I think the Pilot is a much nicer looking vehicle with a proven engine. I looked at the Highlander twice years ago for our 3kids, 2 dogs hockey life and ended up with a new Pilot in 2008 and again in 2015. Same as the Camry vs Accord. Honda does unibody better in pretty much every category. The Civic is a much better vehicle than the Corolla. This new GH might be the exception but I'm still iffy on whether or not I would trust the new engine options. I would probably take the RAV4 over the CRV though due to the turbo BS in the CRV.

I actually really dig the new Pilot Trailsport and agree that the Pilot is definitely a smarter buy than a standard Highlander. From what I can tell the Grand is pretty much all new minus the name which Toyota stuck with due to the overall owner loyalty built up.

That hybrid max power train in combination with the sheer cargo capability of that vehicle is what blows me away. I have two kids who are rapidly growing up and could legitimately use the 3rd row at times plus the nearly 53 cubic feet of cargo room with the 3rd row down is ridiculous to me. All while getting near 27 mpg.

It makes me really curious about the TX now though as I imagine there is going to be some pricing overlap with the Toyota. Loaded TX likely will hit $80k given competition and pricing of the RX in the higher trims though... I still love Defender 110s and even the 130, but nicely equipped they are $80k to $90k which is getting stupid.

I will mention that turbo charging is not something that bothers me as I have owned 3 2.0t vehicles now with zero issues related to forced induction. That being said, I doubt I would run one of my cars past about 100k before trading it...

Yeah, if you don't drive more than normal and trade in every 5 years the turbos will probably be fine. I'm still waiting to see how these new hybrids are designed. The RAV4 hybrid has a terrible corrosion issue with the rear electric cable connector at the rear motor. Salt and water gets trapped and corrodes the cable costing $7000 to fix. Rav owners in Canada had to launch a class action lawsuit to get some relief.

The price of the GH is very high. The base GH is more expensive than a 4Runner TRD OR. I'm in Canada so the prices might be a bit different in the states with how they compare to other models but it looks like a base GH is the same price as the Pilot Trail Sport, which IMO looks way better than the GH. I would say we are looking at a $10,000 price increase for the 6th gen 4Runner.

I know inflation is running high and interest rates are as well. But salaries aren't increasing at the same rate. Mortgage payments are going up and the daily expenses like food and gas are 10%+ higher. I can't see how people who are used to driving a 3 row SUV are going to be able to afford to buy the new versions like the GH. Unless people start stepping down in trim levels or models. The top trim GH is now as expensive as an Acura MDX.

With the economy shaky and a loyal 4Runner customer base, I don't think Toyota wants to alienate a large percentage of repeat 4Runner customers by driving them away with an extreme price increase.

I think it is reasonable to assume we will see a standard year over year refreshed model price increase, 3% - 5%. To do otherwise would mean increased advertising costs to replace the lost loyal customers who are themselves free advertising.

On another side note about Rivian...

Rivian R1T Owner's $42,000 Repair Bill — The Shocking Cost Of A Minor Fender Bender On A $73,000 Electric Truck

Normally vehicles have "crumple zones", it seems Rivian is using the entire chassis for a crumple zone, in other words, there really isn't one, if I understand the article correctly.

Pricing in the US looks like basically starting around $44K up to about $59K fully loaded for a Platinum Hybrid Max.

How Much Is a 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander SUV?

Part of me kind of agrees that the lower trim lines are not that great on pricing when you line them up against vehicles like the Pilot, Telluride and Palisade. To me the Hybrid-Max powertrain is pretty unique though and I don't think anything else out there other than maybe an Explorer ST which can easily run into the mid to high $50K range, and arguably the CX90 now (but it's a much smaller vehicle with regards to interior space).

I completely agree about vehicle prices being out of control, but look at the US fullsize truck market. People keep paying for these vehicles even when I bet 90% or more of them don't really need one. Part of the reason over 20% of car payments have moved up over $1000 a month now in the US definitely. Consumers seem content spending larger and larger proportions of their income on vehicles, but I agree something has to give sooner or later. Inventory returning to somewhat normal levels does seem to be holding or pushing down average transaction prices as more factory incentives are coming back into play. If we do go recessionary for the 2nd half of the year; I imagine we could see supply further catch up to (and perhaps outstrip) demand.

