Can u just give Toyota a round of applause for giving us NA V6 and 8 speed....none turbo and cvt transmission is always a winner in my book

I bought a 2017 Highlander in July 2017. I'm coming up on 3 years of ownership and 50K miles and I absolutely love this car. I think it's the best looking mid size crossover SUV and I would still rather have my Highlander than any other similar SUV.

These things hold value like gold. They just don't break down. Chain driven engine = reliable and low maintenance. 5K tow capacity. Press the lift gate button on the remote as you are walking up...it'll be open by the time you get there. 3rd row in virtually all cars is typically for emergency purposes only. Not for long road trips. Not for picking up 7 people from the airport. Consumer reports 2nd and 3rd best Midsized Suv for 2019. Hybrid 2nd, XLE 3rd.. Only beat out in 2019 by the Subaru Ascent. For 2015-2018 it was number 1 mid-sized SUV.. Mini-van isn't going to tow 5000 lbs.

Ladies and gentlemen, until you see it and test it in person, this vehicle is by all means a true Masterpiece!

Good thing I know a long time 2016 Highlander owner....me. The real reason the gate is so slow is that although seemingly slow while doing a YT review...in the real world it was designed so that you walk out from Sams club or Costco, hit the button...while it's lifting, you turn around and grab your first box...and by the time you've turned around with it, it's almost fully opened. Vice versa, after it's all in, you hit the "close" button and by the time you've moved the cart, opened the door, sat down, secured your seat belt...it locks and latches. In the REAL world it's a non issue. If you want a great, reliable SUV which will spend 100x the time on the road than in the shop...and will do so comfortably...buy the Highlander. If you want "style" points or feel you need to follow trends and don't mind sitting in the shop or driving a loaner...buy anything made in Germany.

Actually this is a very good looking SUV. Love the rims. Honestly to call this a appliance isn't fair. It's just damn good at what's it's made to do. Every car in this category want to be this car their all people movers

3.5 v6 slow? imagine how sad people with 2.7 feel

Going to pick one of these up with only 32k miles on it. If the biggest complaint is that the tailgate is too slow, then I'm in for a great experience

Best real life demo of a liftgate ever

You slammed your head at 4:42!!! Don't think we didn't notice. Anyways solid review

Your reviews are outstanding, Just jumped from a 2016 highlander limited to a 2017 Highlander limited (Canadian), I have absolutely no regrets, having received it yesterday here are my comments. To be clear I rate this newer edition 9.5/10 if not more. The 2016 would be a 9/10 (to be fair i've driven less then 200 KM so far so its fresh out of the "box" comments The things I like less: The Transmission seems hesitant in low gears, especially when your accelerating after slowing down, it does not appear to be as refined. I find that the Navi screen is dimmer and I have to remove my polarized sunglasses when backing up where It was clear on the 2016. Brightness at max everywhere I could tweak it. Lane keep assist even at optimal setting is somewhat effective, adaptive cruise disconnects at 40 KPH so warning to anyone if you rely on that, you'll learn that one quick anyway. The things I like the most: Without knowing if they jigged the suspension this edition sounds quieter, smoother and tiny bit closer Lexus like ride. The technology for 360 Camera, the detail such as highlander logo displaying on the ground at night is sweet and elegant (logo). Finally modified the cup holder separator for smaller coffee cup, If you own a 2016 or 14-15, I'd order one from Toyota now. I dont mind the engine stop, my understanding is that if you don't press fully on the brake then engine keeps running therefore you don't have to bother with the button to disable. Steering appears smoother with less feedback(good or bad thing) again compared to the 2016. Removal of the physical Blind spot monitoring button is great news, If you rely on this there is no warning that its disabled, beside a heated steering wheel button you easily deactivate it (its thru the console setting now). The new fascia is a significant improvement on the overall look of the vehicule. Overall extremely impressed and satisfied, love the Ooh La La red Mica colour and the technological changes they brought in. If you still have the Highlander try the "power on" (forget the setting name its written in a rectangle green box within the setup) in the setting, based on the red collar appearing in the console screen I believe its the "sport" mode and might help with the take off.

I bought it in 2016 December and have been owning it for 4 years. Has about 80k miles on it and it still runs great and I believe it was a wise decision I made to go with this SUV. I agree with him on tail gate delay but it never has been a bothering thing. Have driven it across north east and into Canada and it is so comfortable. Still pretty happy and do not have plans to sell it anytime soon.

