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Comments
The Toyota hitch has you replace the body-colored bottom bumper panel with a black one that has a tube & -flat cutout, so that is an extra, albeit not very hard, step.
I also modified the drivers side splash guard to fit, which took some doing with an old pair of tin snips and my dremel (and lots of trial'n'error).
All in all, I think the factory hitch looks better but the Valley was far cheaper. No real difference in install time or complexity. I think the receiver tube sticks out too far on the Valley, but I am still unwilling to spend $300 more to get a 3-4" shorter tube... and the slight reduction in ground clearance is a don't care for me.
Your mileage may vary....
mACK
I paid $100 for my '99 Nissan service manual and it's debatable whether it has paid for itself. I probably could have found all the info I've used it for on the forums here.
http://sumbiz03.home.comcast.net/~sumbiz03/TowHitch.pdf
OEM Wiring harness
http://sumbiz03.home.comcast.net/~sumbiz03/TrailerWireHarness.pdf
regular highlanders are 3.5 l engines
Careful ... as you know all generalizations are wrong. You might just live in the wrong area. At our stores ( 2 Toyota, Chevy, Honda, Acura, Nissan, Mazda and Suzuki ) oil and filters are Free for Life along with state inspections, every 5000 mi / 6 mo's. The engine is also Guaranteed for Life if the owner does all the required maintenance at one of our stores. This includes Used Cars of the above brands also.
The Service Depts at all the stores are slammed all day long and they've extended the hours at our Toyota store from 7 AM to 9 PM to handle the volume along with tripling the bays from 22 to 72.
I have a 2007 Highlander Hybrid with the 3.3 ltr engine. The 2008 HH has the same 3.3 ltr engine with some slight modifications/software to up the HP to 270 vice 268. I doubt Toyota would redesign the engine to modifiy the oil filter as noted in the link. I changed the oil in my HH over the past weekend and it was a snap. The usual can-type oil filter just spins off/on with no special tools other than a cup-type filter wrench that fits over the end of the filter. It appears that the 2008 ICE Highlander 3.5 ltr has the more complicated oil change procedure.
Regards -
M. J. McCloskey
I'm not generalizing as you claim. I can only relate to my own personal experience. The Toyota dealers in my area would never offer what you claim. I guess I do live in the wrong area to own a Toyota. The stuff you refer to are only given to Lexus, and BMW owners.
It was just this part to which I was referring. Actually Toyota has nothing to do with what's done after the sale. It is very much a local issue. As an example no other store or group of stores in our region, 150+ miles, offers anything like ours either.
Have you read your service manual recently? There's timing chains on almost all vehicles. On most auto's there's almost nothing to do other than oil and filters up to 100K miles. At that time you might want to change your plugs. Airfilters and tires are a simple DIY. Who would pay $300 for any service before 100K miles? That's early 90's stuff.
It's pretty simple..
show up at 5000 miles and the cost is $0
show up at 10000 miles and the cost is $0
show up at 15000 miles and the cost is $0
show up at 20000 miles and the cost is $0
I always decline.
Which, as you know, is also a generalization.
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
Show up at the specified intervals and it costs nothing.
Skip a year or two and show up at 50,000 and it still costs nothing. Here is another way of looking at it, the other side of the coin if you will. The owner is 'buying' an hour of your time ( a previous customer, presumably satisfied ) for $20-$25 to get you to look around at the new vehicles.
After 4 or 5 of these visits on two or three vehicle per family then it becomes almost a monthly habit.
The Highlander - with 270hp - seems to shift like my wife's 130 hp 4cyl Corolla. The slightest upgrade and it goes to 4th, anything longer than a couple hundred feet makes it drop to 3rd? What gives? It has plenty of power... Is there anyway to lock it into OD - or reprogram the shift points to stay in high gear longer?
Granted it is 6,000 lbs and 4wd, but even if that saps 70-80 hp from the engine (as compared to my previous vehicle), it should still be able to stay in high gear - if not at least 4th... I thought I could live with an automatic, but after a 3 weeks it isn't getting any easier.
I expect the high-revving 4 cyl to shift a lot, but not a big meaty v6?
Another thing I noticed (the corolla does this too) is it downshifts when you are going downhill at 45 mph and so much as touch the brake? Why the heck would it do this??
Thoughts?
Concerning the Auto Tran. I too cannot stand the shift points in the new trans.
I also get the same beg job at the service department. They ask to please give them an excellent rating or nothing at all.
These tactics are low life and I've meaning to let Toyota know what is going on. I think most people probably just give them what they want or nothing.
