The venerable Toyota Grand Highlander has done a good job in establishing a foothold for itself in Toyota showrooms. While it seemed like Toyota was making an odd move when it chose to expand the Highlander family with this Grand version, the plot fell firmly into place when the Highlander itself moved to an all-electric future.

Toyota is convinced the Grand Highlander is now in a position to establish its own distinctive identity but is this SUV still a potent offering for family buyers?

Grand Highlander enters the year unchanged

Toyota chose to not give the Grand Highlander any major updates for 2026 and that means the SUV continues to rely on its core charms to win over buyers. The exteior styling continues to be a rugged excercise in function and while the front end still looks a bit too busy and the rear end a bit cluttered. The side profile and the large chrome wheels on our Platinum help give the SUV a distinctive presence when out on the streets.

Slip inside and you’ll find the cabin has also been carried over unchanged. The front seats on our Platinum offered plenty of comfort and support and the dashboard has a sensible aray of controls. The center console looks alittle busy but abundant storage areas allow the Grand Highlander to hide plenty of things away from prying eyes. The second-row can be equipped with either a bench seat or Captain’s chairs but trim level plays a big role in what you end up getting. In our case, that meant the latter but the third-row can be used by adults or folded down to help boost cargo room.

Tech is Grand Highlander’s ace in the hole

Our tester arrived with a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and 12.3-inch infotainment system. The infotainment sytem side of things get wireless Apple CarPlay and Andorid Auto and Platinum models also swap out the standard six-speaker audio system for an 11-speaker JBL premium audio system. But while you’re listening to your favorite David Bowie album, the Grand Highlander is listening to what’s going on around it thanks to Toyota’s Safety Sense 3.0 which bundles several safety features together into one place including adaptive cruise control, blind spot monitoring, and lane centering assist. The only two optional items on some trims are front and rear sensors, and a 360 degree camera system (they’re all standard on the Platinum.)

Hybrid maxes out on performance, somewhat succeeds

Performance for models like our tester comes from a 2.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder which produces a combined system output of 362 hp and 400 lb-ft of torque. The engine and the torque it produces forced Toyota to go for a six-speed automatic versus an eight-speed like everyone else but our tester had plenty of confidence to handle daily commuting with no fuss.

All-wheel drive and an exta electric motor are standard on the Max but while a 5.6 second 0 to 60 time is enough to get the attention of most SUV buyers, the Grand Highlander is also not a formal performance SUV and you will definitely notice that when your going through corners with the weight of the SUV leaving an impact in steering and cornering. Braking is also good but nothing that will make a Ford Explorer ST sweat with anxiety either.

Ride quality in the Grand Highlander is very good and the comfort focused suspension drowns out bumps and other imperfections with minimal complaints. The steering is a bit too light but its rivals also tend to have oatmeal like character in their steering so we’ll give the Toyota a pass in that regard.

The extra performance also shows up in fuel economy with a Hybrd Max like our example getting 26/27/27 mpg in city/freeway/combined driving. These are still good numbers, but a far cry from the standard hybrid’s 37/34/36 mpg in the same categories.

Value Quotient

With no major updates to speak of, the pricing ladder for the Toyota Grand Highlander stays relatively the same with the base LE starting at $41,860. Hybrid models have a different pricing ladder but when you get to the Max versions, you are limited to only two trim levels; the $55,690 Limited and the $59,775 Platinum.

Our tester was a range-topping Platinum and it came with a small host of optional extras which caused the price to surge past $60,000 after those options were mixed in with assorted taxes and fees. This pricing is in the higher end of the near-luxury SUV market and is also very close to formal luxury territory. This blurred boundary makes the GH a very tough cross-shop against not only German luxury rivals like Audi and BMW, but also against its Lexus badged cousin the TX.

As such, we recommend skipping the Platinum (albeit reluctantly) and instead go for a lower trim level. The value play for these versions of the Grand Highlander is better and allows the family hauler to have a better fight in the battle for winning over family buyers.