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Comments
Regards,
Ken
. they put on new rubber pieces- problem is still when full up, the window pulls away from the inside door rubber at the elbow level. noise comes in.
I will take it back again.
Thanks
In mild weather with heat control on full cold you still get about an 8 degree "add" of temp that is the outside air is heated that much- happens in summer too- ac has to overcome it.
No water control valve tho - they should be but hard to retrofit one as the hoses are between back of engine and the firewall- I put one in an old american car but hoses were easy to get to on the fender inside
If they couldn't fix your's I doubt they could fix mine.......If you do take yours back to dealer and they resolve it please let us know.........
I would really be up set if they screwed up the door panel and made it worse. It may be one of those things I'll have to live with.
mine came badly mis aligned (gross front wheel wheel toe in) and with this wind noise.
maybe they are slipping in Japan.
One reason for the swapping my '99 4Runner for a new Highlander is that I expected slightly better gas mileage (2MPG more or so). I used to get about 19 normally and up to 24/25 highway, even though they were rated at 17C/21H.
Figuring the Highlander, rated at 19/25, I should be able to get over 20 normally. However, that is not the case. Unlike every other car I have ever owned, which I was at (or even above), I am now getting below, the estimated MPG, by a considerable margin, IMHO.
My test:
I drove from LA to Palm Springs this past weekend, the trip out there included some around town miles, the 130 miles to Palm Springs and some more town type miles. I filled up just before heading home and I had gotten 20.8MPG. The trip to PS was not at a consistent speed and I would accelerate rapidly at times hit 80-85, as traffic was pretty heavy the entire way. In other words, I would not be surprised to have unexceptional fuel economy.
On my way home I was very cautious, and conscience, of my driving style. I had the cruise on 70 and only rarely would I vary from that. When I did, I made sure to not gun the engine and slowly accelerate. I never got over 75. My moving average (handheld GPS) was 67.7 over the 135mile trip, and I never even turned off my engine during that time, nor was any of it spent standing. In other words, I expect to meet or exceed the estimated MPG. Alas, I was left sulking when I figured out I got only 22.8MPG.
Any thoughts as to reasons for this unexpected, low mileage? Also, how I may increase MPG.
Thanks,
brian
If I remember correctly there is a section in the owner's manual that gives some tips on how to improve gas mileage, but in my case I was already doing most of them.
Also anyone have a bug deflector...do they help a lot with the bugs or just serve to look sporty and nothing more??
Also any recommendations on the best product to use on the leather seating surfaces in the HL? I want to keep them looking good for a long time and keep them soft and supple as well.
Since our HL was purchased used we did not get the perks that you sometimes get with the new purchase like samples of carwash or leather treatments. At least we got some of this stuff when we leased our '96 Avalon, maybe they don't do that anymore, not sure.
Thanks, I have found these forums to be very helpful for info on the HL, both before and after purchase.
On the same subject, I've heard rumors, which I believe to be unfounded and this is slightly outside the realm of this board, but... does cruise control decrease MPG? I can't imagine how it could, but that's the rumor/myth I heard. I'm wondering if it's only relevant when going uphill as the car will downshift (using more gas) to keep the speed up.
Thanks again,
brian
Forester at 65 gets 31-32 mpg. Going up to 70 drops it to 27-28. I travel in this vehicle a lot and have observed this regularly over the last 2 yrs. Best was 34 mpg on 2 lane roads with speeds of 50-55.
Highlander exhibits much the same. Haven't had the 2 lane 50-55 extended trip in that yet. But setting the cruise just below 65 gets us 24 mpg. My wife is usually driving. I tend to set it above 65 and bump it up as I want to pass and end up running it at 70. She scoff's and teases me when we fillup. She WINS ....I get 19-21 mpg. End of my $.02.
Other than that, it has been my experience that factory-installed cruise control does not eat into gas mileage. Besides the current vehicles, my experience with factory-installed cruise has been with an '88 Renault Medallion station wagon and a '94 Toyota Corolla wagon, both with manual transmission. But the two cars I have had with dealer-added cruise -- an '89 Nissan Sentra AWD wagon and an '87 Chevy Nova aka California-built Corolla -- got much worse gas mileage when using cruise control than when not using it. An old high school buddy of mine has experienced the same thing with Hondas, Acuras, and Subarus.
Over the years I have looked at vehicles at a half-dozen or more Toyota dealerships in 3 different states, and I have never had a dealer tell me they could install an after-market cruise control on a newly purchased vehicle. (Okay, I did have a salesman tell me once that they could, but it turned out he was mistaken.) I think Toyota figured out long ago that you get high-quality cruise control only when it comes from the factory.
As to washing and water beading - a good wax application every 6 months (or more often) really helps. Have you every waxed the HL? (and I don't mean those spray on waxes at car washes which are useless).
