I live up in Wisconsin and am a firm believer in the durability and reliability of Toyotas in general, especially the good ones. Years back I had great luck with Hondas, but not so much any more.
Anyway, my daughter and her boyfriend recently smashed up a Ford focus wagon and the parts to fix it aren't going to be cheap. We just ran into a 2005 toyota Highlander with 300k on it. No accidents and it looks like the maintenance has been kept up on it. For a salt on the road environment, the body is in excellent shape and the interior still looks pretty nice. Starts right away, even in the cold. No unusual wear on the tires, even the ac still works. They want $1500 for this Highlander. Now, I have had Toyotas with 100,000 or more and even 200,000 and more but never have I considered a vehicle with 300,000. At least to purchase. An earlier honda civic got 475,000 miles for me and I get many vehicles with 200,000 or so. Just wondering where that point is for Highlanders of this vintage where one would say no to this. Daughter and boyfriend are a little tight on funds and that is the reason for considering this. Thanks in advance.
get it checked out for major issues. 300k is a lot of miles. It's a good price, but if it needs a new trans for $3k a month down the road then that's reason to reconsider.
Any other hot spots I should be aware of?
at 300k everything is suspect, but the transmission would be my top worry.
When you test drive, do some hard accelerations and feel for mushy shifting, or vibrations when stopped in drive. Inspect the fluid.
Get a mechanic to look it over. Skimping on a hundred bucks could cost you thousands.
Well, my daily driver is even older than that, has over 370,000 miles on the odometer, and is still going strong. Of course I've had to replace wear items along the way. It would be best if you can work on it yourself. An old high mileage vehicle can become a real money pit if you have to run to a mechanic for every little thing. Even if the engine and trans are still basically sound there are a lot of other things to fail and cause problems.
It's hard to go wrong for $1500 (you're ahead of the game even if it lasts only a year or two without major problems) but I'd still have a good mechanic check it out before purchase.
It might be 20 years old but if it's been well maintained then it might be a good vehicle. Old Highlanders were well built. With no frame rot or rust lingering underneath, $1500 is actually a suspiciously low price. If that Highlander is in really good condition it's worth more - have a mechanic check it out thoroughly, before purchasing.2005 toyota Highlander with 300k on it
What kinds of things would you expect for trouble spots on the Highlander? My experience has been u joints and drive shaft problems (awd), power steering hoses and components (maybe even a rack), timing belt and water pump, changing spark plugs, and rubber components on the engine, struts and springs. Am I missing anything?
I do a lot, if not all of the work on my vehicles. Try to replace the important stuff with oem toyota parts. Injectors, coil over plugs, etc. Have had a lot of good luck with these and am just outside my expertise on this high of mileage. Any other hot spots I should be aware of?
@jstud3 Take a look at this: https://www.carcomplaints.com/Toyota/Highlander/2005/
Thank you!