Welcome to TundraSolutions.com! - New Members/Highlander Owners Introduce Yourself...

[KuHL 951]

Sorry, I missed the sticky and posted in the regular forum. Just wanted to post a hello and a little info. Last week I purchased a Toyota certified 2007 Highlander Sport (4WD) for my wife. The car has 12K on it now and is near showroom condition. So far we are very impressed and love it. I like the fact that the Toyota certified cars have a better drivetrain warranty than the new ones. I work on all my own cars and am a decent mechanic. I doubt that I'll being doing much to this car though in repairs though, just good maintenance. We love the way it rides, the comfort level, and it has ample power. I will have to research a bit here and see what the typical weak points are for the 2007. I've read comments about widely varying gas mileage with the 3.3L, odd shift points due to ECM programming, and AC systems that can give out early. Anything else I should be looking for? My only complaints so far are the lack of rear AC ducting to the 2nd row seats and the thinnly padded armrests.

I do have one question though. Is it possible to purchase factory tinted glass for the drivers/passenger windows to match the others? I really don't want film tint and just wondered if they were available through any source such as Canada or Japan?

Having a newer car for my wife (sold her aging Q45) will allow me more time to work on 2-Porsche 944 Turbos I've had for years. One is my daily driver and the other I'm in the process of a complete engine rebuild, larger turbo, etc.

Anyway that's my spiel and I look forward learning more from the more experienced people here.

Cheers

[kflapjack]

I have an 02 Highlander I purchased new. I was told there is valuable information on this site. I am looking for information regarding the A/C control.

[SundownRedPearl]

Greetings from Philadelphia! I'm thrilled to find this forum, since so few understand my relationship with my 2002 Highlander 4cyl AWD! 5 years, 57,000 miles. BTW, his name is Tyresias.

Looking forward to sharing Highlander experiences.

The road less traveled is the one you should take with your Toyota.......

[jadorn]

I'm postiing this as a new member to introduce myself (and our Toyotas.)

I'm a semi-retired IT/Disaster Recovery consultant who is also the Chaplain for our local fire-rescue department of 52 full-time personnel.

We, (my wife Judy, of 45 years, and I), have had seven Toyotas.

She upgraded her 2002 RAV4 to the new 2006 model last year, and 2 weeks ago, I bought a used 2006 Highlander Sport Model from a private party for $18,600. (A great price for vehicle with a $27,766 sticker.) I currently have my 2000 4Runner SR5 listed on Cars.com and Craig’s List.

The only Mods I'll be making on the HL will be a K&N replacement filter and adding strobes, which I use when called out. I hope to fit the front ones in the fog-light sockets, but will wire them in a seperate circuit from the fog harness. I'm a former US Navy Avaition Electronics Tech, so I'm OK with circuits and wiring.)

I just added a DrawTite hitch, which I purchased from eTrailer after reading several posts on this forum. It was a very easy installation as it bolted on perfectly, and I just plugged in the wiring harness into the factory towing package wiring. We have a small utility trailer with a canoe rack, but I would not want to pull much more with 2.4 even with a factory towing package.

As most of you know, Toyotas are the best vehicle value, and our last experience with the 2000 RAV4 proved it. We purchased this vehicle new for just under $ 18,000, and sold 3 1/2 years later with 37,000 miles on it, for $ 15,000. That's only $ 85.00 per month depreciation. It had fairly new Michelins and I did the oil changes with Mobil 1 100% synthetic, but it needed no other maintaince and was never in a dealership.

My 5' 1" Judy, loved her 2000 Rav4, but it was to small for me, as I'm 6' 195. I'm OK with the 2006 and we had a great 4,000 mile New England trip with it last fall. I do not drive this vehicle very much, and it did take a while for me to get used to the front wheel drive. I could not really feel a major difference with the "steer by wire" and I enjoyed the braking power.

I'm also getting used to the different feel of the "new" HL. It's a lot different than my 4Runner on a truck frame, but I was driving a Camry for several years before the 4Runner, so I knew what to expect. I do like the increased mileage as it's a 2.4, and the audio and braking are superior to the 4Runner.

I'll post some pics of our vehicles, the HL hitch, and the strobe installation later.

Thanks to all of you for your great information.

Chaplain Jack Dorn

[Landshark55]

Hello all,
I've just recently found this forum and have joined as a subscriber. We currently have a 2001 HL which we bought used with 20k miles back in 03? We now have 75k on it with no problems/issues. In the past we have owned; a 78 Corolla (my wife bought new and we sold with 128k miles with original clutch!), a 78 Celica, an 87 Landcruiser (which we bought new and sold to buy a ), 93 Landcruiser ( which we bought used and to sold to buy a) 2000 LX470. I've pretty much kicked myself many times for selling that......but life goes on. We are looking at the 08 HL and I'm very interested in the new LX570s coming later this year. Anyway, Hello to all and I'm looking forward to contributing when I can.

