2013 Toyota Highlander Review and Prices

Styling: The 2013 Toyota Highlander will get all-new sheet metal but will remain perfectly recognizable as a Toyota crossover SUV. The 2008-2012 second-generation Highlander was among the company’s more successful styling efforts, combining a lively shape with functional design. Toyota is making an effort to infuse all its models with a more youthful look, and for the third-generation Highlander this suggests slightly sharper body edges and a more aggressive grille, but little change to its basic two-box profile.

Don’t expect much change in exterior dimensions or wheelbase – the latter being the distance between the front and rear axles and key determinate of a vehicle’s interior space. Larger and longer almost always means heavier, and the need to control weight is paramount as carmakers struggle for every fuel-economy advantage they can muster. So the 2013 Highlander should remain smack dab in the middle of the midsize-SUV spectrum size-wise, and in fact should again be about as long stem to stern as Toyota’s more car-like five-passenger Venza crossover and its trucky body-on-frame 4Runner SUV.

Much of Highlander’s appeal is due its roomy, comfortable interior and the presence of a surprisingly accommodating third-row seat. The 2013 will retain this seven-passenger capacity and Toyota designers can be expected to reshape trim panels and such to carve out a smidge more space inside despite little change in wheelbase or overall body length.

The 2013 Highlander won’t adopt minivan-type sliding side doors but will retain second- and third-row seats that split and fold to house various combinations of cargo and passengers. It can be expected to again provide adequate luggage space for a week’s groceries with all seats in place, expand to hold a summer-vacation-range of stuff with the third row folded, and haul a dorm-room-worth of belongings with both rear rows stowed.

The 2013 Highlander will reprise a multilevel model line. The one that’s worked well so far started with a Base version and ascended through better equipped SE and Limited models; it also included Base- and Limited-trim versions of the Highlander Hybrid. Toyota’s strategy has been to dress even the Base version fairly well, with standard alloy wheels, for example, while judiciously upgrading more-expensive Highlanders with just enough additional interior and exterior trim to identify them. It’s also given the Hybrid model its own grille and electric-tech cues such as blue-tinted headlamp lenses. That approach probably will hold for the 2013 Highlander.     

Mechanical: The 2013 Toyota Highlander, like its generation-one and generation-two predecessors, will essentially be a tall-roof wagon built on the same understructure as the Camry midsize sedan. That’ll preserve its status as a true crossover because its body and frame will be a single unibody structure similar to that of a car’s. Unibody designs benefit ride, handling, and fuel economy because they weigh less than the truck-like, separate-body-and-frame construction typical of old-school SUVs, such as the 4Runner.

Expect the return of a powertrain lineup composed of four- and six-cylinder gasoline engines and Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive gas-electric hybrid system.

Developing new engines involves costs that must be passed along to the customer and Toyota probably sees little reason to replace the 2.7-liter four-cylinder that’s served Highlander quite well. This would again be the base engine and output should stay around the 2012 version’s 187 horsepower and 186 pound-feet of torque. (Loosely defined, torque gets you going, horsepower keeps you moving.)

Similarly, a 3.5-liter V-6 likely would return as the engine upgrade with some 270 horsepower and 248 pound-feet of torque. Expect the V-6 to again be standard on top-line 2013 Highlanders and optional on Base and midline models in place of the four-cylinder.

A technical advance for the 2013 Highlander would be a six-speed automatic transmission for both these engines. More gears equals more opportunity for efficient power transfer and greater fuel economy. Toyota has equipped four-cylinder Highlanders with a six-speed automatic, which is what virtually every competitor uses. But it’s saddled V-6 Highlanders with a five-speed automatic. Both work well and include a separate gate for manual-type gear control. But a six-speed would boost the V-6 Highlander’s competitive positioning, and could also help improve its fuel efficiency.  

Differentiating the 2013 Toyota Highlander Hybrid from its gas-only models will be its combined use of a gas engine and electric motors. Expect a return of a 3.5-liter V-6 assisted by an electric motor at the front axle and augmented by one at the rear. Sensors would again determine which blend of gas, electric, or combined gas-electric propulsion best balances acceleration and fuel economy. The Highlander Hybrid would not require plug-in charging, instead replenishing its onboard battery pack with energy generated via the engine and by recapturing braking forces. Expect a net output of around 280 horsepower and continued use of a continuously variable transmission (CVT), which performs like an automatic but without preset gears.

Toyota probably will again relegate four-cylinder 2013 Highlanders to front-wheel drive only while giving V-6 buyers the option of choosing front- or all-wheel drive (AWD). Expect 2013 Highlander Hybrids to remain AWD only. No AWD 2013 Highlander would be intended for serious off-road use but would instead remain capable of automatically shuffling power from the front tires to the rears to sustain traction on wet or slippery surfaces. Expect 2013 Highlanders with the V-6 engine to again be rated to tow trailers of up to 5,000 pounds while four-cylinder and Hybrid models repeat with a 3,500-pound limit.

Features: The 2013 Toyota Highlander will repeat an array of standard and optional features designed to attract upmarket buyers who tend to order the higher trim levels or a substantial number of extra-cost goodies. 

Again standard on every 2013 Highlander will be power windows, mirrors, and locks, cruise control, a tilt/telescope steering wheel, and a height-adjustable driver’s seat. Expect standard safety features to again include head-protecting curtain side airbags that cover all outboard seating positions and deploy in side collisions and rollovers.

Explore the various trim levels and option packages and you’ll be able to equip your 2013 Highlander with such luxury amenities as leather upholstery, heated seats, three-zone air conditioning, power moonroof, and a power liftgate.

Toyota could enhance the 2013 Highlander’s competitive edge by expanding the rearview backup camera to the standard equipment list of all models instead of keeping it an option on the Base version. Same for USB iPod and Bluetooth hands-free mobile-phone interfaces. It is likely to broaden this crossover’s connectivity opportunities by making it easier to tap into smartphone apps and even create an onboard WiFi hotspot. Among returning infotainment features will be a voice-activated navigation system that could adapt a dashboard touchscreen larger than the outgoing Highlander’s 8-inch monitor. Expect the 2013 Highlander Hybrid to again use that dashboard screen to display the flow of gas and electric power.

Highlander’s optional rear DVD entertainment system has included a 9-inch ceiling screen. The 2013 Highlander would do well to appropriate the Toyota Sienna minivan’s jazzier double-screen setup that can display separate video sources or combine into a seamless 16.4-inch widescreen image. Toyota also ought to upgrade Highlander’s conventional-angle backup-monitor camera system to Sienna’s 180-degree Panorama rear monitor.