2025 Toyota Highlander

The 2025 Highlander is a carry-over year of the XU70 generation. The volume gas trim (XLE) uses the T24A-FTS 2.4L turbo four rated 265 hp, which replaced the 3.5L V6 for 2023; the 2.5L hybrid makes 243 hp combined. Modest peak output for a three-row mid-size, scoring low in a band that stretches to 550 hp.

The turbo four's 310 lb-ft arrives low and stays broad, a real gain over the 263 lb-ft of the superseded V6 and the reason the Highlander feels adequate in traffic despite unremarkable horsepower.

Edmunds' instrumented test of the 2.4T AWD returns 7.4 seconds — mid-pack for the mid-size three-row class and unchanged for 2025 since the powertrain carries over. Consumer Reports notes the turbo four is roughly half a second slower to 60 than the V6 it replaced.

Adequate rather than polished. The 2.4T pulls willingly on low-end boost but is repeatedly called loud and coarse when worked, with lag off the line — a step back in smoothness from the V6. The hybrid is noticeably more refined at town speeds but drones under full throttle.

The Direct Shift-8AT is smooth and unobtrusive in normal driving but is reported to hesitate before a quick downshift; the hybrid's eCVT is seamless in traffic and only objectionable when held at full throttle. Solidly mid-band — neither a strength nor a flaw.

5,000 lbs properly equipped with the turbo four matches the Pilot and Explorer and is a real advantage over compact crossovers, though it trails body-on-frame and turbo-six three-rows. Choosing the hybrid — the only powertrain on several 2025 trims — drops the rating to 3,500 lbs.

2025 is the year AWD became standard on every Highlander Hybrid grade (electronic on-demand E-Four), and it stays optional across the whole gas range, with Dynamic Torque Vectoring AWD and a rear driveline disconnect on XSE, Limited and Platinum. Broad availability and a genuine 2025 improvement, but there is no low range and lesser trims use a basic on-demand coupling.

Squarely pavement-oriented: 8.0 inches of ground clearance, unibody construction, no skid plates, no locking differential and no dedicated off-road grade in the 2025 lineup (LE, XLE, XSE, Limited, Platinum gas; XLE through Platinum hybrid — the Nightshade package is cosmetic). Well below the Pilot TrailSport or any TRD-equipped Toyota.

Two distinct powertrains for 2025 — the 2.4L turbo gas four and the 2.5L hybrid — cover mainstream needs and put an electrified option across most of the range. No PHEV, no EV variant and no performance engine (unlike the Grand Highlander's Hybrid MAX) keeps it out of the top band.

The volume configuration is the XLE with the 2.4L T24A-FTS turbo four and 8-speed automatic in AWD, EPA-rated 24 MPG combined; the optional 2.5L hybrid lifts that to 35 MPG combined but remains an extra-cost powertrain rather than the volume one.

City is the turbo four's weakest cycle — there is no electric assist off the line in a ~4,300 lb three-row — and it trails the hybrid by a full 14 MPG in exactly the stop-and-go driving where three-row families spend most of their miles.

The 8-speed automatic's tall top gears make the highway cycle the turbo four's best case, closing most of the gap to the hybrid (28 vs 35) — the hybrid's real advantage over this powertrain is overwhelmingly a city-cycle advantage.

A 17.9-gallon tank at 24 MPG combined gives roughly 430 miles between fills — mid-pack for a mid-size three-row and enough for a normal travel day, but the same tank in hybrid form goes nearly 200 miles farther.

At EPA's standard 15,000 miles a year the turbo four burns about 625 gallons of regular, an annual bill around $2,060 — ordinary for a mid-size three-row but roughly $650 a year more than the same vehicle in hybrid form, which is most of the hybrid's price premium back inside a typical ownership period.

Both powertrains run on 87-octane regular with no premium recommendation, no diesel or E85 complication, and no charging infrastructure to arrange — the cheapest and simplest energy story available short of home charging.

NHTSA rates the 2025 Highlander 5 stars overall; the frontal-crash and rollover sub-scores are the weaker 4-star results, with a 16.4% rollover probability typical of a tall three-row crossover.

The 2025 Highlander wins no IIHS award: it takes Good in the small overlap front test, the updated side test, roof strength and head restraints, but drops to Marginal in the updated moderate overlap front test on rear-passenger head, neck and abdomen injury measures — an outright disqualifier no matter how strong the rest of the sheet reads.

Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 is standard on every 2025 trim from the base LE — pre-collision with pedestrian, cyclist and intersection-turn detection, full-speed-range adaptive cruise, lane departure alert with steering assist, lane tracing assist, road sign assist, automatic high beams and Proactive Driving Assist — but Blind Spot Monitor with Rear Cross-Traffic Alert does not arrive until the XLE, so the base car is one of the core five short.

The TSS 3.0 pre-collision system earns Good in the IIHS front crash prevention evaluations for both vehicle-to-vehicle and pedestrian scenarios, and it detects pedestrians in low light as well as oncoming and turning vehicles at intersections — strong, mainstream-competitive performance rather than a standout.

Blind Spot Monitor with Rear Cross-Traffic Alert is standard from the XLE up and so covers the volume trim, but it is alert-only there — rear cross-traffic braking and Safe Exit Assist are Limited/Platinum items, and the base LE goes without blind-spot coverage entirely.

Lane Departure Alert with Steering Assist plus Lane Tracing Assist deliver genuine highway centering on every trim, and Proactive Driving Assist adds gentle corner and lead-car braking, but reviewers consistently describe Toyota's centering as reactive — it drifts toward a lane edge before correcting instead of holding the middle.

Full-Speed Range Dynamic Radar Cruise Control is standard across the 2025 range and works down to a stop with automatic resume in traffic, one of the smoother mainstream systems for following distance and merges; the limiter is the lane tracing beside it, which is less confident than the cruise control itself.

No hands-free highway driving is offered on the 2025 Highlander at any trim or price — Toyota Teammate Advanced Drive remains a Lexus-side feature — so a shopper cross-shopping a BlueCruise Explorer or a Super Cruise Traverse cannot get it here at all.

IIHS rates the standard LED headlights only Acceptable with some low-beam glare; the Good-rated adaptive units are a Platinum-only fitment, so the volume XLE buyer gets the weaker setup even though automatic high beams are standard across the line.

Edmunds' testers found visibility very good with no significant blind spots, helped by a relatively low beltline and upright glass for a three-row crossover; the deduction is that the 360-degree Panoramic View Monitor that would compensate for the thick D-pillars and shallow rear glass is restricted to the upper trims.

Two full LATCH positions in the second row plus tether anchors extending to the third row, with wide rear door openings and second-row captain's chairs standard on all but the LE that make loading a seat easy — but the lower anchors sit deep in the seat bight and the Highlander's narrow, low-mounted third row is a poor place to put a child in a booster.

The 2025 Highlander is the fourth-generation XU70 in its post-2023-refresh form, offering three rows with an eight-passenger second-row bench on LE/XLE and seven passengers when the second-row captain's chairs are fitted. The volume XLE ships with the bench, so the representative maximum is eight.

Front headroom of 41.2 in is near the top of the mid-size SUV band and a genuine strength of the Highlander's upright greenhouse; the figure quoted is the non-moonroof measurement per the item's instruction, and moonroof-equipped upper trims give up well over an inch.

Front legroom of 42.0 in is mid-pack for the segment — fine for most drivers but noticeably behind the Grand Highlander and the Palisade/Telluride pair, reflecting the standard Highlander's tighter overall packaging on the GA-K platform.

Second-row headroom of 39.4 in sits high in the SUV normalization band — the boxy roofline pays off in the middle row, where adults sit without brushing the ceiling.

At 41.0 in fully rearward the second row is class-competitive and comfortably adult-sized, but that measurement is taken in exactly the position that leaves the third row unusable — several aggregators publish the forward-set figure of 38.7 in instead, which is the honest number when all three rows are occupied.

The third row is the weakest part of the package: roughly 28 in of legroom and 36 in of headroom on a thin, low-mounted cushion make it a children-only bench, and adults can only be seated by sliding the second row uncomfortably far forward. Access via the tilt-and-slide second row is easy enough, but Toyota effectively conceded the point by selling the Grand Highlander alongside it for buyers who need real third-row space.

With the third row folded the Highlander offers 48.4 cu ft — usable but well short of the Grand Highlander's 57.9 cu ft and the larger Korean rivals. The 16.0 cu ft available with all three rows up covers a grocery run, not a family's luggage.

