This hot-selling three-row SUV just might be right for you.
The Toyota Grand Highlander, which is now in its sophomore season, is proving to be a very popular choice.
We drove the Grand Highlander in the 2024 model year, and it’s worth having us look at again, because it’s simply a smash hit. Toyota tells me this is the quickest-selling vehicle in the whole Toyota lineup.
If you remember, we told you that Toyota made this one about a half-foot longer than a regular Highlander, allowing for a more usable third row and some cargo space after it.
In fact, Toyota says there’s room for seven carry-on suitcases behind the third row. I did notice the rear bumper is almost completely flush with the rear hatch, as the engineers apparently milked every last inch out of this platform. In a change for 2025, higher-end models with second row captain’s chairs get a removable second row center console.
This Grand Highlander is, like almost every car I get now, cement gray. But this hue, which is, in fact, called “Cement,” is a new shade for 2025. The optional black wheels go well with the gray paint.
Inside, this one features black Ultrasuede and leather-trimmed seats, with bronze-colored accents on the dash and elsewhere. It’s luxurious, but it is also (likely on purpose) a clear peg below the Lexus-level splendor that I’ve also been spoiled with recently.
The model we drove is basically the nicest and most powerful Grand Highlander. It’s the Hybrid MAX Platinum, and it’s plenty fast for its size, while also getting decent fuel mileage. Still, this is a very large vehicle that might take drivers some getting used to.
The pre-shipping price has crept up only a touch since last year, rising $650 in the Hybrid MAX Platinum configuration.
Toyota’s dependability is quite grand, according to J.D. Power; as is the inclusion of a spare tire on this model.
The crash testing for the 2024 model was decent, if not necessarily grand — dinged by a second-best rating of “acceptable” in an offset frontal crash by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
If you like what you hear, you unfortunately do have lots of people nodding along with you.
Toyota tells me that nationally there are, on average, less than two Grand Highlanders per dealer. And those would all sell out in just four days if Toyota stopped new deliveries.
Hopefully, you have a grand relationship with your preferred seller.
With options, this exact one comes in at $63,877, after shipping.
