The 25^th anniversary is the Silver Anniversary. This anniversary Highlander is available in Heavy Metal. . .

By Gary S. Vasilash

One of the things Toyota did early on that caused many of those in Detroit to grumble was use the platform from one vehicle for another. This wasn’t a case of simply slapping new fascias on a car and using different seat fabrics and saying “Voila! something different!” but of creating something different.

This approach had several advantages. It spread engineering costs from one vehicle to another. It increased scale for a given platform. Both of these things led to better quality (focused engineering resources) and lower costs for consumers (economies of scale).

Case in point: the Toyota Highlander. The vehicle was introduced at the 2000 New York Auto Show as a model year 2001 vehicle.

It was based on the platform used for the Camry sedan, with slight modifications to accommodate things like a higher ride height.

This was not only clever, but arguably revolutionary, given that back then vehicles with that body architecture had frames, like pickup trucks. Cars like the Camry, with unibody construction, provided a more comfortable ride.

So one could say that the body-on-frame vehicles were sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and the first gen Highlander ushered in the midsize crossover utility vehicle (CUV). (The first-generation Toyota RAV4, introduced in the U.S. for the 1996 model year, was based on the Corolla platform, so it gave rise to the compact CUV segment.)

There was something else that happened with the Highlander that’s of some significance.

Model year 2006 was available with a hybrid powertrain. That made the Highlander the first Toyota after the Prius that had one. While it might have seemed that the Camry would get a hybrid after the Prius, that didn’t occur until model year 2007.

(The hybrid in the Highlander could have had something to do with the fact that also in model year 2006 the Lexus RX 400h was launched: the “h” is for “hybrid.”)

Currently, the Highlander is in its fourth generation. It is clearly a case of improvements all along the way.

For the 2025 model there is a special edition, the 25^th Edition. Perhaps not the cleverest of names, but a well-appointed Highlander.

The celebration of the milestone is performed with a variety of touches, inside and out.

On the exterior view there are—yes, changes to the front and rear fascias (silver accents on the bumpers), 20-inch wheels, and side rockers.

Inside there are carpeted floor mats and an all-weather rear cargo liner. The seats have leather trim.

And in the space between inside and out there are illuminated door sills and puddle lamps (although they shine on the outside, they are meant to help you get to the inside, so we’ll put them in this intermediate space).

The powertrain (there is a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine coupled with three permanent magnet motors (two front, one rear)) provides a combined output of 243 hp.

This results in EPA fuel efficiency numbers of 35 mpg city, 34 mpg highway and 35 mpg combined.

Which is most impressive for an AWD vehicle with a third row.

But about that third row. . . .

The legroom back there is 28 inches. No, not a whole lot of room.

The 25^th Edition is based on the Highlander Limited Hybrid grade which provides things like a 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen and 11-speaker JBL audio system. Yes, there is a small volume knob for those who prefer torquing a knob rather that using the steering wheel controls.

The base MSRP for the vehicle is $52,680, which is certainly reasonable for something that (1) is so well-appointed, (2) a hybrid and (3) is limited to 2,500 units.