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Looking for a Highlander Hybrid Forum

Discussion in 'Toyota Hybrids and EVs' started by M8s, Sep 29, 2014.

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  1. M8s

    M8s Retired and Lovin' It

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    We still have our 2012 Prius v (lowercase v for the Prius v wagon)* but recently purchased a 2015 Highlander Hybrid as well. I'm trying to find a dedicated Highlander Hybrid forum for info as useful as I've found here on Priuschat.

    Any help? Even a dedicated Highlander forum would be better than nothing.

    Thanks,

    Larry

    *After nearly 3 years of daily use my wife still loves her v. She even nixed the idea of getting a Tesla Model S as it meant getting rid of her v.
     
    #1 M8s, Sep 29, 2014
  2. M8s

    M8s Retired and Lovin' It

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    Okay, after 109 views and no responses I take it that there is no known Highlander Hybrid (or dedicated Highlander) forum. That's what my personal Googling revealed, too.

    So, if anyone wants to learn anything about the HiHy, please feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer. I'll also gratefully accept any advice you might have to offer.

    BTW, on my first full day with the new HiHy I drove to my fishing club, a 100 mile trip (each way) that crosses the continental divide. The roads are either 55 mph or 65 mph which is, I believe, right in the "sweet spot" for MPG purposes.

    My results? Average of 32.5 mpg over the 200 mile round trip, pretty good IMO for such a large and non-aerodynamic car. As the EPA estimates are only 27/28, that seemed quite acceptable.
     
    #2 M8s, Oct 3, 2014
    Dylan Doxey likes this.
  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    we tried it with the hycam with no success. i guess the typical buyers aren't into the delicious details.:p
     
    #3 bisco, Oct 3, 2014
  4. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    #4 Trollbait, Oct 3, 2014
  5. MTL_hihy

    MTL_hihy Active Member

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    I would like to see a dedicated forum for Highlanders here if the admins would allow.......seems like most of the technical knowledge is here anyway.
     
    #5 MTL_hihy, Nov 21, 2014
    Marcilla Smith and rbdigital like this.
  6. mxben

    mxben Junior Member

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    32.5 mpg on the road is impressive! It translate to something like 7.25 L/100 km. It's a lot better than the 8.5 L/100 advertised here in Canada.

    What's your average since then? City & highway?

    As soon as our PIP is paid we will have to replace our second car (yaris) with something bigger. We really like the HiHy and it should be our next car.

    Thank you!
     
    #6 mxben, Jan 7, 2015
  7. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    The RX hybrids are currently selling at under a thousand a month. The HiHy at under 500. The Camry hybrid, Prius v, and c are selling at 2.5 to 3 times the RX each. After filtering out the people without enough interest to visit a forum, there simply isn't enough potential users that would be better served by a dedicated forum over the Lexus and Toyota subforums here.
     
    #7 Trollbait, Jan 8, 2015
  8. markabele

    markabele owner of PiP, then Leaf, then Model 3

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    M8, do you mind if I ask what you paid for it?
     
    #8 markabele, Jan 8, 2015
  9. skibum

    skibum Junior Member

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    So I found a fairly active group on Facebook of all places
     
    #9 skibum, Jan 20, 2015
    Dylan Doxey likes this.
  10. M8s

    M8s Retired and Lovin' It

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    Sorry it took me so long to reply to posts above. No reason, really, but I hardly ever come to this site any more.

    I've had my 2015 HiHy for 14 months (almost) and have nearly 19,500 miles on it. I have averaged about 30 mpg over the last year, getting about 31 to 31.5 (up to 32.5) mpg on my trips from Denver to Fairplay in the Colorado Rockies, where I go fishing quite a bit. (I don't fish in Fairplay but that's the nearest town to my usual fishing haunts.) I also travel from Denver to Casper WY or to Mesa AZ a bit and average about 27 to 28 on the freeway, depending on weather.

    I paid MSRP for the HiHy so it was about $51k, which included a few options like body side moldings, a tow hitch and clear bra among other things. I looked up used 3rd gen HiHys just this morning and low mileage examples seem to be pretty affordable. IOW, they don't seem to hold their value as well as I'd like. No matter as I plan to keep mine forever.
     
    #10 M8s, Oct 30, 2015
  11. devprius

    devprius /dev/geek

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    How well does the HiHy tow? Did you add a brake controller? If so, which one and how complicated was it to be added?
     
    #11 devprius, Nov 2, 2015
  12. Dylan Doxey

    Dylan Doxey Senior Member

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    I just picked up a used 2006 HiHy. I was also looking for a forum. I didn't expect Google to lead me back here.

    I'm pretty sure my HiHy needs new struts.
     
    #12 Dylan Doxey, Jun 25, 2017
  13. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Just curious how much did the 2006 cost you?

    I'm about to pick up a high mileage rx400h soon, with lots of deferred maintenance
     
    #13 JC91006, Jun 25, 2017
    Aaron Vitolins likes this.
  14. Dylan Doxey

    Dylan Doxey Senior Member

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    Total with tax/title/license was $11k.
     
    #14 Dylan Doxey, Jun 25, 2017
  15. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    For most of its life, the HiHy was a pricey ride, with more RXhs being sold.
    As a result, there simply aren't enough users to support a fully dedicated forum.
     
    #15 Trollbait, Jun 25, 2017
    Rmay635703 and Dylan Doxey like this.
  16. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    There used to be a HiHyChat actually but there weren't enough members.
     
    #16 Tideland Prius, Jun 26, 2017
  17. MTL_hihy

    MTL_hihy Active Member

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    I looked for forums too and found nothing and most of the systems are similar enough (you can see my battery rebuild here too).
     
    #17 MTL_hihy, Jun 26, 2017
  18. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    You already had to rebuild the hihy battery? How was that experience? I heard you need an engine lift to get that battery out, weighs a ton
     
    #18 JC91006, Jun 26, 2017
    Dylan Doxey likes this.
  19. MTL_hihy

    MTL_hihy Active Member

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    Yep, bought the car sight unseen for an amazing price back in 2012 (had around 200k Kms when I got it) and assumed the battery was bad (turns out I was right). Rebuilt the battery using pretty much the same methods as the Prius and it worked out great. You need to open up the battery case, undo the main battery cables and pull out the modules in sections (each bump in the case is a separate section). The module sections are riveted together so it's a bit more complicated (need to grind rivets off then re-tap holes for screws) than the Prius where you can just unbolt and replace modules at will. Also sources of good modules are harder to find but still very doable as you can see.

    Have a look at pages 11-13 if you want to see how I did it.
    Gen II Prius Individual Battery Module Replacement | Page 11 | PriusChat
     
    #19 MTL_hihy, Jun 26, 2017
    rbdigital, bwilson4web, Dylan Doxey and 1 other person like this.
  20. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    I'm in the process of acquiring a high mileage RX400h and will want to condition the pack before it fails. So hopefully I can accomplish it without taking anything out of the car
     
    #20 JC91006, Jun 26, 2017
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