Maximum cargo volume of 84.3 cu ft is solidly mid-pack for a mid-size three-row SUV, and both rear rows fold to a near-flat load floor with a low lift-over height.

Competitive everyday storage without a headline trick. The full-width dashboard shelf with a pass-through behind the center stack is genuinely useful, and the deep slide-open center console, wireless charging pad, large door bins and USB-C/USB-A ports fore and aft cover family duty. There is no underfloor cargo well, no fold-flat front passenger seat and nothing approaching a Pilot-style removable middle seat or a giga-console.

Front seats are well shaped and comfortable over long stints with power adjustment and lumbar support on the volume XLE and above, and the available second-row captain's chairs are nearly as good. The score is held out of the top band by a third row that is uncomfortable for anyone larger than a child and by XLE upholstery that Consumer Reports found plain next to the Palisade and Telluride.

The Highlander rides in a composed, absorbent way that suits its family-hauler brief — body motions are well damped and broken pavement is soaked up without float at either low or highway speeds. Limited and Platinum trims on 20-inch wheels pick up noticeably more sharp-edged impact harshness, which keeps it below the segment's plushest offerings.

Wind and road noise are well suppressed at steady cruise, but the four-cylinder powertrains are the weak point: the 2.4-liter turbo sounds coarse under load and the 2.5-liter hybrid drones under hard acceleration, both a step back from the V6 this generation once offered. Reviewers also flag more highway road noise in the hybrid specifically.

Comfort equipment is strong and reaches well down the range: tri-zone automatic climate control with second- and third-row vents and remote start are standard across the lineup, heated front seats and a heated steering wheel arrive on the volume XLE, and ventilated front seats plus heated second-row seats are available on Limited and Platinum. It falls short of the top band only because ventilation and heated rear seats stay locked to the two most expensive trims.

The gas LE FWD opens the 2025 XU70 range at $39,520 plus Toyota's $1,450 delivery charge — a ~$250 bump over 2024 and squarely mid-band for a three-row mid-size SUV, but noticeably above the Palisade/Telluride entry points the Highlander is cross-shopped against.

XLE is the best-selling Highlander grade and the one Edmunds recommends, and AWD — a common pick in a three-row family SUV — adds about $1,600, putting the representative car in the mid-$45,000s delivered. That is real money for a mainstream badge: the 2025 Highlander now overlaps the roomier Grand Highlander, which is the central knock on its value case.

The 2.4L turbo four and 8-speed automatic need ordinary service, and Toyota's defect record keeps the repair line small inside the warranty years — but this is a heavy three-row SUV serviced at mid-size-SUV labor rates, so the ledger lands just past the middle of the band. Sources disagree sharply because Edmunds prices dealer-retail scheduled service while CarEdge/RepairPal reflect what owners actually spend.

This is the Highlander's best ownership-cost line and the main offset to its high sticker: it holds roughly ten points more value at five years than the mid-size SUV average, on Toyota reliability equity and steady demand for three-row family crossovers. The hybrid does better still.

Standard Toyota coverage and the industry floor — the Hyundai Palisade and Kia Telluride, the Highlander's direct rivals, both give 5 yr / 60,000 mi basic.

The gas XLE scored here gets the segment-minimum 5 yr / 60,000 mi, half the 10 yr / 100,000 mi Hyundai and Kia hand three-row buyers. Stepping to the Highlander Hybrid buys materially longer coverage on the electrified hardware, which does not apply to the representative gas trim.

ToyotaCare covers factory-scheduled service for 2 yr / 25,000 mi with 2 years of unlimited-mileage roadside assistance — genuine savings on the first several services, but a short window with no extended connected-services package and no charging credits. Mid-band: better than the no-coverage brands, well short of the multi-year programs that earn 80+.

$45,410 volume-trim price minus its estimated resale value after 5 years (63% retained, or about $28,608) leaves about $16,802 in depreciation. Add the projected $6,100 in 5-year maintenance and repairs, and owning this vehicle for 5 years costs about $22,902 in total.

The 2025 Highlander is a mature fifth year of the XU70 generation and both major raters put it above average: Consumer Reports calls the Highlander Hybrid more reliable than other 2025-model-year vehicles and describes the nameplate as delivering consistently good reliability, while J.D. Power's quality-and-reliability score sits in the low 80s. Held out of the 90s because the volume gas trim's 2.4L turbo four has a shorter record than the V6 it replaced in 2023.

