The 3 year lease on our 2016 Highlander Hybrid Limited Platinum is up this month.

We decided several months back to just buy it out and keep it long term. It was worth more than the buyout, so it made some sense. Car is in excellent shape with only 21k miles. It’s been a fantastic family vehicle. Lots of room but compact enough to easily fit in the garage or drive downtown. We get 28-30 mpg, which has been great.

Before signing on on the line to buy it, I wanted to check out the 2019s (ours, a 2016, was a pre refresh model) and to check lease rates on the new ones.

Long story short, lease deals were terrible but the incentives/offers on purchases were great, so we bought (not leased) a new one.

Before the details, I’ll share that I really like the 2020s that are coming soon, but we’ve loved having the Hybrid, and my wife will only go Hybrid from here on out. Problem is that I do not want a 4 cylinder hybrid as in the new model so I’m fine sticking with the hybrid V6 setup of the outgoing version.

New one is same color exterior but black interior instead of the light gray. Nice new features like panoramic view camera, front parking sensors, etc, plus the bump from 280 horsepower to 306. Trim levels are the same.

Here are the two together at the dealership then the new one at home.

Thanks for reading.

Jeff

 

Congratulations. It's good that you and your wife could easily agree on a new one with a minimum of argument or fuss. And you will find, on a purchase, that you won't have to worry about the Wear-and-Tear clause, although having a garage to park in also helps quite a lot.

 

Thanks Mike.

Fortunately we’re pretty easy on our cars, so I was never too worried about wear and tear. I actually worry about it more now that it’s a long term car, but that’s ok.

My wife and I have lately grown a bit tired of leasing so we’re happy to own again.

This is exactly the same story as my GS. Leased a 15, wanted to keep it, ended up buying a 19 GS.

My kids (4 and 7) think the GS and Highlander are the only cars we can buy lol.

 

Conrats, nice purchase. I've always liked the Highlander. I leased an '03 and an '07 before they increased the size for a third row. A hybrid is a great choice.

 

Very nice! You kind of did what I did with the LS, you saw the last V6 hybrid Highlander and snapped it up. I saw the last V8 Lexus LS and snapped that up. Mines a lease but I likely will buy it out and keep it.

 

congrats! my fave color of highlander and no doubt the '19's a bit nicer in several details than the '16. no doubt it will serve you well for a VERY long time!

 

Congrats! Nice that you had equity in your old Highlander so you could trade it in. My IS350 lease is up this month and the value Is less than the buyout so I can’t trade it in for any tax savings which would be close to $2k in savings if I could’ve traded it in.

 

Congratulations, Jeff!

I remember that you have said many times that you were very happy with your Highlander Hybrid (despite the touchscreen), so when I first read the headline, I was afraid that you were going to announce that you had traded your Highlander in for a Hyundai Palisade or Kia Telluride!

 

I will probably get the Hybrid next time. My regular V6 Highlander only gets 17 mpg.

 

Congrat's, the highlander has always been my favorite Toyota product.

 

Congrats! Can't go wrong with any Highlander, current or upcoming!

 

Thanks! We couldn’t be happier with it!

Yup. I just can’t go to a 4 cylinder in a vehicle of this size. It’s go with 306 hp now, or get a 2020 with 250 hp. I’d much rather have the V6.

Thanks! We had our ‘16 for 3 years without a single squeak, rattle, or other warranty claim. That reliability is worth a lot to me.

My GS situation was the same as your IS situation, so I just turned in the GS and bought the 19. I’m glad the Highlander’s value was high enough to do a trade. Though by our state laws I couldn’t get the tax savings from the trade. Shame as my sales tax was $4600, plus another $700 in license tabs.

Thanks! Yeah, still dislike the touchscreen but oh well. And while I love the Telluride, there isn’t a hybrid version so that’s a deal breaker for my wife.

We’ve been very happy with the hybrid. Seems like we get 28 + mpg no matter how we drive it. I think that’s impressive for an AWD 7 passenger vehicle with 300 hp.

Thanks!

Thanks!

 

I guess it's the little things sometimes...

Discovered this last night in the garage. Love it!

 

^ Just in case you forget what you're driving

 

they could have made it a bit fancier (instead of just "HIGHLANDER") but it's a great feature. dig it on my genesis.