Toyota Harrier

Sporty Looking but a little underpowered

I have owned 2 Toyota Harriers (aka Lexus 300) since 2005. The car is an SUV made in Japan unlike many other Japanese models which are made in Thailand and China. The first one from 2005 - 2009 was a revelation to me, it gave me and my family a roomy drive and was able to fit in up to 6 people also for short trips to family dinners on the weekend. Ever reliable, it was easy to handle, though one has to get used to the large capacity of the car chassis and turning radius. I had absolutely no technical problems on the first car, thanks to Toyota's fine reliability program.

The recent brouhaha (news which makes people react with shock and horror) over some models of the Toyota namely Prius and Lexus 300 GL in the USA where the accelerator does not decouple,leading to several horrendous accidents and deaths has somewhat tarnished Toyota's good name but the Harrier has been spared any of this malfunctions, thankfully.


I have owned 2x Harriers for 5 years now

This second Harrier was purchased in June 2009 and I am pleased with the improved sporty looks, metallic and walnut finish drive console and 3 saparate dial diaplys for speed, RPM and fuel / engine heating displays. Acceleration gives me the feeling that it is a little underpowered, but the 3 litre version (RX 300) is too expensive (S$ 200,000 or RM 450,000) and in my opinion a waste of fuel. Also the carbon footprint of that car is probably 30% more than this car. This car gives me a 9.5 km per litre consumption, not bad for an SUV.

I know the environmentalists will be aghast at my purchase, as the carbon footrpint of this car is frankly, quite horrendous. More and more new car sales in the West are normally Smart cars, or battery powered hybrid cars. So somewhere down the line, I have to contend myself with either walking or running to the supermarket. The recent weather changes have made me sit up and speculate that all our attempts at urban 'development' will ultimately spell the end of the mother Earth as we know it. We are creating our own 'and of the world' scenario by time and again ignoring the warning signs of our sick Earth. The solution is out there but people like me and other urbanites with more than 1 car are part of the problem.

The car was inexpensive to purchase in August 2009 - as the local economy was coming out of the World's worst financial crisis. This for the world's top selling car marque, but the spiralling COE prices have made the new car selling price over S$ 130,000 now (RM 300,000). I am glad that I purchased it at that time last year and will hope to continue driving this car but only for must travel reasons.