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2020 Toyota Highlander Platinum AWD Review: Cool Tech

"The 2020 Toyota Highlander is your average performer on a crowded stage."

• Well integrated touch screen

• Comfortable ride

• Lack of interior space

• Poor quality interior

• Badly tuned transmission

When you have a lot of people or things to move around, a minivan is the perfect tool. Minivans are chilly, however, which is why there are vehicles like the 2020 Toyota Highlander.

With three rows of seats and a rugged SUV look, the Highlander is the perfect choice for parents who wouldn't be caught dead in a minivan. That's a huge part of the buying audience. In addition to old competitors like the Honda Pilot and the Ford Explorer, the reworked 2020 Highlander faces newer competition in the form of the Subaru Ascent, Volkswagen Atlas and the Hyundai Palisade / Kia Telluride twins.

The 2020 Highlander was a base price of $ 35,720, but that only buys a base front-wheel drive LE model. The price goes up quickly with options. Our test car was a fully loaded Platinum model with all the bells and whistles and four-wheel drive priced at $ 50,663.

Design and interior

With its sinister front end, the Highlander wants to convey truck-like toughness. Under the skin, however, it is based on the same TNGA (Toyota New Global Architecture) platform as ordinary cars like the Camry and Corolla, as well as the smaller RAV4. This is a widely used strategy in the auto industry as most buyers want the looks and high driving position of a truck, but not the bad road manners.

In terms of design, the interior of the Highlander is pretty low-key. Apart from a floating case for the infotainment touchscreen, the design is completely unoriginal. The interior was boring to look at, but at least functional. The outside view was good, and small touches like a phone rest and well-placed USB ports made a big difference. The Highlander is equipped as standard with four USB ports and two 120-volt sockets in the first and second rows. Qi cell phone charging is available. However, you cannot get USB ports on the third line. The front seats (upholstered leather with heating and ventilation in our Platinum test car) were very comfortable even after hours of driving.

The Highlander falls short where it really matters: interior.

It was harder to excuse the quality of the interior. The thin plastic trim and rubbery dashboard trim didn't feel appropriate for a vehicle at the base price of the Highlander of $ 35,720, let alone a vehicle that cost $ 15,000 more. Most of the Highlander's competitors have the same problem (the Hyundai Palisade is a notable exception), but it seemed particularly bad in the Toyota.

The Highlander also fails where it really matters: in the interior. At 27.7 inches, third-row legroom is the worst in this segment, and the overall space is so cramped that even young children are likely to find it uncomfortable. The front row legroom and headroom are also on the back of the pack. The cargo space is a little below average and is way behind the Chevrolet Traverse and the Volkswagen Atlas. As with all vehicles of this size, you will need to fold down the third row seats to gain ample cargo space.

Technology, infotainment and driver assistance

The 2020 Highlander comes standard with an 8-inch touchscreen, Apple CarPlay / Android Auto and Amazon Alexa compatibility, Waze and an integrated Wi-Fi hotspot. Platinum models like our test car have a 12.3-inch touchscreen. A head-up display is also available.

Toyota bucked the trend by opting for a landscape rather than a portrait for the big screen. It looks better than the awkwardly integrated 10.1-inch portrait screen in the Ford Explorer without sacrificing functionality. The screen is easier to reach for both the driver and front passenger, and a three-column split setup makes logical use of the huge strip of pixels. It's a shame Toyota decided to fill that huge screen with simple, outdated graphics.

The Highlander comes standard with Toyota Safety Sense 2.0, which includes autonomous emergency braking (with pedestrian detection), adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, lane following assistant, automatic high beam and traffic sign recognition. Optional functions include blind spot monitoring with rear cross traffic warning, autonomous emergency braking in the opposite direction and a 360-degree camera system.

With a three-column split setup, the large pixel strip of the screen is used logically.

The addition of standard driver aids is pretty good for a vehicle in this price range, but the performance has been below par. The adaptive cruise control left a large gap to the vehicle in front so that other vehicles could switch on suddenly. The system also responded slowly when the car in front accelerated, although this could be partly due to the poorly tuned transmission.

The lane following assistant, which uses steering inputs to keep the car centered on its lane, only worked on arrow-straight stretches of road. It couldn't follow even the smoothest of freeway curves, allowing the Highlander to drift off its lane as if driven by the inattentive human that such technology should surpass.

One thing Toyota did right was integrating the camera and system. An overhead view is automatically displayed on the infotainment screen when you shift into reverse. It can be activated at other times at the push of a button. A simple setup like this makes parking a lot easier, but not every automaker seems to have figured that out.

Experience at the wheel

For the 2020 model year, Toyota offers two powertrain options: gasoline or hybrid. Toyota dropped the four-cylinder base engine from the previous generation Highlander, so now a 3.5-liter V6 is chosen as standard. It puts out 295 horsepower and 263 pound-feet of torque and is mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission.

