My lake house is off a 5 mile dirt road and I have the 2WD Highlander Hybrid and have no problems when it rains or gets muddy. The people at Toyota told me the i-4WD would be a waste of money actually because it would not sig. help. I have no problems with getting stuck when my road is muddy.

We tried the FEH after I saw one at a nice price at a local dealership. It was for the wife, so she drove it. She liked it okay, although she couldn't get comfortable in the seat, and she was weirded out by the CVT (she's coming from a Elantra followed by a Cabrio).

She said she wanted to at least try a couple others for comparison, so we tried the HiHy. I own a Prius, and have been happy with the quality. I was on the list for one of the first FEHs back in 2005, so I'm not a Ford basher or Toyota drone.

Anyway, we both really like the HiHy. The said she felt a LOT more comfortable in the seat (she said the FEH seat was a lot harder and the back wasn't comfortable), and I think she also like the more powerful feel of the HiHy's engine. The FEH kind of has the pickup of my Prius... sure, it can get you going when you really need it... But it lets you know it's working hard in no uncertain terms.

So, we bought the HiHy last Saturday (last day for the $1300 tax credit qualification!). We got it for $500 BELOW the invoice price. Don't ask me how that happened or if that was true. After we signed the papers I asked the biz manager "Come on... really... how much did you guys make on this car?" He gave some spiel about they "lost" $500, and they gave me that price (it was an Internet price) to build customer relationships or something... blah blah blah! haha... I was happy with the price, and happy to get her out of that Cabrio... One problem after another with that thing.

And to boot, she's been getting 28-30 mpg out of this first tank... Of course, it helps that she has a 8.5 mile commute each day on side roads. Now it's just a matter of trying to train her to drive it like I do the Prius instead of driving it like a "regular" car... So far so good.

But anyway, the salesmen said that you "can't" compare the FEH and HyHi since they are different sized cars... But as long as they are the main two hybrid SUVs on the market (Not counting the uber-expensive Lexus... and I have NEVER know anyone who has EVER owned a Mercury, much less a Mercury Mariner... Much less a Mercury Mariner Hybrid!), I think you HAVE to compare the FEH and HiHy.

great post

On april 25th , we will have owned our Hi Hy 06 hybrid 4x4 for one year. We have about 3800 miles on it. We work from home and I drive a ford escort around town . My wife drives the hybrid.

I remember we got into an mpg debate and price debate last year over the FEH vs the highlander. There is no comparison at all. The FEH is less expensive and gets better gas mileage. End of story.

On the other hand, the Highlander is much more powerfull, luxurious, roomier, and in my opinion, will end up more reliable, and have a far greater resale value. The jury is still out on the reliability and resale, so I dont know.

I am of course biased, and have not spent any time in an FEH, so you must take what I say with a grain of salt.

In the end, both are worthy of purchase, and it really depends what your needs are.

hope this helps

cheers

For me, when I was looking at the FEH vs the HH, it came down to these thoughts:

* HH has more room, both passenger and storage
* FEH has more "convenience" space for the driver (console, cup holder, cubbies, etc)
* Sitting in the HH was more comfortable than the FEH
* the HH is a more powerful vehicle than the FEH

Aside from the fact that the FEH storage folds completely flat in the back vs the battery bump the HH has, I do need the amount of storage space that the HH provides. The type of things that I use an SUV for, those items would not be able to fit into the FEH (if they did, it would be with extreme difficulty).

The way I look at it, if you wanted to purchase a hybrid - you'd go with the Camry or Accord or Prius. But you're looking at SUVs for a reason. Even as a hybrid, MPG isn't going to be as high as the non-SUVs, so it's the other reasons that will make you decide which vehicle is right for you.

web

how to you manage to get 31mpg off your highlander?

thats great

It's a combination of things:

• I'm solely going by the calculated MPG value that the HH gives me. It appears that the actual calculation of {miles/gallons used} is slightly lower, but I don't have enough tanks to verify if the ratio of calculated vs actual is consistent or if they will slowly merge to the same value. It's possible, as I've posted previously, that the difference is due to my perception that the odometer is recording 1 mile as .9 actual (giving me an extra .1 boost in the calculation).
• I do minimal highway driving on any given tank.
• I try to be aware of hills and whatnot, allowing for the battery to kick in whenever possible. In each direction of my commute, I have some long hilly sections that I can regularly hit 35-60 MPG with coasting/minimal acceleration for a mile or two or three.
• Yes, I've started to drive like an old person -- no sudden starts, long braking/coasting to a stop whenever possible, driving the speed limit, etc. Everyone says that driving the HH to maximize MPG takes some learning vs driving a regular vehicle. I'm 100% behind that statement.
• Assuming normal traffic patterns, I can add an average of 0.5 to 1.0 MPG to my work commute each way (that is, if I begin the day at 29.5, it is likely that I'll pull into the driveway in the evening around 30.5 or better.

Bravo dude!!!

keep it up................

Thanks. The important thing, aside from everything else that's nice about the HH, is that I'm getting better MPG than I did in my '93 SUV by almost 2x. Sure, it's not the 60+ advertised by the Prius folks, but for SUV MPG numbers, I couldn't be happier.

Seems from the posts, you cant go wrong with either vehicle.

I am in a similar situation - drive an 07 HCHII and have been very satisfied. My wife is driving a Dodge Caravan with guano MPG. I am trying to convince her that a hybrid SUV would be good for her around town commute and even 4 person family vacations....

Now, I was a former Jeep XJ (Cherokee) owner and if Jeep had a 4x4 Hybrid that was trail rated, I would already own one. Come on Jeep - convert the Patriot to hybrid!

Gary, I would avoid an AWD Hilander Hybrid because it has a second electric motor in the rear. I would be concerned about putting the electric motor in the water. This is something mentioned in the Ford Escape Hybrid manual. I don't own a boat and do not know the exact location of the second electric motor in the Toyota Hilander Hybrid. However, I have seen enough vehicles get their "rear-end" wet putting boats into or out of the water. Otherwise, good luck with your next hybrid.

2005 AWD Escape Hybrid
Best tank trip MPG 39.02 (scangauge II) for 402 miles on I-70, 10.3 gallons used over mostly flat terrain.

Best tank trip MPG 34.6 for E30 for 271 miles along I-80 in Indiana and Ohio.