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Comments
ET.
Eric
The big question I have--and what will determine if a Highlander is in my family's future--is if the black leather interior will be offered in the LTD.
With 2 little kids, a light interior is car suicide!
I noticed on some posts from last Aug that guys mentioned they had bought a 2008 in Aug---so maybe it's Aug-Sept.
I'm thinking about waiting to buy a 2009 Ltd, vs a 2008 Ltd--just in case some bugs (if there are any) get corrected in the new model year.
hth, Ron
My husband and I just bought a 08 Highlander and were wondering if anyone has purchased seat covers for their highlander? If so where did you get them, how do they fit, how are they holdong up, and is there anything else to watch out for. We would really like to get seat covers in it as soon as possible (so out 15 month old does not share her cookies/juice/slober etc with our new SUV).
Thanks!
My question is do most of you when driving with the AC on, turn it off before you turn ignition off. I have friends that say it is better to start the engine without the AC on, it is less strain. I have others that say it doesn't matter. I would like to hear what most do. I have heard many different opinions on this issue. Some say it wears out the switch, if you constently turn AC switch on & off.
Thanks for your advice!!
Ronn
I know this is to help de ice the AC unit. The automatic climate control can be reprogrammed to have the recirc button be totally manual (not linked to the auto AC). That way, it will stay in the setting you choose.
About your concerns.
Starting with AC on - I don't think it matters as far as the engine is concerned.
Turning AC off before shutting the engine down, most definitely. It is good practice to turn off the AC and open the recirc to allow all the moisture on the AC heat exchanger to evaporate and dry. If you don't do it, you might get a smelly AC due to mold growing in the damp AC fins in the heat exchanger.
As for the AC switch, it will probably last 100's of 1000's of switching on and off.
It has to be done by the dealer.
There are about 50 settings that can be customized...like DRL's off, headlight delay off, door unlock mode etc etc.
What I do now is just set the auto climate control to the desired setting and manually cycle the recirc off and on.
This overrides the recirc control until the car is switched off.
My wife has allergies, plus I don't want dirty air clogging the cabin filter.
Plus, smelly exhaust will make the inside of the car smell bad over time.
My 1987 Supra still smelled like new inside after 14 years (so people remarked when they got in)
The idea of the system automatically switching into recirc is not well thought out, NOT at all. On a HOT summer day with the sun shining brightly and the car closed up and parked outside for a few hours, or in some case even 20-30 minutes, the interior atmosphere and surfaces, will often get VERY HOT.
In that circumstance it is a bit foolish, hell, a whole LOT foolish, to put the system in recirculate in order to quickly cool down the cabin atmosphere and seat and other interior surfaces. The first thing to do, unquestionably, is PURGE the cabin of the exceedingly HOT atmosphere, THEN, and only then, would it become appropreate to have the system in recirculate.
And the funny thing is, the VERY funny thing, is that most owners manuals will direct you on how to do EXACTLY that. In the above instance most owners manuals will advise you to lower the (rear) windows for a few miles to purge the cabin or HOT air and thereby cool the car down more quickly.
Strange....
One hand not aware of what the other hand is doing...??!!
Were I designing these systems the A/C mode would remain in FRESH but with the blower on a fairly high speed until enough time had elapsed for the cabin to have been purged of the HOT atmosphere and then it would be automatically switched to recirc mode.
Personally, insofar as I see it, there is little reason to have the system in FRESH mode during the summer months when we have a need for cooling the cabin moreso than heating.
If you want to improve cooling mode FE to the ultimate for most of these new systems it is best to run in recirc continuously, move the temperature setpoint to MAX cooling and then use the blower speed manual control to adjust the cabin temperature to your own personal comfort level. An additional level of FE improvement can be attained via shutting off the HOT coolant flow through the heater core via purchasing and installed a water flow control valve at Home Depot.
All my vehicles have the ability to open the A/C compressor clutch circuit during the cooler/cold months when A/C operation is not as desireable.
Ford, for example, wont let you select AC with heat (ie in winter, you need warm dry air to defog your windshield). If I recall, the settings are
Max AC, AC, Panel Vent, Panel / floor, floor / defrost, etc. THere was no separate AC button. If you selected defrost, you go no AC and no recirc. I guess US manufacturers assumed people didn't like too many buttons as it might confuse the driver.
If I were designing AC systems, I would have recirc left in manual mode.
I don't ever want outside air comming in, unless decide too malke that choice
Good thing the 2008 HL can be reprogrammed so set the recir function into 100% manual mode, not tied to the Auto climate control
IMO, no one pays attention to *&( things, except to complain about the noise.
