Make Room for the 2014 Toyota Highlander – We Did!

A very special thank you to Southeast Toyota for sponsoring this post and giving my family the opportunity to test drive the 2014 Toyota Highlander.  I received a gas card for use during my test drive.  No other compensation was received.  You may or may not remember, but car shopping was hard for me.  Really hard.  At the time I had 2 kids, a full time job, a million other responsibilities, and blogged on the side.  I had no time or desire to research cars, go to dealerships, or haggle with salesmen.  And money for a sitter to watch my kids so I didn’t have to drag them from dealership to dealership whining that they were tired or bored (I seriously want to strangle the person who introduced them to the word “bored”) or hungry?  No.  Just no.  So when I finally got my car about 18 months ago, I planned to keep it…well…forever, just so I never have to go through the process of car shopping again.  I had no intention of looking at another vehicle, let alone test driving one, for the rest of my natural life, or as long as my new car continued to run.

But this spring, I was offered a unique opportunity – test drive the newly redesigned Toyota Highlander for 8 days and tell Toyota what I thought.  Sounded easy enough.  And telling people what I think is why I started this blog.  So I eagerly accepted, drove to the dealership, and picked up the keys.

For 8 days, I put this car through the ultimate “Busy Mom Test”.  I took this car everywhere!  From dance class to birthday parties to Literacy Night at the kids’ school to a mouth-watering Mother’s Day brunch at one of my favorite Italian restaurants.  I even managed to squeeze in a very rare girls night with Greenleigh and Hazeline.  And everywhere we went the Highlander caught people’s attention.  Maybe it was the intoxicating new car smell that seemed to ooze from the vehicle or it’s sleek, stylish design, but either way, this car was noticed.  And it was pretty fun to drive too.  So in no particular order, here are just a few of the things that I loved about the 2014 Highlander:

Perfect for Kids 

My kids loved this car.  My oldest actually gave the car a hug when the valet brought it around for us after brunch.  I wish I would have caught a picture of it, but quite frankly, I was laughing too hard.  Most of their admiration stemmed from the presence of the Bluray player, but they were also huge fans of the captains chairs (which made it easier to get to their seats), built in window shades, and cool blue night lighting illuminating the doors when you got out.But again, the Bluray player got most of the credit.  The car was nicknamed the “TV car” pretty early on.  I think they watched Frozen a thousand more times in the 8 days that I drove this car.  Honestly, I didn’t love how long it took for the Bluray player to boot up and then having to skip through the previews each time, but the wireless headphones?  You know the ones that made it so I didn’t have to watch Frozen a thousand more times?  A definite win!

It’s Fun to Drive

Having test driven tons and tons of SUVs while I was car shopping, I feel confident saying that the Highlander drives more like a car than a truck.  It responsive and easy to maneuver, even in tight spots.  Parking isn’t a problem.  You don’t feel like you’re driving a school bus – at all.  To say it’s a joy to drive would be an understatement.

Interior Design

When I was shopping for a vehicle, the biggest problem that I had was finding one for 3 kids (we only had 2 at the time, but we always planned to have 3).  I needed to have room for 3 car seats, two of which were convertible car seats that are quite bulky.  Most SUVs we looked at didn’t allow for 3 car seats in the second row, and the SUVs that did offer third row seating, I often found that the third row was cramped, difficult to actually put into use, and/or left no room for luggage.   Plus, the third row always seemed way too close to the rear window, which concerned me considering so many accidents are rear end collisions.

But with the Toyota Highlander, 3 kids are no problem.  In fact, 3 kids and luggage are no problem.  Kids and luggage and a stroller?  Still not a problem.  The captains chairs in the second row along with the third row seat allow each child to have their own space, and the tether point for the back row, ensures that the car seat in the back row is safe and secure.  And when the third row is in use, there’s still room behind the seat for luggage, meaning it isn’t right up against that back window. You can even use the split design for the third row and leave more room for luggage.  In fairness, I question whether I could fit my Bumbleride Indie twin stroller, Urbini umbrella stroller, and luggage in the back (using the split design of the third row, leaving only part of the third row up), but I never tried it…luckily, most people don’t have the addiction to strollers that I do.

To give you a visual, here’s the Highlander with the third row in use – you can sort of see where the third row splits, too:

And here’s the Highlander with the third row down:

Essentially, it’s got a minivan feel on the inside (by virtue of the captains chairs), but with the stylish appearance of an SUV on the outside, complete with removable center console between the captains chairs, rear climate control, and even a traditional power outlet!

Convenience

We’ve all be there – you walk out of the grocery store when you realize that you may have taken a few too many bags and leaving the cart behind was a bad idea.  Now you have to put all those bags down, unlock your car, open the door/tailgate, and then lift all the groceries again to get into the car.  Not the case with the Highlander.  It has an automatic lift gate that opens and closes with a simple press of a button – either on the remote or on the vehicle itself.In addition, the car also has voice activated navigation that not only give directions, but help you find a destination even if you don’t have a full address.  It’s like Siri meets GoogleMaps, but better.

Safety

This car comes with a backup camera – get this – standard.  Yep, every single one has a back up camera.  There’s also a blind spot monitoring system in the side view mirrors and park assist.  And as someone who just recently had her purse stolen out of her vehicle, I was so happy to see that the center console could fit even my big purse and conceal it completely!  Of course, if you don’t want to use it for this purpose, it also has a tray insert that you can put in it instead.  

Creature Comforts Galore

Heated and air conditioned seats.  Touch screen in the dashboard.  Keyless start.  EnTune Audio (that allows you to pause & rewind live radio!).  I could go on and on…  Of course, these things aren’t necessary, but wow do they make life easier and more comfortable.  This car takes care of it’s driver and it’s passengers.   It’s luxurious but very practical at the same time.  I can’t tell you how much I miss that touch screen in the dash and huge storage area underneath the climate control area. [Insert heavy sigh here]I loved this car so much I was actually sad the day I had to return it.  And my sadness didn’t even come close to how sad distraught my kids were when they realized that the “TV car” was gone.  By the end of the 8 days it was clear that my family had found a way to Make Room for the Toyota Highlander and it’s definitely on our short list if we ever go looking for another vehicle.

Oh, and if you happen to find yourself in South Florida and looking for a vehicle, make sure to stop by and visit Elvis and Duane at Toyota of Deerfield – they’re good people…who even stopped to answer my frantic call inquiring about the headphones for the DVD player on a Saturday evening.

Full Disclosure: We had the Limited model, which is just one of many models of the 2014 Highlander.  Some of the items described above are not available on some models or may be an additional cost.