In that light, it is even more frustrating that it shifts up to 20 times on the same stretch of road that I never had to shift manually at all - with the SAME weight to power ratio....and the use of 3rd gear at highway speeds, come on Toyota??
As for tranny braking, the side effect seems to be the passenger 'lunging' forward on the downshift. Certainly seems to make my wife uncomfortable in the HL - although not so much in the Corolla. Maybe it is the extra weight/momentum of the bigger car. Funny thing is, after over a decade of driving a stick, I never downshifted to use the tranny to slow unless I was towing... Brakes are far cheaper.
So, in order to keep the engine right on the "cusp" of best FE, the new 6-speed transmissions, 9 speeds if the OD clutch is used properly, will exhibit a LOT of shiftiness during constant speed cruise, especially in cruise control.
And...
When you INITIALLY apply the brakes the OD clutch MUST be disengaged in case the brake application QUICKLY becomes severe. With the OD clutch engaged and the driven wheels virtaully LOCKED the engine would stall.
So that initial "downshift" as you apply the brakes is oftentimes simply the OD clutch releasing, thereby putting you into a "true" 3rd, 4th, 5th, or even 6th(OD).
You may not believe it but it's the facts. Toyota has done the effort to minimize what has to be done on the vehicle. I've had 7 of them beginning in 1989. At that time a 3000 mi service interval cost anywhere from $75 to $150 and the timing belt service cost upwards of $500 depending on the location.
Now proper service intervals are 5000 mi, there are almost no timing belts any longer, the plugs should go for 100,000 mi at least and most of the new transmissions don't need any service. That's what Toyota has done.
The dealers are separate businesses. Some are huge and can cover their expenses with minimal profit per vehicle. Others are small and have to make a good profit on every vehice and service provided. Toyota has no say whatsoever on what each store does. If one decides to charge $40 for an oil change and another is at $29 and another is Free for Life...that's just business in a local market. Toyota can't force the small store to charge nothing because the big store doesn't charge anything. Normal forces in the local market will direct the business to the low cost provider.
What Toyota wants is satisfied customers. Here's a shocker for you. The small stores that often charge a 'fair' price ( meaning with a normal profit ) such as $29 per oil change normally get much much better CSI scores in the service department than the big stores. The Service Dept CSI scores are the only thing Toyota monitors after the sale.
That's unfortunate. I, too, have been subject to the pressure to "give us 100% satisfaction or nothing." This artificially skews Toyota's results. It's not valid CSI at all.
And I get tired of people thinking that their personal dissatisfaction is the direct result of some sort of grand Toyota corporate conspiracy to screw customers.
As consumers, none of us buy anything directly from Toyota. We all have to interact with a dealer. The smart dealers are going to find ways to differentiate themselves on factors other than price. At the end of the day, there are going to be good Toyota dealers and not-so-good Toyota dealers.
Personally, my Toyota dealer has vastly improved its sales and service department over the last 6 years (and two Toyotas for me). This is in an area where Toyota has had the highest new vehicle market share of any manufacturer (about 25%) for years.
As for service, I have no problem taking my Toyota in for regular servicing at the dealer. Yes, I could do it myself. However, I don't mind paying for the convenience of letting the dealer doing it.
Mackabee
Ask the customer to come back to you once the survey is recieved and sit down and resolve any customer issues "real time" and then help fill out the form.
Mackabee
'
Tying compensation (or an incentive) to survey scores is one of those things that sounds good on paper (provides additional motivation to excel, etc.), but in reality it just becomes another cat-and-mouse game to manufacture the results that are desired.
My wife just got her 2008 CR-V and wow, is it really top notch. Little things like lighted power window switches (drivers and all passenger).
Wonder why Toyota would leave out a detail like that?
I'm guessing cost cutting :confuse:
The switches on my 02 RAV 4 are not lit - they are in exactly the same spot as they are on my 08 HL. I personally do not look at these switches to operate. Same goes for the power mirror adjustment. It is not lit, it does not really need to be. Cost cutting perhaps - I prefer to think of it as money spent in the right places.
well, for $27,700 the CRV EX-L (Navi) has lighted power window switches, and voice activated automatic climate control, Radio / CD controls as well as the DVD navi
Apart from having a 4cyl engine, the 2008 CRV is probably one of the best cars for the price.
The fit and finish are impecible.
Also, a recent JD power ranking show Toyota slipping, and Honda getting better.
Don't get me wrong, I am a Toyota fan, but I wish they would keep up with the pack.
Oh, my 1987 Supra had lighted power window switches, as well as auto climate control.
I didn't say it made sense.