GTcarz - Automotive forums for cars & trucks. - Results of Weekend Shopping for a New Car For My Mother

On 10/26/09 7:49 AM, in article hc45vh$g34$1@news.eternal-september.org, "C.
E. White" <cewhite3@mindspring.com> wrote:

> I actually drove the new Highlander this past weekend and I thought I
> pass along my impressions:
>
> The good:
>
> - 4 cylinder engine has decent power and it moves the car just fine -
> not much different than the V6 Freestyle it replaced, but ....(see
> below)
> - Transmission seemed flawless
> - Great seats, better than the Freestyle
> - Controls much better than the RAV4's my Sisters own. I think Toyota
> should fire the guys that did the RAV4 and let the Highlander guys
> redo them. I do wonder about the Japanese obsession with HUGE control
> knobs,. Does anyone need a 2.5" diameter knob to tune the radio? It is
> like something from a WWII Shot Wave Radio (ditto forf the other
> knobs). (see below)
> - Third seat is very easy to raise lower, much better than the
> Freestyles...but (see below). It worked like the third row seat in my
> 2003 Expedition (but easier to reach, but not split)
> - Smooth ride but .... (see below)
> - Interior is ver spacious
> - For only a couple of thousand more than a similar RAV4, you get a
> much better vehicle - I wonder how many RAV4 buyer ough to look at the
> Highlander
> - I was really happy with how much car my Mother got for the money
>
> The bad:
>
> - The 4 cylinder engine is very noisy - much louder than the V6 in the
> Freestyle. The engine noise is very noticeable, especially since the
> vehicle is otherwise very quiet. It is not too bad at a highway
> cruise, but very noticeable when accelerating.
> - While the ride is very smooth, the car is awfully "floaty." Reminds
> me of some of the old Chryler stuff or the Grand Marquis my Mother
> used to own. This won't be a problem for my Mother but I'd like
> soemthing a little tighter. Manybe the suspension fior ther "Sport
> Model" would suit me better.
> - Although the controls are better than the RAV4's, they could use
> some improvement. The knobs and buttons for the radio and HVAC are all
> big and shiny and not particularly well laid out. The industrial
> designers need to tone this down, Form should follow function. The
> controls should not look like some bizarre modern art sculpture. This
> is something the Japanese designers are addicted to and it is starting
> to influence American designers. The controls in my current (2009)
> F150 are showing this influence. They are easily the worst I've ever
> had in a US designed vehcile (but still not as bad as the RAV4s my
> sisters own). The F150 has two many big knobs arranged in some sort of
> pattern that is not really related to the function. They are arranged
> to look cool. And this cool looking arangement is just silly. There
> are decades of study available on how to do controls and the Toyota
> designers have tried to ignore all of them (Honda is just as bad, and
> apparently Ford is copy catting the bad ideas becasue they think it is
> what sells).
> - Although the third row seat is much easier to deploy than the seat
> in the Freestyle my Mother used to own, this ease comes at a price.
> The Freestyle seat was a complicated arrangement that folded into a
> well at the rear of the car and it had no significant effect on the
> cargo load height. When the Freestyle seat was raised, there was a
> huge well at the rear of the car that my Mother found perfect for
> groceries. There is no well behind the Highlander's third row seat. It
> folds on itself (thinner cushions than the Freestyle) and the rear
> cargo floor is higher than it could have been with the Freestyle type
> seat. It is a trade off. Given the choice, I'd go with the Highlander
> stlye seat, but I think my Mother wishes it was more like the one in
> the Freestyle (which she could not deploy herself...I always had to do
> it for her). I think the Highlander third seat is potentially more
> useful, but I doubt it will see much use. Still it is very easy to
> raise and lower. It would have been nice if it was split so you could
> raise half at a time, but this is only a minor (very minor) complaint.
>
> Ed
>
>
This is all very interesting, but as it is a contrast between Toyota & Ford,
I don't understand why its in the Honda group.