[ernieD]

Well darn, I was about to go pick up my new HL LE V6 today. But last nite while cruising the Kia Sorento site, I joined up as I was cross shopping the Sorento vs Highlander.

I was lamenting in a thread of how I was leaning to the HL instead of the Sorento after what I felt was a lot of research on my part. A Sorento member directed me to check out a video and a thread on Toyota Nation of a issue folks were having with their very new HL's. Seems the servo motors that run the AC climate control kick on continuously and are loud and annoying. I heard this on the video one owner posted. There are so many folks complaing of this same problem in their new HL's with Toyota service telling them its normal operation. They're pretty p*ssed.

I know things can go wrong with any auto but so many folks have the same problem and many are getting the same answer from Toyota service and HQ on their issue. Well it was enough to cancel my apptment today of testing and planning to bring home my new '15 HL. I may still go drive it but I'm very leary after reading all those same complaints. I may go look at the Sorento's again now. :act002:

 

[qlake]

I also went back and forth between the Sorrento and the Highlander and the determining factor for me was resale. The Kia resale is terrible while the Toyotas are fantastic. I purchased a 2015 Limited Platinum last November with no regrets.

I have never heard the servo motors in my HL and I have not had a single issue with anything else other that the JBL audio is a little weak.

 

[ernieD]

That's real good to hear qlake. I still plan to go test drive the V6 they have on hold for me tomorrow to see for myself. Those folks with issues all say they really love their new HL's all but the noise issue of course. And they mostly think its just a bad run of servo motors that ended up in their HL's.

Some say the noise started just days after purchase, others say it took a few hundred miles then they noticed it. Its those that say, just after purchasing their new HL's and they started hearing the noise. Their passengers hear it and ask how can they live with that irritating noise. After spending $45K-$50K for their very nice HL's this issue makes them want to sell it off at about $8K loss. Just very disappointing that I just decided to wait out of wanting to research this. But again, very glad you have one without issues, makes me hopeful.
And I'm just getting the LE V6 w/o the auto climate control which seems to be the culprit here. Just scary how that same "issue thread" grows every day as folks find the complaints on ToyNation site and add their story of their brand new HL's having this issue and the same answers from Toyota.

And now, I've also added the '16 Pilot to test drive today. If what I'm seeing on offers holds up, the prices are setting down here in the Houston area. We'll see. Peace, ernie

 

[AG87BlkLX]

Drive the Highlander & listen fir the AC servos kicking in & out. If the one you are test driving doesn't have this issue buy it. If it does test drive another.

The Highlander will have much better resale than the Kia if that matters to you.

 

[ernieD]

Yep I plan to drive a few if need be, hopefully I hear that noise immediately and can pass on that one or all.

I can appreciate the resale value of the HL. I've had my '08 Pilot since new, so I don't typically flip em for a few years.

But those folks are talking about selling/trading off their brand new, weeks old HL's at a significant loss, I doubt the resale value benefit was on their minds to have to utilize this soon.

 

[rollinhonda]

I never saw the Sorento and Highlander being in the same class, at least as far as size for starters. In price there is quite a difference, until you get past the 4cyl Sorentos.

Highlander always seemed a little more upscale to even the Pilot but perhaps not this year.

The Sorento has improved since inception, possibly a good choice in it's own right minus the depreciation.

 

[S.T.U.V]

You will love the highlander. I have about 10-15 regular customers that own them and nothing but good things to say. I looked through our TSB'S and I only found one so far on a seal for the sunroof tearing, That's it. Next customer I have with one I will ask them if they have heard any loud noises.

The thing is with new cars or issues with cars, toyota needs to receive a certain number of complaints to actually start investigating an issue. So if it is common in the highlanders toyota should eventually issue a TSB on the part or whatever the issue may be. Past issues with vehicles( the scion rear garnish, the camry sun visors) sometimes take years to happen. Both of the mentioned issues the warranty was extended for 7 years from date of first use, and if you already paid for a replacement, then you were reimbursed.

 

[Car Compulsive]

I sat in a new Pilot a couple weeks ago and was quite impressed. I would check it out and forget the Kia.

 

[Dnick]

.... but don't be surprised if you miss your Ridge once in a while.

I just got back from Home Depot today with 2 sheets of dry wall & 6 eight foot 2x3s.

I haul a lot of miscellany things from time to time, but it's been years since I've had a full sheet of anything back there. But it sure is handy when the need comes along.

Try that with your Highlander!

I'm guessing I'll miss the 'truck' aspects when I eventually move along as well (maybe in 15 or 20 years that is...).

 

[ernieD]

Yes I found it strange while researching these auto's online that so many cross shop the HL vs Sorento. After driving each model, the HL felt bigger overall to me. Coming from my Pilot, I appreciate the elbow room it offers me. I now feel I will loose some of that in both the Kia and Toy suv's.

Seems to me for the budget I'm seeking to stay in the Kia offers more amenities over the HL interior/feature wise. Many have brought up the lower resale value of the Kia to Toy, that doesn't usually effect my auto purchase choices much. I usually buy what I like best at that time with the features and price that suites my budget.

After buying the mostly loaded '13 Crosstour EX-L, I am over all the extra safety/comfort features it offers. So I'm looking for a more basic model suv this time. The Crosstour is now the wife's daily driver and she loves it. I'm back in the '08 Pilot and I like it better, more for its size.

From the HL LE and Kia EX models I drove, they still offer a lot of the safety features and some comfort features I can appreciate at a good price. As many here say, you will mainly read complaints of vehicles on these sites than you will praise on how someone has no issues with their new rides. So I know there a lot of happy Highlander owners. Sure see a lot them on the road.

And I'm actually still holding out hope that the new Ridgeline is gona be amazing and I'd consider one over a suv if so. But from all the reading and speculation I'm seeing, excitement is quickly devolving to disappointment of the next Gen RL to come. Sure be nice to see one first hand while I'm in shopping mode right now. :act002: My search continues.

 

[rollinhonda]

The most recent HLs get great reviews. They started declining between 09 and 12 and needed an upgrade in the area of overall layout, and most importantly in handling.
toys have typically been soft in that area compared with Honda.

But apparently they have now met the challenge. I don't profess to be an expert but had considered an HL more than once and followed them quite closely in various publications.
I have always liked the finish quality of Toyota products, especially the paint.

Not saying Honda is not competitive but IMO not quite at that standard and road noise is still a common complaint.

 

[ernieD]

Yeah well I rolled the dice and left my '08 Pilot at Toy dealers for their '15 HL LE V6. I feel good about the deal overall, can't say that about past deals esp with my now gone '12 Ridgy and current '13 Crosstour. But that's history now.

I went to a couple different brand of auto dealers and did a whole lot more footwork (fingerwork) online looking for best drive out prices since I had my banks' approval set. Its hard to get these dealers to just sell you a car without them trying to force their financing on you. Well that's the dance you have to go thru sometimes with some. That's also why I was doing my shopping online and not in person.

This pretty young sales-lady at across town Toy dealer finally got back to me with an actual drive out price on a couple autos. 15 HL and 4Rnr. We did all this all this week just by one phone call and abunch of text messages before I finally went to the dealer today.

I was pretty impressed with the offer of my Pilot trade in. It had hail damage dings all over, cracked windshield and non-working rh mirror. Plus huge stains on the seats, found that out pretty quick about Honda fabric seats back then.

I test drove both models and decided the HL is just the better fit, even if I'll never use that 3rd row seat like in my Pilot. I haggled a few times for lower prices and got a good number. Sales lady said now I gotta take you to the F'nI guy. Least that's what I told her we call them, The F'n I Guy. :act029:

Anyway, very minimal dancing with F'nI guy. I gave him a hard time right off about filling out his credit app as I told him since I was using my banks' terms, no need for me to fill out a credit app. He pushed some more but I said I was running out of time and patience now. The cute sales girl, winked and gave me a thumbs up as walked to F'n I guys office.

Was close to 100 degrees out and I really was tired of being out in that sun earlier. "Sure I'll take your free Coke" But I aint signing that app. :act024: He showed me that laminated sheet with dealer add on offers and surprisingly said, "I guess you don't want any of these things then" I sipped my soda and said, nope I'm good. So he cut to the chase and led me out to my new auto after signing all the necessary papers.

I thanked him and esp the young lady sales person. Really felt like she went to bat for me with my 3-4 times I priced haggled. So I left pretty happy with my deal today. I didn't hear no weird fan noise or drones; again this LE has no auto climate control if that was the issue with others' XLE's ,etc. And I'm impressed with the standard equipment Toyota offers these days. A lot of features I may actually use now.

