The 2026 Toyota Grand Highlander Hybrid Max is the MUST buy AWD midsize SUV

Hey guys what's up it's Joe Rady from Rady's Rides. I'm back here at one of my special filming spot locations because guess what? We have that one midsize three-row crossover SUV which is impossible to find on a dealer's lot. What am I talking about? This vehicle right here. This is a 2026 Toyota Grand Highlander but this is a Highlander Hybrid Max and it's a platinum trim. But before we get into this fuel sipping very spacious midsize let's talk about what's going on here. So you heard correctly most of the time people that are buying their Grand Highlanders especially this Max Hybrid they're ordering them and then waiting a few months for them to show up. Very rare to go to a Toyota dealership and find an actual brand new one sitting on the lot. So I'm very happy to be able to bring this to you because guess what? There's a lot of good things when it comes to this Max Hybrid Grand Highlander Platinum trim. Of course in the midsize SUV segment there's lots of competition. Honda Pilot, Nissan Pathfinder, Chevy Traverse. I mean the list goes on and on and what I want to find out is is this the must-own and is it worth waiting months for it to come in? Why don't we go ahead let's dive into this one let's see if we can find out. Right off the bat it's got that larger size larger dimensions. It's wider than the regular Highlander. It's longer than the regular Highlander and that's why they call it the Grand Highlander. Now at front you're get all LED lighting. LED daytime running lamps, LED turn signals, LED headlights. You do get some chrome trim across the brow on the Platinum. So Platinum level that top trim is going to get some shiny bits. Working our way down you do get LED fog lamps and functional corner air curtains. The one zonk I have is this. What is this? You mean to tell me they couldn't have done something a little bit more creative with this area of the SUV? And then you have some flat metallic silver along the lower lip. Now as we come across that center grille you got your Toyota badge up top, forward-facing camera. I like the way they painted the grille a metallic gunmetal gray finish and then like I said you have that flat silver that runs along the lower lip with some flat black. But let me know what you think about the face of this Grand Highlander. It's going to be interesting to see when is Toyota actually going to redesign this or refresh it because the Honda Pilot's been refreshed. The Palisade's been redesigned. The Telluride's been redesigned. The Pathfinder has been refreshed. So a lot of the competition has been upgraded. So it's going to be interesting to see. Still has a very good presence I think. Now as we rise up you got that great fit and finish with the way the hood meets the front fascia. Simple hood design. Nice kind of plateau in most of the center and then a little bit of drop off on each end. Now as we come around the bend on the platinum trim here are the wheels and tires that we're running. So you're going to get these chrome finished. It's almost like a super high polish wheel with these flat black accents. Multi-spoke design all the way around. This is a 20-inch wheel. Tires are going to be 255 on the 55 series sidewall. The zonk that I have is why are these flat black? This is a platinum trim. Max hybrid. The top of the top of the Grand Highlander and it's flat black. That's that's a big no-no. Especially with this color and this color is not a flat gray. It has a lot of pearlescent to it. So something to uh to point out. But let me know what you think about the wheels. Do you like them? Do you hate them? And do they go well with this vehicle? Now we do have all-wheel drive. So all-wheel drive on this Max hybrid. Working our way towards the rear. Color matched on the mirror caps. A little bright shiny style metal work even though it's plastic. 360 degree cameras. LED turn signals from the side. You can see that this is larger than a regular Highlander. And this is pretty much the going size that you're seeing some of the other SUVs become. Like the new Telluride and the Palisade. Up top you have those aluminum style roof rails and you're going to have aluminum style trim just along the bottom. Not the top. Flat black up top. Color matched on the door handles and then you have a lot of flat black along the lower sill area. Coming towards the rear, ginormous quarter glass. I'm glad they did that because there's a lot of room in that back seat area. And then finishing around the back side, it's almost perfect. If they would just take this, tuck it underneath, I think that would be the finishing touch. But they did a nice job on tail lights. Get your platinum badge. I like the way they put the Grand Highlander name actually in the trim and it's painted. And then there's your hybrid Max. That badge is very important because that's going to give you the most horsepower out of all the Grand Highlanders. And then working our way down to ground level, you actually