I may have to look at the Highlander Hybrid (in LE or XLE trim) when the lease is up on my ESh. I found the HH in the higher trim too expensive and too large for what I wanted. But if the price is right on the lower trim levels (and there is no slightly-larger RAV4 Hybrid when the next model comes available), I may take a look.

my bad! didn't realize what i'd done until now and i've restored your comments. sorry about that.

No worries. Thanks.

Congrats... nice ride. I test drove HH and found it to be much better overall than the plain jane Hylander; almost pulled the trigger on one. Too bad the captain's chairs are forced on you. The 2017s look even better. I have an Avalon Hybrid and find it to be better than the plain jane Avalon as well in terms of smoothness and feel. The seats in Avalon Hybrid are the same as the seats in the Hylander Hybrid. And therein lies the rub. They have become unbearably uncomfortable after many thousands of miles. I went Lexus simply because of that.

That's too bad you didn't like the seats. We've found them to be quite comfortable. We took a 4 hour drive yesterday and were have no complaints.

As as for the captain's chairs, we wanted them to allow a pass through to the third row while we have car seats in the second row that would prevent the folding of the second row for third row access, but I understand not everyone wants them. My sister bought a gas version to keep the rear bench seat. At least that will be available on the 17s.

Seats were fine in the beginning. 125,000 miles has given me plenty of chance to assess these. They are fine if you don't drive too much. At 42,000 miles per year, they had become somewhat painful on these 4 hour trips I frequently make.

Best to find a car with seats that suit you, no doubt.

My GS has the most comfortable seats I've had so far.

Helped my folks pick out a new car today and this is what we came home with. We were going to wait for the 2017 Highlander but after they were pushed back to December delivery, and with the current 3.5L/6AT being a well proven combo, we pulled the trigger now. I have never been a big fan of tan interiors, but what Toyota is doing now with the two tone black carpet and all is pretty sharp.

Black/Tan
AWD
Driver Tech package: Lane Departure Assist, Radar Cruise, Pre Collision













I really love how these things drive - truly feels like a class up, IMO. More to come as we break it in, but super happy so far!

Excellent! They made a great choice! We're on a little road trip in Oregon in ours and we're loving it!

if more like you guys keep buying the '16s, toyota will never have to release the '17.

The 2017 has Idle stop. that thing, drives me nuts

It'll be interesting to see how well they execute it. It can either be completely in the background, or very annoying.

I don't mind it at all on my hybrid, but of course you can get started on the electric motors so you don't have to wait for the engine to kick back on before you can get going.

I could turn it off, but was defaulted to come on at start up. I cant stand the hesitation.. I learned(if i forgot to turn it off) by turning the wheel slightly or not entirely pressing the brake all the way..

I recently rented a new Ford Fusion (with the rotary gear selector); it had the idle-stop feature. It was quite smooth and I did not first realise it had idle-stop until there was a warning message in the instrument display. I was quite impressed with it.

I am, of course, used to it now since I drive a Hybrid.

I've gotten used to it in my BMW. I shut it off for this summer, though, because it was pretty hot and the AC compressor doesn't run when the engine shuts off. But if I'm the first at a stop light, I tend to tug at the wheel to restart the engine -- especially if I have to scoot across the intersection to make a left before oncoming traffic goes.