I just got back from taking the Highlander on a 1400km road trip to the Saguenay region of Quebec. Didn't miss a beat for the entire trip, and the AWD was great at navigating the goat path that was the chalet driveway.
I managed to find some OEM wheels from FB marketplace. The owner had painted the wheels black and the center caps red. I'm not crazy about the red, but it looks better than I expected. The old steel wheels couldn't be balanced because they were slightly bent.
I still love this thing, I'm not sure a better CUV was ever made. Side note, a friend had his 2 year old QX60 shit the bed in Montreal, he and his family had to take the train home. If only he had a 17 year old Highlander.
Still a good looking rig. I actually think that the 00's was peak vehicle reliability. Pre-turbo everything, rare to have direct injection, CVTs weren't plentiful, and the complicated infotainment hadn't taken hold yet.
Yep, great rig.
I suggest some red anodized lock nuts for contrast. Had some on my IS-F!!
I agree with johnny: it's a proper looking box. The Rudolph wheels are perfect for the Christmas season. :)
Nice update tortoise. At 233k you've got lots of life left. My BIL has an '08 that's pushing 400k.
Any serious rust issues?
Bubba, I hadn't thought of the Christmas angle, maybe I should paint two of them green!
Bridgecity, no serious rust issues, but there's some definitely some rust happening. Mostly in the rear wheel wells, door bottoms, the usual places. The previous owner didn't rust proof it, but did wash it religiously in the winter, and I have been Krowning it annually. So it seems to be kept mostly at bay.
Solid....what happened to your friend's QX?
That's awesome how it never misses a beat!
Quote from: HannibalSmith on Dec 17, 2024, 09:02 PMSolid....what happened to your friend's QX?
I'm haven't heard the full details. But what I was told is that the "engine died". Not sure if it's a sensor or something mechanical.
Quote from: Tortoise on Dec 18, 2024, 08:31 AMQuote from: HannibalSmith on Dec 17, 2024, 09:02 PMSolid....what happened to your friend's QX?
I'm haven't heard the full details. But what I was told is that the "engine died". Not sure if it's a sensor or something mechanical.
Eek. That would scar me for life on that car brand
An update on my friend's QX
Apparently his wife had the self serve station attendant check the oil and they didn't put the dip stick all the way in. It was spraying oil around and after 14 hours of driving I'm guessing a sensor was no longer happy.
Oh, how the mighty have fallen!
This morning there was a bit of an oil slick around the Highlander. I was able to bring it to my shop where they put it on the lift. They think it may be a leaking rear main seal.
Need to figure out the next move, but the shop was pretty adamant that it is not worth fixing.
Quote from: Tortoise on Nov 14, 2025, 02:28 PMOh, how the mighty have fallen!
This morning there was a bit of an oil slick around the Highlander. I was able to bring it to my shop where they put it on the lift. They think it may be a leaking rear main seal.
Need to figure out the next move, but the shop was pretty adamant that it is not worth fixing.
Sad. A very $$ job indeed.
Maybe TheHire can cut you a deal on a mint, nos '23 Hornet ;)
Quote from: Tortoise on Nov 14, 2025, 02:28 PMOh, how the mighty have fallen!
This morning there was a bit of an oil slick around the Highlander. I was able to bring it to my shop where they put it on the lift. They think it may be a leaking rear main seal.
Need to figure out the next move, but the shop was pretty adamant that it is not worth fixing.
I'm surprised they didn't think it's worth fixing. Is it THAT big of a job? Or more there'd be a lot of while you're in there items that would add up. Did you look at replacing the PCV valve? Moving to a thicker oil?
The transmission has to come out, they figured the repair would be north of $2k.
And with an 18 year old car, who knows what else would break.
I brought up the PCV, they didn't think it was the problem. They pulled the oil cap off with the engine running and there was no airflow across opening.
I put in some high mileage Mobil 1, we will see what happens. I'm not optimistic.
If you think it still has life left in it and you have no desire to replace then it's likely worth putting 2-3k into to repair.
Another point of view, it gives you an opportunity to upgrade.
How many kilometres on it?
We just took in on trade a wicked clean '04 Highlander with, wait for it, 462,000KM. Zero rust and the thing is in insanely good shape. I have really started to appreciate these things.
I learned a thing or two about these recently. I got a 2002 on trade, owner said it was leaking oil and the valve guides were shot, it had 267,000 km. If it sat longer than 20 minutes a massive smoke plume would occur at start. Upon some research, I unplugged the PCV at the rear valve cover and the smoke never happened again. The rear valve cover needed replacement, not the pcv. The insides had gummed up preventing the system from working properly. The oil leak also disappeared (it was minor but present). Interestingly, none of this made the vehicle unsellable on a retail level (body/underside/interior all in great shape) What broke this Camel was the manual heater control unit was shot. Seems common and the reason why good working heater controls are impossible to find or super expensive.
If it is your rear main, I know these bring decent money at auction ;D
Just fix it, $2K is like 2-3 months payment on something newer. Even if you decide you want to upgrade, once it's repaired you'll probably get $4-5K for it and more than recoup your money, vs trying to sell it with a big oil leak, you're going to have a much tougher time.
Quote from: Bridgecity on Nov 16, 2025, 06:35 PMIf you think it still has life left in it and you have no desire to replace then it's likely worth putting 2-3k into to repair.
Another point of view, it gives you an opportunity to upgrade.
It definitely has some life left in it, but it's by no means mint. If this leak hadn't started I was going to deal with a rear suspension clunk, rear brakes and a new windshield. The body is in decent shape but there's some rust here and there.
And, and upgrade would be nice.
Quote from: TheHire on Nov 16, 2025, 06:52 PMHow many kilometres on it?
