Opinions on the Highlander? Or other options for a third row seat SUV...

Wife has an ‘11 Buick Enclave. We’re going to replace it, looking for some advice on the models she’s considering:
-Highlander (recent used model)
-Kia Telluride (new for 2020)
-Another Enclave (recent used)
-VW Atlas (recent used)

Yukon/Tahoe are out for various reasons.

Must haves: third row seats, reliability, decent warranty remaining perhaps combined with extended warranty purchase, out the door under $40K.

Other priorities: cost of maintenance, looks, probably has to be leather.

I’m betting a lot of you here on TW have some of the vehicles in your garage, particularly the Highlander, so any first hand knowledge and advice would be appreciated.

For reference the Enclave has been a cool vehicle actually, because we bought it certified used and any issues we came across came up fairly early and were still covered by that warranty. Never thought I’d be involved with a Buick.

Thanks folks.

 

I have an '04 Highlander w/137k (pre 3 row option) that I just had to replace the left brake light bulb in. Had to do the right one 4-5 years ago. Maintenance is getting ridiculous.

And the paint is shot, but that's all on me.

We actually like it so much we're considering looking for another with low miles/good paint to replace it. Avoids a pricey paint job, keeps insurance and cash outlay low. And the old one is so mechanically solid I'd give it to someone in need with no hesitation.

Doesn't help you, except I think the 3 row started in '06 or '07. But you get pretty limited cargo room when you do that. If that's not an issue, don't be afraid to shop earlier years.

 

This is a Toyota forum so not entirely neutral. However, prior to the Tacoma I had a Highlander. My Highlander Limited was plush. The reason I’m in a Tacoma is because I got T-boned. The insurance gave me 50% of my purchase price for a 10 year old vehicle with 120K miles. Two thumbs up on the Highlander.

 

Thanks Bill — the third row deal is to have the option for more passengers, but most of the time those seats would be folded down. We’ll go test drive everything so really the data points from you good people are in the reliability area.

 

Nice, thanks! Have you driven a recent one? I need to look up when the most recent gen had its first year.

 

my dad picked up an '18 LE FWD base model (as all the models share the same drivetrain, he doesn't particularly care about all the flashy stuff or the leather seats) before i got my '18 Tacoma (both now have around 40,000 and 35,000km). the Highlander is quite nice to drive around in; quiet, decent on gas compared to the Tacoma. we had a challenge on who could get the best milage (since both vehicles use the same 3.5L V6 engine) and it's been ahead of me for quite some time, best i've seen it was around 8.5l/100km. the 8 speed auto makes going around a bit on the relaxing side but give it enough gas and it'll go without much issue.

maintenance side: having the same engine in 2 different vehicles means straight forward oil changes

 

I grew up in a 2004 Highlander, my parents bought it when I was in 4th grade. It had a third row seat (2004 was the first year for the third row). To get this out of the way now, the third row is very small and killed pretty much all of the cargo area. It's best used in a pinch, and with kids. Besides that, they said at the time it was the best-driving vehicle they'd ever owned. It had great V6 power, and was pretty much unstoppable in the snow. They live out in the county, and when it snows, no plows come out there. The Highlander was one of the few vehicles in the neighborhood actually able to get out. When I was 16 I TRIED to get it stuck but couldn't. Fast forward a few years, 200k hard miles, ZERO issues. The car was never in the shop for anything other than maintenance and wear items. Those miles were running around town, going over the mountains, and my sister and I learning to drive in it. Not highway commuting. Lots of family road trip memories in that car.
They traded it for a new 2015 Highlander LE Plus. Whenever I'm home I try to get an excuse to take it somewhere. Mom says she loves the car, says it's like the first Highlander but better in every way. Somehow it has more room inside, even though it's not that much bigger parked side-by-side with the old one. The third-row seat is way better, and it's split in half so you can seat one person back there and still have cargo space. Reliability has so far been on-par with the first one.

So, yeah. Get yourself a Highlander.

 

Since I have a ‘15 I guess the oil change won’t be the same....where’s the filter? Easy to get to or no? Appreciate all your other comments.

 

Thanks! So the third row wouldn’t be useful for adults, or just only for a short distance?

 

Also, what are the thoughts on the latest Highlander generation’s reliability vice the older models you all had great experiences with?

 

Go check it out for yourself to be sure, but I'm 5'10 and I fit in the back row of this new one no problem. Wouldn't count on it for long-distance but it can be done.

 

We’ve been traveling so much lately we haven’t had a spare minute to test drive anything. Sort of sad. Plus the Toyota dealerships are not super local. Not terribly far away but, if everyone had said don’t bother, for some very specific reason, I may not have...

I doubt any third row seat is really all that adult friendly though unless you’re in a Tahoe.

Hopefully we can schedule some test drives in about a week or so.

 

I had a 2011 Highlander before I bought this Tacoma in 2018. Never had an issue with it and it was great for that stage of my life- kids were in their teens. I traded it in with a fairly decent dent on the side from a parking lot incident and pretty worn tires. The dealer gave me 14K credit for it. I'm biased but I'd buy one again. (I also had a 2000 that my wife drove)

 

Not a personal experience, but my mother had a 2012 Highlander and loved every second of it. Only reason she got rid of it was due to an accident. Replaced it with a Rav4 because she wanted something smaller.

 

VW factory warranty on 2018+ is 6yr/72k mile bumper to bumper.

Tiguans can also be had with a third row but it basically takes up the cargo area.

A lot of people like to shit on VWs, but they are either bullet proof or filled with problems. You should be able to figure out which category it fits in by the time the warranty is up.

 

We traded the 2015 4Runner Limited
for a 2015 Durango Limited. Haven’t looked back! The 4Runner was ok but literally NO airflow in the rear so everyone was sweaty in the back.

The Durango has air vents in the ceiling all the way back to the 3rd row.

 

We had a V6 Atlas loaner last weekend (My fiancé drives a Jetta) and let me tell you it was super disappointing. Interior is fine, looks are great, price is a bit high but man the ride was atrocious. We’ve had jettas and passats and GTIs and this thing was by no means on that level. It rattled and you felt every bump like it didn’t have a suspension. It was basically a bloated Jetta but worse handling (to be expected) and terrible suspension. Steering was overly sensitive and even the V6 had massive pickup lag in “sport” mode. Road noise was noticeably loud too.

My fiancé hated the engine-start-stop (annoying that the AC went warm at red lights because the compressor was off, I could live with it but she couldn’t) and the cruise is adaptive-only, no way to turn it to “regular” cruise. Dealbreakers for our baby momma minivan substitute.

For $40k I expected the ride to be more on-par with my old Subaru Outback. No 3rd row, but man that thing rode like a cloud and was quiet inside. Really felt premium and I got it for under $30k. I had such high hopes for the Atlas given the quality of the Jetta and GTI.

The good news is that it puts the 4Runner back on the list haha

Edit: my sister-in-law has an 2018 Tiguan that we drove about a month ago and it was heads over heels better than the Atlas despite the smaller 3rd row

 

I'd probably go with a Q7 TDi for that sweet dieselgate warranty if I needed a 7 passenger tbh.

Have you looked at Subarus new Ascent? I think that's 7 passenger.

 

My girlfriend just picked up a 2014 Highlander and I like it. We looked at the Tiguan and even the Volvo XC90 but she decided to stick with another Highlander. She previously had like an 04 hybrid Highlander.

 

Had a Golf myself in my twenties and my dad had a VW at some point, but no recent personal experience. The dealership is further than the Toyota one so i feel like I’d have to get really excited about a VW to go that route.