Toyota is the benchmark mass-market brand for dependability — it ranks #1 in Consumer Reports' 2025 brand reliability rankings, ahead of Subaru and Lexus. Short of the very top of the band only because J.D. Power's three-year dependability study places Toyota outside the top five, though still well clear of the industry average.

Typical recall activity for the model year with nothing systemic to the engine, transmission or hybrid system: three NHTSA campaigns on the 2025 gas Highlander (two on the hybrid), of which the instrument-panel and panoramic-view-monitor actions are software fixes deliverable over the air. The third-row center seat belt roof anchor installed at the wrong angle is a genuine assembly defect on a restraint, which keeps this out of the 80s.

The hybrid's 2.5L A25A-FXS with THS II eCVT — standard with AWD for 2025 — is among the most proven high-mileage powertrains on sale, shared with Camry and RAV4. The gas volume trim's 2.4L T24A-FTS turbo four with the 8-speed automatic has only been in Highlander since 2023 and carries early flags (carbon buildup, timing-chain and EGR concerns, a hesitation/surging bulletin), so it cannot claim the 3.5L V6's high-mileage reputation.

Toyota spends where hands land — decent synthetic leather on the upper dash, door tops and center armrest — but hard plastic dominates elsewhere and gets worse toward the second and third rows. Perceived richness trails Hyundai Palisade, Kia Telluride and Honda Pilot at comparable money, and only the Platinum and 25th Edition trims narrow the gap.

Assembly is a genuine strength — a sixth year of production at Toyota's Indiana plant yields consistent panel gaps and few rattle or squeak complaints, and reviewers call the cabin solidly put together. Not higher because Toyota does not lead J.D. Power's Initial Quality Study, where infotainment friction now drives much of the score.

One of the densest service networks in the country — roughly 1,230 franchised dealers spread across all 50 states — so a Highlander can be serviced almost anywhere, with two years of scheduled maintenance included. Service satisfaction rates solidly rather than exceptionally among mass-market brands, which keeps this short of the top of the band.

Highlander's volume and long production run make parts cheap, abundant and familiar to independent shops, and measured repair cost runs meaningfully below the mid-size SUV average with fewer unscheduled shop visits than the class. The turbo four adds some complexity versus the old V6 but no unusual parts pricing.

The volume XLE grade ships the 8.0-inch Toyota Audio Multimedia head unit; the 12.3-inch display is a paid upgrade on XLE and standard only from XSE up. Eight inches sits at the bottom of the mid-size SUV band for 2025, where Palisade, Telluride and Traverse standardize far larger panels.

Toyota Audio Multimedia is quick, sharply rendered and logically laid out, and the Highlander keeps a physical volume knob plus real HVAC buttons — a genuine advantage over touch-only rivals. It loses points for the small 8-inch panel on the volume trim and for a home screen with no split-view, so only one function is visible at a time.

Wireless Apple CarPlay and wireless Android Auto are standard on every 2025 Highlander grade including the base LE, alongside a Wi-Fi hotspot — the top band of this item and the vehicle's clearest tech win.

The 'Hey Toyota' Intelligent Assistant handles natural-language climate, audio and destination requests competently, but it and cloud navigation are bundled into Drive Connect — a one-year trial on XLE/XSE that becomes a paid subscription, with no embedded offline maps to fall back on. Most volume-trim owners end up navigating with phone projection.

The six-speaker base system on LE/XLE is merely adequate, and the 11-speaker JBL Premium upgrade — standard from Limited up — is solid but unremarkable next to the Harman and Bose systems in Palisade and Telluride. A volume-trim buyer has to move up a grade or option package to get branded audio at all.

The volume XLE keeps an analog gauge cluster with a 7-inch color multi-information display; the full 12.3-inch digital cluster starts at XSE and is standard on Limited and Platinum. That is the 'partial digital / full digital on upper trims only' band, though the cutoff sits one grade lower than in many rivals.

Toyota Audio Multimedia accepts over-the-air updates for infotainment software and map data over Wi-Fi or the built-in data connection, but the XU70 Highlander has no whole-vehicle OTA architecture that adds powertrain, chassis or driver-assist features after delivery. Infotainment/maps-only is the middle band.

