Toyota Highlander Opinions?

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bigjl

bigjl

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We have bought a used Toyota Highlander for use when in Ghana for Holiday.

I have never seen the car in person but it is a "virgin" import from the US so has no previous use on Ghana roads.

Unfortunately exact specifications are sketchy but I believe it is the model with 7 seats.

And is around 2003/4. The reason I am unsure is apart from not seeing it in the flesh, in Ghana imported vehicles get a ref number related to their first date of use in Ghana, so the car is a 2016 registration in Ghana.

We have a few friends that have the Highlander and they seem fairly popular.

Does anybody have any hints and tips on these?

Any common problems?

I am fairly certain it's a V6.

When I am next over there I will of course have a good look over it.
 
We have had a couple in the family since 2005, and the service has been very good.
Family/utility vehicle. Child seats, gear, prams, etc...
Good ride, easy to maintain, and the Moms like them. Big factor.
 
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We bought a used 2005 Highlander 2.5 years ago to replace a Rav4 that was totaled in a rear end collision. It is the V6 AWD version with the fold-up extra rear seat. It has been a great vehicle.

We purchased it with 120,000 miles on it, now at 168,000. When I bought it, I changed all the fluids to include coolant, oil, power steering, rear axle, transfer case, and ATF. Toyota states that the transmission has lifetime fluid, but I don't subscribe to that theory.

The rear 3 spark plugs are a bit difficult to get to. The plenum needs to be removed for easier access. One of the bolts that holds the plenum to the support bracket is hard to get to. You have to feel for it, you can't see the bolt. It comes with Iridium plugs that should last over 100,000 miles. The ones I pulled out were probably the original, and still looked good. I installed NGK Iridium plugs.

The timing belt should be done every 90,000 miles. It is an interference engine. Mine was done at the dealer just before I bought it.

The oil service light is set at 5,000 miles. At 4,500 miles it blinks at startup and at 4,950 it stays on. I have been using Valvoline Synpower 5w-30.

Certain 04-05 models have a recall for the crankshaft pulley. Insufficient adhesive was used between the outer ring and the torsion dampener. Certain 04-06 models have a recall for the brake master cylinder seal. The seal may become dry and leak fluid into the booster. Recalls also exist for carpet to accelerator pedal interference, and some of the seat heaters. Carfax should tell you if your recalls have been handled. If you use Mycarfax.com, you can get a free report. They usually put a sticker in the driver side door jamb when the do the recall.

Other than maintenance, the only repair I had to do on our Highlander was a power door lock actuator. The driver side door was intermittently working. A new $8 motor for the actuator fixed the problem. The actuators themselves are expensive, but you can find the motors for them cheap on ebay.

Some of the 4 cylinder engines had problems with cylinder head bolts pulling the threads out of the block, but it sounds like you have the V6 so this won't be an issue.

I think you got a good vehicle. We take ours on long roadtrips without hesitation.
 
If a v6 from that time frame, it may be one of the sludge monster engines. Do some searching on sludge monster v6 engines.

They will still run in bad conditions, we have one in service in the Caribbean that smokes and is slugged up. The Camry literally is decomposing around the slugged engine..

Yours may be a year where this was resolved. But you should just check.
 
Thanks for the info.

Hopefully it won't be sludged up!

It will only be getting used for a month or so a year and the rest of the time it will sit under a cover at our House.

I am not 100% sure if it's the V6.

I assume the smaller four cylinder engine is equally as robust?

The person that imported it to Ghana has a V6 and so does our other friend so I suspect it will be the V6 to be honest.

I might ask for the details to be emailed to me, i.e. chassis number, so that I can take over some service parts before we start to use it.
 
Many of the vehicles that are stolen in the Northeast here are loaded on a ship and go straight to Ghana. The cars are off loaded and sold at little used car lots close to the port. Check the vin then do a Carfax search and see what comes up.
 
Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
Many of the vehicles that are stolen in the Northeast here are loaded on a ship and go straight to Ghana. The cars are off loaded and sold at little used car lots close to the port. Check the vin then do a Carfax search and see what comes up.


I doubt that very much.

Which port do you mean?

Have you ever been to Ghana?

Have you ever imported a vehicle and got it registered?