As far as appliances goes...This Toyota Highlander is a no-fuss daily driver that does everything just fine. A good record of being reliable and while not exciting to drive, it delivers the goods for what it is. Compared to it's competition it's drive and ride is on par at a more than reasonable price.

really awesome reviews (all of em!!), i have watched quite a few from savagegeese and they are no BS, no marketing fluff, right to the point, detail oriented (which some of the other or most reviewers really lack). Hats off to you sir! keep up the great work!!

I've been waiting for you to review the Highlander, thanks! The hatch speed, while faster would be nice, isn't too much of a concern. As others mention, no one stands their waiting for it. When opening, you use the key fob before you even get to the vehicle so it's already open when you get to it. When closing, you can make your way to the driver seat as it's closing.

My wife and I have a 2016 HL XLE. It replaced out 2008 Mazda CX9 Grand Touring. Yes, it is a little bit soft compared to the CX9. In the 8 years that we had the CX9, we had issues with front brake rotors warping within the first year,, the metallic inside trim flaking off, and a couple of injectors going bad. Before the CX9, we had a 2003 HL Limited. We sold that to a friend when it had 70k miles in it. It now has 280k miles, both of their sons drove that HL through college, and it is still running good except for the busted AC unit. I think we made the right decision getting a 2016 HL instead of the 2017 CX9 that I also looked at. One more thing I didn't like with the CX9 is that it has a small engine with a turbo in it. I just prefer a normally aspirated v6, especially in the long run.

Great review. Regarding the conclusion, we bought one of these AND a minivan. Ultimate for above average size families.

I must be a dinosaur. I actually like soft, comfortable, reliable vehicles. The lift-gate on this is slow as cold molasses, but otherwise, it's a great car. If you want a 911 for screaming around corners and straight out acceleration, then by all means, go buy one. This isn't that car, and reviewing it with a clear longing for it to be something else... a track queen which the driver has to fight to restrain the inner racing demon is a major disservice.

Why do complain about volume nub, when you have those controls in the steering wheel?

I have seen many reviews, but this is absolutely great.

That is an honest driver experience review right there. No sugar coated, tell what his heart meant to say. I hate it when a review has nothing bad to say about the car they review and always give a rave review in just about every categories.

Got one and it is awesome

LMAO that running around the car. Won't see that anywhere else.

.... I was Uber-ing around on vacation recently and was always picked up in a Highlander. I actually started thinking why you didn't review them and was going to leave a comment "requesting" it. But as soon as I got back, this masterpiece is waiting in my sub box... reading my mind somehow! Beautiful review

That was the most dramatic lift I’ve ever seen in my life!

I love my 18 highlander! The v6 is pretty snappy but I'm not impressed with the 3rd row at all lol

Elegant SUV with smooth ride quality.

i dont think it can be overstated how refreshing it is to see a manufacturer have the restraint to not put stupid shiny fake chrome all over the cabin, and build a car where they considered the usability instead of letting the designers just jizz all over the dashboard with stupid shit thats going to be unbelievably annoying 5 years down the road, it reminds me of 90s honda and 90s toyota, thats really good to see

Brilliant. The orbit run demonstration. Genius and very illustrative of that painfully slow lift gate.

Had one as a rental for a week. Excellent car.

Great review. I appreciate your ambivalent candour. Took one for a test drive, liked it and ordered one.

Good review, we bought one and LOVE IT!

I don’t think he likes it. Personally, I love it. It does what I want when I want. My only complaint? The second row seats don’t lie flat.

Liftgate seems fine. How fast do you want it to go? Great review though!

We are glade we got the 2016 Highlander XLE we don't like the new front end at all. We got it the end of August 2016 & have almost 18,000 miles & no problems. I did shop around for price & got a very good price the way we wanted & color we wanted all in just under 2 hours .

Your car reviews are the best anywhere, print or video.! Love the channel! My wife has a 2017 we have had it for a year. Its the 4 cyl fwd. Bought it because was a super cheap lease. She loves it. But 2 things i notice are: 1) They got the suspension tuning all wrong on the 4cl fwd. waaaaayyyy too stiff. They must have put the same or similar shocks and springs from the 6cyl awd in the 4 cyl 2wd. As it rides super stiff, it handles excellent for a suv, with very little body roll. The other thing is that this car has a really high cowl and a low roof. If you set the seat at a height that lets you feel normal looking out compared to other cars, you really really have to duck your head getting in or you will bang your head on the top of the door opening. Its a safety thing I know on new cars, to have the strongest body and so short glass, but it is really pronounced in this car. Having said that she loves it and we will probably buy it or get another at lease end if the deal is similar..