have a dual outlet exhaust. Nice oval opening slash cut. One on each side and then a little bit of silver trim along the bottom. But while we go ahead, let's get to the big talking point. Let's pop the hood and check out that hybrid Max. Alright guys, we got the hood popped. I am going to have to zonk it for having a prop rod. This is a Grand Highlander. It should have hood struts. Underneath the hood, don't be scared. It is the turbocharged setup. But here's the big news. You have that 2.4 liter turbocharged inline 4 paired to two motors. It's giving you 362 horsepower. Did you hear me? Clean out your freaking ears. That's almost 400 horsepower, 400 pound-feet of torque. It utilizes a 1.4 kilowatt nickel metal hydride battery and it's mated to a six-speed automatic transmission. No CVT, no direct drive, none of that garbage. Zero to 60 in 5.5 seconds. Top speed is governed to 117 miles an hour. But here's the kicker. MPGs, 26 in the city, 27 on the highway and the vehicle could tow 5,000 pounds when it's the Max hybrid. And at the end of the day, it weighs 4,936 pounds. So quite a stout setup of numbers, especially those MPGs. 27 in the city for a midsize. That's pretty impressive. But why don't we go ahead, let's fire it up and see this thing zoom off. All right, guys, we're inside this 2026 Toyota Grand Highlander. It's a mouthful. Platinum, Max hybrid. It's like I got to remember what I'm saying. I'm telling a story. But I know you're probably saying to yourself, well, Joe, you're right. I've looked high and I've looked low. I can't find these on dealership lots anywhere. Should I order one? Well, I'll tell you this. This is probably one of my favorite crossover SUVs, three rows. I'll be honest. Now, if you're wondering what's the price, MSRP for this particular one, the weight option is right at $60,000. If you're wondering, is that a lot of money? Yes, it is. But guess what? The new Telluride SX Prestige is $60,000. Mazda CX-90 top trim is $60,000. I mean, it's not out of the extraordinary anymore for these things to cost as much as they do. But let's see if Toyota does it the best. To the door panels. I do like the clean materials. Soft touch. You got that nice sort of texturized black trim. Better than gloss black. Flat black around the switch gear. Some contrast stitching. Soft touch on the armrest. Door pocket is pretty decent. You could put, I would say, four Chick-fil-A grilled chicken sandwiches, some waffle fries, and a Dr. Pepper to wash it down. Now, going from the door panel to the dash, we got the JBL multi-speaker sound system. More of that stitching. A nice Twinkie pocket here. Baker's does it in Twinkies. And a USB-C. I wish they would have done this gold style trim a little bit more in here. I don't know why they were so stingy with that. You do have a little pocket here. It's literally large enough for a Sprinkles cupcake. Just slide it right in there. And then guess what? Slide your booty in here because you got a 12.3-inch infotainment system. It's the same multimedia software that Toyota uses on their other vehicles. And that's not a bad thing. Easy to get into the information, your trip information. We could go into climate. You could even bring up what I like is the energy flow, the power flow display. So there's our two motors. One up front and then one on the rear axle for the all-wheel drive. Now, to put it into reverse, simple, clear resolution. You have your trajectory, your 360, which is really nice. Then we're right back where we basically started. Love the fact that we have nice knobs, dual climate that gives you the readout on the knob. You got heated seats, ventilated seats, three stages. You got your toggle switches for your AC controls. Nice. See, here's more of that gold trim. Why didn't they do more of this? USB-C, power on button. Another USB-C. A little bit more gold trim. This is going to be the electric shifter for your six-speed automatic with some gold trim. Two cup holders. And you have your Toyota key fob that does say Grand Highlander on the back. I hope they update these key fobs soon. They feel like they're from 1999. I also like the fact that you have a Capri Sun holder here. You can literally put three Capri Suns in there besides the two cup holders. You got your different drive modes, hill descent control. What's weird is you have your modes but then you have a button for sport, a button for eco, and then you push down for normal. Kind of dumb. Stitching, soft, open this up. I would say you could probably put two old-school metal lunchboxes in there. I miss my freaking lunchboxes. I remember when my mom, like if I wasn't feeling well, she'd put some nice chicken noodle soup in the thermos. Make me feel all better. And then I also remember when I wasn't feeling well, she would take Vicks vapor rub and basically baste me like a turkey. She'd rub it all over me. I'd be feeling like a Thanksgiving Day turkey. I don't know why people used to just rub it on my chest, my face, up my nose. Seats. Nice Softex Alcantara. A