Did you really mean to say closing the incoming FRESH air "vent"...?
I would venture to say that there is NO passenger vehicle regardless of nationality of manufacture that is less than 5 years old that does not turn on the A/C automatically in defrost/defog/demist mode. I would also venture that there is NO passenger vehicle less than 5 years old that will allow you to keep recirc on continously without manual intervention absent the A/C being operational, operating.
"...US climate control systems in cars are retarded."
Well, they weren't until NipponDenso went on an acquisition binge and now dominate the US market for automatic climate control designs. Prior to Denso US coming "about", automatic climate control systems in US made cars were just as sensibly designed, WELL designed, as their european counterparts.
NipponDenso and Denso US specializes in hiring IDIOTS/RETARDS (Bushees..??) as HVAC engineers.
In the 1990's I looked at the Ford Explorer (also other US vehicles such as GM etc).
I will say the climate control in US vehicles is RETARDED.
I drove several Ford's in the UK. It had a separate AC switch and recirc switch.
Ford US, did not have that. The climate control "knob" had the following settings "Max AC" (which I presume included recirc). AC (no recirc), Panel, Floor, and Floor/defrost.
Ford Focus and Ford Escort were originally designed in Europe and when they came across the pond, they get dumbed down, and all styling features removed
So there was no ability for the user to select AC or recirc independently.
My Toyota Supra (1987 model) had auto climate control with user selectable AC and recirc.
And as for your political reference in your last post, you need to get over it.
If the person is calling from an 'extension', chances are the caller ID (on the mobile phone) will not handle the 'extension' properly.
Basically I cannot disagree, except for the need to point out that our current US designs are RETARDED as a result of being overwhelmed by the horribly FLAWED automatic climate control designed inported from Japan by NipponDenso/Denso US.
First, you seem to be referring, in the RETARDED context, to the US product back in the last century, the 1990's. And yes, other than the upscale luxury brands US passenger vehicles did not have anything close to an automatic climate control system.
But competition for sales and mass production of the high technology componentry required to implement the "less than 5 years" models with automatic climate controls has worked its magic and now even the least expensive of US cars have automatic climate control, or at least available as an option.
But you may take note that the designers of these NEW systems are just now beginning to realize that allowing independent control of A/C and recirc/fresh mode was ONE SERIOUS mistake. You can manually put your system in recirc if you wish, but without the A/C in operation it will switch back into "fresh" mode within minutes. While it isn't really reasonable to do this in warmer climates that remains, seemingly, something that the Denso design engineers have yet to learn.
RETARDED...
My new 1992 LS400's automatic climate control system's base NipponDenso design was so flawed it was not SAFE to drive the car in certain common wintertime conditions/climates. After the first few inadvertent, unpredictable, and thereby unavoidable HAZARDOUS driving instances I parked the car for the "duration". Absent doing the required modifications myself, having the ability to do the modifications that car would likely still be a garage queen.
Now here we are in 2008 and almost every one of the modifications I came up with by 1994 for my LS400 have now been incorporated, either embedded or as a c-best option, in the newer NipponDenso/Denso US automatic climate control designs.
But still, certain aspects of the automatic climate control in my 2001 Porsche 911, and therefore likely ALL (Bosch) european designs, still make the NipponDenso/Denso US designs seem RETARDED in comparison.
Perhaps we should get in the habit of turning off the a/c before turning off the car. It's worth a try to see if it makes a difference.
ET
And the odor you get from the resulting formation of mould and mildew spores is more like "dirty gym socks" than the odor you describe.
And you might be surprised at just how creative an un-neutered tom cat can be at getting into a supposedly closed garage, especially if you happen to own a female cat, even a neutered one..
From personal experience I have learned to NEVER leave the garage door open during the day or times when I'm working outside and going back and forth for tools, etc. We have a female cat, neutered, and our neighbor has a neutered male cat who apparently isn't aware that she, and he, have both been fixed. I have discovered him in our garage the next morning after apparently inadvertently trapping him in the garage the previous day/evening.
Have to find some birdshot for my 22.
I am very happy with the Highlander, and I think you would enjoy it more than the Pilot. IMO, the Highlander is alot better looking, and it has a much more smooth and quiet ride. I have the Blizzard Pearl exterior paint, and it is very good looking all shined up.
Some friends I have own both, and they much prefer the Highlander over the Pilot for the better ride. Their gas is about the same. He is tall, and the Highlander is also a better fit. He often complains about the road noise with the Pilot, but the wife gets the Highlander most of the time! They have kids, and he is a Doctor, so they have to have two SUV's for winter driving. They take the Highlander on trips, and they have gotten around 28 on the highway at times.