I have 2005 highlander loves the way it drives feels like driving a car and I love that.

Great review! Purchased my wife a 16 highlander platinum last nov, and its our travel vehicle. does pretty well

The SE trim is my favorite. The black accents really do this car justice.

Ambivalence. That's how I feel about any mid-level SUV or crossover

Highlander the best SUV I've ever had

It'd be awesome if you could get your hands on a Land Cruiser, hopefully you can get something funneled through the pipe line.

Looks like a solid appliance if you had a stroke or something and forgot that minivans are better in about every rational way. Since cars aren't bought on reason, I'm glad that people can buy this adequate car to satisfy their wants. Good review and you hit some little details that make watching a Savagegeese joint worth it no matter the vehicle.

I don’t need nothing too much to be done about it its fine luv my highlander reliability and resale values is what I luv 👍🏾

3:30 , you can do more than 2 rounds with the front doors closed!!!

another unbiased and honest vid. agree about the idiotic electronic liftgates. hope my future car after 5-10 years, when I'll be done with my current car, will have the normal shut it up and go type of deal. the engine does sound good.

Went from a ‘16 to a ‘17 love it so much more. Smoother, more tech and safety (limited) and the power mode.

Thank God they didn’t downsize the engine and slap a turbo on it. Eco-boost or whatever else you want to call it equals fairly long term disastrous reliability. The overdone eco-boost complexity doesn’t get you the gas mileage of this V6. . An update; our 2018 Toyota highlander has had nothing but tire rotations oil changes and a cabin air filter change. Mechanically, knock on wood, has been absolutely flawless! Something I can’t say for Ford and General Motors products I have purchased in the past. Generally you buy one of those vehicles and it spends the first month or two at the dealer getting all the bugs out! And that used to be acceptable, and normal! With the Highlander it may be bland and I don’t care for the styling of the front end at all but once behind the wheel every knob and button is butter smooth the ride is near luxury. The confidence you have in the Highlander because if it’s reliability you just can’t buy in a GM or Ford. Sure you can spend more on extended warranties but that doesn’t help you when you’re broken down on the side of the road. This is an excellent appliance that does everything it’s intended to extremely well. A moment of silence for the rear hatch window that has now since then sent into oblivion. Up to 2019 it has it after that you’re on your own.

I fell asleep while driving watching this review of the Highblander. They are however solid and capable of hauling many gallons of beige paint home from Lowe's.

The liftgate is not really an issue. This looks just like my moms Venza lift gate, and in her car you can manually open and close the lift gate instead of waiting for that slow mechanism. I prefer to open it manually and I appreciate that option. In my ML350, you can't operate it manually - you have to use the slow electronic pump and it's known to fail after so many years. So I appreciate Toyotas approach to the lift gate.

Why do you need to stand next to the tailgate when it is closing? Who cares how long it takes for it to close? I don't get his complaint.

Very practical review. No B.S. here. Thank you for that. I am so confused what to buy; a Highlander or a 4Runner (both in Limited editon). Any feedback would be appreciated by public and the car makers. Looking forward to your next videos.

I own one and this review is spot on. The lift gate is a joke its so dam slow. At least the glass opens separately if you just need to grab something small out. The driving experience is forgettable. Its numb to everything. But that's what its about. Its a comfy hauler. It does everything very well. the best all a round vehicle I have owned.

Very helpful review. Covered exactly what I wanted to know about this vehicle. Thank you.

Power lift gates are slow but less taxing

Nice review...desperate to see your review of the 2018-2019 toyota land cruiser prado.

I like you cannot successfully run two times around in before the liftgate stops but I find I get allot of high fives if I try skipping instead.

Not sure if an 11 minute review is a true savagegeese review. I prefer your longer reviews. Perhaps it was hard to add more footage because it was such a dull vehicle (washing machine)? If so, I completely get it.

What's with the lift gate nonsense all the time? Honestly, how fast do you expect it to be? You're not supposed to be standing in front of it waiting for it to open and close. That's like expecting power windows to go up and down fast. Obviously it seems forever if you're holding the button watching it both ways.

Thank you. Been waiting for you to do a review on highlander. Your channel never disappoints. Keep them coming 👍. Waiting for a vw atlas review.

I love the fact that you put the same effort into your videos no matter the price tag or purpose of the car. Is there any chance that you'll be reviewing a Honda Pilot in the future? Keep it up!