We just took in on trade a wicked clean '04 Highlander with, wait for it, 462,000KM. Zero rust and the thing is in insanely good shape. I have really started to appreciate these things.
245k km. I also really appreciate these things, they are super solid, relatively simple, and go about their business in an easy manner.
Quote from: Revelations on Nov 16, 2025, 10:16 PMI learned a thing or two about these recently. I got a 2002 on trade, owner said it was leaking oil and the valve guides were shot, it had 267,000 km. If it sat longer than 20 minutes a massive smoke plume would occur at start. Upon some research, I unplugged the PCV at the rear valve cover and the smoke never happened again. The rear valve cover needed replacement, not the pcv. The insides had gummed up preventing the system from working properly. The oil leak also disappeared (it was minor but present). Interestingly, none of this made the vehicle unsellable on a retail level (body/underside/interior all in great shape) What broke this Camel was the manual heater control unit was shot. Seems common and the reason why good working heater controls are impossible to find or super expensive.
If it is your rear main, I know these bring decent money at auction ;D
Good insights. FYI, the issue with the manual heater control is a nut behind the temperature knob comes loose, so you end up twisting the whole assembly and something breaks. When I bought it I reached out to Johngenx who mentioned I should have a look at it. Sure enough, mine was loose. I tightened it, and it's been fine since.
About the auction values, I presume interest falls for older east coast cars that have lived in a salt belt.
Quote from: Firm on Nov 17, 2025, 04:32 AMJust fix it, $2K is like 2-3 months payment on something newer. Even if you decide you want to upgrade, once it's repaired you'll probably get $4-5K for it and more than recoup your money, vs trying to sell it with a big oil leak, you're going to have a much tougher time.
My shop figured it would be more than $2k, so say $2500. I was also going to put a grand into it to get us another year or two. I agree the leak will make it harder to sell, but there might be someone mechanically inclined out there who would be willing to take on the repair. One nice thing is that I have all the service records since new.
I'm still driving it, but parking over a piece of cardboard. I think I'll swap the PCV valve. It seems easy and cheap enough.
One thing that has been bugging me. I've been doing annual oil changes on the HL, which has worked out to 10,000 km. It doesn't get used much, but a mix of trips to the ski hill, running around town, towing the boat (~1000 lbs) camping.
Always used a good synthetic and high quality filter.
Could this have contributed to the leak? Or is it just luck of the draw at this age?
Quote from: Tortoise on Nov 17, 2025, 07:25 PMOne thing that has been bugging me. I've been doing annual oil changes on the HL, which has worked out to 10,000 km. It doesn't get used much, but a mix of trips to the ski hill, running around town, towing the boat (~1000 lbs) camping.
Always used a good synthetic and high quality filter.
Could this have contributed to the leak? Or is it just luck of the draw at this age?
Just bad luck.
Also..try a Hail Mary pass. Try some rear main seal stop leak (Blue Devil , AT-205 or similar).
Yeah, I don't think the oil change intervals contributed, though 10K is stretching it on an older vehicle IMO. Like Ron, I wouldn't be opposed to tossing in a can of rear main repair from one of the reputable brands; Blue Devil, Rislone, etc). Won't hurt anything at this point, and if it works, it works.
It looks like the Blue Devil is working as advertised.
Apparently it takes 5 hours to do its thing, which took over a week to accumulate. The amount of oil leaking has been gradually decreasing
I ran errands all over town today, including a good half hour of highway driving. It's been sitting for a few hours and there's not a drop on the cardboard.
Thanks for the suggestion!
Glad to hear! I wonder if you'd need to put a bottle in every oil change to keep it active, or if one bottle one time is enough?
Quote from: Tortoise on Nov 29, 2025, 04:59 PMIt looks like the Blue Devil is working as advertised.
Apparently it takes 5 hours to do its thing, which took over a week to accumulate. The amount of oil leaking has been gradually decreasing
I ran errands all over town today, including a good half hour of highway driving. It's been sitting for a few hours and there's not a drop on the cardboard.
Thanks for the suggestion!
Sweeeeeeeeeet!!
Quote from: Firm on Nov 29, 2025, 05:01 PMGlad to hear! I wonder if you'd need to put a bottle in every oil change to keep it active, or if one bottle one time is enough?
They say it's a permanent solution. Which sort of makes sense given that it swells and soften the seals.
I'm thinking I'll give it a bit more time then I'll change the oil.
The starter in the Highlander crapped out on Saturday at the worst possible location. It was in the underground parking lot at Landsdowne. Normally not too big of an issue, but there's a Christmas market going on and the place is jammed all day. I tried to arrange a tow for last night, but they didn't have a small truck available to get it out of the garage. I got home around 11:30 last night, and was back there for 7:30 this morning. They towed it out no problem and I got it to my mechanic for 8:45. They called me at 11 saying the new starter was in and I was good to go. Man, I love that shop.
It was the original starter, so 18 years is a hell of a run.
My wife was driving it at the time, and she's starting to sour on it... So, I think we'll start looking for its replacement.
Yeah, that's a good run for a starter. Did you try smacking it with a hammer? Often you get one or two last cranks out of a starter if you give it a couple of good whacks, even better if someone turns the key while you smack it. I've gotten myself out of similar situations a couple times like that.
Quote from: Firm on Dec 22, 2025, 04:06 PMYeah, that's a good run for a starter. Did you try smacking it with a hammer? Often you get one or two last cranks out of a starter if you give it a couple of good whacks, even better if someone turns the key while you smack it. I've gotten myself out of similar situations a couple times like that.
I agree, that is a good run!! And yeah, many a time did the smack & turn the key trick on my Mom's POS Renault Alliance, LOL!!
I've used the starter tap before with some success.
It didn't work this time, but I didn't try it with the key turned, I was by myself.