Hi Scotty,
I am one of the millions of people who think you are THE REAL CAR GURU!
What do you think about the 2009 Toyota Highlander, AWD, V6, 3.5 L, Made in Japan when compared to Highlander made in the USA (from 2010)?
Thanks
Sanatani
The country of manufacture has a less impact on a car's reliability than you would think. The 2009 model year is one of the best years of the Highlander, while the 2010 was also mechanically sound but had a rear liftgate issue which was a common complaints. The 2009 is a V6 AWD which is more maintenance and more wear while a US made Highlander that is FWD could be more reliable. It depends more on context than just the country of manufacture.
Thank you. I live in NY and am not a good driver in snow and that is the reason for AWD.
So, I can understand from your response that a US-made Toyota can be as reliable as the Japanese made!
Yes. The model year is actually more important.
https://www.carcomplaints.com/Toyota/Highlander/
From research you will see the 2003, 2008, 2010-2015 Highlanders tend to have more problems.