little bit nice trim. Stitching. You have electric assist for the passenger. Electric assist for the driver. And we have this panoramic sunroof with a power shade. I like the fact that we have a dark headliner in here. And you get a digital rearview mirror. Why don't you come over here to the business side. I want to show you behind the wheel of this Grand Highlander. Hi guys. Business time. You do have two memory seat settings which are nice. Nice aluminum sill plate says Grand Highlander. Even the all-weather floor mats say Grand Highlander. That's worth an extra five horsepower. Nice electric seat controls. Easy to get to. I'm six feet tall. There's plenty of room in here. Steering wheel. I do like the leather. I like the gold and the flat black. I hate the horn button. This is one of the ugliest horn buttons I've ever seen in my life. So I almost want to figure out a way to rip it off. And then a little bit of gloss black which is weird because there's no gloss black anywhere. Wouldn't you use this trim here? Not just gloss black. You do have paddles to up and down the six-speed automatic. And then remember you do have a manual tilting and telescoping wheel. Heated steering wheel. Steven almost forgot about that. And then we have our 12.3 inch digital gauge cluster. Watch this. I'm going to do the different modes. Cool. It's got like a little vehicle that comes on for you. Got your off-road modes. We got sport. You got eco. You got normal. Yippee-ki-yay. And then you have a nice size head-up display. But why don't we go ahead. Let's get in the mid-row in the third row and see if the Grand Highlander lives up to its name. All right guys. Mid-row time in this three row. And you're getting the same great materials up front. Especially the Alcantara. They're almost there. I just need a little bit wider. So I'm just going to give it a half a zonk because this captain's chair armrest just needs to be a little bit wider. Seats. The Softex. I love the large pockets. You could put I would say four Krispy Cream Donuts down there. Get a nice command center. Look at this. Heated seats and ventilated seats. Finally Toyota. Thank you. USB-C's on both sides. And you have a home power source which is great. I'm six feet tall. I like where the AC vents are located. You have your sun shades. And seats slide. Seats recline. And look at this. You could actually take this out. You have a nice little center area here. Two cup holders. You got your 7-Eleven hot dog holder. And you can put your Slim Jims on both sides here. And then it locks back into place. But while we go ahead let's get into the third row and see if this Grand Highlander has the room. Hi guys. Third row time. What's nice is is that Toyota actually gives you these these grab handles here that actually also have a USB-C in them which is great. Now once you get back here my knees are not too high. I'm sitting really upright and look I didn't even move this seat from when I had reclined it. So I have a lot of room. If you want a little bit more you're just going to reach over your shoulder and just tilt it back. Look at that. This is actually comfortable. I could actually sit back here for more than just five minutes. So they did a good job with this third row. Two large cup holders. The only thing I would like to have seen is some soft material for my arm here. But other than that it's it's spacious for mid-size. Let's get in that cargo area though because I'm gonna take you for a spin in this Grand Highlander. Hi guys. Time to get in the cargo area. We're gonna do the old-fashioned way. Yeah you can hold the keys and do all this and it opens up. But I'm just gonna hit the button. Very consistent. Rises up. Nice electric assist. You're gonna be greeted at 22 cubic feet of space. You got your JBL sound system subwoofer. You do have your home power source. And then you have a little bit of storage underneath. You can literally put 24 Twinkies here. Don't ask me how I know. Okay I'll tell you. I literally put 24 Twinkies there. Now to fold down the rear seat it's not complicated. You're just gonna lift up and you're gonna push. Headrest drops. It's a 60-40 split. Boom bada boom boom boom. Just like that. And then of course that mid-row will fold down. But look at how nice and flat it is. Steven actually got out his measuring tape and his balance and actually made sure that that's totally flat. It is totally flat and you're looking at 58 cubic feet of space. Fold down that mid-row. It's gonna be 98 cubic feet of space. Now the only thing to remember that's a little bit of a pain is when you go to pick these seats up they're gonna stop there. If you need to get it ready for somebody to sit in you're gonna have to recline it a little bit or it's gonna be very uncomfortable for them. Same thing on the other side but you can see how easy it is. I mean one two three boom we're ready to rock and roll. Well guess what we got a freaking SUV with almost 400 horsepower all-wheel drive. Why don't we go for a little spin and see