Power is just ahead of the Hyundai Palisade / Kia Telluride twins, but the Ford Explorer can produce 300 horsepower and 310 lb-ft with a 2.3-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder engine. The Honda Pilot and the Subaru Ascent have less power but more torque. The V6 Highlander is rated to tow up to 5,000 pounds, which is average for the segment, although the Nissan Pathfinder outperforms with a towing power of 6,000 pounds.

The hybrid option combines a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine with Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive system for a combined output of 243 hp. As with other Toyota hybrid crossovers, all-wheel drive is achieved via a second electric motor for the rear axle with no mechanical connection to the front wheels. The Ford Explorer is the only other vehicle in this segment that offers a hybrid powertrain.

The V6 engine was disappointed with a chunky gearbox.

Our test car had the V6 engine which turned out to be very powerful for everyday driving. In fact, it sounded pretty good, even though the Toyota Avalon TRD sedan didn't have the power exhaust system. However, the engine was disappointed by a chunky gearbox. The eight-speed automatic shifted roughly and responded slowly to requests for more power, like Scotty when he reported to the Enterprise after taking a sleeping pill.

The Highlander has front-wheel drive as standard, but our test car had the optional all-wheel drive system with torque vector. Torque vectoring changes the distribution of power between the wheels on each axle to improve cornering. The system made a noticeable difference and made the Highlander much more agile than a vehicle of this size would normally.

The Highlander is not a Supra, however. Aside from the torque transmission, even the slightest hint of aggression in corners is answered with the scolding screeching of the tires. The Highlander is much happier on freeways, where it offers a comfortable ride and sweeping views of the road. This is the case with most other vehicles in this segment, although the Subaru Ascent and Honda Pilot offer a bit more excitement on winding roads.

Fuel economy and safety

Platinum models, including our test car, are rated at 24 mpg (21 mpg city, 29 mpg highway) with front-wheel drive and 23 mpg (20 mpg city, 27 mpg highway) with all-wheel drive. These numbers are slightly above average for this segment. The Highlander Hybrid achieves up to 36 MPG in combination with front-wheel drive, much better than the Ford Explorer Hybrid with a maximum of 28 MPG.

The Highlander received the "Top Safety Pick" rating from the Insurance Institute for Road Safety (IIHS), with the highest rating "Top Safety Pick +" being missed due to poorly rated headlights in the lower trim levels. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has not yet rated the 2020 Highlander.

Toyota offers a 36,000 mile base three year warranty and a 60,000 mile five year powertrain warranty, plus free scheduled maintenance for two years or 25,000 miles. The warranty period is average for a mainstream brand, but the Hyundai Palisade and Kia Telluride are warranted for 10 years and 100,000 miles on the powertrain.

Predicting the future reliability of a new vehicle like the 2020 Highlander is difficult, but overall Toyota has an excellent reputation for reliability. Earlier generations of Highlanders have proven to be quite sturdy, which is why they are popular with taxi and Uber drivers.

How DT would configure this car

If you want the most technology in a 2020 Toyota Highlander, you have to go for the highest platinum trim level. It has the largest 12.3-inch touchscreen as well as a head-up display, a digital rear-view mirror and a 360-degree camera system as standard. It also gets niceties like a panoramic sunroof, improved leather upholstery, and 20-inch wheels.

This test drive didn't include the hybrid model, but if you're buying a Highlander it might be worth a look. The hybrid has a premium of around $ 2,000 over the V6 Highlander, but has significantly better mileage and eliminates the rough-shifting transmission used in V6 models. The hybrid option is also one of the few things that really sets the Highlander apart from the competition.

Our opinion

The Highlander has been the number one choice for many families since the first generation was introduced in 2001, but the fourth generation model for 2020 rests on its laurels. Buyers can still expect reliability and a minimum of practicality, but the competition offers more.

Interior space and functionality are crucial for a vehicle like this. The third row of the Highlander is too narrow for everyday use and the space in the other two rows is behind most of the pack. The interior has some nice details, like a well-integrated touchscreen, but the materials are below average. Nothing about the interior or packaging is remarkable or innovative.

It is similar with the driving experience. The Highlander is perfectly fine to drive, but it doesn't attract any attention. Buyers probably don't expect sports car performance, but at least the Honda Pilot and Subaru Ascent won't put the driver to sleep. The Hyundai Palisade offers greater sophistication overall, while the Ford Explorer has some off-road capabilities.

Then there is the sliding door elephant in the room. Whether or not you think the Highlander is cooler than a minivan, it's undoubtedly less practical. Toyota's own Sienna can accommodate the same number of people with a larger overall passenger and cargo volume. The sliding doors of a minivan and the lower ride height also make it easier to load and unload people and objects. The Sienna is even getting a standard 33-mpg hybrid powertrain for the 2021 model year.

Should you get one

No. The Highlander is a competent family freight forwarder, but with so many other options, why should he settle for just competent?

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