Toyota Highlander review: a smarter three-row SUV, minus the V6 loyalists loved
3.9/5motorssouq Editorial Team
The new Highlander is objectively the better-engineered family SUV — quieter, more efficient, and now with standard all-wheel drive. Buy it new, with full warranty coverage on both the turbo engine and the hybrid battery, and the technical upgrade is an easy sell. Buying an early used example asks you to accept a powertrain with less accumulated Gulf-heat history than the V6 it replaced, at a discount that should reflect exactly that uncertainty.
Pros
- Combined 240 hp turbo hybrid system is smoother off the line than the outgoing V6
- Genuinely improved fuel economy over the old naturally aspirated V6
- All-wheel drive standard from 2025 removes a decision buyers previously had to make
- Cabin space, third-row usability and boot capacity remain genuinely family-sized
Cons
- No long-term Gulf-heat ownership record yet for the turbo hybrid drivetrain
- Loses the simplicity of the naturally aspirated V6 that built the model's local reputation
- Hybrid battery health and warranty terms need specific checking on a used example
- Real-world fuel economy with air conditioning running hard will trail the claimed figure
For most of a decade, the naturally aspirated 3.5-litre V6 was the reason Bahraini families picked a Highlander over a rival three-row SUV: it needed nothing more complicated than fuel and oil, and it simply kept working through a decade of Gulf summers. The 2024 facelift removed it entirely in favour of a 2.5-litre turbo hybrid four, and the change deserves an honest look rather than either blind trust or reflexive suspicion.
What the new powertrain actually gives you
The combined 240 hp system is smoother off the line than the old V6 felt, torque arrives earlier thanks to the electric motor, and the claimed fuel economy is a genuine step forward — even allowing for the gap between claimed and real-world figures once the air conditioning is fighting 45 °C. All-wheel drive standard from 2025 removes a decision Bahraini buyers previously had to make themselves.
The honest trade-off
What the new Highlander does not have yet is the accumulated local track record that made the old V6 such an easy recommendation. A turbocharger and a hybrid battery pack are more complex systems than a naturally aspirated engine, and while Toyota's hybrid technology has an excellent reliability record globally — the Camry and RAV4 hybrids prove that — the Highlander's specific application in Gulf heat is still building its own history in Bahrain.
Living with it
Cabin space, third-row usability and boot capacity are all comparable to the outgoing V6 car — this remains a genuinely practical seven-seat family SUV, not a compromised crossover. Road noise is noticeably better controlled than before, and the digital rearview mirror and panoramic camera suite make manoeuvring the Highlander's size in Manama's tighter car parks easier than the badge's size suggests it should be.
Who should buy one
Buy new if the technology and efficiency gains matter to you and you want full warranty coverage while the local service history builds. Buyers who specifically want the old V6's simplicity should look at a late, well-kept previous-generation Highlander instead, and accept the higher realistic fuel bill as the price of that peace of mind.