how it does its business. All right guys we're behind the wheel of this 2026 Toyota Grand Highlander. This being the Platinum Max Hybrid. I put it into sport mode simply by hitting sport right underneath the mode selector knob which is kind of weird. And I just want to do a little bit of on throttle. Let's see let's come to a dead stop you ready on throttle here we go. So this thing has got the grip from the all-wheel drive and because you have the electric motors it gives you instant torque. You are not you are not waiting for any kind of boost buildup. There's no boost lag that you're going to sense because of the electric motors. Now of course because it is the platinum trim the suspension is a little soft. It's not a corner carver you know road handling race of a of an SUV. So just something to be aware of. Everything is well laid out in here. Easy to get to that 12.3 inch infotainment system. You got the beautiful 12.3 inch digital gauge cluster. I could bring up your power flow. You can show power flow on the dash or I could bring it up up top here and have it there for you with the nickel metal high drive battery and it's showing its usage. I like the way the head-up display is a super thin horizontal strip with all the good information in it. And then of course you have tons of amenities in here. The heated seats, the ventilated seats. I mean they got you covered there when it comes to those types of amenities and nice to have the mid-row also be heated and ventilated. But the seats are ultra comfy very supportive and I'm being honest this is one of my favorite mid-size three-row crossover SUVs especially with the power especially with the MPGs and especially with the comfort. It just would have been nice to have a little bit more like I said this gold trim like on the door panels and whatnot. But the fact that there's not a lot of gloss black the only gloss black really is around the shifter and on the steering wheel that's it. I like that visibility you got that nice digital rear view mirror, good visibility out the front, good visual reference points, and of course all the Toyota sensing safety features. Going down the road I love the way the six-speed automatic behaves. Nice smooth shifts. You can shift with the paddles if you want to. And obviously because it is a platinum trim you are getting a good amount of sound deadening material as well. The drive experience is very very nice on the interior. Not really any road noise or wind noise and then like I said getting to this infotainment system is really really easy. And then of course you got your cameras. I could do the cameras while we're sitting here. You got the see-through 360. You got the nice view out the front. Different angles. Really really nice to have the technology be simple and straightforward. All right guys I want to get you out onto the highway and show you how this Grand Highlander gets about its business. I tell you the torque and the way that this thing accelerates is actually quite impressive. I think you're going to be pleasantly pleased with it. One of the quicker midsize three-row SUVs available and the fact that you're getting 27 MPGs like seriously that's pretty nuts. But it's very easy to drive and easy to maneuver and really just a pleasure to be behind the wheel. I know it's got a four-cylinder turbo. I get it. But with the hybrid setup man you are not going to feel like you have a four-cylinder turbo under the hood. And what's nice too is with it being a hybrid the center of gravity is a little bit lower than your standard internal combustion engine setup. But you do have your different modes like I said. We could go into normal. Displays a Grand Highlander there for you and that's going to obviously adjust steering sensitivity, throttle sensitivity, and how the engine and the transmission behave with one another. Which is always when I get behind the wheel of one of these I'm always impressed with how it drives. But I'm hoping that this has been a good quick overall review of the 2026 Toyota Grand Highlander. Specifically the Platinum Max Hybrid. We're going to get back to where it all started and wrap this one up. So I'll see you in a split second. Hi guys. Been another great day. We definitely got to thank Zach and the rest of the team over at Toyota USA getting us access to this very rare, very hard to find 2026 Grand Highlander Platinum Max Hybrid. Let me know what you think though. Is this the must-have of the midsize three-row SUVs? I'm very curious to see what you have to say about it. But if you're new to the channel, you're on your way out, hit the subscribe button. I promise you it's worthwhile. Come back for more. If you are a subscriber, thank you for being part of the Rage Reds family. Gotta get up to Stephen Flood. He is putting the work in and follow him on TikTok and Instagram and everywhere else in the cyber universe because guess what? He's going sim racing. So thank you Stephen for all that you're doing. Just like always guys, I'll see you on the next ride.