The Toyota app covers the core set — remote start/climate, lock/unlock, vehicle locate and status — and Digital Key phone-as-key is offered, but both Digital Key and app-based remote start ride on Remote Connect, which reverts to a paid subscription after its trial. Key-fob remote start remains standard and subscription-free, which softens the hit.

Five USB ports and two 12V outlets are standard and Qi wireless charging arrives with the volume XLE, and the Limited/Platinum add a 120V household outlet (1,500 W on the hybrids). The real shortfall is that the ports serve only the first two rows — a three-row family SUV with no third-row charging in 2025 is behind the class.

Proximity keyless entry with push-button start and a power liftgate are standard from the base LE, the hands-free kick-sensor liftgate becomes standard on the volume XLE, and Digital Key phone-as-key is available. Strong coverage, held just below the top band because phone-as-key is subscription-tied.

A rear camera is standard and the volume XLE adds front and rear parking sensors, but the Panoramic View Monitor surround camera is only optional on Limited and standard on Platinum, its resolution trails newer rivals, and no automated parking feature is offered anywhere in the lineup.

A 10-inch color head-up display is confined to the range-topping Platinum grade, so no volume-trim buyer can order one at any price — squarely the 'HUD limited to top trims' band.

Wide rear door openings, a tilt-and-slide second row that reaches the third row without uninstalling a seat, two complete LATCH sets and second-row captain's chairs standard from XLE up cover everyday kid logistics well. It stays mid-band because the lower anchors sit deep in the seat bight, the second row is too narrow for three car seats across (the eight-seat bench is confined to the base LE), and only 16.0 cu ft behind the third row leaves nowhere for a stroller once the car is actually full.

Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 — pre-collision with pedestrian, cyclist and intersection-turn detection, full-speed radar cruise, Lane Tracing Assist and Proactive Driving Assist — is standard on every 2025 trim including the base LE, and NHTSA awards 5 stars overall, so the content families actually buy is genuinely there. It is capped below the top band because IIHS rates the 2025 Highlander Marginal in the updated moderate overlap front test on rear-passenger head, neck and abdomen measures, which leaves it with no 2025 Top Safety Pick award, and because Blind Spot Monitor does not appear until XLE while Safe Exit Assist and the 360-degree camera are locked to Limited/Platinum.

Rows one and two are genuinely good for long hauls — 41.0 in of sliding second-row legroom, 39.4 in of headroom, cushy seats, standard three-zone automatic climate with rear vents and controls, and USB-C power in every row. It sits mid-band because the third row is a children-only bench that reviewers single out as the car's biggest liability, luggage room with seven or eight aboard is just 16.0 cu ft, and there is no rear-seat entertainment offered anywhere in the lineup.

This is the Highlander's home ground: the hybrid's eCVT is seamless in stop-and-go, the suspension soaks up broken pavement, controls are light, the driving position is commanding, and TSS 3.0 puts full-speed-range adaptive cruise, Lane Tracing Assist and Proactive Driving Assist on every trim including the base LE. It stops short of the top band because the 2.4L turbo four is coarse and boomy under load and rearward sightlines are poor with the third row raised.

The 2025 hybrid returns 35 MPG combined — AWD is now standard across every hybrid trim, so there is no thriftier FWD variant, but 35 MPG in a three-row is still near the top of anything with a third row and works out to roughly $1,410 a year in regular unleaded. Toyota's consumables and service costs are class-leading and ToyotaCare covers 2 years/25,000 miles. It misses the top band because the volume gas XLE runs the 2.4T at only 24 MPG combined AWD (~$2,060/yr), which is merely average for the class.

At roughly 194.9 in long the Highlander has the smallest footprint among mainstream mid-size three-rows — noticeably easier in garages and city streets than a Telluride, Pilot or its own Grand Highlander sibling — and the turning circle of about 37 ft is good for the class. It stays mid-band because thick D-pillars and shallow rear glass create a real blind zone, the 360-degree Panoramic View Monitor is confined to Limited and Platinum (plus the 25th Edition), and no automated parking assist is offered at all.

