2006 Toyota Highlander Hybrid Officially On Sale in Canada

An impressive capability on acceleration, combined with fuel savings. It will be interesting to see how many sell vs the gas only model, if there was a dealer with both types on a lot.

I am still in sticker shock over the price, though. The vehicle sells for the price of a condo! The price for the Prius itself is very reasonable, considering the quality of the vehicle and the features obtained with a BC package. I have 12,000 miles on my Prius and it is still the most enjoyable car I have ever owned.

Still, this is a ton of money, a person could end up with more car than house cost. This is the link to the condo I am making an offer on now:

http://www.realtor.com/FindHome/HomeListin...08&lnksrc=00002

 

That 7.8 L/100km would be 30.2 MPG south of the border... not bad, but a colleague of mine claims 37MPG for her Ford Escape. Don't know how fast she can get to 100km/h, or even if you can do that down here, though.

mikey

 

Robert here in Vancouver $47k would make a nice downpayment on and entry level condo. The average for the region is probably about $160K for entry level. A base Prius is $30K approx. and 50% of what you make is taken in taxes. I have to admit your really hard done by

 

Re: 2006 Toyota Highlander Hybrid Officially On Sale in Cana

I would be more impressed with the HiHy if the price was a little lower. I didn't find the gas mileage all that impressive, considering the Honda CR-V and other comparable models in the line are seeing similar numbers using gas only. I suppose that's what you get though when you couple the weight of the Highlander along with the V6...don't get me wrong, I think it's great that Toyota is "moving forward" with the HiHy and Camry Hybrid, but neither are nearly as impressive as the Prius when it comes to price vs. mileage vs. standard features. The Prius really is the "coolest car" I've ever seen, but I guess that's just because I'm a big nerd when it comes to gadgets and computers. I would have bought the Escape Hybrid 4wd, had it not had the unfortunate Ford symbol attached to the grill The Civic Hybrid has yet to impress me as well. Hopefully, the 2006 is all it's cracked up to be, then maybe I can convince my wife to get one rather than a gas guzzling over priced Land Cruiser :cussing:

Dave.

 

Re: 2006 Toyota Highlander Hybrid Officially On Sale in Cana

Tideland, I doubt that "light foot" applies to my friend, although I must admit I haven't ridden with her as driver. She owes me an Escape ride, though, so I'll report back...

BTW, has anyone ever done a "damn OPEC, full speed ahead" test of Prius mileage? What happens if we turn the display off and drive like maniacs?

 

The Prius would probably get the same mileage as the HiHy if you drove it like a maniac,

Dave.

 

The Highlander is one of the most LAME looking SUV's put on the road. I thought the gas mileage would be far more impressive, thus eclipse it's lame design. 30mpg??? BFD...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius\";p=\"99865)</div>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Frank Hudon\";p=\"99867)</div>

It has been decades since one could buy a house or a condominium for $47,000 in California. The current median price is at least ten times that.

By the way, I assume the prices quoted for the Highlander are in Canadian dollars, are they not?

 

Re: 2006 Toyota Highlander Hybrid Officially On Sale in Cana

HiHy u all,

... here in the deep south, we are making some progress. Saturday my wife and I went down to Beaman Toyota (the place I bought my 2004 Prius last April) and checked out the Highlander Hybrid...

They had 4 HIHY there two blue and two golden ones, so we deceided to take a little test drive... (without salesman, but with one of the Customer Service attendens present)...

first off all I personally think the design and looks of the car is pretty nice (as opose to some other people) - but that is my subjective point of view, which has nothing to do with the real thing...

This is soooo cool when you sit your self down in the Leather Luxery, and have to use a "regular" key again, to switch from Off to Acc on through to ON - and nothing happens under the hood, only the dash lights up, and all the controlls come on and it "dings" at you and shows a white sign in the display with the word "READY" in it.

By now the "climat" control has already started to cool the interior down, and still no engine noice.

So we all where saftybelted into our seats, and I pulled the "old fashion" shifter knob on the console into the "R" posistion, and let of the break pedal. Still no noice from the engine compartment, only a smooth slow move backwards as I lightly depressed the accelerator...

I said man this thing quite...

... so I backed up out of the parking spot, and headed out of the parking lot, into the side street, which was still a level road, still no sign of a "gas" eingine...

I accelerated gently up to about 30 MPH, and then merged into trafic, aaaaah there it was the first sign of a gas engine... since we now moved on down hill a little and the light ahead was red, I took the presure of the gas pedal off a little, and bummer the engine sound was gone again....

...being us to the Prius - you could not feel the transistion between the two forces at all, it is so optimized...

Now I took my left turn in to a less trafic occupied area, so I could let the horses go a little for a quick test...

... so, after I had brifly warned everybody, "I going to do a little accelartion now", oh I did not floor it, I did not dare, since it has so much power even in a gentle pressure setting on the gas pedal, I just put it down a "little"...

all I heard was a little wussssssh under the hood, and litterly noticed how the hood would be raised by the almost 300 horses, and of she went. Having driven a 3.8 liter Chevy Impala as our "family" car, I know what good pick-up is, but this bull was clearly smacking a whole in the sound barrier in less then a heartbeat....