The bug showing up while waiting for the lift gate could not have been more perfect...

Where's Turbowski?

@savagegeese Can't you just use rear glass hatch for quicker access to the trunk??

Man your reviews are the best! Keep it up man!

3:40 Haha I feel you. My mom's 2010 Venza is like that. I usually just manually open and close myself.

30 pairs of soiled underwear. I never expected to hear that phrase before but here we are.

Why does this feel like I'm watching The Discovery Channel on a new military weapons platform of the future ?!? Lmao ...great vid.

The radio controls are on the steering wheel -No reason to reach. The rear hatch glass opens manually if you are just grabbing something that isn't too big and you don't need to open that rear hatch. The third row seats are a waste of space as far as I am concerned as I don't have any grand kids or midget friends. Don't get me wrong, it is a fantastic vehicle and does exactly what I need it to do.

Hey I love that you know your way around a cameras and there's little you can do to improve there, BUT you have a lot of room to enhance you ability of talk. When I say this I don't mean that the words you use are too lengthy, that is something that I like. What I'm referring to is your enthusiasm something that is there is little of. You should make the goal to where if a person that doesn't like cars or isn't looking for cars finds one of your videos they will continue to watch it just because it's a good video. Other than that I love the work your doing.

Thanks for the quick review and posting. I'm looking at the Highlander and the Ford Edge Sport. I don't really need the 3rd row in the Highlander. Have you test driven the Edge Sport? I kinda liked it better than the Highlander.

Thank you for your detailed and helpful review.

Bravo for the final fantasy 6 sound effect at the end.

I dare say it actually looks pretty

Love the head bang at 4:42! And dude, all power lift gates ARE SLOW!

good review. we know you're a drivering enthusiast and would probably painful to have to review this car but you still found some good insights and some points to like about the car. it would be nice if you were review the Ford Explorer Sport which has intentions to deliver 7 passenger vehicle with some better suspension in engine. I would be curious to see your take on that car. otherwise love the camera angles and the insightful commentary

So, you are alive! Great news

That electronic liftgate made me age ten years in twenty seconds

Key has a liftgate button so you can start opening before you get out of the car, and close while you are getting in. Not so bad.

Such dramatic reviews......but, they are well made and intelligently done.

We have the 2016 Highlander. I actually was impressed with the power of the 3.5 V6. The only complaints I have is the cup holders are too large to hold the drinks properly, gas mileage is not impressive, no LED lighting anywhere inside or out, and the rear hatch does open too slow....they should have an option to open it manually when you want to.

An uncomfortably odd analogy with the whole bookworm vs stripper girlfriend, but I see your point. The exterior body design of the Highlander lends itself to an aggressive and sporty appearance trim level. Lowered suspension and a blacked out monochromatic paint scheme along with darker 20" wheels would be almost.....a little badass?

Did Toyota order Accord headlights for this car?

In other words, Toyota needs to make a camry wagon (estate) or an avalon wagon that's not the venza...the market needs more outback/allroad/xc/sportwagon competition

Good thing you ran around the car to test your hypothesis!

I can't contain myself. I'm used to sitting in a tub of wet french fries and now I get to look forward to the Highlander. Do you get a sword?

Best car reviews on tube. Any thoughts on the 2018 highlander hybrid?

3= you can disconnect the electrical opener just put a handle at bottle once you unlock puff pull up.

This is a great mid-size SUV. People love power liftgates through and through. Your gripe with that is very unusual. There's so many other things in the car you could've pointed out! Also, Toyota designs their engines and vehicles with certain driving dynamics to maximize utility and efficiency. Want a more powerful engine? Go with a Mercedes SUV but you'll pay for it dearly in maintenance and repair...

Vw Jetta review?

Great review and running!

Great review as always!

Still Highest selling 3rd row SUV of 2019

I was so unexpected to see Tiffany from Girls' Generation in the picture Lol

That 8 speed transmission is a disaster. Avoid it.

why the heated steering is not heated, only partially . Should be advertised as a partially heated steering wheel. I have arthritis and a (trigger) finger and this was important to me I did not know it didn't know it wasn't until too late

I like how the 4runner has 2 row seat options no need for 3rd road IMO, if 4 runner was same price range and milage would not look at the highlander

The interior is sorted, not sordid. 😉

It's a Toyota, no need to look underneath. Turbowski, you have the day off.

You are using the powered liftgate wrong. You don't have to wait for them to open or close once you know you have clearance.