I have and can't see how you could get a stolen car registered in Ghana.

Imports from the US and Canada are not as popular as those from South Korea and Mainland Europe, actually there are probably more Japanese and U.K. Vehicles imported that are then converted to LHD in Ghana, the way to get round the factvyou can't import RHD vehicle is to remove the wheel and steer it with molegrips apparently.
 
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Originally Posted By: bigjl
Imports from the US and Canada are not as popular as those from South Korea and Mainland Europe, actually there are probably more Japanese and U.K.


The fact is you have one that was imported from the U.S.
 
1. By 2002 they weren't sludging anymore, and less than 1% sludged before that.
2. Even with VVT it is NOT an interference engine even though some websites wrongly say it is.
3. The VVT 1mzfe V6 from 2002 era is very reliable.
 
Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
Originally Posted By: bigjl
Imports from the US and Canada are not as popular as those from South Korea and Mainland Europe, actually there are probably more Japanese and U.K.


The fact is you have one that was imported from the U.S.



Actually the facts are I have a Toyota Highlander exported from the US into Ghana by a serving member of the US Army, who happens to be originally from Ghana.

And if you had read the thread instead of making judgements about an entire country perhaps you would understand how stupid it is to ask for the VIN.

Butbhen tou never read the thread properly did you?

I assume you have he proper address and phone number for these Dealers "near the port" selling these stolen cars?

Do you even know the name of the port?
 
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Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
Originally Posted By: bigjl
Imports from the US and Canada are not as popular as those from South Korea and Mainland Europe, actually there are probably more Japanese and U.K.


The fact is you have one that was imported from the U.S.


Any your point is?
 
Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
What is the vin number? I can also determine for you if the car was properly exported.

U.S. Customs


You are aware you can't get a vehicle imported legally into Ghana without all the proper paperwork?

Can you tell me the name of the RoRo that has been shipping these stolen vehicles?

I have in laws that work in the Ghana Police, he is the equivalent of a Detective in the US and he will be very happy for the tip.

Why would the US ports allow stolen cars to be exported from the US?

Don't they do any checks on them?
 
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Originally Posted By: bigjl
I have in laws that work in the Ghana Police, he is the equivalent of a Detective in the US and he will be very happy for the tip.


Great, what is his name?
 
Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
Originally Posted By: bigjl
I have in laws that work in the Ghana Police, he is the equivalent of a Detective in the US and he will be very happy for the tip.


Great, what is his name?


Do you have some kind of psychological problem?

Still waiting for you to tell me the details of these car dealers near the port, still waiting for you to confirm the name of the port.

Still waiting for the reason why the US Port is apparently allowing stolen vehicles to be shipped out of the US.

And of course the name of the Boat that you say is doing all this illegal trade!

Why not just admit that your comments are more to do with your bigoted attitude to Africa?

As so far all you have done is make unsubstantiated claims about something you seem to know nothing about.

As soon as you give me the info I have asked I shall forward it to him.

We both know that the reason you are now being evasive is that you have been posting about events that are complete fantasy
 
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Got to love it here on BITOG about somebody who creates a thread seeking valid information then all of a sudden SatinSilver turns that thread in to Garbage.


Apparently courtesy has nothing to do with the number of posts count.
 
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Originally Posted By: WillsYoda

2. Even with VVT it is NOT an interference engine even though some websites wrongly say it is.


If it has the 3MZ-FE engine, it is indeed an interference engine.
 
Originally Posted By: rustypigeon
Originally Posted By: WillsYoda

2. Even with VVT it is NOT an interference engine even though some websites wrongly say it is.


If it has the 3MZ-FE engine, it is indeed an interference engine.


Pardon my ignorance.

But what capacity is the 3MZ-FE?
 
Originally Posted By: CKN
Got to love it here on BITOG about somebody who creates a thread seeking valid information then all of a sudden SatinSilver turns that thread in to Garbage.


Apparently courtesy has nothing to do with the number of posts count.




Not sure why he started posting such inaccuracies.

And as he seems unable or unwilling to substantiate his comments I shall treat them as the bile fuelled drivel they almost certainly are.

I would like to thank all those that have posted helpful info

When I am over there I shall take some pictures, and confirm the vehicles specification.
 
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