I chickened out and let of the gas did not want to get caught going 75 MPH in one block distance from our 30 MPH starting speed.

After I had found a spot to change drivers and let my Wife drive back to the dealership, we learned that this is a very smooth riding, and extreemly well designed piece of technology.

After we have spend almost 5 hours at the dealership after many yes and nos we rolled out of there with the very same care we test drove, went to dinner and then took it home.

Sunday we visited our parents, and took them for a spinn, a little down the road, and the gasmilage on the display kept reising from 20 mpg to now meanwhile 29.4 MPG after we had put a total of 60 milies on the odometer.

I believe this SUV has more then a chance to make a dent in the US-SUV market, I also believe that we can improve gasmilage to bejond then what the sticker rating is, since we have not learned how to adjust to this powerful construction - like we have to the prius which is currently at 55.4 MPG lifetime average over 17000 miles.

Interesting is the KW-meter next to the odometer, it shows you the current power usage of the MG1 - electric motor I have not had it wake up much yet, it stayed pretty much at the lower 10% of the display.

Also noticable is that even if you want to force it to use more electricity for acceleration, you will see it very rarely do so, the ICU has so much power that it will regenerate most of the time even in a harder acceleration.

Still I did not dare to floor it yet, it has so much power, incredibale....

This thing is awsome....

Ralph

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius\";p=\"100209)</div>

I whole heartedly agree with your statement
It's nuts.

 

Just to let you guys all know, that condo orginally sold for 52.5K in 1982/83.

As good as that deal sounds, I bought a four unit three bedroom/two full bath building earlier in the year for...

32 US dollars a foot, less than what it sold for brand new in 1984. It is across from the very best elementary school in the city, in the best high school district in the city. (the high school sends kids to Yale every year, great college prep program) The town is full of rocket scientists, two of my next door neighbors are MIT graduates.

Only in the past few months has the market taken off for property here, I was told I could sell this for a quick 90K profit already. (but what would I do with the money, I asked the estate agent)

Rent rates are so low here that privately owned apartments are competitive with the low fees that the government charges for people to live in housing projects.

I am actually going to try to buy a set of 1100 square foot townhouses later this week for 43 per foot. 2bedroom, three bath)one full, two half). Same area of city.

The US Army announced scant weeks ago it is moving thousands of people here over the next three years. I can't hardly go wrong. Made an offer on another condo tonight...

After 15 years of very little appreciation, things are moving up at an incredible clip. Some outfit is actually flying in chartered planeloads of investors and moving them around town in chartered buses to look at property.

You guys ain't gonna believe this, but I bought a residential lot in 1996 for 2,700 dollars, I have a building permit for a four bedroom two bath house for it. Current prices for lots near it are 40K now, and the price continues to go up all the time. This lot is actually 100 feet from the water of a major tributary of the Tennessee River.

And I am not and never have been a realtor, just an investor.

Did I mention taxes? I pay taxes on my just off the country club golf course house of 900 per year, and that includes a 50% increase from last year.

You guys ain't gonna believe this either, but the closing costs (which I paid) on that 4400 square foot building were under 1200 bucks, including all attorney fees, title insurance, mortgage recording fees, document prep fees, deed prep fees, and loan origination costs. The appraisal cost was 75.00 (the bank has an internal appraiser, saves money)

18K a year is a good job here, Costco pays its local people here about a third of the Kirkland, Washington rate. Up until a few short (90's) years ago, factory hands were paid a starting wage of 6.50 an hour. You see the same people at the fast food drive through year after year after year...

I can eat a full blown sit down meal for 5.50, and they just jacked up the price! (meat, three veggies, bread)

Convenience store clerks are not behind glass, they are behind an open counter.

Swearing in public is not done, hardly ever, by anybody at any time. The TV shows have more profanity. I gave my neighbor my house key. I would give any of my neighbors my house key. My kids leave their bikes out, no one steals them. Few have house alarm systems, but nearly everyone has guns. When I asked about eight years ago, the sheriff was issuing about 15,000 concealed carry state pistol permits a year for a county of a total population of 240,000. Excluding the very old and very young, it means that one adult in 12 is heavily armed. Men here meet and show off their carry guns to each other. Ladies keep them in the glove box.

The cops don't shoot people here either, it is very rare for that to happen. Shooting some poor guy for pulling out a wallet like in NYC doesn't happen here. The local cops let me off for a violation last month with just a warning.

I know many of the local pols, local government is responsive and pretty competent in all areas.

People here are polite and hold the door open for each other, and nod your head to a passing stranger and the nod back. This all happens regardless of race, age or sex.

And I am not leaving, this seems like paradise compared to the dysfunctional America that exists most everywhere else. The closest comparison is the city of Vancouver, BC. Nice town, nice harbour, strange coloured beaches(gray sand). Hot tea though, and you get strange looks in the south if you ask for that.

Sadly, someone else got a Salsa Red Prius in my neighborhood. My feeling of total uniqueness is gone. My across the street neighbor has a Geeky Green one.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius\";p=\"100211)</div>

Well, this shows what a super deal the BC package is, and the NAV system/bluetooth I am hooked on. The Prius is a better deal, at the fully loaded level.