2024 Toyota Grand Highlander Review
Even Grander
BOSTON — I can think of few things Americans love more than big SUVs. Poking fun at Canadians, perhaps, or ordering meat by the pound.
A decade or two ago, the SUV replaced the venerable minivan as the preferred family hauler. That's partly because a generation of kids who grew up in the back of a Dodge Caravan had no desire to purchase something as totally uncool as a minivan and partly because Americans allowed themselves to be convinced that all-wheel drive was a necessity (even though it isn't).
SUV it is, then, to haul people and stuff from point A to point B. That’s the primary purpose of an automobile, after all. My favorites are the midsize SUVs, typically three-row vehicles like the Ford Explorer, Chevy Equinox and Kia Telluride.
For a half-decade now, the Telluride and its stablemate, the Hyundai Palisade, have been my favorite of the midsize SUVs. These vehicles typically start around $40,000 and top out in the mid-$50,000 range, and they're phenomenally popular.
That means it's also a phenomenally competitive market, which makes it curious that Toyota has taken so long to release a proper three-row midsize SUV.
Of course, Toyota has sold the three-row Highlander for years, but it's not quite big enough (especially when it comes to third-row legroom), and it doesn't really compete with the larger Telluride.
So, for 2024, Toyota released the Grand Highlander, my three-row test car for this week. Not only is it longer than the Highlander (with enough room for actual adult humans to sit in the third row), but it's also better designed, with clever storage and thoughtful design touches everywhere you look.
They might have been late to the party, but boy, it was worth the wait.
The exterior is pleasing enough, looking something like a slightly shrunken Toyota Sequoia, itself a pretty sharp-looking SUV. It borrows considerable inspiration from the venerable 4Runner, with sharp creases and aggressive lines — but it has a touch of softness and elegance befitting a family rig like this.
But the Grand Highlander really shines in the interior. This car was designed by folks with kids, or at least who drive around a lot. Clever storage, one of my favorite automotive features, abounds.
The center console has a pair of cupholders to the right of a diminutive gear shift, with a special bonus bin just in front that can be used as a third (third!) cupholder or as a catch-all bin for your keys, wallet, chapstick or whatever else you want to keep close at hand. In front of that, below a pair of USB-C charging ports (one for power only and the other to connect your phone to the stereo), is a wireless charging pad and enough room for another phone (or lots of other stuff).
Wireless CarPlay and Android Auto support are here, too, so you don't need to plug in your phone if you don't want to, and you'll find no shortage of USB ports with at least one for every seat. The 12.3-inch center infotainment display is gorgeous (and CarPlay looks phenomenal on it).
A decent-sized bonus cubby sits above the glovebox, nearly large enough to slide an iPad into, and the door pockets are voluminous. Another bonus cubby sits beneath the center console, accessible from the driver or passenger side, though I'm not entirely sure what you might store there — but hey, I'll never complain about having more places to store stuff. You can even slide open the center console storage bin without losing your armrests.
Most will opt for the second-row captain's chairs (better to keep the kids separated and to ease third-row access), with even more storage in between.
Cargo space with the third row up isn't tremendous (if you need to haul that many people with suitcases, you'll need to bump up to a full-size SUV like the Ford Expedition or Chevy Suburban), but with the third row folded down, it's beyond spacious.
The Grand Highlander is let down a bit by its 265-horsepower turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine, which is a bit slow for my taste but probably won't bother most of the folks buying it. There are a pair of hybrid options, including a 362-horsepower Hybrid Max powertrain that is the “performance” choice.
I wish it had better fuel economy (21 city and 28 highway, according to the EPA), but the Grand Highlander is so good everywhere else that it's forgivable — and if you're really concerned about MPG, you should get the hybrid anyway.
My tester was the fully loaded Platinum for around $55,000, but you can get a well-equipped entry-level XLE model for about $10,000 less. Regardless of which Grand Highlander you choose, though, you'll be hauling your people and stuff in style and comfort.
No wonder we love these SUVs so much. They're just about perfect.