Overview & Reviews

Toyota's car-based Highlander SUV receives no changes this year.

• Roomy interior, car-like ride and handling, spunky V6 engine.

• Rear seat is uncomfortably low, no third-row seat, limited towing and off-road abilities.

User Reviews:

Showing 1 through 10 of 229.00

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  Highlander On Target for Everyday SUV - 2002 Toyota Highlander
  By Marky Mark - August 21 - 10:00 am

  The Highlander Limited V6 mimics the Lexus RX300 in many ways but more reasonably priced. Comfort and build quality are top-notch. More usuable storage than the Lexus. Drivetrain and ride are similar to a Camry, not like a typical SUV. Exterior size is about the same as a Honda Accord, which makes it easy to maneuver, park, and fit in your garage. The Limited is missing some things that would be expected on a vehicle over $33K, specifically steering wheel mounted audio controls. The stereo is first-rate, however. Weve had the Highlander only a month but it is great and deserves serious consideration for SUV buyers.

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  Highlander AWD 6cyl - 2002 Toyota Highlander
  By KevinW - May 22 - 10:00 am

  Highly recommended,car like ride and handling. Somewhat small interior. Typical Japanese suspension and seats (both very tight), unlike the plush, cushiony feel of American designed cars and SUVs.

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  Highlander - 2002 Toyota Highlander
  By MikeandDeni - April 29 - 10:00 am

  Solid vehicle, easy to drive, quality throughout.

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  Best front wheel drive suv - 2002 Toyota Highlander
  By ojs - October 11 - 8:13 am

  I bought this car with 36000 miles on it. The dealer wanted to sell us a xterra at first, but after the test drive of both cars, I came to be in love with the highlander. It has comfort, performance, and style. Now I have close to 80000 miles on it and still running strong. Only major problem was that the idle was very low aroung 200rpms. Took it to the dealer and it was the idle air control valve. But other then that no problems. I have only done the maint. on it. At 75000 I changed the tires (40000 miles tires). I have not even touched the brakes. Last time I check them at 75000, they still have 75%-50% life on them.

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  Bad Engine! - 2002 Toyota Highlander
  By jbass5 - September 15 - 1:29 am

  We bought our Highlander four years ago and have loved it til now. It seems there are a batch of Toyota 6cyl engines with bad valve seals. Toyota was repairing these engines until 2010. They absolve themselves after a vehicle is 8 years old. We bought our Highlander in 2010 with only 87000mi. It now has 133000mi. Now in the last six months the engine consumes large quantities of oil. The symptom of these engines with bad seals is they consume oil when driven at highway speeds. A service mgr at the local Toyota dealer confirmed this valve seal problem when I described the pattern of oil consumption, a $2700. repair at the dealer if it is still repairable! the six seals cost $6 each!

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  better than expected - 2002 Toyota Highlander
  By Easy - August 24 - 10:00 am

  Nice car/truck...it rides smooth,intuitive controls,no squeeks or rattles only wind noise at speeds above 50-mph.Overall the quality is so good I wish I could afford a new limited. I had leather installed after market on the seats ,doors and steering wheel,and added a chrome exhast tip and front tinted windows.The original black paint has held up nicely as well as the factory alloys.This is my 3rd Toyota,I traded in an 03 Corolla LE with 45k miles for the Highlander with no regrets .After years of GM product abuse (98 Intrigue-99 Aurora excluded)I will only buy Toyotas until I can afford the Lexus line of cars and trucks...(ps)The Highlander looks great next to my black 02 Camry SE V6

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  2wd 6cyl Toyota Highlander - 2002 Toyota Highlander
  By Neokayak - July 27 - 10:00 am

  We loved this SUV the moment we drove it. I wish we had shopped around a bit. You can get a low end verison of this and add on the accessories for alot cheaper than the dealer will allow.

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  Fun and style all wrapped up in a SUV - 2002 Toyota Highlander
  By Peabody - April 22 - 9:00 pm

  Lots of fun to drive/Plenty of spunk and handles very well/Not much road noise and the leather seats are very comfortable/Moonroof is big and great/ Plenty of leg room front and back/The optional JBL 6 disc stereo is mind blowing/sound is hard to believe with the voice coils in the upper part of the door/ have not been able to turn volume to max since there seems to be no max with no distortion whatsoever/Short on optional accessories to dress it up but the hood deflector adds a nice touch.

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  I thought Toyotas were some of the best - 2002 Toyota Highlander
  By ecbuzz - March 27 - 10:00 am

  I loved the vehicle. It fit me to a "T". After owning it for about 1 1/2 years I started having problems with skipping. After several mechanics looking at it, I took it to a transmission man and he found a ball bearing had broken and ground up in the transmission so I had to replace it. He said hes has several Toyotas with the same thing. In 2010 it started loosing oil but couldnt find where. The third mechanic found it had a broken oil ring on the #1 cylinder and needs a new motor. So much for Toyota.

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  2001 mid year build Highlander - 2002 Toyota Highlander
  By mollysalsa - March 3 - 4:03 am

  Did about 2 months of research on the HL B-4 buying,,this our 3ed Toyota and am sold,,the AWD system is great here in Minnesota,,except for a few small things build quality is a 10.