[Olander]

I have been browsing this forum for several months now but haven't really joined. I was active in another forum but wasn't too happy with it, by far I think this is the best one I have visited. I'm glad I finally joined this forum. I found that there are more active friendly people here.

Anyway, my ride is a 2007 Highlander Sport I purchased new on Dec. 2006. The color is crystal white pearl, I don't have a lot of options in it, maybe just the basic. But I chose the Sport model because of the chrome wheels, chrome door handles, and the chrome exhaust, I guess I'm a chrome guy. So far I'm very happy with it.

Well I hope to learn a lot about my Highlander from this forum and to especially meet great friendly people. I look forward to an awesome experience.

[cjh58]

Hi, newby to TS here. Purchased and 07 Highlander a couple weeks ago. Find this forum great. Hope to enjoy the Highlander for a while. We switched from and 05 Pilot which I hated! Disappointed in Honda, so now we are trying a Toyota for the first time.
So, far we love the Highlander but have one issue with seat comfort, so I will post a new thread on this issue.
Regards,
cjh58

[ohiobells]

We're learning about our first Toyota - a 2006 Highlander. So we're grateful to have a trusted resource for help.

[tkill12]

2005 highlander, v6, base model

[Damian4356]

Hello all,

My wife and I just bought our White 2006 Highlander (V-6, 2WD). We traded in our 2005 Pontiac Vibe (Matrix wannabe) and so far we are absolutely in love with the new ride. It is amazing how much smoother the ride is and how much more room we have for hauling all our baby gear.

I will post pictures as soon as I get a chance to do a photo shoot. I am a member of genvibe.com (Pontiac Vibe/Toyota Matrix Forum), so I am fairly up to date on the whole forum process. I can't wait to see what kind of mods you all are doing with the Highlanders and what possibilities await me.

Any Sugestions?

[koschik]

[quote=Possum;70190]Welcome to Tundra Solutions!

We are always happy to see a new member onboard TS.com, please feel free to post on this thread and introduce yourself. If you have recently purchased a new Highlander, pop a post and tell us about your new ride.

Be sure to check out all the various forums that have information on the care of your Highlander. If you have not yet signed up as a Club Member, you may want to consider becoming one to have total access to ALL the forums on TS.

Click on Join The Club for information.

If you need any help or assistance please feel free to PM any of the
TS.com Team Moderators.

Once again, welcome to Tundra Solutions! We will be looking forward to your postings.

Dan
Part of your TS.com Team

[/quote hi- just joined the club- my motivation is from just having had the dealer diagnose a problem with my 2002 Highlander heating control unit and advising me that the cost to replace the unit is over $1000- here in Canada! The suspicoin is that it is a relatively minor component which if it could be replaced would cost considerably less. I realize there must be used/re-cycled units available somehwere but doesn't anyone repair these things- badly in need of a heater in Canada- cheers
]

[vajurewi]

Hello all,
Just found this forum while looking for winter tire options for my 2003 2WD HL.
I live in West Virginia and its quite hilly, and tough for the HL to come up even the couple of hills in my development if any snow or ice at all. I looked through some of the Tires section as well as some posts about tires - you all have a great resource here . Thanks much in advance.

[gtrotta]

2008, Silver Gray Sport, Leather, Reverse Camera, Remote Start.

Bought it because Endeavor lacked rear camera, Pilot design seemed too dated and Tribeca's second row-seats were too cramped, and Volvo's XC90 (with SIPS system) was too low in MPG and high in price. Didn't like limited rear visibility of Mazda CX series.


Love the passthru to third row, but wish third row seat was split...no chance for an aftermarket there.

Tried to get it with Michelins or Toyos instead of the Bridgestones, but will have to wait. Will have to wait for rubber mat set also.

This forum has already been a tremendous resource as I was able to get some kind of answer on whether using synthetic would void warranty and I look forward to participating and making some new friends.
Best,
gtrotta
__________________

[khongten]

Hello all:

Just stop by to say Hi to everyone here. We just bought a 2001 Highlander used from a private sale. The vehicle was remarkably well-kept by the previous owner (1st owner) and had a bit more than 80K miles at the time of purchase. We love the car so far. A lot more than the last Subaru Outback that we had which gave us too many expensive-to-fix mechanical (engine) problems.

We live in the Northeast and such a comfortable, reliable AWD vehicle as the Highlander is always appreciated.

BTW, thanks for an abundant source of information on Toyota models, esp. the Highlander, that this site offers.

[nnotsoo]

hello,
02 hl, 08 4run sport, 06 rav4 v6, 07 tacoma dc offroad, 92 previa DOA, 01 Ehco DOA w/bear.