When you have a few kids, maybe a dog and a boat then you can’t go past a Toyota Highlander.
Now, what if you really don't want to look like that boring middle aged guy when you are driving the family wagon, well we have a solution.
We have taken the basic and perfectly capable stock standard Highlander and added a few extras to ease that middle aged crisis while still making sure that the boss of the house is kept happy.
Our test car was one from the awesome team at Turners Cars in Penrose. These guys have a huge selection of used Highlanders for sale in all colours. I met with the team and they gave me a run through of the car before I headed off down the Southern motorway. The car felt pretty good. It was nice and smooth on the factory wheels and tyres - the question was how was it going to feel on the new 22 inch wheels and tyres?
Dear I say it I actually think it drove even better on these wheels than before. The handling felt sharp and precise, this was due to the fact that the tyre width was wider and the profile a lot lower. When you add these two together you get much more assured handling and cornering.
My next test was what can I get on the roof? So we fitted our test car with a new set of Thule roof racks. What's the point of an SUV if you can't jam a bunch of stuff on the roof. It's really important that you look like a traveling circus when you go on holiday.
We loaded up four surfboards on the top and the Highlander handled it with ease. You could put a roof box on instead if you want to make use of the seven seats. Or if you are like me the roof box is always somewhere to put those complaining kids! Jokes, we would never condone putting kids in a roof box.
Interior wise the Highlander is perfect for the family with seven seats and plenty of room. The sound system is more than sufficient to drown out the most annoying kid on a road trip, with the bluetooth system you can make sure your phone is connected easily.
Engine wise these Highlanders have plenty of power, A 270-hp V6 is paired with a six-speed automatic and all-wheel drive for good acceleration. With the V-6 engine the Highlander can tow up to 2300Kg, perfect for a mid sized family runabout.
Another great thing about the Highlander is the Toyota reliability, these things will go for longer than you will care to remember. Our test car had 44,000km on the clock but felt like it was brand new.
The team at Turners Cars have a huge selection of these Highlanders available, all of them are NZ new and ready to drive away today.
If you are in the market for an awesome all round family wagon with the important seven seats then you need to get down to Turner's Cars today and check them out.
