Toyota Highlander review

The cabin of the Highlander is fairly okay, it’s not busy in terms of design and the materials used are meant to endure constant abuse more than impress. Up front, the available 12.3in touchscreen and HVAC controls are all huddled together within reach, as are other function buttons littered throughout for quick actions like popping the rear hatch or turning on the invaluable 360-degree parking cameras.

There are enough USB ports to cover the charging needs for a number of passengers, with a wireless charing pad further adding to the digital utility. Speaking of digital, the Highlander includes a digital rear view mirror to allow for unobstructed sight lines out the back. Inversely, there’s also a very analog fish-eye mirror attached to the sunglass holder if you need to keep an eye on passengers while driving.

How are the other seats?

Behind the driver’s seat, there’s not much to write home about. The second row is either a full bench or two captain’s seats which do their jobs well enough. Rear passengers have access to a couple of USB ports of their own, along with a standard outlet plug and their own climate controls. After that, the rest is up to them.

It’s luxury compared to the third row, which hardly accommodates humans of any size or age. Whomever is back there will be subject to very claustrophobic conditions, no HVAC to speak of and don’t dare ask for a USB port, just stare at the seat back in front of you and muffle your sobs til we get there.

The humane thing to do would to just use that space for cargo. All told, there’s 16 cu ft behind the miserable third row, which can be extended to 48.4 cu ft. If need be, the entire cabin’s 141.8 cu ft can be used for cargo, if you manage to figure out how to fold all the seats down.

How’s the tech?

The Highlander comes with Toyota’s safety sense suite of protections that includes a pre-collision system that can detect pedestrians (for avoiding them, just to be clear), along with dynamic cruise control lane-keep assists and road sign recognition.

The aforementioned infotainment screen is compatible with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and though it and the HVAC controls are a little cluttered in their huddled-together arraignment, it’s still a decent mix of hard inputs and touchscreen options. It’s a relief to say that finding and using certain features doesn’t take more than necessary to implement while on the move.