If you are like my wife and think that the gas pedal is an on/off switch and are constantly speeding up and then braking when you overtake the care ahead or like to get the zoom-zoom-zoom feeling when driving, cruise control would increase mileage because it would smooth out this inefficient behaviour.
However, if you are a smooth driver, plan your traffic openings and don't do a lot of acceleration, I think that cruise control would decrease mileage. Primarily it would be because there is a relatively narrow speed threshold for the cruise control and when you drop below this, the cruise control quickly works to get back to the set speed. This is most obvious when going up hills. If you feel the pedal when going up hills you will see that the pedal is depressed a lot to keep up to the set speed. If you were driving yourself you would probably just keep your foot at the same position and would not care that the car slowed a few miles per hour until you reached the crest. When I use the cruise control I typically disengage it when doing longish or steep hill climbs and take over manually and then resume when I reach the top.
Basically, you are a lot smarter than your cruise control.
As for wax there's generally a trade-off between longevity and shine -- the really nice-looking shiny waxes will wear away after fewer washings than a less-shiny wax. Consumer Reports rated waxes a few years ago; unfortunately my back-issues of Consumer Reports are in my garage too. Basically the best shiny wax if I recall correctly was something like "NuTone" or "Nu" something; it comes in a blue bottle, while the longest lasting was one of the Turtle waxes; both are paste waxes that you apply with the supplied applicator and then buff-off; also, I think I singled these two out because my HL has black in it (two-toned) and certain waxes are less abrasive than others, which is important in a black vehicle as they will show scratches over time more readily. It would be ideal if you could dig up that issue of CR. Once again detailing enthusiasts will tell you there are way better waxes than NuTone for shine. I doubt there's a Toyota-brand wax; they probably have professional detailers that do this stuff for a living and use their favorite wax.
I believe there's a forum in edmunds.com that discusses auto detailing with debates over waxes, leather cleaners, etc.
I have the bug deflector and it seems to function very well as such, although I havn't taken any long trips yet. Use bug and tar remover from your favorite auto store (comes in a bottle); buy a sponge with nylon netting over it for this.
Since our HL was purchased used we did not get the perks that you sometimes get with the new purchase like samples of carwash or leather treatments. At least we got some of this stuff when we leased our '96 Avalon, maybe they don't do that anymore, not sure.
I didn't get any samples when I bought my HL new back in '01.
A week later, she was in a rear-end accident (she isn't a tailgater) and swore that the ABS failed.
After $6000 in repairs, she got the car back and a week later the ABS, VSC lights once again came on.
Yesterday I followed her to the dealership to deal with the lights. Seems there is a vacuum line that is easily dislodged and when it is off, the lights will come on and the ABS system is disabled.
The first time, the detached hose was found after the car had been in for regular servicing and this last time, she took the car in to be checked out after getting it back from the body shop.
Word to the wise.
Let us know.
Best regards, Philip
Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Been there.
it decides not to start, the engine turns. its like no fuel or spark. I thought it may be related to the security
system, We tried staring it one night, (stuck at the store,) would not fire up, AAA came,he thought it may be the fuel pump and hammered on the gas tank, still no go. Towed it to my mechanic, stayed there overnight. He said it started right up the next day for him ??? He kept the car for a week and never found a problem. it just kept starting fine. Has Anybody had this problem with theirs and maybe a solution?, its driving us nuts !!! In fact it wouldn't start again today, We're in So. Cal...Thanks
Have you closely examined the plastic at the lap belt connection point? I'm wondering if there are cracks that open/close when tension is applied? Have you eliminated ALL other possibilities such as: empty everything out of the center console, be sure there is nothing under your seat that might be telegraphing noise up the side of the console. That's all I can think of at the moment.
Best regards, Philip
I took it in for service, and was initially told they couldn't hear what I'm hearing until I had the manager get in the passenger side and close all doors while I pressed on the brake pedal. He said it was normal, but i insisted it wasn't doing that before. So he had the technician listen who claimed he wasnt hearing it either, but suggested to replace the brake booster anyway. A friend and my brother can hear the slight squeaking. (what is this power brake booster do?) The part is on order. It's an 05 highlander with 2,000 miles on it. Any input is welcome
I'm guessing that you didn't change your oil at the dealership. Every Toyota is programmed for every 5000 miles a MAINTENCE REQUIRED Light comes up to reminde you to change your oil. The only way that light will go away is if you change your oil at the delearship. Please respond so I know that you read this.
HUH? From an earlier post on these boards:
"After reading thru the Service Manual I came across the proceedure to reset this. (keep in mind, it starts the counter again to flash at 4.5K then come on solid again at 5K FROM the mileage it is reset from).
With the key in the ON/RUN position, push the odometer button until ODO is displayed.
Turn the key to OFF
Push and Hold the odometer button while turning the key to the ON/RUN position.
Hold for 5 seconds......Counter now reset to warn at the next 4.5k interval and come on solid 5k from now.
Hope this info helps other 'shade tree' mechanics."