Ordered all the parts for my first mod: Tundra brakes up front! There are a couple great write-ups on ih8mud. Seems pretty straightforward. Just waiting on parts.

 

I'm just exploring options right now, trying to look ahead and see how to top the Sequoia. A used Suburban is in the game, GM also, used Expedition, could look at an F150 Powerboost with a shell. Whatever vehicle I buy as a donation to a dog rescue outfit has to top the Sequoia. Imagine how embarrassing it would be to donate a vehicle that can't top the current fleet.

 

I had a 2011 LX570 with premium and luxury package, by far one of my favorite vehicles that I have owned. At 131,000 miles I checked the oil on my dipstick and there was a decent metal flake on the stick so I drained the oil and inspected the filter, every pleat was compacted with metal. So don't think they're indestructible as I have no idea how the previous owners treated it and she was eating a bearing and at some point would have failed, but she ran fine with no issues so I was taken aback a bit when I found that.

That being said, if I didn't have the potential engine issues arise then the was plan was to keep it for a long time. As you stated the AHC system is a trip, after parking I would always leave it in high mode. There's a video on youtube of an LX on a dyno, when they hit 60 mph the height automatically lowers to low mode, its a neat system. Unless you have records get the AHC system flushed, I think I paid $250 for my local Toyota to do it but I'd recommend a Lexus dealership perform the service as Toyota wasn't sure how to do it and originally all the tech did was suck out the reservoir and refill which isn't the proper procedure, so they had to redo it.

Congrats on the new vehicle, the 200 series are awesome!

 

Yikes. I wonder if it ran way too long between changes or if it was a fleet vehicle or something.

Mine has a solid maintenance history. I’m going to ask around about AHC service. Been reading a bunch on the Mud forum. Stoked so far.

I haven’t noticed mine lowering at 60mph. I’ll consult the manual for that.

 

Quick lube places can sometimes discard the perforated flute inside the oil filter cap, the engine will eventually die from low oil pressure. Just a theory.

 

https://youtube.com/shorts/r7ojVBMITsw?feature=share

here’s the video showing AHC lowering at speed so that the aerodynamics of the brick are slightly increased.

Reference the metal in the oil, no clue. It had good service records up to 100k through Lexus. I bought it at 131k and offloaded it at 134k.

ih8mud is a great forum with lots of 200 series info. Spent many hours reading up. Again congrats

 

Nice! I’ve seen that chart, and I knew the other things about it, but I didn’t know it lowers at highway speeds. Never noticed it. I’ll see if I can tell when it happens…