I do think these high trim level "mainstream" vehicles get interesting when cross shopping versus luxury makes as you are mentioning. It all really comes down to what you want to pay for I think.

Same problem at Tesla apparently with the batteries so integrated into the chasis that repair costs can get completley out of control:

Teslas are so expensive to repair, insurers are writing them off - Autoblog

I know I've read that some insurers are getting gun-shy on even insuring the vehicles (and customers are definitely paying for the high repair costs in their insurance premiums).

The road noise in the MT video was very noticeable. I was hoping they would do a better job insulating the GH than they did the Rav, but it's clear they didn't.
Too bad. I'll test drive one to validate it, but more than likely, the GH just fell of my list.
How Toyota keeps failing at this is beyond me. Our crap Hyundai Tucson was better insulated than our Rav.

I didn't even notice it, but 6 years of 4Runner ownership after 4+ years of Jeep Wrangler Unlimited ownership has probably made me pretty used to road noise. My Rover is pretty quiet, but I actually think the last really quiet car I had was a 1999 Acura 3.2 TL.

It sure feels like something has to give in the car market and rapid inflation on prices. I'm not sure what that looks like or when. But the pricing is going up so fast that I struggle to see this continuing for much longer. Especially at the same time I see the Model Y dropping price to start overlapping a Rav4. Things are getting a bit distorted. It's got to be pushing people out of the market. It's enough to keep me from buying a new Tundra. We may end up buying a Model Y to replace our RX350. The insurance issue is one of the big hurdles to me pulling the trigger. The insurance premium over the RX is more than the fuel cost savings would be. The home charging part is really compelling now that I have to commute to work regularly. I'd rather have a new GX550 or possibly a new Land Cruiser, but I don't think I'll be willing to spend $80K+ on the GX or $75k on the Land Cruiser.

I imagine as baseline inflation slows (hopefully) we'll start to see car prices year over year increase less than they have the last 4 model years or so. I really do think the other factor will be the ability to get more and more vehicles below MSRP, conceivably with some factory incentives on vehicles. It seems like subsidized interest rates are coming back in some cases also, at least for 36 or 48 month loans. This will likely freeze or actually lead to a slight drop in average transaction price (but regardless, it's hard to picture that getting below about $45K ever again).

The other interesting factors in this whole mess is that automotive manufacturers clearly got used to being able to derive more profit per unit moved since 2021 or so. At some point if sales start to slow way down, it'll be interesting to see if a focus on volume comes back (which you could already argue a company like Tesla is going after at this point). The second thing is the role of interest rates. Everyone is used to effectively free money with very low costs to borrow. Part of me is almost hoping the economy starts to tank in the next 6 to 9 months since I really am not looking forward to a 7 or 8 percent car loan at best. I don't think I've had a loan rate over 4.9% APR in my life on a vehicle.

I see a few cracks starting. Domestics are all getting really heavy on inventory. I saw Jeep Renegade has 750 days worth of inventory right now. Might get real cheap soon! Ram trucks are north of 100 days of inventory. Ford is getting there. GM is idling plants. But not Toyota. Toyota company wide is still under 30 days of inventory. Toyota, Kia, Lexus, and Honda are all still super tight on inventory.

I'm liking what I see with the fold flat seats. Now it is apples to oranges as the 4Runner will be body on frame with a solid axle and is also physically smaller than the Grand Highlander but at least in this application Toyota was able to package the batteries in a way that did not compromise interior volume.

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Yeah, it seems like the Japanese and Koreans got hit particularly hard by the semiconductor shortages and overall supply chain chaos. When you consider they have a lot of very in demand vehicle designs, it's definitely taking awhile for them to catch back up.

It sounded like the solid axle on the Sequoia was what caused the packaging nightmare there though. Grand Highlander as a unibody likely fixed that issue.

We'll get another couple of data points on June 8 with the GX and TX reveals (albeit; I'm pretty sure TX is going to be damn similar to a Grand Highlander with a really ugly grill) .