They are both very high rated SUV's, so a matter of choice is up to you.
Good luck with your decision!
It seems that the number that appears on the display is from the previous call i made or a previous call that came in. do you know if anyone has experienced this before and what can be done to correct it?
Missed the nav from my first test drive, but the smart key and push button start are pretty cool. I agree the wood trim is an eye sore.
Drove really well. With superficial discussion on price, they were offering 2% over invoice. If I really get serious I'd hope to get a better deal than that if possible.
I think I've got it down to the Highlander or the 2008 Pilot. It's a question of whether it's worth $6,000 or so to get a new design or one that's 6 years old with comparable options between the two (moonroof, nav, etc). I liked both, hopefully the wife will decide for me after she drives both .
Have any Blizzard Pearl owners experienced this rust???????????
Does anybody have any added insight into this?????????/
Obviously I am considering blizzard pearl but have real concerns regarding the color choice as I keep my vehicles a long time.
Thank you in advance for your helpful responses.
Thanks!
Sherwin-Williams
I've never messed with the acid remover stuff, but I do like using a clay bar now and then.
xfiles, "Rail Dust" #5, 11 Jun 2001 7:57 pm
I've had a white '85 Chevy, 1991 Toyota PU and 2001 Celica. ALL had the same problem: particularly in the spring when I'd do a real thorough cleaning and waxing, I'd find all of these tiny brownish 'rust' specks, mostly on the lower half of the body, particularly behind the wheel wells, and on the back bumper and vertical areas. You could even feel them as a gritty deposit rubbing your hand over them. After polishing them all out by hand with Dupont #7 polishing compound and 2 good wax coats, they'd stay pretty good until...the next spring and the same crap was back. I found if I washed the car more often during the winter to get the salt off, that would lessen it somewhat.
All the paint/body people I talked to said the spots were essentially like "acid rain" deposits and NOT an inherent fault of the finish or paint; they just showed-up more on white finishes, but they're on every finish.
I now use Mequiar's ScratchX and a soft flat cotton rag (like a diaper) to take 'em out of my HL. Still a fair amount of work, but the results is nice.
Regards, BGood
I think that may be something different. I had the same thing, lived in Anchorage 12 yrs, every spring. Have you tried Turtle Wax Bug&Tar remover? That took care of it for me, no polishing required.
There are three pages of available speed dial entries but you need to enter the numbers in the speed dial locations. I think a total of around 18 numbers can be entered. When you access the phone while driving by using the phone key on the steering wheel the speed dial page opens. Hope this is some help. I too wish that I could access my voice dialing feature of my phone via the bluetooth of the vehicle. Does anyone know if there are any phones that pass through the voice activated features of the phone to the car? When I try to use the phones voice activated dialing while the bluetooth is connected to the vehicle I get nothing. I also wish that the ringtone of the phone would be passed through to the car. I have different ring tones for different people and my phone even announces who is calling by name if it is someone in my phone book in the phone. I wish these would be broadcast through the bluetooth. I too have noticed that the caller id on the nav screen is not always accurate or sometimes does not show up at all. I still love my limited but these are a few little things that I wish could be made perfect!
I rotated my tires on Sat. by:
0. Chocked both of the tires on the other side of the HL (in front of the front and behind the rear).
1. Jack the rear using the 'screw jack' point just in front of the rear tire (I used the same 'custom block' that I made years ago between my 3 ton hydraulic jack and the frame as I use on my other Toyota's)
2. Placed a small (2 ton) jack stand just inside of the 'lip' of the jack point and between the jack and the tire and lowered the HL onto it. I could not use my 6 ton stands as they will not fit under it (even though the tire was a full 2" off the ground!)
3. Remove tire, jack front (just behind front tire).
4. Quickly swap front tire (don't like working off just a jack !!). Suppose I could (er, should have) have done same thing as "step 2." with a 2nd stand...
5. Lower front, mount rear tire, remove rear jack stand.
6. Torque to spec
7. Repeat on other side.
I did notice there is a oval cutout just behind the jack point. My 6 ton stands would accept that perfectly - if the stands weren't too tall and the jack wasn't in the way !!
Would really appreciate someone checking the shop manual - this seems to be too 'hokey pokey' to do on a regular basis.
PS: Did not rotate spare through.. never have. In 40k mi the spare won't match the rest of the sneakers... but since its a spare - who cares, no ?
I wonder if it's possible to take the cushions off in order to use the space they take up.
I need the hidden storage that the 3rd row delete offers but just found out that the 3rd row delete is not available with the AWD, but only the FWD. :mad: