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brokenarrow
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 1288 Wisconsin
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2005-05-12          111001

Any opinions on the toyota highlander 4wd vehical? Was thinking about one for the little misses?
Will be looking for one later this year.
Any comments on when would be a good time to look for a 2005 model AFTER the 2006 comes out? How long would you wait to try and get a deal on price for a late model year suv? would Nov. be about right or would you push it and wait a bit longer?


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dkheckmanl
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 134 Middleton, ID
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2005-05-13          111003

I read in a couple of places last week that the hybrid Highlander will be out next month with a combined 28mpg city/highway so anytime after that might be a good time to start looking for one with a conventional engine. I bought my wife a new 4-runner in March for 3% over invoice which I thought was a pretty good deal. I kind of wanted to wait on the hybrid Highlander but my wife liked the way the 4-runner handled over the Highlander so I gave in to her wishes. We have 2000 regular cab Tundra with almost a 100K on it and a 95 Tacoma with a 125K, no problems with either one. Only downside to them is that they are not big enough to haul our grandkids around, thus the need for the 4 runner with a 3td row seat. Good luck with your purchase.

PS Have enjoyed your posts throughout the year. ....

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AV8R
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 882 North Central Wisconsin
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2005-05-13          111034

You can get a Liberty CRD (diesel) which gets 28+ mpg for invoice and not have to replace expensive batteries and electronics every couple years.

We looked at the highlander too. Nice vehicle. It is built on the Camry chassis (therefore the easy hybrid changeover), which means for light duty use or commuting it will be fairly bulletproof. ....

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grinder
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 677 central Maine
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2005-05-14          111040

Brokenarrow
Do you get consumer reports? If you buy an 05 in Nov. you have a year old vehical.
E-mail several dealers and get a quote on the vehical you like. I think you might be surprised in the difference vs
walking in.
Just bought a new Honda van this way and saved several thousand dollars. Salesman hate internet shoppers. ....

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jwngej
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 53 Wisconsin
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2005-05-14          111062

You can get a Liberty CRD (diesel) which gets 28+ mpg for invoice and not have to replace expensive batteries and electronics every couple years.
AV8R.....We bought a new Liberty with V6 in 2002, got best of 23 mpg...We were going to trade for diesel and was told by 2 different dealers that the milage was running 22 or 23, not where they were originally expecting it to be. I was dissapointed and we bought a new Trailblazer which is lots larger and get same milage as Liberty. sure did love that little Jeep though...Hi Broken, how is work going?? John ....

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brokenarrow
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 1288 Wisconsin
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2005-05-15          111064

Works is doing fine, mostly rework right now but hey, its a paycheck!
DKheckman... Thank you.

Yes, I am planning to sign up for consumer report for that very reason along with a dishwaher purchase in the near future. My buddy's subsciption and internet access has terminated so I think its time I pony up and pay for a year for both of us. I had found that info very informative and unbiased.
I am looking to buy a NEW year old model. I do not care about resale, cause we keep our vehicals soo long it really does not come into play. My wife has a 97 Grand voyager with 74K on it. LOL. My 99 truck has 130. I think we are giving the van to out son, he wants it and since he will be only an occasional driver of it (he will be in college this fall and will not have a vehical where he is going for atleast a year) it should last him many years.
This vehical will be for my loving bride. I wanted something that could take a hit (from a deer) and not kill all passengers inside. She really is still worth alot more to me alive, heck it would cost me a grand a week to replace what she does around here!!! (thats not funny sorry) But I do want a rig large enough to take a hit and one with 4wd. Here is the catch, I dont (and wont) spend more than 24K on a vehical for her. Right now, carmax has 2 of them for 26K, and it has what I am looking for on it. My wife is not very picky and only requires a dependable vehical. She even dont mind rolling up a window if she has to (although this one had power). I wanted to start going with toyota's. Sorry guys, but I have had enough with our local big 3 company's. The dependability (from what I hear) of toyota's are awesome. So I was left with a choice of a rav4, a highlander or a 4runner. The runner is out!!! I am too cheap to pay that price, although I love the rig. The rav4 is priced great but I think its a bit small.
So you think Nov. may be a good time to look? I think I will try that internet LOOKING for a vehical. E-mail some dealers around Oct.1 and see what I come up with.
(PS) I had a jeep cherokee "back in the day" 1987. straight 6 cyl. Awesome power and loved it!!!! ....

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dkheckmanl
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 134 Middleton, ID
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2005-05-15          111066

I don't think you can go wrong with the Highlander. We have had a string of Toyotas starting with a 80 pu, 88 Camry, 93 pu, 95 pu, 00 Tundra and 05 4-runner. Put over 100,000 on each one except the Tundra which has 95,000 and the 4-runner which has 3,000. Never had any problems with any of them although we did keep them well maintained. We did have a 95 Chev S10 blazer in that string of Toyotas but we had a bunch of problems with it before it hit 100,000 including replacing the trans. Decided to get rid of it and just stick with the Toys. I agree that using the internet is the way to go unless you like dealing with salesman. ....

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paulss
Join Date: Nov 2003
Posts: 60 Lavaca County, TX
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2005-05-15          111083

I bought my wife a 6 cylinder/ 2 wheel drive Highlander Limited 3 years ago and it currrently has 65,000 miles on it. Absolutely bulletproof and as tight as the day I drove it off the lot. 22-24 mpg depending on just how heavy my right foot is. This was the first "foreign" car since a 62 VW Beetle. They really do a better job on them. I drive all kinds of cars/trucks in my business and there is no doubting the difference between Toyotas and Hondas and their domestic counterparts. ....

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denwood
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 542 Quarryville PA
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2005-05-15          111090

Yes toyotas are great, hondas too. My aunt got a highlander several years ago, first foreign car and she loves it, no problems. Heck, I bought a 93' pickup with 113,000 miles on it that had poor maintenance. Original plugs, wires, air filter, fuel filter and a slipping clutch cause the guy let his mom drive it for the past year. That was three years ago Now at 151,000 and I am still on the same clutch although I have maintained the rest of it. Clutch only slips about 15 minutes a month ( I think when I get it real hot)and I keep waiting for it to get worse. It hasn't yet. Nothing else has ever failed and it has never let me down. It burns and leaks no oil. I had a customer 2 weeks ago with the same truck and I asked her about it. It was a 91 with almost 300,000 and no repairs but wear items. They said they just can't part with it. I am shopping for a tweener truck right now. Tween now and when Toyota makes a full size crew cab diesel. ....

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AV8R
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 882 North Central Wisconsin
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2005-05-15          111091

jwngei--

(AV8R.....We bought a new Liberty with V6 in 2002, got best of 23 mpg...We were going to trade for diesel and was told by 2 different dealers that the milage was running 22 or 23, not where they were originally expecting it to be.)

MPG for the v-6 sounds on par. The dealer's comment on the diesel, interpreted by someone who was in the car business: We can't get one, so I will bad mouth it so you buy something else. I know two people who own and drive CRD's: 28-32 mpg on highway, real world. Dealers in central Wisconsin (where I live) can't get them and are coming up with some rather funny stories and excuses.

Good luck with the Trailblazer, they are good machines. (I used to work for a Chevy dealer) If you got the six, keep an eye on rough running or oil consumption. There were issues with the #5 sleeve comming loose. ....

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jwngej
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 53 Wisconsin
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2005-05-15          111098

I am in Central Wisconsin here also, New London And also Waupaca had them only a week or so ago, maybe still do.. We loved our Liberty, moreso than the Chevy we have now, been in for tranny 2 times and only 20,000 miles. We also couldn't see paying the premium for the diesel engine and and also for the fuel.. It would have been nice if we knew it would have actually got 30 mpg, but sometime you never know till you actually buy and try.. Good luck and hope you can find one if you are still looking and if you do let me know about actual milage...John ....

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AV8R
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 882 North Central Wisconsin
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2005-05-16          111127

The 3 dealers I've tried to do business with were in Wausau, Marshfield and Stevens Point. I drove one of the CRD's from a dealer in Eau Claire, which is also where the two "acquaintances" I know got theirs from. This dealer also has the Dodge brand, so they know the value of the diesel customers (we're a strange lot. ;P).

Sorry about the issues with the Trailblazer, what kind of tranny trouble? ....

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jwngej
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 53 Wisconsin
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2005-05-17          111179

AV8R...The tranny would slip really bad, they downloaded a fix the first time that didn't work.. then they read a service bulletin which said there may be chips in the tranny filter, so they cleaned it and so far ,so good. JohnJ ....

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