Properly equipped with the 2.4L turbo the 2025 Highlander tows 5,000 lbs — enough for a small utility trailer, a pair of jet skis or a modest boat, and level with the Pilot and Explorer — but the hybrid that most efficiency buyers now take home drops to 3,500 lbs. It sits at the floor of the light-duty band because there is no bed, the unibody platform offers modest payload, and 265 hp is working hard anywhere near the rating.

Toyota's dependability record is the strongest in the mass market — top-tier brand reliability, cheap and universally stocked parts, a dealer network that reaches everywhere — and the SofTex and cloth interiors on LE and XLE shrug off abuse better than the leather-lined rivals. It stays out of the fleet-proven band because this is a family unibody crossover with no commercial or work-fleet history in the role, and the T24A-FTS turbo four that replaced the 3.5L V6 in 2023 is still a comparatively young unit under sustained load.

Work-oriented provisions are thin: cargo-area tie-down hooks, roof rails on XLE and above, an accessory tow hitch and an all-weather cargo mat are essentially the entire list. It lands in the low band because there is no high-output inverter of the kind the Grand Highlander offers, no factory washable or rubberized cargo surfaces (the liner is a dealer accessory), and no commercial upfit ecosystem behind the vehicle at all.

A capable mile-eater for the front two rows: comfortable, generously cushioned front seats, a compliant ride, roughly 625 miles of range from the hybrid's 17.9-gallon tank, and TSS 3.0's full-speed radar cruise plus Lane Tracing Assist to take the edge off a long day. It stays in the upper-middle of the band because road noise at highway speed is only mid-pack, the gas 2.4T covers about 430 miles a tank, and no hands-free highway assist is available at any price.

AWD is standard on every 2025 hybrid (new this year) and optional across the gas range — Dynamic Torque Vectoring with a rear driveline disconnect on upper gas trims, electric E-Four on the hybrid — and roof rails plus the 5,000-lb gas tow rating handle bikes, a cargo box or a small camper. It sits mid-band because 8.0 in of ground clearance, unibody construction, no low range, no skid plates, no locking differential, no genuine off-road trim (Nightshade is cosmetic) and no camp-grade power keep it to gravel roads and trailheads rather than trails.

Both rear rows fold 60/40 to a near-flat floor for 84.3 cu ft, and roof rails plus an accessory hitch cover bikes, boxes and a small trailer. It stays in the middle of the band because 84.3 cu ft is no better than mid-pack for a three-row, the 16.0 cu ft behind the raised third row is genuinely restrictive when the car is full, and there is no underfloor cargo well and no fold-flat front passenger seat for long items.

The 2025 Highlander is a carry-over year of the XU70 generation on the TNGA-K platform, and it remains the most compact of the mainstream three-rows (~195 in long, 112.2-in wheelbase). Body roll is well controlled for the class and the SUV is easy to place, but grip on the comfort-biased all-seasons is modest and it is no athlete when pushed — secure and confidence-inspiring rather than engaging, which puts it mid-band alongside Pathfinder (66.9) and above the softer Pilot (59.4) but below the Mazda CX-90 (74.5).

Toyota's electric rack is accurate, consistent, and light enough to make parking-lot manoeuvring effortless, which suits the family-hauler mission, but it is heavily isolated with essentially no road feedback and little weight build-up off-center. Precise enough but numb — textbook mid-band, well behind the segment's better-steering entries (CX-90, Grand Cherokee) and comparable to Palisade/Telluride.

Stopping power is class-typical to slightly better than typical for a ~4,300–4,600 lb three-row, with no fade complaints attached to this generation. The 2.4T's pedal is firm and predictable; the hybrid's regen blending is well-sorted by Toyota's long-running HSD calibration but leaves a slightly soft, numb initial travel. A quiet competence rather than a weakness.

A split result across the two 2025 powertrains. The T24A-FTS 2.4L turbo four (265 hp / 310 lb-ft) with the 8-speed automatic is quick enough for the class at roughly 7.0–7.5 sec to 60 mph, but it trades away the pre-2023 V6's linearity — there is noticeable off-idle lag at tip-in and the transmission can be slow to commit to a downshift. The 2.5L hybrid's eCVT (243 hp combined, AWD standard for 2025) is the smoother of the two, with seamless engine start/stop and no shift shock. Averaged across the volume gas and hybrid trims this lands mid-band.

The clearest dynamic weak point. The 2.4L turbo four is audibly coarser and less pleasant under load than the V6 it replaced — a criticism that has followed this engine across Toyota's lineup — and the hybrid drones under hard acceleration as the eCVT holds revs. Both are well isolated at a steady cruise and there is no objectionable vibration through the wheel or pedals, which keeps this out of the bottom band.

Toyota's published curb-to-curb turning diameter for the XU70 Highlander is 37.4 ft (11.4 m) on the 18-inch wheels fitted to the volume LE and XLE trims, rising to 38.4 ft on the 20-inch wheels of the upper trims. That is mid-pack within the SUV band (34–42 ft) and tighter than larger three-rows such as the Pilot or Traverse, consistent with the Highlander's comparatively short 112.2-in wheelbase.

One of the Highlander's genuine strengths: a tall, commanding seating position with a low cowl and good forward sightlines, an easy step-in height for a three-row, and — unlike several rivals — retained physical HVAC and volume controls alongside the touchscreen. Two documented compromises hold it just short of the top band: limited telescoping-wheel extension for tall drivers, and thick D-pillars that hurt over-the-shoulder visibility.

The Highlander is the segment's archetypal appliance and is engineered to be exactly that. It is quick enough in 2.4T form and pleasant to cover ground in, but numb steering, muted chassis responses, and a coarse engine note leave no character to enjoy. Even the nominally sporty XSE is a trim-and-graphics exercise — its 2025 update is a Sport Mode startup screen, not a chassis change — and enthusiasts do not recommend the Highlander on dynamics.

The $39,520 LE covers a family shopper's essentials — eight-passenger three-row seating, Toyota Safety Sense 2.5+, tri-zone automatic climate, power liftgate and wireless smartphone mirroring — and 2025 made AWD standard across the Hybrid line, but Toyota still gates the 12.3-inch touchscreen, JBL audio and panoramic monitor to Limited and Platinum, so parity with a Telluride or Palisade base car costs a trim step or two.

Fair rather than standout, and 2025 moved the wrong way on the hybrid: deleting the Hybrid LE pushed the electrified entry point to $47,470 delivered — at least $5,000 above 2024 — while the Highlander still concedes the segment's smallest third row and just 16.0 cu ft behind it to Telluride, Palisade, Pilot and Toyota's own Grand Highlander. Strong residuals and roughly 36 mpg combined from the hybrid are what pull the equation back to par.

Still a wide ladder — LE, XLE, XSE, Limited and Platinum on the 2.4L turbo with FWD or AWD, plus Hybrid XLE, Limited and Platinum, Nightshade appearance treatment and the 2,500-unit Limited 25th Edition — though 2025 narrowed the hybrid side by dropping the LE Hybrid and LE Hybrid Nightshade and making AWD mandatory, so a cheap or front-drive hybrid is no longer on the menu.

Volume is respectable in absolute terms but the trajectory for the nameplate is steeply down, because the larger Grand Highlander is taking the buyers out of the same showroom: US Highlander deliveries fell to 89,658 in 2024 and roughly 56,000 in 2025, leaving it behind Telluride, Palisade, Pilot and Explorer individually even as the combined Highlander family stays near the top of the class.

Toyota is about as strong as mainstream brand equity gets, and the Highlander is one of the nameplates that reliability-and-resale halo was built on — it is a genuine purchase driver for three-row family shoppers even when the product loses on paper.

Scored on buyer benefit: Toyota stays disciplined — subvented APR in the high-4% range plus $500 military and college rebates is about the extent of the published support — but the Highlander's sharp volume decline left more inventory on the ground in 2025 than in the seller's-market years, so there is modestly more room to negotiate than the nameplate historically allowed.

2025 is the sixth model year of the XU70 generation launched for 2020, and buyers now know the replacement is coming — the fifth-generation Highlander was confirmed as a battery-electric model. The MY2023 swap to the 2.4L turbo four and the Toyota Audio Multimedia interior keep it current rather than antique, but this is a late-cycle design outclassed on packaging by its own Grand Highlander stablemate.

Textbook 'well-reviewed, rarely the pick of the class' — reviewers consistently credit the quiet ride, hybrid economy and standard driver aids, then dock the tight third row and small cargo hold, which is why it sits far down the class rankings behind its own Grand Highlander and misses the top safety hardware honors it used to collect.