Small bonus, young sales lady told me she just moved to TX from Nashville and that she was a near-pro level singer there. I told her my blues-rock band is doing a gig this Sat at a lounge around the corner from the dealer so she's coming out to sing a few tunes with us. Cool. She should have a pocket full of money now, so I'll hit her up for a couple brewskis'. LOL

Sure glad to be done car shopping, its' draining.

P.S. Sorry I just couldn't wait any longer to see what the next gen RL is gona bring. Maybe one day soon. Peace y'all, e. :cheerleader:

 

[rollinhonda]

Sounds like you got a great deal! You should be rolling for sometime on those new wheels!
Definitely a nice ride for those long trips.

 

[ernieD]

Well thanks much rollinh; I'm happy with the deal. and I think I'll enjoy it for some miles down the road.

I saw no point in posting actual numbers here as some troll always comes along just to say how they got a much better deal and I just got screwed to the wall. Then...:act051: ensues.

Well maybe not here on The ROC. I've always found members here to be pretty nice and very helpful with any of my queries even post-RL. I saw some ugly stuff on the Toyota/Kia sites, jeez. So I'll just say I ended spending about $5-$6K less than I was first seeing of similar online deals. So yeah, I'm happy. :act035::act035:

My best car buying experience was buying my '08 Honda Pilot and then today buying this '15 Highlander. Both transactions were just easy breezy, in and out and less than 2 hours and no hard sell from F'n I guys each time. Sure can't say same about my '12 RL and '13 Crosstour purchases. But that's why I bought my 3 Honda's at 3 different dealerships. First Honda dealer just had no inventory choices when I was shopping them again.

Oh well, I've always owned Toyota's, GM's and most recently Honda's. I'm sure I will own one of these again down the road as I've found what I like in those brands. Although, the '15-'16 Kia Sorento's really impressed me. I just decided to go with what I know. Peace, e.

 

[rollinhonda]

I was impressed with the Sorento when it first came out. But at the time thought the ride was a little busy and the braking just adequate.
From what I am reading there have been improvements in both areas. Poor resale value can certainly be a deal breaker. As can a 100K warranty that is not transferable. However, it does change to a 5 year 60K warranty for resale vehicles.
Warranties are great for private sales. Really speeds them up and keeps you closer to a target price IMO.

I don't trust my instincts or knowledge enough when dealing with new car dealers to the point I am comfortable throwing a trade into the mix. Rather have a simpler transaction.

 

[ernieD]

Yep, well this time I did it right. I got a solid, fixed drive out price, then I introduced my trade in. So many times I did it backwards and fell into the number games with new car dealers. And after researching my potential trade w/o the use, damage mine had, I feel very good about the offer they gave me. And this way they couldn't throw it in the mix and work the numbers on me.

Of course, this a '15 model, they really want to move product out right now. So they're willing to move autos out quick and easy for us both as this deal felt. Off their inventory; in my garage. Done.

I prolly could've waited a few months more and gotten the new auto price a few hundy or more down. But I felt ready to buy, so went with it. So far, no buyers remorse here.
That's a different feeling for a change.......it's nice. :act024: peace, e.

 

[rollinhonda]

Peace of mind can be worth more than a few bucks. You did good locking the price on the new car first.
I had my dealer agree to an internet price, but because the exact RL I wanted was 150 miles away, we agreed to split $300 over. He had the truck for me the next afternoon.
I can't complain. They were always straight shooters from the getgo.

 

[ernieD]

If I had not let all the negative hype get to me, I might still be driving my '12 RL-RTS today. I really did like that truck for a lot of its' unique features. Even as I drove off the Honda lot with my new, '08 Pilot ; the RL was in my rearview mirror. '08 Pilot was my first Honda, still no big complaints with that Pilot and gona miss her abit.

But I gotta say, the interior features really felt dated after a few weeks in the RL and upon driving the '13 Crosstour EX-L, this just confirmed it for me.

The Crosstour cockpit is full of creature comforts that woulda been nice in the RL. Funny I didn't feel a need for all that fancy stuff again while shopping the HL's. Even with this new HL I feel very comfortable with, I still wait with anticipation as to what the new RL will bring......Uh oh, that aint good. :act060: