Overview & Reviews
There are no changes for the Highlander this year.
- Roomy cabin, carlike ride and handling, clean styling.
- Gets expensive quickly, limited towing and off-road ability.
User Reviews:
Showing 1 through 10 of 305.00-
Hunter - 2003 Toyota Highlander
By Smokey - October 20 - 6:20 pmSteering is very stiff at highway speeds causing the feeling that it has locked up, and trying to make a minor adjustment always results in an oversteer or over correction situation. The result is a weaving left to right as you travel the straight-aways. There is no room for any extra stuff in the front for the driver or passenger. Difficult to get the EPA rating of 24 Hghy.
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Loved My Highlander - 2003 Toyota Highlander
By LoveToyotas - August 22 - 2:00 amWe purchased the Highlander right before a big snowstorm last year and it immediately proved its worth. Though our street went unplowed for almost a week, we were out driving every day. It handled great! We recently sold the Highlander because with another baby on the way, we decided to move into the realm of minivans and got an 04 Sienna. But we were very pleased with the resale value on the Highlander, and would have been happy to keep it if we could afford payments on two new cars.
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wifes favorite car ever - 2003 Toyota Highlander
By sajslade - February 13 - 2:00 amWe like the vehicle overall, but expect a little more in a top of the line vehicle (have a Limited awd 6 cyl)
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Usual Toyota Qaulity, BUT... - 2003 Toyota Highlander
By dehlerg - February 8 - 10:00 amThe Highlander is good-looking, peppy with the V6, nimble feeling, perfect height for us, roomy feeling, fun too drive. We really dislike the small unlit mirror in the sun visor of this $30,000 car. We dont understand why Toyota wasted time putting electronics in the rearview mirror, including a compass, but then excluded the outside temp gauge. Soundproofing left plenty of room for improvement, hear lots of road noise. Even though based on Camry chassis, Highlander has relatively bumpy ride.. Gas mileage is poor. On a 200-mile round trip averaging about 68 miles an hour, we got slightly over 20 mpg after 6 months of driving.
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Huge disappointment - 2003 Toyota Highlander
By ejet - March 28 - 9:09 amWe bought this SUV new in 2002. We bought it because we have a 1998 Carolla thats been a very reliable car. But not the Highlander. At just under 200,000 k the old leaky head gasket then the stripped head bolt got us. Last year we thought we would keep the Toyota for a few more years so we put money into the few body chips. Bought new tires, winter and summer and put in a new windshield in the spring. Now we had an engine that was toast. Our local Toyota dealer found us a used motor from another Toyota and installed it. They say it only has 70,000 k but who knows. So we spent $7600.00 so far.
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Very Nice - 2003 Toyota Highlander
By SeanTh - September 13 - 2:00 amWe have had our 2K3 Highlander for one month and we have been very pleased. The ride is on par with the Lexus RX300 for $5000 less. It is just the right size for my wife to drive - big enough to carry the baby, a stroller and groceries with room to spare - and small enough to maneuver in the parking garage at work. The biggest problem is that it is so quiet and powerful, you can really get going fast if you dont watch the speedometer.
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Damm Near Perfect... Ill Keep It! - 2003 Toyota Highlander
By JonHailey - March 20 - 2:00 amSolid feeling body. No rattles. Smooth, silent, drive-train. Ample power. Pleasurable engine/door closing sounds. Right size outside/inside dimensions. Handy in tight parallel parking situations. Excellent foul weather handling. Seats are long term comfortable. Running close to EPAs mileage estimate. Well placed armrests. Few, if any blind spots. Good mirrors. Flat floors! Rear seats recline. Ivory interior hard to keep clean. No change holder. Center console storage awkwardly arranged. Wind rush at highway speeds with any window/sunroof open. No power passenger seat. Few manual seating adjustments. No memory settings. No shelf for cargo area.
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2003 Highlander (2.4L 4A) - 2003 Toyota Highlander
By Rich - November 28 - 10:00 amOur Highlander has been a very reliable vehicle. Its very well built and has lots of room. Im always amazed how much I can stuff into it! The handling and traction has improved considerably after replacing the cheap OEM Goodyear Integritys with Michelin LTXs. The 4 cyl isnt exactly a tire-burner but it consistently gets upper 20s to lower 30s mileage on the highway. We tow a two PWC trailer at just over 2000 lbs. and pulls it nicely at speeds up to 60 mph. Over that and the engine has to work quite hard. Needless to say the mileage drops to the low teens. Overall, Im hard pressed to find something as roomy and versatile as our Highlander on the market today!
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Love My Highlander - 2003 Toyota Highlander
By auntiejenn - June 2 - 4:30 pmIm very happy with this vehicle. Ive taken it on several long (1500 mile) trips and it is as comfortable to drive & ride in as a good quality car. The only complaints I have about it are: (1) the lifter (fuel injector) noise -- and even that is minor. With no radio on, sitting still, you can hear the f.i. system working, but while driving, or with radio on normal volume, you cannot. (2) the paint on the hood chips very easily from normal road wear. I would buy it again ... zero mechanical issues, easy to drive, comfy. Holds value well.
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Buy the V6 - 2003 Toyota Highlander
By Robcowling - May 23 - 10:00 amBought the 4 cylinder for my wife, she is ok with it, but I can not stand to drive it. We thought we would get better gas mileage out of the 4 cylinder but that has not been the case. We get 19 mpg every time, sometimes less. On a recent trip, we got 22, no where near the advertised 22- 27 mpg. I have talked to those who have the 6 cylinder and they are getting the same or better gas mileage. So it makes since to buy the V6 and have 80-90 more horsepower while getting the same gas mileage.
